//------------------------------// // Act 2 Chapter 11 // Story: Collision Code // by SSJRandomMaster //------------------------------// Act II: Collision Course Chapter 11: The Power of Determination --------------- For the average citizen, it was a restful night. They had no idea of the ongoing situation. They lived in utter safety, assured that nothing serious was going on. Of course, several creatures living in Ponyville knew the truth. A few of them were already up and about, the sun barely completely up. And at least one of them had a particularly restless night.   Shining Armor wasn’t quite like his sister when it came to stress. But it didn’t mean it didn’t affect him all the same. He had been up at almost the same time Twilight got up, maybe slightly earlier. Corey was still out like a light. Though his breathing sounded more normal, he hadn’t been showing many other signs of life.   He sat in a chair in the living room area, an empty plate in front of him and a half-empty mug of tea on his left. He cast another glance back up towards the bed room. Corey wasn’t snoring anymore, but he hadn’t yet come down. He was probably still asleep…or struggling to move around to prepare for the day.   Given the condition he was in when he got home, Shining thought, returning his gaze towards his mug, He’s probably still very sore. He won’t be in any shape to continue…   Shining grabbed the mug and took a sip from it, still in deep thought, I know he’s not fit for this kind of thing, but what choice do either of us have? He seemed to understand why, in any case. But I don’t know. In my time in the Royal Guards, I’ve never— “Have you come up with anything?” asked Twilight, taking a seat across from him. Shining jerked his head up to look at her, called out of his thoughts by the question. He blinked, then offered a sigh.   “No,” Shining said, “You?”   “I could try to learn spells that could at least relieve the pain,” Twilight said, “But the stuff you’re asked to do in the Royal Guard was…”   “Demanding,” Shining sighed, rubbing at the back of his head, “Even if you were along to relieve the pain he was in, his muscles would still probably buckle under the pressure. And, I’d want you to try to get yourself ready too…”   “I’m not…” Twilight paused, “too worried about myself…I’m more worried about everypony else.”   Shining leaned forward, pushing the empty plate aside, “Twily—“   “I mean, I’m not thrilled about the situation, of course! Being a piece in some sick creature’s ‘game’,” Twilight said, “But whoever it was dragged everyone else into it too. Even Corey, who wasn’t even there with the rest of us and still wound up in a fight! Rainbow and Applejack probably have the least to worry about when it comes down to it. John, I’m not so sure; he seemed like he could handle himself.   “But then you have Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy, three ponies who I don’t think ever really lifted so much as a hand against anyone,” Twilight continued, “Rarity got out of a predicament by annoying her kidnappers—that won’t work this time! Fluttershy…I mean, what can I say? I’m sure I saw her wrestling a bear once, but I’m not even sure of that!”   Shining blinked, wondering when that one happened. While he tried to figure out what Twilight meant, she kept right on going.   “And Pinkie…I mean, I guess she’s gotta be able to work with tools. Seems like she’s always building things, but those are for parties!” Twilight finished, “I don’t think we’re ready for something like this!” Having said her two cents, Twilight slumped forward a bit, leaning on the table slightly for support.   Shining finally stood up, having heard more than enough of this. He walked around the table, before placing both of his hands on Twilight’s shoulders, making her look up to him.   “Twily, I know that you’ve been able to push past crisis after crisis,” Shining said, “All six of you. You’ve saved me twice. I’m sure you’ll be able to push through this one too.”   Twilight bit her lip, “But what about—“   “I can’t speak for what they’ve been through,” Shining responded, “We don’t know what it’s like where they’re from; it’s not like this, I’d bet. But even then, I’m willing to say they’ll stick by your side too.”   Shining stood up straight, releasing his sister’s shoulders at long last.   “Even though it could be because he knows he doesn’t have any other choice,” Shining said, “Corey knows what he’s going through is for the good of everyone around him. And even if he can’t stand it, he knows he’s gotta keep going.”   He turned on his heel, facing the room he knew Corey was still in.   “And it’s about that time for him to get out to the training grounds,” Shining finally finished, starting forward. He walked into the next room over, turned towards the stairs and looked up. His ear twitched as he registered the sound of movement behind the door; specifically, the sound of a doorknob turning. He took three steps forward, and was just about to turn his head to face the stairs when the door swung open.   Shining’s eyes went wide as he saw who was walking out of that door. It was a green unicorn, wearing a slightly different, open, gray jacket. He had swapped out his shirt for a plain green one as well, and he wore a pair of lighter gray sweatpants than before. His posture was noticeably improved from last night, and he was no longer limping. His arms were able to move freely again; no longer limp at his sides. He had finally reached the stairs to go down, his eyes half-closed, when Shining finally came back to his senses.   “Corey!?” Shining yelled in confusion, getting his attention immediately. Corey flinched a little in response and poked at the inside of one of his ears tenderly.   “Good morning,” Corey said, sounding a bit unsure himself.   “You’re not sore?” asked Shining, taking a couple of steps up the stairs towards him. Corey continued down the stairs, more or less closing the distance.   “I’m not anymore,” he responded, stamping one of his feet lightly on the steps, “I don’t know why, but I feel fine. Maybe better than I’ve been in a while, to be honest.”   “No problems moving?” Shining questioned, still confused, “Last night, you weren’t even able to stand up on your own for long…”   “I don’t know what happened,” Corey said, shrugging, any look other than confusion vanishing from his features as he did so, “When I went to sleep last night I felt like I was falling apart, but when I woke up, I realized I was completely fine again…I didn’t believe it until I started moving around…”   Shining blinked for a few seconds, processing the information he was told. Eventually, though, he remembered what he had gone upstairs to do, and promptly refocused, snapping back into his trainer mode.   “Well, we’ll see if you’re really ‘better’ in just a little bit,” Shining said, at a volume just below a yell, “Let’s go, soldier!” --------------- It wasn’t too long afterward that Corey found himself once again at that clearing not too far outside of town. Shining lead him towards the start line. As Corey prepared for the hell that Shining called a “warm-up”, he looked around, almost convinced he’d find the remains of last night’s effort strewn about the area.   He took his spot next to his trainer, ready for another day of being completely exhausted about forty percent of the way through.   “Alright, let’s go!” Shining shouted, practically leaping forward and starting the five mile dash.   With a sharp grunt, Corey followed, just as he had before. His focus was entirely on running, already convinced he would be totally out of energy before the end of the run, never mind the end of the exercises.   Shining continued forward, hearing the sounds of breathing behind him. While this was certainly a repeat of last night, it sounded more natural than it did before. Also, it sounded a bit closer. Shining turned, seeing Corey much closer than he expected to see him, head lowered. Shining blinked, turning forward as he approached the halfway point.   What happened?  Shining thought to himself, He was already on the ropes at this point in the routine yesterday…   Shining briefly slowed his pace as he hit the halfway point, allowing Corey to very briefly catch up before beginning the trek back to the clearing. Corey gave a huff, but kept right on going. At some point on the return trek, Shining took a look back again. Only now was Corey starting to wane just a bit.   After a bit longer, Shining slid to a halt, his five miles complete. He turned, half-expecting to have left Corey behind completely once again. To his surprise, Corey was not only not out of sight, but was still a bit closer than before. He blinked; Corey was still visibly tired from the exertion of the warm-up, but at the same time he was still clearly keeping an actual pace and not dragging his feet through the rest of the run.   “Alright, the warm-up’s done,” Shining said. Corey slowed to a halt in the clearing, hands to his knees, audibly breathing hard. However, he wasn’t going to be able to rest for long, “Now, twenty push-ups,” Shining clapped his hands together, “Go!”   Corey immediately fell over on to his stomach; it wasn’t a total collapse, but one that was more controlled than last time. Yesterday, Shining remembered, he could barely do even one without his arms shaking visibly underneath his jacket sleeves. In addition, his form was slightly off during the whole affair.   Yet now, Corey’s form for doing the exercise was slightly better. He was still grunting a bit as he pushed his body weight off the ground, and it still took him quite a bit to reach ten. By the time he reached his twentieth, his arms were still getting sore; evident from the way they shook.   “Alright, then it’s twenty crunches, right?” Corey groaned, already flipping himself over.   “That’s right, now you’re getting it,” Shining said, “Once you’re done with that we’ll be shifting gears a bit! Change things up a little…”   “Change things—“ Corey groaned, finishing one before starting another, “—Up? How—so?”   “You’ll find out…” --------------- This wasn’t the first time that John had found himself staring up at the waterfall where he’d made his jumps. And he knew that it wouldn’t be the last time.   “Not by a long shot,” John whispered to himself, removing his sweater and placing it off to the side for safe keeping. However, this time, he removed it at the bottom of the waterfall, staring up towards the cliff where he’d started his flight lessons. He wasn’t going to be making his way up; at least, not in the usual way.     Up until now, I’ve learned to control myself while falling, John recapped, walking to the edge of the sparkling pool of water below, But going down is just part of it. Reaching his destination, John stopped, his gaze focused on the top of the waterfall the entire time. After a deep breath, John crouched down, placing one palm on the ground as though he were at the starting line to a race. As soon as he was ready, John opened his wings, the force of which causing a small gust of wind.   I don’t know what we might be facing, but if any of these attacks come from the sky, I have to be ready for them, John thought, both wings raising up in preparation for flight. Finally, he brought them down as hard as he could, jumping up at the same time. The results were just as he had hoped; his wings caught the air and lifted him off the ground.   As he found himself steadily climbing, John smirked.   I didn’t know if this’d work, John thought, his view of the top of the waterfall getting closer, But it looks like I’ll have this down soon enough—   John’s thoughts were cut short as he found himself off-balance. His body arched forward, his view altering to look downward at a quick rate. John tried to correct himself by flapping his wings once more, but it only made things worse.   Unable to stop himself, John made a nose dive into the water below, quickly sinking to the bottom. While under, John let out a small gurgle of annoyance.   This is gonna take a while, John thought, quickly righting himself and swimming back up to the surface, Can’t say I didn’t expect it, though.   John reached land at last, climbing out of the pool and looking up towards the sky once again. His eyebrows arched, a serious expression on his face, John made a silent vow.   But I don’t care how long it takes! I’m reaching the top, and that’s a promise!   With that in mind, John prepared for another attempt. He didn’t even seem to notice that somepony was not too far away, watching him… --------------- “C’mon,” Shining said, “You have to be faster than that!”   A small violet jolt of electricity soared at Corey, who just barely managed to duck down and allow it to soar over his head.   “You didn’t tell me we were doing this--!” Corey tried to register a complaint about the rather sudden change to the regimen, only to find himself needing to shuffle quickly to the left.   “Neither will the enemy!” Shining shouted, “I may not be going for the kill here, but I can guarantee you the kind of creatures you’ll have to face won’t be so kind!”   Corey began to wonder what exactly was kind about this whole exercise. After Corey had finished his crunches, Shining had taken a short break. They hadn’t returned to the library. Instead, Shining himself demonstrated his own signature spell, the one he was the best at, a barrier that could do whatever the caster needed it to. Then, Shining had said Corey was to do this live, feeling it would come out of necessity.   Which brought Corey to his current predicament: he hadn’t really cast a spell quick enough to react as Shining demanded it. On some occasions, Corey would pause to try to channel his magic to his horn, only to quickly find Shining taking aim at him. He would get too nervous and instead resort to dodging out of the way.   Shining had taken time to at least instruct him on the basics on the spell: it was a weak stun spell. It wouldn’t cause Corey to lose consciousness, “in theory”, but it would probably still hurt like hell if it did connect. And Corey didn’t want to risk it.   Corey wove, the shots missing him by mere centimeters—some passed by so close he could feel the shot causing his fur to stick up where it was passing by. Eventually, though, a lifetime of not moving except when needed caught up to him.   Corey dodged left. However, he stepped on his left foot wrong, causing him to slip and start falling over onto his left side. His eyebrows arched and he let out a small grount.   “Dammit!” Corey grunted. Slightly left of him, Shining took aim, his horn alight with a violet glow. Quickly, Corey closed his eyes, trying to focus, knowing he probably wouldn’t have the time to dodge again, “C’mon, c’mon!!”   “Gotcha!” Shining shouted, the familiar sound of a spark impacting Corey’s eardrums. Corey felt his magic pulse a little, but it wasn’t enough to create the kind of shield he felt he would need.   The shot landed on his left shoulder, and instantly Corey felt the force of several thousand volts enter his body, replacing every synapse in his body with a pain response. The effect itself only lasted maybe a second, but to Corey it lasted a lot longer. As the effect died down, Corey stood up again.   “Dammit,” Corey groaned, pain being replaced by anger as he glared up at Shining, “That hurt!”   “That’s the point,” Shining said, blinking as Corey’s horn lit up slightly brighter than it had before he got hit, “You’d best start moving again, or else!!”   Two more shots came forth from Shining’s horn. Corey grit his teeth and turned to face Shining directly, his fists clenched.   “No, dammit!” Corey shouted. He had maybe a quarter-second to impact by the time he finished, but abruptly, a green bubble—or at least, part of one, materialized in front of him, effectively blocking the strikes. Shining blinked, the hue around his horn vanishing as he took it in. Breathing heavily, Corey’s arms fell. As soon as they did, his shield vanished in tandem with the glow on his horn.   It wasn’t the whole thing… Shining thought, But still, already?   “No breaks!” Shining shouted, shaking himself out of his thoughts almost as quickly as he had lapsed into them, “An enemy won’t let you have that luxury!”   Corey looked up, and just about got nailed again when Shining fired off another shot at him. He almost fell over trying to get out of the way.   “Keep this up!” Shining said, “After this we’re going to physical combat training!”   Corey let out a small groan of annoyance, just before letting out a short gasp as he dove down to the ground to avoid another one of the taser shots. --------------- John made several attempts to get to the top of the waterfall. Each of them ended the same way: John taking a dip into the pool of water at the foot of the waterfall. But each time he fell only served to make him more determined.   “This time for sure,” John said to himself, readying himself for yet another attempt. Just like all the other times, John jumped off of the ground, using his wings to propel him into the air. And just like those other times, he was gaining altitude. After so many attempts, he’d managed to learn to keep his balance. It took a lot of effort, though, just to get to that point. It wasn’t long until John reached the point he always achieved before losing his balance.   “But not this time!” John said aloud, now having control over his balance. With this control, he gave his wings another powerful flap, strong enough to cause John to soar upwards even higher than before. A grin split his face as he continued upwards, “That’s it…”   This was his best run by far; he was already halfway up the waterfall now. Nothing seemed to be going wrong…except for John’s hubris. Too overcome with the fact he’d surpassed his previous record, John lost focus. When he went to flap his wings a third time, everything went south. Before he knew it, John found himself off-balance again. His body tilted backwards against his will, and John reached out in vain towards the top of the waterfall.   “So close!” John grunted, not wanting to give up but unable to correct himself fast enough. In the end, gravity won out, and John found himself landing in the water like all the previous attempts. John slowly sank into the water, now lost in his own thoughts.   That was the farthest I got so far, John thought to himself, If I could just keep my balance… He racked his brains for an answer to that problem, but none sprang forth. Ultimately, John decided he’d spent more than enough time underwater, and once more swam back to the surface. Usually, coming out of the water would be followed by returning to the edge of the pool in order to try to lift off again. However, this time, something—or somepony—was already there.   “You’re going at it all wrong, you dolt,” It was the only other pony who would know where to find John at this time of day, Rainbow Dash; her arms crossed as she stared down at John with an amused look on her face.   “When did you get here?” John asked, “Didn’t hear anypony else flying around here…”   “Been here a while,” said Rainbow as John finally pulled himself out of the pool, “Thought I’d see how you were handling…”   “And?” John said, appearing hopeful.   “I have to say,” Rainbow said, as bluntly as she possibly could, “I expected better from you.”   John’s shoulders slumped as he gave Rainbow an unamused look, “Well, I sort of have gravity   working against me this time.”   “Excuses, excuses,” Rainbow responded with a finger wag, “Gravity wouldn’t be a problem if you were doing it right.”   “What do you mean?” John asked.   “I’m talking about your approach,” explained Rainbow, “I watched you for at least three of your tries, and I know what your problem is.”   John opened his mouth to ask what she knew that he didn’t, but she was already telling him the answer.   “You seem to be thinking that flying is about wing strength,” Rainbow said, tugging on one of John’s wings for emphasis.   “Isn’t that a part of it?” John asked, not at all uncomfortable with that.   “Yes, but there’s more pieces to it than that,” Rainbow continued, taking a step back, “Aside from wing strength, a flier also has to keep another thing in mind when flying, and that’s their skill. You can have all the wing strength in the world, but if you don’t have the skill to use it, then you won’t be taking to the sky any time soon.”   As Rainbow spoke, John made sure to listen to every word she was saying. When she had finished, John cast a look back to his wing.   “So this whole time, I’ve been trying to muscle my way up?” John asked, turning back to face Rainbow, “That’s it?”   “That’s exactly it,” Rainbow said, “And trust me, if you try to force yourself into the sky, it will resist you.”   Rainbow took a few steps away from John, John giving her a little space. She now stood in the same spot that he was standing when he made his numerous attempts to scale the waterfall.   “When I was watching you try, I noticed that one flap of your wings took you a quarter of the way there. And that was with you relying on strength alone,” Rainbow said, opening her wings as she did, “And this is what happens when you add skill.”   Without saying anything else, without even jumping up for the head start, Rainbow gave her wings one strong flap. The end result completely dwarfed all of John’s past attempts. Rainbow continued to climb, John watching as she broke his record in maybe a second or two. Before he even processed what he was seeing completely, Rainbow had reached the top of the waterfall.   Her rising slowed as she reached the top of the waterfall; she began to flip upside down. After a few more seconds, Rainbow began to fall. This whole time, John noticed that Rainbow seemed to be in complete control of her trajectory. Rainbow continued to fall. Just before she could hit the water, Rainbow corrected herself, slowing to a halt, winding up hovering just above the water, her feet just touching the surface of the water.   “See what I mean?” Rainbow asked.   John had been unable to give a response; his facial expression had been one of utter awe, a look Rainbow never got tired of seeing on the faces of others. Aside from the quick glances at her in the sky, John never once saw Rainbow really flying. Until now…   “Whoa…” John said, earning a chuckle from Rainbow.   “Close your mouth, John, you’ll catch flies,” Rainbow finally said, having taken enough pleasure of the jaw-drop she’d made him do. John blinked, only now aware his jaw was unhinged. Quickly, John’s mouth slammed shut, and for the first time, he looked away from Rainbow, slightly embarrassed he wound up doing that, “Moment’s over, move on.”   “Now,” Rainbow quickly changed the subject as she hovered over to him, “C’mon, I was by your side when we went down the cliff, and I’m going to be by your side when going up.”   With an extended hand and a smile, she added, “Because that’s who I am.” --------------- Equestria Log -- Day 13 You know, Journal, I guess what they say is true. “No pain, no gain.” Ever since Shining came to town I’ve been worked to the bone and back on a daily basis, until I’m too exhausted to be able to move. But then, come next morning, I’m completely fine and ready for the next day. I still don’t know why it’s happened, but I can’t complain. Because of it, the whole training aspect of my life has been going more smoothly than I expected. Well, except for one thing. Shining, of course, saw my extreme recovery rate and has been taking full advantage of it. Each exercise has been expanded day-by-day, and combat training—both magical and physical—has been getting more and more brutal with each passing day. Whatever the day’s regimen consists of, I’m always pushed to a new limit, each one higher and higher than before, and each limit break ending with the same result as the first day. There is an awkward scribble on the page, as though the writer was interrupted and didn’t lift the quill when his body jerked.   It’s almost time. Well, I’ll try to keep logs as long as I can…provided I have the strength to move my arm enough to write it. See you later. --Corey