The sun shined brightly on a new beautiful day. The birds were chirping, pony folks greeted one another; overall it was just a perfect day in Ponyville. Scootaloo was out riding her scooter through the town, going as fast as ever, when she saw a ramp coming up ahead. She wasn’t worried about it at all. She aimed the scooter and went full blast towards it, flapping her wings quickly for extra speed then launched herself up the ramp and into the air, spinning around in a full 360 degree spin before landing in a puddle of water and skidding to a stop just a few feet away from it. The young pegasus felt proud of herself, imagining the awe of the on lookers. Turning around, a huge smirk came onto her face when she saw she accidentally splashed Diamond Tiara and Silver spoon after landing in the puddle.
Scootaloo couldn’t help but laugh at them. “Man, you look ridiculous!”
Diamond Tiara scowled as she retorted as she usually did. “OH SHUT IT, BLANK-”
“Na uh!” Scootaloo interrupted her. “That’s not right anymore since I already got my cutie mark!”
Diamond Tiara’s eyes flicked towards the pegasus’s cutie mark as she tried to come up with other insults, unfortunately for her she could not think of any and her face started turn red, clearly embarrassed and frustrated.
“Now if you could excuse me, I have to be somewhere.” With that, Scootaloo turned around and sped off on her scooter.
After a while, Scootaloo got to the place she had been racing to. The Cutiemark Crusader club house. She parked her scooter just next to it and quickly ran up the ramp and entered through the door. Inside were three other foals, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Imp. Each turning to look at Scootaloo.
“There you are!” Said Sweetie Belle. “You're late.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Scootaloo picked up her cape and headed to the drum set.
Today was the day that Imp would become a Cutie Mark Crusader. They may have all gotten their cutie marks, but they didn’t want to let the name go. The three had their capes on with Applebloom stood at the podium and she began to speak.
“We the Cutie Mark Crusaders are proud to announce that a new member has joined the ranks of the CMC. Imp, come forward.”
Imp stepped forward and stood tall as Sweetie Belle came in with the cape and tied it around his neck.
“I hereby announce, Imp, the newest member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders!”
Scootaloo began to pound on the drums, getting more excited with each beat and it got out of hoof quickly as it became very noisy. She soon noticed the others reaction to this and stopped.
“Well now that this is over. It’s time to take you to the Armor Fillies temple!” Imp said to the others.
“Oh yeah, time for some action!” Scootaloo said with excitement.
“Well you could say that but it’s much more than you expect.”
In the middle of the Everfree forest, Warp continued to struggle walking by the forest path.
“Damn it!” Warp couldn’t walk no more and fell down on the ground. “Guess I should've accounted for the damage that those fillies did to me.”
Howls began within the forest. Loud growls could be heard getting closer and closer until finally they showed themselves. Timberwolves surrounded the stallion getting ready to jump on their prey. Suddenly they sprang forward as they went for the kill, but a quick wind came in and in a heartbeat destroyed two of the Timber wolves bringing the others to a stop.
Warp looked up to see Dufus between him and the wolves.
“You are not feasting on my boss tonight!” He shouted, jumping up and down in excitement.
Three of the timberwolves ducked low and charged at him, but a blue earth pony with a black mane jumped in and blocked their attacks. His cutie mark was a skull with weights similar to a set he carried in his hooves.
“HA HA!” He laughed as he swung his weights at the timberwolves, shattering them into pieces. “I, Bracker, will not let puny timberwolves hurt me!”
As the Timberwolves laid in shattered piece around the other two ponies, the last of the timberwolves snuck up from behind the brown unicorn and when it saw it’s opening it without dove in to attack, aiming at the base of his neck. The timberwolf was then sliced in half by a black unicorn with a lighting style mane and a cutie mark of a sword. The remains of the beast fell around Warp on the floor.
“That was easy.” The black unicorn said as he shrugged.
“Well, what do you expect Scar!?” Darla shouted. “These animals don’t know how to think.” She sighed.
“Well at least the boss is okay,” Dufus bent down and picked Warp up laying him over his back. “Let’s get you to the abandoned castle, shall we?”
“Just please... go slow.” The brown unicorn could barely talk because of the pain he was in.
The group headed through the forest and made it to the abandoned castle of the two royal sisters. It was now occupied by them as well as the remaining henchmen. Warp looked around from Dufus’ back and noticed a decrease of stallions in the castle.
“I see that not all of us made it.”
“Well some of them became captured and they are now in prison, thanks to Celestia.” Darla answered.
Dufus put Warp down on the staircase slowly.
“Well it isn’t much of huge loss.” Warp said, shrugging his shoulders.
“Aren’t you afraid they might give away your plan?” Scar pointed out. Warp looked to the unicorn and just smiled.
“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that. These stallions may not know this but I implanted a chip in their brains. It makes them quickly forget what they have done in the past seven weeks.”
Darla couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, you are so dashing!” She formed a devilish smile.
“Did you get the present that I sent you?”
“Oh, we did boss!” Bracker went to get the glass vase filled with energy. “Let me tell ya, trying not to break this was really hard to do.”
Warp put his hooves into it and rubbed it all over his face with a psychotic grin. “Ahhh, it’s still fresh!”
“So what is the plan now boss?” Scar asked with curiosity.
Warp managed to get up and walk a few steps ahead. He stood still for a moment before he fell down on the castle floor. The four quickly headed to his aid but stopped quick when they heard him snoring.
“I’m guessing he needs some rest,” Scar mentioned. “Alright let’s get ready. Once he wakes up, our plans will go into motion.
Everything was quiet at the front of the temple as a bright flash appeared suddenly and then faded signalling the arrival of Imp, Scootaloo, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle.
“Woah!” Scootaloo said stumbling, a bit woozy from the teleportation spell. “Well that was an odd ride.”
Imp giggled a little. “Well, you’ll just have to get used it because that is your only way of getting here. Besides you didn’t feel anything when Faust teleported us here.”
“Yeh, but that was much less woozy.” Applebloom mentioned.
The three quickly walked up the stairs with Imp walking behind at a slow pace. As they all got to the entrance, the doors opened themselves wide and let them in. Once inside, they were greeted by Faust as well as other ponies with robes.
“Welcome back,” She greeted the young ponies with a warm welcome and began introducing them to the ponies in robes. “Cutie mark Crusaders, meet the council.”
One stepped forward and pulled his robe back that was covering his head. He was a blue unicorn with a blonde mane and green eyes. “Well it’s nice to meet you. My name is Skiss and I’ll be your trainer for the day.”
“It’s mighty fine to meet you, Skiss!” Applebloom was the first to greet him.
Scootaloo couldn’t help but laugh which didn’t go unnoticed.
“Did you find something funny, my child?” He asked, raising his eyebrow.
“Nothing… I just thought Skiss is weird name for an adult like you.” She started giggling again.
“It’s true, that is a weird name, I’m not afraid to admit that.”
Skiss couldn’t help but laugh along with her.
“Alright then, tell me, when are we gonna start training?” Applebloom couldn’t help but ask. Skiss smiled as he looked down at the eager filly.
“Alright. Right this way, fillies.”
Skiss and the rest began to walk through a big hallway with many doors like the entrance, only each of them had symbols describing what they were for. Once they got to the end, they reached a door with a symbol of a ‘POW’ sign that you see in comics. Once it opened, they were greeted to the training room of the temple. The three were amazed at all the equipment and facilities everywhere. As they went into the room they could see other fillies and colts training and honing their skills.
“I think this day got 20% cooler!” Scootaloo couldn’t help but let out all of her excitement.
“Alright, starting today we are going to help you learn on the basics of combat as well as teaching you how to use your armor properly. Me and Imp will help you if you ever get stuck. So, with that said…” He paused for a moment as the three fillies turn to face him. “Let’s get started!”
“Now the most important aspect of your armor is that once you summon it, you have a weapon that goes along with it and the weapon is in the style of your cutie mark. Take for example, Imp’s weapon.”
Imp summoned his two yo-yo’s before him.
“Now his weapon is his trusty yo-yo because that is the form of his cutie mark. Depending on what your talent is, the weapon that you’ll get will be based around it,” He looked at Sweetie Belle. “Sweetie Belle would you mind putting on your armor and summoning your weapon?”
Sweetie Belle nodded and summoned her armor. “Ok, so now what?”
Skiss looked at Imp. “Alright Imp, I want you to aim at those practice dummies but not hit them.”
Imp launched his two yo-yos at the dummies and as it looked like the yo-yo’s were about to collide with the dummies, they instead spun around them and flew right back at Imp who caught them with no effort.
“You see. The weapon that you have is a part of you.” Skiss said.
The three raised their left eyebrows in confusion.
“What I mean, is that your weapons are a form of magic that is part of you. Have you ever heard the saying ‘Each pony race has a magic they can control.’? Well that would account for here too. Why don’t you give it a shot Sweetie Belle?”
Sweetie Belle looked towards the dummies and stepped up. She did the same thing that Imp did; launching her Mic at the dummy and tried to bring it back with sheer will power. Unfortunately it didn’t go as planned. As she willed her weapon to return, it came back so fast, she had to duck to avoid it causing the weapon to accidentally hit Scootaloo who wasn’t prepared to dodge it. Sweetie Belle immediately ran up to her.
“Oh my gosh! Scootaloo are you okay!?”
Scootaloo’s eyes spun around in her head for a moment before she shook it off and focused on the white unicorn before her.
“I’m fine, don’t worry about it. Besides,” Scootaloo sat up and rubbed her head. “You’re not gonna get it on the first try anyway.”
“But,” Sweetie Belle looked to Skiss, confused. “I managed to handle this on my own before? Why didn’t it work now?”
“It could be that you were in danger that time. This training will help you raise your awareness so that you may always be ready.” Skiss turned around. “Well we should not waste time because we need to get to the next part of the lesson,”
“The armor that you have increases one’s body strength up by 50%. Sometimes even higher if you work hard enough.” Skiss pointed his hoof to the bar poles on the ceiling. “Imp would you mind?”
Imp launched one of his yo-yos, wrapping it around one of the bars. He pulled himself in and launched himself up into the air. Using his fast reflexes, he threw his other yo-yo which wrapped around the other bar and swing himself there. Imp repeated this until he reached the end, let go, and managed to land easily on all four legs.
The CMC couldn’t help but clap for the demonstration that they received. Skiss looked at Scootaloo.
“Alright Scootaloo, you’re up." He pointed at the running track. “I want you to go around this simple track four times in under five seconds.”
Scootaloo smiled with confidence.
“Oh, I see where this is going,” She raised her front hoof up and summoned her scooter. “I accept your Challenge!”
Scootaloo headed to the starting line of the track. She took a deep breath, charged up her scooter and squinted her eyes. Skiss brought out his pocket watch.
“Ready...set...GO!”
Once Scootaloo heard those words, she shot off at blazing speed. With each passing second, she completed a full lap, pushing herself as hard as she could, everything around her becoming a blur. Once she hit the last lap, the pegasus quickly skidded along the side to stop with a cool practised pose.
“So? How did I do? Was I awesome!” Scootaloo crossed her hooves confident she’d smashed it.
“I have to say, I’m impressed.” He smiled. “You only barely made it on the last lap with 4.999 seconds.”
Scootaloo could help but gloat.
“Well I am the student of the coolest and fastest pony to ever live.”
Skiss nodded.
“I guess you are. But now let’s head to the final part of your introduction to training, shall we?”
“Now this is the most important part of your training. You see if you’re going to face difficult opponents, then you’re always going to need to think one step ahead of them. I have heard from Faust that you managed to beat Warp with lucky shots. However that can’t be the answer to every battle that you face with opponents who are like him. This is why today, Imp and I will be your sparring partners.”
The three dropped their jaws. Imp immediately got into a fighting position. Skiss continued.
“Alright you three, time to get ready. I want to know where you stand on experience."
The stallion took off his robe and showed that he had two wooden sticks with him against his sides. His cutie mark happened to resemble two bow staffs crossing each other. “Ready? Begin!”
The two charged in to strike first but luckily the fillies managed to dodge out of the way. Scootaloo recovered quickly and began to charge at them with her scooter still with her. Skiss threw his two staffs at her wheels which caused her to lose her balance and fall off her scooter. Sweetie Belle quickly went to save her as she threw her mic for Scootaloo to catch, but it was knocked out the air by Imp’s yo-yos.
“Sorry, but you got to think a lot smarter than that!” Imp leaped in to attack and clearly outmatched Sweetie as she couldn’t keep up with his strikes.
Applebloom ran in to help Scootaloo, summoning a paint brush in her mouth and struck at Skiss when she saw her chance, but unfortunately she only managed to get a smudge of red paint on him. Skiss quickly went on the offence, brought his staves back to himself and swung both of them at her. Applebloom tried to take in the blows but could not endure them. With a quick thought, she summoned a canvas shield to block the attacks. Skiss couldn’t help but smile.
“Well, I see where this is going. But…” He jumped over her and knocked the yellow filly off of her hooves and pinning her down. “You still haven’t thought this through enough!”
Scootaloo managed to recover and stand on her hooves. Looking over she saw that Sweetie was having trouble handling Imp and with no hesitation, she charged in as fast as she could and jumped him, hitting him from his blind spot. Imp recovered instantly and threw his other yo-yo at her. Scootaloo expected this and dodged the incoming attack but didn’t expect it to come back so quickly, hitting her in the back of the head and knocking the pegasus to the ground. Imp looked on at her triumphantly.
“Scootaloo, you should've seen that coming," He giggled.
“GOTCHA!” Sweetie Belle took the opportunity to attack, but Imp was completely on guard, fainting a distraction. His yo-yo came at her and hit her right in the centre of her stomach causing her to drop to her knees.
“You didn’t think I’d leave myself open for that simple attack, did you?”
Skiss called the fight was off after that, deciding that the CMC had been humiliated enough. Applebloom wasn’t please with their treatment.
“NO FAIR! You didn’t let us have time to think!” She shouted in frustration.
Skiss shook his head from side to side.
“Well, would the enemy let you have time to think?” The Crusaders didn’t respond. They knew what the answer was. “Whenever you fight an enemy, they will strike at the first opportunity they see, and sometimes that is when you try to think of a strategy,” He walked up to Applebloom. “The point that I’m trying to say is that you need to quickly think under the set pressure that you have and make sure that it works. You got some brains but you don’t have the brawn to execute them."
Imp didn’t speak a single word, knowing how true Skiss’ words were. The stallion took a deep breath and smiled.
“Well that should be the end of your introduction. I hope you enjoyed yourselves."
Faust entered the room. She spotted the group and headed towards them.
“So, how was the first day of training?”
“Well it was rough, but I think they all handled it well.” Imp replied.
She smiled.
“Well I think it’s time for you all to go home. It is getting late and you don’t want your family to start worrying about you, do you?”
“SHOOT! I don’t want to get grounded!” Applebloom's face became paler just thinking about it.
“Alright you four, why don’t you stand in a group and I will gladly transport you back to Ponyville.”
Without hesitation, the four stood together as a group. Imp happened to be caught in the middle of it which made him feel uncomfortable. The light on Faust’s horn formed and softly landed on the group, teleporting them back to Ponyville. With the fillies gone, Skiss turned to the mare.
“Why didn’t you tell them that Warp is still out there?”
Her smile wavered into a slight frown. “I didn’t want to scare them. That’s all."
Skiss couldn’t help but find it irresponsible. “Do you think he won’t show up at any moment? After all, we know what he is up to and I don’t think those four will be able to stop him.”
Faust looked away. “I know... it’s just that I don’t want to stress them out. Especially Imp, after knowing how he felt when he fought Warp.”
Skiss rubbed his head. “Well it’s your choice here. However, if you don’t tell them about this, things will not go in your favour.” Skiss headed to leave the room, but before he left, he spoke back over his shoulder. “It’s not best to keep things from him, especially if he trusts you. The time you decide to tell him about it, could be too late."
Faust stood alone in the room and looked down on herself.
“Why... Why can’t I tell him up straight about this?”
She turned and left the training room, thinking on what she should do next.