The Elements of Equestria

by trooper7051

Chapter 11

The Elements of Equestria

Part 11

Twilight figured she and the rest of the group were only three days away from the edge of the Everfree Forest. Trooper had made a full and easy recovery, save for all the complaining. Everypony had been calling it ‘whining’ for a while but Rarity assured them, with no small amount of certainty, he had only been complaining. The offer of an illustration on her part had been politely turned down, albeit in a great many decibels and in the form of many voices responding simultaneously.

Try as he might, Trooper had thus far been unable to recall any more information regarding his family. The issue had been weighing on his mind since Sea Blue had brought it to his attention. Every night Trooper would go to sleep thinking about what his mother had told him, and wake up in the morning only that much more frustrated for his inability. The only thing that kept him from becoming a, as Pinkie Pie called it, ‘whiney Mcwhinerson’ was the fact that every night he had the rather distinguished privilege of sleeping in a tent with two pretty mares, even if he wasn’t on particularly good terms with one of them. Dr. Mend had been absolutely insistent that the sleeping arrangement was for everypony’s good because the weather was too cold for the hammocks. After the third night the weather became so cold that any further complaints were swallowed in very short order.

Fortunately there had been no further encounters with the less friendly denizens of the Everfree. Pinkie Pie claimed it was because the giant spider had spread the word, once it had landed. The group had initially dismissed the notion, but Fluttershy assured them that indeed the creatures could communicate with each other in a limited way, so they conceded to her expertise.

Applejack and Big Macintosh had begun a routine for the group’s food. Every day as they walked, the two Earth ponies would keep their eyes peeled for any signs of edible food and dig it up, or pick it as soon as they spotted it. Being that they were the ‘trail masters’ as Applejack called it, the responsibility didn’t hamper the group’s travel time or progress at all.

They had gathered a rather odd assembly of edibles that day which Lemon Lime commented that evening as they gathered around the fire,
“Wild onions, fennel, turnips, a small basket of . . . plumbs, I think, and a large pumpkin?” the small therapist scratched his head, “I’m going to have to get REALLY creative with all this. Do you still have your knife Pinkie? . . . Pinkie?” he asked looking around.

Without any preamble, Pinkie Pie appeared behind Lemon Lime with her large knife already in her mouth. Lemon Lime suddenly looked over his shoulder and fell over onto his back turning to face the pink ninja in stark terror. Pinkie giggled and set the knife down on a rock next to the small yellow unicorn stallion.

“Where do you even keep that thing?” Lemon Lime asked regaining his hooves.

Pinkie Pie pulled her mane out of the way with her right hoof and gestured to a small hard plastic sheath hanging from her shoulder on a series of fabric straps in easy reach of her mouth,
“I keep it right here silly.” she said, “You never know when you might need it to cut a vine or something.”

“Where did you get a customized, hard plastic sheath for a cooking knife on a shoulder rig?” Dr. Mend asked curiously.

Pinkie giggled,
“I made it. It just seemed like a good idea.”

“How did you . . .” Sea Blue began.

Rarity raised a hoof in front of his muzzle,
“Trust me darling, don’t ask. We all just say ‘it’s Pinkie’ and move on. You’ll go crazy trying to figure it out.”

“Figure out what?” Pinkie asked popping up between the two unicorns.

Dr. Mend cleared his throat, drawing the attention of the gathered ponies,
“I think it would be a good idea for most of us to start getting some exercise.”

The statement caused instant silence from the camp.

“Exercise?” Rarity asked, “Darling, what do you think we’ve been doing for the past few weeks; lounging and sunbathing perhaps?”

Dr. Mend actually laughed lightly, a rare sight,
“I suppose I do need to be more specific.” he said walking away from the fire a few paces into the cold night so he could face everypony, “The Elements of Peace are meant to be physical guardians for the Elements of Harmony, right?”

The rest of the group nodded while Lemon Lime began carving out the pumpkin, so Dr. Mend continued,
“When we fought the chimera, we had our flanks kicked, before Big Mac called out our armor. I don’t know about the rest of you guys, but I pulled several muscles in that fight. I didn’t feel it at the time, but I sure felt it the next day. We had some time to react when fighting the chimera and I think we were lucky. We can’t just assume every opponent is going to fight honorably. Look at what happened with the spider. If Trooper hadn’t already been on his way back to talk to Rarity, things could have gone south real quick. Twilight, you were shocked by the spider’s appearance right? You were still trying to process what was going on?” he asked.

Twilight was loathe to admit it but Dr. Mend was right, kind of,
“I was surprised, yes, but I think I could have handled it by myself.”

“I’m sure you could have, Twilight. Please don’t think I’m disputing your skill with magic. I’m simply pointing out that we, as guardians, had an oversight that could have cost Everypony dearly. We didn’t leave any of the Elements of Peace with you. All of us share the blame for that mistake, myself included. I’ve been thinking that from now on, each stallion and mare in each set of Elements, should try to stick together as much as possible. That way if something else does happen we can all be ready. I’m not saying that you girls are helpless, far from it, the fact is that we have a responsibility to you to keep you safe. When we fought the chimera we didn’t have to worry about protecting you. If we ever get into another fight we should focus on keeping you safe in case a second or, Celestia forbid, a third threat rears its ugly head, or heads in some cases. With that in mind, I bring up my second observation. We, as guardians, aren’t used to the confusion that seems to happen in a fight. We think on our hooves, yes, but we’re reckless; case in point, Trooper’s fight with the spider.”

Dr. Mend paused for a breath and continued,
“He really didn’t have to even make any physical contact with it. All he actually needed to do was to distract it long enough for Twilight to deal with it. He could have saved himself quite a lot of discomfort and pain if he had.”

“That would have been nice.” Trooper interjected.

“My point is this, we’ve been slacking. We can’t just go along our merry way and hope everything turns out alright in the end. We need to be smart about this. It’s a serious situation and we need to treat it as such. While the encounter with the spider ended with no deaths, it could have just as easily gone the other way too. That spider wasn’t going to play nice and just take hostages, it was out to eat, it meant to kill.” Dr. Mend said seriously.

“Well what do ya propose to do about it there Doc?” Applejack asked.

“Exactly as I said, exercise. We need to exercise our minds and bodies so we’re prepared when a fight comes to us. I don’t have any experience in martial combat though, so we need to figure it out on our own.” Dr. Mend said.

“I’ve got a book about fighting.” Lemon Lime offered, “I picked it up just before we left from Ponyville. I bought it from this stallion named Buck Nohorse . . . “

“I used to train with him a little bit,” Rainbow Dash interjected, “That’s where I took Applebloom when I was trying to help her get her cutie mark. He’s one of Princess Celestia’s retired guards, so he knows how to fight.”

“I took a unicorn’s self-defense class back in Canterlot.” Sea Blue added, “It focuses on using your magic to disorient your attacker so you can get away, but I think it should still be applicable here too.”

“When would we have time to do all this, Dr. Mend?” Twilight asked, “All our time, right now, is being spent walking.”

“Point,” Dr. Mend said gesturing to Twilight, “We don’t have an abundance of time on our hooves right now, so we make time for it. We already know that the ponies in Haysburg might react badly, even violently, to Valiant’s appearance so we need to be ready in case we have to pull off a rescue. I would like to recommend that we practice for a little while every morning. The moving around should help to wake everypony up and help keep you active during the day. Live Wire already knows how to stretch, so he can lead us for that. Twilight, you’re probably the fastest reader by far, so why don’t you take a look at the book tonight then teach us what it says to do and Rainbow Dash has already trained so she can help you. Sea Blue can instruct the unicorns on how to use their magic in a fight and Big Macintosh and Applejack are already well-versed in how to wrangle cattle, that should prove at least somewhat seful. Rainbow Dash and Trooper can tutor Fluttershy on speed and maneuverability. No offense Fluttershy but you’re probably the least combative pony here. How does that sound to everypony?”

“Eureka!” Lemon Lime yelled, “A pumpkin stew with onions, fennel, and turnips mixed in with candied plumbs for desert! Haha! I am good!” the little therapist began dancing merrily at his ingenious culinary contrivance which was already beginning to cook.

“Woo! Break it down Live Wire!” Pinkie Pie cheered dancing next to him.

“Ah think it’s a right fine idea Doc!” Applejack enthused, “Shoot, when Big Macintosh and Ah work during the winter, we’re never bothered by the cold after about the first ten minutes or so. Yer body makes its own heat when you’re movin’ your muscles and strainin’ hard. Besides, Ah’ve got a thing or two to settle with mah brother over a wrestlin’ bet we made a while back. He says he won, but Ah say it were a draw.”

“Nope.” Big Mac said smiling, “You just let your pride get in the way sis. Ah won fair and square.”

“Well Ah never . . . “ Applejack sputtered.

Trooper leaned over to Sea Blue whispering,
“You said you knew how to use hypnosis?”

Sea Blue kept his eyes straight ahead,
“Yes I do, but I don’t really like to use it except as a last resort.”

“I dare say, I believe I am at that point right now. I simply cannot remember anything else. When can we get going on that?” Trooper asked.

Sea Blue sighed lightly,
“Very well, we can begin tonight. I’ll hypnotize you just before you go to sleep. You’ll start remembering things as dreams. It’s a special type of hypnosis used by unicorns.”

“Sounds good old chap.” Trooper said.

*************************************************************************************

The pumpkin stew was an unequaled success, everypony ate their fill with thankfully very little in the way of leftovers. As per the norm, Trooper flew the leftovers far away from the campsite so as not to attract any dangerous wild animals. The ponies all began heading towards their tents to sleep. It had taken multiple apologies on Rarity’s part to convince Big Macintosh to be willing to sleep in the same tent as the gregarious unicorn after the embarrassing morning comment on her part several weeks prior.

Sea Blue excused himself from Rarity and Big Macintosh and headed over to the ‘pegasi tent’ as it was now officially named. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were already curled up and laying down on the left side of the tent while Trooper sat up waiting for his friend to hypnotize him.

“I’m not sure I could ever hurt any creature no matter what the reason,” Fluttershy said softly, “Just the thought of causing pain makes me feel sick.”

“The idea isn’t to cause pain . . . “ Rainbow Dash began, but thought about her statement and corrected herself, “Oh, alright it is. But you can learn to defend yourself without causing an injury. You can just learn to dodge and wear your attacker out that way. As long as you can keep yourself from being hurt you’ve done it right. The idea for dodging is to use as little energy as possible while making your opponent use as much as possible. When they collapse from fatigue you can get away.”

Fluttershy seemed to brighten at the idea,
“That sounds like something I can do, but I’m such a weak flier and I’m not very strong . . . “

Trooper piped up,
“You do not have to be quick, Fluttershy. I did not want to mention it before but I too have taken a self-defense course; it was one that focused more on, blocking, dodging, and evading than fighting back. Speed helps, but timing counts for far more than speed. You can be as quick as Rainbow Dash but if your timing is off then it will not matter at all.”

“For once, I agree with you Troops.” Dash said shortening Trooper’s name; the stallion grimaced, but Dash ignored it and continued, “When I first started training with Buck, I thought my speed was all I needed. He showed me how to fight conservatively. The first thing he taught me is that fighting wears you out quick. Within a couple of minutes I was completely out of breath while he hadn’t even broken a sweat. He had barely moved at all while I was flying around like a hummingbird.”

A stomped hoof outside their tent alerted the three pegasi to another pony’s presence,
“May I come in?” Sea Blue asked politely.

Trooper unzipped the tent with his mouth and stepped back to let the unicorn in,
“What do I need to do?” he asked eagerly.

Sea Blue looked unusually serious as he sat down in the cramped tent,
“I want to make myself very clear here Trooper. I don’t much care for using hypnosis, but I can’t stop you. Are you sure you want to go through with this?”

“Yes.” Trooper said nodding, “I need to remember everything I can. Are there any dangers?”

“Very few,” Sea Blue said, “I don’t like using it because I believe in doing things for one’s self. To me hypnosis is like a short cut. I wouldn’t have even suggested it but we may not have the time for you to do it the hard way. Hypnosis is sure to work, but it may end up being vary startling. You will remember things in your dreams as if you were living them at the time. It’s been known to cause some side effects like occasional instances where you might end up waking up in a sweat or talking in your sleep if the memories are intense or traumatic. In some very rare cases you might suffer from night terrors. I’ve heard of some ponies waking up screaming. Do you still want to go through with this?”

“Yes, I feel that I have to. I am ready when you are Sea Blue.” Trooper said.

Sea Blue nodded,
“Alright then, lay down, get comfortable, and look up at me.”

Trooper did as indicated with Fluttershy on his right and Rainbow Dash on the far side, all facing the front of the tent, Sea Blue began,
“You are feeling very relaxed. The muscles in your legs are going numb with the relaxation of sleep . . .”

Within minutes Sea Blue left the tent, leaving three sleeping pegasi inside; he zipped the tent closed and walked back to his own tent,
“Good luck Trooper.” he said quietly to himself.

*************************************************************************************

Trooper was aware of himself being carried around in a small papoose and seeing the world around him whizzing by at high speed as he clung to his mother’s chest. He felt the rush of air, the feeling of speed against his tiny body; he was flying, or more specifically being flown.

“It’s perfect!” a stallion’s voice called from somewhere to his right, “It’s a perfect day! I can’t wait to see Vector again! I heard he got married and has a foal, a little colt almost the same age as our little guy.” Trooper looked toward the voice.

He felt his breath catch in his throat, the stallion speaking was his father. He had never known his father and now here he was flying right next to him. Trooper could almost reach out and touch him. He was a solid looking pegasus stallion with a storm cloud with lightning through it as his cutie mark. He was dark blue almost black in his coat and his mane and tail were an almost yellow shade of light brown. He flew along zipping all over the place like a hyper wasp. The sheer amount of joy he exuded was nearly palpable; he was excited to see his brother again. The older stallion was wearing a pair of saddlebags that looked to be stuffed full to bursting.

Trooper looked up his mother in awe. He had only known her as a mare who looked older than she actually was, worn and tired all the time. This new version of his mother was a wonder to behold. Her coloration was a perfect opposite of Dr. Mend. Her coat was ice white and her mane and tail were jet black, her cutie mark was the same though, a circular piece of pink candy known by her own name since she invented it, Sugar Tart. She was smiling as they flew toward their unknown destination.

“I cannot wait to meet them!” Sugar Tart said enthusiastically, “You said he looks just like you; right Storm Bolt? You two are identical.”

“He’s the spitting image of yours truly, Sugar. From the way he described his wife, I’d say she looks quite a bit like you too. Ha! Wouldn’t that be great! When we all get our pictures taken it will look like there’s a double exposure! What a conversation piece!” Storm Bolt said.

“Where is this special place you found?” Sugar Tart asked.

“I didn’t find it, sorry to disappoint you Sugar. I heard about it from a friend on the weather patrol. She said it was the best place to have a party. She said she’d never seen anything like it before.” Storm boasted.

“Does it have to be so far away? We have been flying for hours now. I am growing tired carrying Trooper around, and it does not help that it is almost his lunch time.” Sugar complained good naturedly.

“I told you before we left, it takes a full day and a half of flying to get there, but it’s supposed to be worth it. We have to meet Vector half way. He and his wife live in New Yoke. If you need to stop, just say so, love.” Storm said flying over and nuzzling his wife.

Trooper reached out and bit his father’s mane in his little muzzle. Trooper had not meant to do that but he knew these were just memories and he had no control, he was just along for the ride, in more ways than one.

Storm Bolt tried to pull away, but his head caught, he looked down at his tiny son fondly,
“You want some love too, little guy?” he asked as he nuzzled Trooper gently, “Come on now, you have to let go of Daddy’s mane.” he tried to pull away but Trooper hung on gamely, “I think he’s got your jaws Sugar.” Storm said causing his wife to blush.

“You said you would not bring that up again. It was only one time and it was an accident. I was caught up in the moment.” she defended.

Trooper tried not to gag at the insinuation.

Storm Bolt smiled mischievously and turned upside down looking at his wife,
“Am I really that good, Sugar?”

Sugar Tart pointed down to Trooper,
“Does this answer your question, husband?” she asked with mock seriousness.

Storm let out a hearty laugh and finally pulled away from his son’s vice like jaws,
“Intentional or not, I wouldn’t trade either of you for all the bits in Equestria. I’m the luckiest stallion alive and we both know it. I’m willing to bet that you wouldn’t either, would you?”

Sugar reached her head down and nuzzled Trooper,
“Not you, that is for certain. As for your father, sometimes I do not know.” she said it loud so Storm was sure to hear.

“Hey! I’m right here, you know!” Storm said.

Sugar Tart smiled, tilted her body, and began to descend towards the ground,
“We are breaking for lunch. Are you coming Storm Bolt?”

“I couldn’t leave my two most valuable gems by themselves now could I?” Storm said following his wife.

Fluttershy wondered what Trooper was dreaming about. He had bit onto her mane for a minute before and had just turned onto his back. All four of his hooves here up in the air like he was holding something while he pursed his lips and looked to be trying to kiss the air. The demure pegasus shook her head and went back to sleep.

*************************************************************************************

The next morning was quite a change for Fluttershy. She had no trouble following along with Lemon Lime as he showed the group how to stretch as a warm up exercise. The day dawned with frost covering the ground. The air was cold enough for Fluttershy to see her breath in front of her face. The only pony who seemed to have trouble with the stretching was Dr. Mend. Fluttershy had figured that Big Macintosh would have had difficulty with the exercises due to his huge size, but the farm pony seemed as limber as any of them. The hard part for the shy pegasus came when she had to listen to Twilight describe the maneuvers for fighting and the kinds of injuries they could cause.

“Strike out hard with your left fore hoof and aim for the jaw where it connects with the rest of the head, right at the hinge-point where it joins with the upper mandible. This can disorient your opponent and possibly break their jaw. Most creatures and ponies are right hooved and won’t be expecting a swing from the left the first time you use it. Be careful not to use it too much or your opponent will learn to anticipate it and use it against you . . . “ Twilight read from the book while Rainbow Dash demonstrated on Lemon Lime in slow motion.

Twilight closed the book and addressed the group,
“Let’s break up into teams and practice what we’ve learned. The book says that you should try not to injure your sparring partner, but make the blows hurt a little bit, so that pain becomes an incentive to get better. Sea Blue, can you show Lemon Lime, Rarity, and I what spells you were taught in your self-defense course?”

“Sure thing Twilight,” Sea Blue said as the groups broke off according to breed, leaving the unicorns alone, “The first one I learned was the easiest one. It’s the one I used when I tried to fight off Trixie. The spell is called ‘Solar Flare’. It was invented by Princess Celestia in case she had to ever defend herself. It’s designed to blind your opponent for about twenty seconds, but cause no permanent damage. Watch and analyze the components of the spell so you can replicate it.”

Sea Blue lowered his head and began casting the spell slowly. After a few seconds of allowing the spell to build, he finished and cast it out. Rarity, Twilight, and Lemon Lime all cried out as the light struck their eyes, overloading their optic nerves for a few seconds. Sea Blue waited patiently until their vision returned.

“I think I’ve got it, darling.” Rarity said rubbing her eyes with her left hoof.

“Go ahead, as soon as you can see.” Sea Blue said.

Rarity lowered her hoof after a few more seconds, then lowered her head, focusing on her magic; the other unicorns analyzed the spell as she did so. Sea Blue nodded, ‘She caught right on to it. Not bad. I’m a bit surprised.’ Rarity finished with the spell in a matter of milliseconds. A blinding flash of light erupted from her horn. Cries were heard from all directions, even beyond the unicorns.

“Land sakes!” Applejack yelled, “Ah can’t see nothin’! What did yall do over there? Yall need to turn it down a bit!”

“Ooh!” Pinkie Pie said, “Is this what it’s like being blind?” she asked, “We should use this in case we ever get blinded in a fight.”

If anypony could have seen, they would have witnessed Pinkie lean down on her fore hooves with her flank and tail sticking straight up. Her Ears were facing forward and erect, waiting for any sound.

“Uh, Pinkie,” Big Macintosh said, “Ah’m not sure that’s such a . . . “ he was cut off as Pinkie glomped onto him in a pink tackle.

She hung onto him, pulling for everything she was worth, trying to dislodge or unbalance him,
“Grr,” she grunted, “Come on Big Macie. You’re supposed to fall over.”

“Ayup.” he said, “Ah will if’n you can do it. Ah don’t let nopony win just for the effort.”

Using his hoof to feel his pink attacker out, the massive Earth pony reached his mouth around and bit onto Pinkie’s mane. The pink ball of energy squeaked and flew through the air, landing softly on the ground nearby, on her bottom. In the blink of an eye she was up on her hooves once more, ready to go. Fortunately, everypony’s sight was finally coming back to them.

Twilight rubbed her eyes with her right hoof,
“I think you over did it a little bit Rarity.”

“I’d say she did it perfectly.” Sea Blue said, “The idea is to disorient your opponent after all. I was pretty disoriented. How about you try it next Twilight. I’ll keep my eyes open, everypony else close your eyes.” Sea Blue said it loudly so everypony would hear the warning.

Every pair of eyes in the whole field was closed, save for Sea Blue’s. Twilight lowered her head and focused on her magic. Trooper, who was the farthest away from the purple unicorn, saw the flash of light through his closed eyelids. The flash was followed almost imediately by a deafening boom.

Sea Blue cried out in pain,
“Gah!”

Lemon Lime rushed over to the counselor, his ears were ringing,
“What?”

“I modified it.” Twilight yelled over her own ringing ears, “I think it works. I’ll call it the ‘Flash Bang’. It’s supposed to both blind and deafen.”

“I think it works.” Dr. Mend yelled in her ear.

“What?” Twilight asked waggling a hoof in her ear.

High above the unicorns and Earth ponies, the pegasi were having troubles of their own,
“Fluttershy, how are you supposed to get better? We’re not going to injure you, but we need it to hurt a little. I barely touched you.”

Fluttershy rubbed he shoulder ruefully,
“But it still hurts.” she said wincing as she continued to rub the spot.

“There’s not even a mark!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

“Perhaps if we give her a demonstration?” Trooper suggested.

“Oh, alright fine!” Rainbow Dash sighed.

“I will defend and you attack.” Trooper said.

Rainbow Dash smiled an evil grin,
“Fine by me.” she had secretly been hoping to have a go at Trooper for a while, to gauge how good he was.

Rainbow Dash flew several flaps away and righted herself,
“Ready?”

Trooper righted himself in the air and held his hooves in front of his body joints bent, looking over the tops of each,
“Ready.”

In a flash of movement, Rainbow Dash was to and past Trooper. Trooper grunted and held his left side, but kept upright. Rainbow Dash turned in the air and faced him, looking smug. Trooper released his side and squared off again. Rainbow Dash smiled and licked her lips, head down. In a second flash of movement the two pegasi collided again. This time it was Rainbow Dash who grunted. She spun out of control, flapping wildly. Trooper flew over and reached her in a quick second. He reached out and stabilized the spinning, twisting pegasus mare.

“What’s the big idea?” Rainbow Dash yelled regaining her balance.

“What are you talking about?” Trooper asked, “I blocked. You tried to hit me with your wing and I blocked it.”

“We’re supposed to be teaching Fluttershy how to dodge, not block, you blockhead!” Rainbow Dash snorted.

Trooper was the perfect picture of innocence,
“Sorry, I forgot. I shall dodge this time.”

“Yeah I’ll bet.” Dash mumbled moodily.

The boisterous pegasus mare flew off again then turned, waiting for Trooper,
“Come on already!” she groaned quietly to herself.

“Watch carefully, Fluttershy. Watch the way your opponent moves and try to guess how they will attack. Keep an eye out for small muscle movements that might indicate a precursor to an attack, it is called ‘broadcasting’.” Trooper said.

Fluttershy nodded and stayed close so she could watch Rainbow Dash. The two blue colored pegasi squared off once more. Rainbow Dash charged again a little more slowly. Even so, she was still almost a blur. As she neared, Fluttershy caught sight of a slight twitch from Rainbow Dash’s right fore leg. In her peripheral vision, she noticed Trooper tense up, ‘Is that what he was talking about?’ she wondered.

Rainbow Dash came closer and closer. Fluttershy wanted to move, but Trooper stayed put. When Dash was a mere flap away from him, Trooper flapped his wings once and simply glided out of the way. Dash missed him completely.

Trooper turned to Fluttershy,
“Your knowledge of how the body works should give you an edge. Look for muscle movements. It is as simple as that. Wait until the last possible second and use only as much energy as you need to, to dodge. If your opponent is close enough, they will not be able to correct their course. Above all, try to remain calm. It will be hard, but if you stay calm, you can think better and make more sound judgments. I made that mistake when I fought the spider. I was not calm and I ended up far more injured that was strictly necessary.”

“Give it a try Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash called from behind Trooper, “You’ve seen it done, now it’s time to do it yourself.”

“Alright.” The custard pegasus responded.

Trooper moved out of the way and hovered behind Fluttershy so he could position her hooves the right way,
“Are you left or right hooved?” he asked.

Fluttershy held up her right hoof demurely. Trooper glided in close and began positioning her fore hooves. He put her left one out in front, joint bent so she could look over the top of her shoe. Her right one followed behind the left, both aligned in front of her body. Trooper flew back several flaps and examined Fluttershy’s stance.

“Why are you having me put my hooves up?” she asked.

“This is for when you learn to block. It is called putting up your guard. You need to get used to it, trust me.” Trooper said, then looked over to Dash, “She is ready.” he called.

“I’m scared.” Fluttershy whimpered.

Trooper noticed she was starting to shake; he flew up above her and lowered his head to whisper in her ear,
“You have to learn to ignore it. Focus on your opponent as a whole, watch for any sign of a broadcast.”

Fluttershy gulped audibly, but maintained her pose. Rainbow Dash waited for a brief moment then, in a burst of speed, charged her shy friend. Everything happened in slow motion for the learning pegasus. She watched every flap of Dash’s wings and noted every muscle that moved when she did so, dedicating every movement to memory. As Dash approached, Fluttershy noticed the rainbow hued pegasus twitch ever so slightly in her right fore leg. Her instincts screamed for her to get away, now that she had seen the warning sign of the attack, but she held her ground (figuratively of course) and waited. Dash flew closer and closer with every breath. Fluttershy cold feel her heart speeding up as she approached and time slowed down even more. To Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash looked like she was moving as slowly as a slug. She waited until she was sure Dash was too close, then flapped her wings once and glided off to the left.
Rainbow Dash sped by Fluttershy and stopped on the far side of the demure pegasus. Fluttershy blinked and looked around, ‘Where is she?’ she wondered.

Trooper cheered loudly, yelling encouragement to the shy pegasus,
“Nicely done! Nicely done indeed, Fluttershy!”

Fluttershy looked around and spotted Rainbow Dash a ways away. Dash had her fore legs crossed in front of her smiling broadly and nodding her head, ‘Not bad Fluttershy. We’ll make a fighter out of you yet.’ she thought.

Trooper flew over and patted the, still shaking, pegasus gently on her back,
“Well done Fluttershy! I could not have done it any better myself! By all that is magic, I dare say you are a natural! What say we give it another go?”

“Um, that’s alright. I think I’ll just watch you two for now.” Fluttershy said trying to steady her breathing.

“As you wish, my lovely compatriot.” Trooper said turning to Rainbow Dash, “How about it there old Rain-a-thingy? Feel like taking on a more seasoned opponent?”

“I hope you don’t expect me to hold back as much as I did with Fluttershy, Trooper.” Dash said lowering her head.

Trooper raised his snout to the sky,
“Perish the thought!” he said haughtily, “Indeed, I expect you to, as the saying goes, hit me with your best shot, as it were!”

Rainbow Dash flew in but didn’t bypass Trooper. Instead she barrelled into him with her shoulder. Trooper quickly realized that for once, the multi-hued pegasus mare had been understating her skills. Rainbow Dash was preternaturally fast. She threw out strikes almost faster than Trooper could see. He dodged the ones he could, but after dodging thirty-something hits and taking close to the tenth one, he began both blocking and dodging. The two of them were moving like a blur, hooves flying away at every angle and direction, ‘Just how long did she train for?’ Trooper wondered. He could see that Rainbow’s technique was sloppy but she made up for it with her ludicrous speed.

Rainbow Dash smiled, feeling cocky, and lashed out with another fore hoof,
“What say we take this up a notch. Full-contact sparring.”

Trooper didn’t get the chance to answer. She attacked him with everything she had. Trooper was pressed to simply defend himself, much less land a blow of his own with any frequency. Trooper struck out with a hind leg only to have it intercepted by Rainbow Dash’s own leg in a block while she counter-attacked with a swift uppercut which Trooper dodged nimbly. The two pegasi continued on like that for several solid minutes, sweat dripping off them as they fought. Rainbow Dash rained down blow after blow onto Trooper, who bore them with as much grace as he could muster. Trooper pulled his punches (so to speak), on the rare occasions they landed, he wasn’t so sure about his sparring partner. His ribs and belly were hurting terribly, still he couldn’t bring himself to hit Rainbow Dash with all his strength. He’d had mares as sparring partners before, but none of them ever hit like Dash did. She was brutal. In a lightning quick move, Dash stopped flapping her wings, for a brief moment, and brought them up. She boxed Trooper’s ears with the edges of her wings, surprising him and knocking him silly for a moment. She saw her opening and went for it. She lowered her head and charged in, under his raised fore hooves and began pummeling his ribs with reckless abandon.

Trooper grunted and tried to block the blows, but he was beginning to weaken, his movements becoming sluggish,
“Dash stop! Break! Break!” he yelled.

Rainbow Dash didn’t seem to hear him. She just kept up her attack. Trooper had no choice. He flapped once, hard, and pushed his attacker back with his burning chest, then swatted the aggressive mare between the shoulder blades with his left hoof, his weak one. Trooper hadn’t struck with all his strength, he knew the move well and didn’t want to hurt Dash too badly. The move was one of the few attacks he had learned and it worked perfectly. Dash’s wings instantly froze up and she began to fall. In a split second Trooper grabbed her and held her aloft. He hurt everywhere, his ribcage felt like an inferno, and his left hind leg was numb from one particularly solid blow from his opponent. He was honestly having trouble holding Rainbow Dash up.

“Let us get back to the ground.” Trooper grunted to Fluttershy.

The pegasi fluttered downward to their waiting friends. Trooper set Rainbow Dash down on her hooves. She wobbled for a moment then regained her balance and shook herself.

The braggadocios pegasus starred at the stallion with a curious gaze,
“How,” she panted, “How did you do that?”

“I struck the tendon between your wings and caused it to seize, like a muscle spasm.” Trooper said.

Dr. Mend went right to work, examining Rainbow Dash,
“Nothing broken, nothing sprained, you’ll have plenty of bruises though, Rainbow Dash. You said you had trained, but I never expected to see anything like that.”

“Boy howdy!” Applejack exclaimed, “How about we go a round tomorrow Dash? You look like you’d be a good challenge for me.”

“Good grief,” Dr. Mend said sourly, “Trooper, you’ve got five bruised ribs and I think your left hind leg is sprained.”

“I would say,” Trooper grunted, “My partner decided not to hold back. It is nowhere near as bad as the spider hairs though.”

“You sprained his leg?” Twilight asked, “We’re supposed to be exercising, not tenderizing!”

Dash shrugged,
“He blocked it.”

“Yes, but you sprained his leg!” Twilight repeated.

“Pain is weakness leaving the body.” Trooper grunted, “Like the book said, it is an incentive to get better. I would say it is a rather convincing incentive.”

Dr. Mend sighed,
“The sprain isn’t too bad, but you should probably stay off it for a while. Can you fly the rest of the day?”

“Not an issue doctor.” Trooper said.

“Breakfast is ready!” Lemon Lime called to the group of friends.

As everypony trotted, or limped in some cases, over to the fire for breakfast, Rainbow Dash stopped in front of Trooper,
“That wasn’t bad.” she said as if she were talking to a student, “With my help, you’ll be the best fighter in Equestria. Be ready, tomorrow I’m REALLY going to go all out. Just stop hitting like a filly alright?”

Trooper watched the flaunting mare walk away and narrowed his eyes,
“You will never know how hard I can hit, Rainbow Dash. Taunt me all you wish, I shall never put my full strength into any swing against you. I will protect you till my dying breath, but I shall NEVER hurt you.” he whispered.