//------------------------------// // Ch6: Going into town: Starting to train // Story: Trapped in another world. // by mild hotsauce //------------------------------// Ch6: Going into town: Starting to train Rogvir left the castle after reminiscing with his sister. Their time allowed them to remember their parents, and their home; both of which were destroyed when Vold marched through their realm. It was a sad day, only three were able to leave alive. But time of sorrow passed years ago, now was where they held their final stand against him, but they needed to get ready first. Rogvir entered the inn and gave a nod of recognition to the inn keeper. He went straight to the room to find that the ponies had just finished with their washing up. ‘How does it take that long to wash up?’ he thought to himself, remembering that Narine had done the same. “Well hello there Rogvir.” Rarity greeted. The others nodded their own greetings. “Ooh! Hey, welcome back! We were just planning a party before you came in!” Pinkie exclaimed. “We were?” Rainbow asked. “Well of course silly!” Pinkie replied. “The party will have to wait.” Rogvir interrupted. Pinkie gasped. “The party can wait! THE PARTY CAN WAIT! What are you, crazy! The party can never wait!” Rogvir rubbed his ear from the sudden onslaught of sound. “Sorry Rogvir, Pinkie is a bit eccentric about her parties.” Rarity explained. “I can tell.” He mumbled. “The reason is because we need to start training.” “Training?” they all asked. “Narine had a… vision… when she says to do something, you don’t question it. Last time I did that, I regretted it.” he explained. “Sounds a bit vague there pardner.” Applejack said. “Tomorrow, you will be assigned an instructor. Then when the training is complete, we will go meet your friend in the Eternal Plain. Now, I suggest you all get some sleep, my family was never one to go easy.” ------------------------------------------------------- A flash appeared in the barren summer desert of the Eternal Plain, an ever shifting country that is home to the ancient race known as the Terra. For many years they have lived in peace, but when the Dark King arrived, that all changed. Now the creatures hide from the tide that threatens to consume everything, seeking safety with the elements that they were born to control. Two figures stand on a fading road, one on two legs, and one on four. The sand storm raged around them, making visibility low. “Where are we?” Twilight asked. “What! Ah can’t hear you lass! Hold on a second!” he snapped his fingers, and the storm subsided. “That’s better.” He took a look around him. “Hmm, I was sure that Pyrus would have been here.” “What are we doing here? Why aren’t we with my friends? Did you lie before?” she started. “Shut it, I think I hear something…” he leaned his ear to the east, where the road pointed towards the Dark King’s castle. “Get down.” He whispered and sank below the sandy road. “Uhm…” “Oh… right.” Twilight was then dragged under too. The sound of marching soldiers pounded their ears as the troop made their way over them. “Move it you slack jawed idiots!” an angry voice shouted. “Come on, I haven’t got all day! I dont want to hear that any of you are tired, take a break and I will skin you with your own teeth!” Twilight would have shuddered, if the sand wasn’t preventing her from doing so. “Sir, where is the city?” a small voice asked. “It should be here, keep your eyes peeled.” “My apologies, but the troops are tired, and our food is low, allow us to- AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH” the one man’s scream pierced even the sand as the sound of something snapping was heard. “Anyone else going to complain… no… good. The King waits for no one. If you stop, I’ll leave you to the Sand Dragons.” The force immediately sped up. “Those damned turtles are around here somewhere…” As the sounds of the approaching army faded, Twilight felt herself being pulled from the ground. She was then held up over the ground by the very creature that helped her in the dream world. “Who was that?” she asked. “Yep, you’re okay.” He said as he dropped her on her stomach. “What?” “That there was Odik, one of Vold’s six greatest warriors. A right nasty one he is, built like a guerrilla, but with a bigger brain. He may not seem smart, but his plans always work.” “Can you give me an example?” Twilight asked. She then figured out why he said she was alright when she asked a question… “Well, there used to be a legendary Hydra, ‘till Odik came along, best tactic I’ve ever seen too.” Twilight motioned for him to continue. “Well, the first part of his plan involved going in, and smashing the beast the old fashioned way, but that didn’t work, ‘cause he got eaten.” Melborn started to laugh. “Then… h-he burst… through the damn things stomach… covered in blood… bile and gore!” he then fell onto the ground rolling in laughter. “How is that funny!?!? It’s downright disgusting!” She yelled, starting to feel a bit green from the image. “oh, it’s hilarious… the Hydra looked at its stomach, then back at Odik like ‘how the hell did you do that?’ and then fell backwards making a sound akin to a sack of bricks hitting the floor!” he burst out laughing again. “Only you would find something like that funny.” Twilight deadpanned. “Well, I find a plethora of things funny: A beggar being punched in the face, a squirrel being torn apart by a fire ball, even when people are dumb enough to try and attack the greater creatures of this world when they have no hope of defeating them.” He let out a wistful sigh. “Aw memories. Oh well, time to get started on your training!” he said with a clap. “What do you mean? Why aren’t we going back to my friends?” “Because you simpleton, you need to be prepared for any fights you might get into in the future. As I always say, it’s better to be prepared than not… wait, ah don’t say that… maybe you just think it. Damn it all I'm starting to get your ideas in mah head! How the hell do you live with this much logic? It’s maddening!” he raged. After a minute, he calmed down. “Right, first lesson: Magic.” “Well, I already know a lot about magic, so this should be easy.” Twilight said confidently. “Really, then why don’t we skip the basics and try some more advanced techniques.” He snapped his fingers and the sand storm from earlier started up again. “If you’re so confident, turn this sand into snow, then back, and then into rain.” He gave a little laugh and he disappeared into the storm. Twilight was confused and scared, she didn’t know a spell to complete this task, but she wanted to prove herself. Her horn lit up, and the sandstorm began to emit a purple haze, and small bouts of electricity started running through the bits of sand. She closed her eyes as she then changed the sand into snow, when she opened her eyes; she no longer saw the harsh sandstorm, but a gentle snow fall. Probably not what Melborn was expecting… “Well done lass, now, finish the task.” And she did just that, she changed the snow into sand, and tried to focus on getting it to become rain. The sand stuck to her coat as the grains started turning to water. Pretty soon, she felt the harsh pelts of rain against her coat, soaking her to the bone. “Very impressive, for a novice.” He said as he reappeared in front of twilight. With a snap of his fingers, the storm dissipated, leaving him and a confused Twilight in a now hot and humid desert. “What just happened?” she asked. “You did the task I set out for you, and performed it the way I thought you would. Now that you can do that, you can manipulate the weather to your advantage, confuse your enemies or even mask an ambush you are going to do, and you will pull one off in the future, so don’t even try to argue.” Twilight just held her tongue, internally trying to figure out how he knew what she was going to say. “What’s next?” she inquired. “Actual magic.” He said while conjuring a ball of cackling electricity in his right hand. He threw the ball into the ground next to twilight, opening a trap door with a staircase leading downwards. “Now, for your next lesson, we go to the very inventors of modern magic, the Terra.” ------------------------------------------------------- The day was warm and sunny, a perfect day to start training. Rogvir led the ponies to the castle training yard, where there was already several Lycans and Vampires training their skills. The Lycans used their mass and strength against each other, brawling in wolf form to tone their bodies in the art of combat with difficult opponents. The vampires held magic duels and often shot bursts of magic towards targets set up in the yard. “Welcome to the training yard, behold its public glory, watch where you step, if you know what I mean.” He said jokingly. Rarity cringed at the statement, looking at where she was walking. “What are we doing first? Planning parties? Throwing parties? *gasp* reading the book ‘The art of the Party’!?” Pinkie said in her usual manner. “No, we are splitting up into groups. Applejack and Dash, you’re with me.” “Alright!” Rainbow cheered, to which Applejack rolled her eyes. “Fluttershy and Pinkie, Celia awaits you in the western field for Stealth training.” He continued. “Yay!” Pinkie exclaimed as she dashed east, and then walked back with an embarrassed look on her face. “Whoops… heh-heh… wrong way.” She and Fluttershy left for their training. “What about me?” Rarity asked, pouting slightly that she was the last to be sent somewhere. “Wait… what am I saying? Training will only get me dirty and I refuse to dirty my hooves, I just polished them.” “You’re with my sister. Don’t worry, you won’t learn any questionable forms of magic with her, just basic attack and defense. She will only continue with it if you want to.” He reassured. “Well, I guess if it isn’t manual labor I’m okay with it.” “South fields, meet her by the statue with a staff.” Rarity nodded and headed off towards her target. “Okay Rogvir, what are we doing first? We going to swing maces like you? Oh. My. Goddess. Are we going to get a huge hammer like him!?” Rainbow yelled once she saw a Lycan bring an assortment of weapons towards a pair of sparing elves. “In due time, first we need to find out what you will be better with. I know you two are fighters, and no doubt will end up with a cool weapon in the end, but you must know what you will be comfortable with.” He explained. “Sound ‘bout right.” Applejack agreed. “Dang it.” Rainbow cursed. “Alright, now I want to know how much you can take. We will be doing a series of exercises to test your stamina and endurance. Let’s get a move on.” He said seriously. “What exactly will we be doin?” Applejack asked. “You'll find out later, for now, a warm up. Fifty laps around the castle training grounds, no wings Rainbow…. What are you too staring at?” “This place aint exactly small.” Appleack pointed out. “Great observation AJ, now I am going to tell you what I think about it. You are going to do nonstop running, and if you don’t start now…” a light growl emanated from behind the two mares, as a hungry looking Lycan locked eyes with them. Rogvir put a spell on Rainbows wings, preventing them from opening as they both took off with an animalistic Werewolf chasing after them, leading them around the yard. Rogvir chuckled lightly as he watched the two mares try to keep ahead of the Lycan; today is going to be fun.