Chapter Six: The Training of Rainbow Dash
Gohan was outside of the cottage doing some training. He didn't have a partner or anything but that didn't stop him. He had first done some light exercising, in order to warm up his muscles. After that he moved on to some actual fighting. Although it wasn't technically fighting since he didn't have anyone to practice against. It was just him throwing punches and kicks, but it helped perfect his fighting technique. He would also work on his defense, which was just as important as his offense. For defensive training he usually imagined an opponent, to help him visualize actually blocking and guarding. All of this was done as a Super Saiyan. He felt like kicking his training up a notch today.
While he was training Fluttershy was inside preparing food for her animals, she usually tended to her animals while he was outside fighting. She thought it was the best time to do so. Not only because it was around lunch time, but also because she could hang out with him when he finished. At first she was worried that his training would harm her animal friends, but he assured her that no harm would come to them. That was all the conformation she needed. The shy mare trusted him completely.
The Super Saiyan did a few back flips before flying forward. He then threw a flurry of fists, with both speed and power behind them. After a few moments he descended onto the ground. He took a few deep breathes before letting his Super Saiyan strength fade. He could have kept going but decided against it. The only reason being that he sensed one of his friends approaching. A smile came onto his face as he turned towards the familiar mare. "Hey Rainbow Dash, what's up?"
Rainbow Dash let out a small chuckle. "Not much. You know, just being awesome!" The way she said that made it sound like she wasn't feeling awesome at all.
He could tell something was wrong with her. She didn't seem like her normal self, which worried the half-Saiyan a little. "What's wrong?"
"Can I ask you something Gohan?"
"Sure, what is it?"
Before answering the mare flew right up into his face. "Can you train me?" She asked with a huge grin.
Her request caught him off guard for a few reasons. First, he never thought Rainbow Dash would ever ask somepony else to train her, he assumed it would be the other way around. Second, he didn't think any of his friends would want to train. It just seemed like something that wouldn't interest any of them... except for Rainbow he figured. "You want me to train you?"
"Uh-huh."
"But I thought you were the fastest flyer in Equestria?" He had heard from Fluttershy that Rainbow was the fastest flyer in all of Equestria. The half-Saiyan was actually pretty impressed by that. Sure he could beat her if they ever raced, but that wasn't the point.
"I am! But I want to learn how to fight like you!" The loyal pegasus exclaimed. Her reasoning was that it wouldn't hurt to have another strong fighter in Ponyville. Of course, she had her own selfish reasons for wanting to train as well. "Twilight told me about the adventure you went on a few days ago, and how you fought a chimera and a demon. I want to be able to kick some flank! So will you help me?" If it really came down to it, she would give him the puppy dog eyes... although that was a last resort, something she would only do if she were really desperate.
Gohan paused to think for a moment. Although he did want to help her he never really trained anyone before. Sure, he trained with other people in the past but it wasn't him instructing. To make it even more confusing there were different types of teachers. There was the fun, let's take it slow teacher, like his father. And there was the tough, no nonsense kind, much like Piccolo. So he wouldn't even know what kind to be. On the other hand though, maybe he could find a good balance. As he mulled over his decision he glanced over at the mare, and she looked really eager to train.
The young Saiyan then thought about what his father would do, and he would most likely train her. And that was all he needed for conformation. "Alright, I'll train you!"
As soon as she heard that, she flew around excitedly. "Ah yeah, uh-huh uh-huh!" The cyan mare proceeded to dance in mid air. Her dancing continued for a few moments before she settled down. "So what do we do first?" Rainbow asked, not wanting to waste any time.
The Saiyan had to once again think for a moment. He wasn't exactly sure how to begin. Suddenly an idea came into his head. "The first thing I want you to do is give me one hundred push-ups!" Why not start with the basics?
Rainbow Dash nodded and got down on the ground and began to do the exercise. Her pace quickened the further she went along, and she found herself falling into a nice rhythm. Despite have to do one hundred push-ups she wasn't having any difficulty. It shouldn't have been a surprise considering how athletic she was. After a few minutes Rainbow had finished the push-ups and barely broke a sweat. With that over she eagerly waited for the next part of her training. "So what's next?" She asked, hoping to start the fighting soon.
"Now give me one hundred sit-ups."
This time Rainbow Dash was a little less enthusiastic about doing it, but she agreed and once again got down on the ground. As she exercised she began wondering how much longer it would be until she actually learned how to fight. The mare already knew how to work out, she just wanted to get to the good stuff. A sigh escaped her mouth as she continued her work out, and much like last time it didn't take her too long to complete. Her last sit-up was finished after just a few minutes.
"Nicely done, now that the warm up is done we can get started." He would have given her more exercises to do, but he could tell she was getting impatient. 'Maybe we should try meditating one of these days.' He mused to himself.
A huge smile came onto her face, she was finally going to learn how to fight! "So what do we do first?"
"I want you to come at me with everything you've got, you can stop once you land a hit on me." He bowed to his opponent before getting into his stance. On the outside he was ready for a fight. Although mentally he was worried, the last time they fought he dominated her. The Saiyan was a little unsure how this would go.
Meanwhile the cyan mare was doing some light stretching. She mentally prepared herself for a few moments, and then she was ready to attack. Rainbow Dash flew at him as fast as she could. She drew her front left hoof back and tried to punch him, to her surprise he moved out of the way. She tried once again but failed, and the next blow only managed to hit more air. The harder she tried the less success she had, he was just too quick. As her opponent flew up into the air the rainbow maned pony followed. Once she was close enough she threw her hooves wildly, letting loose a flurry of punches. The only problem was that Gohan was dodging every single one.
"Keep it up Rainbow Dash, you're getting closer." He was trying to motivate her, but it only served to make her angry.
"Stop mocking me!" Try as she might she was unable to land a single punch or kick, and she was getting more and more frustrated. If it were anypony else she were fighting she would have beaten them easily, but Gohan was making a fool out of her... and nopony dared to make a fool out of Rainbow Dash! In an angered state she moved even faster, but not even that was enough. The mare finally caught a lucky break when she managed to strike his cheek. After realizing what she had done she smiled brightly. "I did it!" She cheered as she looked over to her friend smiling.
Little did she know that the half-Saiyan had stopped moving all together near the end. It quickly became apparent that sparing with her was much different than fighting his father. "Rainbow Dash, I don't think this will work." The Saiyan stated plainly.
Hearing that made the rainbow maned pony worry. "What do you mean, I was able to hit you." She stated in defense.
"Actually I kind of stopped moving near the end there." He replied nervously, not liking the frown on her face. Despite that he continued. "This kind of training won't work for you. I'm sorry but the gap between our power levels is too great."
Rainbow Dash sighed, she was really hoping to learn how to fight like he did. It would have been one of the coolest things ever, but now she might never be able to do it. All because she was too weak... something she never thought would ever happen. "So you can't train me?" Tears slowly began to appear in her eyes.
Those tears didn't go unnoticed by the Saiyan. "What's wrong?"
"I was just really hoping to improve myself, and I wanted you to help me. You said you've been training ever since you were little, and just look how strong you are! I just figured that if I got trained by a really strong pony than I could be really strong too... but I guess I'll just forget it." She lamented, all the while collapsing on the ground in sadness.
Gohan put a hand to his chin in contemplation, mulling the situation over. It was quite the predicament. She really wanted to train, but she was much weaker than himself. Still, she had a lot of heart and spirit. He was reminded of a little of himself when he was younger and wanted to train with his father. "Listen I can't actually fight you, but maybe I can train you another way."
The cyan pegasus looked up and a small smile crept onto her face. At least she would get some form of training. The mare then got back onto all fours. "I understand, and I'm going to keep on trying my hardest!" She exclaimed, all the while wondering what he had in mind.
He smiled. "Great, now follow me." He flew up into the air, and she did the same. The Saiyan led her to the nearby training spot. Funny enough it was actually Rainbow who had told him about the spot. The cyan pony had mentioned it a little while ago in case he wanted a place to workout, and now they were going to use it.
At the speed they were flying it only took a few minutes to reach the grounds. They descended onto the grassy grounds and once they did the Saiyan took a good look around. The only real noticeable feature was the track, which would be great for testing one's speed. All in all it seemed like a suitable place to train, which made him wonder why he hadn't come here yet. Perhaps he would come back later to do his own training.
"So what do I do first?" Rainbow asked.
"Give me fifty laps around the track, but you can't fly." He instructed.
She nodded before stepping onto the track. Once on it she started running her laps. It would have been easier to fly but it wasn't too hard on hoof. She had proven before that she can be just as fast on land as in the air. It was actually kind of refreshing running laps, it certainly was a workout for her hooves. Normally the only workouts she did were aerial based, so this was kind of invigorating. Sure, continuously running in circles seemed tedious, but she enjoyed doing this more than the other exercises.
As she did her laps the Saiyan was mentally preparing a training regiment. He knew that Rainbow was tough and could handle a lot, so he wouldn't have to go too easy on her. Yet at the same time he was wondering exactly how he was going to instruct her on fighting without actually fighting her. 'Maybe if I show her how to do it she can practice it for herself.' His thoughts distracted himself from the mare, and he didn't even know how her progress was going.
A few moments later the cyan pony finished her final lap. With that done she made her way over to her teacher. "Okay, what's next?"
Gohan snapped out of his thoughts and turned towards his student. "I'm going to show you how to fight."
She merely stared at him confused. "I thought we weren't going to fight?"
"We aren't, but I'm going to show you my stance and katas. Then you can practice it and prefect it. So for right now I just want you to watch and pay attention." He told her in a stern voice.
The mare nodded as she instantly sat down and watched him.
He then dropped down into his stance and stood there for a few moments, he was letting her observe the stance and try to memorize it. He then began attacking the air slowly, or as slowly as he could so that she could both see and learn. Punches, kicks, sweeps, he went through every fighting move he knew. He continued this for several moments before stopping. Now it was time for her to try it. "Alright, now it's your turn."
Rainbow nodded and stood up on her hind legs, she then moved her front hooves into position. It wasn't going to be easy to get into the stance but she was determined to learn it. She stood there for a few moments before falling on her butt.
A small chuckle escaped the Saiyan's mouth as he went over to help her up. "Not bad for a first try, but it seems you have trouble standing on your hind legs." He noted as she got back to standing on her hooves.
"Don't worry I can do it!" The pegasus yelled. She was about to try it again, but was quickly stopped by her teacher.
"You won't be able to do it if you can't even stand on two hooves, that's why I want you to get comfortable standing like that first."
An angry scowl came onto her face after hearing that. "I want to learn how to fight not stand!" She protested.
"If you want to learn how to fight you need to know the proper stance, otherwise you won't be able to fight properly and your opponent could easily beat you."
Rainbow Dash would have protested but saw it was no use, so she begrudgingly agreed. "Okay I'll do it." She noticed him smile and merely sighed. The mare stood on her hind legs and tried to stay standing. She was able to stand for about a minute before falling over, and after brushing herself off she tried it again. To any other pony this would have been crazy, but Rainbow guessed that he had to go through something similar before actually fighting.
While that was going on Gohan did some of his normal training, he figured this would be a good opportunity to do so. Of course, his training was more intense than what his student was doing. And this didn't go unnoticed by his pupil. He would occasionally catch her looking over at him, but doing that made her fall over. "Remember, concentration is very important in combat. If you aren't focused you could very easily lose." He told her sternly.
"Yeah yeah I got it." She mumbled before getting back to it.
And so the day went on. Rainbow had been doing the same thing over and over again. Every time she would fall over she would get right back up. The mare was making some great progress, but she still had a long way to go. Even if things were going rather slowly she soldiered on, all of this would be worth it when she finally started fighting. That was the only thing that kept her going. Another challenge presented itself in the form of boredom. It was a tough battle with boredom, and there were points where she was sure boredom would win.
The sun was now starting to set, and the Saiyan was feeling a little worn out from all this working out. And also pretty hungry. So he figured now was a good stopping point. Before stopping the session he looked over and noticed how determined his student looked. He was impressed, she was starting to get the hang of it. He knew that it wouldn't be long before she could actually fight. "Good work today Rainbow Dash, tomorrow we can continue training."
Rainbow sighed in relief before flying off towards her home, albeit at a slower pace than usual.
The next two weeks were pretty uneventful, at least for every other pony. Rainbow Dash however had finally mastered standing on her hind legs as well as the stance that Gohan showed her. It was pretty hard but she got the hang of it. She also learned about patience and trying to keep a level head. In order to have mastered the training she needed to be calm and collected. Working on that was one of the hardest parts, but she was able to manage. Since her teacher wouldn't be a suitable sparing partner she had been practicing on a tree. The trees were big enough for her to hit and not have to worry about missing. It was mainly for starting out purposes but she knew that soon enough she would move onto something harder.
"That's good Rainbow Dash keep it up." Gohan encouraged.
She punched and kicked the tree as hard as she could, at a pretty decent rate too. She kept going until she fell backwards on the ground. "That was some workout." The mare panted.
"Yeah, but you're really getting the hang of it." He told her with a smile.
The mare smiled in return. "So what's next?"
He thought for a couple seconds before answering. "Alright, now were going to try it out while in the air."
Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "So what exactly am I going to practice against?"
The young Saiyan put his hand on his chin and looked around, the trees were tall enough but stationary. Gohan needed something that would be able to try an avoid her attacks, while at the same time flying through the air. He though of asking somepony to help, but the only other ponies he knew with wings were Twilight and Fluttershy, and neither of them seemed like they would want to fight. There were also the other princesses... but he assumed they would say no. "Well I'm not sure, do you know any other pegasi that could help?"
"Not really, I do know some pegasus ponies but I don't think they would want to train with me." She explained with a sigh.
"I suppose you could fight against me."
"But I thought our powers were too different for you to fight me?"
Gohan nodded. "They are, but I won't fight back. I just want you to perfect fighting while in the air, just in case you end up fighting an airborne enemy."
She nodded as she and her mentor ascended into the air.
"Alright, now come at me with everything you've got!"
In a few seconds Rainbow flew straight at him and started attacking, doing so in the form she practiced. Although her fighting technique improved it wasn't enough, she was still too slow. She wasn't able to land a single blow on her opponent. And while she tried her best to keep cool it was proving to be difficult. After a while she became even more sloppy. Her fighting style dissolved into just wailing on her foe.
He smiled at her intensity, even though she wasn't hitting him she was giving it her all. It also seemed that she didn't have any trouble with fighting while in the air. That wasn't really a surprise since the rainbow maned pony was an expert while in the air, she knew the skies and how to maneuver around them. The only problem was that her fighting became more and more sloppy, almost as if she completely abandoned her style. After several minutes Gohan descended onto the ground.
The cyan mare landed on the ground a few seconds later. "Did you see that, I was fighting as well as I did when I was on the ground."
The young saiyan smiled. "Good job Rainbow Dash, you're definitely improving." His smile then turned into a frown. "But at one point during the fight you gave up on your fighting form."
"Oh yeah, well, I guess I lost my cool." She admitted sadly.
"It's alright. You just have to remember that in a real fight your opponent could take advantage of a mistake like that." He told her.
"Right." Rainbow nodded. She then smiled brightly. "Thanks Gohan. You're a great friend."
"Aw thanks." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
A yawn then escaped her mouth. "I'm going to take a nap, wake me up in a few hours."
He nodded as he watched her fly away towards a cloud. Once she was gone he decided to do some of his own training. Without wasting any time he got right into it, ready for an intense training session.
A couple of hours passed and Rainbow Dash awoke from her slumber. She yawned as she rubbed the top of her head. Her mane was disheveled but she wasn't too concerned about it. One of her first thoughts was food, and her stomach agreed with her. The rainbow maned pegasus was about to grab some grub when she heard the sounds of her friend training. She flew over to where the noise was coming from, she then noticed him punching and kicking the air. The mare guessed he was envisioning an opponent. For the next couple of minutes she just watched him train, it was like he was in his own world and had perfect control of it. She then decided to resume her own training, in spite of getting food. "Hey Gohan!" She shouted.
The half-Saiyan stopped in mid air and turned towards her. "Good to see you again Rainbow Dash," he smiled and waved at her. "how was your nap?" He asked.
"Pretty good, and I think I'm ready to resume training." She said with determination.
The half-Saiyan nodded. "Alright. Give me two hundred push-ups and sit-ups."
"Yes sir!" Rainbow instant;y dropped to the ground and began doing her push-ups. At this point push-ups were too easy for her. The mare could easily do two hundred of those without breaking a sweat. All of this intense training was doing wonders for her body.
As he watched her exercise he thought of a way to improve her training. Sure, he could just have her do more reps, but he wanted something better. A few seconds later he got an idea of how to make it more effective. "Do you have a saddle bag?" The young Saiyan asked.
She paused and turned towards him, raising her eyebrow as she did so. "Yeah... it's up in my cloud house, why?"
"I'll be right back, don't stop until I get back."
The rainbow maned pegasus was still a little confused, but decided to ignore it. So she merely nodded and continued with her push-ups.
Meanwhile Gohan flew towards the unmistakable cloud house. Once he arrived he flew inside and searched for her saddle bag. The logical place to check was her room, so he started there. He didn't see it at first, but that just meant he had to look harder. It took him a little bit to find but luckily it didn't take that long. With the bag in hand he left her house and began heading back to the training grounds.
Along the way he stopped and landed on the ground. He then went around and picked up a bunch of rocks, making sure to grab nice and heavy ones. Taking multiple trips he gathered them and placed them in one side of her saddle bag, and then repeating the process for the other side. With each side filled he once again took to the skies. When he returned to the spot he noticed his student doing sit-ups, making him smile.
After about a minute she finished doing the sit-ups and noticed Gohan standing a few feet away from her. The mare merely stared at him curiously. She still didn't know what the point of the saddle bag was. "What's my saddle bag going to do?"
"Put this on, it will help you train." The Saiyan explained.
"Okay..." Rainbow Dash gripped the bag with her teeth and slung it onto her back, to her surprise it was heavier than usual. "What's in this thing, rocks?"
"Yes."
That answer made Rainbow slap her forehead, she didn't expect it to actually be filled with rocks. "And how exactly are rocks going to help me train?" She asked with a mix of annoyance and sarcasm in her voice.
"The rocks are your training weights, and I want you to use them whenever you train." He told her with a smile on his face.
"What are training weights going to do?"
The half-Saiyan sighed. How could they have never heard of using weights for exercise? At one point he thought he saw somepony using a barbell, but maybe he was wrong. "It will help you improve. The more weight you have the more you can get out of your training."
Rainbow Dash had a hard time believing that, but considering that came from him she just nodded. "So, I just do what I would normally do but with extra weight?" She received a nod, which made her smile. "Awesome, I'm going to be so fast after all of this training. And I'll be the greatest martial artist in all of Equestria!" She exclaimed as she got back down on the ground and started doing some push-ups.
Gohan had to admit, she was very determined. A smile came upon his face as he continued to watch her train, it was almost like he was Goku and Rainbow Dash was himself. Plus he seemed to do a good job of training her, which was exactly what he wanted to have happen. If she continued this pace there was no doubt that she could become a great warrior.
There it is guys, the updated chapter. I hope you enjoyed this more than what it originally was. Upon re-reading the chapter I realized that it had some problems, like Rainbow Dash being able to hit Gohan despite the gap in power. The chapter also felt a little rushed so I slowed it down, and I did have a time skip but it was for story purposes. R and R!
FutureShock