Summer Flare had decided that it was time for me to get some firsthand experience with some fighters of about my skill level. I had been training under her for about two weeks by that point and I was slowly but surely learning a happy harmony between my old muscle memory and my new instincts.

Thus I was sitting in a locker room in a gym in Canterlot. I had already changed into a tank top and shorts, awaiting someone to come get me. I was going to be having a sparring match with one of the students of this gym. Summer was sitting nearby, offering support and acting as my coach. Spike, Starlight, Twilight, and too my surprise, Fluttershy had all come to support me. Rainbow would be here too, but her schedule as a Wonderbolt took priority.

“You ready, Ranma?” Summer asked.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I responded as I rolled my shoulders, “I know this is just for training, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit hyped up anyway.”

“It’s only natural, you haven’t fought anyone of your skill level yet,” Summer said serenely.

“Thanks Summer, I-”

“Ranma Saotome, you’re up,” A bulky Unicorn entered the room without preamble. I stood up.

“Good luck, Ranma,” Summer wished. I nodded thankfully and followed the man out the door.

The venue wasn’t the biggest. It was little more than a ring and a few small bleachers. Still, it was more than enough to get my heart beating with nerves. Since this was just a sparring match, the only people in the stands were my friends, cheering me on. Words couldn’t express my gratitude to them as I hopped into the ring.

My opponent for the day entered a few moments later. She was a dark blue Pegasus with periwinkle blue hair, dressed in a sports bra and shorts, along with gloves on her hands. There was also something annoyingly familiar about her I couldn’t quite place. Something about her cyan eyes and the way they looked at me with something akin to amusement put a name at the tip of my tongue that refused to fully vocalize itself.

The referee had us shake hands and we took to our sides. We both slipped into our ready stances as the referee raised his hand.

“Ready? Begin!” He announced as he lowered his hand. My opponent pounced on me with a flutter of her wings. I blocked her first swing but then found myself nearly blinded by her wings being shoved in my face.

I retaliated with a leg sweep, knowing that with her wings busy she wouldn’t be able to fly. She jumped but it gave me an opening to shove her off me, giving me some space to contemplate my next move. She tried the wing trick again, but I grabbed her wing and threw her. She recovered mid-air and dove at me.

We grappled for a bit, my strength struggling to offset her larger frame. Slowly, but surely I was being pushed down towards the mat. I knew if I didn’t do something I was looking at a pin. So I decided to try something crazy. I fell backwards, surprising my opponent. While she was off balance, I rolled on top of her, attempting a pin of my own.

Unfortunately, her wings were a lot stronger than I gave her credit for. She was able to temporarily use them like a second pair of arms to get enough leverage to perform one last flip before I was eating mat. I struggled fruitlessly for a few moments before admitting defeat.

“I guess they don’t train World War vets like they used to,” She whispered in my ear and I froze before biting on my tongue to keep myself from cursing at the lunar minx.

“The winner of this sparring match is Starry Skies!” The referee announced and she let me go. I stood up, shook her hand, and gave her my best ‘this isn’t over’ look before heading back to the locker rooms.

“Not bad for your first spar,” Summer said as she entered the locker room while I was in the shower.

“It was Luna,” I grumbled as I shampooed my hair.

“Huh?”

“Luna used some kind of glamour. To what end, I’m not sure,” I explained.

“And you know this…how?” Summer asked, understandably skeptical.

“As she had me on the ground she said something that she could only know about if she had access to my dreams,” I replied, “Something from my old world.”

“I see…” Summer said.

“And I will have my REVENGE!” I swore dramatically before getting shampoo in my eye. Oaths of vengeance are typically more impactful when not interrupted by a series of swears directed at shampoo.

“Whatever you say, Saotome, but you’re gonna need a lot more training if you’re gonna take on a princess,” Summer’s smirk evident in her voice.

“Everyone’s a comedian,” I sulked as I tried to wash out my eye.

“Well, I’m gonna see about scheduling you a real sparring match. Let’s hope this next one doesn’t turn out to be Celestia in disguise,” Summer giggled.

“A pox upon all of you,” I huffed.

“Alright, I’ll leave you alone. Meet back at the hotel after you’re done showering?” Summer asked.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” I said and with that she left me to the warm water and my impotent vows of getting even with cheeky moon princesses.

Well would you look at that, I actually managed to post this chapter in the correct month. It must be a sign of the end times.

Speaking of end times, I went and bought myself a set of weights. 2 5lbs, 2 8lbs, 2 12lbs. I finally got sick of putting on weight during lockdown and decided to invest in an alternate method of exercise. I really hate living in California.