//------------------------------//
// Say Hi 
// Story: Mages of Virtue: The Phantom Thief 
// by Nova Arc 
//------------------------------//

Sunset Shimmer, dressed in a red shirt, black jeans, and black boots, was too excited. It wasn't her birthday, it wasn't summer holiday. It was the beginning of the school year.

"That's not normal," said Rainbow Dash, who wore a blue tank top, black track bottoms, and blue sneakers. "Aren't most people supposed to be looking for an extended holiday?"

"Well, I'm not most people," Sunset replied.

"Of course not," said Pinkie Pie, who wore a pink crop top, blue shorts, and pink hi-tops with long blue and yellow stockings. "Your name is Sunset Shimmer. It'd be weird to find someone named Most People."

"Er, yeah... I guess," said Rainbow, unsure of how else she could've responded.

"So, what're ye lookin' forward to?" asked Applejack, the cowgirl in the green plaid shirt, blue jeans, and brown boots with a Stetson hat.

"Well, for once, people not hating me," replied Sunset.

"I thought everyone already forgave you," said Fluttershy. She wore a yellow shirt, blue jeans, and yellow flip flops. "I mean, you did help us beat the sirens."

"Yeah, well not everyone knows that," Sunset replied. "Remember the kids that got pulled out because of what I did? Some of them just so happen to be living in my side of the city."

"Now that's bad luck," said Rainbow. "So they have no idea?" Sunset shook her head.

"But we do," said Pinkie. "And we appreciate you for it. I mean, we could've all been arguing like little kids if it weren't for you."

"Yeah, well it was Twilight that figured out how to beat them."

"But you helped. That counts," said Pinkie. Sunset smiled. It had been a while since she had actual friends, but it was a nice feeling she quickly grew accustomed to. Soon, their train stopped. "We're here!" Pinkie said excitedly. She hopped off the train, the other girls trailing behind her and she bounced out of the station.

Waiting for them outside were two girls: one with fair skin and purple hair in an elegant swirl wearing a white button-up shirt, black trousers, black flats, and the school uniform, a white cloak with blue and yellow accents, and the other with dark skin and purple hair with lavender and pink highlights wearing a light purple shirt with a purple star in the middle, blue capris, and white and blue sneakers. "Hi, Sunset," greeted the dark-skinned girl.

"Hi, Twilight," Sunset replied. "Hi Rarity. How were your summers?"

"Pretty good," replied Twilight.

"Wonderful, darling," replied Rarity. "How was yours?"

"Could've been worse," said Sunset. Soon, Pinkie joined in by bear-hugging literally everyone, her Gaian roots very obvious in the way she carried six teenage girls off the ground in one go. A bear hug and a few minutes of walking later, they arrived at the grand compound of the Chantalot Magic Academy. "Well," Sunset said, "let the new school year begin."





"It's easy, just say hi."

"Sis, it's never that easy." Dawn Forge was normally looking forward to this day, the new school year. It was when he got back together with his friends... well, friend. He didn't really have a lot of them. He sat on the back of his sister's bike wearing a blue t-shirt, light brown khakis, and black hi-tops, under his uniform, as well as a pair of goggles and headphones. His sister sat in front wearing a red shirt, orange shorts, black boots, and similar pair of goggles. "Especially if it's me."

"Dawn, just remember what I said," said the girl, "Don't let them wind you up. If they know what makes you tick, they'll use it against you."

"Yeah, yeah, got it," Dawn said, getting off. "Oh, and Blaze? Could you check on my bike and see if it's back?"

"Sure thing," said Dawn. "Will the board be okay?"

"Yeah, it'll be fine. Thanks. I'll see ya later." He waved goodbye as his sister rode off. He didn't stay for long before he smiled as the bus arrived in front of the school. Students filed out, most of them talking or reading, but one came out, jumping and shredding on an air guitar with music playing so loud you could hear it through her headphones. She had light skin, bright pink eyes, and long black hair with pink and red highlights tied into a pair of long, waist-length twin-tails and wore a red shirt with a black heart on the upper left side, red and black plaid skirt with pink and black striped stockings, and pink hi-tops. Her headphones had hearts on them and her uniform was tied around her waist. She bobbed her head to the beat of the song and moved through the students as if she had psychic vision. Dawn shook his head and held out his hand, receiving a high-five as she passed. "Yep. I can tell how your summer went," he said.

"It was off the chain!" The girl seemed to be fully in control of her volume, despite the loud jam that would, normally, have made you oblivious to your surroundings. "We went down to Transylmagia and saw the Lost Hotel! Dude, it's super creepy! They turned the place into a giant resort!"

"Oh yeah. My sister went there with her class a few months ago. I wanted to go, but we still had that test in medieval history."

"Trust me. You need to go there," the girl said, still talking as if there was nothing else she could hear but Dawn's voice. "Where'd you go?"

"The usual. Avoided Magehattan like a plague."

"Oh. That's still going on, huh?"

"Nothing we can do about it right now. If we could've done something, we would've." The girl sighed in defeat and turned the knob on her headset. Dawn could hear the music. "Loli?" The girl looked up. "You can stop now."

"Stop what?" the girl asked with an innocent, yet evil smirk.

"Loli? I can hear it from over here."

"Okay. So, you interested?"

Dawn thought for a moment. "After school, send me the entire album."





The students began filing into the grand auditorium. Rows of seats were already arranged for them before they arrived. Students were catching up, talking about their summer, what overly exciting thing did or didn't happen. Soon, Twilight and the others filed in and looked for a row of seats. Once they found some, they quickly rushed to them before anyone else could claim them.

"There's a lot of faces I haven't seen here today," said Twilight.

"Well, this is one of the best schools in this part of the world," said Sunset.

"Plus, the Princesses are the principals," added Pinkie. "How cool is that?!"

"'Sides," added Applejack, "it's really the only school and isn't constantly buggin' ya about money every five minutes."

"Precisely. The school has standards beyond how fat they want their pockets to be," said Rarity. 

"Plus, you get to meet some rather important people here, nice and... otherwise," she added, her eyes drifting with disgust at one particular student.

"And their sports scholarship program is amazing," added Rainbow.

Not too long after, there was a flash of golden light on the stage. From the flash appeared a young woman that appeared to be in her mid-thirties with flowing hair of cobalt, blue, pink and green hair and bright pink eyes. She wore a golden-brown blazer, white shirt, cream trousers, and white flats and had a yellow sun-shaped crest on her jacket pocket.

"To old students, welcome back. To new students, welcome to the Chantalot Academy." Princess Celestia's voice echoed throughout the auditorium. She had made herself a common sight in the school for many reasons. For one thing, she wanted the students to see her more as a Principal and ignore the royal status. It brought her closer to them. "I see many fresh faces in front of me. Many of which have waited for months to get in. Well, you need not wait any longer." She paused for them to finish their clapping and whooping. "I believe you have all undergone orientation. But I must warn you, this academy is for those who are willing to push themselves to their limit and beyond. It will not be easy, but the results will be very rewarding.

"Now, our school features a variety of programs, each one suited for students with particular skill sets or unique methods of learning. Some of you already know this as you entered via our scholarship program.

"Now, I'd give a longer speech, but I'd hate to bore the sense out of all of you before your first day of school even starts." The chuckles rippled through the room. "So, without further ado, welcome!" As she raised her hands. A massive "WELCOME" banner fell from the stage and its letters lit up in bright gold sparks.

"She sure knows how to make you feel at home," said Sunset, applauding with the rest of the students.





"Welcome to Homeroom 618. I am your supervisor, Professor Cypher Creed, Head of History and Philosophy Departments." The tall, black-haired man stood on the stage in front of the class, but his voice echoed all the way to the upper seats ten rows back. He wore a white dress shirt, black trousers, black jacket, and black shoes. Over this, he wore an open white cloak with brown accents and brown armband and had a black fedora. Hanging out of his cloak pocket was the chain of a silver pocket watch he was know to carry everywhere. He looked stern, but his bright brown eyes and calm voice were rather warm. "I'm glad to be here with you all. Now, I don't want you to see me as just a teacher. I want you to see me as a friend, someone you can trust to help with any problems you might have in any way I can... if I can." There was some giggling. "Now you know me. I want to know you... starting from the back."

They all introduced themselves, stating their name, age, class, and magic specialty. Once Professor Creed learned everyone's name, he tapped the board behind him. It lit up and the image of a sphere appeared. It had three distinct rings around it. Creed tapped the floor twice with his foot and a 3-dimensional image of the sphere popped up above him, the rings now spinning and moving around the orb. "Here's a chance to get some points for yourself at the start of the year. What is the name of this device? Miss Twilight Sparkle?"

Twilight stood up. "The Gyroflux Orb; a device with the ability to warp gravity in an area with a four mile effect radius."

"Very good. And who invented it?"

"The great mage, Meadow Brook."

"Right again, Miss Sparkle."

"Nice goin' Twi," Applejack said with a playful punch to Twilight's shoulder.

For the next ten minutes, Creed asked about an assortment of items, spells, words of wisdom, and even books and who came up with them. Twilight got most of them, but others also competed for Professor Creed's points. And then... "My last few questions were worth five points each, but this one is worth a hundred." At least half the class gasped.  was in the lead, but a hundred points could push anyone ahead, if not at least close to them. "What is this?" The hologram projector brought up the image of a massive conical object. It looked like a giant, floating city with faces on the four corners.

"Huh? I can't remember that one?"

"What?" her friends whispered in shocked unison.

"The Oberion, also known as the Sky Fortress. A giant city made from crystals from the Crystal Empire by Diamond Carver. Developed as a refuge and watchtower for King Sombra during the Black Crystal Era." Everyone looked in awe at Dawn, who was smiling in his seat.

"That is correct, Mister Forge. So I take it you know what this is then?" The image changed to that of a giant Rubik's cube with at least fifty or so rows instead of three. The image kept shifting.

"The Perplexahedron. Created by Professor Warp Paradox, who worked closely with Diamond Carver. However, it technically does not exist."

"Oh? And yet it is in the history book in front of you?"

"Well, 'technically' is the key word. This being because it is located in another dimension, not within our physical plane. Also, information on it is based on theory as no mage has ever been able to replicate this apparatus. Then again, Professor Paradox was powerful enough to perform spatial distortion and spatial reconfiguration spells on a much larger scale than many others."
The class was silent. They knew he was smart, but now they thought he was a walking encyclopedia.

"Outstanding, Mister Forge."

Twilight looked in utter confusion at Dawn, who sat back down. For the rest of the class, Creed talked about the history of special magic; developers, creators, and their accomplishments. Two hours later, everyone filled out for their next class, if they had any. Dawn zipped out of the class as Sunset walked over to meet Harmony. "I don't think me being speechless is a big deal right now, huh?"

"Nope," replied Applejack.

"Yeah, well, at least the Professor didn't say something like, 'You should all learn from his example' or something," added Rainbow.





The rest of the day went by fairly quickly. As it was the first day, it was all general and basic subjects. Their final class, though, was Nature Studies. Their teacher was a dark-skinned woman with a light gray and white striped Mohawk and deep cyan eyes. She wore a long grayish-purple skirt with a slit down the right side, a white halter top that exposed her midriff, and purple sandals. She had three white marks on each cheek and a series of white tattoos on her arms and legs. On her exposed stomach was a gray stylized spiral sun.

"Good day, students. I am Zecora. In this class, you shall learn about fauna and flora." She moved over to her desk. "We will learn about the many forests in our land, and maybe someday, we will get to see them first-hand." She talked about the Everfree Forest and its unique ecosystem; the magical plants, the dangerous beasts, and even the way its natural magic energy can have various effects on various life forms. That was the final hour and a half of the day.

"Well, that didn't go too badly," said Sunset.

"Coulda toldya," said Applejack. "So, you're in our dorm, right?"

Sunset looked at a sheet of paper in her hand. "Yeah. I'm in the same room as..." Her eyes widened in shock.

"What? What is it?" asked a concerned Twilight.

"Trixie," said Sunset. "I'm roommates... with Trixie."

The girls all looked at Sunset. They could feel her pain. "Yikes," said Rainbow.

"Ah wouldn't wish that on mah worst enemy," added Applejack.

"I'm so sorry, Sunset," said Fluttershy.

Sunset kept looking at the paper. "Well, I also got some girl named Loli Beats. I guess that's a plus." She groaned. "This is gonna be a long night."





Sunset opened the door to her room and was greeted, so to speak, by a girl with pale blue hair and pink eyes wearing a blue blouse, light blue skirt, and blue boots. "So. I'm your roommate," stated the girl. "Just so you know, Trixie has already claimed the top bunk."

"Great," said Sunset. "Can I come in now?"

"I suppose," Trixie said, making way for her to pass. The common area was well stocked. There were three sets of sofas, several bean bags, and a large center table. Hanging on the wall beneath the fireplace was a 52" TV. The room was decorated with bright reddish-brown mahogany wood and a carpet with symbol of the sun and moon covered the floor.

The bedrooms were similar, except with no carpet. There were two bunk beds on either side of the room with a wardrobe at the head and foot of the beds. Next to each wardrobe was a desk and chair and a large dresser stood at the end of the room. Sunset picked out the bed she knew didn't belong to Trixie and opened a wardrobe. It was already fully stocked with clothes. "Whoops!" She closed it and went to the other one. Seeing it was empty, she slipped some clothes for the next few days inside and threw her suitcase into the section at the top. She collapsed onto the bed and breathed a sigh of relief. 

"Hey there."

Sunset jumped, a bit shocked that she wasn't alone in the room. She looked to her left and saw a girl smiling at her. She had bright pink eyes and black hair with pink and red highlights tied into pigtails. She wore a red shirt with a black heart on it and had a pair of heart-shaped stud earrings and a pair of headphones. She was also hanging upside down from the barricade of the top bunk. 

"Sorry. Did I startle you?" she asked, looking a bit concerned.

"A bit," said Sunset. "But I'm fine. I didn't even know anyone was in here."

"Yeah. That kinda happens with me," she said. "Loli Beats," she added, holding out her hand to Sunset.

"Oh. Sunset Shimmer," she said, shaking Loli, which felt a bit weird, seeing as the later was upside down. "So, Freshman or Sophomore?"

"Sophomore."

"Really? I never see you around."

"I wasn't in the boarding school last year. Plus, I kinda tend to blend into the background," she said with a sheepish smile.

"Why?"

"Er... Well... I'm not exactly... popular," she said.

"Oh. Students or teachers?"

"A bit of both. Say," she took off her headphones and flipped down, "We've still got like three hours before curfew hits. Wanna walk around?"

Sunset grinned. "Thought you, "blended into the background "?"

"Nah. You seem pretty cool," said Loli. "Besides, it'd be cool to hang out with one of the girls who saved our school."

"Uh-huh," Sunset said, raising an eyebrow.

"I mean, this isn't for popularity. I just-"

"Relax. I'm not mad," said Sunset, getting up. "Sure, I'd love to get to know you."

Loli smiled. "Great! I'll put on a pair of shoes and wait for you outside." All Sunset saw after that was a black and pink blur and Loli was gone.

"Definitely a Skyborn," she said, smoothing down her hair.





Dawn approached his dorm. He took in a deep breath. "You can do this. Fortune favors the bold... I hope." He opened the door and stepped forward. He was greeted by a room full of a few old, familiar faces.

"Dawn!" One of the boys jumped up and ran over to him. He had light cyan hair with lighter stripes in a mohawk and wore a white shirt with a storm cloud and lightning bolt and black trousers. "How's it going?"

"Not bad, Thunderlane," Dawn replied. "You?"

"Well, summer's over, so... Yeah, not looking forward to it," he said, laughing. "So, d'you do anything exciting?"

"Meh. Mostly just stayed home," Dawn replied. "Not much to do where I live."

"Oh. Well, hope you had fun. We were gonna check out what was going on on TV. You coming?"

"Maybe. I need to unpack." Thunderlane nodded in understanding. Dawn passed the common area and saw some of the others: a large boy with a blonde buzz cut, another, leaner blonde with a more… distinguished look.

Once he was in, he saw that one of the top bunks was still free. He tossed his backpack on it and brought out a few things to put in the free wardrobe. "So, you came back." Dawn dreaded the sound of that voice. The smaller of the blonde boys stood at the doorway.

"Not today, Blueblood," said Dawn. "It's too early."

Blueblood was, for all intents and purposes, a prince. As Princess Celestia's nephew, he held said title with much esteem, but not much respect. He constantly used his title to influence everything around him, from getting his way to making other people miserable. "Really? Because in my opinion the only thing it's too early for is your return."

Dawn groaned. "I've been here three minutes," he said to himself. "Three minutes, and it's just like the middle of last year!" Dawn picked up his headphones and put them on, tuning the volume to near maximum as he walked out, ignoring Blueblood. As he reached the exit, he teleported out and lifted one ear of the headset to hear the sound of Blueblood slamming into the closed door and blurting out random profanity. "Wow. That prince has some mouth," he said with a grin.





Sunset and Loli walked around the large school compound, talking as they walked and getting to know each other better.

“So, when did you first come here?” Sunset asked. “The school, I mean.”

“Well, it's kind of a long story,” said Loli. “Short version: Princess Celestia found me, thought I was talented, and offered me a place here.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Said she was impressed with my magic capabilities as a Skyborn.”

“So, what is your specialty?” Sunset asked.

“Mostly shaping elemental stuff, but I can also manipulate my hair and my main ability is controlling my shadow,” Loli replied, demonstrating her powers by creating a heart shape from her pigtails, but her shadow showed her making a star. “You?”

“Sweet. Mine’s mostly solar-based stuff,” said Sunset. “I cause my magic to absorb and manipulate solar energy,” she explained. “Sadly, I can't move the sun itself,” she added, grinning.

“Do you really want that responsibility?” Loli asked.

Sunset thought for a moment. Then blinked. “Nope. No way. Can't do it.” The two chuckled at the thought of having to control the sun and keep the time. “So, got a team?”

Loli shook her head. “Nope. Just a teammate,” she said. “I'm trying to convince him to get one. We had one last year, but all our members transferred.”

Sunset's heart sank. She deduced that some of the kids that had left the previous year were members of Loli’s old team. “Oh man. I'm… I'm sorry.”

Loli took a moment and looked at Sunset. It didn't take a genius to figure out what she was thinking. “Hey, don't be. Besides, the team sucked anyway. We couldn't get along.”

“Well, I've got no team either,” said Sunset. “Who knows? Maybe we'll wind up in the same group.”

“Hehe. That wouldn't be bad,” Loli said.

“So, you're gonna be preparing for the test?”

“Yep. I heard were going into the Everfree for this year’s test.”

“I'm thinking the not-so-dark-and-scary part,” said Sunset. “There are some terrifying creatures in there, and I'm not just talking about the general wildlife.”

“Oh, you mean the Nyctores?” Sunset nodded. “Come on, they're not that terrifying.”

“I once heard there was one so big, it ate an Ursa Minor.”

Loli gulped. “Okay. Stay away from anything that moves that's larger than a Treant. Noted.”

“Don't worry,” said Sunset. “There's always teachers and guards watching the area, so we're never put or left alone in any immediate danger.”

“Besides, I'm sure we can take down any of those things,” Loli added with confidence.

Sunset rolled her eyes and grinned. Loli reminded her of a certain someone.