Ponyville's First Warrior Meet

by Wise Cracker

Clear Vision! The Secret Sight of the Water Style!

Day three of ninja training saw Apple Bloom getting into the stretching exercises with renewed vigour, and she was minding her breath and attitude a lot more now, too. The kids had learned the physical ways of Earth style combat, so now it was time to move up on the ladder.

“Okay, today we cover a little more on the mental side of things. Rumble, Scootaloo, centre of the mats, please.”

The two pegasi squared off against each other.

“You two are gonna demonstrate how you fight again. Don’t try to do anythin’ fancy yet, just do what comes natural. Rumble, I know you’re a little more advanced, but try not to hurt the girl, okay?”

“Okay.”

They both went into a deep Bear stance, legs spread with the hind hoof pointing out at an angle, while the front one was aimed squarely at the other pony. Their arms were both up: one halfway extended with the frog of the hoof pointing at their opponent, the other bent at hip height and with the hoof pointing to the ground.

“Begin!”

Apple Bloom’s ears perked. Where yesterday the fighting floor had been filled with dull thuds and hard slaps, now it sounded more like clapping. Rumble whipped his hooves at Scootaloo, always aiming for the neck, or the gut, or some muscle, never the head or the bones. His body snapped and dashed this way and that, but he couldn’t quite find a real weak spot in Scootaloo’s defenses. Scoots ducked and dodged and snapped her hooves at him every chance she got, even though he managed to pressure her.

They’d gotten better since their first demo fight, probably because now they had the technique for proper punching down.

“Now, class, this is how Water style works. When you strike, be it from Bear Stance or any other, you hit the target like a wave, which means you keep going for just a little while, cuttin’ instead of slammin’, like Earth style would. It’s a little bit of a slower rhythm than Fire style, and it’s softer than Earth style, but it does come with one major advantage,” Ash explained.

Rumble and Scootaloo didn’t hear. They were too busy exchanging blows, blocking and ducking where they could.

“Ow!”

Apple Bloom jumped when Scootaloo doubled over in pain.

“Oh, sorry,” Rumble said. “I didn’t mean to.”

Moongazer rolled her eyes and came up to Scootaloo with an ointment floating beside her. “It’s alright, Rumble. You are learning to fight, after all, you’re bound to end up hurt or hurting someone else.”

Ash nodded towards Scootaloo, who sighed in relief when the ointment went on her fur. “Class, why did it take that long for Scootaloo to notice the punches?”

Spike raised a claw. “Umm, Rumble was holding back first?”

“Valid guess, but wrong,” Ash replied. “Sweetie Belle?”

Sweetie Belle pondered it for a moment. “Scootaloo didn’t block that last blow?”

“She didn’t block all of them before, but those didn’t hurt as much. Apple Bloom?”

The lesson of the day before came to her. “He wasn’t aimin’ for a soft spot. He just hit one by accident.”

Ash nodded sagely. If he’d had a beard, he’d have swished a hoof through it. “Exactly. That’s another one of the differences between the elemental styles: Earth uses concussive blows, which means it favours a pony who can tense up right at the last second and hit heavy. Water style uses fluid blows, that push and shove the opponent back, rather than knocking them back. The point of contact lasts longer. As a result, pressure points are more important for Water style than for Earth style.”

“What’s a pressure point?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“It’s a spot that’s connected to some nerves, and usually to your magic,” Moongazer explained. “Rub them with the right attitude, put your magic and intent into it, and you can perform a healing. Whack them with a hard pressure, and you can paralyse the nerves for a second. They’re the entry points and exits for magical energy, among other things. They’re the weak spots, even for tougher ponies.”

“So why doesn’t Earth style aim for them?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Excellent question, and the answer is mostly one of practicality. When you land a concussive blow on a nerve point, it doesn’t do that much compared to when you don’t hit it. In Earth style, you hit hard with the flat of your hooves, or the side of your arm, or the side of your legs. You use big, hard surfaces. Water Styles use the edge of the hooves, or sharper, smaller surfaces. It’s a better tool to target those points.”

Scootaloo got up with a groan.

Ash smiled. “Now then, kids, we’re going to practise basic Water style blows, and make sure y’all are familiar with the major nerve endings.”

“Err, when you say ‘familiar’, do you mean…” Spike asked.

“Oh, y’all are gonna be hittin’ them, alright. And even if you do it gently, you’re still gonna feel it. Or… well, I suppose you won’t be feelin’ it.”

“Hey, Scootaloo, are you…” Rumble started.

“I’m fine,” she snapped. “You just caught me off guard.”

Apple Bloom paired up with the girl as Rumble did the same with Sweetie Belle, leaving Spike to spar with Moongazer.

“Is there somethin’ goin’ on between you and Rumble?” Apple Bloom asked.

“No, why would there be?”

“Well, you seem a mite angry at him, and he’s the only one here who knows your friend Wimpy, so…”

The blow came in hard and fast. Apple Bloom barely had time to yelp when she felt a blade dig into her neck fur and drove her back. When she regained her balance, she rubbed the sore spot.

“You missed, Scootaloo,” Ash said. “You’ll want to be aiming for the muscle; that numbs the chest so the return blow is softened. And don’t do this when you’re angry: let go, flow into it, it’ll come natural to ya. Only add anger to it once you get the technique down.”

Scootaloo closed her eyes and bit her lip.

“Are ya sure you’re fine?”

“I’m sure.”

---

“Ugh, you do that every day?” Scootaloo asked. Her whole body ached from trying to do one of Whimper’s workout routines. The crunches, the punches, the front kicks, the flutter kicks – she hadn’t even known those existed – it was gruelling.

“I can’t feel my toes,” Rumble said.

“You don’t have any toes,” Scootaloo retorted.

“See? I’m so tired I can’t even remember all my body-parts.”

“Well, I did warn you,” Peachy Pie replied. “Whimper’s been doing it for a while now, and he usually does a whole month’s worth. You should have started with day one of the program.”

Whimper shrugged, not really replying. He’d kept quiet a lot since Flight Camp. Peachy Pie didn’t seem to notice.

“Okay, fine, big guy. What do you usually do after a workout?” Scootaloo asked.

Rumble groaned and started stretching. “We could go flying.”

“I don’t have my balloon with me, sorry.” Peachy Pie chuckled nervously.

Again, Whimper didn’t reply.

“Ooh, we could get a post-workout milkshake,” Peachy suggested.

“That sounds great. What do you think, Whimper?” Scootaloo cocked an eyebrow at the muscular boy.

“Umm, I don’t think that’s such a good idea. This time of day the milkshake stand is in the park.”

And that was another thing he’d done a lot the past two weeks: not doing things. Scootaloo didn’t know what to make of it, really. Whimper had been fine at Flight Camp, a little timid but not above raising his voice when something upset him, a little more than Fluttershy did, even. He had a bite to him then, which was part of the reason she liked him. Now he wouldn’t even grumble if one of the girls poked him. He was scared of something, but it couldn’t be his anger issues.

Rainbow Dash had fixed him. So why was he looking broken again?

“What’s wrong with the park?” Rumble asked.

“Nothing,” Whimper quickly replied. “It’s just that the local team will be there. You know, Zephyr and Skyron and, umm, everypony else on the team.”

“Come on, Whimper,” Peachy Pie poked him for the umpteenth time that day. “It’s a public park, after all.”

“But Coach Buster is gonna be there.”

“So let him be there,” Scootaloo insisted. “They can’t kick us out of a public park, can they? Besides, we haven’t been to Bogsdown park yet.”

“Exactly. It’s just a milkshake,” Peachy Pie said. “We won’t get in trouble over that.”

The boy sighed. “I guess you’re right. We could try the park.” His stomach growled. “I am pretty hungry now.”

Scootaloo nearly recoiled when she heard him sigh. It sounded so empty, so heartless, like the life had been sucked out of him. Peachy Pie was his friend, she knew that much, but from what she’d been told, the rest of his class was most definitely not.

“Told ya. Can’t let a big lug like you get a hunger pang, after all.”

Something was wrong here. Peachy Pie was the kind of pony who could motivate her friends, sure, and Whimper was the type who needed a poke in the rump before he did anything, something Scootaloo herself could attest to. But she’d never thought he was like this on his home turf. Aside from the workout they’d just done, or tried, in her case, he just sat there and waited for someone else to suggest something.

It was almost like he’d given up on voicing his own ideas.

Was Flight Camp really the first time he’d tried making friends on his own?

She pushed that thought aside. A hearty milkshake would cheer him up, no doubt.

---

“Ground control to Major Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom said. “Do you copy?”

“Huh?”

“You looked like you zoned out there for a little bit. I didn’t hit you too hard, did I?”

“You hit me?”

Scootaloo only now noticed Ash standing in the middle of the room, in a deeper form of Bear Stance, and showing another form for punching in Water style, one that moved slowly and steadily before whipping around for the strike.

“I’ll take that as a ‘no,' then. Hiyah!” Apple Bloom lunged for another blow to the neck, mimicking what Ash was doing.

Scootaloo ducked and sidestepped, so she could slap Apple Bloom’s arm away. It left the Earth pony wide open for a counter-attack to the lower ribs.

“Ow!” Apple Bloom jumped back. “Okay, that’s definitely a soft spot. Gotta remember that one.”

“Indeed it is, the lower ribs are a good spot to aim for if you wanna create some distance. But mind your blocking, girls; there’s nerve points on the arms you wanna learn to target,” Ash said.

“Really? Where?”

“A little below the elbow, on the inside of the arm. It’s hard to pinpoint just like that, but you’ll know it when you hit it.”

“Huh.” Apple Bloom got into the deep posture again and waited for the attack. When she slapped the punch away, she saw the agony in her friend’s face.

Scootaloo bit her lip and nursed that arm like it was broken. “Ow! That… that really hurt.”

“And that would be the nerve point,” Ash noted with his usual calm. “Scootaloo, if you please, return the favour.”

Apple Bloom gulped. She struck at the pegasus, then felt a sharp pain leap into her elbow, followed by an electric tingling that went right down into her hooftip. “O-ow, okay, that smarts.”

“Now you know why I insist on demonstrating the effects before I demonstrate the execution.” Ash looked around. All his students were still striking, but every once in a while they stopped to rub sore spots and tingling nerves, or to shake their limbs in a futile attempt to get the strength back in them. “Okay, everypo-err, everyone got the basic idea of nerve points?”

A few muttered acknowledgements sounded, along with some expressions of pain.

“Good. Now, like I said, this technique is most important for Water style fighters, so Scootaloo and Rumble, y’all are gonna have to master this if you wanna do anything in a real fight. Water focuses entirely on pressure points, when blocking or defending. The rest of you, you don’t need this, per se, but it’s still a useful skill to have. Apple Bloom, for you it’s gonna be mostly about creatin’ distance so you can wind up a stronger blow, and Spike, you’re gonna want to focus on debilitating strikes that slow down the other guy, so you can combo more effectively.”

“Err… combo what?”

“We’ll get to that when we cover Fire tomorrow.”

“What about Wind?” Sweetie Belle asked. “What am I supposed to do with those soft spots?”

“Avoid lettin’ the other guy land a hit on’em,” Ash replied. “But that’s for Thursday. Right now we’re gonna cover a little bit of ninja magic. Moongazer?”

Moongazer nodded and went out in the back.

“Ninja magic?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Ninja magic. Now that you know how much damage you can do with it, you’re gonna learn how to see pressure points in other ponies, so you can target them more effectively. Rumble, Scootaloo, that means you’re gonna be fully trained once you master this, just like Apple Bloom’s fully trained right now.”

Apple Bloom grumbled to herself. She certainly didn’t feel fully trained yet, especially considering her encounter with that alicorn kid.

“Now, to start with, let’s look at the ocean.”

Moondancer returned with what looked like a slide show sheet and set it up so the kids could look at it. The picture was blue, a deep ocean blue.

Apple Bloom furrowed her brow. “I don’t get it.”

“Your eyes aren’t the only thing you see with,” Moongazer explained. “Or rather, not the only thing involved in the process of seeing. The mind filters out a few things that you don’t normally need to catch. To see pressure points, you need to become more sensitive to different shades of colour, mostly red and orange. The ninja mind trick to do this is to stare at something a deep blue for a long time.”

Ash nodded. “This is a meditation technique that’s kind of like Eastern Unicorn wall staring. You look at the same colour for long enough so it fills your whole vision, your mind tries compensate and make it look normal. Then when you remove the colour, the complementary colour becomes more pronounced.”

“Comple-whatnow?” Spike asked.

“The opposite colour. Like green and red.”

“Very good, Sweetie Belle. Now, just relax and meditate on the colour blue, and by the time you’re done, your limbs should feel a bit better and you can practise hitting each other again.”

Scootaloo sighed and looked into the blue. Try as she might, she couldn’t stop her mind from wandering.

---

Scootaloo, Peachy Pie, Rumble, and Whimper all sat in the shade of Bogsdown park, sipping their milkshakes. It was a larger park than Ponyville’s, but then Bogsdown was a larger city, with the houses built more along the lines of Manehattan architecture, just not as densely as the big metropolis.

Some kids were playing a ball game, Scootaloo presumed it was Bad Apple, the same game Whimper’s bullies played. Kids were tossing balls back and forth, trying not to get hit. Some were on pick-up duty, some on striking duty, some held the things to deflect other projectiles. It looked like a fun game in and of itself, but not something Scootaloo would like to play; too messy and crowded.

She hmmed after another sip of that cold, soothing fruit shake. “Wow, you were right, Peachy Pie, these are really good.”

Rumble nodded. “There’s more fruit in this, isn’t there? More than usual.”

Peachy Pie nodded emphatically. “Uhuh. Mister Frosty uses fresh fruit most of the time, but the bananas are always a little too ripe, so you can really taste that in the mix. It’s a Bogsdown thing; we’re really big on healthy stuff around here.”

Whimper nodded without a word.

For the briefest moment, Scootaloo thought the old Whimper from Flight Camp was sitting there again. He was enjoying himself, at peace with everything, just sipping a good, refreshing milkshake.

That’s when she learned exactly what it was that had made him so highly strung.

A faint whooshing sound came from the kids playing Bad Apple, and next thing anyone knew Whimper had slammed one of his front hooves into a ball that had nearly hit Peachy Pie in the face. The thing went flying across the sky.

“What’s the big idea?” One of the kids, a dark grey unicorn colt with the same three-spike manedo half the boys of Equestria sported, came trotting over towards them. His cutie mark looked like a helmet, but what sport, Scootaloo couldn’t tell.

“You almost hit my friend,” Whimper replied.

“Whimper, what are you doing?” A pegasus stallion joined them. “You just shot our ball out of the park.”

Scootaloo and Rumble took a long, hard look at the coach. A yellow pegasus, just a shade darker than Fluttershy, with a dark red mane and tail, both with a beige stripe running through it, he looked kind of like one of the pegasi on the sidelines of a Wonderbolts derby, but the whistle was a dead giveaway he was a teacher.

What really stood out, though, was the guy’s musculature. Compared to Whimper, he didn’t have any. He looked about as ripped as Big Macintosh, which wasn’t very. Doldrum Whimper, on the other hoof, looked like a sculptor’s model, with most of his muscles sticking out just enough to be noticeable, but not enough to hinder his movements. It struck Scootaloo as odd, that Whimper would have a gym teacher who was less muscular than he was.

Whimper’s ears flattened against his head. “It was going to hit us, what was I supposed to do?”

Coach Buster leaned in and took a step forward, clearly trying to intimidate the boy for some reason. “You’re not even supposed to be here, you know we use this place for practice.”

“Umm, but it’s a public park, Coach Buster,” Peachy Pie remarked. “It’s open.”

“I wasn’t talking to you, Peachy Pie. What do you have to say for yourself, Wimpy?”

Scootaloo’s right eye twitched when she heard the grownup call him that. Rumble furrowed his brow in confusion.

To his credit, even though Whimper wasn’t anywhere near Buster’s size, he didn’t back down.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Go get our ball back,” Buster nodded towards the edge of the park. “And be quick about it.”

Whimper didn’t say a word. He didn’t snort, he didn’t grumble, he hardly even breathed. He simply strode on past the colt and the stallion and flew off to where he thought the ball had landed.

“As for you three,” Buster said once Whimper was out of earshot, “you should know better than to get Wimpy in trouble. You know he’s got no spine in him.”

Scootaloo’s mind reeled. Part of her wanted to tell this guy off, but the look on his face made her think twice. She didn’t want him to punish Whimper for something she said, and Rumble followed suit, judging by his silence. Buster finally backed down once he’d made his point.

“Now clear off, all of you. Park’s closed.”

Peachy Pie rolled her eyes and got up, picking up what was left of Whimper’s milkshake.

The unicorn colt with the coach smirked. Then he screamed in pain from a blunt blow to the face.

The ball had hit him so hard that it actually stuck to his face for a second before falling down. His face was reddened by the impact, and his eyes filled with tears.

“What the… Wimpy, what the hay do you think you’re doing?” Coach Buster yelled, even as the cocky colt next to him rubbed his hurt face.

“Come on,” Whimper said coldly, taking his milkshake. “We’re leaving.”

Scootaloo didn’t like the look of the unicorn with Buster. He looked like he was in pain, and part of his face was starting to swell up. She could swear she caught a tinge of red flowing out of his nose, too.

She rushed after Whimper and Peachy before anyone saw.

Rumble was last to leave. “Whimper, I think you just hurt that kid.”

Whimper gulped and blinked. He rubbed his head like he’d had a pang of brain freeze. “What?”

“That kid back there, you hit him in the head pretty hard.” Scootaloo nodded back towards him.

“No, I didn’t. I’d never hurt anyone.”

“You just did, Whimper. We saw you,” Peachie Pie said. “We all saw you do it.”

The boy stopped and turned. The vaguest hint of a pout appeared on his lips. “Oh. Well, I’ll apologise next time I see him, then.”

Scootaloo narrowed her eyes in confusion. She let Whimper walk ahead of them before whispering to Peachy Pie. “Has he been getting that a lot lately?”

Peachy nodded. “Ever since he got back from Flight Camp. You weren’t around for the other times, but it’s been getting worse.”

“Really?” Rumble asked. “I thought he’d be more popular after what he did at Flight Camp.”

“Yeah, I heard. He was doing okay for a couple days, but then the other kids and the coaches started picking on us again, and now he’s worse off than before. He never blacked out like this.”

“They pick on him and you? Why? I mean, I know Whimper’s got it rough, but you look pretty normal,” Rumble said.

The filly shrugged and finished her shake, neatly tossing it backwards in a trash can. “We usually hang out a lot, and our families are close friends, so if anypony picks on one of us they end up getting the other one, too. He’s the only pony in our school who’s not on any team, and I’m the only pony in our school who’s on a roller derby team.”

Scootaloo tried to wrap her head around that, but couldn’t quite manage it. “Seriously? Every pony in your school is on a team? Every single one? Even the girls?”

“Sure, I thought you knew. This is the sports capital of Equestria. You’re a nobody if you can’t do sports, and Wimpy, well…”

The boy ahead of them stopped. He finished his drink and walked back past them to toss the cup in the trash. “What was that?”

“I was just saying everypony in school does sports. Even in the summer.”

Whimper nodded reluctantly. “Oh, right. Umm, yes, sports are a pretty big thing around here.”

“So why aren’t you doing anything?” Scootaloo asked.

Whimper winced. “I can’t, remember? There aren’t any clubs for strong colts and, honestly, I don’t think I’d like it even if I did join. Everypony’s too competitive around here.”

“Even me,” Peachy joked. “You should see us on the derby track: Whimper can really take a beating.”

“I need the practice.” Whimper shrugged. “And it’s better if you practise tackles with somepony who can take it, right?”

“Right.”

“Sooo…” Scootaloo started. “You just get picked on because you don’t do sports? But you’re strong as an ox, you do lots of sports. I mean, technically you did that before Flight Camp, you do even more now.”

Whimper rolled his eyes at that. “Yes, but not in a club, or in competition. That’s what matters around here: what you can win. I don’t win trophies for any club, or for my school. I don’t contribute, so… I’m not important.”

“Sounds like a horrible place to go to school,” Rumble noted.

Peachy Pie shrugged again. “It’s tradition, and it works: most ponies from here end up in Canterlot or Manehattan. A lot of bigshot Royal Guards trained here, the rules and schools are a little different, too. In this town, accomplishment matters. You get more respect depending on what you join. Roller derby’s pretty low on the ladder, but it’s better than nothing. And it’s fun.”

“Uhuh. And Bad Apple’s pretty big, then?” Scootaloo asked.

Peachy nodded. “Yup. Swimming and running are a little lower, fencing is almost as high as Bad Apple, then you’ve got hoofball for the older kids, of course, and the dance squads pretty much own the streets around the concert hall, but the highest is just plain martial arts, like karate and stuff. The martial arts schools compete like crazy, and they bend the rules when they can. If you’re a martial artist around here, in one of the big schools, you can get away with anything.”

Scootaloo looked back to the playing field again. “But, umm, Whimper’s a martial artist, isn’t he?”

Whimper sighed. “Yes, but I’m still not in a club.”

Scootaloo took the hint and nudged him. “Not yet, you mean. Maybe you just need to find one you like.”

The boy gave her a weak smile. “Yeah, maybe.”

---

“Scootaloo?”

“What, Rumble?”

“Meditation’s over. You wanna pair up with me or someone else?”

Scootaloo let off a private grunt. “I think I’d rather fight Sweetie Belle right now.”

“If you say so.”

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle paired up. The unicorn winced at the boy as she squared off with her friend. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong, okay?” Scootaloo said, slapping at a spot near Sweetie’s left shoulder. She got blocked, but it still hit Sweetie in the arm.

“It sounds like something’s wrong. Did Rumble do something?”

“He just got a lucky shot, that’s all.”

“Oh. So you’re embarrassed he’s better at this than you.”

“He is not better at this than me,” Scootaloo said bluntly, before lunging again.

“Sure he is,” Ash said. “Look at him.”

And look they did. Rumble was swift, limber, and on point as he faced Spike.

Ash snickered. “Rumble, take him out. Spike, brace yourself.”

The dragon gulped.

“Wait, you want me to what?” Rumble asked.

“You know how to do a basic takedown?”

“Umm, yes?”

“Can you see any bright spots on Spike?”

Rumble chuckled nervously. “Umm… a couple.”

“Good. Aim for those and take Spike down. Paralyse him. Show the girls how it’s done.”

“But I’m not that good at it,” Rumble replied.

“Then I’ll show them how it’s done after you show them how it’s not done. Come on. You wanted to know if you were up to learning ninja fighting. I say you are. So do it.”

Sweetie Belle noticed Scootaloo and Rumble both starting to sweat. Apple Bloom noticed it, too, but whether Ash did was anyone’s guess.

“Spike, I’ll try not to hurt you too much,” Rumble said.

“I’m a dragon, remember? Thick scales.”

Rumble shrugged, then struck.

The colt moved unlike anything Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle had ever seen. His legs practically skidded over the ground, front one closing the distance with the other seamlessly following for balance. His arms had the same lightness to them, gliding as he took aim.

The first strike was like the cut of a sword, going for the side of Spike’s neck and grazing past it. Rumble’s eyes looked off, too, like he had a killer intent behind them. It was almost like he wasn’t even watching Spike at all.

The dragon was knocked back, left side of his body clumsily thrown off. He couldn’t keep his arms up to guard. And that left his front wide open for the follow-up: a shove in the front of his ribcage, with the front edge of a hoof moving down across his chest like a cleaver. Rumble put a hind leg in position to trip him up as he went, but he hardly needed to. Spike went down.

“Huh. That was a lot less painful than it looked.” Spike shrugged and rubbed his chest scales.

“I am really sorry. Are you sure you’re okay?” Rumble extended a hoof to help Spike up.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Your aim’s really good.”

Ash nodded. “Yes. Good form, Rumble. Looks like you’ll be leaning more towards the cutting styles, we can work with that. But try to put some force into it. A blow like that should leave your opponent unable to move. But you got the sight down, that’s something. Spike, relax your eyes like he did, try to look through your opponent. Picture a blue background, like before. Then keep practisin’.”

Spike squinted, then started punching with the same rhythm and force as Rumble had. “Okay, I think I’m getting the hang of it now.”

Ash looked to Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. “Well? Apple Bloom’s sparring with Moongazer, what are you waiting for?”

“Sorry, sir.” Scootaloo took a deep breath and got back to it.

Ash regarded the two pegasi for a moment.

Strange...

Scootaloo slapped back and forth as hard as she could, but Sweetie Belle hardly seemed to notice, aside from having to wriggle her limbs after the blows. Scootaloo had the projection down, but she wasn’t hitting any critical points.

Ash sighed.

Rumble, however, was the exact opposite. His body moved fluidly and with proper relaxation, his eyes were out of focus as they should be for the exercise, and he put his heart into every cleaving punch he threw. At least, he looked like he did. In reality, it was all outer form and no energy behind it, no magic moving. All technical, no soul.

The boy was off, somehow. Letting his own sight go out of focus, Ash examined the auras of his students. Apple Bloom’s was a vibrant green all over, not too big a halo over her head but she was new at this, so that was to be expected. Sweetie Belle had a more pinkish red, while Spike was a deep red all over.

The pegasi, though, were mixed. Rumble’s aura ran a light greenish blue over his body, but it turned more yellow-ish around his head. Likewise, Scootaloo had a very perturbed-looking drab green aura, but her head’s corona was light blue. The aura of the body didn’t match that of the head, it was clear as day.

Somethin’s got’em spooked. Can’t have’em muck around in that kinda state.

Author's Note:

Been a little feverish past few days, so this one may not be edited up to the usual standards. Kinda rushed uploading it.

Still, it should be kind of obvious how this is turning out, no?

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

Well now. Ash is going to need to have a talk with those two, though I'm not sure what he can say to get their heads in the now.

Meanwhile, Bogsdown still sounds like my personal hell. Though at least that flashback gave us "the dance squads pretty much own the streets," which is a beautiful phrase.

Looking forward to more, especially since I'm not sure if you'll go for the obvious approach or a shocking twist.