//------------------------------// // Sign Me Up: Training Begins // Story: Atlas Strongest Tournament // by Bico //------------------------------// ATLAS STRONGEST TOURNAMENT ~BICO PART 1: SIGN ME UP ACT III: TRAINING BEGINS Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo soared above Cloudsdale, enjoying the feeling of the updrafts beneath their wings. Rainbow had insisted that in preparation for the tournament, they come here to find somepony that would help them train. Even though she had brought it up, though, she still seemed very apprehensive about the whole thing. “What’s the matter, Rainbow Dash?” Scootaloo asked. Rainbow cleared her throat uneasily and scratched the back of her head with her hoof. “Uh… nothing, really. It’s just… well, it’s been a couple years since I saw old Amber Spark. And… she’s kinda… well…” She trailed off, leaving her protégé wondering exactly what this “Amber Spark” was "kinda" like to make her teacher so jittery. They landed in one of the more stormy parts of Cloudsdale, where it was thick with moisture and electricity. Scootaloo’s mane stood on end as they trot through the tempestuous street, and that was only partially due to the static. The rest of Cloudsdale was maintained by the Cloudsdale Weather Team to prevent build-up of lightning and rain, but they couldn’t cover the entire town. Of course, the only pegasi who would live in this part of the city were the desperate, which included those who tended toward more criminal activity. That caused a vicious cycle, as the weather ponies were even less likely to wander into this part of town, and the aptly named Storm Alley became a wretched hive of scum and villainy. “Hey, fillies,” a voice called from the shadows. “C’mere. I wanna talk to youse.” Rainbow Dash pointedly ignored the gruff mare who was attempting to accost them. However, two other pegasi emerged in front of them, blocking their way. Turning around, they saw another pair covering their rear. The one who had beckoned to them approached with an oily demeanor. “Hey, youse two,” she said. “Don’t be in such a hurry. I’m lookin’ for a little fun, today.” She eyed Scootaloo and gave her a wink. “You got some real nice wings there, filly. Hey fellas. Hows abouts we bring her back into the alley? Youse two can fleece this one.” “Sounds good boss!” one of the stallions said in a tone that bode ill for his cognitive capacities. “Touch her,” Rainbow said with a warning edge to her voice, “And you’re going to really regret it.” “Haw, haw,” the boss-mare laughed roughly. “What are youse gonna d… dooze? Err… yeah, youse gonna rainbows us to death?” “If death by Rainbow is what you want,” she said lightly, “I can deliver. But I’m not actually the pony you’ll have to worry about if you mess with Scootaloo.” The boss-mare snorted and gestured to two of her flunkies. “Whatever, rainbow filly. I betcha just love paintin’ yer nails.” Rainbow looked confused for a moment as the two ponies behind her approached Scootaloo. “Nails… ponies don’t even have… a-anyway, you’re really asking for it, fillyfriend.” “Naw,” said the stallion, “She’s demandin’ it, right boss?” He grabbed one of Scootaloo’s wings roughly. Less than a second later he was lying unconscious and bleeding on the frozen street. Scootaloo quickly dispatched the other pony who had accosted her with a well-placed buck while Rainbow Dash struck the two in her face with all the ferocity of an Ursa Major protecting her Minor. The boss-mare stammered incoherently as she saw her gang reduced to bloody messes before she could even move to help. Then, as she saw the two pegasi turn toward her, she got a nasty grin. “Y-y-youse two think yer somethin’ special? Thing about Storm Alley is… there’s deadly weapons all around!” She stomped her hoof into the cloud and sparks flashed. The sound of thunder filled the alley and then… the boss-mare fell to the ground, unconscious and smoking. “Well, well,” an old, amber-coated pegasus mare said as she walked casually around the limp body of the boss-mare. “Still getting into trouble, Rainbow Dash?” Rainbow coughed nervously and looked away. “M-Master Amber Spark. Good to see ya.” “Oh, yes, it’s always a pleasure,” Amber said with aloofness. She gestured toward Scootaloo. “And who’s this young filly? You’re not trying to train somepony, are you?” “Yeah!” Scootaloo said excitedly. “Rainbow’s the best teacher ever… uh… I mean… I’m sure her teacher must have been just as good.” She looked nervously at the smoking hoof mark on the boss-mare’s back. “Um… did you… did you punch her in the back with lightning?” “Oh,” Amber said reservedly. “Yes, I suppose I did. I’ve developed quite a few weather based techniques in my forty years practicing the Art.” “Wow,” Scootaloo said, earning a slight smile from Master Spark. “You’re, like, ancient!” The smile faded. “Well, Rainbow,” Amber Spark said. “I can see you train fillies just as impertinent as yourself. One hundred deep-knee bends, if you will.” “O-oh,” Scootaloo said. “Okay…” “Not you,” Amber Spark said. She turned to glower at her former student. “This one is responsible for your behavior after all.” “B-but…” Rainbow Dash said. “I’m not even your student any…” “One hundred,” the old mare said. “Deep… knee… bends.” Rainbow Dash sighed and began to bend her knees. Deeply. Ran Biao balanced precariously on one hoof upon a single bamboo shaft. This was a fairly regular exercise for her, training both her balance and her strength. Of course, she had a natural advantage over normal ponies in these areas—even most earth ponies—given her draconic blood. She could only hope that by honing her natural advantages she could overcome that accursed white unicorn’s skill, which had become something like a legend at her great-great grandfather’s school. It irritated her to no end to think about it. It was true that she was a little younger than Rarity A-yi, but she had been a bit larger than her even back then due to dragon-ponies’ natural size. Still, when that glamorous filly was training at the school, it was all Ran Biao could do to keep up. All she could ever see of Rarity was her tail. The cyan longma back-flipped off of her left hind leg and caught herself again on the bamboo shaft with her right front leg. Sweat beaded out from between her scales with the exertion. “I won’t lose to you anymore… Rarity A-yi…” “Hey, Ran,” a young voice called out. The dragon-pony lost her balance upon turning sharply to view the source of the voice, and she fell to the ground. She rubbed her sore head and blearily looked to the intruder. “Ah… hello. You are Spike, yes?” “That’s me!” He padded into the makeshift training room on all fours like a pony, though even grown dragons could go bipedal for a little while. Ran Biao knew quite a bit more about normal dragon anatomy than most ponies in Equestria, naturally, and she could tell that Spike was one of those rare dragons who had managed to stave off the mad hording-driven growth most dragons went through. Instead, he would grow at about the same pace as a normal foal who had not hit a growth spurt. At this time he came to about the same height as a young adult mare when on his hind legs and about half that height on four. Even though she still towered over him, she estimated that he was on the cusp of adulthood. “So I guess you’re in here training? Sorry for interrupting.” “It is fine, Spike,” Ran Biao said. “It is an honor to suffer traumatic brain injury on your account.” “Uh… yeah,” Spike said. “So your grandsire’s got a pretty tough training regiment, huh? I can barely move my arms, today.” Ran Biao regarded him with hooded eyes. The little dragon wasn’t completely inexperienced in her assessment, but he was certainly far below her in terms of skill. Her great-great grandfather was, truthfully, going quite easy on him right now. In fact, she would say that he wasn’t really taking his offer to train the drake seriously, or Spike would be nowhere near this… cheery. “It is an honor to see you making a diligent effort in your training.” Spike grinned happily and sat beside her. “So… Ran… you’re old friends with Rarity, right?” Ran Biao forced a grin. “Friends” was not the word she would have used, though they technically hadn’t tried to kill each other, so perhaps it was close enough. “Of course.” Spike’s eyes gleamed happily. “So… dish! Tell me about what Rarity was like?” Ran gave him an appraising stare. His infatuation with her rival was plain as the scales on his snout, and it brought her back to what was perhaps her greatest victory over the unicorn. Her smile grew genuine as she considered this. Rarity’s reaction to this dragon earlier gave her the impression that the mare was harboring some kind of affection for the dragon. Perhaps not romantic—though given her history it might be—but whatever that affection, Ran Biao thought that perhaps she could use it to her advantage. “Spike, it would be an honor for me to tell you of Rarity A-yi.” Ran Biao tapped her chin with her long serpent’s tail ponderously. “Hmm… what story to tell? Oh, perhaps you would be interested to hear of Rarity’s first love!” His face fell. “Uhh… I dunno…” She gave him a sharp-toothed grin. “I think you may. You see, Rarity’s first love was a dragon… not too unlike yourself.” The purple dragon flushed straight through his scales. “R-really? She… likes dragons?” Ran Biao shrugged. “She liked one, at least. I suppose this means she is capable of liking more. It would be an honor for me to relate this tale.” Spike considered it. “Well… okay! Let me hear it!” Ran Biao began to tell the story. Spina was home to a great number of dragon clans as well as the almost-exclusive home of the longma. Master Lao Wu’s Rising Dragon Hoof school was the jewel of Spina, and both longma and the most noble of the pure-blood dragons attended, as well as a single exotic foreigner to their lands in the form of a white unicorn filly. One day, this filly was training with the Eminent Master Lao Wu. The Master held in his mouth a bullwhip with which he “encouraged” his student to hop along burning poles. The pony was performing masterfully, though not without comment. “Oh, my hooves are getting all sooty, Master! I’m going to have to scrub for hours to get this stain out of my coat! Oh, Master, you took some hairs right out my tail! Those were my favoriiiite!” “Student!” Lao Wu growled in frustration. “You will cease whi—iiii—I mean, complaining! This instant!” He cracked the bullwhip again. “Now do backflip through flaming ring of death, and make snappy!” The white unicorn complied, performing a graceful arch through the ring and sticking the landing without a single hair out of place. “Wait a minute,” Spike interrupted. “Was this a martial arts school or a circus?” Ran Biao blushed and diverted her gaze. “While some of Gau tzeng tzu fu’s methods are unorthodox, I can assure you they are effective in training the greatest kung ma practitioners in all of Spina.” “If you say so,” Spike conceded. “I’m just glad he hasn’t made me do anything like that. Of course, being fireproof and all…” “Yes,” Ran Biao said. “It is only meant as psychological effect. Of course, since Rarity did not have benefit of scales like the rest of students…” “Yeah, that’s harsh,” Spike said. He gestured to her. “Anyway, go on…” At this school as well was a young noble dragon. His scales were like emeralds and his spines were a gleaming gold. He was known as Razorwing, and his name was well deserved, for even as a baby dragon he could cut through the air like a finely forged blade. It was during this training session that Rarity first made the acquaintance of this young dragon. When she landed on the final post, it creaked and groaned under her weight. As graceful as she was, she could not defy gravity, and when the post snapped—having been, it was found later, the target of an unfortunate insect infestation that had weakened its structure—she went tumbling down into a mass of burning spikes. “Why would you even put burning spikes at the bottom of an obstacle course?” Spike said disbelievingly. “Was Master Lao trying to increase his body count? What does that actually do to help training?” “Purely psychological motivation, I assure you,” Ran Biao explained. “But if you fall you really do die. Unless somepony saves you.” And somepony did. Or somedragon, in this case. Razorwing had been fortunate enough to witness this training session, and in marveling at Rarity’s prodigious skill, he saw her tumble. Cutting through the air, he caught her in mid-fall, saving her from a burning, spike-filled doom. Rarity sobbed gratefully, clinging to the handsome dragon as he landed gracefully on the grass. “Oh, thank you, kind dragon,” she cried. “You have saved my life, and for that I am ever grateful. If there is any way in which I can repay you, please tell me!” The emerald dragon smiled at the offer and said, “I desire no more than to be near one as graceful and beautiful as yourself, my Lady.” Things went rather well for the two after that. They spent their meal times together, conducted training together, and all the other things that young lovers are wont to do. They had their first kiss a month after they met, and it was magical, like pure emotion channeled into a single point… “Yeah, yeah,” Spike said uncomfortably. “I get it. That sounds… um… I don’t really need you to describe that part.” He shuffled his feet. “So what happened? Did they just… break up when Rarity had to leave?” “Oh, no,” Ran Biao said. “The story of their break up is too, too tragic.” “Really?” Spike said, eyes large and shimmering. “Yes,” she said. “You see, a filly’s heart is a fickle thing, and after that first kiss… well…” “We can’t go on like this, Razorwing,” Rarity insisted. “We just can’t, you must understand!” “I don’t understand!” Razorwing said. “Everything was going so well.” “Let me make it simple, then,” Rarity said, turning her snout up at the dragon. “I am a unicorn Lady. You are merely a dragon. A beast, really. When I return to Equestria I cannot be seen associating with filth like yourself, you see. What would everypony think? I dream of marrying a member of the unicorn nobility, and no gentlecolt would have me if they knew that I had been with some scaly creature such as yourself!” “Chin ai de(1)…” Razorwing muttered lamely. “What can I do to convince you that I am worthy?” “Well, ‘Darling’,” Rarity said in a sickly sweet voice. “Perhaps if you defeat me in battle I’ll reconsider. Of course, you can’t even defeat Ran Biao. How do you propose to be my shining knight if you can’t even beat a filly?” She turned her tail on the dragon and trot off with a haughty air. The golden spines of the dragon drooped as he watched his love go. He turned, however, to find a blue scaled and fiery-maned longma waiting sympathetically in the wings. She came to him and wrapped him in a sympathetic embrace, having seen the whole thing. The poor reptile sobbed for three hours straight. “Wh-wh-wha…” Spike said, feeling suddenly out of breath. “That’s…” “Tragic, I know,” Ran Biao said. “Rarity A-yi certainly had her reasons. I am sure of it. Still it was painful to see poor Razorwing’s heart torn apart so. Such is way when dragon falls in love with fussy unicorn filly.” Spike sighed and stared at the ground. Hearing those harsh words had reminded him of his own obstacles to winning Rarity’s heart, Ran Biao knew. She smiled warmly at the drake and nuzzled his cheek. “Do not worry, Spike,” she said. “Ponies do not always recognize how handsome dragons can be.” Her draconic eyes flicked down and up his body in an almost lewd appraisal. “Dragons like you are… too, too handsome, I think.” She leaned in and flicked her forked tongue out to graze against his cheek. “Whoa!” Spike said, shocked at the sudden feeling of tongue across his scales. “Please forgive me,” Ran Biao said, turning around and flicking him with the tuft of hair at the end of her dragon-like tail. “I must get back to training, handsome drake. But I will make time for you later.” She turned her head back to him and gave him a languorous wink. “If you desire.” Spike was speechless, but simply turned and stiffly walked out of the room. He shortly found himself near Rarity’s workshop, where she seemed to be dexterously sewing various garments in midair. As he passed, she called out to him. “Oh, hello, Spike darling,” she said. “I was just practicing. Would you be a dear and assist me?” Spike looked at her tentatively. “Uh… you know, Rarity… I think I need to take a walk or something. Maybe later.” He then shot toward the exit as if Diamond Dogs were nipping at his heels. “Well,” Rarity said, a touch of sadness in her voice. “That was odd. Oh, well… he’ll be back eventually, and then we can spend time to—he can assist me, I mean.” Chrysalis changed shape into a pink alicorn princess, and turned to the young changeling beside her. “Alright, now, it’s your turn. Princess Cadance, go!” The changeling by her side was engulfed in green energy and emerged as a pudgy, short, pink alicorn. “How’s this?” Chrysalis glared at her protégé in her Cadance shape. “Horrible, Dear. Longer legs, much thinner—I’m talking anorexia nervosa level—torso…” Aurelia frowned, tears forming in her eyes. “I’ll never get this. I’ll never make you proud or serve the hive.” Chrysalis stopped and her face contorted into a sympathetic expression. “Darling… I… I’m proud of you no matter what you do. You’re still a larva, after all. Most changelings can’t even transform before they go through their chrysalis stage. In any case, we have a month to work on them.” “You mean it?” The Changeling Queen nuzzled the deformed alicorn lovingly. “Of course. Who’s my little ladybug?” Aurelia giggled and replied, “I am!” “Yes, you is!” Chrysalis confirmed, turning the poorly put-together pony over, firmly sealing her muzzle to its belly, and blowing in a fashion that caused amusing noises to issue from its flesh. To be continued… 1 Chin ai de: darling