Balance of the Mind and Body

by Swift Blaze

Chapter 37: Royal Guard Tournament, Part 7

As the Princesses and humans headed to the castle, Swift Blaze could see Al was doing his best to not to be crazy excited about eating some meat. He wanted to be on his best behavior so he could be invited back.

Blaze thought he should help to get Al’s mind off the meat so he can calm down. “Hey Al, are you happy that you will finally get to fight me in the arena?” he asked.

“You know it,” he replied. “I didn’t know if you were still going to be in your pony form or finally get back to your human one. I'm glad it's going to be against this body. I can really see how your powers do well against mine.”

“I'm also glad to have my real body back. I’m grateful it didn’t weaken while I was a pony. I think it might have gotten stronger from the training.”

“Can I see you change into your pony form with your shadow transform jutsu? I want to see how easy it is for you.”

“Of course.”

Blaze did the hand signs and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Then appeared back in his new pony form.

“No pain when doing it like this,” said the stallion.

“You’re right. I can also see that the horn is still there, so this form is now a Unicorn.”

“I had a feeling that was still going to be there.”

The stallion changed back to his human form.

“I’m still surprised I have a pony’s tail though,” Swift said as he waved it back and forth behind him.

“Just don’t go looking at a full moon.”

“Why shouldn’t Blaze look at a full moon?” asked Princess Luna. “There’s going to be one tonight.”

“A race from the Dragonball Z series known as Saiyan. They look like humans, except they had monkey tails,” replied Blaze. “Whenever they looked at a full moon, they transformed into a giant ape and caused havoc wherever they were.”

“And Al thinks you might change into what, a giant pony?” Princess Celestia asked.

“When I was with God and asked to come here, I asked for ki and chakra abilities. Not the blood of the Saiyans. I think the tail just has to do something with the Elements of Order and nothing from that show.”

Al said, “I think for the safety of Equestria, you should avoid looking at the moon tonight.” He turned and looked at the white Alicorn. “There’s another thing, Princess Celestia. The technical thing about the transformation is that the Saiyans absorb things called Blitz Waves that come from the moon. It’s the refraction of sunlight off a celestial body that creates it.”

“Excuse my language, but this is bullshit!” Blaze shouted. “I’m not going to transform into a monster. I enjoy the nightlife before coming here and more since I did. I promise you, if I do detect myself changing, I’ll teleport to the EverFree Forest and stay there till I change back the coming morning.”

“We know that you never want to harm anyone, Blaze. You proved that when you had that emotional outburst and did the same thing,” Princess Celestia said. “I do think that it’s false of you going to change now. With this new information that Al provided, you would have already started to change.”

“Why’s that?” Al asked.

“My sister and I emit those waves when we control the sun and moon.”

“See, stop thinking everything from TV shows is going to be real,” Blaze said.

“This place is real. Why not others?” Al asked.

“Another dimension probably. Not in this one.”

They finally arrived in the dining room. The Princesses took their normal seats at the end of the table. Blaze took his, across from Princess Luna and next to Princess Celestia. Al took the seat next to Swift. The waiter came and gave green menus to the Princesses and red menus to the humans. Al had the same look Blaze had from the first time he ate there.

“Red menus are dishes that contain meat,” Blaze whispered to Al.

He nodded and looked it over. Al’s facial expression was that of having a hard time deciding. “Blaze, what is good here?” he asked.

“I’ve only eaten a few items on the menu, but they were all good. It was the Manticore Meatballs, Bourbon Hydra, and Spaghetti with chunks of Quarry Eel.”

“You had that for one meal,” Princess Celestia said.

“Dude, I’m surprised you didn’t get a heart attack from eating that much meat,” Al responded.

“One thing I seem to have picked up from the DBZ show is Goku’s stomach,” replied Blaze.

“I’ve seen that from the meals at the mess hall. You never grab just a plate worth of food. The food tray is your plate.”

“Shut up and pick what you want before I choose something from the green menu for you to eat.”

The Princesses giggled a little bit from our arguing. Al looked over the menu for his selection. The waiter soon came back and began to take the orders. Both Princesses ordered Spaghetti with steamed veggies on the side. They also chose to split a red wine bottle. The name was a spinoff of one of the reds back on Earth. Al went next and ordered a sixteen ounce Bourbon Hydra, cooked medium rare, and a tall glass of hard apple cider. Blaze ordered a double serving of teriyaki stir-fry with Manticore, Hydra, Quarry Eel, and veggies to be mixed in. His drink was just going to be a glass of water. The waiter thanked them for the orders and headed back to the kitchen.

The white Alicorn broke the silence after the waiter left. “So, Swift Blaze, now that you are back to your human body, do you want to take a look and see if you can read anything new in the book on Elements of Order?” She asked.

He replied, “I’m back as a human for only a few hours and you’re wondering about that book? I thought you cared more about me instead of that book. I expected you to ask about how I fared with the last match? Or, what do I think I’ll do with the next one?”

“I’m sorry, Blaze. Just that book has been on my mind since you have brought it back. You do . . .”

“Princess, I’m trolling you.”

Al started to laugh and soon Princess Luna joined in. “I can’t believe you got Tr OUCH!” He started to say before Blaze kicked him under the table.

“What were you about to say?” Princess Celestia asked in a stern voice.

Blaze gave a glare to the other human to not say that name. He regained himself and replied, “I said that I can’t believe you got tricked into that sob story.”

Princess Celestia looked at both of them for a few minutes with a stern look. Al and Blaze remained quiet. Her face switched back to a calm look and said, “Yes, Blaze did a nice job with that joke. I’ll let you decide which subject you want to discuss.”

“I’ll honor your request and take a look at the book right now,” he replied.

Blaze summoned the book to him and began to look through it. He thought, Well, it looks like the book decides to reveal some more to me. Ah, this explains why.

“I think I know why this book is not revealing everything right away. I have a letter in the book.”

“Well, read it,” Al said.

“I was getting to it. Don’t interrupt me.”

-------Letter in Elements of Order Book------

Dear future human in Equestria,

I don’t know what year it’ll be there when you read this, but I do know the one who the book chooses to read this is destined to wield the Elements of Order. I’ve placed several incantations to hide this book from prying eyes so you’re the only one who can read it. Even Princess Celestia and Princess Luna will not be able to break this without destroying the book.

If you are familiar with history, I’m the one called Merlin. Princess Celestia informed me that in two weeks, all the humans in Equestria will be sent back to Earth for the safety of her subjects. I looked into the future of several timelines and saw what the Princess feared. I agreed with her decision and began to help her. I also decided to look a bit further to see where the best place for these elements to stay. As you can guess, they stayed in Equestria for a good reason. I cannot reveal the reason why is because it will alter the outcome.

Now onto the locations of the elements. They’ve been placed in hidden locations across Equestria in the last two weeks while helping Princess Celestia. The actual locations are not written down anywhere in this book. This book does contain sections to help you retrieve them once you’re in the place where they’re hidden. I did this because I’ve placed traps and other things to prevent them from being stolen. The locations will be revealed in time like how you found the secret room this book was in.

Good luck with your journey on finding them. I know you will do well.

Sincerely,

Merlin, the Great and Powerful

P.S. Say hi to Tia and Lulu for me.

---------Back to real world-----------

“I never realized Merlin really cared about our world to make sure we were cared for after he left,” Princess Celestia said.

“He also made sure the elements were protected from thieves. I wonder what kind of traps he rigged for each element.” Al said.

“You’re going to help me when I somehow find the location of each one. Us bros have to stick together,” replied Blaze.

“Well, tomorrow, you are getting your butt kicked all over the arena tomorrow.”

“Not if I get yours first.”

The waiter came out of the kitchen with everyone’s dishes. They were placed in front of them. They ate the food in silence as it was rude to talk with our mouths full. Blaze looked at Al and saw he was really enjoying the steak. He took his time and savored the flavor of each bite. His stir-fry was also delicious. They definitely have a great chef back in the kitchen that can make anything. Once the meal was over, Blaze offered to teleport the humans back to the barracks so they could hit the sack quickly. Princess Celestia allowed and they left in a puff of smoke.

The next morning, Blaze woke up a little bit earlier than normal. The anticipation of the final match was probably the cause. He headed outside and started the warm-up exercises he does with a human body. Al soon came out and joined him. He copied his movements as best he could. The rest of the recruits soon followed and began there.

Once the routine was done, they headed for the mess hall. When Blaze got there, he had to make sure to not grab things that had hay or flowers in them. He wished there was some juicy bacon right now. He gave himself a mental note to check with Princess Celestia if he could get some sort of a pig slab so he can get some bacon. He sat next to Al with everyone else.

Thanks for taking me to have a meal with the Princesses. I can’t wait to cook some of that after this training is done,” Al said.

“Not a problem. I know we need to eat some of that once in a while if we are to stay fit,” replied Blaze.

“The way you eat, you eat enough for a family of at least four.”

“What was this food item that you have to eat to stay fit?” Lightning Trails asked.

The humans saw several of the others face hoof themselves “Think about it. They told us already,” said Fang. “What’s one thing we don’t eat?”

They could see that the cogs were turning in Lightning Trails head as he thought about it. After a few minutes, his face went from thinking to that of about to puke. “You ate meat in front of the Princesses? How could you!”

“Yes, we did, and it was delicious. They didn’t mind as they had other delegates from other nations that also eat meat. Don’t hate it until you tried it,” Blaze said.

“I’ll try it when you eat a flower and some hay.” Lightning Trails said as he challenged him.

“Deal.”

Blaze quickly changed to his pony form and grabbed a flower and some hay off his plate. He chewed it up and swallowed. Once it was all gone, the red Unicorn opened his mouth to prove it. Finally, the stallion changed back to his human form.

“Now let me get you some cooked meat for you to eat.”

“You cheated! You were supposed to eat it as a human.”

“You didn’t set the conditions.”

“It’s true, you didn’t. You now have to honor the agreement,” Cancer said.

“You’re not going to get me to eat meat!” Lightning Trails shouted. He then got up and flew out of the mess hall.

“We should get going too. Don’t want to be late for our match,” Al said.

Blaze asked, “You in a hurry to get your butt handed to ya?”

“No, I want to kick your butt right out of the arena.”

“You’ll have to catch me first.” He teleported out of there before Al could say a comeback.

Blaze arrived at the arena in front of the participant entrance. Shining Armor was there and was surprised to see the human teleported to the arena.

“Are you in a rush to get to the match?” the Unicorn Captain asked.

“No. I was enticing Al so he’ll be pumped up for the match,” he replied.

“Why would you do that? It’ll probably cause him to get angry and activate his gravity powers.”

“Exactly. I want to fight him at his best. I need to know if I can handle him if he does go out of control. Plus, I’ve been waiting to cut loose with mine. I have been holding back in all my matches.”

“YOU HAVE! How in Equestria have you been pulling that off? I’ve seen you exhausted in several matches.”

“Besides the match I had with you, have I caused any serious harm to my opponents?”

Shining Armor started to recall the matches. “No, you haven’t. Then why didn’t you hold back against me?”

“Two reasons why. Number one, you’re a very strong opponent that caused me to fight harder. The other reason is you were being a pain in my ass at the start of the training. If you weren’t Twilight’s older brother, I would’ve made sure you were in the hospital for a while.”

Blaze heard the white stallion take a big swallow down his throat. “Yes well, *cough* I’m glad you can restrain yourself. You still promised me to spar with you so I can get a better understanding of your powers.”

“I haven’t forgotten that. We can do it each morning in front of my house when I do my morning routine. We can start it next month. Sounds good?”

“Deal.” The Unicorn looked in the direction of the training ground. “Oh, look, here comes Al. He looks pissed.”

“SEE YA.”

The human teleported out of there to just above the arena. He wanted to play it safe until the match.

Just after Swift Blaze disappeared, Shining Armor was laughing. He couldn’t believe that he fell for that. Al was coming, but he didn’t look pissed. He and the other recruits were talking as they approached. They soon split off and headed off to where they are supposed to go.

“Hi Captain Shining Armor, seen Blaze? He teleported out of the mess hall,” he said.

“You just missed him,” replied the white stallion “He went inside to finish preparing for the match. Come along, don’t want to keep the crowd waiting.”

Al followed Shining Armor down the long tunnel to the arena. As they made their way down, inside the space, the crowds of guard ponies were packed in as they all wanted to see the match. They were chanting both Al and Swift Blaze’s names at different times.

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were both there. Luna didn’t want to go to bed and miss this. Celestia felt the same way. So she actually closed the day court until the match was over. Nothing was planned for today anyway. Both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stood to address the crowd.

“Good morning and welcome to the final match of the latest recruits taking the Royal Guard training,” said the white Alicorn. “We’re definitely in for a great match as it’s not ponies who made it to the finals. It’s the latest citizens of Equestria! Al and Swift Blaze, the Humans!”

The crowd lets out a massive cheer. They soon settled down so the Princesses could continue.

“In all the years we’ve had this tournament, we’d never had it so the finalists were both non-ponies. They have earned their way to get here by going through the same training you all took. It’s now time to introduce them. First off, this human has display marksmanship of the highest in throwing blades. His control over gravity is even more impressive by what he has shown what he can do with it. Let us hear a great big cheer for AL!”

Al headed into the arena and did some aerobatics style moves to wow the crowd. They cheered even louder as he performed them. He landed near the center of the arena and walked off to one side.

They quieten down as Princess Luna was now going to speak. “This next human has amazed us with his elemental abilities of Earth, Fire, Lightning, Air, and Water. He has also shown us his mastery of the sword,” she said. “You don’t want to underestimate what he’s capable of. Clap your hooves together for Swift Blaze!”

The crowd began to cheer for him. Al looked toward the entrance where he came from, expecting the other human to come out of there. After a few minutes, no sign of him. The crowd began to whisper among themselves as to wonder where he was.

“Looks like Swift Blaze was too scared to face me. Guess that means I win,” Al shouted.

All of a sudden, clouds began to cover the sky over the arena. Everyone was wondering what was going on. Lights that were not lightning were flashing different colors and shined out.

“Don’t claim your victory just yet. There’s one big difference between you and me Al,” Blaze said from inside the cloud.

“Besides the fact you have a pony’s tail out your butt, what’s this difference?” he asked.

“PRESENTATION!”

The clouds opened up and revealed lots of tiny orbs hovering in the air. They created a 3-D image of Blaze’s face. The image of Blaze opened his mouth and the real Blaze walked out of it. The crowd cheered even louder for the human. He then flew away at high speed as the image of Blaze collapsed in on itself. The tiny orbs exploded into a firework display. The human landed next to Al with a big grin.

“Rip off,” his opponent whispered. “You took that from a movie.”

“I was different. He used bots to do his. I used ki balls. Mine was better.”

“Matter of opinion. Mind clearing the clouds away so we can get back to finding out what kind of battle we are going to have?”

Blaze did a jutsu and the clouds dispersed into nothing. The crowd calmed back down after watching that entrance. Princess Celestia stepped up to speak again. “Now that you both are here, I guess you are wondering how you will be fighting. I think it would be best for you to use all your abilities and weapons. A true test to see who is the best in this group. Good luck and may the best HUMAN WIN!”

Al and Swift Blaze only stood a couple of feet away from each other. They stared at each other with serious faces. A flash went off next to them and the referee pony showed up.

“Welcome to the final match of the recruit tournament. As Princess Celestia said, you may use your abilities and any weapon of your choosing. Do you both understand the rules?” The ref said in a slow monotone.

“Al, do you think the ref needs a wake-up call? He doesn’t seem to be awake,” Blaze said.

“What do you have in mind?” Al asked.

“Wishbone crunch on two?”

Al drew a big smile as he knew where Blaze was getting at. Ref now has his eyes wide open. He was wondering what they were going to do.

“Ready?” Blaze asked. Al nodded. “Two!” They both spun around and slammed their backs into the ref’s head. He staggered for a bit before he collapsed.

Shining Armor teleported down. “What was that for?” he asked.

“For delay of match. Plus, he won’t be needed. Right, Al?” Blaze said.

“That’s correct. Mind taking him so we can begin?” Al said.

Shining Armor picked up the unconscious ref and teleported out of there. Blaze and Al began to circle each other. Increasing the distance between them. Blaze acted first.

“Ninja Art! Battle Barrier Jutsu!” he shouted.

Another barrier emerged from the ground around the arena itself and stayed within the one that is already in place to protect the spectators.

“Now that is up, we won’t have to worry about harming the crowd,” Blaze said. "The other thing is we won’t be disturbed until I bring it down or I get knocked out. Time to fight!”

The black hair human started to run toward his opponent. Al reacted by drawing a dagger and sent it flying at him. The speed of the dagger was impressive by normal standards. You would consider it on the high end of arrow speeds. Al watched the blade get very close to Blaze. It then passed right through his head. The human soon realized he got suckered into an after image. A second later was confirmed when he got a kick to the side of him and sent rolling around the ground.

Before Al could get back up, Blaze performed an Earth jutsu and launched his opponent up into the air. He jumped up to catch up with the spinning Al. Once he did and moved at the same speed, Blaze twisted his body vertically forward and landed his left leg hard in Al's chest. The impact sent him soaring toward the ground at max drop speeds.

Blaze suddenly felt a sharp pain in his left leg. He looked down and saw a dagger was poking out of it. Al was able to get a blade into it at the moment of impact. The black hair human looked down and saw his white hair opponent corrected himself in mid-flight. Making sure he would land on his feet. Al hit the ground hard and formed a small crater. He landed on one knee and a hand against the ground.

Blaze floated down and tried to take the blade out of his leg. But it caused serious pain as he moved it about. It appeared to have gotten stuck in the bone. He’ll have to fight with it in there, for now.

Al quickly got back up onto his two feet as the black hair human hovered just above the ground. They stared each other down for a few seconds before Al charged at his opponent this time. He held a blade in each hand and the sharp side was sticking out the bottom of the hand. Blaze quickly summoned a kunai to his right hand. The human continued to hover as he didn’t want to put pressure on his left leg.

When Al was face to face with Blaze, they volleyed their attacks and blocks between each other. Both were able to get several hits on different spots across each other's bodies. Purple and red blood began to leak from them where they have been cut. After several minutes of this, they pushed off each other and stood apart twenty feet and continued to stare each other down.

"Looks like I’m not the only one good with daggers,” said Al. “I would say we are about even with this skill."

"I’m just glad I was able to get some hits in," Blaze replied.

"What hits?" Al concentrated on healing and the open cuts were starting to close up and disappeared. "Looks like I now have the advantage."

"Don't count on it."

Blaze performed several hand signs. After the last one, his body was glowing red. His injuries were now healing quickly as fast as Al's was. The human finally yanked the dagger out to allow the wound to fully heal. Blaze landed on his feet now his leg was no longer injured.

"You are not the only one who can heal themselves."

"Well then, time to bring this to the next level."

Blaze sensed that Al was bringing up his gravity powers. He quickly flipped backwards until he was out of the range of his ability. His opponent was having rocks come up out of the ground and hover around him. In a quick motion, he sent them flying at Blaze in a machine-gun fashion. Blaze quickly performed a jutsu and had a stone wall appear before him to block the hits. The thickness of it was successful in blocking the first volley, but both knew it wouldn’t last.

Each volley was taking chunks out of it. "What is wrong Blaze? You don't have anything in your bag of tricks to stop stones flying at bullet speeds?" Al asked.

"I think it is time to change the field layout,” he replied. “Earth Style! Hundred Stone Totems Jutsu!"

The ground in the arena was rumbling. In rapid sessions, stone totems began to come out of the ground in various locations. They ranged in different heights, from ten feet to easily forty feet tall. One almost clipped Al's arm as it rose up inches from his face. He walked around it and headed to the stone wall Blaze was hiding behind. Al used his power and pulled it down. His opponent was no longer behind it. The white hair human was quickly looking around him for any movements. He prepared several big rocks to launch, once he saw something.

"Nice diversion. Made me pay attention to the totems while you sneaked away. Your ninja skills are very suited to you."

Al spotted something move in the corner of his eye. He sent a rock flying in that direction. It made contact with a totem and had it topple to the ground. Nothing was behind it. Al continued to take down totems after each shadow movement he saw.

"COME AND FIGHT ME!"

"How about you come down here."

Al looked down and saw two hands come out of the ground. They grabbed his ankles and quickly pulled him into the ground. He was now buried up to his neck.

Blaze rose out of the ground and stood in front of him. "How’s the weather down there?" He asked with a smirk.

"Lovely. Come down and join me."

Blaze was forced down to the ground as the gravity on him increased tenfold. He hit the surface hard and was forced to lay flat on the ground on his stomach. Al used his powers to get himself out of the hole he was in. He soon was circling his opponent with a big grin on his face.

“Looks like you’re unable to move. I know you haven’t trained with this amount of weight on you,” said Al. “The most you’ve done with your magic weight clothing is about three times gravity. You’re feeling ten against your body. Submit now before I’m forced to make you.”

Blaze grunted against the pull of gravity on him as he lifted his head to look at his opponent. “So, this is what it feels like when Goku trained. I can see why he struggled in the beginning,” he replied. “I’m just glad to see you haven’t lost your cool when using your powers.”

“It took some time to get used to something you didn’t know you have. You know this as well with what you can do.”

“It looks like it is time to bring out another one.” Blaze placed the palms of his hands against the ground. He looked at Al and shouted, “KAI-O-KEN TIMES FIVE!”

A massive ki wave burst from Blaze and knocked Al onto his ass several feet away. The white hair human looked at his opponent and saw he was now standing with no issue. The human had a deep red aura outlining his body. Al got himself back up, then felt a sharp pain in his gut. He looked down and saw a fist where the pain was coming from. Blaze’s speed had increased tremendously. So much, under increased gravity, he did the attack in a blink of an eye.

Al coughed up some blood and said, “When did you learn that? I never saw you used it.”

“Inside my headspace,” his opponent replied. “I never planned on ever using it during the competition, until you forced me.”

“Let’s see how you can handle twenty times gravity!”

Al increased the gravity around him double what it was. Within the boundary, the ground sunk down a few more feet as it was compressed. The white hair human looked at his opponent and saw he was struggling to stay standing. He kept his distance to avoid any possible attack, but made sure Blaze couldn’t easily get out of the area.

Al pulled a dagger from his holder and launched it at Blaze. The black hair human didn’t try to get out of the way. Instead, he raised a hand and sent a ki blast at the blade.

What happened next surprised Blaze. The blast curved down towards the ground and missed hitting the dagger. The metal continued to fly straight and went into Blaze’s left shoulder. He cringed at the pain, but didn’t scream. He pulled the blade out and let it fall to the ground. The dagger made a loud thud when it landed. Al was now laughing at what happened.

“You can’t even use your abilities as they won’t reach me!” he shouted. “They all have mass and will fall to the ground before ever reaching me! You can’t do anything!” He grabbed two more daggers and prepared to throw them.

That’s when Blaze was trying to come up with something he had learned before more blades were sent his way. Then, a crazy idea popped into his head. “You might have hindered what I can do,” he replied. “That doesn’t mean I’m done. Water Style! Hidden Mist Jutsu!”

The fog started to roll out from Blaze. Because of the gravity, it stayed low to the ground and very dense. It spread out everywhere within the lower field. Al laughed at this. “Were you hoping to hide in this fog? Even laying down will leave you exposed,” he said. “What purpose does this fog hold?”

“To bridge the connection for this.” Blaze performed several hand signs and then braced his right hand by having his left hold the wrist. “Lightning Style! Chidori!” His hand now lit up with lightning and it was sent into the fog bank. The sparking energy was spreading out in every direction where the fog was.

Al couldn’t move fast enough as he was hit by the attack, giving him the shock of his life. The intense pain of it caused him to lose control of gravity, returning the area back to normal gravity.

Blaze felt the relief of his body and quickly moved out of range. He breathed heavily as the stain his body was under that had taken more out of him than he thought. He looked to see how his opponent was doing.

The white hair human was barely standing. Al had scorch marks all over his body from the lightning. A little bit of smoke was also coming from him. He coughed and more from his mouth.

“That was unexpected,” he said. “Anyone else would have probably been knocked out, or killed by that attack. I’m starting to like having this demon blood in me. Made me able to survive.”

“Looks like neither of us is ready to give up. Ready to continue?” his opponent asked.

“Bring it on, Blaze.”

The black hair human quickly responded with several hand signs. This next jutsu was going to be a powerful one as it was the most he had ever done. His chakra level was rising up to its limit. The dark red aura was now replaced with a bright red. Once he was ready, Blaze shouted, “FIRE STYLE! GREAT BLUE DRAGON JUTSU!” The human opened his mouth and a massive blue flame came out. It quickly formed into a dragon head. It hovered above Blaze for a few seconds before charging towards Al.

The white hair human couldn’t believe that his opponent could cast something that powerful. He soon realized it was coming for him. Al reacted by pulling rocks out of the ground to form a wall to block the attack. When the dragon hit the wall, it exploded in the same fire it was made of. Once the smoke cleared, the wall was gone and Blaze could see his opponent was knocked back to the wall of the barrier from the explosion. His body now had several third-degree burn marks over several parts of his body.

That attack had taken more energy out of Blaze than he expected. He doesn’t know if he could pull off another big one. The human stumbled closer to Al, but maintained his distance out of his gravity control.

“I know you’re still alive over there,” he said. ‘You were in hell for a year. So I know this wasn’t the first time you got burned by flames. Get up and let's continue this match. Let’s take power use off the table, just man to man.”

Al chuckled and coughed as he got up. “Guess I can’t play possum against you.”

“Not one who is also trained in faking out his opponents.”

“I agree to your terms. Mind if I do a quick heal before we give each other another beat down?”

“Not if you allow me to do so also.”

“Sure. If you have any chakra left. A move like that would surely have drained you.”

“I have created myself a reserve over the past couple of weeks.”

Blaze did a quick hand sign. The cutie mark on his right shoulder spun three hundred sixty degrees. He then felt the rush as chakra filled his body from that spot. He performed a healing jutsu to get his body back up to par.

Al focused on his regeneration. The pain was intense as his body started to heal. The human didn’t scream as he was used to this level of pain. The burn and scorch marks started to heal. Soon, both Al and Blaze have recovered enough to fight again.

Al walked closer to Blaze. He then took a boxing stance as he faced him. Blaze took a martial art stance. They stood like this for what seemed forever from the crowd perspective but was only a minute. They then charged at each other and began to trade blows. Neither of them went to block the other. This was now a shear test of endurance of who can last the other one out.

They hit each other in the face, chest, ribs, and gut with their fist. Their legs were landing blows on the other legs and sides of their body. This went on for several minutes with neither of them slowing down. The crowd cringed at each blow and was amazed at what a human body could endure. Their bodies were now showing some bruises and were bleeding from several of them.

They were slowing down as fatigue was setting in. They no longer were using their feet to land blows as each one was struggling to stay standing. Blaze and Al each took turns now in landing a blow, hoping the other would finally fall down. They were throwing jabs at the chest and head. Blaze was the first to change tactics and threw a massive uppercut to Al. The white hair human was launched up several feet and fell onto his back. Al coughed up some blood when he landed. He soon started to laugh.

“This will probably be the best fight I’ve ever been in that I’ve enjoyed. I submit the win to you,” said Al. “I know I can probably take some more or heal myself, but what would the fun be if this continued for hours. I’m glad to face you as a friend instead of an enemy. Who knows how it will turn out if you saw me as an enemy.”

“I’m glad you submitted,” Blaze replied. “I was on the verge of exhaustion myself. Thank you for this wonderful match. I now have a good understanding of my powers and what I can endure. I’m glad to call you a friend. If I didn’t, you would have to face some other lethal moves.”

“You’ll be surprised at what I can live through.”

Blaze collapsed to the ground next to Al. They started to laugh at that line. Blaze released the barrier jutsu as he lay there. They soon heard the cheer of the crowd. They were shouting their names, stomping their hooves, and other things. The humans soon saw a flash out of the corner of their eyes. Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Captain Shining Armor, and the rest of the recruits have shown up.

“Congratulations on your win Blaze. You and Al both fought to your limits. Can you explain why you put up a barrier within the one that was already there?” Princess Celestia said.

“I only did that to make sure none of our attacks would penetrate and hit the spectators,” he replied. “As you saw with I changed back to a human, the energy I released destroyed several of your strongest barriers.”

“Plus, he did not want anyone to teleport in and stop the fight. We were both out for drawing blood from each other,” Al said.

“Well, you definitely accomplish that,” Shining Armor said. “I analyzed the barrier you put up and was very impressed with it. I would have never thought of interlacing the properties like that.”

“Wait, you can recreate my Battle Barrier?” Blaze asked.

“I specialize in defensive type magic, like shields and barriers. I’m also the only one who can create one around the entire city, besides the Princesses of course. Would you allow me to analyze some more of your barriers and test them out?”

“Sure. I don’t know that much really about the actual properties. Just know the hand signs and the amount of chakra that is needed to create them.”

“Before we continue the discussion, I think we should heal you two so we can get finished this tournament,” Princess Celestia said.

“That’s fine by me, as long it doesn’t require me to be changed into a pony again by magic. I’m already bruised up and in some pain.”

“That won’t be necessary. My sister and I are skillful to heal any creature,” Princess Luna replied.

“Then heal away so I can stop hearing the ringing in my head,” Al said.

Blaze replied, “Just answer the phone to make it stop.”

“What’s a phone?” Star Dust asked.

Both humans began to laugh. Blaze replied, “Something from our world that allows us to communicate long distances in an instant. Sorta like how you write letters and use your magic to teleport them.”

The Princesses used their magic and started to heal the humans. Blaze felt some warmth from it as all the bruises and broken bones were healing, without any pain. Al was just loving the treatment, like being at a spa and all the pain was melting away.

The humans were soon all healed up and looked like they were never in a fight. Even the fatigue in their muscles was gone. Blaze could still feel his chakra and ki energy levels were still very low. At least now he can stand on his own. Cancer and Dragon helped them up on their feet.

Princess Celestia turned around to face the crowd. “Let’s give these two recruits another cheer for putting their bodies on the line as they fought,” she said.

The crowd cheered again as loud as they could. Then, quieten down so the Princess can continue.

“The winner of the tournament of these fine recruits is Swift Blaze! Also, I would like to congratulate all of them for surviving the training. They are now part of the Royal Guard.”

The crowd cheered once more for them.

“With the Gala coming up, I would like to invite them to it so the ponies of Equestria can see the latest ponies joining the Royal Guard. You all can now rest for a month before you are to receive the orders for your first assignment. Congratulations again on passing the training.”

The recruits all bowed to the Princesses as the crowd cheered once more. The guards in the stands were leaving as everyone in the arena did. The Princesses and Shining Armor teleported out of there to return to their duties. The rest of them returned to the mess hall to get lunch and rest up.

They discussed their tactics during the match and why the humans decided to fight as they did. They told them it was the human way in a friendly fight, to give the other time to recuperate to show a sign of respect to them. The recruits returned to the barracks where Al and Blaze quickly fell asleep on their beds.

Tomorrow morning, they will return to where they stayed before the training. Except, Blaze was taking Al with him. He doesn’t think Al wants to live in the EverFree forest. The black hair human can’t wait to see what the girls will think when they see another human, let alone explain the new things in his two forms. Oh, tomorrow is going to be full of surprises for everyone.

Author's Note:

Here's the latest chapter. It was proofread by Darksoul85.

Please comment on what you think the ponies in Ponyville will think.

Comments

[Gargon94]

I know that Twilight will be very happy to teach Blaze how to use his horn when she sees his upgraded pony form. The girls will be very surprised to see his human form with his pony form's tail.

[Shisarakage]

Kaioken was a pleasant surprise, and the chakra stored in the cutie mark reminds me quite a bit of Tsunade storing chakra in the diamond marking on her forehead. As for the imminent return to Ponyville, I know Twilight's gonna have a relatively small nerd-out when she learns of the changes to Blaze. That'll be interesting to watch.

[vortex123]

I can't wait until he learns to mix his new magic with his Chakra and Ki.