Hajime no Thunderlane

by Omegafr

The training of titans

The day after Light's visit, I returned to the academy, still from the air, and always with a certain pain I could not control. I had come a bit earlier on purpose to see Spitfire and ask him what was waiting for me now.

I chose not to tell Rumble about this sudden change of profession so as not to worry him, even though he would soon find it strange not to see me in the air shows when I was successful. I will explain everything to him after I see the first results of my new training, which I hope will be there soon.

I went to my captain's office again and greeted her as usual.

"Hello captain, have you received my new training?" I asked her directly.

"I received it last night and was able to take a look at it," she said, handing me a hard copy of it. "It should be effective, for the little I know about boxing," she said to me as I didn't feel any hesitation in her voice. It was encouraging.

She really doesn't seem to know this sport, which means I'll probably have to train alone, with no one to advise me. I took a look at it before I was offended.

"WHAT? I have so many exercises to do in one day? And it's only one day," I said alarmed as I raised my head to my captain, I shouldn't have.

"KNOW THAT YOU'RE ALREADY CAUSING US ENOUGH TROUBLE AS IT IS, SO YOU'RE GOING TO DO THIS PRACTICE DAY AFTER DAY UNTIL THE TOURNAMENT!" She said before she picked up her whistle from her desk and used it, giving my ears an unbearable whistle. "I CANNOT ADVISE YOU BUT I CAN MOTIVATE YOU, WORK!!" she said with even more force in her voice.

"Y-YES MA'AM!" I said before rushing out of her office in a panic.

What I expected, she's always like that, and she wasn't going to give me any special treatment. That's the way she runs things, and even if it doesn't suit me, I'm forced to admit it works pretty well. Looking over my shoulder to see the empty hallway behind me, I concentrated on the card in my hands.

I read the training which seemed quite complete, in addition to the exercises and their duration, I saw the rest time between each one (which I found relatively short), there was even the composition of a typical lunch and other advice and description of boxing specific terms like sparring.

Spitfire must have read it, she will have a word with the cooks before lunch, but I was hoping.

Light and her friends from the Olympia academy have concocted a training especially for me, well my goodness, it's time to see what it's worth.

I went outside to see the first Wonderbolts outside, they were setting the stage for the day's training, which I was absolutely not going to attend, much to my dismay. I was pulling a shot puppy's head as I left for a more secluded corner to start warming up on my own.

Not stretching my wings seemed strange, but since they were hurting me now, I wouldn't complain. Besides, I decided I wouldn't complain about this training, and just start it.

The training consisted first of all in making me run on clouds far too wet for that, which simply made the action of walking abusively difficult, worse than sprinting on the fine and burning sand. At this stage, the air molecules that make up the clouds are closer to water than to a surface as such.

But there was no point in moping over the near-impossibility of the task, I should just hold on to what I had left to do. Besides, even though Light is an over-trained pony in terms of legs, he could do it easily, so... what would stop me?

"Come on Thunder, you can't give up, it's only the first day and the first step of that day," I said to reassure myself, which didn't work out with the turn of my phrase.

I swallowed and started my run on clouds full of water, which made me slow down strongly and my feet would sink into the surface if I didn't put solid support. The card advised me to push hard on the ground with my leg, as if I wanted to lift a load with it, and after several short but muscular strides, I started to find my rhythm.

"Let's go for 30 minutes," I said aloud to express my scepticism about the event.

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It was unbearable, but somehow I was still standing there on my shaky legs and unable to continue. I breathed heavily as I watched the rest of my ordeal unfold as I watched my comrades fly at ease, none of them looking at me happily.

Once that was done, the next step was to jump on a cloud below and roll over to start running again without losing any time. I had to let myself fall about twenty meters down with my wings stuck to my back. The sheet specified that I should not use my wings to climb back up if I failed, and that I should continue my attempts by descending little by little until I was successful. Only then could I get back to the academy by air.

For my first attempt, I was going for my first run, telling myself that I could roll on the ground quickly, so it shouldn't be a particular problem, and I jumped from the liquid cloud to my target several meters below.

Except I hadn't calculated how fast I was falling, not even giving me time to turn in the air, it's so much harder without using my wings. I ended up sticking my legs in the cloud just as soft as the previous one, my first failure smiled at me.

"Damn, too late!" I swore as I punched my fist into the cloud.

So, I had to start again with the cloud lower, I wasted no time and rushed forward, rolling in the air barely my feet giving the cloud one last push. And I made a full turn and landed with a crash on my back, sinking into the thicker ground this time.

"Damn it, too soon, too fast!" I almost screamed.

Did I? Did I really say that?

Instead of staying on the cloud at the comfortable end, I got up for my third try, the third one will be the right one, it is often said... which ended with a black stallion sinking headfirst into his target, legs up in the air and waving in frustration.

It must have been quite funny from an outside point of view, I thought as I pulled my legs to get the rest of my body out of the cloud.

I started again, wondering how many times I would have to repeat this exercise to succeed, hoping I wouldn't have to fall all the way down to the ground.

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"FINALLY!!!" Did I scream after my seemingly miraculous success at this level, collapsing on the last cloud before hitting the ground.

FORTY!!! Forty tries before finally making a decent roll. I now had to go back to the academy for the rest of the training with the help of my wings. I left the cloud that looked like the coziest duvet and continued my efforts with what strength I had left.

And the ascent was most uncomfortable, besides, what's the point of this stupid constraint, the wings are unusable in boxing. Then WHY!!!

"STOP! Stop Thundy, calm down !" Do I say it out loud so that I can hear it and absorb it enough to stop.

I caught my breath and continued on my way.

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Once the academy was reached, I went to the gym, which was fortunately empty when I arrived, to prepare for the rest of the training. Noon was about to ring and I had to do a series of what was called "shadow-boxing". From what Light told me, I had to imitate a boxing match by imagining my opponent in my mind, imagine his movements and reactions and act accordingly.

It seemed a bit too blurry and above all relatively stupid to punch in the wind, so I hurried to do it as long as no one could see me. I just missed thinking about an opponent, anyone, so I decided to aim high by drawing Drew in my head. I might as well imagine myself facing a real muscle beast, just to manage the stress on D-Day, and then if there is someone I know who could box at a pro level, it would be him or Light.

I would finally visualize him, appearing like a shadow in the room, and I would start and want to touch him, with cautious moves at first. I could see him arming his left arm to hit me in the jaw, and I ducked by lowering my chest before I even realized I had done it. I continued my fake game by really getting into it, it's crazy how real it looks once you get into his thoughts.

I was having a hard time using my legs begging for a rest, but I had to keep going, training is hard and it's normal, I wondered how visible the results would be. My chest kept working with my movements, rocking from side to side both offensively and defensively.

I dodge another attack and find myself facing the mirror occupying the whole wall next to me, I forgot my imaginary opponent and saw myself, eyes concentrated and eyebrows furrowed. I was dripping with sweat, I didn't seem to have sweated as much during my training outside, that I really need a shower before going to lunch.

"So, how's it going?" Asked me a female voice that I recognized.

I could see in the mirror that Spitfire had entered the room and was looking at me, arms folded. I instinctively turned around and greeted her.

"Captain, yes, I'm almost done shadowboxing, ma'am." I called her by mistake.

"At ease," she said without even giving me the sign and stepped forward. "You can continue your training, I won't bother you." she said sitting on a bench impatiently.

Damn, I didn't want anyone to see me like this, I thought I'd missed it. I avoided her gaze and resumed my fake game with a fake Drew as my opponent. I was dodging and kicking, I quickly lost sight of my captain who must have been there all along, judging by the lack of movement from him.

I was hitting, and touching, and dodging again and again, it was maybe three full minutes, which is the time of one round in boxing. I would back off again with an imaginary move before I felt my leg hit something and lose my balance.

I sighed with relief before I saw a shadow above me. It was still there.

"AH, SORRY, CAPTAIN, I'LL PUT IT ALL AWAY, MA'AM!" I said slightly too loud as I stood up straight.

She stepped forward and put her hand on my shoulder, which made me swallow.

"Put that away and then go and have lunch with your mates! When you do that, you don't stop practicing until dusk, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

"Y-YES MA'AM! UNDERSTOOD, MA'AM!" Did I answer in terror again.

Even though we'd been seeing each other six times a week for a year, she still had her phases where she'd yell at me, treating me like any other new recruit. I figured that was her way of congratulating me and started to put the equipment ashore.

She left the room and I gave her one last look. Am I dreaming or... was she just smiling?

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So I went to the cafeteria and noticed first of all that I was finally going to see Rainbow Dash and Soarin whom I hadn't seen this morning. I carefully chose my meal according to the advice on my card and walked over to our usual table, then saw that it was full, more than usual even.

Apart from my two everyday friends, Cooudchaser and Misty Fly were present. The others were candidates who were all pretty much gawked to see me arrive at their table. I especially noticed a green mare who would surely give me a few knees under the table if she was in front of me, fortunately, this is not the case.

"At last you're here, come on, hurry up and sit down," Rainbow Dash said to me, pointing to the only free seat at the whole table, between her and Soarin.

"We didn't see you this morning, where were you?" My friend asked me, and I smacked him before sitting down, which disgusted the mares, and replied.

"I don't train with you now, so I walked around the academy to the dormitories to practice quietly," I explained, pointing approximately where I was.

"So, how's it going?" Cloudchaser asked me as he admired my sweaty body.

I showed the training sheet I was following and explained what I had done and the difficulties I had encountered.

"Yeah, well, you're still lazy, you haven't changed," Rainbow said to me in a teasing way, judging by the teasing look in her eyes.

"But I'm not complaining. That's what I need right now to get into boxing."

"WHAT? YOU'RE BOXING NOW!!!" Shouted the candidates at our table, bringing attention to themselves.

I thought everyone would know by now, it's rare that a wonderbolt has to retire so early in his career. Rainbow Dash explained what happened yesterday when I was sitting in my seat enjoying my protein dish, bringing some shocked looks to my head.

"We're all sad about Thunderlane, but thanks to Light, he's found another voice. How do you feel about that?" Soarin asked me.

"Tough, very tough, but it's my first day like this, so just hang in there."

"Which you never do." my friend cyan continued, taking the words right out of my mouth.

I just finished my lunch and walked with them to the exit. We spoke again for a few moments before we had to separate again. I went back to the weight room, not without bitterness, I really wanted to join them, but it was impossible.

I sighed with discontent before I set off, fortunately this lunch was a boost for me, because the day is far from over... great.

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After a good break, it was time to continue with what was planned for me in the afternoon. I pulled out the sheet as always and had to do several exercises that this time I knew in order, with 30 seconds of rest time between each and a few sets each.

With the room always empty, I started the weight lifts, squats, pull-ups, extensions and other exercises to gain muscle.

As a wonderbolt, I knew most of the in-between and was aware of my strengths and weaknesses. But what put me in trouble, in addition to the fatigue from this morning, must have been the constant, uninterrupted series of runs. In less than 40 minutes of changing the muscle I was working on, my arms were completely dead.

I had done the squats with the weight lifts and the developed lying down with the pull-ups, to think that the workouts concocted by Spitfire itself weren't that hard in comparison. I prayed that this thought was only due to the novelty of it, she would be able to add her own rules, if she hadn't already done so.

I still wasn't complaining though, just thinking about the purpose of her exercises to make them better and better and always without doubting for a moment. Then came the skipping rope.

I hate the skipping rope, and of course it is one of the best exercises for boxers that exist. So I started my series by staining the mats near my sweat, which left my whole body again. I had drunk a lot of water in the cafeteria, but it seemed to disappear as quickly as it came.

I exhaled and inhaled heavily to push myself to keep going, until my body stopped responding and the rope got tangled at my feet and made me fall forward. I was exhausted, I could barely get up and walk staggering, so how could I finish this training for which I would still have to stay awake and active until seven o'clock in the evening.

Seeing that my legs were no longer responding to my jumping attempts, I decided to move on to the next exercises, which were training with different boxing moves. Except, of course, that our room doesn't have any punching bag of any kind, so I decided to work on them in the wind, like in shadowboxing.

I practiced the left, right and uppercuts in turn, trying to perfect my punches, whether they were the widest and most powerful by combining precision and speed. Let them be straight, controlled and exhaust me as little as possible, which was already done anyway.

It was by repeating my straight lines that I could still see the others flying and receiving that wonderful sensation of the wind caressing their feathers and fur. I had to stop envying them and concentrate on my goal. I put myself in front of the mirror to visualize my moves as my opponent to find the flaws during sequences up to a hundred repetitions.

The next part of the training was the mittens but obviously, besides not having them here, I didn't have a coach to wear them and advise me afterwards. So I kept on hitting the ball repeatedly and without stopping, even if what was going to happen happened.

I finally collapsed to the ground, my arms were definitely not answering my calls, and my legs were tired of standing. I could feel my body dripping with sweat and my heart pounding in my rib cage threatening to run away.

I wanted so badly to take a good shower while sitting down, get into the first bed and start hibernating. At least that's what I wanted until I heard footsteps coming towards me.

I could raise my head with effort to see that my friend Cloudchaser had arrived, with her arms folded and some fun on her face.

"What are you still doing here?" she asked me.

"I... am... resting..." I said with difficulty, gasping at every word.

"No, but I mean, it's after 6:00, everybody's finished for the day!" She said to me.

Really...

I-it was over! Oh, thank God the light, it was over. It was the most trying day of my life, without any hesitation. Even the early Wonderbolt trainings were not as strenuous, at least they were focused on the wings and our flying abilities. Here, my whole body refused to respond to me now.

"Come on, you need a good shower I bet." she said, helping me up.

She took my arm and placed it over her shoulder, placing her hand at my waist, as when I was too drunk at the time to walk by myself. She smiled sweetly at me, like an angel announcing the end of my ordeal and came to me in pony heaven.

"M... thank you... Chase." I said before I started to move forward with her help.