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// Chapter 1 
// Story: Fluttershy and the Art of Fighting 
// by currentlemon 
//------------------------------//

Two days had passed as students had returned to Canterlot High..  It was lunch hour and the lunchroom was filled with hungry teens eager to start their break.  Fluttershy sat in the far corner of the room with her friends.

    Ever since he received his package two days ago, Zephyr remained in his room, isolated.  Rarely did he come out, except when he needed to eat.  Their parents tried to talk to him, but he ignored them and kept on playing.  It was expected though as they had a hard time disciplining him.

    Fluttershy sighed.  She couldn’t stop thinking about Zephyr.  She was so preoccupied with him that she couldn’t concentrate on her morning classes.  Her teachers even called her out for not doing anything.

    Fluttershy glanced out a nearby window.  She had her face laid down on the table and was playing with her food.  Her constant thoughts of her brother even made her lose her appetite.

    “Fluttershy?”

    Fluttershy snapped her head back.  She turned around and noticed her friends had been looking at her.

    “Are you ok?  You’ve been playing with your food for a while now,” said Sunset.  “Are you going to eat your food or just stare out the window for the entire lunch period?”

     “Yeah, you’re not even eating your chocolate pudding,” said Pinkie, stuffing her mouth full of food.  “Can I have it?”

    “Pinkie, don’t ask for someone else’s food like that!” said Rarity.

    “Aw, but she’s not even eating it!” cried Pinkie.  “What’s the point of having pudding if you’re not going to eat it!”

    “It’s alright, Rarity, she can have it,” assured Fluttershy, meekly.  “I’m not that hungry anyway.”  She gave her pudding to Pinkie, much to her delight, and looked back outside.  The girls gave each other worried looks.  Fluttershy had been quiet, too quiet.  She hasn’t spoken up at once.

    “You alright sugarcube?” asked Applejack.  “Ya’ve been acting a bit quiet lately. Ah mean, yer always quiet, but ya haven’t spoken to any of us at all.”

Fluttershy sighed.  “I’m sorry, girls.  It’s just that, there’s been so much on my mind lately.”

“Well, what’s wrong?” asked Sunset.

“Well, I….” Fluttershy gulped.  Was it really best to drag her friends into this mess?  If even she talked about her problem, she doesn’t know if they can help.  “I’m sorry, girls, but I don’t want to talk about it.”

Rainbow groaned.  “Oh come on, Fluttershy.  Why are you trying to hide your problem from us.  Just tell us what’s wrong already!

“Rainbow Dash!  There’s no need to yell at Fluttershy like that,” Rarity said in response.  “If she doesn’t want to talk about it, then leave her be.”

“But we’re her friends, Rarity!” scoffed Rainbow.  “I’m sure we can help her if she just talks.”  She leaned in closer to Fluttershy and glared at her, trying to get some info from her friend.  “Come on, Fluttershy, talk to me.  What’s wrong?”

“It’s ok, Rainbow, I’m fine,” replied Fluttershy, trying to get some distance between herself and her friend.  “It’s just, I don’t want to drag you girls this mess.  Especially since it’s a family issue-.”  Fluttershy gasped as she snapped back in place.  Her sudden move also caused Rainbow to do the same.

“Wait?  A family issue?” Rainbow asked while raising her eyebrow.  She paused for a few seconds, but then her eyes suddenly went wide.  “Wait a minute!  Does this have something to do with Zephyr?!”

Fluttershy was did not want to reply, but the glares she received from her friends made her realize she couldn’t back away.  Giving up, she slowly nodded her head to Rainbow.

“Oh great!  What the heck is that idiot doing now?!” Rainbow shouted, throwing her arms up in the air.

    “Um, who’s Zephyr?” asked Twilight.

    “He’s Fluttershy’s brother,” explained Rarity.  “And, let’s just say that neither of us have a very high opinion of him.”

    “That’s an understatement, Rarity,” answered Applejack.  “If ya want my opinion, he’s nothing but a no-good freeloading vermin.”  Her eyes popped open at the realization of what she’d just said.  “Eh, sorry about that, Fluttershy.  I didn’t mean to insult yer kin like that.”

    “Oh, I don’t mind at all, Applejack.  Your statement is somewhat correct.” replied Fluttershy, surprising her friends with her blunt response.

    “What did he do this time?”  Sunset asked.

    “Well….um.” Fluttershy was a bit hesitant to respond as she did not know what to tell them.  How was she supposed to explain this situation to her friends?  Especially if it’s about video games.

    “Girls, do you know anything about fighting games?” Fluttershy finally asked.

“Fighting games?” her friends asked, who were all a bit surprised by Fluttershy’s question.

“Y-yes.  My brother has this plan where he enters a tournament of some sort,” explained Fluttershy.  “Apparently, this tournament involves fighting games where people enter to win money.”

“Oh great, it’s one of his get rich quick scheme,” said Rainbow, rubbing her nose in frustration.

“Sounds like you really know this person well, Rainbow,” said Twilight.

“Zephyr constantly tries to hit on Rainbow,” explained Applejack.  “Try not to pick on her over that.  It’s understandable why she has a low opinion of him.”

“Do you know what game he’s playing?” asked Sunset.

“Well, the game is called, Tekken, and I’ve never heard of that game series before,” replied Fluttershy.  “Have you heard about it, Sunset?”

Sunset shrugged.  “Sorry, Fluttershy, but I never heard of it.  What about you girls?”  They all shook their head.  “Well, that’s a no.”

“Yeah, I only play sports games, shooters and an occasional RPG,” replied Rainbow.  “I don’t think any of us have played a fighting game before, let alone try one.  Especially you, Fluttershy.”

“Yeah, the only games Fluttershy plays is either Pokémon or that weird RPG she’s obsessed with,” stated Pinkie who was casually eating her pudding.

“It’s called, Kingdom Hearts, and it’s not weird!” cried Fluttershy, surprising her friends with her sudden burst.

Twilight blinked.  “Wow…. I did not expect her to be so defensive over a video game.”

“Well, get used to it.  Kingdom Hearts is a favorite of hers and she’ll defend it no matter what,” said Rainbow, smiling.  “Heck, Pinkie and I even tease her a little bit over that game’s weird story.”

“It’s not weird!” cried Fluttershy.  “It has a captivating story!”

“Oh, please.  How the you supposed to know what the story even is let alone what order you have to play the games to get it!” said Rainbow, throwing her hands up in the air!  “Isn’t the next one called, Kingdom Hearts 2.51 Over Fighting Dreamers or something?”

“For your information, it’s called Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue,” said Fluttershy, crossing her arms.  “And it’s the final game before the release of Kingdom Hearts III.”

“Enough!  Can we please get back on topic?!” yelled Sunset.  “Fluttershy, if you don’t know anything about the genre, why don’t you do some research?  You have study hall next period, right?  It would be the perfect time to do some research on it.”

Fluttershy blinked.  “Wow, I never thought about that.”

Sunset had a point.  Fluttershy knew next to nothing about fighting games.  Perhaps spending time researching the game would help her understand what her brother’s trying to accomplish.

“Well, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt.  I don’t have any assignments to do and I turned in all my work early,” remarked Fluttershy.  “Alright, I’ll do it!”

“There ya go sugarcube!” said Applejack.  “Now, can we please eat?!  Lunch is almost over and I haven’t eaten all of my food.”

Fluttershy looked at a nearby clock and panicked.  “Oh dear, you’re right.  I guess I better start eating.”  She took her fork and was about to eat, but stopped when she saw that something missing from her lunch.  “Um, where’s my pudding?”

“All gone!” Pinkie said as she gave an empty bowl back to her friend.  Fluttershy in return gave Pinkie a disappointed glare.  “What?  You said I can have it.”


    Lunch ended and the rest of fifth period breezed through.  Students clamored the hallway, all walking toward their next class.  Fluttershy slipped by each student as she desperately held onto her bag.

    I really don’t like it when the hallway is so crowded.  Fluttershy thought as she squeezed passed another student.  Especially when my bag is full.

    Fluttershy sighed in relief as she saw the library entrance in front of her.  She made a mad dash inside, causing several students to call her out for pushing.  She apologized to them and went inside.

    It’s best if I just sit back in the corner where no one can see me.  Fluttershy thought while looking around the room.  I don’t want any other students or teachers see what I’m doing.

    Spotting an empty desk in the far corner, Fluttershy quickly walked toward it and placed her bag a chair.  She unzipped it and took out several items.  One was her personal yellow laptop with an AC adapter and the other was a set of headphones.

  I should at least wear my headphones too. she thought while placing the items on the table.  Just in case I run into anything that has sound.

After setting everything ready, Fluttershy sat down booted her laptop.  She opened her web browser and was led to her usual search engine.  She typed the word Tekken on the black white box and the browser redirected her to a long list of websites.

    “Ok, I’m seeing mostly wiki sites here,” Fluttershy to herself quietly.  “I wonder if they’ll tell my anything about the game?”

    Clicking one of the links, Fluttershy was taken to Wikipedia.  She read through the contents of the page, trying to learn as much about the game as possible.

“Wow this series has been out for so long!” said Fluttershy who was a bit impressed.  “Let’s see, the latest game that came out was Tekken 7.  I’m guessing that’s the one Zephyr’s playing right now.”  She clicked on the link and was redirected to the game’s Wiki page.

The page was full of content, much to Fluttershy’s delight.  She read every bit of detail on the page from top to bottom, learning everything unique about the game.  She scrolled down and found something odd in the development section.

“Wait, the game came out during the summer?  But it says here that it released overseas two years ago.  Why did the company wait so long for it to be released here?”

Fluttershy continued reading through the page, only to be disappointed when she found very little on the game itself.  Realizing she could not get much out of Wikipedia, she exited out of the site and went back to her previous webpage.

“Hmm, where else can I find any more information?” Fluttershy said, carefully browsing the entire page.  She scrolled from top to bottom, but found nothing that would help her.  Most of the links were store offers or would lead her to sites blocked by the school.

Fluttershy sighed.  She was about to go to the next page, but something caught her eye at the top of her screen.  “Huh?  What’s this?”  She clicked on the link, causing the screen to turn black.  She was immediately greeted with a cinematic battle between two of the game’s characters.

“Oh, I must have found the official website for the game!” commented Fluttershy as her mood brightened.  “I’m sure I can find something here!”

She scrolled down the site and found several news articles.  Some included deals on game content or toy figures, which didn’t interest her in the least.  However, one article seemed to have caught her interest.

“JDCR wins Tekken 7 crown at EVO,” Fluttershy read out loud.  She blinked.  “Um, who’s JDCR?  And what’s EVO?”  She clicked on the article link, but was disappointed when it led her to a blocked site.

“Oh no, that’s not good!” she cried.  “But I can’t stop searching now!  Maybe if I use my search engine, I might find something.”

Going back to her previous website, she typed the word “JDCR” and pressed enter.  Like before, she was greeted by a wall of links.  However, the page included several videos this time.

“Huh, so this JDCR person is a pro fighting game player,” Fluttershy said, reading the short bio of him at the top of the screen.  “Zephyr did say he wanted to play like the pros.  I guess he means someone like him?”

Fluttershy rubbed her head.  “Maybe if I see a video, I’ll understand what he means by that.”  She clicked on one of the videos at the top and was directed to YouTube.

Fortunately, the video wasn’t blocked by the school.  The screen loaded and the video started playing.  Fluttershy expected gameplay, but was surprised when she heard two commentators speaking in the background.

“Oh my, I didn’t expect commentary.  I thought I was just getting game footage,” Fluttershy said.  She glanced over to the video title.  “So this JDCR person is playing in a tournament of some kind?  And who is Knee?  Is he another pro player?”

Fluttershy tilted her head.  “I wonder if Zephyr is aware of these players.  Are they the ones who got him into the game in the first place?”

A few seconds pass and Fluttershy finally saw the game footage she was looking for.  It looked pretty from her perspective.  The character models looked really polished and the background was very neat.

But Fluttershy wasn’t interested in the graphics.  She wanted to know more about tournament play.  And figure out who this JDCR person was.

The video continued playing with JDCR playing some sort of military officer.  His opponent chose a muscular half-naked Asian character whose appearance almost made Fluttershy blush, but snapped out of it when she realized he wasn’t real.

Fluttershy watched as the two players battled it out with one another.  The commentary made it easier for her to understand what’s going on.  It, along with the crowd in the background, gave the match life.  It was almost as if she was there, spectating the entire thing.

The entire match went back and forth between the two competitors.  It looked like Knee had the upper hand at first as he won the first two sets.  However, JDCR never gave up and kept fighting back.

Fluttershy leaned forward, eyes never leaving the screen.  She clenched her hands, raising them close to her chin.  She gasped as JDCR came back and tied the set.  The crowd in the background cheered and Fluttershy felt the urge to as well, but her quiet nature kept her back.

Excitement pulsed through her as the final match played out.  She didn’t even notice herself leaning closer to the monitor.  Time passed, and the match ended with JDCR winning the set..  Fluttershy sat in her chair, staring at her laptop, stunned at what she just witnessed.

“Oh, my,” she stuttered.  T-that was-”  Before she could say anything, the school bell rang across the library.

Fluttershy gasped.  “It’s already the end of the period?!  But I thought I had plenty of time left!”  She looked at the now finished video on her laptop.  “Oh dear, I didn’t even realize the video was so long.  I guess I was so into it that—.”

Fluttershy suddenly slapped herself out of nowhere.  The sharp pain caused her to look around in confusion.

Huh, why did I do that to myself?  I just wanted to say the video was nice, that’s all.  For a few seconds, Fluttershy did nothing but stare at her hand.

What am I doing?  I need to go to my next class! Fluttershy thought, shaking her head.  She grabbed her things and quickly put them back inside her bag.  

Making sure she had everything, Fluttershy grabbed her bag and made a mad dash to the exit.  She groaned as she saw the huge crowd of students, but nonetheless treaded the overcrowded hallway.

I’m glad I got what I wanted, but now I’m even more worried about Zephyr.  I don’t think this tournament think will be as easy as he thinks. she thought while apologizing to several students she pushed aside.

As day continued, Fluttershy found it even more difficult to concentrate on her classes.  The video she saw made her worry about Zephyr even more.  It frustrated her, but he’ll have to wait.  She needed her friends for advice.  It won’t be much, but perhaps they can help her out.