Chapter 102 – Training Montage

The two of them continued like this, her trying to balance on the poles while he instructed her. She slowly got better as she did this, as of now she could balance on the first pole but still had trouble moving on to the next. Occasionally he would have her run with him through the caves, trying to keep in shape while they tried various other exercises to train her as well. "You're getting better." Sselekk said as he looked at her balancing on the pole.

"Still…" she grunted as she hopped to the pole in front of her, "…Having trouble with the transitions."

"Give it time and it'll become more natural, but until it does just remember, be one with the pole." he said as he watched her flail her wings while standing on one of her front hooves to keep her balance.

"It'd be easier if I could use more than one pole." she said.

He smiled a cheeky smile, "I never said you couldn't." he told her.

In shock, she nearly lost her balance, "Wait, why didn't you say anything?" She slowly lowered herself so that she could place one of her back hooves onto the pole behind her, quickly stabilizing herself.

"Because you never asked until now." he said, "Besides, how are you supposed to adapt if I keep coming up with your strategies for you?"

She thought about his words, and once again took a step forward, the balance much easier as she did, "I guess, I never really thought about it."

"Being flexible is a big part of racing in the Terranuilian Race." Sselekk said as she slowly made her way to the other side of the pit, "Not only do you have to have different strategies for each of your opponents, but you have to be able to change strategies depending on your environment." Just as she got to the last few poles, he reached down and picked up a handful of mud, "Surprise." he said and tossed the mud at her.

She flinched, crouching down and somehow avoiding the thrown mud, "HEY!" she complained and nearly fell from the poles, "What's the big idea?"

"I figured mud would hurt less than rocks." he said cheekily and tossed a second fist full of mud at her.

This time she jumped to dodge it, "How about you don't throw anything at the training pegasus!" she argued after flaring her wings to land softly back on the poles.

Sselekk began shaking the mud from his hand, "How come you don't dodge like that in the races?" he suddenly asked, just as she touched down to the ground.

"What do you mean?" the pegasus asked.

"You just dodged two attacks, one you couldn't see coming, and the other you anticipated at the last second. Why not use that kind of dodging in the races?" he explained.

Rainbow thought about it a bit, "Because the mud would have hit me." was all she could say.

"But so could the stun bolts." the large Sunik countered.

Rainbow Dash scoffed at the thought, "Not really." she said, "They'll hit my shields if Breeze doesn't block them, and even then they're not hitting me, they're hitting…" she stopped, the meaning of the question finally sinking in, "…the Rainbow Trail!" she continued in recognition, "They'll hit…me."

"Become one with your machine." Sselekk said softly as the realization set in.

"I…guess I've been thinking about the Rainbow Trail as something between me and the danger, but I needed to think of the Rainbow Trail as a part of me!" Rainbow said in shock. Sselekk smiled as he watched his lessons start to sink in, "My racer, is my wings." she said as she looked back to her own wings.

"You know, not a lot of pilots get to this kind of realization this fast." Sselekk said, "In fact, only a few have even matched your depth of realization."

She slid to his leg, latching her front hooves around his ankle, "I need your help." she pleaded, her pride vanishing the moment she understood how much trouble she was in, "I can't face THREE opponents trying this hard to take me down. I could barely handle just YOU!"

"I noticed." he said as he bent down to lift her up, "When I had Honor and Chivalry in my employ, you had trouble staying on the track."

"AND Boar." she countered, only a little annoyed, "Don't forget about him."

"He was just a freelance cheater." Sselekk said in annoyance, "I never employed him." He then switched to a softer more apologetic look, "By the way, it wasn't my intention to knock you off the ledge. Sorry about that."

"We got out of it fine, didn't we?" she asked as she smiled, "Besides, I kinda needed it." This caught the large Sunik off guard and his furrowed brows showed the confusion, "I was getting cocky, I think. Plus, it pushed me to do better. I never wanted to come in last place again."

Sselekk gently set her on the ground, kneeling to look her in the eyes, "Ok." he said, "I'm still sorry it happened, but I suggest we get to the training simulator."

He stood up, just about ready to leave when they heard a call from beyond the cave, out to where the road he had taken was. "Scuse me!" the familiar voice called out, "Someone there? I got a message for…Sspike?!" Rainbow Dash and Sselekk looked at each other at first, and slowly made their way to see who it was. The old Sunik that had driven them back to where their garage was stood there, a set of blue overalls with what looked like a white button-up tee-shirt covered his scales, a large brimmed hat adorning his head and a piece of red grass that stuck out long enough to flop around as he moved clenched between his teeth. A written message held firmly in his hand, "Ah!" he said as he spotted them, "There you are!" he walked up to them, handing them the envelope, "So, yer one of those ponies I've heard about." the old sunik said as he looked to Rainbow Dash, "Yer a bit shorter than you look on TV."

"This letter…" Sselekk said as he looked it over. The envelope itself was plain white, nothing special until you saw what was sealing it shut. An amber-looking resin with a strange-looking stamp in the middle of it.

"Supposed to be 'priority', but the delivery guy didn't know where to deliver it." the old Sunik said, "So I took it, seeing as I was the last one to see you anyways."

"Uh…" Sselekk said as he watched the old Sunik in shock and curiosity, "…thanks?"

"Yeah well, I'll be seeing you. Guess I'll just have to be your mail carrier until then." the old Sunik said as he moved toward his vehicle.

"Wait, how do we know we can…" Sselekk tried to ask, only to be interrupted when the old Sunik closed his door.

"I got a farm close by here." the Sunik said, "It's not like there are a lot of Suniks to tell. And anyway, it's not like you got much of a choice, is it? I'll keep a look out for you so you don't need to worry. These caves can get confusing if you're not careful."

"Wait…" Rainbow Dash asked, "…what kind of farm?"

"Roakin, vegetables, and fruits." he said.

"I could go for a good Roakin Skewer." Sselekk said.

"What's Roakin?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Tell you what, meet me out here after sundown and I'll bring you some." the old farmer said.

"Deal." the Sunik instantly said.

"We can bring Pinkie Pie and see if she can get us some food, our kitchen has been running low." she said.

"Weren't expecting to have to go to other planets huh?" the farmer asked.

"We weren't planning on any of this." the pegasus admitted, "I mean, after Bacromus we knew we were moving planets, but we were also thinking we'd go back to Bacromus to stalk up before we moved planets. Plus, we weren't planning on adding a second Meltackian and two Suniks to our team."

"Runnin' low on supplies huh?" the farmer asked, "Tell you what, you get this Pinkie Pie out here right now, and I'll see about making a deal with her."

"Why not come with us?" Sselekk asked, "The garage is just around the cave wall and up the dune. Plus, it's just about sundown, should be perfect."

"You'd think, but the night brings the creatures." the farmer said and spit his grass piece out of his mouth, "Bring her and yer coach tomorrow, I'll bring samples of my crops. Deal?"

"I guess it's the best we can do huh?" Sselekk asked.

"Egas bless yer hide." the farmer said, "See ya tomorrow!" He turned his vehicle on, slowly driving the old thing forward and disappearing behind one of the cave walls.

"What does 'Egas Bless Your Hide' mean?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Sselekk simply shrugged his arms, "Maybe he's religious?" the large Sunik guessed.