"Drill Sergeant Knocks? Why do we have to run for miles with a heavy pack on our back?"

"Pinkie Pie, why do you feel the need to ask me such silly questions?"

"I just think ponies would be happier if they didn't have to carry so much stuff. You're not carrying anything, so why are we?"

"Because I'm the Drill Sergeant, that's why. Now I suggest you fall back into formation with your sisters, and quit making my ear ache."

"Okey dokey Drill Sergeant Knocks!" Pinkie slowed her pace slightly until she slotted neatly back in between her sisters Marble and Maud, "Sorry girls, I tried."

"Nopony asked you to try," Limestone grunted from behind. "Frankly I have no idea what you were even thinking."

"I was thinking these packs are heavy, and that nopony wants to carry them."

Limestone tried to formulate a reply, but found she couldn't think of one that could effectively deal with how stupid Pinkie's line of thought was. Then she also realised that she was only enabling Pinkie's bizarre behaviour by taking it seriously, and gave up completely. "Just shut up Pinkie. You know exactly why we're doing this."

"Of course I know, but they've been training us harder for the last few days than they ever have before! I'm tiiiieeerd!"

"And? You want to cry more about that? Look at Maud, she's barely breaking a sweat, and Marble's not complaining."

"Don't... want... to... waste... breath!" Marble gasped while Maud kept her head down, running in her strange, almost mechanical way.

"This is what I'm talking about," Pinkie whined. "How is this helping us do anything? Are we supposed to wow the Mareitanians into defeat with our superior gear carrying skills? I don't think so!"

Limestone rolled her eyes, "That's what weapons training is for Pinkie."

"Well, obviously. I just don't see why we need to do this as well."

"So you can run away from battle easier, Piggy Pie," said a rather unpleasant stallion from behind, followed by sniggers from his trio of equally unpleasant friends. "You and your freak sisters wouldn't stand a chance in a real fight, so I think it's good you're learning this."

"You're doing this too, asshole," Limestone said to the newcomer, a musclebound stallion named by the singular word Reps, who had gone out of his way to make life uncomfortable for most of the mares around him, but saved most of it for Pinkie and her sisters. "Guess they don't have much faith in your ability to not run away either."

"Pfft, please, they just want to make sure I'm ready for anything, including retreats."

"That's good," Pinkie said brightly, "If you're the best at retreating as well, we'll totally be able to follow your lead. Good thinking Reps!"

"Still not why we're doing this," Limestone grumbled as Reps glared at Pinkie.

"Your attitude is going to get you in serious trouble one day Piggy."

"Oh? Have you been talking to Drill Sergeant Knocks about me? He says that all the time!"

"He won't have to say it anymore once you fail training," Reps said as he ran forwards and roughly shoved Marble into Pinkie before running out in front of them where he kicked a pebble up off his rear hoof, flicking it right at Maud and striking her on the forehead. "Suck it freaks!" he shouted back, his friends dutifully sniggering at what he'd done.

"Maud!" Pinkie shouted as her sister staggered to a stop and clamped her hoof over a gash above her right eye. "Are you alright Maudie?"

"I'm fine Pinkie, thank you."

"This has gone too far now," Limestone growled. "If Knocks and the other Drill Sergeants won't do a thing about it, then I will!"

"But then you'll just get into more trouble than him," Pinkie pointed out.

"So I should just let him keep on calling us freaks? Should I do nothing about the fact that he just attacked Maud? Huh? Is that what you're saying Pinkie?"

"I'm not saying that, but fighting him will only make it worse."

"Only if I lose."

"You're not fighting him," Maud said before Pinkie could say anything back to Limestone. She released the pressure off her cut, and wiped her hoof on the grass before standing and adjusting her pack.

"And why, pray tell, aren't I fighting him?" Limestone asked sarcastically.

"Because you won't do it right," Maud replied, picking the pebble that was kicked at her up in her hoof and pocketing it.

"And what, pray tell, is the right way?"

Even though there was no visible change to Maud's expression, you could tell she was almost smiling as she answered Limestone. "Quickly," she said, "and with an audience."

The rumours spread quickly around the camp, and although the ponies spreading it were fairly reluctant to do so, the ponies hearing it were rather interested. Reps had made himself quite the reputation around camp, and while there were probably some who would like to see him beat up a mare much smaller than him, the vast majority wanted to see what happened in the hopes that he might lose miserably. After a few hours, the only ones who didn't know were either unaware of Reps' and Maud's existence, a member of staff, or Reps himself, which was probably why he was so caught out when Maud approached him that evening outside the communal washing area.

"I want to fight you."

"What?" Reps said dumbly, like she'd just walked up and politely offered to massage his prostrate.

"I said I want to fight you."

"And why the hell do you want to do that for, freak?"

"Because you're a bully, and I don't like bullies. You also hurt me earlier, and call my sisters and I freaks, like we're somehow more freakish than you are."

"And what? Now you're just going to fight me? Really? You've come here in the hopes of beating me, when in reality we both know I can pummel you into the dirt with my bare hooves."

"You can use a weapon if you want," Maud stated, thoroughly unimpressed by Reps' assertions than he can easily beat her.
Reps stared at Maud for an uncomfortably long time before he said or did anything, and Maud was going to offer her condolences to his brain cells for having to work so hard when they clearly weren't used to it.

"I can't tell if you're messing with me or not, so how about you get out of here before you get hurt."

Maud shifted her sight to around the both of them, finding quite a few ponies had turned up to see what happened. If she didn't make this happen a lot of ponies were going to be annoyed at her. "If you're scared to fight me, you can just say so."

"Like I could ever be scared of you."

"Fight me then, unless you're too chicken. I understand if you are since your tiny penis gives you and chickens a lot in common."

A hushed 'Oooh' went around the crowd at Maud's subtle burn, and Reps glared at them until they stopped. Then he made a mistake, and gave in. "Fine then, since you want this so badly, I will happily give you a good pounding."

"You can try to," Maud said, holding back her satisfaction at having goaded him into a fight. She backed away as he started to circle around her, and kept herself ready as he stopped and pawed at the ground, not feeling even slightly intimidated as he performed the pony equivalent of a cat fluffing its tail to look bigger.

"Yaaah!" Reps shouted, his hooves cutting into the dirt as he started his charge at Maud, hoping to beat her through mass alone. He was halfway to her when Maud pulled her hoof back and threw at him the same pebble he'd kicked at her earlier, striking him between the eyes with a crack that echoed around the camp. He didn't even have the time to shout in pain as he collapsed to the ground unconscious and kept sliding, stopping just before Maud's hooves.

"I won," Maud said factually as a shocked silence emanated from the crowd, punctuated seconds later by Limestone swearing, and Drill Sergeant Knocks swearing even louder.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing Maud?!"

"Fighting Reps," Maud said as Knocks pushed through the crowd to get to her. "I won," she reiterated, in case he hadn't realised.

"That? That wasn't a fight! That was a massacre!" Knocks nudged Reps, not getting so much as a groan from him. "Somepony get a medic!" he shouted, before checking that Reps at least had a pulse and didn't need a hearse more than a medic. "What did you do to him?"

Maud walked over to where the pebble had landed and picked it up to show the Drill Sergeant. "I threw this pebble at him," she said, being taken aback as Knocks dived for cover behind Reps.

"Fucking hell Maud! Don't point that thing at me!"

"It's only a pebble." Maud pocketed the pebble, intending to keep it. It reminded her of Boulder. "Am I in trouble Drill Sergeant?"

"You just knocked one of the other recruits out with a pebble! I- I... I can't even comprehend the amount of trouble you're in, that's how much trouble you're in!" Knocks stood and dusted himself off as a quartet of medics ran over and started fussing over Reps before rolling him onto a stretcher and carrying him away.

"I hope he's okay," Maud said, watching as they carried him away.

"Then you should have thought of that before knocking him out. Now come with me Maud, so you can tell me just why exactly you did that, and why I shouldn't immediately have you discharged."

Maud decided that the recruits really got the short end of the stick when it came to accommodations. They slept in tents, while Drill Sergeant Knocks, through the sheer luck of being himself, got both an office and room inside a genuine building. It took Maud a while to realise that it had been at least a couple of weeks since she'd had a solid roof over her head. She'd happily forego the experience if it meant she escaped having Knocks trying to set her alight through the power of silent glares. She simply stared right back until Knocks gave up to Maud's superior eyeballs.

"Why'd you do it Maud? So far I've had no trouble off you at all, which is something seeing as how you're a sister to both Pinkie and Limestone, so what possessed you to get into a fight with Reps like that?"

"He's a bully. He calls me and my sisters freaks." Maud pointed at the cut on her forehead, "He gave me that earlier."

"And why didn't you come to me instead of going off and knocking him senseless?"

"We have, a few times, but nothing ever happens. I assume it's because you're too busy with a lot of recruits, which is a shame because Reps' behaviour has a very detrimental effect on morale. That's probably why so many ponies wanted to see me do it."

"Ah yes, your little rumours you spread of what you were going to do," said Knocks, clinging onto that fact since he was fairly sure that Maud had just sassed him, but said it so flatly that he couldn't be sure. "Is there a reason you needed so many ponies to see it?"

"Yes. So he couldn't deny that it had happened."

"You really are stone cold Maud."

"If you'd heard the rumours we'd spread, and knew what was happening to be there, you could have stopped us at any time."

"I was ordered not to," Knocks admitted grumpily.

This time it was Maud that was surprised, although, to the casual observer, she didn't show it. Why would somepony order Knocks to let what had happened, happen? More importantly, who? "Who ordered you to do that?"

"Me."

Maud turned towards the voice, finding its owner sat in a pool of shadow beside the door. She didn't need to guess who it was though, as he was a white unicorn wearing purple armour, and could only be one pony she knew. "Shining Armour?"

"Good evening Maud," Shining said politely, moving from his spot to go stand beside Knocks behind the desk.

"You ordered the Drill Sergeant to not intervene?"

"I did."

"Why?"

Shining silently regarded Maud for a moment before quirking the corner of his mouth up in a faint smile. "Because you're Pinkie Pie's sister. Frankly, I wanted to see what you would do, a mare I've heard can break rocks with her bare hooves. You didn't disappoint. The fact that it had to happen to a petty bully like Reps only made it all the sweeter."

"You let him bully us?"

"Unfortunately, yes, and I'm sorry for that, but I wanted to see if what I've heard about you and your sisters from Pinkie was true."

"You could've just asked."

"That's different," said Shining. "While I have no doubt that what Pinkie said was true, I wanted to see what you'd do with such skills in a fight. The fact that you could knock a stallion the size of Reps out with a pebble half the size of your hoof is astounding. How'd you do it?"

"I threw it," Maud stated flatly, like it couldn't have been more obvious what she'd done.

"I realise that, but you must have a serious throwing leg to throw it hard enough to knock him out."

"I could've thrown it harder," Maud said, making Shining raise his eyebrows. "But that would have really hurt him. Reps also did some of the work by running towards me as well."

"I see." Shining went quiet again, then sighed heavily. "I'm not going to lie to you Maud, we, as in the military, are interested in what you can do, but weren't willing to invest time into it without proof of what you could do. You have now provided at least a sliver of proof."

"I don't understand captain."

"You've heard of the basic rules of pony on pony combat? You should have by now."

"Yes. Earth pony beats unicorn, unicorn beats pegasus, and pegasus beats earth pony."

"Very good Maud. Now disregard it, because on the field of battle, against forces just as capable as your own, that advantage is pretty much null. Overpowering unicorns with earth ponies becomes less effective when they have earth ponies to do the same, and the advantage we possessed by having pegasi has been undone by the Mareitanians employing griffon mercenaries to fight for them."

Maud's eyes widened, "Griffon mercenaries?"

"That's right. I'm not meant to tell you, but it's hardly going to remain a secret for long. I will ask you to keep it to yourself for now though."

"Of course."

Shining nodded his appreciation. "My point is, we are looking for every advantage we can get, and you could very well be an advantage if you can teach it to others. Can your sisters also do the same?"

"Pinkie's maybe a little out of practice, but Limestone and Marble can. I'm not sure we can teach it to others though. It's always been ponies in our family passing down the knowledge, so it might be a skill unique to our family."

"Can I at least ask you to try?"

"You can, but I only want to teach two or three to begin with, in case we can't teach it to others."

"We?" Knocks asked.

"My sisters and I. We will also have to be excused from some of the other training taking place here if we're to have enough time to do this. We'll also need somewhere secluded to train."

"You're in no position to make demands here Maud," Knocks began saying, before being interrupted by Shining.

"That'll be fine Maud. Do you have any ponies in mind to begin with?"

"There are three other earth ponies in our tent. I think we should start with them, to see if it's possible to teach what we can do."

"Excellent. I'll make the arrangements for you to begin tomorrow. For now you should go get some rest. Dismissed."

Maud saluted and left, quietly making her way back outside to where her sisters were clustered anxiously by the door. "Maud!" Pinkie shouted in relief as Maud left the building, "Are you okay? Did they kick you out?"

"No Pinkie, they didn't."

"Then what did they do?" Limestone asked.

It took a moment for Maud to answer, being unsure herself as to what happened. In the end, all she could about it was, "I'm not entirely sure."

"What's this about?" Azure Velour asked as herself, Sweet Deal, and Top Spin, were led by Maud and her sisters into the depths of a ravine a few miles from the training camp. "I mean, I'm all for getting out of training for the day, but not to go and get lost in a canyon somewhere."

"You're not getting out of training silly," Pinkie explained cheerfully. "Instead you're going to be doing a totally different kind of training."

"Just the seven of us? That doesn't make any sense."

"Actually it's the three of you that'll be training," said Limestone. "We're going to be teaching you."

The three unrelated earth ponies all looked at each other, at least finding comfort in that they all seemed as confused as each other. "Teach us what?" Sweet Deal asked.

Limestone grinned at them, with a little more aggression than needed. "You'll see. Trust me though, you'll like it."

Again the three ponies nervously eyed each other, "You do realise we're all straight, right?" Top Spin said without needing to imply what she was talking about.

"Actually, I'm pretty easy," said Azure. "That doesn't mean I'm okay with this though."

Limestone closed her eyes and growled, "We are not dragging you down here for... whatever it is you're thinking of."

"If only because you don't know anything about that to teach," Pinkie giggled.

"Shut up. All of you. Really. We haven't even begun and I'm getting a headache."

"I'd also like to point out that we're sisters," Marble quavered, her cheeks aflame from the naughtier aspects of the conversation. "Although I'm sure you already knew that."

"We ain't judging," Azure said with a grin. "You all know what they say about country ponies."

"That we hate city ponies for making up such stupid crap about us?" Limestone said, glaring specifically at Azure.

"Well, uh-" Azure awkwardly cleared her throat, "That's fair, I suppose."

"We're here," Maud said before the discussion could devolve further. She'd led them into the deepest part of the ravine, where she'd been told to take them by Shining Armour that morning. As further proof that it was the right place, Shining was already there, waiting along with two other ponies; a grey earth pony, and a light blue pegasus.

"Hi Shining! Hi Octavia! Hi Summer!" Pinkie said happily, bouncing over to hug each of them. "Its been ages since I've seen any of you!"

"We're not here for a social gathering Pinkie," Shining said with a hint of warning, although he couldn't help but grin.

"Oops! Sorr-y! Still though, why are you three here?"

"I'm here to observe," Shining said, "and I've pulled these two from training medics in case any of you get hurt."

"Although," Octavia said warily, "we would appreciate it if none of you got hurt doing whatever it is you're going to be doing. I'm still not great with..." Octavia shook her head, "Nevermind. Just try to not get hurt."

"Not get hurt doing what?" Sweet Deal asked, exasperated. "We still don't know why we're here! Although if this is official orders I'm happy to be here," she added as Shining frowned at her. "Sir."

"You all saw what Maud did to Reps last night?"

"Aw yeah!" Azure cheered, "That was awesome!"

Shining sighed internally at the apparent lack of discipline on display by Azure, but decided to look past it, this time. "I'm glad you liked it so much, because Maud and her sisters are going to teach you to do stuff like that."

"Seriously?" Top Spin gasped. "No offense sir, but I really don't think I can throw a stone that hard."

"It's not about how hard you throw it," said Maud.

"It's how you throw it," Limestone finished. "There's also a lot more to it than just throwing stones."

"A lot, lot, lot more!" said Pinkie. "But it's super fun though. Maybe we should give them a demonstration?" Pinkie looked expectantly at Shining, who nodded his assent. "Awesome! You might want to stand back a bit though. Hey Limestone! Throw that rock the size of my head at me!"

"You sure? I know its been a while since you've done this sort of stuff."

"Nah, I totally got this!" Pinkie excitedly bounced on the spot, "Come on, throw it at me!"

"But you might get hurt!"

"Throw it you wimp!"

"Pinkie, I'm being serious!"

"Fine, but just remember that it's you that made me do this." Pinkie stopped bouncing and walked over to Marble, whispering something in her twin's ear. Marble choked, then blushed. "Go on then, tell her what I said."

"Uh... okay." Marble swallowed, "Limestone, Pinkie says to tell you you're fat."

Limestone scoffed at the insult, "You're going to have to try harder than that."

"And that you have a bad mane."

"Uh-huh."

"And that we all know about your unhealthy obsession with carving, uh... stallion parts, out of rocks when you think nopony's looking."

Limestone ducked her head and blushed furiously, "Fuck you so much Pinkie."

Pinkie grinned mischievously at Limestone, "Uh-oh, I think I might have gone too far. Shining, you might want to put a shield up for this." Pinkie stepped away from the others, still directing a grin at Limestone. "Come on Limestone! Show Pinkie your kung fu!"

"You asked for it!" Limestone reared back and launched the stone directly at Pinkie, who held her grin as it hurtled towards her. She bounced and flipped backwards, using a single hoof to kick the rock straight upwards, then flipped forwards as it came back down, using both her rear hooves to kick it right back towards Limestone.

Limestone punched the rock, shattering it into pieces around her hoof. She picked up some of the pieces, throwing them at Pinkie who easily dodged all but one, which she caught between her hooves mere inches from her face. Then she bit a chunk off it, chewed it up, and spat it out in her hoof. "Here comes a wet one!" she shouted, throwing the chewed up rock mush at Limestone.

"Don't be gross Pinkie!" Limestone shouted back, jumping out of the way before she got any of it on her. She stomped on the edge of a rock, flicking it into the air and catching it with her tail as she turned, whipping the rock towards Pinkie in a curve, narrowly missing Pinkie as she bent over backwards in a limbo move to avoid it.

"Boy, that was a close one!"

"You're not taking this seriously Pinkie!"

"Me? Serious? Perish the thought!" Pinkie scooped a rock up off the ground, and jumped into a pirouette to throw it at Limestone, just as Limestone threw a similar sized rock at Pinkie. The two rocks collided in mid-air with a deafening crash, exploding into dust with enough force to knock them both over.

"Truce!" Pinkie shouted weakly, pawing at her cheek with a hoof. "I think I got a rock splinter off that one. Ow. A little help please Marble?"

"I think I just had a horrifying insight into all your childhoods," Sweet Deal said once the dust had cleared. "Was that how you solved most of your disputes?"

"Nah," Pinkie shrugged as Marble wriggled the stone shard out of her cheek. "Mostly we just screamed at each other. Except for Marble, she was just too adorable to argue with."

"You bit a chunk out of a rock," Top Spin said in a small voice. "How? How is that possible?"

"That's the thing that gets you in all this?" Azure said to Top Spin. "Really?"

"It's not possible!"

"Clearly it is. Anyways, that was freaking awesome!" Azure clapped vigorously, "Woo! Encore!"

Shining joined in with the clapping, as did the others. "I have to say I'm impressed. I didn't even know that was possible, and I've seen some stuff. I do have to admit that I'm worried that you won't really be able to teach that kind of thing though. It looks more instinctive than skill based."

"We had to learn it too," Maud said to Shining, trying to reassure him. "Although our parents never taught us to be so combative with it."

"So it can be learnt?"

"Of course it can," said Pinkie. "It took me ages to learn, but I got there in the end once I found a way of doing it that I liked. The trick is for each pony to find their own way, although I guess there are some that just won't get it."

"Alright then, I'll leave it in your capable hooves." Shining stood and dusted himself off, then saluted them all. "Hopefully you'll have good news for me by the end of the day."

All of them saluted back, then waited for him to leave. "Dibs on teaching Azure!" Pinkie shouted, claiming her before anypony else could.

"I shall teach Top Spin," said Maud.

"Guess you're with me then," Limestone said to Sweet Deal.

"Who will Marble be teaching?" Octavia asked, seeing the youngest Pie sister sigh dejectedly.

"She can teach you Tavi," Pinkie said, dragging Marble over towards Octavia.

"Firstly Pinkie, it's Octavia. Secondly, I'm not a fighter, so have absolutely no need to learn how to punch through rocks."

"But it's totally a useful life skill. Besides, there's a lot more to this than just punching through rocks, and Marble's the best at that stuff. Just give it a go Octy, you might even like it."

"It's Octavia," Octavia growled. She looked at Marble, seeing the young mare smiling hopefully up at her, and completely gave in. "Fine, but I'm not doing any fighting."

"No problemo! Now come on Azure, I have some things I want to teach you."

"Uh, sure." Azure scrambled after Pinkie as the pink mare bounced away from the rest of them, then slowed to a trot as she caught up. "So, is there a reason why you wanted to teach me?"

"Because you're like me. You like having fun, and dancing, and parties, and all that stuff. That means that out of my sisters, I'm probably the best to teach you, because you'll probably learn like me."

"Okay, but surely you could have taught one of the others?"

"Well sure I could, but I think we assigned things pretty well. Maud is all about precision and striking the right spot, which would hopefully work fine with Top Spin since she's a tennis player and all. Limestone though, she's more like a mountain, but a small one mind you, all tough, stubborn, and unbending. She's also quite angry, but that's just her. Sweet Deal's an accountant or something like that, so she should know a thing or two about being stubborn."

"What's Marble then?"

"Heck if I know, but she's really into that crystal healing stuff, and does it better than anypony I know."

"How many ponies do you know that does that?"

Pinkie pointedly ignored the question, and stopped suddenly, liking the feel of the place she'd wandered off to. "Okay! This feels like a good place to begin."

"Alright," Azure said, unsure. "How do we do this?"

"When my parents tried to teach me this, they sat me and Marble down, and started by telling us 'you are the earth.'"

Azure nodded slowly, "Okay, good. What does it mean?"

"I have absolutely no idea. I think it was something to do with the earth being part of earth ponies, hence the name, but I never got it because earth ponies have all kinds of talents totally unconnected to the earth, like you. Your talent's dancing, am I right?"

"That's right, although I don't see how a talent in dancing is going to help."

"It totally will, at least when it comes to fighting because you'll be all fit and agile and stuff. Besides, do you really think my talent at throwing parties helps me do this in the slightest?"

"I guess not." Azure pursed her lips in thought, then nodded. "Alright, alright, I think I'm ready to do some crazy rock voodoo."

"Uh! This isn't rock voodoo! This would technically be closer to geomancy, at least according to Ogres and Oubliettes. Believe me, I looked." Pinkie searched about until she found two small rocks, then placed them on the floor in front of them. "Okay, step one is 'break a rock.'"

"Break a rock..." Azure repeated, failing to hide the sound of her disappointment. "Just... break a rock?"

"I know I said this'll be super fun, and it will be, but first you need to make that super special connection that'll help this all make sense. Trust me, once you can break a rock with your hoof, the rest of this will just sorta click, and then you'll be kicking rocks' butts in no time!"

"Okay, so, I just gotta break a rock. No biggy." Azure bit her lip as she thought about it, then struck a hoof at the rock. She yelped in pain and clutched her hoof to her chest as she completely failed to damage the rock in the slightest. "Ow!"

"Of course you're going to hurt yourself doing it like that."

"Then how am I supposed to do it?" Pinkie, never breaking eye contact with Azure, hit her own rock, reducing it to fragments. "And how was that any different to what I did?"

"Well, I broke the rock for starters."

"Oh come on!"

"You also didn't put any of yourself into it, you just... hit it."

"Of course I just hit it!" Azure yelled. "What else was I supposed to do?"

Pinkie held up her hooves, "Okay, lets stop with the angry shouting, and try to stay calm. Getting frustrated will only make this harder." Pinkie smiled as Azure sucked in a breath and exhaled slowly. "Great! Now how to put all this in a way a dancer might understand... hmm."

"Is that actually going to help?"

"Maybe?" Pinkie shrugged, "I don't know. Now shush, I'm trying to think."

"Uh-huh." Azure idly poked at her rock as Pinkie thought, not seeing as how there was any way she would be able to break it with her hoof. Whatever Pinkie and her sisters were, Azure wasn't like them.

"Ooh! I know! You know when you're in a club, and you're dancing away, throwing some crazy shapes and having a great time, but then the DJ throws down some phat beat you've never heard before, but you just gotta keep on dancing?"

"All the time."

"And in those situations you let your talent for dance take the lead?"

"Yeah."

"Great! Now do you also agree that there's a part of you that's part of the earth, and lets us do earth pony stuff? Just like pegasi can do air stuff, and unicorns magic stuff? Then there's alicorns which are a whole different ballgame again, with all that stuff amped up to eleven! And that's with out blending the different aspects of their inner magic."

"Pinkie, you're rambling."

"Yes I am, but do you agree there's a earthy part of you?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Good, now imagine that you're in that hypothetical club, and a mysterious new tune comes on, but instead of your talent taking over, your earth pony magic kicks in, and instead of busting moves, you bust rocks!"

"Are you saying I just need to focus my earth pony magic into my moves?" Azure deadpanned, adding air quotes around the 'earth pony magic.'

Pinkie nodded dreamily, "Yeah, maybe, but you have to do it in a way that works for you."

"Clear as mud," Azure muttered to herself. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, a beat starting to form in her head that she started to bob her head along to. Slowly but surely she started to feel something familiar as her talent for dance nudged at her, but she ignored it and looked deeper for that part of her that was always tied to the earth, that made them masters of it.

"Remember Azure, the heart of an earth pony is made of diamond. Well, not the literal heart, because we'd really have trouble living if that were true, but the... ahem." Pinkie blushed as Azure stared coldly at her, "Shutting up now."

Azure rolled her eyes and resumed nodding along to a beat only she could hear, building her focus on something she'd never really felt before, at least not in any depth. She had to admit she liked the feeling, and as the song in her head built into a crescendo, she focused that feeling into her hoof, striking the rock, and shattering it.

"Woah," Azure said dumbly as Pinkie clapped excitedly.

"Alright Azure! You did it! Now hold onto that feeling you had just before you broke the rock, because that is basically what made you do it." Pinkie placed another rock in front of Azure, "Now do it again."

The second time was much quicker, although still not quick, but the rock shattered with a satisfying crunch. "Dude! This is freaking awesome!"

"Feel like a proper earth pony now?"

"What?" Azure cocked her head as she thought about what Pinkie had said, and she had to admit she did feel a little more in touch with herself. "Huh... I guess I do."

"It's weird isn't it? Like you never realised there was something missing in the first place. Anyway, while you're doing awesome, I can't help but wonder if the others are having as much luck."

"Okay, so even if you can break a rock with your hooves, how does that translate into throwing a pebble hard enough to knock a stallion like Reps out?"

"It's the same process," Maud said to Top Spin's question, "only the end result is different. A precise hit can do a lot more than simply trying to overwhelm your target."

"Like the fractures in the rock," said Top Spin, referring back to Maud's earlier teachings. "Focus your energy on the right spot, and it just falls apart."

"Yes."

"That still doesn't explain how you threw that pebble hard enough to knock Reps out."

Maud picked up a stone and gave it to Top Spin, then turned her towards the canyon wall. "Try to break the cliff by throwing the stone at it."

"That's impossible."

"Try. Focus like you would to break a rock, and try."

Top Spin focussed and threw the rock as hard as she could, and as she expected it bounced off the cliff with no effect. "See? I knew that would happen!"

Maud wordlessly picked the stone back up and pressed it into Top Spin's hoof, "Try again, but this time aim for the best place." Maud pointed at a crack in the cliff, "Follow that fault up and you'll see the best place, then throw the rock at it, but not too hard. Be more accurate than powerful."

Top Spin sighed but nodded, "Alright then." She followed the fault upwards, finding it led to a small spider web of other cracks that all met at a single point that she figured had to be the weak spot. Her target chosen, she wound her hoof back, focused, and threw the stone. It bounced off the weak spot, then back to the ground.

"It still did nothing!" Top Spin whined, but Maud wasn't listening. She was looking at where Top Spin had thrown the stone at, watching the spider web of cracks grow bigger. Seconds later a small section of the cliff collapsed in a tiny land slide. "What? But I didn't throw it that hard."

"Exactly," Maud said sagely.

"Y'know, that still doesn't explain how you knocked Reps out."

"You're not getting this Sweet Deal," Limestone said, bored. And she was bored. Sweet Deal just had no idea how to go about this, and kept looking for an alternative way to break the rock, when there was only really one way.

"Look, maybe if I can find a weakness in the rock, I can break it easier."

"Yes, but it still won't work."

"Sure it will. All I have to do is find the right spot."

"There's one just below that orange spot on it," said Limestone. "It still won't matter though, because if you don't find that focus, you won't do a thing to it."

"Sure I will, just watch." Sweet Deal stuck her tongue out as she lined her hoof up and hit the rock on a small crack, doing absolutely nothing to it except make her hoof hurt, again. "Arrgh! Why won't this stupid rock break?!"

Limestone sighed, "Because you're not doing what I'm saying."

"Well, what if I try to-"

"No! There is no try to do anything! There is only one way to break that rock with your hoof, and you aren't doing it!"

"Maybe I can-"

"No! Gah!"

"So what is this exactly?" Octavia asked as Marble dropped a small pile of crystals she'd found in a pile in front of where Octavia lay on her stomach.

"There's a lot more to what we can do than the ability to break rocks," said Marble. "Although I guess that's more useful for fighting. Rocks also have other, better uses as well."

"Is this that crystal healing thing?" Summer asked from her spot sat nearby, watching the proceedings with interest. "Octavia always said that was a load of rubbish."

"Mmhmm, most of the time," Marble said, not denying it. "Rocks are just rocks, and aren't exactly known for their medical knowledge. But there are things rocks can do in the right hooves that are better. Now lie still."

Marble arranged six crystals down Octavia's back in a symmetrical pattern, getting each one in just the right place before doing the next. When she was satisfied, she took a deep, cleansing breath, focused herself, and tapped each crystal in turn with a hoof. "This might feel a little strange."

"What might? What did you... do-oooo..." Octavia fell silent as the muscles in her back lost all their tension and became little more than putty under whatever it was that Marble and her crystals were doing. "Oh my."

"I think she likes it," Summer giggled.

"You can say that again. Mmmm."

"My mother taught me these things," Marble said as she tapped the crystals again. "The way the crystals resonate has some nice effects. She does it to keep my father's arthritis in check."

"Are you alright Marble?" Summer asked, seeing Marble sag a little as she kept tapping the crystals every now and again.

"I know it doesn't look like it, but this takes a lot out of you. A lot more than the whole breaking rocks thing does, but even that's tiring enough after a while."

"Just five more minutes," Octavia mumbled, not wanting what was happening to her to end. It did have to though, as a pained shout echoed through the ravine, followed by crying. "Shit." Octavia tried to stand, but found that her muscles really didn't feel like working right at that moment. "I appear to be unable to get up. Summer, do you mind going?"

"I'm on it." Summer picked up her medical kit and flew towards the source of the screams, finding a panicked Limestone standing over a pained Sweet Deal, who was rolling around on the ground clutching her right foreleg to her chest. "What happened?"

"She punched the rock!"

"You told me to punch the rock!"

"Not like that!"

Summer waved Limestone back with a wing and gently picked up Sweet Deal's injured leg. The hoof didn't appear to be injured, save for some rock fragments stuck to it, and the leg wasn't bend out of shape, so it probably wasn't broken. At worst it was fractured, or sprained, and there wasn't a lot she could really do about it right then. An assessment that Octavia agreed on once she was able to stagger over.

"I guess we better get her back to camp," said Octavia, pulling Sweet Deal up onto three of her hooves, and supporting her. "That also means todays session is over," she said to the rest of them, including Pinkie and Azure who had returned after hearing the screams. "There's no way we can let you continue without us being here."

Pinkie patted Limestone on the back as Octavia and Summer led the injured Sweet Deal away. "I guess she just didn't get it, huh?"

"Not at all. How about you Pinkie? Any luck with Azure?"

"Observe." Pinkie tossed a stone towards Azure, the purple mare swinging a hoof at it and shattering it. "I'm so proud!"

"Great, so I'm the one that can't teach," Limestone sighed. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

"You mean Maud got Top Spin to do it was well?" Limestone nodded sullenly. "Awesome! Nice work you guys! Still though, what now? Is Shining Armour expecting us to teach this to all the earth ponies in camp? Because that's a lot of ponies. And I mean, a lot of ponies."

"Yeah yeah, I know." Limestone stretched and shrugged. "I guess we'll have to see what Shining Armour says about it."

Shining Armour stood over the edge of the ravine, watching the ponies below depart back to the camp. While he was disappointed that they hadn't been able to teach Sweet Deal, the fact that they were able to train Azure and Top Spin in just the basics over the space of a couple of hours was impressive. Perhaps it was only a fluke that they'd been able to find two ponies out of that small group capable of learning, and the chances of two out of three ponies being able to do it was actually much lower, but it was still possible.

"What do you think?" he asked the other pony he'd invited to observe, a dark blue alicorn with a wavy star filled mane. "Do you believe this is worth pursuing."

"Not on a large scale," said Luna. "There simply isn't enough time. But this may well be worth pursuing as a special unit with small numbers." Luna nodded as the nine ponies below went out of sight, "They are skilled though, and we need every advantage possible. Consider your Hard corps approved, Captain Armour, although a rethink on the name would be appreciated."

Shining grinned playfully, "No chance."

Author's Notes:

Earth ponies are now earth benders. Yep. Good job show canon totally backs me up on this.