//------------------------------// // Learning Time // Story: CCC-To Find Her Place // by Fresnor //------------------------------// Dear Twilight Sparkle, Selene, and the other princesses, Believe it or not I finally managed to do something about that leg I lost a few years back. I managed to modify the spell used to create timberwolves with a few other branches of magic and created a fully functional prosthetic leg. It works almost exactly like a real leg with the only real problems being severely reduced feeling in it and having to deal with even more stares than usual. Well then there are also all the jokes the Admiral makes about how well I’d fit in on one of the pirate vessels after reinventing the peg-leg. Hopefully he’ll get tired of the jokes in time though it hasn’t let up much lately. Not much else has really happened around here lately beyond me starting up some training with a new weapon. I know that when I left, neither Twilight nor Selene had chosen anything to train with but I highly suggest doing so as there have been too many times where magic was nearly worthless to me. I’m still working on the final design for mine, but let’s just say that it will be a long time before I’m ready to actually fight with this thing. I apologize for the short letter but as I said not much of interest has been going on. I do wonder how things have been going on your end though since it has been a while since I could send or receive letters. While I’ve been able to distract myself over the years only Luna and Celestia have the experience on your end to move on after losing friends. I only hope that they are helping you other three and that you take their advice to heart as much as you can. Your Friend, Flarenza I let out a loud yelp somehow manage to smack myself in the rear much to the amusement of the watching guards, both diamond dog and kitsune. Since I had decided to choose a rather exotic weapon I found that there was nobody around to teach me in its use so I had to learn from doing after creating my own training version. I had most of the real weapon planned out but I wanted to be at least somewhat proficient before putting in the effort to make it. At least I was getting better as I no longer went to bed as a solid lump of bruises like the first few months. Shaking my head and letting out another sigh I started over with the basic forms I had created for the weapon, trying not to hit myself this time. While there was nothing specific for this weapon, I had borrowed ideas from some others as well as a few from drawings detailing how a few others were used. I began with the weapon in my jaws and swung it from the eight cardinal directions in front of me ten times each. From there I repeated the same motions but using the weapon from my tails instead of my mouth. Once I was satisfied that I had the motions down I started in on the more complicated motions I planned out. I began with a wide sweeping motion from one side to the other before bringing the rosaries up and over into a downward swing from above before retracting it into a neutral stance again. This was the move that I screwed up with last time so I made sure to not make the same mistake again. I was starting to get a feel for the motions this time when an unwelcome voice broke my concentration. “So I see that you’ve finally found something to do other than sit with your nose buried in dusty old tomes all day. Granted you seem to be doing something wrong if I don’t miss my guess.” I glare at Duke Okami as I try to unwrap myself from my weapon that ended up tangled around me. “Well excuse me for trying to learn something new that requires a bit of concentration while learning how to use it.” I grumble to myself as I finally free myself from my rosary whip just to have the end of it catch under my paw causing me to fall to the ground. This of course causes the Duke and the watching guards to break out laughing yet again. As my concentration was now shot I decided that it was time to move onto something else for the day while everyone else was distracted. <><><><><><><> Over the next few weeks I steadily improved with my weapon though often enough I had an audience that got rather annoying, especially when Duke Okami showed up. I did get some support from the Admiral which helped a bit, but my frustrations did bleed a bit into other areas. “Duchess Flarenza!” I smile as the class of youngsters all bounded up to me in excitement. I could feel most of my annoyance melt away as I interacted with the children. There always was a core of annoyance though at how off the treatment based on the number of tails one had as it only started after they earned their second tail. Even then those few born to noble families still had an advantage in that their families tended to help them out some though they were mostly treated equally until that point. I pushed those negative thoughts away and instead focused on the bit of joy I found in teaching the younglings something that I had found useful but many looked down upon. “So who is ready to learn more of the languages that I used during my travels?” I laughed as they all started jumping about in excitement as I glanced up at the teacher shaking her head at her class being derailed once again. Considering how things worked around here though she never would say anything in complaint as she was only a three-tail. After looking at what they the children though I wasn’t too sorry about exploiting that fact as I try to add things here and there to enrich the classes. Turning back to my class I grin as I think of a way to relieve a bit more stress at the expense of some of the more annoying nobility. “Well I’m sure many of you have found out who knows this language so be sure to share that information as you don’t want to be heard saying some of these words together in front of them.” I watch as the teacher’s eyebrow rises at this as I smirk at her and switch to equestrian common. “Duke Okami is a pretentious flamboyant fop.” I run them through it a few times before explaining what each of the words translates into in the kitsune tongue while leaving out any more mention of the Duke’s name. It’s only when the kits starts giggling madly that the teacher realizes exactly what I said and stares at me in horror. I continue this with a few other languages as well, switching out the name for another noble that had annoyed me lately. By the end of my time there the teacher was completely frozen up in shock and the students were having the time of their lives. I knew that I’d probably get some flak over this later, but that was Future Flarenza’s problem. It was even possible that none of this would even reach the ears of anyone that matters as they tend to avoid those they consider lesser than themselves. As I left the facility I stopped by a few of the building’s staff that had caught my interest to drop a word here and there. I tried to be as subtle as possible with the changes I was pushing as change was often fought against. I simple correction here and there or an improvement on an idea often began a chain reaction of change that couldn’t be stopped I had found. Of course when the change was as in something such as the medical field things went much faster as I had found when news of my new leg came out. A lot of my time was taken up running back and forth between the doctors of the kingdom and Lady Ogitsu making sure that only approved information was passed along. Much of it was fine as it was generally ideas and simple things that I had learned and was common knowledge in Equestria, but there was the occasional thing tied heavily to darker magics that I wasn’t allowed to pass along to them. Still I had been slowly improving the lives of the lesser-tailed kitsune in every way I could. Some of the information I spread hadn’t even reached the ears of the nobles as it was so far beneath them so those focused on growing anything were better off than before as passed on some simple farming and growing tips. Well, most of the nobles didn’t pay attention at least, though the Admiral was a big exception as well as Duke Okami for some reason. The fact that it felt like he was always watching me was one of the things that annoyed me. <><><><><><><> It had taken years to get it ready, but I finally finished the most important parts of my rosary whip. Much of the time needed was in saturating the last rosewood tree I had with my blood so that I could get the more complicated enchantments to work. That along with more blood during the final crafting linked all the pieces of it together even when they were separate. That, along with the silver cord I had acquired as well as forty gemstones allowed me to make it where each ten centimeter bead could hold a different enchantment yet still affect the entire thing. Creating and powering that enchantment alone took five of the forty beads. That allowed me to apply more enchantments on it to strengthen it so that it would take vast amounts of magic to damage the weapon, as well as make it light as a feather to me while each bead would be as heavy as a boulder to anyone else. Those, along with an enchantment to allow me to more easily channel magic through it, took up almost all the gems I used in its creation. That left only seven more gems for me to work with; five after I finished up with the kill-switch enchant, so I could regulate the power of the others, and a size enchantment allowing me to partially change the size and shape of it all when needed. I give it a test flick once I finished the last few enchantments; marveling at the how light I was able to make it, but wince when I notice the chunk of the wall smashed open by it. “Well it’s good to know that it’s working like I wanted it to, but I might have to be a bit more careful with it. It’s going to take a bit of work to test out exactly how the enchantments will interact with each other.” Deciding that it was never too early to start I wrapped the whip around a tail before shrinking it down to a more manageable size. I nodded at how well it looked as a decoration before heading out to find somewhere to practice a bit with it. There really weren’t many safe places for me to test my new creation out at that wouldn’t cause problems in some way. That pretty much left either the guard training grounds or somewhere far outside of the city. Since safety was a concern and my guards couldn’t be nearby if I went to somewhere isolated that just left the training grounds. Of course the problem with training there was the constant heckling I had been getting over the years of my training with the practice weapon which made it look like I was just fooling around. It was still relatively early when I arrived there so those that were there were currently busy with their own daily practice. I doubt that would last long as some of the usual hecklers had noticed me and already looked to be picking up their pace to finish faster. I just sigh as I move to the area I usually practice at and begin with my usual stretching routine. After the first time of not doing any when I started adding body movements to my routine I made sure to never make that mistake again. I wanted to be sure I had my routine down so I started one last time with my old training weapon just as a precaution. I skipped the usual repetition and went through it all only once before I started my preparations for my tests of the new weapon. By this time though I was starting to draw the usual crowd so I signaled for some specialists to shield the area for me as well as some target dummies. When the crowd noticed this, the heckling started to begin. “What is this? It’s not like anything you can do with that toy is going to hurt anything.” I didn’t catch who it was that said that, but I was seriously getting tired of the doubt and hoped my new weapon worked as I expected. Since words never did anything to shut them up before I just started in with a few test swings of my weapon, marveling at how easy the weapon moves, before really starting in on something a bit more complicated. After doing a small test to the link, to make sure I could set the enchantments, I swing the whip in a downward smash at the first target and watch as it explodes on impact and the ground beneath it crack and slightly crater. Immediately after I retract the weapon towards me and gather it up into a coil before thrusting it forward causing the whip to extend rapidly forward at another target, blasting right through it and shattering the shield behind it as the first bead hits it. Seeing the barrier around my training ring shatter after such a simple hit I stop and stare at the kitsune whose job it was to keep it up. I notice that the heckling had stopped after those last two moves and I even saw a few jaws that were wide open. “Really? So after all this time of many of you bragging about how much better you all were and that I was just playing around it only takes one simple hit to break a training barrier? I’d hate to have seen what would happen if I was going all out instead of just getting a feel for my weapon.” I see a few of the guards start to back away in worry at my words though one voice rises up from the back. “Well it’s about time that you finally show us what you were up to, and I’m disappointed with the behavior of my guards, especially the ones in charge of containing any problems. They should know better than to slack off like that and endanger everyone by holding back like they just did.” I watch as a hole opens up in the crowd around me and a grizzled looking female five-tail walks through. I had never met her before but just from my first impression I could tell she was a no-nonsense type which was something I hadn’t seen much of from nobles. “Now you head to the medics to get that backlash treated then head back to your commander for retraining.” She raises her voice for the next part. “We need four shield specialists over here for high level weapons training, and no holding back this time.” I nod to her in thanks as I prepare to go back to my practice once again as four new kitsune surround the area. Once they all nod at me signaling they are ready I enter a combat stance once again. I decide to make sure that the shield is sufficiently powerful this time before I begin seriously again. Putting up a personal shield I then channel a spell through my whip before flourishing it in an arc above me, launching a ball of fire from each bead except the ten nearest to me. I watch as they all impact with the shield and I see the ones making it wince but the shield still holds. Nodding to myself now that I was sure that the shield could handle any accidents I go back to my practice once again. There was much less heckling this time after seeing what my weapon could do so I was better able to focus on what my weapon could do. While it was a bit more responsive than my training weapon, it did take some getting used to as I needed to get the timing down again. Using my magic through it made for an interesting experience as it allowed me to store up multiple spells at once and release them only when I needed to, though the charge faded quickly if I didn’t use it. I did notice a potential problem in that I will need to be much more careful about using it around friends as it would do as much damage to them as my targets so accuracy and precision would be vastly important, that or be able to instantly be able to switch the stone-weight enchant on and off in an instant. After some testing I did manage to figure out a way to tweak it so that it only puts out enough weight to negate the impact in such a way that it only puts off enough force to put something at a stop without any rebound or pressure. It did confuse a few onlookers as they expected the target dummy to be blown away instead of stopping my weapon as if it didn’t even feel it. I was actually starting to enjoy myself as well but of course the usual problem showed up. “So you finally figured out how to take handle stationary targets I see. Maybe you would like to give it a shot against a moving target now? It’s been a while since I had the chance to face someone that I wouldn’t completely overwhelm.” I sigh as I turn towards the side to see Duke Okami with his annoying grin on his face like usual. I was about to decline, but after the last few years of his antics I decided to take the chance to finally get a few hits on him. “You know what fine. If you want to risk yourself while I’m still learning everything that I can do with this, then go right ahead.” With a signal to the guards the head off to fetch his weapon he also calls in a couple more specialists to help with shields around both of us. They wouldn’t be enough to stop bruises and pain, but should be enough to stop fatal blows. I wasn’t sure what weapon to expect them to bring out for the Duke, but I really wasn’t expecting a simple spear. Seeing as the level of danger had gone up more specialists were called in making it where we had almost every available one protecting the area. In fact it looked like we had all the guards preparing to watch our sparring match. It wasn’t that hard to ignore them though since I had a couple years to practice doing so against their worst behavior. We both prepare ourselves on opposite sides of the ring and I keep an eye on him to try and get some idea of what style he may use. There was something familiar about some of his movements but I couldn’t quite place my paw on it. As we stared each other down I noticed that he still had his idiotic grin plastered on his face which was annoying me. It felt like he wasn’t taking this seriously so once the signal was given to start I opened with a sweeping strike that would be easily blocked. As I hoped he tried to simply bat my attack away just for my weapon to push right through his guard relentlessly. I let out a small grin at the shock on his face but I was surprised as he still somehow managed to dodge. Yet even then his grin didn’t vanish for long and it seemed even larger than before. Huh, so I guess he does have some skills. Maybe he’s not as useless of a noble as I thought if he actually knows how to fight. While I was expecting him to be flattened by my blow, I actually had to give him a bit of respect for being able to react as fast as he did. I watch him shift his stance a bit more and then I recognize his style to be something akin to what Zecora used. At least now he looked like he was taking more seriously as he dodges my next strike which came in faster than my last one. Now that I recognized a bit of his style I was able to predict a bit more of what he would do. This was proven as he started leaping around more using his spear as an assist even though he held it mostly in his magic. He hadn’t tried attacking directly yet but he was able to dodge even some of my most unpredictable attacks that I created by redirecting the path of my whip with my magic. I almost got him the first time though as he tried to use the impact of my weapon to propel himself across the ring just for it to stop on impact and the rest of it swing around behind him towards his head before he ducked. Of course things turned around a bit when he finally went on the offensive and moved in close to make it harder for me to use any stronger attacks. I swirled my weapon in some complicated movements to try and keep him off of me as well as keeping my weapon in a constant motion to keep the momentum going. When he tried to get behind me I even managed to pull out a new maneuver by getting my weapon to spiral around me to drive him back yet again. It felt like we had been fighting for hours yet judging from the sun it was only a few minutes even though I was breathing a bit hard. Duke Okami didn’t seem affected much though which worried me a bit though it surprised me. I had almost forgotten my annoyance with him as I started to wonder what I really knew about him beyond what he always showed off. As I started in on another attack he decided to open his mouth yet again to throw me off. “So how do you think I’m doing for a pretentious flamboyant fop now?” The words alone may not have thrown me off much; but the fact that he said it in equestrian common made me stumble a bit as he was moving in. Because of this unpredictable action I tripped and collided into him as my whip went wide and out of control. The world started to spin a bit as things went out of control and I lost track of everything for a moment. When the dust settled I found my muzzle in close proximity to the Duke’s as we both stared at each other with my whip wrapped around us. “Well this was rather unexpected.” His words broke the silence and made me realize our predicament causing me to blush. With a bit of a scramble I extended my whip out, allowing it to loosen up, and scrambled away from him. I was too flustered to say anything so all I could do was run off back to my home.