"So," I began, turning back to the boy with a few meters between us. "Ever used a bow?"

"No.." He slowly responded.

"Well that's about to change." I exclaimed, before pulling my bow from my lower neck. I decided to name it Chalcedony, as that was my best guess as to what the gem actually was based on its appearance. "Snipe, this is Chalcedony, a weapon of mine." He gazed at it in aw, taking a step closer to get a better look at it. I extended it out to him, and he took it from my hand and began feeling over the crystal material. "Quite the beauty isn't she?"

"You can say that again......" He was too fixated on the weapon in his arms to even look at me when he spoke, which brought a large smile to my face. He suddenly gained a confused look, as he tilted the bow in his hands and placed a hand where the bowstring should have been. Lifting his head up, he went to ask a question, but I cut him off before he could.

Taking the bow from his hands, I took a step back to gain some distance before speaking. "This isn't any regular piece of equipment, and has no need for such elementary things like bowstrings."

One night whilst I was training, I figured out how the thing worked, but I was yet to try it at it's max capacity. See, I was going about it wrong. The energy it used to create the arrows was not that of mine, but the suns. I was pissing around a bit when I realised how weak my shots were on some parts of the moon. Namely the areas facing away from the sun. On the contrary, my arrows when I was facing the sun were much more devastating. Although I still made sure to use as little energy as possible as to not accidently make the moon a permanent crescent.

Turning towards the edge of the ship and off the railings, I took a stance as if to fire the bow, but did not release. I formed a sleek, green lightning bolt in my hands, but what was new was the ring that appeared at the head of the arrow. Quirking a brow, having not seen this before, I channelled more energy into the thing, creating more green rings of different patterns and sizes. Realising how the bow worked, I channelled all the energy I could fit into the weapon. The result was eleven rings in total. To be honest I thought there'd be more, but big whoop.

Looking back over to my left, I found that Snipe was now joined by the others as they all looked at me with a glint of curiosity. Deforming the arrow, I walked back up to Snipe as I spoke. "You see, Chalcedony takes energy straight from the sun, and from my understanding, the quantity of energy you can pull from the sun all depends on the users affinity to it." Handing the bow to Spike, he took it a little confused and looked up at me. "Spike, go give it your best shot." I said, tilting my head behind me to where I once stood.

I took Spikes spot next to Thunderlane as the bot took my previous spot, who whispered in my ear as we looked on at the boy. "Do you think he will be talented with a bow as well as a sword?"

Without looking away from Spike, I gave him my honest opinion. "Nope. He will most likely completely and utterly fail."

"Then why let him try?" He asked, turning his body to the left to face me more.

I smiled and tapped my nose twice. "I'll get to that."

After a few more moments Spike had his stance down (a very amateur one at that) and began to channel as much energy as he could into the bow. However, no dice, as he was only able to create a measly two.

He looked quite annoyed at the outcome, and closed his yes, trying really hard to form more. The flash of a third one appeared but quickly dimmed out shortly after. Walking over to him, I quenched the arrow in my hand before placing a hand on his shoulder to gain his attention. He opened his eyes as I spoke. "Thanks Spike, to be honest that was more than I was expecting." He gave me a satisfied smile and a quick nod before handing me the bow and running back off to the others. "Snipe." I called out, turning to him.

"Yes?" He replied, with a look of sadness evident on his face.

"Your turn." I said, waving my hand over to where I was stood. He made his way to me nervously, as if dreading the outcome. However, I knew that it he would be very pleased by the end of it.

Handing him the bow, he nodded, and did exactly as Spike did. Only this time, he had a form identical to mine. To the very last degree of my feet placement, he was spot on. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and then released it before pulling back the non-existent string, revealing quite the spectacle.

I wide smile crawled across my face as I looked on at the boy. Glancing to my left, Spike stood frozen, jaw hanging open. "T-Twenty three.............Twenty three!!!!!!"

It was true, twenty three in total, and the kid didn't even break a sweat!

However, Spikes shout broke his concentration, as he deformed the arrow and looked back to us. "What?" He questioned, probably discarding the possibility the number Spike had shouted was his score.

I turned to the other three present, and one by one shut there mouths for them as they were gaping at the kid. "Sweet Celestia....." Thunderlane whispered out.

"Did I do something wrong?" Snipe asked slightly worried.

Turning back to him I waved my hand in the air in a nonchalant way and spoke. "Oh nothing, just completely outshined Spike and more than doubled my best attempt on your first try."

In reaction, the kid joined the others with their faces of shock and squeaked out a sentence barely audible. "M-More than.................double?"

Nodding, I walked over to the Spike and put an arm round his shoulder before leading him over to Snipe. Putting my other arm around Snipe, I asked them a question I was planning to ask after the orientation. Well, more specifically Snipe. "So," I began, "can I assume that the two of you wish to study martial arts and archery?"

"Definitely!"
"Of course!"

"I need you two to understand that once you learn how to fight, it is very difficult to not do so. The art of combat is an ugly one, but one with many boons. So I ask you again, are you two one hundred percent on board?" The two little shits vigorously nod in excitement.

"Right, well there are a few things you should know before hand. You are not to use anything you are taught unless you consult me or someone you think I trust enough before doing so." They nod. "Your training will be tough, especially Spikes, but you may quite at any moment." They nod. "You will always run away from an unnecessary fight, unless you are unable to." They nod. "You will not tell Twilight, because she will kill me." They nod and snigger to themselves. "And finally, live with the mindset of 'If Phoenix did it, it probably isn't a very good idea." The two smile and nod as I let go of them.

"When do we start out training?" Spike asked, eager to wield a sword again.

"Your training will start when we get back, however, I will need confirmation from the Princesses before I begin."

"Why do you need their permission?" Snipe asked.

"Well, let's just say I plan on taking on more than two students." They quirked there brows out me, trying to understand what I meant, but eventually just shrugged it off.

Walking back over to the others with the other two behind me, I found them discussing what they had just seen.

"I get your point, but twenty three is still a lot!" I heard Rainbow Dash say to the other two.

"Indeed," I interjected. "The two of them are quite remarkable. Maybe even prodigies."

Looking to either side of me, I found each one smiling happily at my praise. If all things go to plan, and the Princesses approve of my proposal, these two will have some large shoes to fill.

Another short chapter because why the frick not?

As always, any critisism is welcome, good or bad. Hope you enjoyed!