“Twilight, let me get this straight…” It was the first time I had to sit with students at lunch time. Seeing all the students split up into their own cliques makes me ponder if Sunset Shimmer ever considered forming the Plastics. And also made me groan that even here, they followed this high school clique cliché.
“Instead of doing the simple thing and taking the crown, you’re gonna convince a bunch of students who, from what I know, are gripped in fear by this queen bee twat to vote for you instead… in the span of two days. How is just one of many questions I have for you.” I said.
“I’m just gonna tell everybody that I’m benevolent. That’ll help tip the odds in my favor.” Twilight said. I groaned as we headed to the gymnasium where the Fall Formal was being set up. That’s when Twilight got her face smacked by a balloon.
“Whoops! Sorry about that!” Pinkie Pie said.
“That’s alright… I- Pinkie Pie?” She asked. Pinkie Pie then gasped.
“How did you know!? Are you psychic!?” She asked. I patted Twilight.
“Hang on one sec.” I then walked to Pinkie Pie. “Pinkie, do you know someone by the name of Sebaste?” I asked.
“Sebastian? Yeah! Everyone knows him from Baby Nemo! He makes learning fun through his Jamaican music!” She said. There was a brief pause before she spoke up. “N-not that I watch him or anything… I only watch it when I babysit the Cakes…” She said.
“Okay.” I said. Must be another Pinkie Pie they were talking about. It was perhaps a good thing that Twilight came over here and explained the situation of other worlds. Otherwise I’d probably have my mind scrambled. Twilight then stepped forward and asked Pinkie to sign up for the Fall Formal. Applejack then walked in. It was almost a welcome sight to see one of my allies back from the hospital as good as new.
“Whooee, glad to be back at school…” Applejack said. I can’t help but crack a smile. She then patted me on the back. “Sup, Kel? Any killer robot attacks as of late?” She asked.
“Nah, nothing much, just guiding this new student through school.” I said. Applejack then looked at Twilight.
“Ah, the girl who gave Sunset a run for her money. Yeah, people are talking about how she stood up to her. Good to see someone knock her down a peg.” She said.
“Yep, and apparently she’s gonna try and take out Shimmer at the Fall Formal!” Pinkie Pie said.
“Wait, what!?” Applejack exclaimed. “Okay, sugarcube, hold the hell up…” Applejack then went to Twilight Sparkle. “Sunset Shimmer’s a total-”
“Jerk, I know. I saw her teasing Fluttershy earlier today.” She said.
“Well good for her! That Fluttershy’s a total meanie!” Pinkie Pie said.
“What?” Twilight asked. I shared her exact thought. From what I knew of her from Tachibana and my own personal observations, Fluttershy was not bitch material. In fact, she was quite the opposite.
“I’m gonna vouch for my cousin here, Fluttershy has her bitchy moments.” Applejack said. Wait, cousin?! I took one look at Applejack, then at Pinkie Pie… How the hell were these two related?! It seemed Twilight was also stunned, telling from her wide eyes and raised eyebrows.
“But Fluttershy’s so nice!” Twilight said.
“Nuh-uh! That’s totally a façade!” Pinkie Pie said. I had considered that for a moment. I nodded a bit. That’s perhaps the only explanation I could get for Fluttershy’s reputation.
“In fact, the only person less trustworthy than her and Sunset Shimmer combined is Rainbow Dash.” Applejack said.
“No…” Twilight muttered out. The way she voiced that little no just made me shudder. That was the no of a person who had just been betrayed. That’s when I began to remember when I interrogated Sunset over Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash’s splitting up. I felt my brain beginning to click, like I had just put my car’s engine from a gear 1 to a gear 3. I smirked.
“Fancy seeing you here, Sunset Shimmer.” I said right after the doors slammed open.
“Oh, hello…” Sunset Shimmer then looked around. “All this… for my coronation? This is bad comedy!” Sunset said. “There should be more streamers and less balloons!” Sunset Shimmer said.
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it might just not be your coronation. It could be Twilight’s.” I said. I walked to her and patted Twilight on the back. “And I’m gonna vouch for her.” I said. That’s when I noticed someone standing behind Sunset Shimmer… “Ross?” I asked.
“Hey, Kelly.” He waved to me.
“Twilight Sparkle…” I could see Sunset Shimmer’s eye twitch. She then smiled. “Well, then, I will welcome your-”
“Cut the crap, Sunset.” I simply told her. “Don’t you go bipolar on me.” I glared at her. That’s when Ross stepped in front of her.
“Hey! You leave Sunset alone!” Ross said.
“Oh God, you’re vouching for her, aren’t you?” I groaned.
“Yeah! I don’t know where the hell you’re getting that Sunset’s a horrible person, but she’s one of the nicest girls I met!” Ross said. I could see Sunset give off a less than sincere smile as Ross looked at me.
“Then what the hell was with that whole ‘more streamers’ thing?” I asked.
“Stress! Obviously it’s stress from the upcoming prom!” Ross said.
“… Stress? Who the fuck would fall for someone using stress as an excuse to be a total bitch?” I said. I could hear Twilight gulp and give a nervous chuckle, but I didn’t care. Ross could only scowl.
“You know what? Fine. I’ll help Sunset win the Fall Formal and she’ll show you all how nice of a girl she can be! Come on, Sunset!” Ross then marched out as Sunset Shimmer gave me and the girls a cold look. She then marched out.
“Alright, we can agree that Sunset’s a bitch.” I said. Applejack and Pinkie Pie instantly nodded, though Twilight shook her head.
“No… She’s… Well, yeah, she’s a jerk… But I doubt she’s that cruel… I mean, she has a friend who’s protecting her.” Twilight said.
“Yeah, but Ross can be an idiot.” I muttered.
“Well, maybe this could be a wakeup call for her. It’ll be easy to rally the school to vote against Sunset.” Applejack said.
“Yeah! Ol’ meanie pants won’t know what’s comin’!” Pinkie Pie said.
“Well, you have supporters at least, Twi…” I said. I then pulled her aside and then spoke to her in a whispered tone. “Whatever you do, don’t tell them about the crown.” I said.
“I… I wasn’t going to…” She said.
“Good. Because I really hate for their support to fall apart just because your goals involve the crown and not knocking a peg off of her.” I said.
“Why are you obsessed with knocking her down in the first place?” Twilight asked. I began to remember a bit of my past…
Broken glasses, bleeding knees, the cries of people telling me that I was a loser. I simply frowned and pushed Twilight. I stormed out of the gym.
Sunset Shimmer and Ross walked down the hallway, though Sunset then stopped and turned to Ross.
“Thank you for backing me up. Those people can be so mean…” Sunset said.
“We’re friends.” Ross then bit his lip. “Though Kelly’s also a friend…” He said.
“You mean Professor Silverbolt?” Sunset raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah… It’s a long story, but…” Ross then spoke up. “She’s not herself. She’s… It’s… it’s complicated.” Ross said. Sunset then held Ross’ hand.
“You can tell me.” Sunset gave Ross some droopy eyes.
“… Kelly has this... friend. And this friend’s a toxic influence on her. Every day, she slowly begins to think and act just like him. One day, she’ll end up believing that she is him and that nothing will stand in her way… Maybe that’s why she’s acting antagonistic towards you.” Ross said.
“I know how that feels.” Sunset said.
“If… If you could help me separate her from her friend, then that’d make me happy.” Ross said. Sunset smiled.
“Okay. I will.” Sunset said. Just then, the lights in the hallway went out. “… Ross, you go ahead. I’ll catch up with you later.” She said.
“Erm… Okay.” Ross shuddered as he looked at the blacked out light. He felt a cold presence near him, almost like a Grimm was in the area. However, he trusted Sunset’s words and walked away. Sunset took a few moments before turning to a figure before her.
“This better be important.” Sunset asked the figure.
“I was just looking to see if you heeded my advice.” A masculine voice came from the figure.
“Yes. The Element of Magic was right where you said it’d be.” Sunset Shimmer said. She then shot a glance towards him. “Now… What’s your end of the deal?” She asked.
“… None. If anything, you already fulfilled my part of the deal.” It took Sunset a moment to realize what he meant.
“So… What do you want with this world, then?” Sunset asked.
“Nothing. As soon as the Element of Magic entered this realm, I already felt my magic return. You can do whatever you want. Our transaction is over. I wish you the best of luck, dearie.” With that, dark smoke began to build up from the figure’s legs to his head, swirling around until they dissipated. As the smoke cleared, the figure was gone. Sunset coughed. As soon as she stopped coughing, she turned around and saw Twilight Sparkle standing in front of her. Sunset smirked.
“Can't believe I didn't recognize you earlier.”
I tried to shrug off the memories I had as I marched down the hall. This was when Principal Celestia stopped me. She poked her head out of her office like some sort of groundhog ready to hide from his own shadow.
“Professor Silverbolt, do you have a moment?” Celestia asked.
“Yeah… Sure.” I sighed. I stepped into the office as Celestia walked to her desk.
“Professor… The recent attacks have made the Headmaster of the school board very concerned… He’s why we had Ross transfer over to this school.” She said.
“You’d think some teen can help protect this school?” I asked.
“No. Which is why I requested the Headmaster to send backup. And if I timed it right…” Celestia then looked to her watch. I looked at her for a moment before a perky voice made me jump.
“Cheers, love!” It was definitely a Cockney accent. My heart raced as I turned to a giggling girl, about a few years younger than me. She wore what seemed to be a fighter pilot’s jacket, a bright yellow jumpsuit underneath, and overlapping the jacket was a large metallic chest plate with what appeared to be a glowing blue core.
“An… older teen. Not what I had in mind.” I said.
“Don’t let her age fool you. Miss Oxton is a student fresh off of the Wonderbolt Academy.” Celestia said.
“The… what?” I asked.
“Right… Allow me to explain. See, the Academia School Board is divided into four schools: Canterlot High School, the school we’re in, Crystal Prep Academy, the boarding school our Silverbolt was from, the Everton Independent Study Program, a college filled with scientific geniuses, and Wonderbolt Academy.” Celestia said.
“It’s a place where people with cool powers get to hone their powers and protect people and-” I raised my hand to stop Miss Oxton from talking my ear out.
“So… There’s no replacement?” I asked. I could almost hear Oxton wince. I hate to say it, but I really didn’t want a Pinkie Crumpet protecting my school.
“The Headmaster insisted for Miss Oxton to be our security.” Celestia sighed.
“Don’t worry, love. I’ll be ready to protect this school with my life!” She then turned to me. “I can also teach the kids too while you’re away!”
“Wait, what?” I asked.
“You’ve been slipping behind on classes. Plus, it will work as a cover for Miss Oxton and you. You no longer have to worry about being late for teaching ever again and Miss Oxton can work closely to the school without people growing suspicious of her.” Celestia said.
“Come on, love, what do ya say?” Miss Oxton asked me.
“… Well, she can take over my shift tomorrow.” I sighed and got up. “I have a long day ahead of me.” With that, I left.
As I entered the library, I saw Twilight pounding the keyboard with her fists. It would be very funny if it wasn’t so sad.
“Really?” I asked as I went to her. I sighed and grabbed her hands. I pulled her fingers so as to line up with the home row keys. “Use your fingers.” I said to her.
“Oh…” Twilight then pressed on a few buttons before cracking a grin. “Wow! It’s that easy!” Twilight said as I saw that she was still on the desktop. I then looked over to the mouse. Poor thing’s barely touched.
“That’s just half of the navigation. The other half is this.” I pushed the mouse towards her hand. She grabbed it and immediately associated the mouse with the cursor’s movement. “And to select, you just click. You can make things activate with two clicks.” I said. She moused over to a horse that was on fire and was circling the globe and proceeded to double click on it, popping up the internet browser.
“Hmmm…” Banno spoke up.
“What is it?” I asked. Twilight raised an eyebrow and looked to me. “Talking to my belt buddy here.”
“… Never call me belt buddy again. Also… Look over there.” Banno said. I looked to see two chuckling kids, one chubby and the other thin, having their cameras out. They stopped when they saw me and bolted like hell.
“What’s their problem?” Twilight asked.
“My guess is that they find you funny and Youtube material…” I then realized what Twilight would ask next, so I took a breath and spoke. “It’s a thing where you can upload videos for people to see and it can be practically anything. In this case, your ‘attempts’ at computing.” I said.
“So… that’d grant me more popularity, right?” Twilight asked. I shook my head, then sat next to her.
“No. I mean… Yes. You’ll be popular, but for the wrong reasons. You want to be an influential person in these students’ lives? You want to win the vote? Then don’t be a fool.” I could see Twilight practically blink. “Chances are, they got enough footage to put you up on Youtube. Provided it doesn’t get outshined by video footage of a psychotic father destroying something…”
“Hey!” Banno coughed up.
“Then it’s probably gonna go viral and people will make you out to be a laughing stock.” I said. Twilight bit her lip. “But… if you pull through, then you might actually win this prom and get that crown.” I said. Twilight then smiled.
“Thank you… You never told me why you wanted to help me.” Twilight said. I sighed and simply said:
“I know what it’s like to be bullied.” I said. Twilight winced.
“I’m… I’m sorry to hear that. But at least you had friends to back you up, right?” Twilight asked me. I closed my eyes and gripped my fists.
“… No. In fact… The one friend I did have… She turned on me. She used me.” I said. Twilight simply whimpered and began to hug me.
“I’m sorry! That must have been horrible!” Twilight cried into my shoulder.
“H-hey… It’s over now. The damage’s done…” I then looked down and frowned. “And it taught me that friendship isn’t magic.” I said. Twilight then pulled herself out of the hug.
“It is magic! And I can prove it!” Twilight said.
“Really? Well, I’m pretty sure you’re well aware that there’s a rift between some friends right now.” I said. Twilight nodded.
“I just can't help but get the feeling that Sunset Shimmer had something to do with it.” Twilight said. I simply gave her a deadpan look.
“No. You think?” I asked.
“Well, Twilight, we should focus on making friends here, not wondering why these friends aren’t with each other.” The dog said, poking his head out of Twilight’s backpack. My eye twitched.
“Mind telling me just what’s with the dog?” I asked Twilight.
“Oh, Spike? He’s…” She turned around to see if there was anyone in the library. I looked too. Seemed Cheerilee was busy with some of the kids on the other side of the computer lab. “He’s my assistant.” She said. She then looked at my belt. “Is he your assistant?” She asked.
“I beg your pardon!?” Banno asked.
“No. He’s my partner.” I said. Twilight raised her eyebrow.
“I thought you said friendship wasn’t magic.” Twilight said.
“He’s a good partner, but that doesn’t make him a good friend. One day, you’ll understand what I mean.” I said. Cheerliee then walked to me.
“Library’s closing in five… Shall I go make the bed for you?” She asked me. I nodded, then looked to Twilight.
“Uh… if you may?” I asked. Cheerilee groaned and walked off. I then looked to Twilight.
“If you get these friends back together, I have a feeling like they can help you better than if they’re just separated.” I said. Twilight smiled, but then frowned.
“I know… but I have to keep my eyes on the prize.” Twilight said. With that, I helped Twilight study on the world she was in, using the exact same techniques that I used when I was first here. Eventually, night came and I showed Twilight to her bed.
Cheerilee does a pretty alright job of making a bed using recycled paper shreds as the cushion and it seemed she made a second one just for Twilight. I got onto the bed and began to sleep, though I doubt Twilight would be getting any sleep from what I told her.
It was late into the evening. It was the kind of late evening where students should be sleeping. Sunset Shimmer was an exception. Sunset sat in her room, browsing on her computer for any news regarding the new girl, Twilight.
Ping!
Sunset smiled as she received an email from Snips and Snails with a file attached to it. She clicked on the file and saw a short, fifteen second video of Twilight smacking the keyboard with her fists. She looked at it and groaned a bit.
“Okay, it will do…” Sunset said as she opened up a video editing software. That is before she caught a whiff of rose scents.
“Whatcha doin’?” Ross asked Sunset. Sunset blushed and closed off her email application.
“N-nothing! Shouldn’t you be going to bed already?” Sunset looked to him and gave a crooked smile.
“I should… but…” Ross then fell onto the bed. “I can’t sleep. Every time I do, I get the same nightmares.” He said.
“Nightmares?” Sunset asked.
“Yeah… It’s… It’s all a blur. Everything was too bright. All I can remember was someone screaming out a name… some monster howling… someone saying ‘what’… And then… silence. Like there’s a ringing in my ear.” Ross said.
“That’s… Um… Something.” Sunset said.
“…. The more I think of it, the more I believe it to be…” Ross then frowned. “It’s nothing.” Sunset then sighed.
“No. It’s not… nothing.” Sunset then got onto the bed as well. “Nightmares aren’t nothing.” Sunset laid on her back. “I have nightmares myself. I have dreams of being loved, adored, in power… And then as soon as the sun rose, all of that is gone. The sun usually comes in my nightmares to take away all I worked so hard for. But that’s why I work twice as hard. I want to make sure those nightmares don’t become a reality.” Sunset said. She turned to face Ross. “Anything else happened in your dream?” She asked.
“… Someone died. I remember that much. Arrow in the heart… It’s… A common thing I keep on seeing. And the scary part is… I feel like I personally knew who died.” Ross then trembled…
“Someone dear to you will die? Is that what your nightmare is about? You know what must be done then, right?” Sunset asked.
“Work twice as hard to make sure they don’t die?” Ross asked. Sunset nodded. Ross sighed. “… There’s… There’s another thing I remember now… After the light… After the ringing, I heard a voice. Someone I never heard before… but someone I too found familiar. He told me that it’s alright and that he has me…” Ross said.
“Maybe your dreams reassuring you that someone’s got your back.” Sunset held Ross with one arm draped around his chest. Ross blushed and turned to Sunset.
“Y…yeah.” He remembered her finding him injured underneath the bridge in the middle of the rain. Sunset then stroked Ross’ hair.
“It’s alright. I got you, kid… I got you.” With that, Ross began to be lulled into a rest. Sunset counted the seconds before she could confidently tell that Ross was out.
She then got up and resumed editing the video.
“Double Diamond, you sure these notes are accurate?” A woman with bright pink skin, curly purple hair with an aquamarine highlight wearing a white uniform with silver linings asked the man in front of her, an albino looking man wearing the exact same uniform. The two were inside a lab with notes strewn across regarding mathematical formulas.
“Positive. If my theory proves correct, then this single yen coin could act as a catalyst to summoning a being from another world.” He held up a silver coin. “The informant told me these were called Tokens.”
“So, that incident seventeen years back could have possibly been caused by a Token?” She asked.
“Precisely, Starlight!” Double Diamond said.
“A shame what happened to the dreamcatcher though, but if this can bring us one step closer to achieving my ambitions, then that will be all the proof I need!” She said. Double Diamond fiddled with the coin, feeling the raised kanji with his fingers.
“If what he said is right, the incantations are different for each person. You have to hear it before you can outright say it.” Double Diamond closed his eyes. He then smirked. “Got it. With this single coin, I call upon a harvest!” With that, he flipped the coin. When it landed, it glowed white before exploding in a shower of light.
As the light faded, the two researchers turned around to see an obese man wearing a green uniform with gold linings over it. His head was completely shaven and had spikes jutting out from his scalp.
“… Why have you summoned me?” He asked.
“It worked!” Starlight said. The fatty glared at them.
“You two… You’re not Displaced. How are you able to find out about this? Who are you two?” He asked. Double Diamond stepped closer to him.
“My name is Starlight Glimmer. I’m the Head of Research for the Everton Independent Study Program, or EISP for short. EISP is dedicated to researching all the changes and advancements in this world…” Starlight said. She then smirked. “And other worlds…”
“… What?” The spiked man asked.
“It was inevitable that someone would find about this… Displacing nonsense and wish to understand more of it. Tinker with it, look at the concept under a microscope and perhaps use it to their own benefit. This is where I come in. Double Diamond’s my name. I work for a funding organization called Foundation X. Over the past little while, we’ve been observing the habits of your kind. Eventually, we decided to have a piece of that cake. You are our first experiment.” Double Diamond said.
“So… That’s what I am to you? An experiment? I'm the great Shigekiyo Yangu! I won't be hassled by some scientists!” He said. Starlight Glimmer and Double Diamond soon noticed the fat man glowing with a purple aura.
“Of course. But…” Double Diamond snapped his fingers as two men in sunglasses wearing a grayer version of the Foundation X uniform rush in, briefcases in hand, and opened them, revealing dozens of gathered Japanese yen banknotes. “We know how to reward our experiments.” Shigekiyo smiled and tried to grab the money, only for one of the members to snap the briefcases shut. “And of course, after they prove useful.” The fat man glared at him.
“What do you want me to do?” He asked.
“There is another Displaced in this city. Two, in fact. But we ask you prioritize on this one.” Double Diamond opened up his iPad, showing video footage of Kelly throughout her days in Canterlot High School.
“She’s going under the identity of one of Foundation X’s former members, Professor Jetstorm Silverbolt.” Starlight Glimmer said.
“We need things from her. My organization wants her Belt. It’s a special belt that contains the AI of a brilliant scientist.” Double Diamond said.
“And my organization could accept the professor that has this belt into our ranks of Everton.” Starlight Glimmer said.
“So… You want me to kidnap a broad?” Shigekiyo asked. The two nodded. “Heh, no worries…” His aura faded. “Me and my buddies will make short work of her.”
I could feel my gut be punched so hard. My back crumpled against the wall. Everything seemed to be a blur, though I could blame that on the pain I was going through. I fell onto the ground before getting up and… laughing?
“Surely you realize you won't last long in that state...” I could hear someone speak as I began to stumble away from the man who punched me. “You'll perish soon enough!” I was unsure if those haunting words were meant for me or someone else. My vision was wobbly. Perhaps a mixture of being drunk and being beaten to near unconsciousness. “That’s your fate…” With that final warning, I could feel myself falling down for what appeared to be hours.
Me falling down into a long… deep… sleep.
I woke myself up, my heart racing. I had to remind myself of how I just saw the last moments of Ryoma and that his warning was not towards me but towards his opponent.
I looked to my hands. Perhaps this was a warning to myself. That if I continue being Banno’s ‘partner’, I will surely perish.
I looked around. Seemed Twilight and her assistant went on without me. I got off of my bed and walked out of the library.
As I walked down the hallway, I noticed some of the students snickering. One casual glance at a student’s smartphone was all I needed to confirm that the footage those two kids took last night was indeed used to make a parody video. Of course, I didn’t look closely enough before the students put away their phones. Being a teacher has its flaws too.
“Hello, love!” My body jumped up as I heard Miss Oxton’s perky voice again.
“Wah! Don’t scare me like that!” I said.
“Sorry, just a force of habit.” Miss Oxton said.
“Aaargh, what do you want?” I asked as we walked down the hall.
“Well, science class is starting soon and I was thinking we’d start that whole subbing thing.” She said.
“Eeeh, I don’t have anything to do, so you could definitely-” That’s when I passed by an empty classroom with five girls, all of which I recognized. “You know what, Miss Oxton? Why don’t you go on ahead with that substitute teacher thing? I just remembered I was supposed to do some counselling.” I said.
“Aaaaw! It’s so sweet how you want to help the students! Don’t worry, love, the Calvary’s here!” She patted me on the back and began to run off. I swear she’s less of a person and more of a mascot. I sighed and entered the class room.
Ross sat in the science classroom. There was a ten minute delay between classes to allow students to transit properly. Ross, thanks to his Semblance, was able to have at least eight of those minutes to spare.
He spent those minutes watching a certain viral video.
“Twilight Sparkle wants to be your Fall Formal Princess.” He could clearly hear Sunset’s voice in the video as footage played of Twilight Sparkle, the new student at the school, typing away on a keyboard with her fists. However, the video seemed to be a fifteen second clip of it. It ended and prompted Ross to play the video again, to which he did.
Why, he wasn’t sure. Was it because he was still unsure of Sunset’s true nature? Was it because he couldn’t believe someone so nice would stoop to such a low as bullying another person? The more he watched, the more shocked he was. Eventually, he put down the phone and massaged his temples. That memory played in his head again of the man in the hallway.
What made his brain hurt even more was that he remembered the man: Mercury Black, an antagonist who, along with some other antagonists, feigned being Ruby’s friend. He wasn’t sure what led to this moment, but knowing how Mercury stood in a confronting pose and how he was having Ruby’s memories, he was well aware that the false friends angle would die pretty soon.
Though that begged the question of why he kept remembering Mercury. These memories seemed to be brought up whenever betrayal is mentioned. He wondered why this particular moment kept showing up when that theme is brought up. Ross came to some conclusion that whatever Mercury did to Ruby was much worse than what Cinder or Emerald, his leader and partner in crime respectively, could do to Ruby.
Or perhaps it was the first betrayal. And Ross knew what they say about the first cuts.
“Fuck, gotta watch Volume 3 now…” Ross lightly chuckled as he put away his phone just as Sunset came in.
“Hey Ross.” Sunset said to him.
“Mornin’.” Ross said. Sunset Shimmer sat down next to Ross. Ross then spoke up. “Sunset, how important is the Fall Formal?” He asked her.
“… It’s… It’s sort of important.” Sunset then scooted to Ross. “Each of the four seasons is meant to teach us something. Winter is about reflection, spring is about revitalization, summer’s about embracing the outdoors, and fall is about being thankful for what we have. To remind us of this, Principal Celestia has four dances every year, one for each season. Spring Fling, Summer Gala, Fall Formal, and Winter Ball. Each dance has a Princess that students elect. Those Princesses would then metaphorically embody the spirit of that particular season.”
“Wait, just a Princess? No Prince?” Ross asked.
“Yeah, no. I don’t know why either. Principal Celestia’s pretty insistent that there’s only a Princess for the four dances.” Sunset said. She then held Ross’ hand. “But… you can be my Prince, if you like.” Sunset said to Ross. Ross simply looked into her eyes, only for them to flash orange again. Ross shivered.
“Ross, what’s wrong?” Sunset asked him. Ross shook his head.
“N-nothing…” Ross said. The bell rung as students began to pour in. The last to enter was the teacher, who, to Ross’ surprise, wasn’t Kelly, but rather a spunky looking young adult. Ross sighed. Perhaps what happened yesterday caused Kelly to storm out. Ross bit his lip. Perhaps Banno’s influencing Kelly harder than he thought.
I entered the room as the girls bickered about. They soon stopped as soon as I closed the door. It was perhaps the first time I saw Applejack in the same room as Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy, and the fact that she had the same anger for them as she did with Rainbow Dash confirmed her suspicions.
“What happened? You were friends once!” Twilight took out a blue book and showed the others a picture of the four girls plus Rainbow Dash. The four girls looked at the photo and then frowned. “Sunset Shimmer obviously tore you guys apart!” Twilight said. That’s when I shook my head.
“Twilight… It’s… It’s deeper than that.” I told her. I was tempted to tell her what Rainbow texted Fluttershy…
That’s when I remembered her saving Fluttershy and her attempt to rescue her from Nerve. Someone who would go to those lengths to save someone wouldn’t have said those mean things to them. I then blinked.
“Fluttershy… Are you sure you got those texts from Rainbow Dash? You know the ones.” I asked her.
“Y-yeah… Positive! I mean, look at this.” She then showed me her phone. I blinked as I saw the number unregistered and that the very first text was the number declaring itself as Rainbow Dash. Out of curiosity, I closed the text and then pressed the phone button.
Sure enough, Rainbow Dash’s number was in the contacts and they didn’t even match the ones that the texts had. I went back to the texts and noticed a similar text regarding Pinkie Pie and making fun of her shy nature. Taking a hunch, I showed Pinkie Pie.
“W-what? I’d never text her that!” Pinkie Pie said. Soon, bickering occurred, though now it was more of a pleasant bickering. Girls concluding that they’d been fooled and forgiving one another. Twilight smiled at me. Though that’s when my heart stopped.
“Tell me something… Why didn’t you girls confront each other about these texts beforehand? You know… confirm that you were sending each other these texts?” My voice was stern and sharp.
“Well… I was angry with Dash… But you would be too if-” I cut Applejack off.
“If what? If some bitch pretended to be my friend and make insulting comments towards me? Or lie to me about what they want done?” My hands balled up into fists.
“Professor… Calm down…” Twilight tried to speak to me, but I just stormed out. A part of me stopped, just so that I could give the final word.
“Are you really friends if you automatically assume the worst out of each other?” With that, I slammed the door.
I figured the fresh air would help break up the pent up rage in my body. Of course, someone had to chime in as I walked onto the soccer field.
“Well, well… Haven’t seen anger like that since I died… Well, the second time I died.” Banno said. I tried to inhale and exhale. Banno’s right, I’m getting irrationally angry. “I know exactly how it feels to have a close friend betray you…” I immediately knew what Banno was referring to.
His close friend was another professor by the name of Krim Steinbelt. He was the one who created the Core Driviars, engines that could accelerate the particles and invoke a slowdown. Without him, the Roidmudes would have never existed.
And I knew exactly how their relationship ended.
“I wasn’t the one torturing someone, though.” I said.
“Regardless, Krim never saw from my perspective and rather than communicate with me, left me on my own. Had he stuck around… Maybe the Roidmudes wouldn’t be the monsters they’d be now, would they?” Banno gave a dark chuckle before I growled.
“Shut up.” I told him.
“You don’t like it when I get under your skin, huh? Well, I hate to break it to you, but I will do more than get under your skin… I’ll take over your skin! Do you like that feeling? Knowing that I’ll one day figure out how to take over your body and use it to make those friends of yours beg for mercy?” Banno said.
“Shut up.” I said to him.
“Rage is the quickest way to unlock one’s ruthlessness… And I gotta say, now I know where you got that ruthlessness from. And the more ruthless you become… I become…” Banno said. That one little line tore me up.
“SHUT UP!” I shouted. Banno just laughed. My entire body shook.
“This is a race, Kelly. Who can kill who the fastest? Me… or you?” Banno said. As he finished, I heard a new voice. A raspy voice.
“Found you…” I turned around to see a very fat man wearing a green uniform with yellow pearls to act as lining for the clothes. He was bald with spikes jutting out of his head.
“And who the fuck are you?” I asked.
“I think you should know by now.” He smirked. He then walked to me. “Displaced have a tendency to attract Displaced.” He approached at least a meter in front of me before giving off a whiff. “Yeah… I can tell you’re a Displaced… So tell me. What powers do you have?” He then chuckled. “No. Scratch that. I’d rather have the first cut… They’re always the deepest!” He then flailed his hands. I didn’t notice what he was doing, but I suddenly felt a sliver of skin on my arm suddenly get cut off by an invisible force.
“Gah!” I shouted before another force cut the other side of my arm, and then my legs.
“It’s a shame that I was told to bring you and the belt alive… I wouldn’t have minded having my friends cut an artery or two and make the suffering quick.” He said. I struggled to activate the Driver, grinding my teeth to ignore the pain.
“HENSHIN!” I shouted as I turned the ignition twice and transformed into Gold Drive. Like clockwork, Type Technic was summoned and I plugged it in. My HUD glowed and showed the fat man bathed in what appeared to be a purple light. I also began to notice small bee like humanoids falling from my body and retreating to the fat man. The beemen were in the dozens… No…. The hundreds.
“What the fuck are these things?!” I asked.
“Ah, so you can see them now? This will make things a little more exciting. I’d like to explain the power to you and why you can’t see them, but to save on time, you can just call these little men… Harvest.” He said. The tiny beemen began to mobilize to create a shield for their seeming master while a horde of them came towards me. I switched the controls to Banno as the Door Gun came into his hands. He fired wildly at Harvest. A handful of them were blasted off before Harvest began to overwhelm Banno.
“Think of Harvest as a swarm of army ants. Nothing can stop it from tearing apart anything it comes into contact with!” He said as Harvest began to punch their way into Banno’s armor. Sparks began to fly out of the armor before knocking Banno back. He rolled onto the ground and struggled to get up. “How boring… Harvest, rip the belt out from this pathetic person’s waist.” He scoffed. Harvest marched towards me.
POP!
That’s when I heard something.
“Hiya!” It was Pinkie’s voice. I looked up to see that Pinkie Pie was suddenly besides the fat man before clocking him in the face. He stumbled back as Harvest flinched. Before Fatty could even react, a soccer ball flew right into the side of his head and knocked him down. I turned to see Rainbow Dash as she gave me a thumbs up.
“Rainbow Dash… Pinkie Pie… Thanks.” I said. Rainbow Dash glared to Pinkie Pie as she did the same. The two seemed to stare before Rainbow Dash just smirked.
“So that’s what happened, huh?” Rainbow Dash cracked her knuckles. “Well, after we take care of fatso over here, I’ll help Twilight with the Fall Formal.” She said.
“Wait, how did you know?” I asked. That’s when I noticed the HUD was showing Pinkie Pie having a pink aura around her. I soon saw three other auras approaching the field, one white, another yellow, and a third orange. These belonged to Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack as I saw them arrive. Fluttershy meekly waved to me.
“Whoowhee, these girls really got a hang of these powers.” Applejack said. She patted Fluttershy on the back. “Fluttershy here was able to tell Rainbow Dash what happened via weird fingly fangly psychic powers.” She said. So Telepathy. Okay. Banno struggled to get up. Pinkie Pie then suddenly vanished with the sound of a popping balloon. One popping balloon sound later and she reappeared between Rarity and Fluttershy. Fluttershy jumped a little as Rainbow Dash ran to catch her. I stood up and smiled.
“So… You guys finally made up?” I asked. The five nodded. Twilight then arrived.
“Now… do you want to see the magic of friendship?” Twilight asked. I nodded. After relying on the ruthlessness of Type Overdrive, I’d rather use something else.
“Yeah… Banno, leave this to me.” I said as Banno turned the ignition. Four Shift Cars came to me as I held one, Shift Speed. I turned to Rainbow Dash and nodded to her. “Let’s go, students!” I said as I saw Fatty get up.
“YEAH!” The girls went into a fighting pose, though Fluttershy put up a sort of meek posture. I plugged in Shift Speed and along with Rainbow, we dashed towards Fatty. We both gave Fatty a flurry of bows, knocking some of Harvest away from him before punching him away. That’s when I noticed that a lot of Harvests began to latch onto me. I tried to punch them off but they clung onto my armor. Switching Speed for Wild, I called out to Applejack.
“What do you need, Sugar Cube?” Applejack asked.
“Punch me as hard as you can.” I said.
“What?” She replied.
“… Just do it.” The image of Harvest digging into my forearm’s armor began to fade from my HUD. I held out the arm as Applejack punched it. It created quite a shockwave, but not enough to cause any actual damage to the arm, especially with Wild increasing my durability. I swapped out Wild for Technic to reboot the HUD and have me look at Harvest again. I then looked to Fluttershy.
“It’d be easier if these girls can see what I can see.” I told her. Fluttershy gulped, but she nodded and held out her hands. As she did, the girls started to jump out of the way. I saw within my HUD that they were able to see Harvest creeping up to them. Swapping out Technic for Formula, I ran at hurricane speeds to knock the Harvests away.
“Oooh! Oooh! Let me fight! Let me fight!” Pinkie said. I nodded and we both vanished into thin air. Well, for me, I sort of went so fast that I was there one moment and right in front of Fatty in the next moment. Both me and Pinkie Pie both punched Fatty in the face and knocked him down. I then swapped for Dead Heat and allowed myself to enter the Dead Zone. I punched Fatty with a red-lightning charged fist right into his gut, then proceeded to punch him in the face, knocking him back a few inches before I kicked him right into the goal. I dusted myself off.
“One-zip.” Rainbow Dash said.
“Shishishishishi…” Fatty laughed as I could see Harvest lift him back up. He then laughed a blob of Harvest to overwhelm me. I couldn’t move in time as the tiny beemen took me on and engulfed me. “One little move and I kill your friend!” He said. Harvest seemed to engulf the lower part of my body where the belt was. I could see Pinkie Pie teleport to Fatty, only for another swarm of Harvest to grab her.
“Pinkie Pie!” Twilight shouted.
“Same goes with teleporting!” Fatty said.
“L-let her go!” Rainbow Dash shouted.
“Never… Shishishishi…” I could see Fatty almost command Harvest into attacking Pinkie by making a crushing motion with his hands, but that’s when I saw a single Harvest drone bring something shiny. “Huh?” Fatty picked up the object. Seemed to be a red jewel of some sort. “Aaaah, good find, Harvest.” He said.
“Consider that payment in exchange for our friend’s safety.” Rarity said. Fatty just looked to her.
“Shishishi… You’re a dumbass. Everyone knows you’re supposed to offer the payment to a hostage taker instead of just paying him.” Fatty said.
“Oh, but darling, that wasn’t what I had in mind.” Rarity said. Before Fatty could realize it, the red gem glowed. As he looked at the glowing gem, I could see in his eyes a sort of shock. I recognized this look before. It’s the same thousand yard stare I had whenever I remember something from Ryoma’s past.
“THROW THAT AWAY, HARVEST! THRO-” Too late. The gem blew up and the two Harvest swarms stopped their grasp on me and Pinkie. I smirked as the threat was taken care of. As the smoke cleared, however, I heard Fluttershy gasp and wince “Oh my!”
Fatty was still alive, but had massive gashes into his flesh. Blood poured out from the open skin as he weakly got up.
“D-don’t think this is the last of me… Shishishi…” As he walked away, something about kicking the wounded fatass just made me outright giddy… Even…
Ruthless.
Suddenly, the compound lights on Gold Drive switched to its bullseye design as the Shift Tridoron car came into my hand.
“Allow us to finish him off.” Me and Banno said as we pressed onto the button located on the hind wheel.
FIRE ALL ENGINES!
Before I could put it into the Shift Brace, Fluttershy ran and held me.
“No! Stop!” Fluttershy shouted.
“Let me go!” We both said.
“Hold her down!” Fluttershy said as the other girls grabbed me.
“Stop this! Now!” We said as my hand subconsciously held onto the Door Gun, finger hovering over the trigger while the barrel dug right into Fluttershy’s gut.
“I don’t want anyone else to die, okay!?” Fluttershy said as she was on the verge of tears. My finger twitched between touching the trigger and being inches away. For one moment, me and Banno both thought of shooting Fluttershy, breaking out of the crowd as we invoked Slowdown to finish off Fatty…
However, I then thought about going through with killing Fluttershy and the consequences that it held. Knowing I’ve killed someone, seeing everyone grieve for her, seeing all the trust I sowed into the girls be shattered. I thought about not killing her. Eventually my hand relaxed as the golden armor came off of me and I became faint.
“So-sorry…” I said. Twilight helped me up.
“It wasn’t your fault. I could tell that you were no longer in control. It’s happened to a few of my friends.” Twilight said. She then placed a hand on my shoulder. “So long as you have friendship by your side, however, you can accomplish anything.” She said. I hesitated.
“You’re not gonna buy this garbage, are you?” Banno quipped before Twilight glared at him. I sighed before shedding a single tear.
“Thanks…” I took Twilight’s hand and tore it away from my shoulder. “But if you are my friends… then I don’t want to hurt you…” I got up and walked away. “You’re gonna have to be the Fall Formal Princess without me.” I said as I left the soccer field.
Banno was right, if I got more ruthless, he gets more ruthless. And it’s only a matter of time before I become just like him… Or worse, he takes over me.
Shigekiyo slumped over. He couldn’t go an extra mile. Thankfully, he had Harvest drag him to his destination: Everton Independent Study. As he got up and inched to the door, he could see a man in the reflection of the window. A man with bleached, slicked back white hair, blood red lips, pale skin, and wore a black leather jacket with black leather pants. Shigekiyo’s eyes went wide as his body stiffened.
“Hello there. You remember me, don’t you?” The pale man asked. Shigekiyo slowly nodded. “It’s been such a long time since we last saw each other…” The pale man caressed Shigekiyo’s shoulder. He then eyed the door leading into Everton. “You were summoned by these people, right?” Shigekiyo nodded. “I see… Those idiots think they can harness the powers of a Displaced, let alone one who dwells in the Void. Why trust them when you can trust me?” With a wave of his hand, Shigekiyo’s wounds closed up and he could stand normally.
“This place held me prisoner for seventeen damn long years. I really don’t want you to be subject to the same experiments I was put through.” He said.
“B-but… They’re paying me…” Shigekiyo said.
“So?” The pale man, with a flick of his hand, summoned a gold brick out from a puff of gray smoke. “I can make so much money that the economy could crumble beneath my feet.” The pale man said.
“… So you are recruiting me.” Shigekiyo said.
“Yes. I am. Seventeen years is quite a long time and my grip has softened because of it. But now that I am able to leave this world now, I am considering rebuilding an army and picking up where I last left off.” He said. Shigekiyo paused. “Ooooh, but you know full well about this offer.” His cold, pale hands traced from Shigekiyo’s shoulder to the nape of his neck. “I refuse to take no for an answer.” He growled. Shigekiyo trembled, but then stiffened again. If he was fast enough, then maybe… just maybe he can get away. He opened the door and-
He felt a sharp knife enter his chest. Only he knew it wasn’t a knife, especially as he felt five appendages attached to it feeling up his heart before grabbing it and yanking it out. Shigekiyo fell onto his knees, out of breath as he turned to see the pale man holding his heart, now bathed in a glowing red light.
“I wanted to help you. I really did. I don’t want anyone to suffer the treatment I got at that horrible place.” The man gripped his hold on the heart. “Consider this mercy.” Tighter and tighter, the heart shrank until it was completely engulfed in the pale man’s hand. Shigekiyo slumped to the floor in a lifeless heap as the pale man let go of the remains of the heart, nothing more than dust.
Click.
The pale man could see in his reflection an angry man with a fedora and a brown military jacket holding a gun at him.
“Niko! I was wondering what took you so long.” The pale man smiled.
“I should have known those bastards had the audacity to summon you before handing your Token to me.” Niko said.
“Oh, don’t fret. I have no purpose for this world. All I wanna do is get out of here. Stretch my legs.” The pale man turned around and extended his arms widely. Niko still pointed his gun at him. “And yet, you still threaten me. I thought I taught you well when you first did this.” He walked over to Niko, took his gun, and bent its barrel with a glow of olive light. “Never pick a fight with your Displacer. It’s just… messy.” He smiled while playfully slapping Niko’s cheek. He then unbent the barrel and went on his merry way. Niko pointed the gun towards him, but as he fired, the pale man burst into a cloud of gray smoke and disappeared. Niko then heard sirens.
“Damn.” He muttered as he used the hook shots to get out while cops closed in on the corpse of the fat man.