//------------------------------// // Chp 19: Preparations (Pt.1.5) (Fan Chapter #1) // Story: Bully: Manticore Academy // by the silver-maned pony //------------------------------// The beach residing in Manticore Ville was completely barren of any life. Nopony was willing to have some watery fun while the beach’s sand was basically replaced by snow. The only pony nearby was Rainbow Dash, who was leaning on the guard railing that separated the sidewalk and the shore. She checked her watch and saw that she was still half an hour early. Dash stared at the ocean for a while when she noticed that she was nervously tapping her legs. ‘Why am I so nervous?’ Dash thought, ‘It’s a simple plan. What could go wrong?’ Dash then casually turned toward the lighthouse that also served as a clubhouse. She smiled as she remembered how Rarity, after becoming friends with the pegasus, remodeled the entire clubhouse so that it can actually be habitable. Even though it was technically Dash’s now, the pegasus did not really have any use for it. Thinking it would be a waste to let it gather dust, she decided to give it to her mentor, Soarin; whose only possession seemed to be the clothes on his back, a moldy bed, and whatever resided in the wooden shack he slept next to. Soarin refused the gift at first, but the snowy season eventually changed his mind and he now lived in the clubhouse. Dash looked down at her wrist and stared at the weights that Soarin gave her; two for her wrist and two for her legs and each weight was about fifteen pounds. The athlete no longer noticed their presence and she wondered whether she should go ask for Soarin for heavier weights. She checked her watch again and saw that she still had a lot of time, “I might as well pay him a visit.” Dash said, “The old man is probably lonely without me.” Smiling to herself, Dash jumped over the guard railing and jogged toward the beach clubhouse. As she got closer, she started to hear rambunctious laughter. Confused, she picked up her pace until she was a couple of yards away. She then stopped and saw that there were two ponies sitting on the clubhouse’s wooden steps. One of them was Soarin, who had a beer in one hand and the other hand was resting on a now empty six-pack of beer. His cheeks were a light red and Dash knew it wasn’t because of the cold. The pony sitting next to him was a complete stranger. He was an Earth pony with dark skin, a minty green sweater, and a bushy afro. He seemed to be the same age as Soarin and his cheeks were as red as Soarin’s. As Soarin casually glanced toward the beach, he saw Rainbow Dash. He immediately beamed, “Well look who decided to finally visit!” he yelled as he stood up. Soarin walked toward the pegasus and ruffled her hair with a big grin on his face. He then turned to the strange pony, “Hey, GM!” he said, “This is the mare I’ve been talking about; the little wildfire that has been raising Tartarus over at the academy.” The Earth Pony, GM, got up and walked over to the two pegasai. Dash noted that GM was quite tall, but very thin. “Hi there!” GM said as he reached the pegasai, “I’m GM. You must be Rainbow Dash. Soarin has told me a lot about you.” Dash smiled, “All awesome things, right?” GM was about to speak, but stopped at Soarin’s suddenly stern look. The old pegasus then turned back to Rainbow and said, “GM is an old buddy of mine during my military days. We joined the army at the same time and completed our basic training together. We were separated after I began training as a Wonderbolt, but we still kept in touch.” “At least until the…incident happened.” GM said, casting an uncomfortable glance at Soarin. Dash knew what GM was talking about. She remembered that Soarin was left to die by his so-called friend. After that, Soarin, who wasn’t in the calmest state of mind after being rescued and reunited with his ‘friend’, was discharged from the Wonderbolts. Dash didn’t really know happened after that. All she knew was that Soarin ended up in Manticore Academy and he stayed. “Again, I’m sorry about not writing back.” Soarin said as he patted GM’s shoulder, “But hey, I’m glad to see you. We got really lucky that you just happened to be visiting Manticore Ville while I was roaming around the streets.” “We’re lucky that I decided to spend my vacation visiting my relatives in Manticore Hills.” GM said. “Are you still in the military, GM?” Dash said. She was curious to learn more about somepony Soarin would befriend. “Yes.” GM said, “After basic training, I decided to join the Royal Guards-” Soarin snickered. He tried to cover off as a sneeze, but GM was not fooled. “You got something to say?” GM said. Soarin chuckled, “I mean no disrespect, but I wouldn’t call the ‘Royal Guard’ a real part of the military. I mean, when was the last time you saw any real action? You guys are more like a neighborhood watch” GM smiled, “You say that, and yet you joined the branch of military that focuses more on posing for pictures. However, in the Royal Guard, you need a little thing called skill. Soarin smiled and slowly got into a fighting stance, “Why don’t we have a friendly sparring match like we used too. Let’s see which is better: Royal Guards or Wonderbolts.” GM took his fighting stance, which looked like a low squat, “Sure; I could use a quick exercise.” The two old stallions prepared their attacks, but then Rainbow Dash stepped in front of Soarin and faced GM. “Hold on, Soarin.” Dash said, “Let me take him up.” Soarin raised an eyebrow and said, “Why? This isn’t your fight.” “Yes it is, because nopony disrespects the Wonderbolts while I’m around.” Dash said. She then got into her stance to prove her resolve. GM stared at the young pegasus and grinned, “Let her fight Who knows, I might teach her a thing or two. I’m also curious to see whether she is as good as you make her out to be. Unless you think Dash is all talk.” Soarin stared at the two for a while, thinking deeply. He eventually smiled, “Dash, show him what a Wonderbolt can do.” “Right!” Dash said. She rushed GM and prepared an attack. Once she was within range, she flapped her wings and performed a pegasus uppercut. GM was launched toward the sky. Dash grinned, but she was confused. She didn’t actually feel her punch connect. She then saw that GM was now very high up. Even though GM was skinny, Dash knew there was no way her punch could launch somepony that high. “He jumped!” Dash said in surprised. She was astounded any pony could jump so high. He must have been at least 15 feet above the ground. “Be careful.” Soarin said, “GM may not be a pegasus, but he can still gain lots of air. He focuses his Earth pony strength into his legs to jump high. GM looked down and grinned at Dash’s surprise face. He then balled himself up and began to spin as he came back toward the ground. “You have got to be kidding me.” Dash said as she saw the spinning Earth pony quickly closing in on her. She prepared another pegasus uppercut as the ball got closer. At the last second, GM de-balled and brought out his leg. He then swung it down for a devastating axe kick. Dash reacted instinctively and raised her arms to block. It worked somewhat; the kick did not reach her face, but her arms felt the full force of the kick. “Bucking Faust!” Dash yelled as she massaged her arms. GM reached the ground and quickly created distance between him and Dash. “Impressive, Dash.” GM said, “Not many ponies are fast enough to block that move.” “Thanks.” Dash said through clenched teeth. “Rainbow Dash.” Soarin yelled, “It’s time for your next phase of training. Do not worry; you do not need a radio for this.” “Radio?” GM said. “Sweet.” Dash said, “What is it?” “Dodge!” Soarin said. “Dodge?” Dash said. She turned to Soarin for confirmation. GM took the chance and used his legs to jump toward Dash. He turned himself into a ball again and, once he reached Dash, he brought his leg up and performed another axe kick. The kick connected with the top of Dash’s head and her face instantly met the snowy beach. “Why didn’t you dodge?!” Soarin said. Dash plucked her head from the snow and yelled back, “How the hay was I supposed to dodge that?” Rainbow quickly checked her face to see if she was bleeding. Thankfully, the snow cushioned the impact, but the top of her head was definitely throbbing. Dash got half-way up and performed a pegasus leg sweep. GM was swept of his feet. He quickly regained his footing, but not before Dash set up and connected a pegasus dropkick to GM’s chest. “What was one of the first things I ever told you?” Soarin said. “To leave you alone or else you’ll kill me?” Dash said. GM and Dash were now focusing on punching. Dash could tell this was not GM’s strong suit; GM’s punches did not hurt as much as his kicks. Every time he tried to gain distance, Dash closed it quickly. Rainbow was also now better at punching thanks to Rarity, who would occasionally teach the pegasus a thing or two in exchange for being a model for her dresses. “Not that!” Soarin said, “I said that when Pegasai fight, we use our speed to our advantage. Our speed comes from our wings. I’m telling you to use your wings for short burst of speed to dodge faster and swifter.” “Wouldn’t it be easier to fly?” Dash said. “That takes more effort than it would to simply dodge.” Dash decided to try out Soarin’s advice. When GM tried a haymaker, Dash flapped her wings and, instead of flying, she sidestepped him. In a split second, Dash was at GM’s side, safely away from the haymaker. “Awesome.” Dash said. She then delivered a kidney punch. GM was still surprised by Dash’s sudden dodge that he took the blow and went down on one knee. “Not bad.” GM said in a slightly pained voice, “Not bad at all. Now, let’s see how fast your new dodge is.” Much to Dash’s surprise, GM quickly recovered from the punch and jumped away. Dash now assumed that the fighting was over and the training began. As Soarin supervised, GM would propel himself as a ball and Dash would then perform a pegasus dodge at the last possible moment. After about half an hour of training, Dash was able to dodge a majority of GM’s attacks. On the last trial, Dash decided to get creative. As GM performed his ball attack again, Dash waited like usual. In the last second, instead of going left of right, she used her wings to propel herself downward. She was lying face up and saw that GM would fly above her. Once he reached Dash, the pegasus brought her legs toward her chest and then kicked upward. The kick connected with GM’s back. He cried in pain as he de-balled and flopped down next to Dash. “That was… actually quite… surprising.” GM said as he tried to catch his breath, “There is nothing… like a kick to the back to… remind somepony… of their age.” “Thank…you.” Dash said. She too was out of breath. As Dash slowly sat up, she suddenly heard clapping. “What the-” Dash turned toward the guard railing that separated the beach shore and the sidewalk. There she saw Colgate, Lotus, and Aloe, all clapping and nodding their head in approval. “Looks like you got some friends waiting for you.” Soarin said as he walked toward Dash and helped her onto her feet. “Not exactly.” Dash said. She still had not clue whether or not she would consider the three preps friends. However, she did not consider them enemies, “However, I do need to go with them.” “Okay then.” Soarin said as he helped GM up, “Just be careful and remember what I taught you.” “Roger that.” Dash said. She turned toward GM and said, “So, can teach me how to do that axe kick and ball attack thing?” GM swatted away some snow from his body and smiled, “Sorry Dash, but I don’t have the time. I’m heading back to Canterlot the moment the holidays are over and I’ll be spending my time here with my family. I’m actually supposed to be shopping for them when I met up with Soarin. I should probably get back to doing that.” He added with a nervous laugh. He then patted Dash’s shoulder, “Don’t worry, you seem like a bright kid. The axe kick shouldn’t be that hard for you to learn by yourself; just make sure you’re balanced as you bring your leg up high and the send it crashing down. The ball attack would be harder to learn, but I think Soarin could teach you that.” “I doubt that.” Soarin said with a mischievous smile, “I rather not have Dash looking like a total fool when kicking flank.” Soarin dodged GM’s jab. Dash opened her mouth to say something, but stopped when she heard Colgate yelling, “Dash, you can figure out which one’s your real father later! We need to get going!” “Motherbucker…” Dash said quietly. “She seems impatient.” Soarin said, “I suggest you get going, Dash.” “Wait!” Dash said. She suddenly remembered why she even came here in the first place, “I’m gonna need some heavier weights because I’m not even registering these.” She gestured to the waits on her wrist and legs.” “Don’t worry, I’ll send them to you later. Now go because it looks like one of those ponies is ready to start throwing punches.” Soarin said as he pointed to the preps. “Alright, later then!” Dash said as she ran toward the preps. “You know,” GM said as he and Soarin watched the four ponies walk away, “that Dash reminds me of somepony.” “Really? Who?” Soarin asked. GM’s face scrunched up in concentration, “Hmm… I can’t remember her name. She was the one that convinced you to join the Wonderbolts.” Soarin took a moment to remember before he roared with laughter, “Oh my Faust! Dash really is just like her. I can’t believe I never realized.” “Do you still keep I touch with her?” GM asked as the two walked back to the steps of the beach clubhouse. “Yep.” Soarin said, “She’s the only one that I have not lost contact with.” “Is she still the same flying-loving, arrogant brawler?” Soarin sat down on the wooden steps and smirked, “Buck no. She’s a hard-flank now.”