War in Equestria: The Tale of Bright Blade

by Michael_Ravencroft

Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Training Day

*** 2 days after the Siege of Ponyville ***

Bright Blade was sound asleep in his bed, but he hardly had any good dreams. His nights were plagued with dreams of the battle he had, it was an out of body experience as he watched himself transform and defeat the Daemoni horde. Bright Blade woke up early this day; Celestia's sun was just peaking over the horizon. Spike was already starting breakfast when Bright Blade descended the latter leading into the foyer, quietly of course, since Twilight was still asleep. Spike it seemed had prepared a sandwich made of hay and daffodils on wheat bread, Bright Blade quickly went to the table and devoured the sandwich, chasing it down with a glass of milk. Spike looked back; he was slightly worried that Bright Blade had requested something as simple as a sandwich for his breakfast the past two days. "Hey BB, you sure I can't make you something else?" asked Spike.

"Sorry Spike, no thanks. I got – uh – stuff to do," said Bright Blade. "See ya later." With that Bright Blade ran downstairs and out the door.

As he trotted down the streets Bright Blade was able to evaluate the recovery effort. Fortunately for all of them the ponies that were killed in the Siege were all taken to a mass grave. The buildings weren't as badly damaged; some had holes in them from when the Daemoni smashed through them, and over two dozen burnt homes and shops. Whenever Bright Blade passed another pony they would smile at him, silently saying telling him thank you. He wasn't always greeted the same way, some of the ponies chuckled nervously, while others seemed to avoid him altogether. It was understandable, it's not every day an earth pony transforms into an alicorn stallion, but still it hurt a bit to think that the ponies he saved were afraid of him. But it helped that his friends still accepted him.

Bright Blade made his way down the dirt trail that lead to Sweet Apple Acres. He went further into the orchard, his destination, the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse. When Bright Blade arrived he noticed that Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo where already waiting for him. The area around the clubhouse was decked out like a training ground. Bright Blade's jaw dropped upon seeing it. There were wooden horses with crudely carved fangs and painted red eyes. Sandbags tied to ropes on tree branches, and multiple wooden swords sitting on a rack. "Guys this is…wow!" exclaimed Bright Blade.

"Cool huh, we spent all yesterday afternoon, and a little bit of this morning making it," said Scootaloo.

"You guys built all this, this is just – wait a minute! Uh Scootaloo were you by chance in charge of making all this," asked Bright Blade, eyeing one the sandbags and wooden Daemoni horses.

"Don't worry she didn't," said Apple Bloom. Scootaloo began to blush in embarrassment, remembering her last escapade with carpentry not too long ago.

"Actually we had help," said Sweetie Belle.

"Really, who?" asked Bright Blade.

Apple Bloom knocked on one of the wooden Daemoni horses three times. From behind the tree Applejack and Rarity appeared, and from inside the clubhouse Rainbow Dash flew out and took her place beside them. Bright Blade was slightly confused as to why they were here. "I happened to see these three from the air, so I wondered what they were up to," said Rainbow Dash.

"That's when I saw Rainbow Dash heading in the direction of the clubhouse, so I followed. And that's when we found these three making this little setup here," said Applejack.

"And it wasn't long after that I was told. Honestly I was wondering what Sweetie Belle was doing, coming home late," said Rarity.

A couple of days ago, after Celestia's visit, Bright Blade went to meet with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle apparently knew that Princess Celesita had had a talk with their older sisters, but neither of them would tell them anything. Scootaloo even tried asking Rainbow Dash what went on, but no luck there. So in the end they more or less interrogated the young colt till he finally caved and told them everything. Their expressions were the same as his and the others when Princess Celestia explained the origins of their world. Of course Bright Blade swore them to secrecy immediately after telling them. It was then that the three fillies had an idea, they asked Bright Blade to return to the clubhouse in two days. Bright Blade never imagined that this was what they were working on.

"We figured if that's what's really going on then you're the only one who can protect Ponyville," said Apple Bloom.

"Maybe all of Equestria," added Sweetie Belle.

"And that's why we built this, a training ground to help you get ready for when you have to fight again," said Scootaloo.

Thanks…Now I feel like I want to throw up, thought Bright Blade. "But you know I had no, I repeat, NO control over that transformation, heck I don't even know how I did it in the first place!"

"Darling that's why we're here. We're going to help you in any way we can," said Rarity.

Bright Blade didn't know what to say, here his friends went through all this trouble to build something like this for him, but deep down he didn't know if he wanted them to. Bright Blade was filled with doubts; he wasn't sure if transforming into an alicorn was a onetime only fluke, or if it was something deep inside him, although that would explain his mysterious fighting skills. And even if this training was successful what chance did he have at defeating an army made up of 300 trillion. Bright Blade was starting to feel small, smaller than he was already. He was unconsciously starting to back up; the others started to notice and were beginning to worry. Applejack trotted up to Bright Blade and put her hoof on his shoulder, "Look BB, we're not telling ya you should do this – if anything Twilight would have our heads for making this whole thing in first place," said Applejack.

Just then they heard a rustling of bushes a few feet from them. Their worries were quickly dismissed as some squirrels were seen scampering about from where the noise originated. "We just wanna make sure that if you do decide to fight that we're all here to help you, and this stuff's here anytime you want to use it," said Rainbow Dash.

Bright Blade's confidence was slowly building upon hearing his friends encouraging words. At the very least it couldn't hurt to try and see if he still had the power. "A-alright, let's see what I can do…!"

---

The training was somewhat rigorous. Applejack acted as Bright Blade's sparring partner, testing his strength in grappling and bucking. Unfortunately it ended up with Bright Blade being tossed around like a rag doll. In one particular exercise Applejack had drawn a line in the dirt with her hoof, a good ten feet from where Bright Blade was. "Now all y'all have to do is push me passed this line. I noticed that when you were fighting you had some crazy strength goin' fer ya, so let's test it." Applejack took a firm stance, digging her hooves into the earth. Bright Blade butted heads with Applejack and began to push; his hooves raked the ground, his muscles tensed, and his brow beaded with sweat. Grunting and growling, trying to move the strong workhorse. In the end Bright Blade collapsed panting; Apple Bloom came over with a measuring tape to see how far they had moved from their start position. "Well…how did…I do?" asked Bright Blade in between pants.

"Ummmmm, half an inch," said Apple Bloom.

Bright Blade face-hooved himself, "Well c'mon now; don't let that get ya down. We just started the training," encouraged Applejack.

The next part of the training involved magic. Rarity would be his teacher in this subject, Sweetie Belle decided to join Bright Blade in this part of the training, looking to further her magical abilities. Rarity began by explaining the functions of a unicorn's horn, how it acts like an antenna to access the magical energies both within a unicorn, as well as all around them. She demonstrated this by lifting a few rocks using her telekinesis. "Now Bright Blade I know you don't have your horn dear, but at the very least try to feel the magic. You too Sweetie Belle," said Rarity.

Bright Blade closed his eyes, he squinted his brow, trying to will himself to feel the magical energy. "I can't do it Rarity, not without a horn," said Bright Blade.

"That's because you're trying to force it, just relax and breathe. Feel it and let it flow through you," instructed Rarity.

Bright Blade took a few deep calming breathes, closed his eyes again, and slowly he began to center himself. He focused on the obvious sensations, the wind blowing through the trees, the feeling of the grass beneath his hooves. Next he tried to feel out the presence of the others. Bright Blade knew that Sweetie Belle and Rarity were standing close to him, but he tried to feel them. They're unicorns so they must have a stronger magical aura, thought Bright Blade. Just then Bright Blade felt light, weightless in fact. He felt himself rising higher and higher, a tingling sensation all around him, the magical energy. I did it! I connected to the magic just like Rarity said! Bright Blade opened his eyes and saw that he was floating five feet in the air. "Rarity I did it! I don't know how but I…did…it…" Bright Blade's jubilation was quickly cut short as he noticed that he wasn't the one lifting himself into the air, but rather it was Sweetie Belle who apparently was deep in concentration.

"Oh dear, will now that's um, oh my, Sweetie Belle!"

"Yeah sis –" Sweetie Belle opened her eyes, unfortunately this broke her concentration and brought Bright Blade falling right on top of the little filly. The two of them groaned, Sweetie Belle from being crushed by Bright Blade, and Bright Blade for landing on Sweetie Belle. "Oops, sorry BB," she smiled.

The third part of the training was left up to Rainbow Dash. She didn't deny that she was impressed with Bright Blade's speed and flying capability when he was an alicorn. So since he didn't have any wings, at least not in his current form, Rainbow resorted to teaching Bright Blade the fundamentals of flying, which was ironic coming from a Flight School dropout. Scootaloo listened closely to Rainbow Dash's words, taking in as much information as she could. She explained how pull out of a deep nosedive, how to make sharp turns and barrel rolls while under fire, in Rainbow's case lightning. And most importantly wing control, when it is appropriate to fly with the wind, and when it's the best time to fly against it. Bright Blade was enjoying this part of the training, a part of him almost wished his wings would sprout out so he could try and do some of the things Rainbow Dash was describing, he turned to Scootaloo who seemed to be on the same page as him. "All right BB, time to see if we can get those wings of yours to show themselves," announced Rainbow Dash.

Scootaloo and Bright Blade looked at each other, then to Rainbow Dash. "Huh…?" they said in unison.

Apparently Rainbow Dash's plan consisted of taking Bright Blade up about a hundred feet into the air. She held the little colt underneath his forelegs, if it was possible for an already snow white mane to turn whiter than it already was this would be the time for it to happen. "R-R-Rainbow Dash, are you sure this is s-s-safe," asked Bright Blade.

"Of course it's safe! Since we know you have wings I figured maybe they might pop out if you were put into a situation where you needed them. And if they don't come out then your horn might, and you could levitate yourself down to the ground. Either way it's a fifty, fifty chance of one of the two happening," explained Rainbow.

This! Is! INSANE!

"Alright take off!" Rainbow Dash let go of Bright Blade. He screamed and flailed as he plummeted like a stone, Rainbow Dash followed close behind looking for any signs of wings or a horn, or maybe signs of Bright Blade about to transform again. They were already at forty-nine feet and still nothing could be seen. Rainbow Dash decided to call it; she flew faster and caught up with Bright Blade. She grabbed his forelegs and quickly pulled out of the dive, Rainbow Dash circled a few times before finally landing a few feet from where Scootaloo was. Bright Blade's irises were the size of pinpricks, his right eye twitched a bit. "Ha, ha, you're tougher than I thought BB," Rainbow Dash nudged the earth pony who then fell over on his side, still as a statue.

"Bright Blade you okay," asked Scootaloo. With the same expression on his face Bright Blade let out a confirming whimpering noise.

Rarity and Applejack gave Rainbow Dash a semi-harsh glare for putting the young colt through that, upon which she quickly apologized.

---

After they were finally able to un-petrify Bright Blade, the seven of the them set up a picnic for lunch. Although they were training in private they couldn't help but feel as if they were being watched. It lead to Applejack having to bushwhack the bushes with a stick to calm their nerves. Now came the part of the training that Bright Blade was a little more reluctant about, using the wooden sword. Bright stood there in front of the rack, just staring at the wooden weapons. His friends stood back, waiting to see what he would do, and just in case he unexpectedly transformed. Scootaloo trotted up next to Bright Blade and put a hoof on his shoulder.

"Bright Blade you don't have to, we can stop here for today," said Scootaloo.

Bright Blade looked back and saw the sympathetic faces of his friends, showing that they would respect any decision he made. Bright Blade swallowed hard, opened his mouth, and grabbed one of the wooden swords. He gave a nod to Scootaloo who then nodded back to the others. They all took their positions. Rarity's and Sweetie Belle's horns glowed, Rainbow Dash was holding a couple of sandbags connected to ropes. Applejack took her position in the middle of two open crates with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo standing next to them. Bright Blade took a deep calming breath, and readied himself for the Gauntlet that was created for him. Bright Blade began to run, some the wood carved Daemoni started to move toward Bright Blade, guided by Rarity's and Sweetie Belle's magic. Bright Blade dodged the first three wooden Daemoni with little effort, he quickly turned around to face them only to have Rainbow Dash swoop in and blindside him from the left. The impact sent Bright Blade to the ground rolling for a good thirty seconds. Bright Blade staggered to his hooves, at the last minute he managed to dodge an incoming apple. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were throwing apples up in the air, where upon Applejack used her hind legs to kick them at Bright Blade, her aim was dead on. Bright Blade tried to dodge as many as he could but in the end he was getting hit from every angle he tried to dodge.

"Stop!" yelled Applejack. Bright Blade was completely covered in bits of apple. "You alright there sugarcube?"

Bright Blade put the wooden sword down on the ground; a look of disappointment shadowed his face. "Not exactly, I guess I can't control it," he said.

The Crusaders didn't by it, "BB were you really trying or were you fighting it," asked Sweetie Belle. Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow were confused by Sweetie Belle's line of questioning.

"Yeah didn't you say that when you grab something like that your brain just goes into 'autopilot'," said Apple Bloom.

Bright Blade scratched at the ground with his hoof, embarrassed at having been found out so easily, "Okay, yes, I was holding back – but I had a good reason!" They all waited for his response. "I just – I just didn't want to accidentally hurt you guys, I mean what if I get carried away and can't stop myself?" asked Bright Blade, concerned.

"Bright Blade, darling, don't worry. Just have faith in yourself, and in us," said Rarity.

Bright Blade looked around at the confident faces of his friends, he couldn't believe it. You guys…you really believe in me that much. With his confidence restored Bright Blade took up his sword and nodded for them to take their positions. The three mares and fillies stood by, ready whenever Bright Blade was. He closed his eyes, Bright Blade could feel his body tensing up, the memory of battle engraved into every fiber of his being. Bright Blade opened his eyes and dashed forward, Rarity and Sweetie Belle maneuvered the wooden Daemoni straight at him. Bright Blade jumped up and spun in midair, the wooden blade snapped the necks of the 2 wooden horses. As the third one was bearing down on him, Bright Blade flipped the sword around so that it was pointing left, then jerked his head right. The blade broke through the legs of the wooden horse; the horse fell apart with its parts smashing against the other two.

Rainbow Dash flew in with the sandbags, she swung the one in the crook of her left hoof making it sail towards Bright Blade, aimed directly for his right flank. Bright's eyes shifted in the direction of the incoming sandbag, he jumped back, the sandbag swishing past his nose. Rainbow did another fly by swinging the other sandbag at him, Bright Blade saw it coming. He threw the wooden sword at the sandbag which impaled it. The sudden change in direction made Rainbow Dash jerk backwards, forcing her to drop the sandbags. "Whoa! That was crazy, and cool!"

"Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, load me up," ordered Applejack. The two fillies started to toss up apples; Applejack quickly began kicking them in Bright Blade's direction. Bright Blade immediately wrenched the wooden sword from the fallen sandbag, he then started to dodge apples effortlessly, and the ones he couldn't were batted away towards the brush with his sword. One of the apples whizzed by Applejack's head knocking off her hat in the process, "Dag gum," exclaimed Applejack. "I think that'll do!"

Bright Blade was breathing hard, his eyes downcast. He began to open his mouth slowly, and the wooden sword dropped to the ground. The others started to approach him, slowly, cautiously. Bright Blade looked up at the worried faces of his friends, but in the end he gave them all a smile that cheered them up. "I – I was able to stop myself," said Bright Blade.

"We told you could do it!" said Apple Bloom.

"Never doubted you for a sec BB," said Rainbow Dash.

"I think we should stop here for today…" warned Bright Blade.

"Why's that," asked Rarity.

"Because…before you guys came over here – even after I had dropped the sword – I still felt like fighting."

---

After getting a quick bite to eat the group went their separate ways. This – this is great, maybe I can control this thing, Bright Blade thought. Wonder if I should ask Twilight if she figured out anything about my transformation, at the very least I need my wings, something tells me that Rainbow Dash is going to keep dropping me from the sky until they finally come out. Bright Blade began to shudder at the thought of being hauled into the sky again by the speed demon pegasus. As he entered the library Bright Blade saw Twilight standing at her podium, up to her usual study binge. "Hey Twilight, I wanted to ask you something."

"Yes Bright Blade?" When Twilight turned around Bright Blade gasped at the state of her condition. Her right eye was black, her mane was messed up, and for some reason she had a couple of leafs caught in her tail.

"Twilight what happened to you," exclaimed Bright Blade.

"What do you mean," she asked.

"What do I mean! How come you have a black eye, what happened to your mane," asked Bright Blade worried.

"Heh, heh, heh, funny story about that…"

With the help of his friends Bright Blade is on his way to controlling his latent fighting skills. But what in the hay happened to Twilight!? Find out in chapter 9 of War in Equestria: The Tale of Bright Blade!

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[Michael_Ravencroft]

Thank you fellow bronies for faving and commenting on my first MLP: FIM fanfiction ever!

I hope you all enjoy my lastest chapters, and will upload more once i've proofread them!