A little instruction

It wasn't exactly his usual spot, but the middle aged stallion had no desire to turn down the princess's request to give some combat lessons and practice to a student. From what the letter said, he was to work with her primarily on weapon combat, but the invitation had also mentioned that she was a unicorn, so the stallion brought with him a multitude of practice weapons from his training hall back in Ponyville. The first of which that he planned to use was sitting closest to him, a wooden naginata. As he continued to sit and wait for this new student to arrive, he picked up the long weapon and gave it a quick inspection to see if there were any cracks along it's length. When he found none, the satisfied stallion returned it to it's resting place and cast his eyes back to the space they'd be practicing in.

This training hall was one of the old practice arena's for the guard and so the floor was mostly flat sand as opposed to cobbles. It featured a roof to keep the area dry, and three walls to keep out most of the elements. Beyond the open fourth side was a closed in grassy field with a few errant boulders and purposely made barriers. That was a larger, more open training field where the guard used to practice full unit drills and such, and Martial figured they would end up using it after going over a few of the basics in the small closed in area.

A small mare walked slowly into the building, her head slightly ducked and her ears slightly wilted. She wore a belt that held a wooden sword on her left and a wooden shield on her right. She stopped a few feet from the pony, her eyes on the ground a little ahead of her. She glanced up at him a few times when she said, "Hi." and hoped/assumed that this stallion would know who she was. At least, that she was the mare he would be training.

"Hello, you must be miss Fantasy," the brown stallion said as he stood up. He then put his legs together and his arms at his sides before offering a short face down bow to her. When he looked back up he wore a simple grin and continued, "my name is Martial Mix. You're here to get some combat lesson's correct? Well, before we start, would you mind telling me why you wish to learn how to fight?" The stallion said as he looked the mare over.

Fantasy, seeing Martial bow, jolted a bit and rushed into a bow herself, deeper and stiffer than his. She lost her footing for a moment and stumbled a bit as she stood upright again.

The stallion's smile comforted her. "I- I'm- I-I want to... in case I need to." she said, very very quietly.

"As all fighting should be done," Martial replied with a satisfied grin. Alright, so why don't we start with you showing me what you've got so far so I can tell how much you still have to learn." Martial then kicked up his wooden naginata and held the pole weapon straight up with one hand while looking at Fantasy. "Come at me with everything you've got and try to land a hit. I won't strike back this round so feel free to attack at will."

Fantasy merely stood there. She looked Martial up and down, and partially lifted her sword once, but she didn't actually strike. She seemed... confused as to what to do.

Martial stood there, his weapon held with the pommel resting lightly in the dirt, waiting for a strike that didn't come. After a few moments of awkward silence had passed with nothing more than some confused looks, Martial spoke up. "Uhm Fantasy? I told you to try and attack me. Swing the sword in your hand at me so I can know what you're capable of, please."