Cloud found himself floating through a dark void. Uh… Where am I? How did I get here? The last thing I remember is… Oh! The ursa minor. I helped Twilight with that, then we went back to the library and discussed what lessons should come next. I hadn’t eaten all day and forgot to get the milk, so I lay in bed and drank cider until I passed out. Thinking back on it, not a great decision… But none of that explains how I got here, or where ‘here’ even is…

Looking around, Cloud noticed flecks of white in the far distance of every direction. So… am I in space?

“By some definitions, you are correct,” announced a mysterious female voice. “However, what you fail to realise is that you are dreaming.” In front of him appeared a tall, blue mare dressed in regal attire: Princess Luna. She walked through the void as if walking on solid land.

Though he had heard of her reformation, Cloud had never seen Princess Luna outside of her Nightmare Moon transformation and, as such, did not recognise her.

“Alright,” said Cloud, “I suppose that answers a couple of questions. Who are you?”

“I am Princess Luna,” she replied, slowly yet clearly. “A few weeks ago, you assisted the Spirits of Harmony in the defeat of my…” she paused for a moment, searching her mind for a suitable term, “corrupted form.”

“Oh.” There was a short pause. “So… did you just wanna hang out, or-?”

“I feel that you are owed a debt,” she interrupted. “Upon my defeat, the Spirits of Harmony were recognised as such: The walkers of the ancient prophecy. To the world, all of Equestria and lands beyond, they became heroines.” A stained glass window of the six Spirits appeared beside the Princess.

“...And?” Cloud asked. “Do you think I deserve recognition or something? All I did was hold you off for a while so Twilight could-”

“What you did was no minor feat. Yet, they give the Spirit of Magic’s servant more recognition.”

“Bah! That was just a political move,” he waved his hoof dismissively. “And anyway, even if I didn’t get ‘recognition’, I was still rewarded. Twilight’s teaching me magic and helping me learn more about my special talent.”

“But would she not have helped you regardless of whether or not you assisted her?”

“I doubt it, she’s not the most social person in the world.”

“And yet she was social enough to learn of your situation earlier and was intrigued.”

“Okay, I get it!” Cloud exclaimed. “What’s your point?”

“My ‘point’ is this; I feel that you are owed a debt-”

“You’ve already said that.”

“-and,” she continued, ignoring him, “since my sister does not seem to agree, I shall repay it myself.”

“Oh,” Cloud said, grinning and flexing his eyebrows. “Well, I’m already at half m-”

“To do this, beginning tonight and continuing for the foreseeable future, I shall train you in hoof to hoof combat.”

“O-Oh… Okay.”

“What?” The Princess asked. “What is it you were expecting?”

“That’s not important. On a completely unrelated note, please ignore my crotch.” There was an awkward silence.

“Anyway,” she moved on, “whenever you enter the realm of dreams, my realm, I shall continue to train you.” Her eyes flashed blue for a moment as the scenery changed. They were now in some kind of training ground, though the sky remained as dark. It was only because of a few lit torches scattered around that they could see.

“There’s something I don’t really understand,” Cloud began. “You’re a Princess, right? So what would you know about combat?” The Princess replied by breaking his nose in a single punch. Cloud fell to the ground, yelling profanities. “THAT’S NOT AN ANSWER! THAT’S JUST VIOLENCE!”

“Oh, were you not being rhetorical?” She asked.

“NO! I GENUINELY WANT TO KNOW!”

“I see. In that case, I apologise.” Her eyes glowed again and Cloud was suddenly relieved of pain. It took him only a moment longer to realise his nose was fixed too. “Over a thousand years ago, my sister and I were much more strict with training our soldiers. Of course, they required an effective Battlemaster to train them.”

“You were the Battlemaster?” Cloud asked.

“No. I was the Battlemaster’s Battlemaster. I beat them bloody and they responded in kind onto their troops.” She smiled as if feeling nostalgic. “It was surprisingly effective. So much so that some of our enemies, such as a tyrannical leader by the name of King Sombra, took the... how do you say it now? 'Easy way out'.”

“This is all fascinating, but I don’t understand how training in my dreams will affect anything. My body won’t train along with my mind, so it won’t matter in the end.”

“This is where my magic is especially effective: I am familiar with a spell, created by myself, that forcibly changes the physical body of a Pony. However, this only affects the body in realistic ways, such as training. It would be physically impossible for me to morph your body in magical ways and have those changes become real.”

“But then how does it work?” Cloud asked, getting lost in exposition. “Even if we trained realistically, it’s still impossible, right?” Princess Luna shook her head.

“No. The spell breaks down unused tissue, excess fat for instance, and transmutes it into tissue gained during dreams. Please remember that this means you must eat twice as much food for you to have enough matter within your body.”

“Okay, I call bullshit on you learning so much modern science in only three weeks and being able to apply it to your spells!” Cloud exclaimed. “Also, this is all still literally impossible!” The Princess smiled smugly.

“Not if you’re a God.” She suddenly stiffened up, an intense expression on her face. “Now then! Fight me!” She decked him again, breaking his nose a second time as Cloud fell to the floor a second time.

“I DID NOT CONSENT TO THIS!”

From that night onward, Princess Luna began to train Cloud to fight.