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The Arrival2,123 words
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Learning and Teaching2,472 words

Learning and Teaching

It didn't take Snake long to make his way back to the barn, where Applejack was waiting for him.

"So, y'all get them apples to Fluttershy?" she asked.

Snake nodded. "I also had an odd run-in with her... friend."

Applejack nodded in sympathy. "Yeah, Discord's reformed 'n all, but he can still be a mite bit... out there."

"Oh, is that him, is that the one?"

Snake didn't have much time to be confused at the voice before three familiar fillies ran out of the barn, their eyes fixed upon him. Behind them, Rainbow Dash followed.

One of the fillies, the orange pegasus, stood at the front of the group, and started talking to Snake. "Are you the one Rainbow Dash told us about?"

Looking at the pony in question, who had an amused expression on her face, Snake answered cautiously. "That depends, what did she tell you?"

"She said you were the one that cheated against her in a fight!"

The human couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. "Did she, now?"

Dash stepped forward. "Hey, squirt, I didn't say he cheated, but it was some pretty cheap shots."

Looking in her eyes and listening to her tone, Snake could guess why she was here in the first place. "So, you asking for a rematch?"

Dash smiled. "I thought you'd never ask."

The fillies cheered, especially the orange one, and ran off to the side, away from the soon-to-be-combatants. Before they started, Snake turned to Applejack. "This alright with you, if we spar on your property?"

The mare nodded. "Just try an' keep it clean, alright? That means you too, Dash."

Dash snorted in response, her focus entirely on Snake. Likewise, he adopted his CQC stance, and the both of them slowly circled around each other, waiting for the other to make the first move.

Eventually, Dash was the first to act, suddenly flying forward with a karate kick. Snake was caught off guard by the sudden movement, but was able to deflect the attack before it impacted, causing Dash to nearly stumble onto her face. Just before she did, she flapped her wings once, and was able to right herself so she landed back on her hooves.

The pegasus wasted no time, and began attacking again, throwing an onslaught of punches and kicks at Snake while hovering just off the ground. The human was able to deflect or dodge all of them, however, until he caught her back hoof, and tossed her to the ground.

Dash recovered quickly, not looking any worse for wear, besides a bit of dirt on her coat.

Over the sound of the cheering fillies, she let out a small laugh. "That all you got?"

Snake smirked in response, not moving.

Once again, Dash charged forward, only to be caught in mid-air and sent to the ground again.

Just as she got back up, Snake went on the offensive, running up to her and grabbing her front leg. Before she could do anything about it, he sent her spiraling towards the ground.

Just before she impacted, she shot out her wings, sending her flying along the ground. Snake had to steady himself against the sudden gust of wind, so he could only watch as Dash landed back on her hooves some distance away.

Dash's smile had worn off, now, and her face was showing nothing but pure determination. Despite this, Snake still held his own smirk.

Without a word, Dash surged forward again, hooves outstretched. Just as Snake moved to counter, though, she unexpectedly rose, passing right over him. After another flap of her wings, she was able to land a kick on Snake before he had time to react. He was knocked off one foot from the impact, and whirled around to prevent any follow-up attacks.

It seemed that Dash was satisfied with her hit, however, as she backed off, an arrogant smile back on her face.

While Snake had taken far worse hits, his back was still stinging a bit. Regardless, he smirked a little more. "Not bad."

"You can get 'em Rainbow Dash!" one of the fillies shouted from the sidelines.

Encouraged by the child's enthusiasm, Dash charged once more, unloading a barrage of punches and kicks at Snake. However, the human didn't take any major hits, but it seemed that, as the hits kept coming, he was falling behind slightly.

Seeing this, Dash let loose a grin, and started to hit harder and faster.

Unfortunately for her, this also made her attacks sloppier, which Snake noticed. He waited until there was an opening, which came in the form of an easily deflected kick.

Acting quickly, Snake seized the outstretched limb and pulled, bringing Dash off balance. Before she could recover, Snake effortlessly flipped her over, locking his arms behind her head, and preventing her limbs from moving much.

Snake had just put her into a perfect submission hold.

The pegasus struggled, barely able to move, while the human simply held on, preventing her from getting loose.

"L- Let me go!" she shouted, still trying to flail a back leg enough to kick Snake.

"Does that mean you forfeit?" he asked back, now full-on smiling.

"N- No! Just let go!"

"That sounds like a forfeit, to me."

Dash continued to struggle in Snake's grasp, making no progress towards freedom. This continued for almost five minutes, during which the fillies kept cheering her on, and Applejack couldn't help but wear a goofy smile.

Eventually, Dash's struggles started to wane in energy, until what used to be frenzied flailing turned into sluggish wiggling. Snake seemed perfectly able to continue the hold for a lot longer.

When Dash stopped completely, breathing heavily, Snake spoke up again. "So, do you forfeit now?"

She tried one more time to escape on her own, then hung her head. "Alright, alright, fine."

Ignoring the gasp of the watching fillies, Snake relented his hold, letting Dash fall back onto her hooves, stretching a bit in an attempt to stop the slight ache that had developed in her limbs.

Applejack started walking towards the two. "Well well well, I guess-"

Suddenly, before she could finish, Dash flew towards Snake, hoof outstretched in a punch. Snake reacted quickly, though, ducking the attack and grabbing Dash's body, before slamming her to the ground, slightly harder than he had done before. This time, Dash stayed down, completely exhausted from the match.

Applejack gaped. "Wait just a second, you tried t' keep fightin', even after ya admitted ya lost?"

"Technically, she didn't actually say she gave up," Snake said. "Besides, in a real, life-or-death battle, you take any advantage you can get; honor is for the dead."

Despite Applejack's confused expression, Snake went over to Dash, offering her a hand. "That was some nice moves, back there."

Reluctantly, Dash accepted the hand in her hoof, and used it to pull herself off the ground. "Yeah, yeah, rub it in, why don't ya."

"I was being serious." Snake's gaze hardened. "I've been practicing my CQC for almost all of my life, to the point where only the person who taught me," he winced slightly, "can best me in hand-to-hand combat. Or, hand-to-hoof, in this case."

When Dash didn't change in her glum, Snake continued. "You not only managed to land a hit on me, but you also almost got me with that last punch." Snake offered his hand for a friendly post-sparring handshake. "You're pretty good."

While she was still a bit grumpy over losing, Dash couldn't help but smile at his words, and shook his hand. "Yeah, thanks, I guess."

The sound of rapid hoofsteps in their direction reminded the two combatants of the rest of their audience.

Scootaloo was front and center, as before. "I call shenana... shinshana..."

"Shenanigans?" Sweetie Belle offered from the back of the group.

"That too!" the orange one continued. "There's no way anyone could beat Rainbow Dash! You cheated, mister!"

Dash chuckled, despite herself. "Believe it or not, he didn't, Scoots. He beat me, fair and square."

"But you're Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo continued. "You're, like, the most awesomest pony ever!"

"As odd as it may seem, even I have my limits," Dash admitted, making Applejack fake a spit take.

"What's that? The Rainbow Dash, admitting she's not the best? Alert th' princesses, this is big news!"

"Yeah, yeah, real funny, AJ."

"You had it comin', sugarcube."

Dash turned back to Snake, who was watching the exchange with amusement. "That being said, don't think I won't take this lying down. I'll make sure that, one day, I'll beat you at your own game."

Snake blinked. "My own game?"

"That's right, Snake, I'm gonna beat you with that DQB stuff, because you're gonna teach me!"

Silence fell over the group, each of them wearing a different expression. Scootaloo had a look of sheer wonder, the other fillies were a bit confused, Applejack was genuinely shocked, and Snake's face was entirely unreadable.

"Well, Snake," Dash continued, "what do you say?"

After a bit of thinking to himself, the human looked back at the pegasus. "I don't see why not."

Before Dash could celebrate in any way, a new voice suddenly broke in from above them. "What in the world is going on here?!"

Everyone looked up to see Twilight awkwardly flying in, still not 100% used to her wings. Everyone held their laughter, though, because she was currently glaring towards Snake and Dash, most likely because of the dirt and bruising on the latter.

"Oh, hey, Twilight!" Dash greeted. "Snake just agreed to teach me that whachamacallit fighting thing he does!"

The princess's anger was replaced by confusion. "What?"

"We had a friendly sparring match," Snake explained. "I saw potential, and she wanted to 'beat me at my own game'."

Twilight looked between the two of them, and also shot a couple of glances at Applejack and the fillies. Finally, her gaze rested upon the human. "You challenged her to a fight?"

Dash laughed sheepishly. "Actually, I'm the one who came to him about it."

"...oh."

An awkward silence fell over all of them, before Twilight cleared her throat. "Anyway, Princess Celestia has told me that she is going to visit Ponyville tomorrow to meet you, Snake."

Snake let out a thoughtful grunt in response.

Twilight nervously looked around at his lack of verbal acknowledgement. "...so, who won, exactly?"

Applejack smirked. "Why, Snake here put up the better half of the fight."

Twilight let out a "Hmm," looking at the various bruising present on Dash. "Snake, could I speak with you, for a second?"

Puzzled, Snake obliged, stepping away from the others, and following Twilight some distance away. Once they were out of earshot, she turned around to face him.

"So, will you really teach Dash your... fighting style?"

Snake shrugged. "She seems eager to learn, so I don't see why not."

"You're not going to... teach her how to kill, are you?"

Snake paused. "No, of course not."

"And how do I know that?"

"CQC is, primarily, a defensive form of combat. It relies less on directly attacking your opponent, and more on disarming and disabling them when they attack."

Snake coughed slightly. "Of course, it can be used offensively, but typically it takes a very high level of mastery to do so successfully. And I won't be teaching her that much, anyway."

Twilight still held a skeptical gaze, but she nodded in understanding anyway. "Still, I'd be careful with her. She can be a bit... overzealous, sometimes."

Snake nodded. "Understood."

With that, Twilight started walking back to the others, where she said her farewells and started to awkwardly take off, much to Dash's amusement. Just before she left, she flew over to Snake.

"Remember, you're seeing the princess tomorrow!"

He gave a thumbs up in response, and Twilight flew off, busy with whatever princess duties she had to do.

As he walked back towards the rest of the ponies, he overheard the tail end of a statement from Applejack to the fillies.

"...runnin' your mouths about him at school, y' hear? Th' last thing we need is our farm gettin' attacked by an angry mob because they think we're hidin' a monster or somethin'. Y'all understand, right?"

A chorus of "yeah"s were her answer, and that seemed to be satisfactory.

"Well, sorry to disappoint, but I got other things to do today," Dash said, starting to lift off the ground.

"Like takin' naps?" Applejack deadpanned.

"Exactly!" After waving goodbye to everyone, she took off, flying towards town.

At that moment, Snake was made aware of his hunger, due to his stomach growling. The fillies giggled at the noise, while Applejack flinched slightly, before calming down. "Well, I figure now's as good a time as any. What do you say we go on over to the house and get some fresh apple pie?"

The fillies cheered at that, and Snake couldn't help but smile, too. After all, it had been quite a while since he had a genuine, home-cooked meal, let alone apple pie.

The fillies charged towards the house, Applejack and Snake calmly following.

As they approached the house, a thought occurred to Snake. "You know, I don't believe I've met the rest of your family, yet."

"Hmm, you're right. Don't worry about it, though, Ah'm pretty sure that both Big Mac and Granny will warm up to you just fine... hopefully..."

Somewhat reassured, Snake followed the mare into the house, not completely sure about how he would be greeted.

Author's Note:

something something waiting, huh?

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