An Old Friend (RedCharge, Private)

[tunnelnexus]

The gray mare with sunglasses trotted up to the entrance of the Stars' headquarters, a guard blocking her way.

"What's your business?" he asked gruffly.

"I'm looking for Horizon and Whisper," Nexus said evenly. The guard grudgingly seemed to accept that, and stepped aside. She trotted in slowly, wondering if perhaps she should have been a little more discreet, what with Valkyrie being around as well as it hanging in the air.

Bah, who needs discretion? Especially you, Nexus, you rogue you.

She wandered about the place until she found the two stallions she was looking for, both of whom were out in the common room.

"Hey guys. Been a while; what's going on?" she asked casually, not caring whether there were other ponies around to hear.

[Red Charge]

The Stars barracks was a large hall, with bunk beds lined perfectly parallel on each side, foot lockers and armor racks stood neatly to the sides of the beds and horseshoes were neatly organized in front, polished to perfection. There were few ponies in it at the moment other than Horizon and Whisper Wind. Tunnel was surprised to notice that there were females bunking over males, as well as only one shower room for all of them. No gender separation wasn't common in the army, as far as was known. It was notable that not all Stars were accounted for, the ponies in the room were about half the number of beds.

The few ponies other than Tunnel's two rescuers were a mixture of several males and females, now all looking curiously at the land pony entering their barracks. A female with very subtle, lithe features and a sharp, straight mane-style gave Horizon and Whisper Wind a sidelong look, "Lookie, lookie, picked up a mare together?" She asked teasingly, her voice a pleasant mixture o light tones, indicating a minor singing background. Her cutie mark was a pan pipe serving as a cross-guard on a Gladius. "Am I not good enough to come to?" She teased, laying back on her top bunk, head dangling upside down with a mischievous grin.

The stallion beneath her bonked her on the head, "Shut up Pan." he said, looking over at the two culprits, "Seriously though you two, civilians in the barracks? V is going to have your heads." He commented, he was dark, like Whisper Wind, but sported a darker brown coat, rather than indigo.

"Uh, Tunnel, when we said drop by we meant you know, call us out, not come in the barracks." Horizon quickly told nervously, flying over and beginning to push her out, to the laughter of the rest of the ponies.

"Ya'll have a good time now," The mare identified as Pan called after them, "You should come by some other time and tell me how they were, Unicorn..." She said, causing the stallion beneath her to buck her off the top bunk and into the floor. "Ow, what was that for?"

"Being a loudmouth." The Pegasus replied evenly.

[tunnelnexus]

Nexus was curious as to where the other Stars might be, but the thought soon occurred to her that they might be out training. Just as well, since that probably meant Valkyrie was out with them.

It was certainly rather unsettling to see mares and stallions all in the same barracks, even for a pony like Tunnel who was familiar with cramped quarters. She didn't let it bother her, though, as a certain mare seemed to be giving her two stallions some grief. The heckler was a supple, straight-maned pegasus.

The attention made Nexus' head swell up a bit (more so than usual, that is). Although, she did feel bad for getting the pair into some MORE hot water; maybe there was something she could do to mitigate the fallout. But that mare, it was like she was begging to be knocked down a peg, and Tunnel was only too happy to oblige.

"Picked up a mare? I guess you could say that, considering that these two gentlecolts saved my life," said the gray spelunker snarkily, before she let her stallions push her out of the room. As she was going, Nexus called out in a patronizing tone, "Oh, I don't know how we'd be able to have a good time without you, dearie, but I appreciate the well-wishing."

Outside, Tunnel relaxed, glad to see the pair of them again. "Yeah, I guess I could've been a bit more subtle... but subtlety is so boring. Sorry if I got you guys in some trouble, I just was in town and thought I'd stop by. What's up? You guys have anything planned for today?"

[Red Charge]

"Join the club, we save life for a living here you know!" Pan called after them, as Horizon and Whisper led her outside. As they passed the guard at the entrance, Whisper Wind excused himself and headed back in. There would be an inspection shortly and he had to go tidy up their bunks and help clean the barracks, undoubtedly being ridiculed by Pan the entire time.

"So, Tunnel, how are you doing filly?" Horizon asked once they were out in the courtyard, nuzzling her gently as he passed her. "Sorry about Pan, she's a bit of a loudmouth sometimes. Wish you hadn't come in in front of Sabre though." Sabre Razorwing, the dark brown pony was the lieutenant for the Stars since Percheron's time and was the leading candidate to replace him as leader before surprisingly Dusk was elected, and then Valkyrie. He explained this to Tunnel shortly, also letting out his dismay at the fact that Valkyrie was never a Star to begin with.

"Either way, we call her V now, V for Vendetta. Because she seems to really have it in for Percheron." He explained, "So how can I help you?"

[tunnelnexus]

Nexus returned the nuzzle, playfully punching Horizon's shoulder. She hardly even noticed Pan's pathetic comeback line, and didn't deem it worthy of a put-down... or so she thought.

"I'm doing pretty good, Horizon. I have a cool little idea floating around in my head, but for now it's a secret," Tunnel said with a smirk. "I'll tell you all about it when I've got it together."

The Star explained a bit about Pan and Sabre and Valkyrie, and Tunnel couldn't help but giggle a bit.

"Pffft! Wow, V is even more of a jerk than I thought. Has anypony ever tried to get her fired or anything? I would," laughed the spelunker. "Any pranks, at least?"

She reined in her chuckling, and continued in a semi-serious tone.

"Well, I've been thinking a lot about what happened in the Everfree Forest," she mused aloud, "And I'd like to make sure that I don't need rescuing if I get into a sticky situation. Maybe you and Whisper could give me some tips and training?"

[Red Charge]

"Ah, I see, you wanna learn how to take care of yourself, alright, I guess I could show you some moves while Whisper's cleaning the barracks." The pegasus stallion said, cracking his hooves and neck as he trotted towards the training fields.

"First thing you gotta remember about physical fighting, especially since you're fighting monsters. Most likely? Whatever it is you're facing is stronger in terms of raw physics. Use momentum, surprise and sensitive spots to your advantage. Of course, you got magic so you can just whack 'em on the head with a tree or something."

He laughed, leading her to a wide empty field with all sorts of poles, some ending with rings and some with flags. "Ah, basic training fields, those were the times." The stallion gestured for her to warm up a bit before they started, and proceeded to do so himself. "So right, monsters got crazy reflexes, you have to make sure you time yourself right or you'll be dinner. Find a breach in their guard and penetrate it. Why don't you swing at me a couple of times and we'll see how it goes?"

[tunnelnexus]

"Sounds good, thanks," said the spelunker as they trotted out to the training field. She saw Horizon stretching and prepping himself to go, so she did the same, doing her best to mirror his movements. He started explaining about monsters and forces, and how they had better and more of it. So, a pony needed to use that against them if they wanted a chance. She smiled at Horizon's comment about dropping trees on foes; it would be so much fun...

He started in on timing as well, and how if you messed up by a second you could be toast; you had to find a hole in their defenses. Then he wanted her to swing at him.

She obliged with a grunt, swinging her left forehoof at his own, aiming for a quick trip. He sidestepped easily, and Tunnel came at him again with a right-hoofed uppercut. He dodged again, making the gray mare growl in frustration. She tried a fake left-hoof jab, then spun around to go for a devastating buck, but he snuck in with a quick push and sent her sprawling to the ground.

Nexus rubbed a hoof on the back of her head, where she'd landed, now a sore spot. The mare rose to her hooves, looking at the stallion warily.

[Red Charge]

"C'mon, I'm a grounded Star who hasn't even been trying. Surely you can do better than that!" He teased, "Try to watch me move, go to where you think I'll be rather than where I actually am!" He advised.

"If you succeed you get a kiss!" He puckered up mockingly and laughed again, getting into his stance.

[tunnelnexus]

Tunnel laughed and slowly settled into a fighting stance.

"Oh, a kiss, eh? Now I have to beat you up," joked the mare. She crouched lower, prepared to spring.

Instead, she leaped only half the distance between them, a few hoof-lengths, and tried to slide along the ground to knock his legs out from under him. As she did, she thought about what he'd said, and analyzed where he might go to try and dodge. It made sense that he might just dart upwards with his wings, so she rolled onto her back before she'd finished sliding and sent her two hind legs upwards in a powerful buck.

[Red Charge]

Horizon however simply hopped over her, standing at her other side with a grin and bopping her nose. "Alright c'mere, I got something that might help." He said, hooking his hoof around her neck and pulling her over to the side gently.

"Alright, there's only one place you should look an enemy, and that's the eyes. The eyes can tell you anything, for example, I could see what you were planning, so I avoided it. Keeping eye contact will not allow your enemy to see where you will be striking. In the case of monsters, it shows them you are not backing down."

"Most monsters when not shown fear will think twice about coming after you, of course not the really big ones, but a manticore or a feral will definitely think twice." He continued explaining, "Also, let's work a bit with your technique."

Horizon spent the next thirty minutes demonstrating proper ways to attack in hoof to hoof and hoof to claw combat. The proper way to hit, dodge, or block. Correcting Tunnel as she attempted each strike, block or swerve. He explained to her that she has the basics now, the proper use of momentum, the correct stance for stability and knowledge of what to look out for.

"This is basic, but it can definitely help you out in a fight. Of course, dropping a tree on someone would be a better approach. You know, the old battle-mages used to train physically to be strong in spirit and body. They stopped that a long time ago though." At that he took his stance again, this time however, unbeknownst to Tunnel, he would intentionally get hit. It would inspire some confidence in her, he hoped.

[tunnelnexus]

Tunnel let the stallion take her aside and listened intently to his speech. After he was done, she was repressing a silly bout of giggles and couldn't resist the urge to point out a nagging problem that she had with Horizon's teaching.

"What do I do if I'm wearing sunglasses?" she asked, laughing a bit. "It's kind of hard to see through tinted lenses. No matter, I'll give them a gaze so tough that it will burn through my shades!" joked Nexus. In truth, she was a little nervous as thoughts of the battle with the Iron Shoes sprang up in her mind. The thought of trying to stare him down seemed ludicrous, even to a cocky pony like Tunnel Nexus.

She went along with his training, though, going through a tiring set of jabs, swipes, dodges, and blocks, Horizon providing guidance and correction. After about thirty minutes, Horizon stopped and made a comment about the old battlemages. She had to agree, it would be loads of fun to drop a tree or boulder or something on monsters.

The stallion assumed his combat stance, prompting Nexus to settle into her own, newly-refined ready position. She took off her sunglasses with magic and stared right at his eyes as she thought about the kind of attack plan she wanted. The mare thought about all of the techniques Horizon had taught her, and visualized it in her mind.

She charged at him, not once breaking eye contact. Tunnel made as though to strike at him with a fierce right hook, but pulled it at the last minute and plowed into him at full speed with a forceful shoulder. The stallion moved to dodge the punch, but was caught by the slam attack. The pair tumbled to the ground, where the spelunker sat on top of the Star, pinning him (as much as a pony of his caliber can be pinned, that is).

"Ha! Got you that time, Horizon! I win! Now it's time for my prize!"

Tunnel bent down and kissed him right on the nose.

[Red Charge]

Horizon tumbled to the ground, Tunnel on top, just as he intended. Though he admittedly didn't expect her to pounce him head on like that. He grinned as she pinned him down and kissed him on his nose.

"Fine, fine, but that's not what I meant," He said, hooking a hoof behind her head and pulling her down to kiss her deeply, before letting go and giving her another of his sly grins. "Now that was more of a reward." Horizon pitied poor Whisper Wind, cleaning up and scrubbing the floor while he was out tumbling on the grass with a mare. (Even though it was more often the opposite case, and he just knew Pan was not going to let the subject drop when he got back. Neither would Sabre, oh he could hear the talk now, of what Percheron would think and so on and so on. But hey, according to rumors, Percheron had some things going on for himself!)

[tunnelnexus]

Tunnel let the Star wrap a hoof around her neck and pull her into a deeper kiss, returning it with gusto. It had to end, though, so she pulled back after a short while; smirking, she remained sitting on him.

"Now that I won, I suppose I have to leave... unless you have something else to show me. I mean, if I'm not just free to go." Nexus laughed and kept Horizon pinnned down.

[Red Charge]

"Well," Horizon said, considering, "My cousin has a nice flat in the city, we could always hang out there for a while. I don't have to be back until a few hours from now, since Whisper is oh so kindly doing my share of the cleaning." The stallion said, bumping her snout with his own before rolling her over him and getting to his feet.

"Looks like you could use a breather after all of that exercise." He commented, helping her back to her hooves, grinning his Horizon grin. "Dunno if you heard though, we're no longer in the running for Iron Shoes. Apparently Princess Luna was a bit ticked off at V for what happened. So we're stuck in training, and the Wonderbolts are subbing for us." He rolled his eyes, "Showponies. Go figure. Don't tell Sabre I said that though, he has a sister in the Wonder Bolts. Darn Razorwings are everywhere nowadays. Even said his second cousin is going into mercenary work."

[tunnelnexus]

Tunnel let herself roll over, accepting the helping hoof afterwards.

"A flat? Pssh! I've got a nice, cozy loft we can chill at," boasted the mare. "It's way better than some flat." She neglected to mention that it was the loft of a warehouse; that was only a minor detail.

"Ha, Whisper got the short end of the stick; stuck doing cleanup? Sucks for him," laughed the spelunker. Her giggling ground to a halt when Horizon mentioned the fallout from the Iron Shoes affair.

"Aw, shucks, I'm sorry I got you guys the boot. But hey, at least V is getting the brunt of it.

"Now come on, I really need to catch my breath," joked Tunnel, cantering ahead in the direction of the loft.