Rainbow 8

by Koiyuki

Twilight's Workout Journal: Week 9

When I first came here, my folks were worried I wouldn’t eat right, that I wasn’t ready to do stuff on my own, and that I would be as irresponsible as others my age, e.g. the party first, business never types. Considering how boneheaded I’ve seen some of my peers act, I can’t say their fears were unfounded, so when they came to the gym, I know they were surprised to find me doing a boxer’s training. If I remember correctly, moments after Dash explained the situation to them, my mother fainted into my BBBFF’s arms, her purple and white hair flowing all over the place. “Do you realize how dangerous what you’re training for is!?” was the question he asked as he tried to prop my mother upright

At that point, I told him and my father about the research I did into the craft and all the risks it could incur, long term, as well as of the techniques I developed with Dash to measure my balance, reaction times, agility and much more; each day was dedicated to building those things and ensure that I would be the absolute best I could be when I entered the ring. He was right that I could easily go to Celestia and back out of this, but by that point, I wasn’t the ‘egghead’ who would back down from something because logic says it’s too much of a bother. This time, I had at least two people who believed in me enough to lend me their time, energy and expertise so I could become more than what I was. They believed that I could go the distance with the proper training, and because of that, I found myself getting up each morning to train not only for them, but also for myself.

Now, If I remember correctly, he first heard of what I was doing through his wife, who heard it from Celestia, herself, so-since I’m certain my brother knew it a fool’s errand to debate with the Princess, it’s likely he wanted to come over and check on everything . He watched the whole week the family was there, observing silently while Pinkie did her best to inform and entertain my folks about what the sweet science brings. He and Dash had some long chats about her methods after my training was over and I went to hang with my parents for the day, and eventually, those talks lead to him asking to meet one on one at the track one morning, where I found him dressed in his own red windbreaker.

When we met, the very first words out of his mouth were “Drop and give me 20!” setting the tempo for the training he had in mind-which I learned later was the same stuff they do with the royal Canterlot guard! He had me do stuff like the Sumo squat, Single-leg dead lift, Side-to-side knee lifts, Front kick alternating to touch, Tuck jump, Straddle run forward and backward, Half-squat lateral shuffle, Frog jumps,Quarter-turn jump, Jump lunge, and a bunch of other drills I haven’t seen in my life. It was the first time my brother was ever that tough on me and the first time I heard him use rather unsavory language, e.g. “I know you can do more than that, maggot!”

It seemed to go on without end, but by the time our workout was over and he offered me a glass of cold milk, I wasn’t even that tired. He was rather impressed, and immediately apologized for his behavior during the drills, explaining that, after he spoke with Dash about my training, he wanted to test how tough I had grown mentally. “When I was in the Cadet Academy,” he got out between chugs of milk, “my instructor told us you don’t find out what you’re really made of until something or someone punches you in the face. I found that out lots of during my training, and so did mom and dad,when they had to become a dual income family in order to pay for our schooling. Shoot, Dad said it was so hard on them, that he woke up one morning to mom sobbing her eyes because both of us weren’t there anymore. Judging from the determination you showed, though, I’m guessing you’ve been clocked enough times to realize this”

We spent the day after that hanging out and catching up on old times, me learning about what it’s like to be married to royalty, and him hearing about the weeks of time and energy I poured into getting where I am, including my less than successful debut in the ring against Rarity. When I got through detailing how I did, he asked “Did it teach you to move your head more, Twily?” before we played that rhythm game with Pinkie and Sweetie Belle. Typical big brother. Just like he was when we played dodgeball as kids, and he asked if he could teach me how to use my opponent’s aggro against them.

Before he went back to his duties in the Crystal Empire, though, he offered to show me a technique he learned during training, and told me to take a swing at him. When I did, he slipped it right into a straight aimed right at my head, stopping inches short before he flicked me on the forehead. The one who taught it to him calls it the Starswirl Counter, so called because, according to them, it requires the wisdom of Starswirl to be able to read an opponent well enough to slip their offense, then drive your fist into them with everything you’ve got. We hugged as we stood in front of the carriage he was taking to the station, and he looked in my eyes as he said, “Twily, I know that when you step into that ring, you’re gonna do me, Mom, Dad and everyone else pulling for you proud. Just be sure to keep yourself moving and look for the one chance you need to make your training count”

Progress for the Week: I'm much better at keeping myself mobile, thanks to both Dash's drills and my BBBFF easing me into how to make those kind of movements a natural part of how I fight, part of which lead to me learning the Starswirl Counter. I only hope it serves me well when the time comes to bring it against someone less friendly than him

Goal for Next Week: Bolster my skills on the offense and defense and learn to apply my physiology studies towards where I aim my punches. After all, strike strength is often multiplied when it's on a place hard to guard, like the place behind the ear and the solar plexus, as Dash demonstrated one night when someone that barely met her got a bit too friendly, and started getting aggressive, prompting Dash to slip away from them and duck into a hard hitting straight aimed there. Spent much time curled into a ball, her target was

Song of the Moment: Green Grass and High Tides, by the Outlaws
This is the song my BBBFF and I played when he came for a visit, a favorite of my dad's that became a favorite of my brother's over the multiple times my dad played it around the house. As a matter of fact, my BBBFF played this for my babysitter, if memory serves, and started them on the road to that grandiose wedding they had

Author's Note:

Word has been going around the land about Twilight's fight, and the color commentator, a retired pro boxer, Hoshikawa, has decided to do an interview with her as part of the TV side of it. Coming with her is a traveler she met with strong ties to Twilight, someone who thinks herself Great and Powerful enough to take her down. What will Hoshikawa learn about Twilight? How will Twilight fare against her unknown foe? Will her foe even let her make it to fight night? Tune in next time to find out!