//------------------------------// // Combat Training // Story: My Little Pony does Lord of the Rings // by AuthorQuill //------------------------------// Chapter 4 Combat Training Meeting up with the girls outside of Ponyville, we proceeded to a large field where the first day of rehearsals began. Which meant the moment I've been waiting for had finally arrived. COMBAT TRAINING!! Eeeeheee!! I'm so excited!! I even got the greatest combat trainer in Equestria, Bob Canterson. He's done so many battles for so many Equestrian films like The Princess Bride, The Mask of Zorro, Pirates of the Canterbbean: The Curse of the Black Pastry and so many others. But, this may be his magnum opus as Rarity would say. I could see Bob setting up the arena for Twilight and the others, weapons strewn about. Smiling, I went up to him. “Hi, Bob. How're things?” I asked. The elderly pony smiled back, putting down one of the swords. “Things are perfectly fine, Aurora. Is the cast ready?” he asked. I nodded. Soon, a whole horde of ponies came forward, Twilight leading the pack. I could see that the group was the Mane 6, the CMC's, Trixie, Time Turner, Ditzy, Princess Celestia, Big Macintosh, Octavia, Vinyl Scratch as Haldir and stand-in for Isildur, Shining Armor and a few of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna's guards for sword fodder. Bob smiled, glad that he had a large class to teach. Everypony sat on the ground, as I said, “Everypony, I'd like to welcome you to the first day of rehearsals. Today is combat training!” Everypony cheered. “As you all are probably aware by now, combat is a big part of the Lord of the Rings script, so for now, I'll leave you in the very capable hooves of our swordmaster, Bob Canterson!!” I said, as Bob approached. Wasting no time with introductions, Bob was a stallion that got right down to business. “Now, will the members of the Fellowship come forward?” he asked. Twilight and the others, along with the CMC's came forward. Pulling a clipboard out, Bob smiled. “Alright, come forward when I call your name and the name of your character. Twilight Sparkle; Gandalf the Grey,” he said, as Twilight stepped forward and was given a wooden staff and a practice sword that had the name Glamdring scrawled on it. She smiled, twirling the sword around and swinging the staff. “Applejack; Aragorn,” he said, as Applejack stepped forward. Bob gave Applejack a practice sword along with a practice bow and quiver of arrows. Applejack tipped her hat. “Rainbow Dash; Boromir,” he said. Rainbow Dash hovered up, as Bob gave her a practice sword, a practice shield, and a practice dagger. She winked, nodding her head. “Fluttershy; Legolas.” Fluttershy came forward, hesitantly reaching for the practice bow, quiver of arrows and twin fighting daggers that Bob was giving her. She smiled very small, going over to the side with the rest of the girls. “Rarity; Gimli.” Rarity trotted up, trying hard to keep ahold of the the large double bladed axe that Bob was giving her, as well as using her magic to take the two smaller single bladed axes. She smiled at the rest of the ponies. “Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, Dinky Doo, and Scootaloo; Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, Meriadoc Brandybuck, and Peregrin Took.” The CMC's approached, as they were given very small practice swords. Once the Fellowship was armed, Bob then turned to the other ponies. “The first fight we are going to practice will be the fight in Balin's Tomb in Moria. Will the Princess's guards come forward please?” A small group of Princess Celestia's guards came forward, becoming outfitted in orcish practice weapons and shields. Then, Bob set to work. “Now, that rock in the middle will be the casket that Balin is in. Rarity, I need you to stand on top of it, wielding both of your small axes,” he said. Rarity nodded and did as he said. “Applejack, I need you to be to the right of Rarity. You'll be wielding your bow, but not yet. I've got to show you how,” he said. Applejack nodded and got in place. “Fluttershy, I need you right in the center, in front of Rarity. You'll also have your bow out, but not yet,” he said. Fluttershy nodded, very slowly getting in place. “Rainbow Dash, you're to the left of Fluttershy. You're going to have your shield and sword out, but don't do anything yet,” he said. Rainbow nodded, giddy with anticipation. “Twilight, you and the Cutie Mark Crusaders are in the back behind Applejack. Twilight, you are in the front, with Scootaloo behind you, then Applebloom, then Sweetie Belle, and Dinky's last. Now, you guards, the line you all start making noise at is, There is one unicorn in Moria who still draws breath. Understood?” All nodded. Bob smiled. “Good. Now, will the rest of the Fellowship sit down, while I work with Applejack for a bit. Converse amongst yourselves. Fluttershy, will you also come up?” he said, as the farm pony waited. Taking the bow from Applejack, Bob strung an arrow into it. “Now, pull back on the string as hard as you can,” he said to the pegasus and earth pony. They nodded and pulled back on the string with their forehooves, keeping the arrow taut. Then, Bob said, “On my mark, release.” They both nodded, waiting for the signal. Waving a few of the guards forward, Bob held up his hoof, then a hush fell over everypony. Then, he swiped his hoof down, giving the signal. Applejack and Fluttershy released their arrows, as the guards fell, then they got up, filling the role of new goblins. Applejack and Fluttershy re-strung the arrows in the bows, and released them again. Soon, after a few repeats of those moves, the guards were within breathing distance of Applejack and Fluttershy. Bob smiled. “STOP!!” he shouted. “Well done, Applejack. Fluttershy,” he said. Calling up Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and the CMC's, they all got back into position. Bob then instructed Rainbow and AJ how to use their swords. I smiled. It was going to be a good rest of the day. ~o0o~ After going over the big battles in the movie, namely the Battle between Gandalf and Saruman, the Battle of Amon Hen, the Battle of Helms Deep, the Battle of Minas Tirith, the Battle of Osgiliath, the Battle of Pelennor Fields, and the Battle at the Black Gate. The prologue battle, the Battle of the Last Alliance, was also done. Pretty soon, everypony was tired, but satisfied, knowing that they'd accomplished the first day of rehearsals. I smiled, as everypony went back to their homes. Bob packed up, telling me that he'd be there to really teach them how to use their real weapons, but for now, we had to get through the read through first. This was gonna be awesome.