I awoke to the sound of something tapping against my window. At first, I chose to ignore it and try to go back to sleep, but as the tapping grew louder, I couldn't even think about resting. I raised my head up from my pillow to see what was causing the ruckus.

It was Peachy Love, staring through the window into my room like a starry-eyed filly at the zoo, with me as the source of entertainment. Her eyes scanned the room.

"Ooooh look at all the Luna posters!" she exclaimed, breathing heavily on the glass and fogging it up. I flung my blanket off of me, embracing the cool air it protected me from and I got out of bed. I trotted to the window and opened it up so I could hear Peachy more clearly.

"What are you doing here? How did you know where I live?" I questioned. Partner or not, she knew a little too much.

"Oh, I just asked Sargeant Gusto! He has a list of addresses!" she replied excitedly. "We need to know where our partner is at all times if we wanna pass the class!"

She was right. If I wanted to pass, I needed to know everything about my partner. I motioned for her to come in with a wave of my hoof before trotting back to my bed.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as I sat down on plush comfort. Peachy looked at my posters, a smile on her face. I felt pride in the fact that she seemed to enjoyed my collection.

"I wanted to give you a heads-up on our first assignment tonight! It's a real doozy!" she replied excitedly as she turned to face me.

"A doozy? Whaddya mean?" I couldn't contain my curiosity to save my life. If she had information on the first assignment, I wanted to know.

"Well," she started, "With the start of each new class, Sargeant Gusto likes to pairs against each other! Supposedly it's supposed to teach teamwork!"

"W-Wait, we have to fight each other on the very first trial?!" I couldn't believe it! I hadn't even gotten any practice, let alone with my partner!

"Yeah! Won't it be fun?!" Peachy climbed up onto my bed and jumped on it excitedly. How could she be so happy about this? I needed to prepare!

"When is the trial?" I asked fearfully.

"It's at midnight!" She replied happily. I looked over to my clock. It read 7:00 PM.

"I only have five hours to get ready! Peachy, can you help me?!" I didn't have a moment to waste!

"Alrighty! How though? I don't have any weapons we can train with." Peachy hopped off the bed and looked back at me with a smile.

I smiled back at her.

After climbing out the window with Peachy, I had led us both to an old shed in the castle gardens. It was hidden away behind some overgrown vines, making it an ideal place to hide things. I cleared away some of the vines and turned the handle, opening the rotting door.

"Ooh! Spooky!" Peachy commented. She trotted into the darkness of the shed. I could hear her rummaging around inside. "It smells musty in here!"

"My father used to store weapons in here," I explained as I stepped into the shed, my thestral eyes easily adjusting to the low light. On the walls in the back of the shed were shelves, and upon said shelves were weapons of all varieties. Peachy grabbed an old flail, a weapon with a spiked ball attached to a wooden handle thanks to its sturdy chain.

"Looky looky!" Peachy exclaimed, spinning the flail around like a toy. I ignored her though, my eyes focusing on the shelf. Upon it were two iron-tipped spears. They were perfect! Taking the spears, I led Peachy outside with me where we could have more room to practice.

We thrusted our spears in sync with each other, fighting invisible foes with coordinated strikes. We did this for hours, slashing and jabbing at the air, and for a while, I didn't hear a word from Peachy. She took it seriously, as if her life, or mine, depended on it.

When I was a little filly, I would practice like this all the time with my dad, using branches instead of real spears. He had taught me everything I knew about both offense and defense. He had even shown me forbidden techniques, techniques that would assure me a position as Luna's personal guard.

After we had finished, we put the spears back in the old shed, covering it back up with the vines. It would only be 30 minutes before the trial started. I turned to look at Peachy with a smile. I was impressed by how acted during training. She was like a completely different pony. Peachy smiled back at me, and we waited.

It wasn't long before one pair showed up, then another, and another after that. Soon, the whole class was present. We all chatted with each other as we waited for Gusto. I didn't even notice him until he actually spoke in a booming voice.

"Alright, ya spineless fillies! Line up!" He shouted. We all lined up next to our partners, looking forward like real guards. His voice was so intimidating, it made me tense up.

"Tonight, you will learn coordination with your partners. A guard needs to trust his partner to stay in formation." He went back and forth, eyeing us all one by one as he spoke.

"I'm going to pit one pair against another to test your ability to predict your partner's movements and to stay in sync!" I had this. I had to have this, or I would risk failing.

"For this exercise, you will be using spears with the tips removed for yours and your opponents' safety." He looked me in the eyes before setting his sights on Peachy. "This is not a game. We will be grading you on your performance."

"Any questions?" He asked. No one dared speak. This griffon had a certain aura about him that made us all silent and stiff like stone.

"Good! Serene Night and Peachy Love!" He called out, making me almost jump. "You will be facing Gizmo Twister and Neon Flame!"

I was ready.

Author's Note

Ok, guys. This chapter is gonna be a 2 parter, with the second part being at least 2000 words. Get ready for some intense fighting.