Chapter 3
“Nu uh!”
“Ya huh!”
“Nu uh!”
“Ya huh!”
“Nu uh!”
“Ya huh!”
“Scooters are better! They provide better stability!”” Scootaloo shouted, her face in Wally’s grill.
“Skateboards can handle ramps, and people actually hold competitions with them!” Wally responded, pushing his nose into her own.
“Ooh, dis.” Applebloom said, holding a small digital camera up to record them.
“Tis a fine dis,” Hoagie nodded in agreement. Scootaloo frowned a bit, knowing Wally got her with that last comment. She lowered her head down and away from Wally as he grinned in victory. At the moment, the six kids had walked away from the school and headed to a nearby park that had a ramp used by skaters.
“Don’t be mad, Scootaloo. He’s not making fun of you, just saying that skateboards are more famous,” Sweetie said, eyes closed a bit to look at Wally.
“Isn’t that right, Wally?” Nigel added, moving each arm to cross on his chest. To add emphasis, the former bald child tapped his left foot up and down. It was agreed to use their real names to avoid confusing these Crusaders.
“Hmm? Oh,” Wally perked up his head, getting a clue from his leader. “Yeah. I’m not dissing ya, Scoots. You’re pretty cool and all...” The blonde child took a moment to lift his left hand behind his head, his eyes closed a bit to try and relax his face. Complimenting a girl was not in him, and it was hard enough just to say something to Kuki. “It’s not your fault... Are not scooters in a lot of X-Games?” He offered with raised shoulders, giving her an awkward smile.
“R-Really?” Scootaloo said, picking her eyes up and down to look at Wally. There was a slight red hue on her cheeks. This was the first boy that actually talked to her that was as cool as her. She quickly shut both eyes and stood straight. “You’re right. Ready to start recording?”
“Yep! Let’s see you two show off your stuff!” Applebloom grinned. She got Scootaloo blushing on camera, and this was too good to let go. Still, it was finally nice to have some boys to help with the videos. “You... Sweetie Belle?”
“Huh?” Sweetie turned to look back at the camera. She was caught staring at Nigel, who had both eyebrows raised at the blushing teen. Her pony self was into Nate, so why was this one acting so weird?
“Aww, I think I know what’s going on...” Hoagie whispered as a frown formed. As the most romantic of the boys, he finally got a clue.
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“So, still not going to tell me what a tampon is?” Terra asked. The teen girl was standing next to Travis in a suit. Both were standing on a street corner, waiting for a taxi the assassin called for using his portable radio called ‘cellphone’.
“In all honesty, I’m not sure,” Travis shrugged. He looked around, seeing mostly people heading to work or school. The streets got a bit crowded as time went by, like ants marching to and fro from their anthill. Still, the sight of humans, meat restaurants, cars and other things were comforting. Hell, just having a cell phone with a signal was nostalgic. It was a bit weird, watching all of the humans here had different and colorful skin. Luckily, he guessed it was the suit that the inhabitants weren’t giving him dirty or strange looks for hanging with a teen girl. “Just practice using the cell phone.”
“Fine. This device is amazing though...” Terra lowered her head to look at the green cellphone in her hands. Thanks to Travis, her thumbs were moving to study the touch screen. At least she knew to tell time, weather, and to make calls with it. She was checking this Terra’s address book to see if she had anyone’s number. “I’m not sure, but I think I don’t have anyone from our group on this list.”
“I only have Discord’s number on mine, so we should be fine. I’m not surprised though. Why would,” Travis stopped there to sigh and let both shoulders slump. “An upstanding and righteous vice-principal have any student’s number?” Who was Lulu though?
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Discord tried not to look stupid, but it was not easy. The humans made their form of walking look so simple, but he was not used to these long legs. Not to mentioned he missed the long neck and stylish tail. Those helped him keep his center of balance together. It took a while, but he managed to make it to the front steps without falling. Taking a breath, his hand moved out to the handle and open. Huh? How strange. These doors opened the wrong way. That was not safe in case of a sudden fire or chocolate rain flood.
“How weird, and for a school also,” Discord said with a slight frown. The humanized draconequus shrugged to dismiss his concern and made his way inside. Who knows what else was wrong in this world? He had to remember his human name here. How odd that it was his old name as well. The middle aged man studied the hallway a bit. Now that he thought about it, the school wasn’t all that different from back home. Maybe a bit bigger, but the structure and aesthetics fit. He begun to walk slowly to get used to human feet, looking at the signs posted at the doors.
“Hmm?” Discord stopped a moment, spotting an obvious adult. The sex of the adult was hard to tell from the back though. The pink hair was in a bun, while a white long lab coat hid most of the body from view. A doctor, maybe? The figure had come out of a room that had a peculiar sign on it. It read ‘Main Office’, but the symbol had a rising sun. Princess Celestia?
“Excuse me, but you are- Distant?”
That voice... Discord raised both eyebrows up, recognizing the sound. He turned his head behind his right shoulder. “Lulu?”
“Don’t call me that here!” Vice-Principal Luna whispered, turning her head to the sides quickly. She was not expecting for her pet nickname to be used. “Where’s Travis? Nevermind, let’s go to my office.”
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“Well, crap,” Nathan frowned as he walked around the school grounds. He guessed it was ok he went on his own. Dovah and Terra needed babysitters since they were not used to the modern world. Still, being on his own was weird. Even when working on scores, he rarely worked solo. He always had Sully nearby or one of his fellow conspirators. But high school... Hell, he never even stepped inside a high school. The nuns taught all the orphans, and he did step into universities- but only for knowledge and not for classes.
Time to review what he knew.
1. School was going to start soon, so it would look weird for a teen to be walking around alone. He guessed that there was truancy officers or something.
2. He had a phone, but he only had Phoenix and some guy called Kratos on his friend contacts. Kratos was a name he knew, but he wasn’t sure if it was the same guy he met while fighting a Big Daddy or a Sack Boy. His other contacts seemed to be from a sport team he was in.
3. According to the text messages, he was also an academic guy. He was on the decathlon team. It looks like he was in the... Chess competition?
4. Damn did he miss his old journal. This Nathan apparently had no need for it.
Damn, that wasn’t a lot. Not to mention, there was a big thing he refused to think about. Especially in front of the others, Travis in particular. He came to a stop next to a tree and sat down in the shade. Luckily, there weren’t many students near the parking lot. One final look to make sure he was alone. Good. He reached into his pants and took out his wallet and looked down at his school id.
This Nathan.
This Nate.
This guy had a name. A real life, an honest birth name. It wasn’t even a Drake or Nathan. The Nate of this place had a family too. His fingers moved, taking out photographs. The first photo had Mom holding on to him from behind, apparently in his graduation from elementary school. Was this his mom? He couldn’t remember her that well. She looked so happy though... And she was not alone. Staring back at him, was the face of his father. That face he thought that was long forgotten.
Nate took a second to look through the other photos. A picture of him at his new school. A picture of the family at some social function. This Dad never left them. The mom was still alive, and he had a younger sister too. Or so he guessed. The last picture had this Nate was holding on to a baby in pink. And in all of these pictures, there was a well fed kid. This kid never had a night to spend on the streets, hungry or cold.
“This isn’t fair...” Nathan whispered. Head down, his thumbs moved to trace the face of the final photo. The wallet had only four photos, but he guessed the cell phone had more recent ones with friends. Why? Why did he have to go through this? Were the others also having family memories? His right arm moved up, covering both eyes with the sleeve as water dripped down. The memory of finding his mother dead filled his head.
“Damnit,” Nate managed to say. His voice was gone a bit, hard to breathe at this moment. Stupid teenage body and hormones. Teeth gritted, the treasure hunter shut both eyes to fight back the feels. Mom. Dad. A baby Sis. The other hand moved to close the wallet to pull out the cell phone. After a few seconds, he found the entries for Mom and Dad. Could he call them? Would it be weird to hear their voices a final time?
Nate shut both eyes again, squeezing the black phone. This wasn’t like him! He never thought back! He had no feelings over the orphan days. But dammit, this was hitting him all at once. No one, even Rarity, knew about his past. How could he tell them anyway? All alone now, he let himself cry.
“Are you ok?”
“Hmm? Oh... Yeah. I’m... Okay,” Nate lied. He had to suck in his breath, trying to control the emotions. He quickly moved the sleeve across his eyes to wipe the tears. Pushing aside the grief for the moment, the teen put a smile on his face to look up. No way did he want pity from-
“Here you are. There’s no need to ruin your blazer, darling,” Rarity said, holding out a napkin for him. Loss for words, Nate’s eyes moved along her features. That stylish hair, alabaster skin, and those azure eyes. The human Rarity had a white top and purple skirt and a backpack over her shoulders. “Why are you here, though? You are not from my school.”
“I... Sorry. Thanks.” Nate moved to take the offering to wipe his eyes. “I kinda lost it there. A big guy like me shouldn’t be crying in front of a lady.”
“Nonsense. We all have moments when we break down, darling.” She offered a small smile, inspecting the boy. He had a handsome, brown hair combed in a traditional style. And his clothes indicated he was from a prodigious school. Not to mention he had some muscle on him. Why was such a handsome and obviously rich boy crying? “You probably wanted to be alone, but I just can’t stand by when someone is in pain.” Rarity moved herself to stand up, looking around the area. “Are you here all alone?”
“Leave it to Rarity to be so generous,” Nate whispered as he took the napkin away from his eyes. Thank god some things stayed the same. “Uh, no. I’m here with my school mates.” He moved to stand up, hoping he didn’t look or sound like a total wuss. Remember Nate, this Rarity isn’t the same as the other one. She doesn’t want to date you. Then again, who wants to date a guy that you found crying. Way to leave a first impression.
“Oh... That’s a shame. I really needed some help finding my sister,” Rarity took a step back. Now that she saw him better, he was a bit tall. And handsome. And rich, had to have money to dress in a school uniform like that. And in touch with his emotions too. Please, if there is any justice in the world, please let not this boy be gay...
“Sweetie Belle?” Nathan perked up his eyebrows, remembering he had a mission. “I was supposed to look from my underclassmen. I think the Crusaders abducted-” He stopped talking, looking down at Rarity’s eyes. Finally, his breathing managed to regulate better. His mouth relaxed as she stared at him. Those eyes weren’t as big as the pony ones, but something drew his attention to them.
“Right. Sister,” Rarity managed to speak in a low voice. She quickly shook her head to the sides after a moment. She was just making sure that there was nothing in his eyes! “Oh those Crusaders, trying to become famous.” Both of her hands shot up, moving to hold her cheeks. Was she having heart palpitations? Her cheeks felt hot.
“Say, Rarity, we could look for them together. I could use someone that knows the area,” Nate smiled, feeling better already. At least in his teen form, he still had the moves.
“Why, that sounds like a lovely idea!” Rarity’s hands flew down to cross fingers over her chest as her eyes got a large sparkle in them. She could have a rich boy at her side and maybe get some hype about her going. “Just, how do you know my name? And my sister’s for that matter?”
“Uh... Internet?”
“Works for me!”
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“Say, Phoenix, why are you going to the school athletics side?” Ralf asked, looking ahead as they approached the tennis courts.
“Well, if this school is anything like Japanese schools- There should be students getting morning practice in.” Phoenix asked, turning to look at the other sport fields. For a school, it had a few. A soccer field, tennis and basketball courts, track and field, and a few others. Though it seemed they were all high school level. “I see a few... Is that Rainbow Dash?” A large smile formed on his lips. Hopefully, this was a good sign.
“Sports students... Right,” Ralf grinned, eyes closed to elbow the former lawyer in the side. “I bet.”
“It was still a good idea,” Phoenix chuckled, unable to keep from blushing.
“Let’s go talk to-”
“Ohmygoshohmygoshogmygosh!”
Both Ralf and Phoenix had to take a step back, arms raised a bit defensively as the teenage girl in sport shorts and an athletic top rush at them. She had a stupid grin on her face, which was probably the scary part. Phoenix braced for impact, expecting a tackle glomp.
“Coach Jones! I can’t believe you are here!” Rainbow Dash threw herself at Ralf, moving to wrap her arms in his neck as she had to jump a few feet in the air to perform this feat.
“Uh...” Ralf had his arms up at his sides, quickly looking around as he panicked. “Look, Phoenix! My hands! Not touching her!”
“Who?” Rainbow frowned a second, turning to look at a bewildered Phoenix. “Didn’t see you there. Who’s the egghead, Coach?”
Phoenix moved his left hand up to slap his forehead. Of course, Rainbow Dash was into older men...
Chapter proofreaded by LyonAzakura.
Bonus:
“I’m worried...” Sephiroth spoke out loud. The ponies had long left them, leaving the remaining human champions in Canterlot’s treasure room. Many looked worried or bored, just waiting on the others.
“It’s only been about twenty minutes,” Vash said. “But I think Sephiroth here has a point. One of them should’ve come back by now.”
“So... What? We send some in for a quick peek?” Sokka called out.
“I bet they just found meat and are enjoying themselves,” Toph sighed.
“You bastards!” Sokka cursed the mirror, lifting his left arm up in defiance, both eyes closed in a scowl.
“I shall step through the mirror then,” The last Cetra said. “I shall enter in for a moment, then return as fast as possible.” The others nodded, making room for the swordsman to step through.
One vortex trip later...
Sephiroth opened his eyes, slowly getting the vertigo out of his system. Picking up his head, he stood up... On all four hooves?! Eyes wide open in surprise, the swordsman looked around. Quickly, he moved his head and neck to look around at his new form. A single wing, so that much was the same. But he had a silver coat. Hooves with a dull black shine, and a long flowing white mane. One quick look at the forehead and he spotted a horn coming from the middle of his head.
“Hmmm.” Sephiroth turned to look at the reflection on the statue. Better take a look at his new pony form. He took a step to look at himself, eyebrow raised. Something was off. “It appears that I am an alicorn donkey...”