TWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!
The shrill blast of the whistle could be heard clearly over the cheering of the twenty or thirty ponies gathered around a raised padded ring in the middle of a sparsely decorated building. Inside the ring lay a dazed unicorn, gasping for breath. His sweat soaking through his short gray mane. Another unicorn stood over him, examining the results of her handiwork. Her bright purple coat and long mane stood out among the ponies who frequented the gymnasium, most of whom sported dull, earthy colors and manes trimmed short or shaved off entirely. Between her bright coloring and small stature, most ponies tended to underestimate her.
It wasn’t a mistake anypony made twice.
“The winner, by knockout, Twilight Sparkle!” declared the pony who had blown the whistle. The crowd cheered even louder than before, and the drumming of their hooves against the floor was deafening.
Twilight extended her hoof to the pony who had just regained his senses.
“Good match, Phalanx!” she proclaimed cheerfully. “That was a really cool trick, stacking up your wards like that to deflect my Dragonfire Beam.”
“Uh-huh” replied Phalanx. He studied the youngster in front of him, but wasn’t able to make out what she was saying over the ringing in his ears, a side effect of taking repeated magical blows to the head over the last few minutes. The training amulets they wore absorbed the worst of the impacts and usually prevented any permanent damage, but it still hurt. A lot.
Twilight, undeterred by her opponent’s monosyllabic reply, continued her friendly chatter as she helped Phalanx pull himself up off the mat and stumble his way to the side of the ring.
“It probably would have held up against that second shot too, but I think you had a little bit of destructive interference going on with the overlap between the third circle of the kinesis-based one and the sixth node of the thaumaturgical level of the other.”
“Uh huh”
Phalanx stepped onto the ramp leading off the raised platform. He noticed a moment too late that his legs were not quite ready to start cooperating with the rest of his body and tumbled forward. Twilight winced as he landed with a painful-sounding thud at the bottom of the ramp. The crowd burst into laughter as one of the spectators helped the unfortunate unicorn stumble over to a recovery area.
“Oh dear,” said Twilight, “I hope I didn’t hit him TOO hard.”
A tall unicorn stallion at the bottom of the ramp turned to her with a smile. His coat was the dusty orange-brown of newly fallen autumn leaves, other than a pale line arcing from the middle of his ribcage along his side, bisecting the Equestrian banner and crossed swords that made up the pony’s cutie mark. It was an old scar that he’d refused to tell Twilight how he’d gotten, insisting that "civilians don’t need to worry about such things."
“I’ve seen Phalanx bounce back from worse, Sparkle,” He said. “He’ll be fine by tomorrow morning. One of the colts here will make sure he gets home OK.”
Twilight smiled. “Thanks, Captain Reinolds, I really appreciate it.”
The captain offered her a hoof as she descended from the ring. “Now it’s about time we got you home. Celestia will have my flank tanned if I let you stay out past your curfew again.”
Twilight glanced at a clock that hung upon one of the bare concrete walls. 11:30 already?
“Yes, sir. I’m ready when you are.”
After stopping briefly to say goodnight and exchange pleasantries with a few of her other sparring partners, Twilight and Captain Reinolds stepped out of the musty and humid warehouse that served as a gymnasium for the Royal Guard into the cool dry night air.
Reinolds glanced down at his young ward as they trotted along the streets of Canterlot, more or less deserted at this late hour. She was breathlessly recounting a blow-by-blow of the night’s battles, as if he hadn’t been there himself to witness it. The Captain couldn’t help but smile.
In some ways she was still the same filly he’d met last year. He’d been patrolling one of the seedier areas of the city that night when he’d heard screams coming from a side alley and a blinding flash of magical energy momentarily illuminated the dark streets. He’d sprinted around the corner to intervene, expecting the worst.
What he hadn't expected was to see a small potted fern sitting in the middle of the alleyway, a switchblade laying at its base. A young purple unicorn stood at the far side of the alleyway, Tears flowing from her eyes as the light faded from her horn. She stared transfixed by the plant, beginning to shake and tremble as the rush of adrenaline ebbed away.
“Are you alright, miss?” asked the Captain.
She looked up at him, noticing him for the first time.
“I’m sorry! I... I don’t know what happened!” She shook even harder now, the tears flowing freely down the side of her cheeks. “I didn’t see him! And then he came out and told me I had to give him my money or he’d... he’d do terrible things... and he had a knife. I just wanted to use enough magic to push him away but... but I think I used too much and... and...” she broke down completely, unable to do anything but sob as the reality of what had happened finally overcame her.
Captain Reinolds walked over to her, glancing around the alleyway for any other attackers. If there had been any others, watching their accomplice get turned into a plant had clearly dissuaded them. He gingerly stepped around the fern, taking care not to disturb it or the knife. He placed a gentle hoof on her shoulder. “What’s your name, Miss?”
“Twilight. Twilight Sparkle.” She looked up at him and sniffled, trying to blink away her tears.
“You’re going to be just fine, Ms. Sparkle. You didn’t do anything wrong,” said Captain Reinolds.
“I know, but, I didn’t want any of this to happen. I just... I just wanted to go home...”
“Where’s that?”
“Oh, I’m staying at the palace.”
Reinold’s eyebrow twitched upward in surprise for just a moment. Who was this pony, exactly? Even if she had specialized training of some kind, transformation magic wasn’t the easiest thing to pull off. To just do it by reflex in a moment of panic? And she was staying at the palace? The Captain studied her for a long moment, unsure of how to proceed.
It was clear that the poor filly was upset, and in the end that overcame all of his reservations. Whatever power she might have she obviously wasn't accustomed to using it under these sorts of conditions.
“Well that’s quite a coincidence, Ms. Sparkle. I need to bring this evidence back to my office over there anyway. Why don’t I walk you back?” asked Reinolds.
Twilight smiled through her tears for the first time. “I’d like that, Captain. Thank you.”
Carefully placing the knife in an evidence bag and gathering up the fern to be dealt with later, Reinolds and Twilight began the walk back in the direction of the royal palace. Despite the earlier trauma, Twilight brightened up considerably as they walked and began chatting away in earnest. It wasn’t long before she’d told Reinolds all about her recent move back to Canterlot from the rural town of Ponyville. It was obvious that this pony was homesick and dearly missed the friends she’d left behind. They reached the station just as Twilight finished recounting the time she had watched one of her pegasus friends single-hoofedly wrestle a bear ten times her size to the ground and snap its neck. Reinolds tried to conceal his skeptical smile. She seemed a little too old to let her imagination run away with her like that, but after what she'd just suffered Reinolds was more than willing to indulge her. He was glad to see her happy again after the incident in the alley so he kept his thoughts to himself. As they approached the station, he noticed the golden chariot parked immediately beside the front door, and became aware of the commotion coming from inside the reception area.
“I don’t CARE how many off-duty guards you need to call up, I want you to FIND HER!”
Reinolds heard the voice of the desk sergeant on duty, the normally unflappable Rapid Dispatch, who now sounded like she was on the verge of complete panic. “Of course ma’am! It’s just that given the hour, and without any idea of where to start looking it may take a little time to...”
“Then stop wasting time and DO IT!” ordered the commanding voice of the other pony. Reinolds burst through the front door, only to stop dead in his tracks.
“Princess Celestia?”
The white alicorn spun around, her mane billowing furiously outward despite the lack of any appreciable breeze in the building. Her eyes were narrowed with frustrated rage. Reinolds’ life began to flash before his eyes, but before he had even gotten to the memories of his first day on the guard he was shoved aside as Twilight ran past him towards the enraged alicorn.
“Princess!” She ran up to Celestia and nuzzled their ruler’s neck, much to Reinolds’ shock. Great, Twilight had survived a mugging unharmed, and now she was probably about to end up spending a century or two on the moon for treating the Princess so casually. Not that he’d ever figured out what the Princess actually did to anypony who didn't show her the proper reverence. In his mind, that only made the prospect that much more terrifying.
If he had been surprised before, it was nothing compared to the shock of seeing the Princess wrap her leg around the filly and return the gesture of affection. “Oh, my faithful student. Where have you been? I expected you back at the castle hours ago. I was about to send out a search party!” The pieces rapidly began to fall into place for the Captain. Why Twilight was living at the palace and why she had been hesitant to tell him who she was studying under suddenly made much more sense.
Twilight bowed her head and her face flushed with embarrassment. “Well you see Princess, there was, um, a minor incident as I was coming back from the apothecary down by the airship docks. I didn't mean to worry you like this.”
“She was mugged,” interjected the Captain. Having recovered from his initial bout of shock he was determined to take charge of the situation and reassure Princess Celestia that everything was under control. “Luckily, nopony was hurt and Twilight managed to subdue her attacker. As well as turning him into some sort of house plant.”
“Twilight! Are you OK?” Twilight looked up at her mentor and nodded. Celestia turned to glare at the fern Reinolds had carried into the station. Maybe it was the Captain’s imagination but he could have sworn that the plant actually wilted a little.
“Yes, just a little shaken up. I’ll be fine, you don’t have to worry about me. My magic will always keep me safe.” Twilight assured Celestia.
Captain Reinolds winced inwardly, knowing he should probably keep his mouth shut and let the two of them return home. But he couldn't help himself. “Respectfully, Ms. Sparkle, I disagree. I’m glad you’re alright, of course, but frankly you got lucky. If that mugger had known what he was doing you could have ended up seriously hurt, or worse.” Reinolds could tell he had upset Twilight, and only had a few more seconds before she burst into tears again. He also felt the weight of Celestia’s full attention focused upon him. He chanced a peek up at her face. She wore an unreadable neutral expression. Reinolds was sure he could sense the gears of her mind turning as she seemed to be weighing his words and, the Captain noticed with some anxiety, sizing him up as well. “You have a lot of raw power, no question, but there’s more to winning a fight than just who the stronger pony is. If you’re going to wander around the city late at night, there are several techniques and magical arts that can be used for self-defense. I suggest you study a few of them and make sure that, heavens forbid something like this were to happen again, you would be prepared to deal with it.”
The two mares stared at him for a long while, more than long enough for Reinolds to consider just how far out of line he had stepped by implying that the Princess hadn't taught Twilight to protect herself properly and had put her in danger. He was in the process of wondering what it would be like to be reassigned to a frigid guard post to monitor some mountaintop on the border of the griffin kingdom when a mischievous smile formed on Celestia’s face.
“I believe that the Captain is correct, Twilight. While your studies on friendship have enabled you to accomplish amazing things, it couldn’t hurt to supplement them with a little combat training just to be on the safe side. After all, your friends might not always be around and there may come a time when you must be able to rely on your own strength to protect you. In fact, I know just the pony you can train with.”
Twilight furrowed her brow “What pony would that be, princess?”
“Why, I believe Captain Reinolds has just volunteered his services as an instructor.”
Whoops. That wasn’t exactly what he’d had in mind when he’d made the suggestion. “Er, Princess, I’m honored of course but surely there must be some other pony more qualified than myself for this sort of thing?”
Twilight sat back from the princess and stared at the floor. “I wouldn’t want to be a burden on the Captain. I’m sure he has more important things to do than teach me. He doesn’t need me getting in his way all the time.”
Celestia was undeterred. “Captain, I would consider it a personal favor if you would consider my proposal. After all, you’ve trained dozens of guard ponies have you not? I think you’d find Twilight to be an excellent student. I know I always have.”
Reinolds knew when he was beaten. He had to admit, he’d taken a liking to Twilight. And the political pony in him pointed out that having a royal protegee training under him would probably come in handy during budget negotiation season. “It would be no burden at all Twilight. I’d consider it a privilege to train you.”
“Really? I’d like that very much, sir.”
“I have to warn you, though, I’m not one to go easy on my new recruits. Learning magical combat is a lot of work, physically and mentally. You sure you’re up for it?”
“I won’t let you down, Captain!” Twilight was eager to prove to Captain Reinolds and Celestia that she could take care of herself, and the prospect of learning something new was always exciting. “Thank you very much!”
“Wonderful, then we’re all in agreement. Twilight will report to the training barracks first thing tomorrow morning,” declared the Princess. “Now you had better get ready for bed, it’s been a long evening and you have a big day tomorrow. Thank you again for looking out for her, Captain Reinolds.”
“Just doing my job, Princess.” He watched Celestia escort the bouncing unicorn out the door and into her chariot for the return trip to the palace, wondering what exactly he had managed to get himself into.
"The two mares stared at him for a long moment, long enough for Reinolds to consider just how far out of line he had stepped by implying that the princess hadn’t taught Twilight to protect herself property and had put her in danger."
Property should be properly. Other than that, good story. I want to see where this goes.
EDIT: first!
Oh my. Oh my oh my. This is good. I'm hooked. Tracked, thumbs up, and a demand for MOAR!
743012
Maybe it wasn't a typo. Maybe the second chapter is going to reveal that Celestia is actually a reincarnated Ayn Rand in Equestria and society breaks down forcing Twilight "Galt" Sparkle to take drastic measures to protect her rights from other, less worthy ponies.
Or maybe "t" and "l" just looked a little too much alike when I typed this up. That's probably more likely. Fixed now.
Ur avatar totally puts me off from reading this...
Wow! This fic is epic! :D Tracking and loving it!
Hah, this is awesome Badass Twilight is best Twilight, please do go on.
743058 You know, I thought that the first explanation was right at first, but I just wanted to make sure. Maybe you should write that fic too...
Twilight doing badass magic that would likely never be seen in the show proper? Yes please!
Like, fav the whole shebang. Let's see some real magic!!
Although I have to admit being worried that if this is self-defence training what she would be like using more 'battlegeared' techniques
forget friendship, have a magic-guided missile aimed at you
I expect great things...
Very interesting indeed! Consider me hooked. By the way, am I inventing the Firefly reference on the good browncoated captain? Whether I am or not, he is fully voiced by Nathan Fillion in my mind's eye theatre.
intriguing. tracked, cant wait for moar
743087
It doesn't have anything to do with the story and it isn't meant as any sort of political statement, although I am American. I'm not planning to change it, though.
743177
Done! Alright, sorry everyone else, the current story is cancelled until I can finish an epic "Atlas Shrugged with ponies" crossover. Send all thanks to cammerhammer over there.
743248
I'm pretty sure self defense training here on Earth would be real different if a third of the population had combination swiss army knives/rocket launchers permanently attached to our foreheads.
743571
The Firefly reference wasn't intended when I came up with the name, but I certainly noticed it a few pages later and decided not to change it. And reference or not my story could only be improved by Nathan Fillion (Fillyon?) voice work.
I bet everything is going to turn out great!(read: He's f). Well, faved, liked, etc. etc. see you all later. I'm on an Avatar season!
Edit: Those hearts are bigger than I thought they would be...
i love this kinda things... its how twilight getting more and more powerfull also love the facts that she overpowers and the enemy gos *GASP* that kinda thing is oke in my book all the way dude W>.<W
Suspect attacked Twilight Sparkle.
Suspect is now a fern.
You can say...
the evidence was planted.
yayyyy
794456
*Twitch*
*Twitch*
Aww, what the hay!
YYYYEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Very good so far....But why did Twilight leave Ponyville?
801808
Well it's not like the study of friendship would go on forever. She is still Celestia's student.
Twilight moved back to Canterlot? Why's that?
743058
Photograph technology. Printing press.
Story isn't tagged alternate universe. Twilight is Celestia's protégé and has lived at the palace for years. Twilight & friends are the Elements of Harmony and save Equestria multiple times. Rewarded and celebrated in very public ceremonies. Very own bit of stained glass in throne room.
Neither the mugger nor the responding guard knew who she was by sight. Guard didn't know her by name.
o.O
Awesome work I will keep reading it for sure, But I think you portray Twilight a little too childishly.
1829874
Kinda agree; Twi does seem a bit childish here...
Unless that was the target characterization for her.
Nonetheless, first chapter got me hooked. Definitely liking this.
Hmm, never realised how weird it is to see a character with a name thats speeled almost exactly like yours in real life .
Is his full name...Captin Malcom Reinolds?
my only question so far is WHY did she move back to canterlot? although im assuming it will be answered in due time as this is only the first chapter.
Ok ok ok. So right at the end of this chapter, Celestia thanks Reinold again, but, well, I can't seem to find the first time she thanks him.
Pretty nice chapter. Ended in a weird place, which is my general reaction to when a chapter ends mid-flashback Also, some of the reactions seemed kinda contrived. For instance, Reinold wondering what he got himself into is basically unwarranted. I could maybe understand it via implications, but you did spend an entire paragraph earlier with him reflecting on how good it would be to teach Twilight. Nothing else happened since, so I have to imagine that he was looking forward to it with anticipation rather than trepidation.
Also, your perspective roams
Still, hardly enough to put me off reading this. Onwards to the next chapter!
Funny first chapter. It would be just like Twilight to analyze a fight afterwards.
Well done for drama and such in the flashback. Hearwarming for 'worried mother Celestia'; major feels.
Two questions: Why did Twilight move back to Canterlot and (as others have pointed out) she seems more childish than than canon.
2753835
Excellent questions, to which I have no really satisfactory answer
This looks like the start to a good story.
denver.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw1126_my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-brony-im-with-twilight-on-this-one.gif
so the last story i read by this author centered around ts was pretty crazy good, might it be an idea to read this one as well.
ah who am i kidding with that introduction and description i would gladly pull an allnighter regardless of author. #prettystoked #gethype #idontactuallyknowhowtousehashtagsefficiantly
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cdn.meme.li/i/oiguy.jpg
3168468
Possibly the most relevant Bad Luck Brian I've ever seen.
743058
I laughed at this ^_^
Ayn Rand ponie would be terrifying...
Is she at Ponyville right now? If this is pre-NMM, then wouldn't she still be in Canterlot? Or is this post-NMM.
When i read 11:30 it was 11:30 on my clock
6837446 *looks at clock* 11.30
O_O
AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!
I can actually see that happening, Celestia being all sweet and nice and forgoing any punishment, making the pony panic thinking something is wrong and quietly fleeing into the night while he has the chance, and other ponies realizing said pony is gone and drawing their own conclusions...
A unicorn Twilight returns to Canterlot after completing her lessons on friendship, only to take up the martial arts... Interesting. Sometimes you need to go back to the older stories to find something new. Very few write about unicorn Twilight anymore, so I expect this story will be refreshing to read.
Twilight felt a bit too juvenile in this first chapter, but I suppose that does make sense, in an odd way: this is the show's version of Twilight, taken from her everything-is-happiness-and-rainbows cartoon world and transplanted into a version of her world that's complete with rougher edges. I'm interested to see how this plays out.
5136807
I'm pretty sure that this is post-NMM, which begs the question of why she moved back to Canterlot in the first place.
4672376
And essentially that filly from 8th season is Ayn Rand larvae...
So... is the mugger dead? Twilight's parents were turned back from plants easily enough. But then why was Twilight crying? But if she did kill him, her bouncing back to cheerful chatting right afterward is pretty creepy.
744482
A what kind of season?
2648538
I don't see that part. Was it cut?
2754247
You can hardly blame one for finding it off-putting when a story about a character defined by friendship doesn't bother with a reason for her to have ditched her friends. Weird decision.
2795136 3168468 4340985
Broken images.
8166237
That's coming to be a pet peeve of mine; people acting like MLP being a show for children is the same as its portraying a world for children, or its characters themselves having the mindsets of children. For us, a mugger with a knife is scarier than giant monsters or superpowered maniacs; but that's because it's something we or people we know might encounter in real life. Why would that apply to someone who'd actually faced those things?
743821
Yes. It'd probably focus on conflict resolution, de-escalation, and generally doing everything possible to prevent said launchers from ever being used.
Firearms training doesn't generally involve students putting on kevlar vests and shooting each other.
On the other hand, if people could project shields to protect against those launchers, then there would seem to be a clear distinction between "offensive" and "defensive" magic; and I'd expect self defense training to teach the latter.
Should have assigned her brother instead.
His talent at shields is comparable to alicorn in raw output.
10418918
Possibly, possibly, but this will allow for formal training and practice without any familial interactions coloring things. He is the teacher, the professional soldier, and she is the student, here to learn something new, and nothing else to color that when starting off.
And this being my first read of this particular story, from the grinning looks from Celestia this might allow things to blossom out into something more, or at least be far more interesting in how things turn out. Romance, for instance. We shall see how things go of course, but it will allow for more possibilities all the same.