Baptism of Fire

„The so-called levitation, Shining Armor, is a very simple spell belonging to the family of psychokinetic magic which is based on thrusting energy in the required direction. The force of the thrust depends on how the will of the unicorn throwing it is focused and on the expelled force. It can be considerable. Levitation is easiest and most natural magic for unicorns. Even new born foals can levitate object during uncontrollable magic surges. Levitation as you know allows us to pick up objects and move them in the air. Unfortunately levitation has its limits. When you simply levitate an object you can’t perform complicated manipulation with it. Simple Levitation will not suffice when you want to write a letter. To perform those you need to learn more sophisticated  psychokinesis spells. What kind of psychokinetic spells have you learned during your magic education in Canterlot?”

“Only levitation Captain Snapdragon! I didn’t know there were more spells of this kind. Sir!”

“Relax lad. We, obviously, aren‘t going to waste time and energy on something as primitive as levitation. We are going to practice real psychokinesis. Have you read that book I gave you?”

“Yes. Sir!”

“What are other strengths and weakness of psychokinetic spells.”

“Levitation and other spells of this kind allow the user to control objects in close proximity. Further from the caster the object is, more energy is required to maintain control. Furthermore the spell burdens the concentration exp… exponentially with more objects the caster is trying to control.”

“That’s why you can’t weald five swords nor use them to fight you opponent away from yourself. You would burn your energy in an instant. You will learn now how to fence with one sword using your psychokinesis. First you have to master telekinesis. We‘ll practice on… Ah, on that basket lying under the apple tree. Concentrate…”

“Ready…”

“You focus yourself quickly. Let me remind you: control the flow of the force. You can only emit as much as you have restored. If you release even a tiny bit more, you do so at the cost of your constitution. An effort like that could render you unconscious and, in extreme circumstances, could even kill you. If, on the other hoof, you release everything you have, you forfeit all possibility of repeating it, and you will have to rest to restore your energy...”

“I know.”

“You mustn‘t slacken your concentration and allow the energy to tear itself away from you of its own accord. My professor in Canterlot University used to say that emitting the force must be like blowing a raspberry in a ballroom; do it gently, sparingly, and with control. And in such a way that you don‘t let those around you to know it was you. Understood?.”

“Understood!”

“Straighten yourself up. Stop giggling. Let me remind you that spells are a serious matter. They are cast with grace and pride. The motions are executed fluently but with restraint. With dignity. You do not pull faces, grimace or stick your tongue out. You are handling a force of nature, show Nature some respect. You have seen how to cast telekinesis you know how to do it.”

“Yes. Sir!”

“Careful, I‘m not screening you. You are an independent spell-caster. This is your debut. You saw that demi-john of wine in the kitchen? If your debut is successful, your teachers will drink it tonight.”

“By them self?”

“You are a magic Novice. Novices are only allowed to drink wine once they are qualified apprentices. You have to wait. You‘re smart, so that just means another ten years or so, not more. Right, let‘s start. Good. Right, release..”

“Aaaah…. “

“I didn‘t ask you to make funny noises. Emit the energy. In silence..”

“Haa, ha! It jumped! The basket jumped! Did you see?”

“It barely twitched. Shining Armor, sparingly does not mean weakly. Psychokinesis is used with a specific goal in mind. Once more, a little stronger. Go for it!”

“Ha! It certainly flew! It was all right that time, wasn‘t it, Captain Snapdragon?”

“Hmmm… You‘ll run to the kitchen afterwards and pinch a bit of cheese to go with our wine…That was almost right. Almost. Stronger still, don‘t be frightened. Lift the basket from the ground and throw it hard against the wall of that shack, make feathers fly. Don‘t slouch! Head up! Gracefully, but with pride! Be bold, be bold! Oh, bloody hell!”

“Oh, dear… I‘m sorry, Sir!… I probably… probably used a bit too much….”

“A little bit. Don‘t worry. Come on, little one.. better if Buttercup didn’t see us here.”

“And… and the shack?”

“These things happen. There‘s no need to take it to heart. Your debut, on the whole, should be viewed as a success. And the shack? It wasn‘t too pretty. I don‘t think anypony will miss its presence in the landscape. Hold on, Buttercup! Calm down, calm down, why this uproar and commotion, nothing has happened! Easy, Panzerhoof! Really, nothing has happened. The planks just need to be cleared away. They‘ll make good firewood!”

******

“Faster, Shining! Lunge, attack, dodge! Half-pirouette, thrust, dodge! Balance! Balance with your left leg or you‘ll fall from the comb! Good. Aren‘t you tired? We‘ll take a break, if you like. You have been practicing for two hours now.”

“No, Sergeant! I can go on. I‘m not that weak, you know. Shall I try jumping over every other post?”

“Don‘t you dare! You might fall and then Buttercup will tear my head off.”

“I won‘t fall!”

“I‘ve told you once and I‘m not going to say it again. Don‘t show off! Steady on your legs! And breathe, Shining, breathe! You‘re panting like a dying mammoth!”

“That‘s not true!”

“Don‘t squeal. Practice! Attack, dodge! Parry! Half-pirouette! Parry, full pirouette! Steadier on the posts, damn it! Don‘t wobble! Lunge, thrust! Faster! Half-pirouette! Jump and cut! That‘s it! Very good!

“Really? Was that really very good?”

“Who said so?”

“You did! A moment ago!”

“Slip of the tongue. Attack! Half-pirouette! Dodge! And again! Shining, where was the parry? How many times do I have to tell you? After you dodge you always parry, deliver a blow with the blade to protect your head and shoulders! Always!”

“Even when I‘m only fighting one opponent?”

“You never know what you‘re fighting. You never know what‘s happening behind you. You always have to cover yourself. Hoof work and concentrate your telekinesis on sword! It‘s got to be a reflex. Reflex, understand? You mustn‘t forget that. You forget it in a real fight and you‘re finished. Again! At last! That‘s it! See how such a parry lands? You can take any strike from it. You can cut backwards from it, if you have to. Right, show me a pirouette and a thrust backwards.”

“Haaa!”

“Very good. You see the point now? Has it got through to you?”

“I‘m not stupid!”

“You‘re a unicorn. Unicorns don‘t have brains.”

“Sergeant! If Capitan Snapdragon heard that!”

“If ifs and ands were pots and pans. All right, that‘s enough. Come down. We‘ll take a break.”

“I‘m not tired!”

“But I am. I said, a break. Come down from the comb.”

“Turning a somersault?”

“What do you think? Like a hen off its roost? Go on, jump. Don‘t be afraid, I belay you.”

“Haaaa!”

“Nice. Very good… for a unicorn. You can take off the blindfold now.”

******

“Here, on this engraving… No, damn it, not on that one… On this one. This is, as you already know, a ghoul. Tell me, Shining Armor, what you‘ve learned about ghouls… Hey, look at me!”

“hmm… The ghoul, Capitan Buttercup, is a corpse-devouring monster. It can be seen in cemeteries, in the vicinity of barrows, anywhere the dead are buried. At nec— necropolia.”

“So it‘s only a danger to the dead, is that right?”

“No, not only. A ghoul may also attack living ponies if it‘s hungry or falls into a fury…”

“What‘s the matter, Shining Armor?

“Nothing…”

“What’s bothering you lad?”

“Why do I have to learn about all those nasty things, Sir? Royal Guards duty is to protect the Princess and fight for Equestria is it not?”

“Yes it is my lad. But that is the short version I’m afraid. Our enemies take different shapes and forms. Princess Celestia protects our peaceful land but she is only one pony and can’t be everywhere. We her loyal guards take her responsibility to protect ponies when she isn’t around. Those monsters are nightmarish and frightening. That‘s why you‘re learning about ghouls now, Shining Armor. When you know about something it stops being a nightmare. When you know how to fight something, it stops being so threatening. So how do you fight a ghoul, Shining Armor?

“Bright light. And fire. The ghoul is also sensitive to silver and iron.”

“So you can fight it with light and fire spells?”

“You can, but it‘s dangerous. One shouldn’t use light or fire because it makes it harder to see. Every light creates a shadow and shadows make it harder to get your bearings. One must always fight in darkness, by moon or starlight.”

“Quite right. You‘ve remembered it well. And now look here, at this engraving.”

“Eeeueeeuuueee”

“Oh well, true enough, it is not a beautiful cun— creature. It‘s a graveir. A graveir is a type of ghoul. It looks very much like a ghoul but is considerably larger. He can also be told apart, as you can see, by these three bony combs on his skull. The rest is the same as any other corpse-eater. Take note of the short, blunt claws, adapted for digging up graves, and churning the earth. Strong teeth for shattering bones and a long, narrow tongue used to lick the decaying marrow from them. Such stinking marrow is a delicacy for the graveir… What‘s the matter?”

“Nnnnothing.”

“You‘re completely pale. And green. You don‘t eat enough. Did you eat breakfast?”

“Yeeees. I diiiidddddd.”

“What was I… Aha. I almost forgot. Remember, because this is important. Graveirs, like ghouls and other monsters in this category, do not have their own ecological niche. Killing them does not upset the order and interconnections of nature which prevail in Equestria. These monsters are foreign here and there is no place for them. Do you understand, Shining Armor?”

“I do, Sir! Capitan Snapdragon explained it to me. I know all that. An ecological niche is…”

“All right, that‘s fine. I know what it is. If Snapdragon has explained it to you, you don‘t have to recite it to me. Let us return to the graveir. Graveirs appear quite rarely, fortunately, because they‘re bloody dangerous sons-of-bitches. The smallest wound inflicted by a graveir will infect you with corpse venom. Which elixir is used to treat corpse venom poisoning, Shining Armor?”

“Golden Oriole”

“Correct. But it is better to avoid infection to begin with. That is why, when fighting a graveir, you must never get close to the bastard. You always fight from a distance and strike from a leap.”

“And where‘s it best to strike one?”

“We‘re just getting to that. Look…”

******

“Once more, Shining Armor. We‘ll go through it slowly so that you can master each move. Now, I‘m attacking you with tierce, taking the position as if to thrust… Why are you retreating?”

“Because I know it‘s a feint! You can move into a wide sinistra or strike with upper quarte. And I‘ll retreat and parry with a counterfeint!”

“Is that so? And if I do this?”

“Auuu! It was supposed to be slow! What did I do wrong, Sir?”

“Nothing. I‘m just taller and stronger than you are.”

“That‘s not fair!”

“There‘s no such thing as a fair fight. You have to make use of every advantage and every opportunity that you get. By retreating you gave me the opportunity to put more force into the strike. Instead of retreating you should have executed a half-pirouette to the left and tried to cut at me from below, with quarte dextra, under the chin, in the cheek or throat.”

“As if you‘d let me! You‘ll do a reverse pirouette and get my neck from the left before I can parry! How am I meant to know what you‘re doing?”

“You have to know. And you do know.”

“Oh, sure!”

“Shining Armor, what we‘re doing is fighting. I‘m your opponent. I want to and have to defeat you because my life is at stake. I‘m taller and stronger than you so I‘m going to watch for opportunities to strike in order to avoid or break your parry – as you‘ve just seen. What do I need a pirouette for? I‘m already in sinistra, see? What could be simpler than to strike with a seconde, under the arm, on the inside? If I slash your artery, you‘ll be dead in a couple of minutes. Defend yourself!”

“Haaaa!”

“Very good. A beautiful, quick parry. See how exercising your telekinesis has come in useful? And now pay attention – a lot of fencers make the mistake of executing a standing parry and freeze for a second, and that‘s just when you can catch them out, strike – like so!”

“Haa!”

“Beautiful! Now jump away, jump away immediately, pirouette! I could have a hidden dagger! Good! Very good! And now, Shining? What am I going to do now?”

“How am I to know?”

“Watch my hooves! How is my body weight distributed? What can I do from this position?”

“Anything!”

"So spin, spin, force me to open up! Defend yourself! Good! And again! Good! And again!”

“Owwww!”

“Not so good.”

“Uff… What did I do wrong?”

“Nothing. I‘m just faster. Take your training armor off. We‘ll sit for a moment, take a break. You must be tired, you‘ve been running the Trail all morning.”

“I‘m not tired. I‘m hungry.”

“Bloody hell, so am I. And today‘s Buttercup‘s turn in the kitchen and he can‘t cook anything other than noodles… If he could only cook those properly…”

“Snapdragon?”

“Aha?”

“I‘m still not fast enough…”

“You‘re very fast.”

“Will I ever be as fast as you?”

“I doubt it. But don’t worry lad. Your special talent is much more useful for a Royal Guard.”

"Hmm… And are you—? Who‘s the best fencer in the world?”

“I‘ve no idea.”

“You‘ve never known one?”

“I‘ve known many who believed themselves to be the best.”

“Oh! What were they? What were their names? What could they do?”

“Hold on, hold on, lad. I haven‘t got an answer to those questions. Is it all that important?”

“Of course it‘s important! I‘d like to know who these ponies are. And where they are.”

“Where they are? I know that.”

“Ah! So where?”

“In cemeteries.”

******

“Pay attention, Shining Armor. We‘re going to attach a third pendulum now – you can manage two already. You use the same steps as for two only there‘s one more dodge. Ready?”

“Yes.”

“Focus yourself. Relax. Breathe in, breathe out. GO!”

“Ouch! Owwww… Damn it!”

“Don‘t swear. Did it hit you hard?”

“No, it only brushed me… What did I do wrong?”

“You ran in at too even pace, you sped the second half-pirouette up a bit too much, and your feint was too wide. And as a result you were carried straight under the pendulum.”

“But Sergeant, there‘s no room for a dodge and turn there! They‘re too close to each other!”

“There‘s plenty of room, I assure you. But the gaps are worked out to force you to make arrhythmic moves. This is a fight, Shining Armor, not ballet. You can‘t move rhythmically in a fight. You have to distract the opponent with your moves, confuse his reactions. Ready for another try?”

“Ready. Start those damn logs swinging.”

“Don‘t swear. Relax. Attack!”

“Ha! Ha! Well, how about that? How was that, Sergeant? It didn‘t even brush me!”

“And you didn‘t even brush the second sack with your sword. So I repeat, this is a fight. Not ballet, not acrobatics— What are you muttering now?”

“Nothing.”

“Relax. Adjust the bandage on your leg. Don‘t grip the hilt so tightly with your magic, it distracts you and upsets your equilibrium. Breathe calmly. Ready?”

“Yes.”

“Go!”

“Ouch! May you— Sergeant, it‘s impossible! There‘s not enough room for a feint and a change of weight to other leg. And when I strike from both hind legs, without a feint…”

"I saw what happens when you strike without a feint. Does it hurt?”

“No. Not much…”

“Sit down next to me. Take a break.”

“I‘m not tired. Sergeant, I‘m not going to be able to jump over that third pendulum even if I rest for ten years. I can‘t be any faster…”

“And you don‘t have to be. You‘re fast enough.”

“Tell me how to do it then. Half-pirouette, dodge and hit at the same time?”

“It‘s very simple; you just weren‘t paying attention. I told you before you started. An additional dodge is necessary. Displacement. An additional half-pirouette is superfluous. The second time round, you did everything well and passed all the pendulums.”

“But I didn‘t hit the sack because… Sergeant, without a half-pirouette I can‘t strike because I lose speed, I don‘t have the… the, what do you call it…”

“Impetus. That‘s true. So gain some impetus and energy. But not through a pirouette and change of weight because there‘s not enough time for it. Hit the pendulum with your sword.”

“The pendulum? I‘ve got to hit the sacks!”

“This is a fight, Shining Armor. The sacks represent your opponent‘s sensitive areas, you‘ve got to hit them. The pendulums – which simulate your opponent‘s weapon – you have to avoid, dodge past. When the pendulum hits you, you‘re wounded. In a real fight, you might not get up again. The pendulum mustn‘t touch you. But you can hit the pendulum… Why are you screwing your nose up?”

“I‘m… not going to be able to parry the pendulum with my telekinesis. I‘m too weak… I‘ll always be too weak! Because I‘m only a unicorn!”

“Come here, and listen carefully. No earthpony nor pegasus is going to be able to parry a blow aimed at him by a dragon tail, gigascorpion‘s pincers or a Manticore claws. And that‘s precisely the sort of weapons the pendulum simulates. So don‘t even try to parry. You‘re not deflecting the pendulum, you‘re deflecting yourself from it. You‘re intercepting its energy, which you need in order to deal a blow. A light, but very swift deflection with your telekinesis and instantaneous, equally swift blow from a reverse half-turn is enough. You‘re picking impetus up by rebounding. Do you see?”

“Mhm.”

“Speed, Shining Armor, not strength. Strength is necessary for a farm pony to buck apple trees. That‘s why, admittedly, unicorns are rarely farm ponies. Have you got that?”

“Mhm. Start the pendulums swinging.”

“Take a rest first.”

“I‘m not tired.”

“You know how to now? The same steps, feint…”

“I know.”

“Attack!”

“Haaa! Ha! Haaaaa! Got you! I got you, you Manticore ! Sergeant! Did you see that?”

“Don‘t yell. Control your breathing.”

“I did it! I really did it!! I managed it!”

“Well done, Shining Armor. Well done, lad.”