//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: Sun And Pillar // by Sleepyearling //------------------------------// “They should be arriving soon.” Toshinori shot a glance at the diminutive figure that was seated at the desk. “Who?” “Weren’t you listening to the briefing just now, All Might?” The mouselike figure sniffed as it held up a teacup, blowing at its contents gently before taking a long draught from it. “Ah. Sorry about that, Nezu.” Toshinori replied as he shot the principal of the school an apologetic grin. “I appeared to have missed that part.” Nezu sighed exasperatedly as he set down his cup. “The exchange students, today is the day of their arrival.” “I see.” Toshinori nodded. Now that his compatriot had mentioned it, he did recall something to that effect. Unfortunately, he had quite absorbed in his own thoughts at the time and had only gotten the general gist of it. “My apologies, Principal Nezu.” He grinned again, “where are they from again?” The hyperintelligent mouse in a suit shot his companion an irritated glare before sighing for the umpteenth time, “They are from America, All Might.” The United States of America? Toshinori’s eyes widened. It had been years since he had last heard of that country, having been so preoccupied with settling the situation here in Japan. He might have had a few regrets about leaving the country where he had spent training after his graduation from U.A. High School, and the good friend which he had left behind there, but he did have unfinished business to tend to back in Japan at the time. Still… “How did you manage to get the institutions there to agree to an exchange program with us?” Toshinori asked. Especially since we had just gotten ourselves out of a legacy of darkness not too long ago… “Well…” Nezu glanced at his compatriot. “Using your name did help, though we did manage to secure the cooperation of a couple of pros who had previously worked in japan to help us coordinate the exchange.” “I see...” Toshinori trailed off. An exchange program, huh? Such a thing was not unheard of, though most of the past attempts had failed. Still… this would be a good experience for Izuku, not to mention that this would be a good opportunity to expose Midoriya to some overseas influence. Not to mention that Toshinori himself was quite excited to see what interesting ‘eggs’ that the country termed as the ‘Birthplace of Heroes’ could bring to the field of Japan. After all, it’s not like there would be any unsavoury elements mixed in with the students coming in. “Welcome to Mount Fuji Shizuoka Airport, we hope that you have had a pleasant flight…” Sunset blinked her eyes open as the unfamiliar language awoke her. Stretching her limbs to rid herself of the soreness, she gingerly unbuckled her seatbelt and donned her black leather jacket properly on her before joining the flood of passengers exiting the plane with her luggage in hand. The sciences of this world still amazed her. Transports which could fly through the sky like any other bird but without the use of magic, instead only relying on the raw power of an engine, a few turbines and complex calculations to keep the vehicle afloat in the air. And to think that this was not even the greatest thing that this world had to offer. Sunset smirked as she spotted a figure as she made her way down to the customs. The man, dressed in a gaudy skintight green suit and a bright red cape, was keeping himself afloat without any help at all as he scanned the crowds from his high vantage point. Quirks, a power that was as native to this world just as magic was to Equestria. A mutation, or ‘quirk’ as her teachers back at the Canterlot Academy had called it which allowed humans to achieve a degree of power that varies from case to case. A power that she did not possess, yet. Sunset grimaced as she recalled a rather hated memory of hers. The last she had before she arrived in this world. An argument that had torn her life asunder, and a promise that she intended to keep no matter what. Shelving that particular memory, Sunset Shimmer took the time to gaze about at her surroundings. The hallway towards the customs was packed and as she gazed about, she could start to pick out the others who were also here for the exchange program. There was a group of teenagers walking nearby in their purple uniforms, and another more familiar group in casual clothes that Sunset resolved to stay awa- “Sunset! There you are!” Sunset Shimmer sighed as she looked upon the primly dressed teenager making her way over. “Rarity.” She greeted, nodding her head and sufficiently relieved that she managed to keep the exasperation out of her voice. Rarity was an… eccentric one, prone to weird accents, the occasional french terms, fainting fits and possessed a perfectionist attitude to top it all off. Still, the perks of having her as a ‘connection’ were too great for Sunset to risk losing it just because she couldn’t put up with the other girl. Especially after all the effort that she had put in to set Rarity’s group of friends against each other so that she could capitalize on the ruined relationships. “You shouldn’t wander off by yourself, Sunset!” Chastised Rarity as she stood in front of the flame-haired girl, arms akimbo. “What if you got lost and turn up late?” I could have found you with a tracking spell. Sunset shrugged as she kept her thoughts to herself. “Sorry about that,” She lied, the words coming easily to her mouth, “I wanted to take in the view.” “Well, you can do that while we’re walking to the customs!” Rarity declared, before smiling gently, “though I do understand your point of view, the architecture here is magnifique!” She turned, “still, do keep up, we have a schedule to keep!” “Sure.” Sunset said blandly as she followed her fellow graduate towards the group of teenagers that had exited the plane. Ignoring the waves and the small amount of fear that greeted her, Sunset opted to instead look at the electronic billboards which dominated a majority of the walls as she stepped onto a travelator with her companions. Most of them were of the standard product advertising, though there was a fair share which displayed the heroes of the nations, promoting said individual’s office and skills with a variety of over-the-top language and flashy pictures. One in particular, however, caught her eye. A poster of a smiling, towering, muscled man in a blue skin-tight suit with red, white and yellow highlights. Atop the figure, on a white background was the words ‘ALL MIGHT’ in capitalized red fonts. The greatest hero in Japan, and most probably, the world. And one of the main reasons why Sunset herself chose to come here. After all, when one of the easiest way to attain power, glory and fame was to become a Hero, where else to start than in the land where the greatest of them reside?