I wandered the streets, bustling with life. Most of the ponies there were unicorns, but as I traveled further away from the castle, more and more pegasi and earth ponies began appearing. 'Is there some form of racial privilege here? I'll have to ask Celestia...' My thoughts were interrupted by a unicorn bumping into me. He looked at me, before sticking his muzzle up and walking away. 'And the rich are still snobs, what a surprise...' I looked at the bag of bits Celestia gave me, along with the royal seal.
I came upon a building with smoke rising up from a chimney. I assumed it was a blacksmith shop, based on it's design. Upon entering, I was greeted by a muscular-looking earth pony, in the process of forging a blade. There was some form of strap or brace holding the hammer to his hoof. He was so distracted by his work, he did not notice me enter.
"Good afternoon." I said loudly. He looked up at me.
"Oh, hey there. Didn't see you come in." He had a low, rough voice. After greeting me, he turned back to the blade. I watched him work for a bit, switching from the anvil to the fire every minute or so. I waited in the shop for a time, somewhere around an hour, maybe two, before he finished his work for the day. He removed his hammer from the brace, followed by the brace itself. He turned and saw me standing there, watching.
"Do you need something?" He asked, examining me. I nodded.
"I have a task that needs to be done, and you seemed perfect for the job. But first, I need you to examine this." I showed him my hidden blade. He raised an eyebrow.
"That just looks like any other gauntlet or brace..." He inquired. I flicked my hoof, and out shot the blade. He jumped slightly, and stared for a second, before going slack-jawed.
"Sweet Celestia, that's incredible! Please, let me see!" He exclaimed. I nodded and removed the hidden blade from my hoof. He took it gently, as if he was taking a baby.
"I need you to try and replicate this for me. Try and create around twenty, not including the original. Do you think you can do this?" He thought for a moment.
"I'll need a little while to examine the mechanisms of it. Can you come back tomorrow afternoon, I should have an answer by then." He looked at me for a bit before asking, "What's your name?"
"Altaïr. what's yours?" I replied.
"Ironhoof. Pleased to meet you!" he stuck out a hoof, which I shook. "So, can you come back tomorrow? Maybe... seven in the afternoon?" I nodded. "Great! I look forward to it. See you then!" He smiled and walked into a back room, taking the blade with him. I left the store, thinking, 'I'm going to like this one.'
Canterlot Castle, Outside the Training Facility, 7:00PM
'Hm. This is where Celestia said I would find it... Well, I guess I show go see what I'm dealing with here.' I opened the double doors with a hoof, revealing a dozen guards, in a mix of four unicorns, five pegasi, and three earth ponies. Only one or two of them were actually training, the others were having conversations or taking a break. I cleared my throat loudly, getting their attention. They slowly gathered around me confused.
"Who's this guy?" one of them whispered, to which another replied, "I don't know... wait. Didn't Captain Armor say there would be a robed earth pony coming down here to train us?"
"Correct." They all jumped at my words. "I am here to train you, as you said," I said, pointing to the second guard with a hoof. "However, I'll need to evaluate your skill level. Would you care to spar?" The guards were taken aback. One of the guards spoke up after a moment of awkward silence.
"Uh... sure?" A young-looking earth pony spoke up. I turned my attention to him.
"What is your name?" I asked. He backed off. "Name. Now." I demanded. He shook his head to regain his senses before answering.
"Erm... Piercing Spear... sir." I nodded.
"Piercing Spear, thank you. I have a question for you." I said. "Is it a coincidence that all of you have white coats, which I highly doubt, or is there some form of spell or enchantment on you?" He sighed in relief.
"It's in the armor, sir. There is an enchantment placed on it so we're all the same color." He replied. I nodded in understanding.
"Thank you. Now then, you said you accepted my challenge?"
I was directed to the sparring circle by Piercing Spear and the others, who gathered around the two of us inside of the circle.
"Also, do me a favor and remove your armor. It wouldn't be a fair fight with an armored opponent versus an unarmored one, wouldn't you agree?"
"What? Oh... heh, right..." The guards laughed at his oversight. "Quiet. None of you reminded him, either." The guards looked at each other, and stopped laughing.
Piercing Spear proceeded to remove his armor, and once the last article of the golden protection was off, he went from snow white to a light brown.
"Hm. Interesting. Now then, let's begin." I announced. Piercing Spear took a fighting stance, and I took my usual bipedal stance, which, once again, confused those present. "In battle, you will encounter many different fighting styles and strategies in one-on-one combat. Do not let me surprise you, for it could mean your end in a true fight." Piercing Spear snapped out of it and got back into his stance, and we began.
Piercing Spear took the offensive, charging me and taking a hook shot at my left, which I dodged. He followed the attack with a punch aimed at my midsection, which I caught in my own hoof, and tossed aside. He continued this pattern, switching between jabs and hooks at random intervals, none of which connecting.
"I think it's time I ended this." I stated, before feigning a left jab to his face, which he dodged, as expected. While he was still getting back into his neutral stance, I followed my strike with a powerful uppercut, courtesy of my right hoof. The blow sent him flying backwards a few feet, before landing on his back with a grunt of pain. I quickly closed the distance putting myself above him and making a motion across my neck with a hoof. Piercing Spear knew what that meant, based on his look of defeat after I completed the motion.
I helped him back onto his hooves, and walked him over to the others, who still had looks of shock on their faces.
"Now then... who's next?"