Scootaloo walked along the sidewalk, fists pressed deep into her pocket and shoulders slumped, scowling. She would have been glaring at the ground, but she had to look up both to make sure not to bump into anyone, and to check the signs of the shops.

She could not believe. Her aunts had signed her up for a self-defense class. A self-defense class. It was not even something cool, like boxing, karate, or sword-fighting. Just "self-defense." Scootaloo had watched television. She knew what a "self-defense" class meant: a bunch of middle-aged women learning to kick a guy in the nuts to protect their purse. Scootaloo already knew how to kick like that, and she did not even have a purse.

Still, her aunts had insisted. Especially Aunt Lofty. According to them, Scootaloo was reaching an age where she might need to defend herself. Having Rainbow Dash teach her was not an option either. As much as the aunts like the older girl, they did not think that she was sufficient as a self-defense instructor.

Now, for the next two weeks, Monday through Friday, instead of spending time with her friends, she had to go to Kettle Belle's Gym for an hour for a stupid self-defense class. Sure, she could, in theory, skip it since they were trusting her to go on her own, but even if her aunts never found out, they had already paid for the class. That would mean the money would be wasted, and Scootaloo could not do that to them. Even if they had not done so much for her.

It was just an hour a day for two weeks. Not even full weeks either. She would still have her entire weekends free.

Reaching the gym, Scootaloo came to a stop. The place did not look like much from the outside. It was just another shop place in a shopping plaza.

A bit more interestingly to her, there was an ice cream parlor next door. Maybe she could get some after.

Stepping into the gym, Scootaloo found a small lobby area. Off to one side was several chairs, and a pair of bathrooms. One wall had a message board, and a variety of posters covered the others. There was even one of martial arts star Spicy Plum from one of his exhibition matches.

At the far end was a desk, a woman in a work-out shirt sitting behind it.

"I'm here for the self-defense class," Scootaloo said as she approached.

"Women's locker room is straight back and to the left," the receptionist answered, "and the room for the class is down the left hall, firsts door on the left." She gave a smile. "Good luck."

Locker room? Does that mean she was supposed to change? She had not thought to bring any work-out clothes with her. It was just supposed to be a stupid self-defense class after all.

Hopefully her hoodie and cargo shorts would be fine. After all, it was just kicking people in the crotch, and her shorts gave enough mobility for that.

Scootaloo made her way down the hall and to the training room. it was on the smaller side, with the wall opposite the door covered in full length mirrors. There were mats covering the floor, a heavy bag off to one side, and a speed bag not far from it.

Purple eyes wide, Scootaloo made her way further into the room.

"Where's everyone else?"

"There isn't anyone else," a raspy female voice said from behind. "It's a one on one class."

A squeak of terror escaped from Scootaloo as she turned around, falling backwards as she did. Another squeak got out as she recognized the woman.

"Well, you're off to a pretty shitty start," the woman said, hands on hips as she looked down at the fallen pre-teen. "At least if you had been able to give a loud scream, you'd have chance of having someone hear you and come help."

Her eyes narrowed as she leaned forward.

"You are Scootaloo, right?"

Scootaloo nodded, her own eyes wide and her voice stuck in her throat. It was her. The exact name escaped her, but she recognized the woman. She had been one of The Dazzlings. One of the three that had turned the school against each other and did some sort of mind control spell on them.

"I'm Aria Blaze," the woman said, "and I'm going to be your instructor."

Terror filled Scootaloo. In her head, she was imagining the horrible horrible ways that the defeated villain would torture her, taking the frustration of being defeated by Rainbow Dash and the others out on the young girl. Who knew what Aria would do to her.

Aria Blaze straightened up and stepped forward.

With a full on scream, Scootaloo kicked up as hard as she could.

A hand grabbed her ankle before she could hit anything,

Aria smirked.

"Nice try, runt," she said, shoving the foot away. Straightening up, she crossed her arms. "Look, let's make this quick and easy on both of us. You clearly know who I am, and I'm guessing you're scared I'm going to try something. Right?"

Scootaloo nodded.

"Well you can relax. I'm not going to try and hurt you. I like this job, and it's not worth losing it just to get some petty revenge on a kid I don't even remember." Aria's eyes narrowed as she scowled down. "So you got a choice. You can either trust me and have me teach you to defend yourself, or you can go home and waste the money spent on lessons. Because I'm not giving a refund now that they've started."

That gave Scootaloo pause. She knew she should give Aria the benefit of the doubt, but it was hard to trust the woman after what happened at the school. Especially since The Dazzlings were supposed to be master manipulators. This could all be a very elaborate trick to make Scootaloo lower her guard before manipulating her. Maybe try and get Rainbow Dash through her.

On the other hand, Sunset Shimmer proved that people could change, no matter how mean or manipulative they used to be. Plus, her aunts had already spent the money. It would not be fair to them if she just ditched. Especially if Aria was telling the truth.

With a sigh, Scootaloo got up and brushed herself off.

"Okay," she said. "So, what's first?"

"Punch me in the stomach."

A second passed.

"What?"

"I want you to punch me in the stomach," Aria repeated. She smirked and gave her abs a smack. "Right here. As hard as you can."

Scootaloo stared at the woman's stomach, trying to process what she just heard. Was this some sort of trick?

"Are you sure?" she asked.

A low growl of annoyance escaped from Aria.

"Look, runt, if I'm going to teach you how to defend yourself, I need to know what I'm working with. That means I need to see what you can do, and the easiest way for that is for you to hit me. So, punch me in the stomach!"

That kind of made sense in a way. Scootaloo was a very hands on girl herself, learning better by doing something and actually experiencing it instead of simply reading or hearing about it. She also liked having the experience. It made her felt like she actually accomplished something.

After taking a deep breath, Scootaloo moved her right foot back. Her hand clenched, fingers wrapping around her thumb as she pulled it back as far as she could. Taking a step forward, she threw her entire body behind her fist as she punched at the woman's exposed stomach.

Aria took a step aside and grabbed Scootaloo's arm. She gave a single tug forward and let go, causing the pre-teen girl to stumble forward before falling onto her face into the floor mats.

"Hey!" Scootaloo shouted as she pushed herself back up. "No fair! You cheated!"

Aria held up a finger.

"First lesson, runt," she said, "no fight is going to be fair." She pointed the finger at Scootaloo. "The people who are going to mess with you are going to be bigger, stronger, or faster than you. Sometimes, they're even going to have friends with them. Ones that will team up against you. They're not going to care what you think is 'fair.' All they're going to care about is doing whatever they want with you, and making sure some scrawny runt can't stop them."

Aria leaned forward until they were eye to eye.

"That's what I'm teaching here. You're not going to learn to fight according to the rules of a boxing match or martial arts tournament, where some judge stops the cheating and awards points. You're not going to learn some shitty cartoon lesson about honor and fighting fair, somehow making it so you win even if you're opponent exceeds you in every way, or is completely willing to cheat in every way they can. I'm teaching you so that, at worst, you can hurt someone enough to get away and find help before the kill or rape you. This is about survival."

She straightened back up.

"Now, let's start with something incredibly basic." Aria held up her hand, and clenched it. "How to make a fist the right way."