Rainbow 8

by Koiyuki

Twilight's Workout Journal: Week 8

“Alright, Twi, I want you to hit me as hard as you can.” That’s what Dash said the second I stepped into the ring to practice my drills, her punch mitts low at her sides. By that point, I learned not to question Dash’s instructions, so I let loose with the hardest overhead hook I could muster. At the last possible second, Dash put 'em up and deflected it into a slap strike to my exposed ribs. With the sting still fresh, I asked what that was, to which she answered, “Counterpunching, the thing that makes matches turn on a dime, done right.”

As she explained, the counterpunch is a punch that either interrupts the opponent’s attack or lands in a defensively created opening, as in dodging and her last second parry into a strike, or the Swat ‘n’ Bop, to use her terminology. I wondered if this meant risking the chance of taking the damage, if it fails, with her saying, “That’s why you make it to where it doesn’t” It was easy enough to practice those created by dodging and punch interruption, but when it came time to drill the Swat ‘n’ Bop, something caused me to lock up. No matter how slowly Dash jabbed at me, I couldn’t block fast enough to complete the Swat ‘n’ Bop; to be honest, I was getting quite frustrated. Perhaps sensing this from my increasingly wild swings, Dash asked if I was scared, then proceeded to tell me about Pinkie Pie’s journey to our town.

According to Dash, Pinkie Pie left behind some rather tough times at her family’s rock farm. Every time they talked, Dash learned more about how Pinkie, despite the care her family gave her, was given no other choice than to leave the rock farm and try to make her way in the world. Even though she didn’t have a bit to her name, Pinkie still found it in her to face the world with a smile and keep pressing on, including when her traveling took her to the doorstep of Sugarcube Corner, giving the owners her song and dance. Just as I was about ask what Pinkie’s bravery had to do with counterpunching, she said, “To be able to fully counterpunch, you gotta face those punches with the same amount of fear Pinkie’s had about everything she went through: zero. Lessen the fear, and your vision gets clearer”

That’s easy enough to say when the counterpuncher isn’t someone who’s strength is her livelihood, but surely enough, her training helped me grow into the habit of slipping into punches, timing punches and swat ‘n’ bopping. So quickly did my counterpunching grow, in Dash’s eyes, that she thought it was time to to give those skills a real test, summoning Pinkie Pie over to be my sparring partner while pulling a bag of bits from her windbreaker pocket. “You see this, here? This is 100 bits. Every time you fail at a counterpunch, Pinkie gets one bit, with you getting one everyone you nail one. I’ll be setting the combos she uses, and you have to guess where she goes. Are ya game?” We nodded, then put ‘em up as Dash stood a few feet behind me doing who knows what to signal Pinkie, reminding me, “No fear”

Every time Dash said, “Go!”, I understood more and more what grab bag boxing encompassed, as Pinkie’s punches came at me at every possible angle and variety, including the sweeping underhand hook she tagged with at the end of her first combo(the Bingo Hook, I believe she calls it). I tried to time it with her shoulder twitches, but she punched so fast and fluidly, there were none, only the punch. Her technique was amazing and amazingly hard to counter, with me losing about 20 bits before I started to get the hang of things. We traded punches the whole way, and it wasn’t until there were only a few bits left that I was finally able to put wins together and show Dash how much I learned on the defensive side of boxing. I slipped and punched, timed her to perfection and started to Swat ‘n’ Bop like it was second nature, with Dash doing her best referee-breaking-up-a-brawl impression when the last bit was decided.

As Dash stacked up who got each bit, I noticed something unusual: towards the end, the stacks were starting to even out. I couldn’t understand how that was possible, but Pinkie Pie said, “That’s the way competitions always go, isn’t it? You feel like you have no chance to win, but you keep going anyways, just to see how far your work will let you go. Besides, it’s so boring to let logic talk you out of taking chances and seeing what the world has to offer, and I know you wanna have some fun!”

Progress for the Month: Now, instead of just being someone who's learning how to box, I feel more like a Boxer. I can turn in a decent 100m time, I can lift more than body weight, punch harder and more cleanly, not to mention how much better I am at taking, blocking and countering someone's offense. If I can improve my in ring tactical ability, I know without a doubt that I'll see just how far my training will let me go against Applejack

Progress for the Week: I can better pick apart someone's offensive plan and find a way to exploit its flaws, as I know Applejack will be doing with mine once we step into the ring. If my defense doesn't fail me, then I know it'll come down to who can find that crucial opening first

Goal for Next Week: Improve how much how I move both myself and my head around during the bout. I'd hate for my BBBFF to see me become a standing speed bag because I didn't learn how to keep my head on a swivel

Song of the Moment:Jet World, by Mutsuhiko Izumi
My trainers and I played this when we hung out during the weekend, Princess Celestia's stipends paying for the game's rather hard to get equipment. I had such fun going wild on lead guitar, as I'm sure Dash did doing the rhythm and Pinkie did banging the drums! Not sure to take the whole "Who knew an egghead like you knew how to let loose?" thing from Dash, though

Author's Note:

In combat, it's easy to forget that the fighters and the trainers aren't the only ones interested in the outcome. It's easy to forget that, in the audience, is often those close to them wanting to see them thrive, cringing whenever they absorb the blows and injuries the fight brings. Next time, three such people pay a visit to Twilight: her parents and her BBBFF. How will they react when they witness the transformation of their kin? Will they stand behind her in her quest to go the distance against Applejack? Will they see her as more than 'Twily'? Tune in next time and find out! Don't miss it!

Comments

[Seether00]

I predict overprotective brother mode.