First Day, New Beginnings

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Twilight Sparkle is probably the most studious... student, you'll ever find. She always has her head buried in a book... unless she's with her friends. Applejack, a cowgirl with a soft heart and strong limbs; Rainbow Dash, a speed demon with absolute devotion to whatever she sets her mind to, especially when her friends are involved; Fluttershy, a sweet girl whose kindness cannot be taken any other way; Rarity, the popular girl with a generous heart and love for fashion; and Pinkie Pie, the happy-go-lucky party lover who, literally, laughs in the face of danger. Together, they attend the Chantalot Academy of Magic, a school developed by Princess Celestia to help gifted mages excel in their talents. They also go under the name of Team Harmony... and the Elements of Harmony. Together, they restored Nightmare Moon back to Princess Luna, stopped Discord, the spirit of Chaos, and even helped repel a Changeling invasion. Together, they are an unstoppable force of nature. But Celestia knows they can only go so far. Their teamwork inspired her to create a team of six system where each teammate has a different special skill. This new year, new students and old lone ones will be grouped.

"Come on, we're going to be late." Twilight is one of the few people who was worried about being late for school, even if she didn't have a class that morning. She was dressed in a purple shirt, light purple capris, and black and white trainers. Over this, she wore her uniform: a long white cloak with gold, black, and blue accents. She also wore a six-point star-shaped hairclip in her long lavender hair, with two other shades of purple streaks running through.

"I'll be right down." A few moments later, a purple creature with bright green eyes and matching green scales came down the stairs and swiftly made its way to her shoulder. "I really don't understand why we have to go so early. You don't have a class for another two and a half hours."

"I know, Spike," she replied, scratching the little dragon's chin, "But I want to be their for the orientation and grouping. Plus, I want to do some studying ahead."

"Of course you do."

"Come on, Rarity. How long'r you gonna take." Applejack was waiting outside a large mansion. She stood behind the gilded gates, giving an uninterrupted view of the splendid house; its marble pillars, the groomed gardens, the stone statues, all glorious in their own way. She was dressed in a red button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, a brown leather vest, brown shorts, and shin-high boots with fur cuffs, over which she wore her uniform. Next to her, was a girl wearing a blue crop-top, a pink skirt with long blue and yellow stockings and matching armbands, and bright pink sneakers, as well as the same uniform. Her frizzy pink hair bounced as she did.

"Maybe she got lost," said the pink girl, hopping around Applejack. "I mean, that house is ginormous. There's probably a whole bunch of secret rooms she doesn't even know about."

Applejack grabbed her companion's collar. "Could be. But could ya simmer down. You're makin' me jumpy."

"I'm here," sang the purple-haired girl. She wore a simple white shirt, black skirt, and flat, black shoes. She wore a purple diamond-shaped hairclip and light blue eyeliner. "Sorry girls. I had to find something that would fit the start of the new school year. The uniform colors don't make it easy to choose certain colors," she said, gesturing to her cloak.

"Yeah, well, we gotta hurry."

"Come on, Flutts! Pick up the pace." Rainbow Dash was fast at everything, but she was especially fast at moving. Her white tank-top exposed her midriff to the rush of air. Her sky blue shorts gave her good leg room and her light blue sneakers were made to be friction-resistant. Her rainbow hair whipped behind her like the rainbow trail it left. Her pink-haired companion, in her white shirt, yellow sweater, and pink capris found it hard to keep up, and it wasn't because she was wearing sandals. Fluttershy did not have her friend's need for speed, but she constantly pushed herself to her limit, like she did. She stopped behind Rainbow, panting and adjusting the butterfly-shaped hairclip in her hair. She looked up to see her four other friends.

"Oh... hi... girls..."

"Rainbow, try slowin' down a bit fer her sake," Applejack said. "The poor girl's gonna collapse tryin' to keep up with ya... no offense."

"None taken," Fluttershy replied, smiling, now recovering her breath. "Actually, I'm fine with it; it's like training."

"Well, we'd better get inside," said Twilight. "It's about to start"

"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."

"So, how was your break?" Twilight with her friends on her right. To her left was a girl with orange and crimson hair wearing an orange shirt, matching shorts with pink lines on the side, and black and orange boots. She was one of the relatively few students that wore their uniform unzipped.

"Not bad," she replied. "At least when people said the name 'Sunset Shimmer', there wasn't always some curse or insult following it," she said with a rather weak smile.

"I thought everyone had forgiven you for that."

"Especially after you helped us beat the Sirens," added Pinkie.

"Yeah, well, some kids left and I met them during the summer. They don't know that happened, so they still hate me."

"That's a pretty strong word," said Applejack.

"It's the best description."

"Now, I'm sure you all know of our team-of-six system. So now, without any delay, here are the groups..." She began listing off the groups. Some were pretty much expected, like Vinyl Scratch with Octavia Melody and Bulk Biceps and Macintosh Apple, but some were rather odd, like having Bulk and Big Mac with Ditzy 'Derpy' Do. Others seemed like recipes for disaster, like putting Thunderlane on the same team with both Flitter and Cloudchaser. "Next: Sunset Shimmer."

"Oh boy," Sunset said, nervously.

"Don't worry," said Twilight reassuringly, "Your team will be fine."

"Trixie Lulamoon..."

Sunset looked at Twilight. "Um, okay. It won't be so bad."

"She won't give a break." Sunset looked back to see the pale blue-haired girl glaring at her. She turned away almost instantly.

"Digit Weaver..."

"That sounds promising."

"Amethyst Luster..."

"Looking up."

"Zesty Blitz... and finally Nox Moonrider."

"Well, I guess it isn't... so bad." Sunset felt a shiver down her spine. "Is Trixie still staring?"

"Um, yes," Twilight replied.

"Oh. boy."

"In one week, you will have the freedom to switch teams or even reduce your numbers. However, I do hope you find a reason to remain with your initially chosen teammate."

"That's going to be a bit difficult," murmured Sunset.

"If you all check your tablets, you will each see your homerooms and main team meeting grounds. That will be all. Enjoy the year and good luck."

"Some of us are going to need it," groaned Sunset.

"So, I've got the magical pain in the butt, the hyper guy high on sugar, a fashionista, and the silent shadow. Only real upside is the technical genius." Sunset Shimmer was walking with Twilight and her friends to their homeroom while looking at her team's balancing.

"You mean Digit?" asked Twilight. "I haven't had many encounters with him, but I do know he's pretty smart. Plus, he's athletic."

"I hear he uses some odd form of Rune Magic," added Applejack.

"Well, whoever he is, this Digit guy is probably going to be the silver lining in all this," Sunset added with a sigh.

"Our team ain't that bad." They turned around to see a smiling young teenager with spiky, snow white hair and electric blue eyes. His hair had a light blue streak on each side and he wore a pair of goggles. He wore his uniform open, which showed his light blue shirt with a gear on it, cut by a lightning bolt, light brown khakis, and blue high-top trainers. He also wore a pair of fingerless gloves and a pair of belts around his waist that crossed one another, along with a pair of goggles and a set of headphones. "It's pretty diverse, actually. That's what makes it awesome."

"Oh, you must be Digit?" asked Sunset.

"That's me. Pleased to meetcha," he said, holding out his hand. She shook it. It felt unusually cold... or maybe she was just a bit warm. "Mind if I walk with you? Room 318, right?"

"Yeah, sure, not at all."

They finally arrived at their homeroom, which was more than half full. "I knew we should have stayed close to the door," Twilight said under her breath.

"Hey, Sunset, wanna sit next to me?" Sunset was a bit flustered. He was so forward with the question, like he ignored the implications.

"Um, sure, okay," she said, hesitating a bit.

"How well can you handle high speeds?"

"Well, I can hold on to Rainbow when she's running for like five seconds." That's probably a record.

"It won't take that long." He held her shoulder. "Seeya around, Harmony." He zipped off with such speed, there was a gust of wind and trail of blue and white light.

Twilight stood, staring blankly. "That was... interesting."

"I'll say," replied Applejack.

"Welcome to Homeroom 318. 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. There was a good 3:1 Sophomore to Freshman ratio. 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 your team 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, Metal 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. Harmony 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 Floating Crystal Island. 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 Digit, who was smiling and standing.

"That is correct, Mister Weaver. So I take it you know what this is then?" The image changed to that of a giant rubrics 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?"

"'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 special distortion and special configuration spells on a much larger scale than many others."

The class was silent. They knew he was smart, but now they though he was a walking encyclopedia. "Outstanding, Mister Weaver."

Twilight looked in utter confusion at Digit, who smiled at her and 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 filed out for their next class, if they had any. Digit zipped out again 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.

"Well, that's half the day gone." Sunset had spent the rest of the day with Harmony, as Digit had vanished after class. She was now heading for her first team meeting. "See you girls later."

"Bye," they replied in unison.

She approached the gym, where her team was supposed to meet. She took deep breaths. Your not evil anymore and they know it. They've forgiven you... I hope. She couldn't even convince herself that this was going to go smoothly. She opened the door. A dark haired figure was sitting cross-legged in the bleachers, next to a purple-haired girl, who had a white streak in her hair and was texting on her phone. A figure with spikey bright red hair, which fades to pink as it goes down, was hanging upside down from the pull-up bar. Almost instantly, he dropped down and in a flash of shades of red, he was in front of her. She jumped back.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you." He spoke rather fast, Sunset couldn't tell were the statement started, ended, or broke off. He held out his hand. "Zesty Blitz, but you already know that, just like how I know you're Sunset Shimmer, since we were both in the auditorium during the announcement, and we both know were our meeting place is, meaning we both heard each other's names, but I just like the whole introduction process, it just feels so nice and warm, what do you think? By the way, what type of mage are you? What's you're elemental affinity? What's your favorite color? Where are you from? Do you think we're friends?" He was still breathing normally, and he hadn't taken any breaths between his long statement. Sunset was still trying to process everything he just said. After knowing Pinkie Pie for a few years, you tend to pick up some new skills.

"Um, sure, Arcane, fire, I like amber and opal equally, and... I... guess so."

"Cool." He zipped away in a red blur. Sunset's hand was still shaking from his handshake. The purple-haired, dark-skinned girl looked at her, laughed a bit, and went back to her phone.

Well, he was... interesting, Sunset thought to herself. But something's missing...

"Sunset Shimmer."

There it is.

A girl of about average height with pale light blue hair and blue eyes was suddenly standing in front of her. She was wearing a light blue shirt, dark blue skirt with several stars designed onto it, and blue low heeled boots. She wore a witch hat with a star hanging on the tip. "You should have begged for a re-selection. Now, you are at the mercy of the Great and Powerful..."

"Trixie, knock it off." They both turned to see Digit standing at the door. "Seriously, you've been doing this for four years now. Get a new theme will ya."

As he walked past Trixie stepped in front of him. She was about two to three inches shorter, but she didn't let that intimidate her. "You think you're something special, don't you?"

"Nah. Not really. I ain't exactly famous," he said smiling.

"Well, let me show you that Trixie has earned her Great and Powerful title." She drew her wand from inside her cloak and pointed it at Digit. Digit looked back at her, blankly.

"You... want... to pick a fight... with me? Here? Now?" He chuckled to himself. "Okay, yeah... no." He zipped past her in a blur of blue and white. Trixie turned to fire a bolt of pale magenta magic at him. He stopped and snapped his fingers and instantly, a light blue bubble surrounded him, blocking Trixie's attack. He snapped his fingers and the bubble popped, causing a strong gust of wind that the students in the bleacher's felt.

Trixie recovered from the force. "You're too weak to strike back?"

"Nah. I just don't like hitting girls. They're kinda... soft. No offenses Sunset. No offense Amy."

"Um, none taken," Sunset replied.

"Don't worry about it," called the girl in the stands.

"Was there a fight? Did I miss it? Please don't tell me I missed it. Digit, you're here!" The hyper boy from earlier was now jogging on the spot rapidly beside Digit.

"Yeah. Good to see you back in action, Zest."

"Yeah, well, it gets kinda boring when you're stuck in one place for days, ya know."

"I hear you. So, shall we begin?" They zipped towards the bleachers.

"You're gettin' slow pally," said Zest.

"Meh."

Sunset walked fast, trying to keep distance from Trixie. "So, what now?"

"Well, we already know each other's names," Digit said, thoughtfully, "How about we start coming up with a team name?"

"Do we need one?" asked Amethyst, still on her phone.

"Every team needs a name... unless you don't mind memorizing our number?"

"How long is it?" asked Sunset.

"About twenty characters long, including letters, number, symbols-"

"Never mind. So, does anyone have any ideas?"

Trixie opened her mouth to speak, but Digit cut her off. "Let's all agree that if Trixie even implies the name, The Illusions, for our team, we revoke her right to vote on anything else."

"I can work with that," Sunset said, smiling.

"Oh, come on."

"Besides, I'm pretty sure your friends already took that name," Digit said, still thinking.

"They couldn't. They know the consequences," Trixie said, trying to sound intimidating.

"How about the Misfits." Everyone turned to the black-haired, green eyed mage sitting cross-legged behind them.

"Ummmm." Digit didn't know how to reply.

"I mean look at us. We each seem to have a problem of our own. How is this even going to work?" He stared at Sunset and Trixie.

"Hey, I'm over it," Sunset said.

"Nox, come on. A little support, please?" Digit said, smiling lightly.

"You know I'm not a good team player."

"Yeah, well, that can be dealt with." Nox frowned.

They spent the whole hour arguing on names. Amethyst had suggested the Crystal Gems, but everyone had an issue with it. For one, she was the only person named after a gem to begin with. Others included The Streaks, the Shadows, and the Arsenals, but no one could agree on a name. "Misfits it is then. Seriously, we couldn't even agree on a team name in an hour."

Then, Digit had an idea. "Okay. We've got a week to come up with a permanent name before the school makes one for us. Lets each come up with a list and meet up a couple of days and try again."

"Sounds like a plan," said Sunset.

"Sure, why not."

"Whatever."

""Trixie shall come up with the greatest name!"

"It's not a competition Trixie."

"So, how'd it go." Twilight and the others met Sunset during lunch and were curious to find out how their first meeting went.

"It wasn't bad." She didn't sound convinced. "But it's like Princess Celestia took six of the most different people in the school and put them in a team."

"Well, we aren't exactly carbon copies of each other," said Twilight, gesturing to her friends. "I'm sure you guys will be fine." Suddenly, there was a loud explosion coming from outside the school. "What was that?" They ran outside and saw something they couldn't explain. There was a mage throwing red explosives at a blue streak.

"Stand still, you freak!" she cried as she tossed two more bombs in his general direction.

"What's going on? Why isn't anyone stopping this."

"Because someone is supervising." They turned to see their homeroom teacher.

"Professor Creed?" Fluttershy asked confused. "What's going on?"

"One had some steam to blow off and decided to pick a fight. Of course, fights are forbidden without the presence of a supervising official."

"Well, that explains it," Applejack said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Everyone watched as the field was ripped apart by explosions. "JUST TAKE THE DAMN HIT ALREADY!" The blur stopped. Sunset rubbed her eyes, for some reason, refusing to believe that she was seeing Digit. He was smiling.

"Try harder. Or can't you hit a moving target with all that firepower?" He took off towards her, gliding on the ground as if he were skating instead of running. She threw a maelstrom of red, cherry bomb-like projectiles at him as he came. He dodged them all, ducking, leaning, and sidestepping out of the way. He ran past her and up the stadium wall. He kicked off, spun in the air, and then threw a glowing, disc like object at her, which hit her square in the stomach, knocking her back. As he landed, the disc flew back to his arm as if it were magnetized. The shield folded in on itself and disappeared with a spark. The girl shot up, but before she could throw the bomb in her hand, a blue chain wrapped around her hand, causing her to throw the bomb to the ground in front of her, knocking her back again. She laid there panting.

"Not bad, Cherry Bomb. Still need to work on your speed, though," Digit said, smiling over her and held out his hand to help her up, but she pushed his hand away.

"Don't try to lecture me you freak." The cherry-haired girl got up and stormed off.

"Um," Sunset was confused at the sight of how Digit had practically become a different person. "What just happened?"

Digit spotted her and teleported behind her. "So, enjoy the show?"

"I thought you didn't fight girls? Something about being soft," she said, smiling slyly.

"I said I didn't like it. Besides, it wasn't like she gave me a choice."

"Well done Mister Weaver." Professor Creed was now standing behind them. "I was impressed on how you held your own out there, especially against an unrelenting opponent like Miss Cherry."

"Thanks, Sir."

"But, you'd best be heading to class. You wouldn't want to be late.

The rest of the day had gone without a hitch. Sunset, Digit, Amethyst, and Zest followed Harmony back to the dorms to the east of the school , about a ten minute walk. Digit and Zest were roommates, while Sunset and Amethyst had to try to survive living with the insufferable Trixie. As they unpacked, Digit and Zest heard a knock on the door. "Coming." Digit walked over and peeked throw the spy hole on the door. Sunset Shimmer was standing outside. He opened the door. "Hey. Wanna come in?"

Sunset suddenly turned red. "Um... um... oh, no. I just came to give you this." She handed him a pamphlet. "I-Its the class schedule for the term. Princess Celestia asked me to hand them out to the team. Here's one for Zest and Nox when you see him tomorrow."

"Um, thanks. Are you okay? You sure you don't want to just come in for a while. We're teammates, so the boy-girl dorm restrictions aren't too bad."

"No, no. I'm fine. Well, bye." She darted away.

"Huh. Wonder what that was about." Then a gust of wind hit him and he realized. "Oh, crap."

Oh, crap. Sunset was leaning against the wall outside. Why the heck didn't I say anything. The image was sealed in her mind; the tan skin, the mildly defined six-pack abs... NO! She managed to force the image out of her head as she walked back to her dorm about a hundred meters away. But like any other girl with taste, she could only barely keep the image out of her head.

Zest was snickering. "If you say a single word..." Digit was standing over Zest with a large wrench in his hand, "...If you so much as chuckle..."

"I won't. I swear." He clasped his hands over his mouth to muffle his laugh. Then he cracked. Then Digit cracked his skull.

"First day," Digit said as he laid down, ignoring Zest's whines of pain. "Well, that takes care of a lot of awkward tension. I guess."

Little Things

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The next day went on without much happening. Students were generally getting to know each other and were getting along fairly well with their teams... well, most of them, anyway.

"I'm telling you, that's the best name."

"Dude, we are not calling ourselves the Misfits. What kind of message are you trying to send?"

"Um, an honest one?"

Sunset Shimmer, Digit Weaver, Trixie Lulamoon, Amethyst Luster, Zesty Blitz, and Nox Moonrider had had three meetings already. And for three meetings, they had argued on what to call their team. Nox and Amethyst had especially been arguing on one name in particular. "Look, you said you weren't a team player, but maybe at least make an effort?"

"I am."

"Gah!"

"Okay, let's all just calm the heck down." Digit was apparently now the voice of reason on this team, something Trixie seemed to have a problem with. Actually, she seemed to have a problem with the whole team.

"Who made you team leader?" Trixie asked.

"Um, I'm not. I'm just saying we need to calm down and figure this out."

"What if we use the first letter of our first names and make an acronym?" Zest asked, hanging from his usual position.

"That could work..." Digit though about it and found a problem. "... Except it’s kinda hard to make a reasonable acronym with five consonants and a vowel, don't you think?"

"Oh yeah. Haha. Didn't think of that," Zest said, scratching his head.

"Obviously."

"Trixie, rude!" Amethyst said in a disapproving tone.

"What, it's not like he's come up with any good names."

"And you have?"

Sunset looked at Digit, who was rubbing his temples. "It's gonna be a long week, huh?"

"Oh yeah. Very."

"Welcome to Basic Magic Plants! My name is Miss Roseluck!" On the third day, the class was introduced to Roseluck, another very... interesting teacher. She had a perky attitude and always wore bright colors. For example, today she wore a rose red dress, green sandals, and a bright red rose in her hair. On her arms were bright green vine-like armbands that extended from her elbow to her wrists. "So, let's get right into it. Who can tell me what plant this is?" She held up a blue flower with five long petals. "Miss Sparkle?"

"The Poison Joke," Twilight answered. Never gonna forget that one ever again, she said, laughing quietly to herself. Her teammates had the same idea.

"That's correct," Roseluck sang. "Who can tell me what this one is?" Next she pulled out a flower with bright yellow center, surrounded by orange and bright teal petals. Electricity arced around the flower. "Miss Applejack?"

"That's a zap apple flower," said Applejack, standing up. "It's the third sign of the comin' o' zap apple season."

"Correct again!"

"Um, Digit?" Amethyst was shaking Digit, who had fallen asleep ten minutes into the class.

"Hm?" Digit opened an eye to look at Sunset. "What's up?"

"Um, class, that's what's up."

"Meh, I'm not really a plant guy."

"Won't this be important when we have a test to write?"

"Hehe. I guess." He sat up and looked at her. "You know, sometimes you sound like Twilight."

"I'm goin' to ignore that, but take it as a compliment," she said, turning back to face Roseluck.

Next few hours went by like a typical school day: class, break, class, class, class, team meeting. Again, they argued on what to call themselves. Next, they had Physical Education.

"ALRIGHT! LISTEN UP!" The class wasn't saw what scared them most; his voice or his figure. He had tanned skin, bright yellow eyes, and dark blue buzz-cut hair and a goatee. His bulging muscles made him look twice as intimidating when coupled with his chiseled eight-pack and barrel chest. He wore a gray sleeveless sweatshirt, a pair of blue military camouflage trousers and black boots. "MY NAME IS IRON WILL! I WILL BE YOUR GYM INSTRUCTOR!" Oh, and he tends to shout when he speaks.

"Huh, I heard that he's a Minotaur," said Twilight. "Or was that just another false rumor?"

"Oh, no," answered Fluttershy. "He is a Minotaur... well, half Minotaur."

"That explains the physique."

"Wonder which side of the family that comes from," asked Rainbow. "Either way, having a kid would be painful for one of the parents, or both, depending" she added, snickering.

"Rainbow Dash, please!" Rarity turned slightly red at her friend’s lewd statement. "Have some decency and refrain from such lewd fprms of humor."

"What?" Rainbow asked, smiling.

"TODAY, I WANNA SEE WHAT EACH OF YOU IS MADE OF! SO GET ON THE TRACK, AND GIVE ME 30 LAPS!"

"Oh what?!" was the reply from most of the class.

"What was that?" Somehow, Iron Will sounded even scarier when he was calm than when he was shouting. This was proven when everyone immediately hit the track.

At the final lap, Sunset and Twilight were jogging at the back, along with a group of others, including Fluttershy, amethyst, and Rarity. "So... how're things... going... with your team?" Twilight asked Sunset, struggling to breathe.

"Could... be better." Sunset fared no better. "Rainbow's ahead... as usual?"

"Yeah."

Meanwhile, in the lead, Rainbow, Zest, Applejack, and Digit were fighting for first, four trails of rainbow, blue, red, and orange. Rainbow overtook Zest in the air, Digit was neck-to-neck with Applejack on the ground. "Come on slowpokes, at least try to keep up," Rainbow called out to the back. Zest smiled and began to inch forward. Then, they crossed the finish; Rainbow, then Zest, the Digit, then Applejack.

"Hoowee!" Applejack leaned over to catch her breath. "That was some run. How'd you get so fast?" Applejack looked at Digit, who was being held upside down by Zest.

"Practice... dedication... a bunch of bullies you aren't able to outrun... and another bunch of people that won't stop laughing at how slow you are." He gave a thumbs-up and he was released, landing on his feet with acrobatic precision.

"Wow, ah always thought you were the popular type."

"We all gotta start somewhere."

"And yet, you're still slower than me," Zest added, resting on Digit's head.

By the time everyone had finished, nobody could stand on their own. What happened next didn't make it any better. "Now," Iron Will said, his voice calm, but not scary this time, "I've tested your endurance. Now I want to test your strength. I need a volunteer." Applejack raised her hand. "What's your name?"

"Applejack, coach."

"Well Applejack, let's see what you've got." He went over to the corner of the room and brought a large punching bag. "This is a Pound Counter. It measures your total output power in your attack." He hung it up from a long chain that extended from the ceiling. "Go ahead." Applejack took her stance; legs apart, one in front of the other, arms by her side, head down. Then, she lunged at the sack and, in an explosive display of power, kicked it with such force, the resulting shockwave sent a few students staggering back a few inches. The bag flew off its hook and landed a good fifteen feet away, sand pouring from a rip in the material. Applejack smiled. Iron Will checked his tablet. "Congratulations, your hit power was... three thousand five hundred ninety-two." Everyone gasped. Then there was chattering. They could tell that the kick was strong, but with nothing to compare it too, they didn't know just how powerful. Iron Will face-palmed. "It means her hit has the same amount of force as a ten-meter-tall diamond golem."

There was a collective, "Ooooh," from the room. "Okay, WHO’S NEXT?" Everyone took turns, but no one came even close to Applejack. The closest competitors were Rainbow with 3204, Pinkie, with 3289, and Digit with 3447, which wasn't enough to knock it off the hook, it was enough to punch a hole in the bag.

Afterwards, they had Nature Studies. Their teacher was a dark-skinned woman with a light gray and white stripped 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 flora and fauna." 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 eco system; 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, after which everyone went home or to their dorms.

On the fifth day, things got a little more interesting. More teams were finalizing their name changes and any other alterations they wanted. Some teams split up and some teams grew. Sunset was unsure about what would become of her team.

"Five days and still no name." Everyone was getting a bit worried. "Come on, there has to be something we all have in common that we can work with."

"Face it Sunny," Amethyst said, "We just ain't made to work together."

"I don't believe that." Sunset thought for a while. According to Nox, everyone had some kind of problem, but from what she could tell, they had each found a way to get over it, especially considering that nobody was bringing up their past problems. Not a lot to go on.

"Hey, where's Trixie?" Zest asked. "I haven't seen her since third period."

"Me neither," said Amethyst.

Suddenly, Trixie burst through the door. "Trixie has arrived," she announced, rolling her tongue at "arrived".

"Speak of the devil..." said Zest.

"And she shall appear," Amethyst finished with a smile.

"Oh, shut it."

"Or what, little girl?"

"Or you'll face the wrath of the Great and Powerful Trixie!"

"You wanna go, Trixie? Because I've got a lot of steam to blow off!"

"Would you both knock it off?" Digit teleported between them before they could get close enough to start throwing punches. "We're on the same team here."

"For now," Amethyst added as she walked back to the bleachers and went back to her phone.

"Okay, there's been some pretty slow progress, so I have an idea for a good team building exercise."

"Which is?" Sunset asked, her curiosity suddenly piqued.

"A team project that could quite possibly speed up the naming process."

"Again I ask, which is?"

"A team sigil." Everyone stared at him.

"That..." Amethyst attempted to argue, but nothing came to mind, "...is actually a pretty good idea."

"Agreed," said Sunset.

"Sounds like fun," added Zest.

"Whatever," Nox added, blankly.

"Fine," Trixie said, rather reluctantly.

"Okay, let’s get started."

Ten minutes later...

"Okay, so maybe this is going to be a little bit harder than I thought." They had before them a massive canvas. Each of them took a side and drew about three sketches each of what they think their team sigil should be. However, to two people had any similar ideas.

"Yeesh," was all Sunset could say as she saw the variety of sigils.

"I hate to be the one to ask such a negative question," Amethyst said, "But do we have anything in common?"

"We all have something terrible in our past." Again, they all looked at Nox. How could any one person be so gloomy?

"Wow. Dude," Sunset said. "I'm pretty sure it's very well near impossible to depress Pinkie, but I think you can pull it off."

"Just being honest."

"Then the truth don't just hurt," Amethyst said, "It totally sucks."

"Okay, new plan. Wait here." Digit left the room and headed down the hall.

Meanwhile...

Zecora had one of the largest classes in terms of the volume of work, so she was one of those teachers that stayed back in class an extra hour or so. Today was no exception. The only difference is that she had a visitor. "Come in." Professor Creed walked in. "Professor Creed, last of a dying breed."

"Please Zecora," he said smiling. "How have you been?"

"A little busy with work, but every job has a quirk. Are you here to discuss the issue I brought up with you?"

"Yes. From what I can tell, the group's member's individual performances are outstanding, but they seem to have a problem working together. Some of them get along, but not all six at once."

"Change is difficult, that we all know, but in time, closer will they grow."

"True. I just fear they may fall apart before they even get that close."

"Have faith, Professor. As you once said, 'Doubt is your only oppressor.'"

Professor Creed smiled. "Zecora, your wisdom and enlightenment knows no bounds." He looked at his watch. "I'll be off then. Bye Zecora."

"Where were you?" Sunset asked, as Digit walked through the door a few minutes later.

"I think I found something to get us together. Now, it's a known fact that none of us can sit still... mostly," he added, looking at Nox, who shrugged. "So, what if we go on a hunt?"

"Um... what?" Sunset ran the though through her head. "O... kay. Where's the treasure?"

"Remember when a kangarat escaped the science lab last year? We're going to find it."

"It might not even be in the school anymore."

"Oh, it's here alright."

"I'm in," said Amethyst. "Ain't like I got anything better to do right now."

"Count me in," chimed Zest.

"Whatever," Nox droned.

"Why not," Sunset shrugged.

They all looked at Trixie. "Fine. Yeesh."

"Okay. Let's get going."

They searched the whole school until the sun began to set... then kept searching. Amethyst walked around the back of the school. As she turned a corner, she bumped into Sunset.

"Oh, sorry," they said in unison.

"Any luck?" asked Sunset.

"Nope," Amethyst replied. They walked together, checking the school parking lot. They searched each van and bus. "Hey, Sunny, is it okay if I call you that?" asked Amethyst.

"Sure," Sunset replied.

"What do you think of Trixie?"

Sunset nearly slipped off the crate she was standing on in one of the delivery vans. "Wait, what?" she asked in shock.

"Like, what do you think of her as a teammate?"

"Oh," Sunset sighed in relief.

"Wait," Amethyst said, "Did you think I meant...? OH HELL NO! I DO NOT SWING THAT WAY!"

"I'm sorry," Sunset said, blushing. "It's just the whole issue with you two can be translated differently."

"Let me translate clearly: I do not like Trixie." Then she calmed down. "Sorry. I kinda lost it there for a sec."

"I should be the one apologizing for thinking the way I did. But what do you mean?"

"Like, do you think she's the reason that we can't solidify this team?"

"Not really. She can be a real pain, but I think she's just compensating for something else. But-"

"Do you think I'm the reason?"

Sunset stared at her blankly. Amethyst was popular and confident, but she was still human. Sunset had never expected to see this side of her. "Absolutely not. Why would you say something like that? You've actually been making an effort."

"Yeah, well, I seem to have this curse where every time I'm in a group, I never seem to get along with them. Plus, I'm a bit of a trouble magnet, and that's putting it lightly."

"Well you haven't gotten into any trouble and you get along pretty well with Digit and me."

"Haven't gotten into any trouble yet. Besides, I've known Digit for a while, and you just seem like you could relate to the whole rejection story." Sunset raised an eyebrow. "No offense," she quickly added.

"None taken. But honestly, I think we each have a part to play in the problem. The only reason we aren't a team yet is because we let little things get to us and it's breaking the bonds before they can even form. I learned that while I was with the Rainbooms during the Battle of the Bands."

Amethyst smiled. "Smart and she can shred on a guitar. How is every boy in the school not on top of you right now?"

"I guess their afraid I'd brainwash them and try to form my zombie army again."

"Take your own advice, Sunny," Amethyst said, placing a hand on her shoulder, "Its good advice." Sunset smiled and she smiled back. "Thanks. Now let's find that rat."

"FOUND THE RAT!" The yell was followed by a red blur crashing to the ground behind the van they were in.

"What? Where?" the two girls asked in unison.

"On the school field. C'mon!" He darted off, the girls following close behind.

Amethyst pulled out her phone. "Yo, Digit, Zest found the kangarat! It's at the school field. Sunset and I are headed there with him right now!" When they reached the field, they saw it... kind of. It was a light brown blur, streaking across the field.

"Gotcha!" Zest shot towards the field where the creature was. Keyword, "was". He zipped across and missed, slamming into the wall at the other end while looking back to try spot the rodent. "Okay," he said, pulling away from the wall and trying to regain his balance, "This thing is going DOWN!" He shot across again, missed again, and crashed into the barricade behind the girls, who dived out of the way before they became shock absorbers.

"WATCH IT!" Amethyst yelled. "This isn't working. It's too fast."

"Back in class last year, Miss Zecora said that to catch these things, we need to try to predict their movements; find point 'A' and predict point 'B'." They looked up to see Digit standing in front of them, with Nox floating cross-legged behind him, his midnight blue wings stretched out to full length. "Sorry, we were looking for Trixie. She should be here right about..." He held up his finger and looked at his watch.

In a flash of pale pink light, Trixie appeared at the top of the bleachers. "Trixie is here,” she announced. "And the rat is mine!" She shot a bolt of winding, pink energy at the creature, but missed. The rodent hopped at blinding speed towards Trixie. As it approached, Trixie backed away, firing more binding spells at it. "Eek! Stay away you rat!" She tripped over a step and fell, losing the grip on her wand. She kicked at the rodent, who kept coming. "No! Stay away! Shoo!" Then it landed on her lap. She shrieked so loudly, a mandrake would bury itself without trying to compete.

"Hey boy!" Sunset waved her hands at the creature from across the field, gesturing for it to come over. "Over here. Come on, mama won't hurt you."

As it hopped off of Trixie's lap, a streak of red zipped past her. "Point 'A'," Zest said, as he skidded to a halt with the kangarat in his hands, "Meet point flippin' 'B'!" He stared at it with venom and victory in his eyes, which faded in about five seconds. "Awww," he said, petting the furry creature, "You are troublesome, but you're just so adorable!"

"I agree," Amethyst said, coming up behind him to scratch the kangarat's head. "They better not dissect him. Otherwise, there's gonna be a war!"

"Well, this was nice. The lost now found for no price." The next day, Zecora stared at the cage containing a small fuzzy creature that resembled a mouse, but with long, kangaroo-like legs. "Good deeds come in every shape and size, but all good deeds deserve a prize." She looked around the classroom and smiled. After the class, she held back Sunset. "Someone in your team, or do I dream?"

"Well, Zest caught it," Sunset replied.

"I see..." Zecora moved to her desk and began writing on a slip of paper.

"But Trixie was also a big help."

Zecora stopped to look at her. "Really?"

"Yeah. She helped keep the rodent still long enough for Zest to catch it."

"I see." She kept writing.

"Also, Amethyst helped keep it calm so it didn't run away again, Digit built the cage so it would be comfortable, and Nox helped feed it."

"And you, Miss Shimmer?"

"Not much, I just got its attention and helped Amethyst for a while."

"Do you remember the first thing I said when I saw this creature in its little bed?" She gestured to the animal, which was asleep in said little bed.

"Something about finding the lost without paying?" Sunset asked, unsure.

"The other thing," Zecora replied, blankly.

"About how good deeds come in many forms?"

"Exactly." She handed Sunset six slips of paper. They were all folded and had the name of a member of her team. "Never sell yourself short, Miss Shimmer, or that light of yours will only get dimmer."

"Thank you, Miss Zecora."

"We are not calling ourselves the Kangarats!" It was now Nox versus Amethyst and Zest.

"Aw, come on," Zest said, once again in his usual upside-down position. "Dude, that's the perfect mascot for our group."

"If we were still in elementary school. Besides, how does that even work?"

"It's small, but mighty," answered Amethyst. "Besides, it showed how well we can work together as a team."

"Not all of us were involved."

"Direct or indirect, it still counts."

"However," Trixie interjected, "If Trixie hadn't held it down, you never would have caught it."

"Held it down?" Amethyst pulled out her phone. "More like 'it stood still trying to understand why you were so scared of it'."

"Excuse me?"

Amethyst held up her phone. It showed a video of Trixie backing away from the kangarat. Then falling. Then screaming like a little girl. 'Ah! No! Stay away! Shoo! AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!' Amethyst smiled. "That."

"If anyone sees that video, Celestia help me I'll..."

"You'll what?" Amethyst placed her finger on the send button on the screen.

"Nonononono! Please!" Trixie was now on her knees, pleading. "Don't send that. I'll be ruined!"

"Calm down." She closed the video, smiling. "What kind of person do you think I am? Yeesh."

"Well, ahem, um..." Trixie said, getting up, "Trixie thanks you for not being a total bitch."

"Yeah, well, you compensate for ten, so..." Amethyst replied, grinning. Then, Sunset walked through the door before they could go any further. "Hey Sunny."

"Hi Amy. Have you seen Digit?"

"Over here." Digit was standing on the wall... sideways. "Check it out. New dimension warping spell."

"Nice. Oh, Miss Zecora said I should give these to each of you." She handed out the slips to their respective owners. Digit opened his. In his shock, he lost concentration and fell off the wall. "Omygoodness! Are you okay?" She ran to his side.

"Do you know what this is?" he asked, excitement burning in his eyes. "It's a First Call Mission Slip."

"What?" Sunset opened hers. "It is."

"Woohoo!" Zest fly circles above them in excitement.

"What is it exactly?" asked Amethyst.

"This means..." Sunset started.

Digit finished. "We can start taking high class assignments... next week."

"Wait, don't we need to go through some kind of orientation?" Amethyst asked.

"Not anymore," Digit replied, "And I don't know about you guys, but I don't intend to wait long."

"So, what are you doing this weekend, Sunny?" As they left the school grounds, they talked about how they intended to spend the weekend.

"I'm probably gonna hang with Twilight and the girls for a while," Sunset replied. "Not sure about anything else."

"Ugh, you're depressing me, girl. What of a girl's night out, you and me?"

"Are you sure? I don't want to be a bother or anything."

"Hey, I'm asking you. It'll be fine."

"Well, okay." Sunset turned to the guys. "What are you guys doing?" she asked.

"I'm staying with my sister for the weekend," Digit replied. "Zest's sleeping over, but I'm still waiting for Nox to reply." Then a thought came to mind. "What if we all just hang out this weekend?"

"High school boys and girls under the same roof?" Amethyst asked with concern. "Not sure that's a good idea."

"Okay, first, my sis'll probably be there. Second, Nox isn't a problem and I can always reel in Zest."

"Hey!"

"Third, it'd be fun getting to know each other."

"True. So, two became five. And Trixie?" Amethyst inquired.

"What about her?"

"Will she be there?"

"Well yeah. She's part of the team. Oh, this is our stop." Digit and Zest branched off at the path leading to the boy's dorm. "Gotta get packing. Later."

"Seeya girls," Zest said, waving.

"Bye," Sunset and Amethyst replied. "Well, this'll be an interesting weekend," Sunset said as they headed to their dorm.

"Yeah," Amethyst replied. "And a long, eventful one at that."

"Wow. So you guys caught the kangarat and got a First Call slip? Things are looking up, huh?" Sunset had just finished telling a now pleased Twilight about her day. They stood in the corridor where their rooms were.

"Yeah. It was kinda fun. We're planning to hang out tomorrow."

"Oooooh, progress," Twilight said with wide eyes. "Well, good luck."

"Thanks. Bye." She walked back to her room, where amethyst was sitting cross-legged on her bed, meditating. Trixie had already left. "I've gotta try that one of these days."

"Clears the mind," Amethyst inhaled, "Calms the spirit."

"Sounds like fun." Sunset got on her bed, assuming the same position. They each opened an eye, and began to laugh.

"I think it's a great idea, son."

"Mom, you know I don't get along well with others."

"And yet, you haven't complained about them, nor them about you."

"How am I supposed to trust them?"

"Trust is earned. You once quoted a friend on this same topic. Something about taking a leap of faith?"

"And look where that got me."

"They aren't like them."

"And you know this, how?"

"Because you still attend team meetings don't you?"

"I..."

"Just give them a chance. The fact that you all have some past issue doesn't make you any less incompatible. In fact, it means your practically made for each other. And no, you are not misfits."

"Fine. But I'm holding the 'I Told You So' card."

"Fine by me. I doubt you'll get to use it."

Digit stood in front of the mirror on his dorm room wall. He stared. "Well everything seems normal," he thought out loud. "No pain, no voices. That's good. He went back to packing.

You okay? He heard a female voice.

"Yeah." He replied.

"Well, okay. I'm taking a cookie."

"Don't get fat."

"Not sure if that's possible."

"Hey," Zest called from his end of the room, "Is this get-together a good idea? All things considered?"

"Dude, you're not supposed to be the worried one," Digit replied smiling. "It'll be fine."

"Haha. Yeah. You're right. What could happen?"

Not All Rainbows Lead to a Pot of Gold

View Online

Digit and Zest were sitting in Sugarcube Corner, waiting for their remaining teammates. It was a common spot for students. After all, they had some of the best pastries in Central Etheria... and most other regions. Digit was sipping on a cup of iced coffee, while Zest chose some tropical-citrus fruit concoction. There was a large plate of cupcakes in front of them, which Zest was wolfing down like he didn't eat last night. Digit was wearing a light blue sleeveless hoodie with dark blue outlines and a gear-like symbol on the back, light beige khaki shorts that reached his shin, and black and blue boots. He also wore a pair of fingerless gloves, a dark blue scarf with light blue lines running through it like a circuit, and his trademark googles. Zest donned a bright orange hoodie with a red lightning bolt across it, gray shorts, and orange, red, and white boots. He wore a fingerless glove on one hand and an armlet on the other and had an orange headband with red lightning bolt. "Dude, slow down. You're gonna get sick, then someone's gonna have to carry you."

"Nope. Won't be a problem," Zest replied, wolfing down another cupcake.

"Leave some for the rest of us, will ya." Amethyst and Sunset walked in. Amethyst wore a bright purple tank top, blue short-shorts, and blue and white high-top sneakers, as well as armbands on each arm and had her hair tied into a long ponytail, reaching the small of her back. Sunset wore a pink tank top, orange capris with red lines going down the side of each leg, and white and orange sneakers. Her hair was also in a ponytail, though shorter than Amethyst's.

"Hi girls. Glad you could make it," Digit said, warmly.

"I see Trixie isn't here yet?"

"She'll be here."

"If you say so."

"Okay, so I didn't want to come initially..." They all looked back to see Nox standing behind them. "... But it's not like I'm doing anything this weekend. So..." He paused when Zest zipped over to hug him. He turned into mist and drifted away, materializing behind Zest.

"Good to see you too, Nox," Digit said in response. "Now, one more..."

It took another five minutes or so for Trixie to arrive. She walked in wearing a white shirt, light blue jacket, lighter blue skirt, and blue and white boots. She had on a hairclip that looked like a star sitting in a moon. "Trixie has arrived."

"Get a new catchphrase," Amethyst said, rolling her eyes.

"Excuse me?"

"Okay!" Digit shot up. "Let's get going."

"Where exactly are we going again?" asked Amethyst.

"It's called the Rainbow Spring Forest. And yes, it's as nice as it sounds."

"So, this is just a hiking trip?" asked Sunset.

"Yep."

"This is gonna be awesome!" Zest was practically ready to shoot through the roof. Nox just sat there, watching. Thinking. Digit saw the look on his and gave a look saying 'I know how you feel. But it's going to be fine.'

The Rainbow Spring Woods had its name for a reason. The streams and springs all had a magic, light-refracting property that caused rainbows to form. Another magical property was that plants could grow there in virtually any season; you could get roses in winter here. But in addition to its rich plant life, a lot of creatures occupied the forest, sentient and otherwise. It was beautiful and colorful... well, most of it anyway. A patch of the forest, about a quarter of the whole area, was dark... like basically pitch black. Nothing that grew there was normal; not the plants, not the animals, even the magic energy was off. Nothing. In this area, there was a cave. In the cave, there were workers. Many workers, garbed in black, all had either black or dark gray skin and razor sharp teeth and claws. They were pulling up a stone statue with the image of their queen: a young woman with purple hair.

"Be careful with that!" They queen now stood at the entrance to the room they were in. "That marble was very difficult to come by."

"Yes, my Queen," they replied in unison.

"My Lady," another came from behind her. He wore a long, black cloak opened and was clad in silver armor on his shoulders, lower arms, lower legs, and torso. "You have a call."

"Ugh, great."

"Whoa!" Amethyst, Zest, and Sunset were awestruck by the sight of the forest. Trees of all colors and varieties sprouted everywhere, Dancing Dahlias swayed in the wind, and rainbows arched in the sky above them, crossing in various patterns. "This is amazing!" Amethyst was completely awestruck. She had done a lot of sightseeing, but she had never had something hold her attention like this.

"Wow, you guys are way too easily impressed," Digit said. "You haven't even seen the magic." Digit tapped a tree with his hand and it began to shake. The branches began to fold and twist until they became a single large branch. Two green holes appeared on the surface of the tree and a larger black gap appeared beneath them from which a groan could be heard.

"Is that... A TREANT!" Sunset had heard of treants. They were strong, wise... and highly territorial. She backed away, as did Amethyst.

"Ha! You scare too easily," taunted Trixie. "It's just a little treant."

"Little? Are you blind?" asked Amethyst. "If that's the baby, I don't know if I want to meet the mother."

"Don't worry," Digit said, leaning against the living tree, "It's fine. Unless any of you have tried to cut him down?"

"Nope," they all replied in unison.

"Good. Then we're safe." They saw a number of creatures, from breezies and parasrpites to golems and manticores... nice ones, luckily.

Amethyst ran up to meet Digit. "So, what do you intend to gain from this little hiking trip?"

"Not sure. Just hoping something'll happen and help the team bond."

"Those're some pretty high expectations."

"I like being optimistic." Soon, they came to a clearing.

"Hey, can we take a break for a few minutes?" Sunset asked. She wasn't exactly built for physical... well, anything. And neither was Trixie. The difference was that Trixie had too much pride to admit it.

"HA! Tired already?" She was clearly strained, but tried to hide it, rather unsuccessfully due to her, visibly, heavy breathing.

"Trixie, we've been walking for over almost an hour and a half straight!"

"She's right," said Digit. "We should probably take a break.

"Now you're making sense," Zest said, collapsing floating down to the ground.

"And now I'm eating snacks," Amethyst added as she pulled a snack bar from her backpack.

"Hey there, big sis." The queen sat on her large crystal throne and spoke to the image in the large crystal pillar in front of her. "How've you been?"

"What do you think? And don't call me 'big sis'. I am not your sister," the other replied in a sour tone.

"Sorry. Yeesh. Just trying to be nice."

"This is not the time for niceties. We have a schedule to keep and I am not in the mood for anything else. You're just barely keeping up."

"Wow. Someone woke up on the wrong side of the cocoon today."

"LISTEN BRAT!" The other figure had gone from sour to spicy. "This is not a game. You know your part. You know what to do. You know how to do it. SO DO IT!"

"DON'T YOU DARE YELL AT ME!" The young queen had now lost her calm, sweet voice and replaced it with one of burning anger. "You aren't my mom or my master or my boss! I don't care if you're in charge of running this whole fiasco on this end! So don't think for one second that you can raise your damn voice at me!" She paused in though. Her anger disappeared and she smiled once again. "Come to think of it, I should be the one running things, not you," she said with a smile.

"Excuse me?" the other replied in shock. "How old are you again."

"Sixteen physically and biologically, twenty-four mentally, and over a hundred based on my achievements."

"I have roamed this world for over a hundred and fifty years... A HUNDRED AND FIFTY! What makes you even close to being as qualified as me?"

"How about the fact that I've actually accomplished more than you in a shorter period of time?"

"What?"

"You have tried three times to conquer a single region. The first time, about a hundred and twenty years ago, you tried and got pushed back by a rebellion. Five years later, you returned with dark magic... and still failed. You returned recently for another attempt. Tell me, did you succeed?" Silence. "Thought so. I, on the other hand, have claimed many magic hotspots located in forests all over Etheria. Do you know how long it took me to claim this forest? Three days. It took me three days to claim this entire corner of the forest and bind it to my magic. In addition, I do have a reputation for being able to manipulate people... without the use of magic. So tell me, who is still the younger one?"

"IMPUDENT FOOL! If the boss didn't have such a soft spot for you and didn't think you were absolutely vital to our cause, I would kill you where you sit."

"Would you? Or would you send your minions to distract me and then take a cheap shot."

"I would drive my blade through your heart and rip your head off myself! And as if you have never taken any cheap shots yourself."

"Touché. But at least I got somewhere with it. Backstabbing below the belt only got you blasted halfway across Etheria... which, I guess, would explain your sour mood?"

"DO YOUR DAMN JOB! And don't push me, otherwise, I do not care how valuable he thinks you are, I will hang your head on my wall!" The other woman smashed the communicator on her end, causing static to appear on the young queen's crystal, at which she threw a rock using her magic.

"Ugh! That damn wretched old bitch! Who the hell does she think she is?"

"My Lady,-"

"WHAT!"

"Apologies." The man in the armored cloak that called her earlier was standing at the entrance to her throne room.

On seeing him, she calmed down. "Oh, Blackbane. Sorry. Come in. What is it?"

"Some of the watchers have detected odd life signatures in the vicinity."

She looked at him in shock. "What? How? I would have felt a new presence if it entered the forest. Are you sure it isn't just a bunch of newborn cragodiles or something?"

"No. They seem to be, from their description... mages."

She froze. Then smiled. "Really?" She leaned back in her chair in thought. "Send a few dozen scouts. Test them. If they resist, send the shock troops. If, by some miracle, they can't handle it, send the reavers."

"The reavers? I doubt that will be necessary. From the reports, they appear to be adolescents."

"Never underestimate your opponent, Bane. But fine. Although you should probably tag along, just in case. And take a visual crystal. I wanna watch."

"As you wish." He bowed and disappeared into his shadow.

"This day just got better," she said as she leaned back into her large throne. "A plus-one for my resume."

"Um, is... is this s-s-safe?" Sunset asked, trying as hard as possible no to act terrified out of her mind.

"Sure it is," Digit replied. "I've done it at least a dozen times."

"And?"

"It was fun." They were standing at the edge of a cliff, across a waterfall, looking at the lake at least 500meters below.

"What? Are you afraid?" Trixie asked Sunset.

"Aren't you?"

"HA! Trixie is scared of nothing! I've beaten an Ursa Major single-handedly!"

"Okay, one, I'm pretty sure it was an Ursa Minor," Amethyst interjected. "And second, are you sure that's the real story and not the one you remember while you were curled up like a ball, hiding in a hollow tree?" Trixie glared.

"Trixie runs from nothing and hides from nothing."

"Oh yeah, you're right. 'Cause you can't run when you're cowering in paralyzing fear and you'd just scream in the face of... 'danger'. Even better." Amethyst joined Sunset in giggling as they remembered the issue with the kangarat.

"It could've bitten me." They kept laughing as Trixie pouted, trying to plead her case.

Sunset snapped back to the present. "Can we get back to the real issue?" she said.

"I should've packed a swimsuit... or at least a change of clothes," said Amethyst, looking back down. "Why would you not tell us about this?"

"It was a surprise." Digit looked around and realized something was missing. "Hey, were are Nox and Zest?"

"UP HERE!" Nox and Zest were floating an extra hundred meters above them.

"I'm not involved in this," Nox said, forming a cloud from mist and laying down on it.

"Okay," Digit said as he wrapped himself and the three girls in a bubble shield. "On three. One...two..." Three never came before he rolled them off the cliff.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" It was quite a long way down.

As they dropped, Zest shot passed them. He stopped moments before he reached the surface and a shockwave followed. The surface of the water shimmered. A few moments later, they hit the water and the bubble popped, soaking everyone in it. The water splashed viciously, engulfing even Zest as the wave crashed down. Sunset was the first to emerge.

"That... was... INSANE!" She gasped for air, as did Amethyst when she emerged with Digit.

"Let's never do that again," said Amethyst.

"Let's do that again," Zest cried, "This time, I wanna be in the bubble!"

"Did you not just here me?"

"Hey," Digit said, looking around, "where's Trixie?" No answer. "Can she swim?" No answer. Digit dived back down into the water. He emerged about eight seconds later, carrying Trixie on his back. She coughed and gagged and gasped for air. They all swam back to the shore and settled on the grassy ground.

"Omigosh, Trixie! Are you okay?" Sunset said, genuinely worried. Amethyst ran to her side.

"Don't... touch me! I'm... fine," she replied as she struggled to breath.

"Sheesh. Sorry for caring," Amethyst replied as she backed away. "So the 'Great and Powerful Trixie can't swim, huh?" Amethyst mocked. Trixie would have responded had her lungs not been clogged with magic water. Zest floated down, soaked, as did Nox, who was the only one dry. "So," Amethyst started as she turned to face Digit, "What the heck was THAT?!"

"It's called the Resonance Lake. The water has a special magic property of adapting and taking on the properties of the magic around it or in contact with it. When Zest flew down, he was building up a lot of wind energy, which hit the water when he stopped, which made it softer and lighter."

"So it takes properties of the magic energy that hit it? So if you threw a fireball...?"

"We would've been boiled alive in seconds. Lightning's better. It's more of a tingle, kinda like a massage. But it really depends on the quantity of energy."

"Why didn't you just fire a wind blast at it?" asked Amethyst.

"If the energy hits the water at an angle, the effects are a lot more... unpredictable; spontaneous combustion, flooding, freezing-"

"Wait, spontaneous combustion?" Sunset asked, imagining the horror of being roasted alive above a body of water; the horrible irony.

"Yep. The nature of the magic no longer counts as a factor. It just becomes random." He looked back at Trixie, who had finally caught her breath. "How're you holding up?"

"Fine, of course," she replied. "So now what? We walk around in wet clothes?"

"You afraid you'll catch a cold?" asked Amethyst.

"I was asking in case your fragile body count handle it."

"Fragile?!"

"Okay, everyone, chill... pun not intended. Remember what I said about the water taking on the property of the magic that hit it? Zest used wind magic. Zest, the second part."

Zest placed his hands on the ground. "You might feel a nice relaxing tingle," he warned. He sent currents of bright red electricity arching across the ground and to each of his soaked companions.

"Aaaaaaah! Ah... aaaaaah!" Sunset went from pain to pleasure in less than two seconds. "Whoa. It's like all my worries just melted and vanished."

"Same here," said Amethyst. Trixie just collapsed in relaxation.

"So that's the effect of lightning? Nice." Sunset looked down. "Hey, my clothes are dry!"

"Mine too," said Amethyst.

"Was that the effect of wind?" asked Trixie.

"Yep. That's why Zest had to do the dive. We needed enough wind energy to make sure it all dried up and fast. I usually do this when I come here with my sister. I use it to get rid of tension."

"Cool," said Amethyst. "Wait, you have tension?"

Suddenly, they heard a rustling in the bush. "Did anyone else hear that?" asked Zest. There was another rustle. They each got into a fighting stance, magic charged in their fists, wings, and magic items. "Whose there?"

The rustling shifted to neighboring bushes until it traveled around all the bushes in front of them. "I think the 'who' is more than one person," Digit stated.

They stood, ready to react. But Trixie got tired of waiting. "Show yourself!" She fired a bolt from her wand into the bush in front of them. As it hit, a rather big, brown figure jumped out and dashed towards them. It reached them before anyone could get a shot in. It crashed into Digit, revealing it to be a massive, beastly hyena with brown fur with dark brown marks and a rough, dark brown mane.

Digit stared at the hungry green eyes as it smiled evilly at him. Then he knew. "Really? This same trick since elementary school?" The creature smile turned from hungry to happy. The creature stepped off him. "Relax guys," Digit said when he saw everyone aiming at the fearless creature, "She goes to our school."

"WHAT?!" was the unanimous reply.

"What? Don't recognize me?" said the beastly hyena. It began to morph, losing about two feet in height and two feet in width. Its brown fur turned to dark tanned skin and its mane was now long brown hair... but still wild and spiked forward. She was wearing a light brown t-shirt, dark brown shorts, and light brown flip-flops. She wore a necklace of what looked like five wolf teeth and beaded bracelets around her wrists. She had dark brown marks on her arms and legs, one on each cheek, and one below each eye. "Hey guys."

"Savannah?! What the actual hell?!" Amethyst was still recovering from the revelation. "We could've blasted you."

"Nah," Savannah replied, smiling, "You would've missed." Savannah followed the group on their hike. She explained that she lived close to the entrance of the forest and usually came there to relax.

"I thought your home was close to the Everfree Forest," Amethyst inquired.

"Yeah. But I'm staying in this one now, just to see which is better. So far, so good."

"Isn't it kinda dangerous?" asked Sunset.

"Yeah, well, I've kinda learned how to deal with most of the problems. There are the usual problems like manticores, whomping willows, parasrpites, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera." Suddenly, she stomped the ground. The quake caused everyone to fall.

"What was that for?"

"The unusual problems." She pointed at a tree, in which there were black figures pinned to trees. As they pulled off they revealed themselves. They were about three to four feet tall, had razor sharp claws and teeth, and were pitch black with glowing pale blue eyes.

"Changelings!" From what Sunset had heard from Twilight, Changelings aren't that big a deal. "There's only three of them. We can handle them." At that moment, odd green bolts fell from the sky above; at least a few dozen. Then Sunset remembered. 'Changelings aren't that big a deal... on their own. When fighting a group, things can get a bit... rough.' "Oh boy."

"Stay together," said Digit. Immediately, everyone formed a circle. Digit felt Zest tap his shoulder. It wasn't Zest. As he turned, a black fist flew across his face, sending him to the ground. He turned to see the Changeling as Sunset hit it with a fireball.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Where's Zest?"

"YAAAAHOOOOO!" At that instant, Digit covered the group with a bubble as Zest hit the ground with incredible speed, sending out a shockwave that wiped out a good dozen of the Changelings... which were replaced by another two dozen.

"Okay," Digit said, charging up magic in his fists, Sunset, Amethyst, and Savannah doing the same, Trixie lit up her wand, Zest brandished his whips, and Nox a pair of ornamental daggers, "let's have some fun."

The school grounds were always open, mostly because the staff held their meetings there on weekends. This weekend was no exception... except for the fact that only five members of staff were present, four of whom were waiting in the staff room. Princess Celestia and her sister, Luna, had called Zecora and Professor Creed for a private meeting. The last guessed was known only to the royal sisters. "So, who is this mystery guest of ours?" asked Creed.

"You'll see," replied Celestia. "He should be hear any minute from now."

Low and behold, at that moment, a shadow appeared on the ground next to them. From it came a shadowy figure, whose image was cleared up as it came to full view. He had long, platinum blond hair combed back, deep green eyes, and wore a long white cloak with gold trimmings over a light brown suit, white shirt and white shoes. "Apologies," he said, "I would have been here eight point three seconds earlier, but I had a little... problem with some associates."

"And you are...?" asked Creed.

"Professor Spellbinder," she said, shaking his hand. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Professor Creed, Professor Zecora."

"Ah, yes, I remember you. You assisted with the summer training regimen last year."

"Quite an impressive success, though I should expect no less."

"Thank you."

"Professor Spellbinder is a member of my advisory council," added Celestia. "He helps around the school from time to time." She got up and walked to the center table. "Now that we're all here, we can proceed." The center table glowed and a bright light shone from it.

"Professor Creed, designation: Law."

"Professor Zecora, designation: Flora Fauna."

"Professor Spellbinder, designation: Pentagram."

"Principal Celestia, designation: Sun Keeper."

"Principal Luna, designation: Moon Keeper."

"... Processing... processing... Confirmed. Welcome." The table began to disappear in sparks of light, revealing a secret passage. At the bottom was a large dark room, lit only by the round, glowing crystal table in the center, along with the ten glowing crystal chairs that surrounded it. They each took a seat on one side.

"Begin transmission," said Celestia. Instantly, five figures appeared in the five chairs opposite them: one pale pink, one blue and white, one dark purple, one pale mauve, and one brown, designations: Love, Shield, Quill, Cheer, and... a smiley face? Celestia shook her head while Luna face-palmed.

"He always has to open with a joke," said Creed, smiling.

"See, he gets it," replied the brown figure, cheerfully.

"How old are you again?" asked the pink figure.

"Oh, just a few millennia. Don't worry, I won't be going away any time soon."

"I don't think that's the problem."

"No, but this is." Celestia used the table to bring up a 3-D picture of a book from which three pages were removed and magnified. Each page had the picture of an item: a sphere, a cube, and a pyramid.

"You must be joking," said the brown figure.

"I wish I was. And anyway, that would be a very expensive joke, one even I cannot afford."

"But I hid those things away centuries ago after you-know-who tried to use them. I was so proud of his progress... until it involved enslavement and destruction."

"I didn't know you cared," said the blue and white figure.

"Sure, I made the place a little chaotic, but that was for fun. You alter gravity for fun. You distort space for fun. You don't suck up the world's life energy and use it to enslave people for fun... or do you?"

"Really?" Celestia asked with disapproval.

"Just kidding. OF COURSE YOU DON'T!"

"So," the mauve figure finally spoke up, "Why am I in this meeting? I don't deal with magical items."

"No, but you do deal with information and detail," Celestia replied.

"Well, when you have to mark a grade-schooler's assignment that looks like a cockatrice trying to write cursive, you’ll need to learn to read the extra-fine print." Then she figured it out. "Let me guess. You want me to go through the archives and find out if there are any loopholes or notes that could give anyone access to these items?"

"Yes."

"I'll need a name," she brought out a pen and paper. "I have no idea what I'm looking at right now."

"The Trinity Jewels."

The mauve figure's pen broke in her hand. "WHAT?! Nononononononono and NO! I am not getting involved in that mess! Are you kidding? It's cursed." She regained her calm and added, "With all due respect, Princess, do you know how many people have done research on this topic and lived? Zero. You know how we know? Because there's no record of anyone who did!"

"Relax, Cherilee. But I wouldn't come to you if it weren't absolutely necessary and I had any other choice."

The one called Cherilee thought for a while. "F-F-Fine," she said, hesitantly.

"Thank you. Now, no one person knows the location of the three items."

"I though he scattered them across Etheria," said the pink figure, gesturing to the brown one to her left.

"That doesn't mean I know where I sent them," he replied. "Sure, I have an idea, but not an exact location."

"Good," said Creed. "That means none of us is in any immediate danger."

"Magic hotspots have been popping up unusually lately," said the dark purple figure. "But they only seem to appear for a fraction of a second before disappearing."

"Ah, that's the temporal flux spell I placed on them. Much harder to find an artifact that moves, especially if it docks in sub-space."

"Impossible to find using any locator spells if it doesn't exist in that dimension," Luna said.

"Precisely!"

"Hmmm. Zecora, do you know anything about these items?"

"Individually, not much; but collectively, a bunch," she replied. "I heard the stories as a child, of a power so great and wild. One that could warp space and bring an end to a race; that could warp reality and distort causality."

"Those... are not very good bedtime stories," said Cherilee.

"Nope," said Creed, "That's some grade-A nightmare fuel right there. How does a child sleep after hearing a story like that?"

"Cautiously," Zecora replied.

"Okay then, we'll keep an eye out for any abnormal abnormalities," said the purple figure.

"We'll watch for any dark magic spurts," said the pink figure.

"I'll have a rapid response team ready," said the blue and white figure.

"I'll watch out for any chaos magic," said the brown figure, as the holographic pages turned to paper planes and flew in complex aerobatic maneuvers. "This doesn't count."

"Well, I'll get searching," said Cherilee. "Oh, sweet Faust, I know I'm going to regret this 'cause it's going to come back and bite me in the-" She cut the transmission. The other's followed suit.

"Well then," said Celestia, "let's get to work."

"This is not work, THIS IS CRAZY!" Amethyst had had enough of fighting the annoying little ones that attacked them. But now, the group was neck deep in five to six foot tall versions of the little scouts. These ones had actual hand-to-hand combat skills. But so did Amethyst. One lunged at her. She caught it by its arm and slammed it against the ground before throwing it against its companions. As another attempted to kick her, she caught its leg and threw it to Savannah, who greeted it by hammering its head into the ground with her fist.

"Fun, right?" Savannah asked, smiling.

"Not really," said Sunset, firing a large fireball and using a bolt of teal energy to amplify the explosion.

Zest ran past a group of them, grabbing about four in each whip. He swung across, clearing a bunch of pitch black figures, then hammered them into a crowd of Changelings. As they struggled to untangle themselves and get up, he flicked both whips, sending a trail of red lightning across them. On reaching the tip, they emitted a massive explosion that obliterated the pile. "BOOM BABY!"

"You enjoy this too much." Nox was effortlessly dodging the claws and kicks from a group of five at once. He caught the first one and stabbed it in the heart... if it had one. He spun and cut across the torso of the second. He ducked under the claws of the next two and slashed across each of them as well. He simply jumped over the last one. It stared at him, then attempted to attack as it moved, it saw the knife in the ground in front of it glowing, which then exploded in a cloud of purple, electrified smoke.

"Nice! Cool dudes don't look at explosions," said Zest as he crushed a group of Changelings with a rock using his whip.

Trixie had no problem blasting the creatures from afar. "Feel the wrath of the Great and Powerful Trixie!" She charged a large magic bolt and sent it to a group the orb floated in the air in front of the group before it was detonated by a follow-up blast from her wand. She levitated a rock and crushed it with an invisible force before sending the pieces pelleting at the swarm in front of her like machine gun bullets.

Digit ran through groups of Changelings, pummeling them with his energy-coated fists. Grabbing one by the face, he used his free hand to burn a rune into its chest before throwing it at a group. The rune glowed and emitted a massive explosion. "Okay, it's been fun," he said, "But all good things must come to an end."

"How is this a good thing?" Amethyst cried as she and Savannah delivered a double lariat to about three Changelings at once, beheading them all.

Digit charged up a massive amount of energy in his hands and gripped them, turning them into massive swords which grew at least a hundred meters. "So long..."

"Hit the deck!" Every heeded Zest's warning and hit the floor.

"... And thanks for all the fish!" He swung the two swords in semi-circles, forming a large circle that cut through everything in the vicinity: Changelings, rocks, Changelings, trees, more Changelings, and more everything else.

"Wow," said Sunset as she got up.

"Maybe try opening with that one next time, hun," said Amethyst.

"Where's the fun in that?" Digit asked as his constructs dissipated into pixel-like sparks.

"So who’s next?" asked Trixie.

"Never say dumbass stuff like that out loud," said Amethyst. "Do you want them to send an angry dragon at us next?"

"We don't have dragons, sorry to disappoint," said a voice, which was followed by clapping. They turned to see a figure garbed in a black hood with armor in his lower legs and arms, shoulder, and torso. On his left shoulder was a symbol of a purple heart with a crack down the middle. "I am impressed that you survived the scouts and the shock troopers simultaneously. I trained them myself."

"And you are?" Digit asked.

"The guardian of the one who has laid claim to this section of the forest." The man materialized a large scythe with a skull head from which the blade protruded. "And the one who will end your lives a bit earlier than you may have expected."

"HA!" Trixie stepped forward. "Come and try me."

"Um, Trixie," Amethyst said, "That guy has a big-ass, scary-ass, deadly-ass scythe."

"And this wand took down an Ursa Major! It's more than a match for him."

"Did you now? You know, I've slain a few beasts myself." He kept his scythe to his side.

"Then let us see how you do against the Great and Powerfu-" She was cut off when the man's fist slammed into her stomach, knocking the air out of her lungs, also causing her to cough up quite a lot of blood. He turned and delivered a roundhouse that sent her flying into a rock, smashing it on impact.

"TRIXIE!" Amethyst ran to her side. The neck of Trixie's shirt was stained with blood. She didn't respond to Amethyst's cries. "Dammit Trixie, answer!"

"Oh hell." Sunset turned to see the man leaning against his scythe.

"I wonder how you beat an Ursa Major if you can't even take a simple punch. Unless you're telling me you avoided all its attacks?"

Savannah looked at the man with intense fury. "YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" She charged at him.

"No, WAIT!" She couldn't hear Sunset cry out to her.

Savannah tried several times to land a blow, but the man dodged all her attempts. Finally, she tried to knock him off his feet with a sweep kick. He jumped over her leg, but saw Zest darting towards him. "Gotcha," said Zest, smirking. His smile vanished as the man's smile appeared. Just before impact, the man brought both fists down on Zest's back like a hammer. He crashed into Savannah, who was below him, and the momentum from his earlier movement carried them forward. The man returned to leaning on his scythe, still smiling.

"Nox, Sunset," Digit said, "Cover me." Nox took to the sky and let loose a knife storm. The blades were coated with purple lightning, streaking towards the man. The shadowy figure ducked, dodged, and deflected the incoming blades with uncanny precision. Once the rain of knives ended, he looked up to see a purple spark in Nox's hand. He threw it to one of the knives and the lightning arced through them and linking to the knife in the middle of the array... right in front of the man. All the knives detonated in a pillar of purple light and black smoke. Nox scanned for signs of the man, but saw nothing but the scythe as the smoke cleared.

'It's never that easy,' he thought. He was right. He felt the presence behind him and brought his arms up to his face just in time to block the savage kick that set him plummeting to the ground. Sunset telekinetically caught him and set him down next to her. She felt a gust of wind behind her and ducked under the man's leg. The air pressure generated from the kick carved a small arc into the ground in front of them. Sunset teleported away as Nox readied his blades. He slashed at the man viciously, but fully in control. As the man stepped back, Nox stretched his leg so his foot was behind the man's. 'Now.' He had him right where he wanted... or so he thought. As the blades made contact, something stopped him, as if his whole body suddenly refused to move. He looked down and saw the man's hand at his right shoulder, his finger just touching the joint.

"Nerve cluster," he said. "Can't move there's foreign magic in you." He leaned back. Nox braced himself for impact, but was saved when a teal bolt of energy hit the man, knocking him away from Nox. Sunset readied another shot, but the man was too fast. He appeared in front of her and swept her legs off the ground. His spin built up momentum, which he used to hammer Sunset's head into the ground while in mid-air.

"HEY!" The man turned to meet Savannah's foot cross his face. He recovered quickly and looked at her. He lunged forward and caught her before she could move, delivering a barrage of blows to her stomach.

Nox regained his movement and lunged at the man. "Hey, step off!" The man turned to see him and side-stepped out of the way. As Nox turned, the man's powerful fist slammed into his chest, sending him crashing into an already groggy Savannah.

"Huh. Maybe I should up the training difficulty," the man said. "They must be getting soft if they can't handle you six... wait, six?"

"HEY!" The man turned to see Digit, a highly condensed ball of blue energy in his hand with streams of light spiraling around it. "Suck on this!" He flung the bolt at the man, who caught it, just before it exploded in a brilliant display of fire and sparks. He ran to Sunset and helped her up. "You okay?"

"My face hurts," she replied, "and I'm not sure, but I think I just ate grass."

Digit smiled. The others began gathering themselves. Amethyst was trying to heal Trixie, her hands glowing bright purple as the healing spell began healing fractures and bruises. "Come on you idiot," she said as she pumped magic energy into her body. "You can't go down like this. What was all that talk back at school, huh?"

"Really? Because she seemed to go down fairly easily to me." The six, still conscious members turned to see the man. Soot covered the armored plates and the right sleeve of his cloak had been shredded by the blast, revealing a series of marks and symbols.

"What..."

"The..."

"Hell?"

They looked as the man dusted the soot and ash from his outfit. "Great. Do you have any idea how tough it is the wash black? It's tough finding which part is dirt and which part is cloth." He looked up at them. "It was fun evaluating you, and although you don't seem to be constituting any kind of threat, I still have to kill you."

"I-I'll ask again, who are you?"

"Well, it's only common courtesy to know who killed you. I am know by many names, many, if not all, of which you are clearly not worthy of knowing, let alone saying. But for your efforts, you may call me Blackbane."

"Digit, what now?" Sunset was expecting an answer. But Digit just stood, but he wasn't analyzing his opponent, he already had... and he was paralyzed with fear. The strong killing intent mixed with high-level dark magic was a pungent smell to any mage, one that many feared for the shear destruction it could cause. "DIGIT!"

"Y-You don't own this forest," Digit said.

"Well, not all of it," Blackbane replied. "In case you haven't noticed, this entire area is coated with the queen's essence. She has infused the very soil at your feet with her magic, giving her technical claim over the land."

"What are you doing here? What makes this area so important that that she would need to link herself to it and keep watch?"

"She just likes the scenery and hates being disturbed, especially if the disturbance damages the forest's natural beauty."

"Who is she?"

"Like I would tell you," Blackbane replied with more venom in his voice. "You are barely even worthy to know my own name."

"Why did you attack us?" Sunset asked. "We didn't damage anything."

"It was an order. I do not disobey. I do not ask questions that are irrelevant to the task."

"But there must be something she needs from here. You don't just bind yourself to a place because of its beauty."

"Perhaps."

"Do you know what it could be?"

"I do not. So far as I know, this forest is only known for its rare beauty," he said. "But I wonder why you would ask such questions," he said as he raised his scythe. "Such information is of no use to the dead." A mass of black energy covered the blade. "What was it you said? 'So long... and thanks for all the fish'." He swung the scythe, sending a blast of dark energy at them.

"Oh Faust!" Sunset turned to see Digit, his hands glowing and sparking wildly.

"GET DOWN!" As the wave approached, they were engulfed in a wave of blue light, which brightened with time. As the wave hit, the light engulfed them.

"Oh?" Blackbane looked up to see the scorched earth, trees, and grass in front of him. "They must have escaped."

"What do you mean they escaped?"

Blackbane turned around to see the silvery-white visual crystal floating next to him with the image of his queen. "My Lady, the intruders have been repelled."

"I told you to bring them to me!"

"My apologies, My Lady. One of them knows a long distance teleportation spell, which I foolishly did not plan for."

The young girl thought. "Don't worry about it. Get back home. Did you get any of their names?"

"Sunset, a curious one; Trixie, either brave or foolish, I'm not entirely sure; and Digit, quite resourceful."

"Digit, huh," the queen thought. "Why does that name sound so familiar? Anyway, head back. That will be all.

"Yes, My Lady."

The group reappeared at the entrance to the forest. "Holy cow!" Sunset was shocked. "That's a lot of magic."

"Worth it," Digit grunted.

"You okay?"

"Kinda... not really." He held a black blade with a red liquid glistening on the tip.

"Holy shi-"

"Ssshhhhh!" Digit held raised his shirt, revealing a faint scar on his stomach where the wound had been. "How's Trixie?"

"Unconscious," replied Amethyst, "but I managed to heal her cracked ribs and restore most of her magic. Whatever that guy hit her with was hard."

"I don't know about you guys," Zest said, floating lazily, "but I'm done adventuring... for the next three weeks. SLEEPOVER AT DIGIT'S!"

“Is anyone not curious about what the hell just went down in there?” asked Amethyst.

“We can talk about that when we get to Digit’s.”

They all looked at Zest, then to Digit. Digit shrugged. "Why not. Sun's already going down."

"Um, hello? Girls in the vicinity," Amethyst mentioned, gesturing to her fellow girls.

"My sister'll take care of that."

Amethyst thought for a while and looked to Sunset for a second opinion. Sunset shrugged. "I don't have a problem."

"Okay, fine."

"WOOHOO!"

Nox was the only one that had no enthusiasm for this. Digit came up next to him and held his shoulder. "Dude, we need to talk."

Advanced Training: Endurance

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After walking for about an hour, Digit, Sunset, Nox, Amethyst, Zest, Trixie, and Savannah were standing in front of a tall apartment complex, about five floors up. "Your sister lives here?" asked Sunset.

"Yeah," Digit replied. "When she graduated, she decided to move out and get her own place. It's pretty close to her school."

"And what school would that be?"

"The Starswirl School of Advanced Studies."

"Whoa, that's big! That's one of the most prestigious schools in Etheria!"

"Who’s your sister anyway?" asked Amethyst. "I've never met her.

"You will soon," Digit responded as he swiped a keycard over the sensor to open the door. "She's home." They took the elevator to the third floor. Luckily, no one was in the lobby or the elevator. What would they say when they were asked why they looked like they just got into a fight with a powerful warlock? 'Oh, we did get into a fight, but not with a warlock. He was this tall guy with a big-ass scythe and a punch that could turn your lungs into a vacuum. That's what happened to her,' they'd say, pointing to an unconscious Trixie on Amethyst's back.

"Dang, she is heavy!" Amethyst kept adjusting Trixie's angle so they wouldn't fall over.

"Don't worry, we're here." They stopped in front of a well maintained wooden door with the number '305' plastered on it in brass. Digit knocked on the door.

"Coming!" A few seconds later, the door clicked and opened and there was a girl standing in front of it. She was like a carbon copy of Digit: long, snow-white hair with blue streaks on the side, bright blue eyes, and a fairly tanned skin tone. She stood at about 5'10', just about two or so inches above Digit. She wore a white sleeveless crop top, light blue short-shorts and blue flip flops. She did not look pleased. "Oh, it's you."

"Hi Pixel," Digit groaned. "What's up? You look terrible."

"And you look like shit."

"Jerk."

"Train wreck."

"Fat ass."

"Dumbass."

They glared at each other for about a good five seconds before bursting into laughter. "HAHAHAHAAAA! Never gets old."

"Like you apparently."

"Aw, aren't you sweet," she said, embracing him in a rib-cracking hug. "Who're your friends?"

"My teammates, Amethyst Luster, the unconscious one's Trixie Lulamoon, you remember Zesty Blitz, Nox Moonrider, Savannah Wild, and Sunset Shimmer."

"Pleased ta meetcha! Sunset Shimmer, huh? So you're the one..."

'Here we go," thought Sunset.

"... That helped beat the Sirens? Cool."

'Not what I was expecting.'

"Oh, you thought I was gonna ask about the whole she-demon thing?" she asked, noting Sunset's shocked expression. "Past's in the past. Come on in." Her apartment was roomier than they had imagined. When they entered, there was a hallway to the left that led to the bedrooms and bathroom. To the right, the entrance to the living room, behind it was the kitchen. There were two flat screen LCD TVs, one with cable and another with a PS4 connected to it. Behind the TVs was the balcony that gave a beautiful view of the town. "You may wanna clean up first. Then tell me why you look like you just got into a fight with a powerful warlock." They looked at each other in an 'I told you so' manner. "Bathroom's first door on your left down the hall. Girls can use the one in my room, that's the door on your right."

"Princess, we need to talk." Zecora, Spellbinder, and Luna had left the lounge, but Creed held Celestia back.

"What is it?" she asked.

"It's about that group."

Celestia thought for a while. "Ah," she said, realizing who he was talking about. "What about them?"

"With all due respect, is there any reason you put the six most different people in the school on the same team? I mean, the only thing in common between them is their proficiency in their work and something rather horrible related to their past."

"I understand your concerns, but something tells me that isn't your only problem."

Creed looked for ways to word his statement without sounding paranoid. Impossible. "It's Digit. You know he's a-"

"Yes, I am fully aware. Why?"

"The others are the same. The items react anytime they use magic, and we both know that there is a limited number of those in the school."

"You think it could be them?"

"I'm scared that it's them. I heard the story of the Guardians. When united, they were unstoppable; no evil could get past them. But when there was as much as a crack in the unity, the consequences were rather..." He couldn't find the words to quantify the devastation.

"I understand your concerns. Keep in mind that I am always... almost always prepared for any occurrences. Digit himself is aware and is doing everything in his power to control his abilities. I doubt any of his teammates know."

"I doubt they know about the other thing as well. It isn't the kind of information you'd proudly give out."

"That hasn't been a problem for years."

"No, but if it comes up along with his untamed power, we may have a big problem."

"Don't worry, Creed," Celestia said, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, "everything is under control."

"... and so Digit teleported us out." Sunset finished telling Pixel about their run-in with death Rainbow Spring Forest.

"Ugh, that place used to be so peaceful," Pixel said. "What of your sleepy friend?"

"She's awake. Thanks again for the clothes."

"No problem."

Pixel was bigger than all of them, so the clothes were a bit oversized. Sunset was wearing a long pink hooding and blue shorts, Amethyst was wearing a red t-shirt and track pants, and Trixie came out wearing a white tank top and blue shorts. The boys borrowed some of Digit's unused clothes. Zest wore a yellow t-shirt and blue shorts, Nox wore a black tank top with matching track pants, and Digit wore a blue sleeveless top with black shorts.

"You guys owe me, big time!" Digit had never worn those before, and he wanted to. That was the whole point of leaving it at his sister's place: so no one could ask him for it.

"What?!" cried Zest. "Dude, after everything we've been through, and I'm not just talking about today. Is money really the main issue here?"

"Yes," Digit said blankly. Nox said nothing.

"You guys were lucky," said Pixel.

"You have no idea," said Digit. "Hey, can I talk to you... alone?"

"Sure." They got up and went to her room.

"Um, what are you doing?" Amethyst asked Trixie as she tip-toed to the door. "That's an invasion of privacy."

"So is a guy putting his hands down a girl's pants, but I don't see anyone doing anything to stop it," Trixie said. "To double it up, most girls enjoy it."

"Not the point," Amethyst said, face-palming. "Besides this is different." Amethyst thought for a while. "You could just use the internet, you know?"

"What?"

"Look, we're growing up. It's natural to have uncontrollable... urges. But I doubt Digit and his sister are into the whole... sibling fetish."

"WHAT?!" Trixie's face was now as red as s ripe tomato. "Are you crazy?! I just want to know what's so important and personal that they had to lock the door!"

"You sure? 'Cause you look a bit... hot, if you know what I mean," Amethyst added with a smirk.

"Y-You have problems! I told you-"

"Okay, okay. But then again... WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU LISTEN IN ON SOMEONE ELSE'S PRIVATE CONVERSATION?! HAVE YOU NO DECENCY?!"

"Ssshhhhh! Do you want them to hear?"

"Look, Trixie, let’s just leave 'em be," said Sunset. "It's probably a family matter we should stay out of."

"True that," agreed Amethyst.

"... Fine," Trixie surrendered.

"Okay, who wants to show the boys that girls can kick ass in Call of Duty?" Amethyst asked, cracking her knuckles.

"Count me in," Sunset said as she made her way to the living room.

Meanwhile

"Dampener spell?" Pixel asked, noting the rune Digit carved into the door.

"Neither side can hear the other."

"Huh, Blackbane and the Changelings. Sounds like the name of a rock band."

"Yeah, kinda," Digit replied.

"Well, if they keep to the forest, there shouldn't be too much of a problem. But what of you?" Her voice was suddenly filled with concern.

"No voices, no pain, no mirages... I've been good for almost five months since the last time."

"Well, that's good news. And the powers?"

"Betting better. Crystal and Blaze have been helping and a few teacher that know gave me a few tips. And I also got this." He pulled down the neck of his shirt to reveal part of a large Q-shaped rune with what looked like chains wrapped around it.

"Strong binding spell," Pixel commented, admiring the architecture of the mark. "Princess Celestia?"

"Rune by Celestia, chains by Luna. So even if it happens when I'm not in control, they'll know."

"Nice. So," she added, cracking her fingers, "the usual?"

"Yes, please." He turned around, lay down and Pixel proceeded to massage his back.

"Dude, there are more knots in your right shoulder blade than in the twisted trunk of a three hundred year-old tree."

"Yeah, fighting a powerful mage and nearly dying will do that to you."

Meanwhile

"Sunset!"

"I got you! Watch you're back!"

"Nox, we're getting hammered! Where the hell are you?!"

"Really? I'm watching you. Dude, I told you I hate Greenband."

"Dude, it’s close-quarters. I thought you'd be good at it."

"Hey, Zest?"

"Yeah, Amy? ... Oh no. Don't you dare!"

"Bye-bye." Bang! "WOOHOO! Winner by total annihilation, the girls!"

"NOOOOOOO!"

"Whatever."

"No fair! You both had shotguns!"

"Yeah. And your bots were on hardened while ours were regular. How was that fair?"

"You said make it a challenge."

"Hey Zest?"

"Yeah Sunny?"

"Just accept the fact that you just lost to a couple of girls."

"What?! What of Nox?"

"He accepted it the moment you chose Greenband." Zest eyed Nox.

"What? I'm not going to lie or fake that we even stood a chance."

"WOOO!" Sunset and Amethyst high-fived, then low-fived, then chest-bumped. "We rock!"

"Wanna put your money where your mouth is?" They all turned to see Digit and Pixel standing behind them.

"Oh, you're done?"

"Yeah." Digit looked at Zest and shook his head. "A whole summer of practice, wasted."

"Dude, it was Greenband."

"What? Didn't you learn your lesson when you went up against Star?" Digit face-palmed. "Okay, so who wants to go up against the champions next?" he asked, gesturing to his sister and himself.

"Uh huh. Yeah, nope. You're on your own with that suicide mission," Zest said, backing away. Nox manifested a cloud and laid down, pretending to sleep. "Got any food?"

"I had clothes for each of you..."

"*cough* mine *cough* *cough*"

"Check the fridge."

Zest opened the fridge. "Sweet Valhalla! Take me now!"

"Digit. Digit. Digit... ARGH!" The sound of crystals shattering echoed through the young queen's cave every so often. "Why can't I remember?"

"Perhaps it has been a while."

"No. The sound of the name is too fresh in my head for it to have been that long. It must have been less than a year. Ten months, tops."

"Perhaps a friend."

"Nah. I'd remember." Soon, she gave up... for the time being. "Anyway, where are Nightshade and Descent?"

"Out on a hunt. They'll be back soon."

"Sooner than you think." Bane looked back at the throne room's entrance to see a Skyborn with dark blue ethereal wings, dark blue hair, and dark blue eyes. She wore a dark purple flight suit with a dark gold lightning bolt running diagonally across it, a black crop-top flight jacket, and black boots. "Miss us?"

"I only noticed you were gone when I couldn't hear you beating the life out of my troops," Bane replied. "Where's Descent?"

"Right here." From behind Nightshade came a figure dressed in a similar attire. His flight suit had a hood with a design like a mouth with razor sharp teeth and he wore a black cloak instead of a flight jacket. His dark blue hair was hidden by his hood and his dark blue eyes were barely visible through his black tinted flight goggles. He was carrying a rather large, brown, scaly creature over his shoulder. "I have no idea why we changed jobs if I was still going to do all the heavy lifting."

"Well, you're the big strong man, aren't you?"

"I used to take that as a compliment."

"And now?"

"It signifies when I'm being screwed over by my partner."

"Enough squabbling you to," the queen said calmly. "I'm starving. What do we have for dinner tonight?"

"Well, we have a light vegetable salad made from a variety of herbs I picked up from the forest and marinated for three days..."

"Um, I'm not eight Bane."

"For dessert, we have a delightful strawberry soufflé made with water from the resonance lake..."

"Ooooh, me like," the queen said, drooling. "And the main course?"

"Dragon meat steak."

Then, she bored her fangs. "Yummy," she said, smiling.

Sunday was uneventful. They slept through the whole day due to their little... scuffle and eating a large meal... a very large meal that took all morning to make, and the rest of the day to finish.

"Thanks again, sis."

"Anytime, bro. Try visiting more often. Saturday night was fun. You guys sure you don't need a lift to school?"

"Nah, we're probably gonna need to burn off the four-course meal we made and ate yesterday."

As they walked out of the building, they waved to Pixel, standing at the entrance. Sunset and Amethyst with looks of utter disbelief on their faces. "512 to 104. And the 104 were all bot kills and suicides," said Sunset.

"That's more than two times the gap we gave Zest and Nox," said Amethyst.

"Told you guys it was suicide," Zest said. "Then again. I was wrong. It was a massacre!"

"I'm surprised Trixie didn't attempt to prove how 'great and powerful' she was at video games," Amethyst commented.

"I don't have to prove anything. I would've mopped the floor with you all!"

"Uh huh. So, anything happening in school today?"

"Crap."

"What is it, Digit?"

"Name finalization."

"... Crap."

"Okay, how about a temporary name? We'll change it after about a month. That should be enough time."

"And what name will we use?"

Digit simply smiled.

"Are you sure?" asked Celestia.

"Yep," replied Digit.

"And a one month trial? Well, okay... there. Team Spark has been entered into the system."

"Thank you."

Later

"Team Spark? Really?" Amethyst was the first to comment.

"I didn’t see you making any better suggestions."

"Touché."

The day was relatively uneventful. Biggest thing was the separation of Eco Enforcers into the Earth Elements and the Forces of Nature. Now, team meeting were being held. Until...

All students, please report to the auditorium for a special announcement.

"Well, let's hope something interesting happens," Sunset said, "Because I am bored out of my mind right now."

"I hear ya," Amethyst said.

The auditorium was packed. Students were sitting together in their respective groups. Team Cross sat between Team Harmony and Team Crunch. "Hey, Twi. Hey girls," Sunset greeted.

"Hey Sunset," Twilight replied. "How did the trip go?"

"It was... good... I guess..."

"Uh huh," Twilight grinned.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Celestia spoke as the student started to settle, "I hope you have had a good first week? As you may know, only students who have gone through orientation may start taking missions this week. However, things have changed." There was a lot of chatter and debating on what could possibly have changed and why. "This year, your orientation... will be an external assignment." There was a loud gasp amongst the students. "That's right. You will be tested by going out into the field and performing a task arranged by Vice Principal Luna and myself. However, I have heard that some of you have received First Call Permission Slips. In which case, teams will competing for who gets called on higher class missions and assignments. While others will be oriented by team, your teams will be oriented together."

"That's new," said Twilight.

"That sounds awesome," said Rainbow. "Wish we got one. We already have our permission to start next week."

"Good luck Sunny," Pinkie said, hugging Sunset, "and your whole team. Oh, have you guys picked a name yet?"

"Team Spark." They stared. "It's temporary."

"Ah."

"Well, at least you final have a name," said Rarity.

"Now, the teams competing are... Team Symphony..." a large musical not with headphones and waves around it appeared on the screen behind her, "Six Storms..." a lightning bolt cutting a cloud in half, "Forces of Nature..." a wheel of water, earth, fire, wind, and lightning around a giant tree, "Team Spark..." a bright orange flame with a grinning face and sharp teeth, "The Illusions..." a five-point star with a moon in the middle, at which Trixie cringed, "and Team Xplosion," a mushroom cloud. "The trial will be held from Wednesday to Friday in three weeks. Prepare yourselves, for this could be one of the toughest tests of your time in this school."

"Three days?" pondered Twilight. "Talk about pushing limits. What could it possibly be?"

"They probably have to fight off some horrific monster," replied Rainbow, imaging a dragon.

"Why would you say that?"

"Because fighting a horrific monster would be awesome!"

"Say what?" Applejack asked, confused by her logic.

"I hope not," said Sunset.

"Now, you may return to whatever it was you were doing. However, this is not a way for you to dodge assignments and skip classes. You will continue with your academic studies without a hitch. Otherwise, you will be disqualified and unauthorized to attempt any external missions until next semester. Now, off you go."

That week, teams involved in the trial hurried out of their class so they could get dibs on the gym and the field to train. Team Spark, however, had their own personal spot.

"Are you sure?" Amethyst asked as they approached their training ground. "I'm pretty sure it was abandoned for a reason."

"Trust me. It's fine," replied Digit. "Nox can vouch for it."

"Why me?" asked the shadowy boy.

"Because you are one of the few people that have been here with me. Don't worry. It's safe, secure, and structurally sound. Plus, it's abandoned."

"I've heard bad things about abandoned places," said Sunset.

"Yeah, well, this place is different. Oh, we're here." They stopped in front of what looked like a massive factory. Concrete pillars, metal vats, generators, and trucks filled with unknown materials surrounded the complex. On the front was a sign that read "Elixir Processing Complex". Below it was a sign the said "CONDEMNED. KEEP OFF!".

"Um..." Sunset was even less confident to go in. "Why was it condemned?"

"Nooooobody knoooows," Zest said, imitating a ghostly voice.

"Knock it off," Amethyst said, punching him.

"Plus, we've got coaches."

"Really? Who?"

"Same guys that trained me when I wanted to enter the academy."

"Us." They looked ahead and saw Pixel in black and pink track pants, pink sport bra, white trainers, and black jacket with pinks racing stripes. Next to her where three other girls and two guys: two wore blue flight suits with a golden lightning bolt cutting vertically across it and black boots, the difference being that the upper part of the girl's suit was open and hanging around her waist, revealing a light orange crop top, matching her orange hair and eyes, while the guy had blue hair and green eyes suit was in two pieces, his jacket open to reveal a white tank top. Another guy had indigo hair, matching eyes, and wore a cloak over a white shirt, gray trousers, and black boots. The girl standing next to him had chestnut hair hidden by a cowboy... cowgirl hat, bright hazel eyes, and wore an orange shirt tied up to be a crop top, blue jean short-shorts, brown chaps, and brown boots. The last girl wore a white sweater over a blue shirt, a long pale blue skirt, and white sandals. "Hello again. It's been a while."

"Yeah, three days, to be exact," Digit replied grinning.

"Wow, sharp as ever," said the older girl in the flight suit.

"Guys," Pixel said to Digit's group, "Meet my old team while I was at the academy: Surprise Strike, Aerial Ace, Chrome Midnight, Harebell Dust, and Sapphire Droplet." The two teams greeted one another. "So, who’s ready for the workout of their life?"

No reply.

"Well, any luck?" Celestia asked Creed. The four of the five teachers, Zecora being the missing one, were once again gathered in the lounge after the students had left the school.

"Same reactions," Creed replied. "But I still have no idea what is reacting to who. Spellbinder has been helping with that though."

"I see. Well, Zecora is still in the Everfree trying to see if anything there can help us. If the item's magic can be felt here, either it's powering up or it's closer than we think. And neither one of those is a good thing."

"Incoming message. Members assembled.

They made their way downstairs and took their seat. Their companions popped up soon after. The brown figure was now designated... giant chocolate banana split?

"What? I love those. Then again who doesn’t?"

"Can we please get down to business," said the mauve figure, a lot less cheery than usual. "And please stop using those absurd pictures. This is a serious issue."

"Wow. Someone's in a pissy mood."

"Yeah, involuntary insomnia will do that to a person," she snapped.

"Cherilee," Celestia said giving her an eye a mother would give a rude child.

"Sorry, Princess. I haven't slept in three days straight. I'm kind of... edgy."

"I understand, but I told you to do a little research, not engross yourself in it."

"I know. But this is what I meant by it being cursed. Every time I find something, it somehow disappears when something else comes up. Every loophole seems to have a failsafe. It should be impossible for anyone to find the items, let alone use them."

"Use them? Why not?" asked Spellbinder.

"Ah, of course," the brown figure said, hitting his forehead. "I added another special precaution in case of the near impossibility that anyone found the items. They need my permission to use them."

"How?" asked the blue figure.

"I need to cast an activation spell on it by injecting my own magic into it. And no," he added, looking at Spellbinder, "They can't just accumulate raw chaos magic from the atmosphere and add it themselves. The flow and concentration of energy will be off. It won't work."

"Well, that's a bit reassuring," said the blue figure. "Any other "special precautions" we should know about so we can make Miss Cherilee's work a bit easier?"

"I'll let you know when I remember," he said with a smirk. "Where's the fun in telling you everything?"

"But I don't get it," said Cherilee, "Won't the Elements of Harmony be able to stop whoever control's the power?"

"That's the thing, we're not sure," said Celestia as she brought up an image of what they knew as the Tree of Harmony. "My sister and I were not the first ones to wield the Elements. Before us were the Guardians of Harmony, six powerful mages that discovered the magic of friendship and how those virtues could be turned into a powerful anti-darkness power."

"That will never stop being cheesy," said the brown figure.

"As I was saying, the first time they went up against someone who possessed that power, they didn't even attempt it alone. They sought the help of six others who discovered six other virtues that could banish darkness." Six other points lit up on the tree. "They were called... the Elements of Heroism."

"Heroism?" Cherilee asked, flipping through a book. "Never heard of that one before."

"Try the Lost Elements of Virtue."

Cherilee froze. "But... according to research, that's an ancestral power. It can only be wielded by those of particular lineage... and that lineage must be pure."

"Exactly. Which is one of the reasons I'm holding the trials."

"If any of our students were part of that lineage, I'm pretty sure we would know by now."

"We do," said Creed, "The question now is who... curse you Zecora."

Cherilee stared blankly. "S-Seriously?"

"Yes seriously." Surprise was hovering over Zest. "You need to improve your endurance."

"By crashing into a wall?" Zest asked, confused and, admittedly, a bit terrified.

"Exactly. Later, I'll teach you how to fly through it."

"Why don't we just skip to that part?"

"Where's the fun in that?"

"Everywhere!"

"Come on, Digit," called Pixel, as Digit tried to keep a concrete pillar from falling on his head, "I thought you had a hit count of over 3000?"

"3641, to be exact. I got better."

"Uh huh. I'm not seeing it."

Harebell was walking around him, making adjustments to his posture. "Ya gotta push up with yer whole body, not just yer arms," she said in a strong country accent. "If not, they'll snap like twigs holdin' up a barn filled with hay from the pressure." Suddenly, she was in front of him, adjusting his arms. She stood at 6'4''. Her Amazonian figure had earned her the very name. Digit reddened slightly as her breast came to his face. Then she leaned forward. His arms straightened, suddenly. "Oops, mah bad."

"N-No problem," Digit said, forcing back the redness.

"DIGIT!" cried Sapphire, "I saw that!"

"What?" he asked innocently.

"That pervy look in your eyes."

"Don't forget the blushing," added Harebell, causing him to avoid eye contact.

"And the sudden strength to hold up a thousand pound concrete pillar," Pixel added, earning her a glare from her younger brother.

"Seriously, you're in the middle of a training exercise," Sapphire said, disappointed. "I always thought you had more self-control than Zest. Now I think I see where he gets it."

"Hey," he said, dropping the pillar sideways, "I'm a sixteen year-old boy with hormones and a girl... Amazon with her you-know-what's in front of me. By all means, sue me for my natural biological wiring."

"Fair point," said Harebell.

"Really?" asked Sapphire, a bit confused. "I always thought you hated guys that did that."

"Digit actually ain’t bad, just... a boy. Ah think we can use that to our advantage."

"You won't try that with Zest?" Pixel asked, curious.

"Hell no! Have ya met the guy? He'd tumble over ya as an excuse to get a good grip."

Pixel burst into laughter. "Okay, just don't suffocate by brother, alright, Amazon? Those jugs could be used as airbags."

"Haha," Bluebell laughed sarcastically, "Real funny."

"Am I missing something here?" asked Sapphire.

"I think we both are," replied Digit.

Meanwhile, Aerial was training with Nox to help increase his speed by throwing electrified clouds at him. Nox managed to dodge a good majority, but that became a problem when Aerial started throwing two at a time, which he managed for about three minutes before getting sandwiched between two high-voltage clouds.

Trixie, Sunset, and Amethyst were running laps to build up endurance. Amethyst was doing fine. The two other mages, not so much. "This... is... suicide," Sunset said between breaths.

"I think... that's... the next... exercise," Trixie said, huffing.

"What, suicides?" Trixie nodded. "Crap."

"C'mon ladies, put your back into it," Pixel cried from the stands. "Amethyst left you behind like three laps ago. How're you holding up, Digit?"

Digit was now doing press-ups... with his legs straight up... on one hand... balanced on Harebell's stomach. Each time he went down, her breasts were mere inches form his face. Two voices sounded in his head. One said, "Come on, just a little further. Going lower works out your arms more." The other said, "Dude, have some respect for her and yourself. And get some self-control while you're at it." Her stomach was firm, but she moved constantly, watching how quickly Digit could regain his balance. "Ah never too ya for the pervy type, Digi."

"Digi?" he thought. "Really? We're using my old pet name now?" "I-I'm not. This was all your idea." At one hundred, he got off her stomach.

"Uh huh, ah believe ya," she said, unconvinced.

"Okay, everyone in." Digit's teammates were all sweaty and tired, but managed to drag themselves to meet Pixel and her team. "Okay, you guys have done pretty good, but next is the main event. After a ten minute break, each of you will spar with each of us."

"Oh ho ho, we are so dead," said Zest, staring at Chrome, who cracked his knuckles while eyeing him.

"Y'got that right," Amethyst added, staring at Harebell, who had tied the string of her hat and wore it round her neck. "Anyone know a good hospital nearby?"

"Yep, but it's a ten minute walk... unless you can fly." They looked up to see a winged figure flying towards them. The blue creature landed on Digit's head, its pink scales shone brilliantly in the sunlight, as did her bright yellow eyes. "Don't mind me," she said, "I'm just here to watch."

"Hey, Sparks," Digit said, scratching the dragon's chin. "Where have you been?"

"Off the corner of Boredom and Insanity. But now, I just wanna see some action!"

Author's Notes:

Dun dun duuuuuun! So, not as much action, but next, we'll see Team Spark take on The Recoded (Pixel's team). Line-up for the next episode:

Digit VS Harebell
Amethyst VS Chrome
Zest VS Surprise
Sunset VS Pixel
Nox VS Aerial
Trixie VS Sapphire

If y'all have better idea's for the match-ups, please let me know in a comment. As I said, there will be data pages for the teams. I got no request, so unless I get one in the next 24 hours, I'll do Team Symphony first. This will also be a good chance to get a sneak peek at the competing teams, as those are who I'll be doing first. If there are any you'd like to see specifically, ask, and ye shall receive. Again, I appreciate the support. Stay tuned and stay awesome!

Also, can you guess the identities of the remaining unrevealed council members? A prize awaits the winner... perhaps!

Data Page: Team Symphony

View Online

Team Symphony is a five-man (three girls, two boys) team who specialize in musical and sound-based magic (obviously). Their symbol is a blue semi-quaver with white headphones around it and sound waves pulsing from the sides.

MEMBERS
Name: Vinyl Scratch
Age: 16
Gender: Female
Hair color: Cobalt blue, cyan highlights
Eye color: Cerise
Trademark: Purple-tinted shade, bright cyan headphones
Signature: Two black bridged eighth notes
Magic Type: Sound Buster
Special Spell: Sonic Boom
Weapon: Sonic Chakrams
Personality: Quiet, cool, calm, collected

Name: Octavia Melody
Age: 16
Gender: Female
Hair color: Light gray
Eye color: Gray-tinted mulberry
Trademark: Pale pink ribbon/bow tie
Signature: Pale purple treble clef
Magic Type: Harmonizer
Special Spell: Resonance Break
Weapon: Cello (can be used as blunt weapon/shield, bow is used as a blade)
Personality: Quiet, occasionally snobby, confident

Name: Meadow Song
Age: 16
Gender: Male
Hair color: Pale amber
Eye color: Sap green
Trademark: Ukulele
Signature: Brown Ukulele
Magic Type: Sound Illusionist
Special Spell: Sweet Dream/Beautiful Nightmare
Weapon: Ukulele
Personality: Calm, friendly/cruel (MPD)

Name: Easy Breeze
Age: 15
Gender: Male
Hair color: Pale azure
Eye color: Bright ocean blue
Trademark: Seashell necklace
Signature: Seashell with a musical note
Magic Type: Sonic Amplification
Special Spell: Dream Tune
Weapon: Tambourine with shell bells (edge of the shells are blade-sharp)
Personality: Calm, shy, quiet

Name: Shred Metal
Age: 15
Gender: Female
Hair color: Black with pink stripe
Eye color: Dark pink
Trademark: Black guitar pick with electric pink lightning motif at the edges
Signature: Guitar between two lightning bolts
Magic Type: Sound Buster
Special Spell: Shock Shredder
Weapon: Electric guitar (can be used as an axe)
Personality: Wild, spontaneous, friendly, a bit overzealous at times

Team Symphony (or simply The Symphonies) are a team of mages with sound-based abilities, ranging from sonic blasts to hypnosis. Together, they are one of the strongest teams of this year, but due to their very different tastes in music, they barely manage to get along, causing this strength to lie dormant most times. Octavia seems to get along better with Vinyl than with anyone else on the team and especially has issues with Shred. Meadow is generally nice, but his other personality tends to be a bit... harder to approach. Whisper is only person in the world that could compete with Fluttershy in both shyness and cuteness, as he seems to grab the attention of most girls in his class, whether he means to or not. Shred is simply wild, refusing to let anyone or anything dictate anything involving her. Being the only boys, Meadow and Breeze tend to get along, though Breeze is usually put off by Meadows second, harsh, cruel personality.

New Kid on the Block

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"Wait a minute... YOU HAVE A DRAGON?!" Sunset spoke on behalf of the rest of a stunned Team Spark.

"Yeah. Hatched her myself," Digit said with pride. "Her name's Sparks."

"Sparks?" Sunset asked. "As in Team Spark?"

"Yeah, well, there's no "s"."

"Not the point."

"You named the team after your pet DRAGON?!" Trixie said, somewhat infuriated.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!" Sparks cried back. The spikes along her back and tail stood up, her teeth and claws sharpened.

Trixie was a bit confused, but still said, "A pet," with great confidence.

Sparks calmed down. "I am not a pet. Friend? Yes. Assistant? Why not. Familiar? ...Still working on that part. But pet? NEVER!"

"Well, you look pretty comfortable with himpetting you like that," Trixie said with a smirk.

"THAT'S IT!" Sparks' spines and claws extended again as she leaped off Digit's head and towards Trixie, who tripped over in her attempt to back away. Digit caught her by her tail. "Lemme go! I'll barbecue her myself!"

"Easy, Sparks," Digit said, holding the little dragon up. "You said you were here to watch, not get involved."

She calmed down and turned to face Pixel's team. "Whichever one of you is going up against... her, please, kick her butt for me."

"I'll try," Sapphire replied, "But I'm not making any promises," she added with a grin.

"Wait, what?" Trixie asked, surprised.

"Ah, yes," Pixel said, stepping forward. "Trixie, you and Pixel will go one-on-one in the north end of the compound. Zest and Nox will team up against Aerial and Surprise."

"You're trying to put fire and water in the same jar," Nox said. "It's not going to work."

"Way to keep up that positive attitude," Zest said, sarcastically.

Nox shrugged. "Just being honest. You and I both know this won't work out."

"The point is for both of you to learn to work together," said Pixel. "You're both Skyborn, so you're strength will be in the air and there's no point in being on the same team if you're going to fight each other for domination."

"She's got a point," Zest pointed out, "...Unfortunately," he added, seeing Surprise smiling and cracking her knuckles.

"Then let's go," Surprise said as she and Aerial took off, with their opponents following behind. "We'll take the sky." Trixie and Sapphire did the same.

"Next, Amethyst and Chrome on the West side." They went on their way. "Next, Digit... and Harebell. You guys take the south end."

"WHAT?!" Digit cried. "Do you want me to die before the trials?"

"C'mon, Digi," said the Amazon, wrapping her arm around his neck, "It'll be fine."

"She's right," Pixel reassures him.

"That's a lie," Digit said, as he and Harebell made their way to their side.

"Wait a minute," Sunset said. She, Pixel, and Sparks were the only ones left. "That means..."

"Yep," Pixel said, taking off her jacket, "Just you and me, Sunny."

Sunset gulped. "Eep!"

"Argh! I'm bored!" The young queen was sitting on her crystal throne, balancing a short sword on her fingertip. "BANE!"

A shadow appeared and took on a shape. "You called, Milady?"

"I'm bored."

Ban just stared. "Um, yes, well, things have been rather... uneventful for the past few days."

"Urgh, if only I didn't have to take care of this hive." She thought for a moment. "Hey, Bane, what do kids my age do normally?"

Bane was surprised. His queen hardly ever asked what other's her age would do, especially considering her position. "Well, at this time, I'm guessing they'll be at school."

She thought for a moment, then smiled. "Then that settles it, "she said jumping out of her throne. "I'm going to school. This'll be fun! Way more fun than sitting down on a boring old throne all day."

"Well, that's something you don't hear everyday from a teenager," Bane said.

"Bane, find me the most prestigious school in the area, within a four mile radius."

"Well, there is the Chantalot Academy. It was founded by Princess Celestia herself."

"Oooooh! I'm definitely going there." She stopped a the door. "Get Descent and Nightshade. We're going shopping! You too Bane."

"Great," he muttered sarcastically.

"SWEET CELESTIA!" Sunset cried as she dodged another bolt of energy.

"C'mon! It's like you aren't even trying," Pixel said as she fire another bolt from her hand.

"I'm trying NOT TO GET KILLED!" "I cant stay on the defensive forever." She dodged another bolt and rolled behind a pillar. She gathered a mass of teal energy into her hands. She rolled out of cover and fired the bolt at Pixel. Pixel held out her hand and brought up a blue bubble shield, which blocked the blast.

"That it?" she asked.

"Nope." As Pixel lowered the shield, a salvo of fireballs approached her. She dodged them, but for some reason, they followed her. She brought up a small shield and took the hit, crashing into a wall. "Not bad, huh?" Sunset said, twirling a fireball on her finger.

"Not at all," Pixel replied, pulling herself from the rubble. "In fact, it's given me incentive to stop holding back." She dodged as Snset threw the fireball, followed by a barrage of energy bolts. Pixel slide to a halt, keeping her head down so the barrage past over her, then fired a bolt of energy that hit Sunset square in the stomach, knocking her back.

"Ow," Sunset said getting up, holding her stomach. "Isn't this supposed to be training?"

"That won't be an excuse when you're out fighting, will it?" She charged up another bolt of energy.

"Yep. I'm done."

Meanwhile...

"Come on!" Zest cried as he charged towards Aerial, who knocked him away into Nox, who was facing off against Surprise.

"Watch it," Nox said, regaining his balance and pulling away from Zest.

"Oh, sorry. Wasn't expecting to be hit by a blast of wind," he replied sarcastically.

"Hey, eyes on the enemy," Aerial said as he threw a ball of wind at them. Surprise followed up with a ball of lightning. The wind knocked them off balance, while the lightning stretched around them like a rope, tying them together.

"Come on," Surprise said, hovering over them, arms crossed, "It's like you're not even trying."

Meanwhile...

"I AM TRYING!" Digit had been dodging Harebell's blows for nearly five minutes now, and she wasn't letting up. If anything, she was becoming more ferocious.

"C'mon, kiddo. Ya ain't gonna be on the defensive forever," she said, throwing a right cross. Digit blocked it, but the force sent him flying into a nearby van. Harebell straightened up. "Ah remember when ya used t' punch zap apple trees for practice! What happened t' that?"

"Nothing," he replied as he got up. "I just..."

"Just what?" she asked as she charged at him again. She landed the hit, but didn't feel the contact. She looked back and saw the image of Digit fading. She noticed a faint blue trail and used her eyes to trace it to Digit, who was sitting on top of a pillar. She smiled. "Slow start, but still a start." She jumped up to meet him and brought her hammer-like fist down, hitting another afterimage and shattering the pillar completely. She landed with the debris and saw Digit running towards her, coated in a blue and white aura. "That's more like it!" She blocked Digit's relentless attacks. For her, it was easy since she had trained him and trained with him many times, but for anyone else, trying to predict Digit's capoeira-like fighting style was like trying to understand Pinkie Pie: it was nearly impossible!

Digit's attacks flowed so smoothly, it was as if he had planned out his movements five minutes earlier. When he managed to pushed Harebell far enough, he did a hand stand. Using his hands as pivots, he spun and brought his right foot to her face. She blocked it, then moved back to dodge his incoming left leg. He brought his legs down and swept the ground in front of him. She jumped, but didn't noticed his other foot as it slammed into her stomach. She moved back and looked up as Digit moved for a punch. She closed her eyes and braced herself, but it never came. She looked up to see Digit's fist inches from her breast. He was red. That instant, Harebell brought her leg around and caught Digit's arm in the joint behind her knee and used her other leg to sweep his feet off the ground. She spun sideways and flipped Digit onto the ground and stopped her incoming leg just above his face. She smiled.

"Not bad," She said getting up. "Still needs a bit o' work though." She stretched out her hand and pulled him up. "What was that? When you stopped mid-punch?"

"I... um... well..."

"You were afraid you were gonna punch mah boobs?"

Digit's faced burned. "Um... well... something like that. Besides, I don't hit girls."

"Ah know."

"WHAT?!"

"Digit, ah've trained with you fer years now."

"So this was to teach me not to be afraid to hit a girl?"

"Somethin' like that." Digit just growled in response. "Ready fer round two?"

"No."

"Too bad."

Meanwhile...

"Stand still so Trixie can blast you!"

"Why would I even consider that?" Trixie had, fruitlessly, tried to hit Sapphire with energy bolts. Sapphire made use of a spell that allowed her made mirror images of herself that kept moving and dodging Trixie's attacks, much to the latter's annoyance. "Combat isn't just about magic. You need to be more ambidextrous if you want to stand a chance at winning in any fight."

Trixie fired another bolt and shattered another mirror image. "Stop distracting me!"

"Fine. Then let me show you." All the clones converged and a single Sapphire was running towards Trixie.

"Gotcha!" Trixie fired a bolt of pale pink energy at Sapphire, but somehow it missed... at point-blank range. Sapphire bent under Trixie's arm and elbowed her stomach with enough force to send her flying into a pool of water behind her.

"See?" Sapphire said. Trixie pointed her wand at her again. "Have you learned nothing?" Sapphire asked as she face-palmed.

Meanwhile...

"Fighting isn't about brute strength and raw power. It's about focus and precision."

"Sorry, that don't make much sense to me," Amethyst said throwing another punch, which missed.

"Predict your opponent' moves and plan your own moves based on that. The better the prediction, the more likely you are to win." As he spoke, he dodged several blows aimed at his head, and just as many aimed at his chest.

"What if I just barrel through the opponent?" She delivered another flurry of punches, all of which missed.

"Then you'll hurt yourself." With that, Chrome caught her hand and flipped her on her back. She got up and aimed to kick him, but he caught her leg and flipped her behind him. "I can see the anger," he said as she got up. "Now channel it."

"LIKE THIS?!" She punched the ground with, literally, earthshaking force. The ground beneath them shattered and shifted. Chrome stomped the ground and the shockwave not only countered Amethyst's blow, causing it to stop, it also knocked Amethyst back into a wall.

"No," he said blankly, "Not like that."

Digit was now lying flat on the ground, panting. Harebell was sitting on his chest. "Thank Faust she isn't wearing a skirt." Then the second voice echoed, "Why isn't she wearing a skirt?!"

"Hello? Anyone home?" Harebell asked, knocking on his head like a door. "What's goin' on up there?"

"Nothing," Digit said, blushing.

"Kid, ain't you ever been with a girl before?"

"WHAT?!" One of the many questions he never wanted to answer. "Yes, well, no. Not really. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Relax. I'm just teasin'," she said as she got up. "Yeesh. For someone as popular as you, ah thought you'd be used to gettin' attention from pretty girls."

"This is different," he said as he sat up.

"How so?"

"Well for starters, your 21."

"So you're nervous... 'cause am older than you?"

"Okay, now this got... hey, do you hear that?" Digit heard a faint noise that seemed to get closer and louder. Suddenly, a giant teal ball crashed in front of them. When the dust cleared, Digit and Harebell saw Sunset in a protective sphere, panting.

"Dude... your sister's... trying... to kill me," she said between breaths.

"Quit exaggerating." They saw Pixel behind them.

"GAH! White flag! White flag!" Sunset materialized a fairly large white flag and was waving it around."

"Don't worry, we're done." Sunset breathed a sigh of relief and released the shield, letting herself slump into the crater she created. Soon, saw Nox carrying an unconscious Zest as he descended with Aerial and Surprise close behind.

"Don't ask," Nox said before Pixel had the chance.

Chrome was also carrying an unconscious Amethyst as he made his way to the group. "Don't ask."

"Wasn't going to." She turned around to greet the last group. "Well, at least your conscious." Sapphire was walking next to a soaked Trixie, who looked angry enough to vaporize the water on her. "I'm gonna go with the Twenty-Rivers Mirror Flood Technique."

"Ten, actually," Sapphire said. "She thought she could blast her way through it or hit me to stop it."

"They were both legitimate plans," said Trixie.

"But neither of them worked." Trixie growled.

"Well, this was a good start. Next session will be on Friday, after school," Pixel said as she walked away. "Same place. Don't be late." Sunset took Amethyst from Chrome as he made his way to the group. "Later." With that, the group was engulfed in a bright blue sphere, which vanished in a flash of light.

"Wow, you weren't kidding," Sunset said to Amethyst, "She is heavy."

"Toldyaso."

In Chantalot, a teenage girl with lavender hair was making her way through the many stores in the town. She was wearing a pink shirt, knee-length black skirt, and black boots and was carrying about four large shopping bags. Behind her was a man in a long black trench coat, black trousers, white shirt, and black shoes carrying six large bags. To his right, a girl with dark blue hair in a blue tank-top, black short-shorts, and blue high-top sneakers. To his left, a boy with similar hair wearing a black shirt, blue jeans, and black boots. They were each carrying about eight bags. "Is all this stuff necessary?" asked the blue-haired girl.

"Better safe than sorry," said the other girl. "Don't worry, Nighty. Some of those are for you."

"I hate that name, for more reasons than I can count, but I'll let it slide 'cause of the second part."

"You are too easily bribed," said the boy.

"I like when people are nice to me and get me nice stuff. So sue me."

"We're here," said the older man. They now stood in front of a large building they knew as Chantalot Academy.

"Wow. It looks pretty cool. Almost as cool as my castle."

"Which one?" asked Nightshade.

Bane handed his bags to Nightshade and Descent, as did the girl. "Get these back to the house. We'll deal with the formalities."

"Which house?" Nightshade asked again smiling. "Oh, you mean the one we just bought. Sorry, lost track."

"You aren't attending with us?" asked Descent.

"I think I'd look better as a parent."

"Don't your "kids" look a bit different?"

"I married twice."

"NO!" The young queen turned to face him. "This should be fun and all, but let's try to maintain some class, huh?"

"Fine... you two took after me and she took after her mother." He ran his hand through his hair and it gained a dark blue tint.

"And the different names?" Descent pointed out.

"You took my last name, she took her mother's."

"Cool," said the younger girl. "I can work with that. But don't they need to be there when we're signing up?"

"True that," said Nightshade.

Bane sighed. "Fine." He bent down and drew a symbol on the ground using a blade he took from inside his coat. When it lit up, he dropped his bags on it and they vanished.

"You had a teleport rune and you wanted to make us carry the bags?" Nightshade asked, unsure whether to be angry or confused at his decision. Bane simply smiled.

"Look out Chantalot," the queen said as they approached the school, "Lavender Heart's in town!"

"Okay. That's it. You're all officially welcome to the Chantalot Academy." Celestia had just finished signing the papers signifying their acceptance into the school. Apparently, the trio had passed the entrance test in nearly record time. "You can begin classes tomorrow. Will you be adding anyone to your group, or will you be fine with just three members?"

"We'll be fine on our own," replied Lavender.

"Okay then. These are you student IDs. They will act as your identification, library card, and keycards for specific areas." She handed them each a card.

"Thank you," the three of them said.

Once they left, the Lavender insisted they do more shopping while Bane went home to prepare dinner. They stopped off at a clothes store, where Lavender tried out a bunch of different clothes while Nightshade and Descent just looked around and held anything she decided to buy. "Hey, Nighty, something's been bothering me," she said.

"Still don't like the name, but what is it?" she asked, taking a sip from her blueberry smoothie.

"Does the name "Digit" mean anything to you?" At that moment, Nightshade nearly choked on her smoothie, coughing and gagging in an attempt to get it out of her lungs.

"Omigoodness, are you okay?" Lavender asked, rushing to her side.

"Yeah, fine," she said, clearing her throat. "Think they forgot to crush all the blueberries." She regained her composure and looked at Descent, who was as shocked as she was at the question. "Um, no. Why do you ask?"

"Bane found some intruders in the Rainbow Forest a few weeks ago. Said one of them went by Digit. For some reason, the name sounds familiar, but I haven't been able to figure out why."

"Um, maybe it's, uh, just a, um, random name you heard over time. You do get around, right?"

"I guess."

"Besides," Descent pitched in, "The Rainbow Forest is a lot more pleasant than your home in the Everfree. There's more likely to be people coming in there."

"Yeah. I'm thinking we should move back to the main hive in the Everfree," Lavender said as she took a jacket to try on. "A lot more peace and quiet. People are way too freaked out by the place."

"Yeah," said Nightshade, breathing a sigh of relief and looking at Descent. "We'll do that."

The next day, each member of team Spark was either tired or sore from training the previous day. Twilight noticed as Sunset walked into her locker to get her first period books. "Wow. You look worst than me the night before a test I didn't study for and had to wake up at two in the morning to read."

"Mhm," was her reply.

"What exactly were y'all doin'?" asked Applejack.

"Getting our butts handed to us."

They froze. They saw Digit walking towards them. Sunset grabbed her large history book, with whatever strength she could muster, and hit him with it. "Ow," he said, rubbing shoulder, "Why?"

"Why? Really? After what happened yesterday?"

"Okay, I'm sorry. But in my defense, how was I supposed to know she would launch you that far?"

"A warning about how strong she is would've been nice."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"What exactly did you guys do?" asked Rainbow.

Then, the bell rang. They headed towards class. That morning, they had Element Studies. Their teacher, Amber Force, had long black hair with a single red highlight. She wore a long purple dress and a white cloak with a red trim. As she started, the classroom door opened and three students walked in. The first was a fairly young-looking teenage girl with lavender hair and green eyes. She wore a purple shirt, black skirt, and black high-top sneakers along with her open academy uniform. The next was another girl with dark blue hair and matching eyes wearing a beige halter top, black cargo shorts, and beige boots. The boy next to her had similar hair and eyes and wore a white t-shirt under a light blue jacket, brown khakis, and black boots. "Ah welcome. I've been expecting you. Class these are your new classmates."

"I'm Nightshade Haze."

"I'm Descent Haze."

The last girl stepped forward. "My name is Lavender Heart. Pleases to meet you all."

As they made their way to the free seats in the third row, Nightshade spotted him: snow white hair with blue highlights, cool blue eyes. It was him: Digit. "But how? That can't be right. Maybe he just looks like him."

As class progressed, Lavender was engrossed in learning the basics of combining two different elements, which Amber demonstrated. Descent nudged Nightshade. "Hey, isn't that her boyfriend from about a year or two ago?" he asked in a low tone, gesturing towards Digit.

"Yes, and that's what's wrong. He shouldn't be here... he shouldn't be alive."

Descent looked back and saw Digit playing with a ball of water. "He looks pretty alive to me."

During their first break, Lavender decided to wander off and explore the school. Finally alone, Descent and Nightshade retreated to a shadowy corner behind the lockers. "oh ho ho! This is rich," said Descent.

"Rich? Do you realize how definitely screwed we are right now?" Night shade said, panicking.

"You mean you, not we."

"Way to be a great big brother."

"It was your mission."

"And I did it!"

"Really? Because it looks like you missed something... everything."

"I'm certain he should've been dead. I stabbed his and shot him through the chest with an arrow that froze his heart solid, just to be sure."

"Looks like the ice defrosted, so your precaution was a bit in vain."

"GAH! Not helping." Nightshade paced in the small space they occupied. "Oh, sweet Faust. She's gonna kill me if she figures out who he is."

"You mean when. She may be a bit naïve, but she is clever."

"Well, I can't kill him here, that would just raise suspicion, especially if we suddenly disappeared afterwards, and it would be too dangerous to stay. And telling Lavender is not an option. Friends or bodyguards, she won't forgive us for this."

"What's with all this "us" and "we" business?"

"You should've been there!"

Descent smiled. "I'm sorry, did you just say you needed my help to pull this off? That the reason you failed id because I wasn't there?"

"Absolutely not!" She continued pacing. "Argh! I need to fix this... and you're going to help."

"Me?! Why? No! Don't get me killed!"

"Look, I have an idea. I think I might be able to find a few kids with issues with Digit. See where I'm going with this?"

"Yeah. And it's crazy."

"That was FUN!" cried Lavender as they made their way back from school.

"Well, those are words you hardly ever hear from students talking about school," said Nightshade. "Y'know, I thought a parent was supposed to pick you up from school," she stated taking a sip from her smoothie, shorter ones in case of another bombshell question like earlier.

When they got home, they were greeted by Bane. They had purchased a two-story house in a residential area, about a twenty minute walk from the school. it had three bedrooms, four bathrooms, a well stocked kitchen, and more space than they knew what to do with (It was a lot bigger on the inside). "Ah, your back. How was your day?"

"Great," said Lavender.

"Okay, I guess," said Nightshade. Descent just shrugged.

"Well, dinner is ready. I could find any dragon meat in the market, but I did find a rather large duck.

"Good enough for me," said Lavender.

"She's way too easy, even for royalty," noted Nightshade as Lavender walked in ahead of them.

"Especially for royalty," added Descent.

Later that night, Nightshade couldn't sleep, and neither could Descent. They stayed up looking for anything they could use in the yearbook they "borrowed" from the library. "I've got nothing," said Nightshade.

"Me neither. Maybe we should try asking the students tomorrow."

And that's what they did. They went from student to student, asking about relationships in general amongst the students, hoping to find something on Digit. However, Digit seemed to be on good terms with just about everyone. "No way," said Nightshade, refusing to give up. "There is no way someone doesn't have it out for the kid."

"Look, we should just slow down. If we just watch maybe we'll find someone."

"Someone for what?" They twins looked back to see Lavender standing behind them, curiosity flaring in her eyes.

"Um, uh, Lavender. Um, didn't hear you coming."

"Who are you looking for? Are you keeping something from me? You know I hate it when people keep secrets from me..." her curious look started to turn to anger. "...Unless it involves presents or a party." She was now smiling.

"Fine, we'll tell you." Nightshade looked at Descent in shock. "What are you DOING?!"

"The truth is..."

"We are so dead."

"... we've been looking for a boyfriend for you." Nightshade's jaw dropped.

"Um, Descent, you're a good friend and all, but I'm sixteen. I'm perfectly capable of finding a guy I like. Actually, I already found one."

"... What?" Nightshade's eye twitched.

"Yeah. He's cute with snow white hair and sky blue eyes." Nightshade's heart skipped a beat.

"That's Digit," said Descent. Now, Nightshade was on the verge of a heart attack.

"Really? The same one that Bane saw in the forest?" Descent shrugged. "Huh." She thought for a moment. "Remind me to tell Bane to prepare a hamper as a token of my sincerest apologies," she said as she walked away.

Nightshade turned to look at Descent, who was smiling, rather pleased with himself. "Playing it cool," he said, right before she punched him in the face.

"Um... thanks, I guess." Digit was holding a basket full of food, books, and other things.

"It's the least I could do," said Lavender.

"But how did you know?"

"Oh, I was just walking through the forest when I heard a loud explosion and saw you and your friend fighting those changelings." "Luckily, the ones you obliterated were husks. Otherwise, I'd kill you where you stand! Plus, your too damn cute."

"Oh... cool." He transferred the basket into a tome in his back pocket for storage.

"Hey, um, do you have a girlfriend?"

"Um, no. Why?"

She frowned. "What are ya, dense? Why else would I be asking?"

"Sorry," he said, scratching the back of his head.

Meanwhile, Nightshade and Descent were watching from a distance. "Wow, that was subtle," Nightshade said sarcastically.

"Must be awkward for you,' said Descent.

"Kinda. Mostly creepy. Like, how did he survive?"

"We'll look into that later. I was talking about how you two... you know," he said, earning him another punch.

"So, what do you say?" Lavender asked.

"Look, your nice and cute and all, but..." Digit lost his train of thought for a while. "... I've kinda had a few... bad experiences with dating. Think I'm gonna wait a few more years."

"It's a first date, not marriage," she said, chuckling.

"First for you, maybe. But why me?"

"You kinda remind me of someone I knew and liked a while back."

"Huh. That usually doesn't end well."

"I'm willing to take the risk."

Digit though for a moment. "One date. That's it. No second try. No taking it a step further."

"Deal."

"Congrats and good luck," Nightshade said as she and Descent were waving as she left the house later that evening, Digit waiting at the gate wearing a t-shirt, khakis, and high-top sneakers. Lavender wore a white shirt, blue skirt, and blue sneakers. "Good thing love is blind, huh?"

"Yes. Yes it is." They twins turned to see Bane standing behind them. "You do know your both dead once she figures it out, right?"

"You knew?" asked Nightshade.

"How could I not. I fought the guy. His runes, fighting style, even that teleportation spell he used were all familiar, based on your account."

"Yeah, well, we need to fix this."

"What's with all this "we" business?"

"That's what I said," Descent said. "Besides, you weren't this eager to kill him when your inches from sharing a romantic moonlight kiss," he added, smirking.

"S-Shut up."

"You kissed him?" asked Bane.

"No. I almost did." She blushed furiously. "I-I mean I needed to get close enough to stab him and get rid of his weapon."

"Uh huh."

"Oh, shut up."

"So, you do this on all your dates?" Lavender and Digit were standing on top of the Eclipse Obelisk, a tall spire that overlooked to city.

"No. I do something different. Gets kinda boring when you repeat the same routine," he replied.

"I know what you mean."

"Like replaying a scene."

"Or being boring."

They looked at each other and laughed and spent another hour walking around the town, seeing the sights, and enjoying each other's company. Watching in the distance, though, was a shadow, and she wasn't so pleased at the sight. She smiled and said, "He never took me sightseeing."

Confrontation

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"... Uuuuuuuuuuh..." The entire of Team Sparks was staring at Digit. Zest had suggested another sleepover at his place (and by Digit's place he meant his sister's place). Sunset and Amethyst could do nothing but gawk, Trixie had a twitch, and Nox had a facial expression that seemed to resemble a mixture of shock and trauma.

Then, it happened. "BWAAAAHAHAHAHAAAA!" Zest burst into laughter, rolling on the floor and holding his sides as if to prvent them from ripping apart. "Dude, she's been in school for, what, three days?"

"Hey, she asked me."

"AND YOU ONLY AGREED FOR ONE DATE?!"

"Weren't you just complaining about-" Amethyst started, but was interrupted by Digit.

"It was a mutual agreement. And Amethyst, you should know Zest by now." Amethyst shrugged. "Besides, she's not really my type."

"Dude, she's cute, she's available, for now, and she's got a hot sister and cool brother for anyone else on this team that's interested," Zest said, eyeing Amethyst.

"What?" she asked.

"I saw you today, ogling him in class like he's the hottest thing to happen in Etheria since Spitfire did that magazine cover." Amethyst punched him in the shoulder.

"Anyway," she said, "How was it? What did you do? Where did you go?"

Digit processed the answers in his head. "Good, sightseeing, Eclipse Obelisk," he answered plainly.

"Oooooh."

"Yeah, it was great." Lavender was still daydreaming about her date with Digit last night. "He's cute, he's funny..."

"Why are those two words always used to describe a guy a girl likes?" Descent asked, confused.

"Wow," said Nightshade, "He really did a number on you." Descent stared at her. "What?" she asked , smiling sheepishly.

""Number"? Really?"

"... And he took me to the Obelisk..."

"He never took me to the Obelisk," Nightshade thought. "So, one time affair, huh? How'll you cope?"

"He's cute and all," Lavender said, getting up, "But he isn't exactly grade-A cider... he's more on the lines of an B plus."

"How so?"

"He seemed a bit... distant. Like his mid kept on wandering off, even if he looks like he's paying attention, you can tell he's thinking about something else."

"Maybe past dates?" Nightshade suggested.

"He is a bit of a playboy," added Descent.

"I wouldn't use playboy," said Lavender. "More on the lines of... naturally attractive beyond his own control." She was practically drooling now.

"Did you kiss?"

She shot Nightshade a look, who smirked back. "Um, no," she said, frowning.

"That's unfortunate." "That's good. At least his magic essence wouldn't tip her off... and this moment would be a bit less awkward." "Well, there's plenty of fish in the sea."

"Bleah," Lavender gagged. "I hate fish."

"Does it have anything to do with the time a dolphin slapped you when you tried to ride it, or when that old lady slapped you with the wet fish when we went shopping?"

"They were both very rude!"

Digit was up until almost three in the morning trying to put it all together. He knew Lavender was familiar; her name, her hair, her voice... but he couldn't put the pieces together. Zest and Nox had both fallen asleep, leaving him to ponder on his own... almost. "Y'know, that Nightshade girl seems pretty familiar to me to. If we could get memories of either one, we may be able to find out if you really know them. Should we try the thing?"

Digit pondered. He knew what she meant, but was it worth it? Delving that deep into memories he had locked away for a reason? "Hmm... okay. But if I don't break the connection in ten seconds, you do it." Sparks nodded. She held his hands in hers and clapped them together. There was a high-pitched screech and images began flashing epileptically in his eyes. He could hear voices melded together, difficult to make out. The images were pretty clear though. There was a girl with long, purple hair who pushed him away, another with dark blue hair that tried to leaned in to kiss him. Suddenly, he was on the ground, breathing heavily. He raised his hand and saw it was covered in blood. The blue-haired girl stood over him, pointing an arrow at his chest and said only one thing before firing: "Sleep well, cutie."

Digit jolted back and broke contact. He was breathing as if he had just run a marathon. He looked at Sparks, who had the same reaction. He closed his eyes and tried to force back the anger. Sparks crawled up to his shoulder and nuzzled him affectionately, calming him a bit. He smiled at her and laid down. "I'll have to deal with that tomorrow."

On Monday morning, the Sparks (or that's what Zest was calling them, anyway) met in front of the school. But no one said hi; they were all watching Digit, who was deeper in thought than usual. "Something wrong?" asked Sunset.

"I have no idea," he replied. He turned to see Lavender, Nightshade, and Descent arrive. Lavender waved. He waved back. "I think... nah," he said, shaking his head, "Maybe I'm just being paranoid."

"About what?" asked Amethyst.

"Don't worry about it. Building something'll probably take my mind off it."

Conveniently, he had metal shop class that morning and the student where assigned to make any electrical device of their choosing. "Hey there, Digi." Unfortunately, he had it with the one person he could barely stand. He had black hair with gray highlights, bright periwinkle eyes, and wore a yellow t-shirt, black trousers, and brown boots. He also wore his academy cloak zipped from the middle-up and wore a pair of shades to reduce glare if he was working with bright materials.

"What do you want, Fixit?" Fixit Tech was as obnoxious and arrogant as cocky technomages get... and beyond. He constantly competed with everyone, especially Digit, and would never let the latter back out of a challenge. "I'm kinda busy," he said, welding to metal rods together for his transformer. He had hoped his headphones would keep out Fixit's annoying voice, but he could still hear the mage ranting. Thanks for trying, Vinyl, but your upgrades still need some tweaking.

"Oh, come on, man," Fixit replied, leaning on Digit's desk. "Can't a guy just say hi to an old friend." He dropped his tools, grabbed Fixit by the shirt, and pulled back a fist.

"Don't you ever... EVER call me your friend you-"

"Okay, okay," he said, raising his hands in defeat, "Sorry. Didn't know that nerve was still so touchy."

"Really? Would you like a demonstration on how touchy?" Digit's fist glowed with blue energy. He looked up and saw the teacher, Professor Metalwork, was going round to check on the students progress. Digit released Fixit, straightened his goggle over his eyes, and went back to welding. "Don't you have work to do?"

"Nah, I finished like five minutes ago," Fixit replied, pointing to his generator model. Digit sighed and turned on the headset. He had installed a memory chip in it with all his favorite songs so he could play music without having to bring his phone in, although he still did. But his phone was for... other things.

After that, Digit only saw Fixit as they walked passed each other in the hallway. Sunset knew something was up when he passed Fixit and branched off to change for gym. She, Amethyst, and Trixie went to the girls locker room to change too. "So, anyone know what's up with Digit?" she asked.

"No one talks about it," Amethyst replied. "They risk setting him off."

"I though nothing could set Digit off."

Amethyst gave a deadpanned stare, then forced her self not to burst into laughter. "Wow, Sunny. Have you heard anything about him? He's been at this school for almost as long as you and Twilight."

"Well, I did spend a good portion of my time here breaking everyone apart and trying to take over the school," she replied, downcast.

"Yes, yes you did," Amy deadpanned. "But that's in the past. And so is Digit's history."

"Oh, oh! I know this one! I think it had something to do with a lot of really, really, really bad luck. Then there was the fight, the detention, the break-up, the other break-up, something about a traitor..." Sunset and Amethyst looked back to see Pinkie, wearing nothing but her underwear (pink, obviously), sitting on top of the gym lockers, babbling.

"PINKIE!" Amethyst yelled.

"Huh? Oops. I said too much didn't I?" Pinkie asked innocently.

"Pinkie Pie, get your butt down from there. And get changed for heaven's sake." There was no mistaking that was Applejack. Not just the voice, but the force with which Pinkie was dragged off the lockers to the other side.

Rainbow said, "Actually, I'd love to hear this one."

"Rainbow Dash," Rarity said, "You are the last person a secret like this gets out to."

"Whadoyou mean? You sayin' I can't keep a secret."

"No, I'm saying that if you hear anything, you would go to confront the person immediately. You lack-"

"Discipline? Reasoning? Common sense?" Applejack interjected, smiling.

"I was going to say either finesse, restraint, subtlety, or all the above, but..."

"Why you!"

"Gah! Rainbow Dash! Give those back." Sunset saw Rainbow running away from Rarity, waving a black and purple bra in the air. "Yes, yes. Very mature. And what of Applejack? Wouldn't you like to steal her underwear as well?"

"Are you kidding? I don't wanna die! Besides, she's got no class."

"Good to see yer brain's still... wait, WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"

Today, Digit was in a mood. Everyone tried to keep a minimum safe distance of four feet from him, which wasn't a problem since the game of the day was the one game dreaded by most, feared by many, and loved by bullies: dodgeball. But this is a magic school, so instead of using the standard red, they were each given a glove that created a ball of kinetic energy; more convenient and just as painful. "Great," Sunset said. "Of all the sports Coach Will had to come up with, it was this." She looked around. Iron Will had organized a team battle royale: all able students were in play: fourteen-on-fourteen. About twelve were out due thanks to a note, record of health problems, or visible ailment (Iron Will was either too blind to separate the real from the fake, or he just let them go).

"BEGIN!"

Red bolts went flying the moment he signaled the start. At the same time, Twilight, Sunset, and Rarity were hiding behind barricades (these were set up to protect the less... athletic students. "So, what's the plan?" asked Rarity. "We wait it out?"

"Probably," replied Twilight. "Problem is, I doubt Coach Will will let us go on a forfeit."

"Yep, he has that reputation," deadpanned Sunset. In about ten minutes, it was down to eleven against eight, in favor of the opposition. "Well, taking a hit from that team isn't an option," Sunset said as she saw a student sent flying by a bolt that slammed into her stomach. Two more knocked down a boy trying to get behind a barricade. "Wait, who's on that team again?" She peered over the barricade and came back down almost immediately. "Crap."

"Who is it?" asked Twilight.

Sunset looked at her. "Here's a hint, she's a fairly small tomboy with multicolored hair."

"I thought so," said Rarity. "It was far too quiet on this end and we actually got to hide in peace and quiet.

Rainbow was throwing bolt after bolt, aiming to hit whoever was hiding behind the barricades. "Come on out! The weather's fine with a mild chance of my awesomeness hitting you in the face!"

"No thank you, Rainbow," Rarity said from behind the barricade, "I like my current appearance just fine, thank you very much."

Wildfire, a crazy competitive girl, nudged Rainbow. "One more." The remaining eight players starred at the last opponent not hiding behind a barricade - actually, he was sitting on it. Digit had avoided getting hit throughout the game, but hadn't even broken a sweat.

"Hey, Digit," Rainbow called. Digit looked up. He didn't look as angry as before, but he wasn't smiling either. "Let's make things interesting."

"Oh, boy," Twilight said. Rarity face-palmed.

"They're in for in now, huh?" asked Sunset. They both nodded.

"We win, you answer any three questions I ask you, no matter how personal."

Digit looked around. "Hardly seems fair, but okay. And if I win?"

"I doubt that'll happen, but if you do, I'll..." she thought for a moment, "Give you Rarity's underwear."

"WHAT?!" Rarity was held back by Twilight and Sunset, barely. "RAINBOW DASH! I'LL KILL YOU MYSELF IF YOU EVEN-"

"What am I supposed to do with that, exactly?"

Rainbow froze, a bit confused. "I don't know. Whatever boys do with a girl's underwear. Brag about it, hang it up like a flag, wear it if that's your thing..." Rarity was ready to rip off the barricade and beat Rainbow to death. Then Digit answered.

"Deal." At that moment, his assailants unleashed a storm of projectiles at him. Eight shots flew... eight shots missed.

Rainbow Dash was stunned. "What the what?"

"Good effort," Digit said. "Try again. Maybe you'll see it this time." They attacked again without a second thought. Digit dodged the attacks like it was a dance, hopping, side-stepping, hand-standing, and rolling out of the way. Wild Fire threw her last bolt, which Digit caught. He looked up at them and smiled. "My turn." His first shot sent one student crashing into another and tumbling out of bounds. As two more came he caught one and blocked another with it, then sent it flying at another student. "Four down, four to go." He watched them. He had two projectiles in his hands. He threw the first one, which went high.

"What the hell was that?" mocked Wildfire.

Digit smiled and threw the next bolt with a spin. It hit the one already flying and deflected it down. It hit one student in the face, while the second one flew towards Wildfire. She grabbed the last student, a slim girl with a thick mop of pink hair. Digit threw another bolt that stopped the one aiming down at them. "ARE YOU NUTS?!" Rainbow dragger the girl away from Wild. "You okay, Flutts?"

"A bit scared," Fluttershy replied, "But yes, I'm fine."

Rainbow looked up at Wild. "What is WRONG WITH YOU! You don't use people as shields!" As Wildfire was about to retort, a red bolt slammed across her face. Rainbow turned to see Digit; he was angry, anyone could see it. His calm aura had changed to one of near-tangible rage. Then suddenly, he vanished.

School was over. "Finally," said Rainbow. "Now, I can claim my prize."

"And I get to keep my panties," Rarity said with a sigh of relief. "Although, I do feel sorry for him."

"Why's that?" asked Rainbow.

"Because he has to answer your questions. And let's be honest, you don't exactly ask the most comfortable questions."

"Hey, he agreed to it."

"Technically, he didn't lose, he forfeited."

"Same thing in my book. I'm surprised Pinkie got knocked off."

"I did that on purpose," Pinkie said. "I really wanted to see what would happen if I got knocked off the team."

"I... never thought that was possible," said Rarity, "with your Pinkie Sense and all..."

"My Pinkie Sense is a warning. I can choose whether or not to pay attention... sometimes... I think..." she spaced out in thought.

"Am just kinda worried," said Applejack. "Ah ain't no expert on magic, but Am pretty sure his aura ain't supposed to change the way it did. Whadoyou think, Twi?"

Twilight snapped out of her daze. "I'm... not sure." She looked at Rainbow. "I know you're not going to let this go, no matter how many logical reason's I give, but please, for the love of Faust, be careful what you ask. Okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Gotta go." Rainbow flew off in search of Digit.

Sunset and Amethyst came up behind them. "Is she going to look for Digit?" asked Amethyst. The five nodded in harmony. "Anyone wanna tell nurse Redheart to prepare a therapy session?"

"No- Wait, why?" asked Twilight.

"Just I case."

Rainbow had no trouble finding Digit. He was in the middle of the school field, testing a solar-powered generator. "HEY DIGIT!"

Digit looked up and saw Rainbow descending towards him. "Great."

"You promised me answers. I want them... NOW!" she demanded with a smirk.

Digit put down his equipment started packing up the generator. "Three questions. Shoot."

"First off, what had you in a bad mood today? That was kinda out of character for you... like Pinkie going goth."

"Someone annoyed me. I got upset. Next," Digit said blankly.

"Well, that wasn't really an answer-"

"You didn't say I had to be detailed."

"Well I'm telling you now."

Digit clenched his fist. He relaxed after a few seconds. "Whatever. Next?"

"Did you go on a date with the new girl?"

Digit froze. After his vision last night, he suddenly felt uncomfortable talking about any of the new students. "Lavender? Yes. Last question, be careful what you ask."

Rainbow thought. What was the one thing she wanted to know about Digit? Then it hit her. "Have you always been this much of a jerk in secret, or is everyone just blind to it?"

Digit stopped. He gritted his teeth. No, they were just smart enough not to set me off. He continued packing. "Tell me something, did you have friends before meeting Fluttershy and the others? Or were they your friends from the start?"

"Hey, I'm the one asking the que-"

"Just answer the damn question," he said in a firm tone.

"No need to be rude."

"No need to be nosey."

"That's it." Rainbow brought out her wings "You wanna go, jerk?"

Digit finally powered down the machine. "I remember now. You did."

"You didn't answer me." She grabbed his shoulder as her walked past. He shot her a glare that even she couldn't act fearless against. She felt like a million ice daggers were drilling their way through every fiber of her existence. He grabbed her hand and aimed a punch at her. His fist stopped inches from her face, but the force was enough to send her hair into a frenzy. She could practically feel his rage.

He let her go and said, "You almost remind me of..." He stopped and thought. "Word of advice Rainbow," he said as he walked passed her, "If there's any bad blood, any grudge, and rift in those friendships, fix them now. Otherwise, you'll regret it. But don't let it affect your current friendship."

"What are you, an expert?" she called out to him.

He turned to face her, then he smiled. "Nah. Just attentive and experienced." With that, he disappeared.

Later that night, Nightshade was talking to Descent. "So, you just found it in your locker?" he asked, holing a not Nightshade gave him.

"Yeah. Kinda freaky," she replied.

"Secret admirer?"

"Does that look like a love letter to you?"

Descent read the letter:

I know you. You may know me. We need to talk. School field. 10:00pm. Bring no one else. Tell no one else.
Like I said, you may already know me.

"Sounds more like a stalker. And didn't he say, "Tell no one,"?"

"Whatever. He won't know. Besides, I need you to help me keep Lavender away. If it is him, she can't know he survived."

10:00pm that night...

Nightshade stood in the middle of the field wearing a long fuzzy jacket. "Sheesh, way to keep a girl waiting," she thought. "If you're who I think you are, you were always punctual for your appointments."

"Sorry, there was a typo in that letter." Nightshade looked up to see a boy with snow white hair and blue highlights. The rest of his face was hidden under a white cloak.

"You mean the time?" she asked.

"When I said that I know you..." He jumped down to meet her. she was about half a head taller than him, but he was not in any way intimidated. "... I meant to say "remember" you." Digit removed his hood and stared at her. Nightshade froze momentarily. "Shocked? So was I when I woke up with what felt like a hangover that lasted another week."

"So you had a headache, boo hoo. What do you want? Apparently, you can't die right, so do you need more help with that? How the hell did you even survi-" She didn't expect him to punch her. The surprise attack sent her tumbling.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" She got up, holding her face. "Did you just punch me?"

"I never paid you back for killing me. Still not done."

"A warning would've been nice."

"I don't remember you saying, "Brace yourself. I'm about to stab you, then shoot a chunk of ice into your heart." Or did you?"

"... Touché. No hard feelings?" she asked, smiling innocently.

"No hard... seriously? No hard feelings? FOR TRYING TO KILL ME?"

"It wasn't that big a deal." Digit stared blankly at her. "Well, I tried to make it quick and painless, but you kept struggling. Besides, you're still alive, so everything turned out fine... for you."

"Yeah. Peachy. Except for the thousand and one problems that came as a cost of my survival!"

"Calm down will you," Nightshade said, agitated. "Look, the date, your... assassination..."

"Assassination?" Digit asked.

"It was all just a job. I didn't get the details. All I was told was that I had to kill you."

"Really? Did your other friend tell you to do it?" Nightshade fell silent. "I'll take that as a yes. Was it revenge for going out with you, or was it for something different?"

"Like I said, I didn't get a lot of details. A bit of both, I think? Look, sorry, okay?"

Digit shook his head. "Sorry? For what? Killing me, or breaking my heart?"

"I don't know. Can we just call it even?"

Digit lowered his head and clenched his fists. "Call it even... CALL IT EVEN?!" At that moment, a powerful telekinetic blast sent Nightshade flying back. Before she hit the ground, she felt something grab her shirt and carry her into the sky. She saw Digit, covered in a bright blue aura, holding her jacket. As she reached for him, he flung her down to the ground below. As she got up, he floated down and asked, "You remember this place?" She looked around. There were trees, grass, and a bench... with a small patch of red on the seat.

"So, do you have a thing for nostalgia, or-" she was cut off by another blow to the face. She tumbled into the chair. As she got up, Digit kicked her back into the chair, then kicked her over it. She moved away just in time to dodge his follow-up punch. As he removed his fist from the ground, she pulled out a knife from her jacket. He recognized the toothed blade, as well as the heart-shaped keychain with a lightning bolt across it.

"And you talk to me about nostalgia," Digit said as he sent a ball of blue fire at Nightshade. She dodged and charged towards him. The aura on his arm thickened and took the shape of a blade, about twelve inches long and four inches thick, attached to the top of his arm. The blades clashed and sparked as they took turns attacking and blocking the opposition. Digit began to advance, pressuring Nightshade. Finally, he knocked her back with a powerful slash. As she tried to regain her balance, he turned his glowing blade into a large glowing fist that slammed into her, sending her into a tree. She coughed and could feel the blood building up in her throat. Digit charged at her, his blade back and at least five times longer and three times wider.

"SHIT!" He slashed at her head. She felt the heat of his magic blade as it cut through the tree. She opened her eyes and looked down; she was still in one piece. She couldn't, however, say the same thing for the tree behind her, which was now toppling over. It landed with a rustle and a crash. She looked up at Digit, who was holding the blade to her face, then lowered it to her neck.

"I could kill you where you sit. Right here, right now." She noticed an odd shimmer in his eye as he retracted his blade, like it darkened slightly for a short time. "But revenge isn't justification enough for me. But I will give you this warning: if you come near my friends, my family, or anyone I care about, I will drag you to the gates of Tartarus myself." He teleported to her and picked her up by her torn jacket and held her against the tree. "Am I clear?" Nightshade stared in fear. She didn't know how to respond, especially due to the conflicting knowledge of what she knew about him and what she had just experienced that night. Digit dropped he roughly and walked away. Then he stopped. "As for how I survived..." He turned his head to look at her, "... Let's just say I was lucky to have found a little... treasure... when I did." With that, he teleported.

Nightshade noticed her vision fade as the adrenaline stopped and she began to give in to exhaustion. She saw a winged figure flying towards her. It called her name. "Nightshade! Nightshade stay with me..." The voice faded as she passed out.

"Dude, where were you last night?" Zest asked, as he and Digit left the nature studies class.

"I was... out on a run. Needed to blow off some steam," Digit replied.

"I'll bet. You looked pretty steamed with Wildfire yesterday. And you were already pissed off before that."

"Yeah," Digit said. He wasn't sure if what he did was right or wrong. Confronting Nightshade about what he remembered could be risky, but he knew she wouldn't try to kill him again, not with all the supervision in the school. He saw her walk past in the hall and smiled at her. Her physical injuries had healed, but whatever psychological damage had been done would take days to heal.

Later that day, the team was discussing what they thought the next exercise Pixel and her group would give them.

"We did combat training already," said Zest. "Maybe next will be an agility test."

"Possibly," Amethyst said from behind her phone, "But she could try to test our strength and endurance again."

"Do you ever not use that thing?" Zest asked, gesturing to her smartphone.

Sunset looked around and noticed something off. "Hey, has anyone seen Digit?"

"That's who I'm trying to call," Amethyst said, glaring at Zest. "But he isn't answering."

"I'll go look for him. It isn't like him to be late." She got up and walked out.

"Yeah, that's Trixie's job," Amethyst said to herself.

"Trixie heard that!"

Sunset walked down the abandoned hallway. Everyone had gone home or for team meetings. Then she heard something. "No. Look, I'm not letting you take the reigns. Last time you "took the reigns" you nearly took off a student's arms for looking at you... me..." Sunset looked around a corner and saw Digit... alone.

"Who is he talking to?" she wondered.

"Listen, believe me, if I could find a way to.... What? No. out of the question. You want to... I said... fine, you wanna talk, lets talk." Digit reached into his shirt and suddenly, and outline of an odd Q-shaped mark began to glow. His aura began to form and move away from his body. Then, the aura began to take a form: blue hair with white highlights, pale blue eyes with a black eyeballs, and fanged canines exposed by a smile. Sunset couldn't believe it; it was a negative Digit, right down to the clothes!

"Aaaah, it's good to be out," said the negative as he stretched.

"Good stuff never happens when you're out," Digit said. "But I'm less likely to go insane when I talk to you like this... which is kinda inconvenient."

"Oh, c'mon, Digit." The negative wrapped his arm around Digit's neck. "I'm not so bad."

"You're a nightmare that's trying to take over my body at every given moment and an insatiable and unexplainable bloodlust. Tell me, how are you not, in any definition of the word, bad?"

"Well for starters, I can sympathize. I've been with you throughout your problems, big and small."

"You put three people in the hospital because you thought they deserved payback for rigging my locker with a paint bomb."

"Hey, your thoughts are my actions." The negative now leaned against the wall. "I just have the balls to do what needs to be done when your niceness complex makes you soft."

"I'm not soft," Digit said, a bit hesitant.

"Dude, your a bigger marshmallow than the fashionista, what was her name again? ... Ah, yes, Rarity. Speaking of which, dude, how have you not hooked up with a fine piece of ass like that?"

Digit shook his head. "Sometimes, I wonder how you are supposed to be a part of me." He looked up at the negative. "Just... stop interfering, okay. You've made things bad enough for me as they are."

The figure stopped smiling. "Me? You're blaming me for the shit that happens in your life?" He was now face-to-face with Digit. "If it wasn't for me, people would still treat you like a trash."

"I was fine before you-"

"Fine? Dude, you were a complete fucking doormat. Even the nerds could've picked on you. I mean, let's look at the shit that's gone down. You wanna blame me for your failed past relationships?" Digit just stared. "Or are you going to blame me for the fact that you were always manipulated? Or the fact that your best friend used you, dumped you, and when you needed your other friends the most, threw you to the fucking wolves to save their own asses?"

With that last statement, Digit tackled the negative into the locker he was lean on. "Don't you ever... EVER bring that son of a bitch Fixit into this." Sunset stared on, terrified at the negative energy she could feel flowing from Digit at such a long distance. "He was a coward and a traitor-"

"And yet you still let him walk, unpunished? He left you for dead, then left you to face trial alone for a team effort."

"He'll get what's coming to him! I'm pissed, but I'm not above the law, and neither are you!"

The negative pushed against Digit and rammed him into the lockers. "Me? HA! Your "laws" don't apply to me. I can do whatever I want and you're the one that has to pay. Another indication of your fucking weakness."

Digit was livid. In a fit of rage, he grabbed the negative and furiously banged him against the lockers and the ground like a rag doll. Sunset watched the display of brutality in horror. Why wasn't anyone hearing this and running over to stop it? She looked around and saw it behind her: a series of runes etched into the ground. Silencer runes, she thought, Only people inside the rune can hear what's going on. She looked back at the scene, where Digit was now brutally beating the negative like a punching bag. One punch slammed his head into the locker. The negative used a powerful telekinetic force to pin Digit.

"You'll always be weak," he spat. "You'll always be pathetic. I'm the only part of you that has the guts to do what's necessary, and you want to get rid of me? FUCK THAT! You need me! Without me, you'd still be nothing more than a pushover with no conviction to do what needs to be done to survive in this world. Forget that dumbass sun bitch's words about harmony and getting along. In a world like this, where people are so different, shit doesn't work like that. Look at your damn team. They're a perfect example."

Digit screamed and teleported, taking the locker he was pinned to with him. He reappeared behind the negative, with the locker over his head. He brought it down on the negative and used it to continuously beat him into the ground. He tossed the locker aside. The negative was bruised and its clothes were tattered, but it wasn't bleeding (it would if it could). Digit landed on its chest with his knees. He formed a blade from his magic and placed it at the figure's neck. "Listen to me you piece of shit..."

"Wow, can't even swear right," the negative said, smirking, earning him a violent shake, his head getting slammed into the shattered ground behind him.

"If I had any control over those events, you think I would've let them happen?" Digit's voice was now one of rage and untamed fury. "You don't think a day goes by when I don't want to just kill anyone and everyone who has ever so much as bumped into me on the sidewalk? Do you know why I don't do that?"

"I don't know... because your a pussy?"

"Because, unlike you, I have morals, I have a conscience."

"You have a dumbass hero complex and it's turned you softer than sheep's wool in humid weather."

"You don't get it. You don't have a heart, or even a soul. You're just an embodiment of rage and frustration."

"No, I'm an embodiment of your true nature, the side that no one you don't want people to see because you're scared of what they might think; the side of you that isn't afraid to do what he needs to do. Newsflash: everyone already thinks you're either a freak, a monster, or a doormat. So get with the program! No matter what you do, you'll never be accepted and no one will give a shit!"

"Did you forget the reason those people got hurt? The reason that town was nearly destroyed? It was because of YOU!" Digit pounded the negative's head into the ground with his other fist. "All I wanted was to scare off the kids that picked on me. All wanted was for them to leave me alone... and I was dumb enough and blind enough to believe you when you said you could help me."

"Well, they stopped bothering you when I was done with 'em."

"You put nearly a hundred people in the hospital in the course of a ten minute rampage! You turned me into a monster with enough anger to hurt his own sister! You're the reason they see me as a freak! You're the reason they see me as a monster!"

"But at least they're smart enough not to mess with you... most of them, anyway."

"They're not smart, they're scared witless! They don't respect me, they're terrified of me! They're not trying to be friends with me, their trying to make sure their not in the line of fire in case I decide to go ballistic! You took everything from me." Tears rolled down his face. "You took her from me."

"She made you weak and naïve. The moment she filled your head with all that "just be yourself," shit, you got even softer. I did you a favor." The negative was now smiling.

The fire in Digit's eyes were burning more and more furiously. Sunset couldn't move, not because she wanted to watch, but because she was paralyzed in fear; the shear killing intent resonating from that area was enough to drive a demon mad. "I should destroy you right now." He brought the blade up, aiming it at the negative's chest. Bright blue flames, tinged with a white aura surrounded the blade. "All it takes is one hit from these flames to extinguish you from existence." After what felt like hours, the flames slowly died down. "But I won't." He dematerialized the blade. "I won't cross a line like that; I won't become like you."

"You dumbass, I am you," the negative said with a mixture of confusion and disgust. "You just haven't embraced your true nature yet."

Digit got up and pulled down his shirt. "If you're my true nature," he pulled down his shirt to reveal the seal, "Then I think I'd rather look for a new image."

As the negative faded and merged with Digit, he said, "And all the crap you keep telling people about being themselves?"

Digit glared as the negative faded. "I never encouraged any of them to become monsters."

"And if that's their destiny?"

Digit thought for a moment. "No one is truly destined to become a monster. We make our own destinies and even if we can't change the way people see us, we can change the way we see ourselves in the past, present... and future."

"Sappy dumbass," the nightmare said as it faded and the mark began to fade as well. Digit slumped down against the lockers. Sunset tried to get up, but fell from shock due to a loud bang when Digit angrily slammed his fist into the locker next to him. Then Sunset heard something. She looked around to see Digit, his head buried between his knees... crying. Digit... was crying.

The Next Stage

View Online

Sunset’s mind was swimming with questions. What did she see? Was it real? Should she have told the team? She didn’t. This looked like something that was supposed to be a secret and it should probably stay that way. But now she knew and had no idea what to do with the information. She didn’t know what to tell the team, so she just said she couldn’t find him. Apparently, that was possible since no one questioned her afterwards. Either that, or they knew something. Luckily, he didn’t show up. “Sunset…” She heard something call her, something distant. “Sunset… SUNSET!” She jolted up, turned around, and hit her head against something hard.

“Ow,” said a Sunset said, along with another voice. She looked up and saw Fluttershy rubbing her forehead. “Oh, Fluttershy. Sorry. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Fluttershy replied. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. It’s just that I’d been calling you for a while, but you didn’t reply. I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything.”

“No, no. It’s fine. I was just thinking about…” She stopped herself. “Never mind. What’s up?”

“Oh, I was wondering if you had seen Digit around.” Sunset’s heart stopped for a moment.

Oh, great. She was still in a state of bemusement at what she saw the day before. Plus, she hadn’t seen him all day. Their morning classes on Thursdays were different, but they usually bumped into each other in the hall or during their free period, which fell on the same time. Then again, while she hung out in the library, he usually stayed in one of the science labs. “Um, no, sorry. Why? Do you need anything?”

“Not really. I just wanted to thank him for not letting me get hit during gym yesterday.”

“Oh. Well, I’m sure he’s bound to pop up sooner or later.” Speaking of which… She looked at the clock. Only ten minutes had gone by since her free period started; fifty more minutes to go. Twilight would be arriving in three… two… one…

“Hi, Sunset,” Twilight said. She looked like she was rushing, carrying about three large books in her arms when they could have been in her bag. “Sorry I’m a bit late. Had to finish a report on the history of the… oh, hi Fluttershy.”

“Hi, Twilight. Are you okay? You look like you were in a hurry.”

“I told Sunset I’d help her with her spatial magic studies if she helped me with magic applications. Did you need anything?”

“No, it’s fine,” Fluttershy replied. “Sunset already helped. Besides, I wouldn’t want to get in the way. Bye, girls.” She waved them goodbye as she left the library.

“Pretty convenient how all our free periods fall on the same time, huh?” Sunset said as she opened a textbook.

“Yeah. But one question?”

“Hm?”

“Why me? I thought Digit or Nox helped with that?”

Sunset froze. Again, someone brought up Digit. “Oh, um, yeah, well, I couldn’t find them, so I thought I’d ask you for help. Besides, you’re the magic genius.”

“Oh, okay,” Twilight said, smiling. “Well then, let’s get started.” Sunset was only paying attention for about two minutes at a time until her mind drifted off for about five minutes. The scene she saw yesterday was practically seared into her memory: Digit splitting into two, brutally beating the second with such savagery she never even knew existed, then absorbing him, or something, back into an odd mark across his chest. It replayed over and over until… “And that was how Professor Paradox discovered the Fourth-Dimensional Photon Motion Theory.”

“Uh huh,” Sunset replied, half attentive.

“Sunset? Are you okay?” Twilight asked. “Okay, where did I lose you?”

Sunset’s space-out ended as she said, “Huh? No, no, I got it. Just… quite a lot to take in at once. But, I’ll look over it again later.” She closed the book and pushed it aside. “Now, I believe a certain genius was about to ask me for help on applications of magic?” she asked with a grin.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Wow, you’re turning into Rainbow,” she said, grinning back.

“Ah! Take me to an asylum, quick!” They both laughed. Then there was a “SSSSSSSSHHHHHHHH”. They turned and saw the librarian, Mr. Bookmark, staring at them and pointing to the “QUIET IN THE LIBRARY” sign next to her.

“Sorry,” they both whispered.

“So, you’re still not going to tell me, huh?” Lavender had spent the past two days trying to annoy Nightshade into submission; at home, on the way to school, and now during their free period, which they spent in a café a few minutes from the school. The latter had told her that she just had a run-in with some thugs when she went for a walk on said night and didn’t want to risk blowing their cover when someone stumbled upon something that may reveal who they truly are. “I’m pretty sure you can handle a few thugs, Night.”

“There were ten of ‘em,” Nightshade responded as she sipped her coffee. Her wounds healed, but her mind was still a bit rattled. She was still trying to wrap her head around someone could survive what he had gone through, and he didn’t seemed mentally scarred in any way either, which made it doubly weird. “Besides, quite a few people know who I am. If I fought back, I could’ve left some trail that would lead back to us and then you’d have to cut your schooling session short and then you’d blame me.” Which would be much better than having to face trial for not killing one, sorry, love-struck kid.

“Aw, you do care?” Lavender said, leaning closer, over the table. “Deep down that tough layer of anger jealousy, and… other things is a soft heart.”

Nightshade stared at her. “You’ve been reading too many kids books, Lavender.” The younger girl smiled at her.

“So, where’s Descent?”

“Not sure. He said something about helping Bane find something. I don’t know, wasn’t really paying attention.”

Later that day, Fluttershy went to get her pen from the nature studies lab. It wasn’t uncommon for her to forget some of her things after class, but it wasn’t a regular thing either. As she walked out, she heard a loud crash and a voice. “GAH! Ugh! Stupid… freaking… metal… grrr!” She ran down the hall and took a left and what she saw made her heart jump. Digit was standing by his open locker, holding his hand in pain.

“Omigoodness! Are you okay?” she said as she rushed over to him.

“Yeah,” Digit replied. “Locker got jammed. Don’t worry about it.” There was a cut across his palm and fingers and there was some blood on a small, torn sheet of metal hanging from the locker. Damn, he thought, Should’ve double-checked the locker. Well played you annoying bastard.

“You’re bleeding!” Fluttershy said. She normally got queasy at the sight of blood, but, for some odd reason, that was never the case if it was an injury like this. She reached into her shoulder bag and brought out a bandage roll. “Hold on.” She wrapped the bandage around his injured hand and tore it off at the end. She used a small clip to hold it. “There.”

Digit looked at his bandaged hand. “Uh, thanks.”

“Oh, it’s the least I could do. Oh, and I wanted to thank you for, you know, not letting me get hit in the face with a ball of energy. So, um, thanks.”

“No problem,” Digit said, smiling warmly. It was the kind of smile that could melt an ice queen’s heart. “What kind of person would I be if I let a pretty face like that get hurt?”

Fluttershy blushed. He… he thinks I’m pretty. As he walked away, Fluttershy called out to him. “Are you doing anything tomorrow?” She immediately clasped her hands over her mouth. Crap! I just said that out loud!

Digit looked back at her. “Yeah. Got a training session and I will never be safe again if I don’t go.” Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief. For some reason, she wanted to go out with him, but she wasn’t much of a dating person. “I’m free on Saturday night, though.”

Her heart was now pounding with joy, while her mind kept asking, “Why? Why? Why? Why? WHY?!” “Oh, um, okay. Um, I’ll, uh, see you then. Gottagobye!” She took off, her Skyborn heritage kicking in as she left a burst of wind as she ran. She stopped when she reached the main exit/entrance to the school. What were you thinking? Wait, was I thinking? She had no idea why she asked him out. Maybe she had a thing for guys who stood up for others. She had no idea.

“Hey Fluttershy.”

“Eep!” Fluttershy jumped and held the top of the doorframe.

“Wow. You don’t like gym, but you sure can move when you want to.” Fluttershy looked down to see a certain rainbow-haired teen smiling up at her.

“Oh, Rainbow Dash. I’ve told you not to sneak up on me like that,” Fluttershy said as she floated down. “Or do I need to get a heart attack first before you understand?”

“Sorry, Flutts,” Rainbow said, “But y’know it’s not my fault you scare so easily… no offence.”

“None taken. And I guess you’re right about that.” They both laughed.

“So, where were you?” Rainbow asked as they left. “You said you were going back to get a pen. What, did you lose it again or something?”

Fluttershy froze for a moment to gather her thoughts. “Oh, um, I went to thank Digit for earlier.”

Rainbow’s smile suddenly vanished. “Ugh, you went to thank that guy?”

“Well, yes. Not everyone would make that attempt to help someone else. I just thought it was a nice thing and decided to repay him by thanking him… but, um…”

“But what?” Rainbow asked curiously.

“Um, I think everyone should hear the next part. Let’s head over to Rarity’s place.”

Bane was standing on front of the mirror in Lavender’s room installing a new frame when he heard them come in. “We’re home!” Lavender announced from downstairs. “I think I’m starting to get used to the whole idea of school. But considering what you’ve told me about other people’s reactions towards school, is there something I’ve missed?”

“Don’t worry about it, Milady,” Bane replied as he came down. He was wearing a gray t-shirt, black trousers, and gray sandals. “Different people have different opinions.”

“Uh, Bane, if you don’t mind, I think I prefer Lavender. And I’m not just saying that because of our cover. I seriously don’t like the whole royal formality thing. We’re all more like friends here.”

Bane raised an eyebrow. Lavender was never one for “royal formalities” and he knew it, but he had always thought that it was better in establishing their relationship, even if he was old enough to e her father. “Very well… Miss Lavender.”

Lavender thought for a while. “Well, it’s a start. Now we need to work on getting the “Miss” out,” she said smiling. She went up to her room and looked at the mirror. She noticed the frame. “Oh, is this new?” She asked curiously, admiring the sleek mahogany frame and the vine-like adornments that were engraved into it.

“Yes,” Bane replied. “Which reminds me, it’s time.”

“Time for…?” Lavender asked. Bane just looked at her. It took her quite a while to process what he meant. “… Oh… crap.”

“I thought you would be a bit more upbeat about this.”

“Yeah, well, my joy was cut short when I remembered that the world’s most annoying bitch is going to be there.”

“Ah, yes. You two have never really gotten along, have you?” Bane asked as he brought out a hunting knife from his pocket. “You don’t seem to have a problem with any of the others, though.”

“They are not constantly in my face.”

Bane shrugged he began carving a symbol into the mirror. By the time he was done, the symbol resembled a long, winged snake that appeared to be eating its own tail. Lavender walked up to the mirror and tapped it twice. It began to ripple like the surface of a lake. Slowly, the image on the mirror changed: her reflection remained, but the background changed from the scene of her purple and pink bedroom to that of a dark, cavernous room. “Would you like us to accompany you?” Bane asked.

“Nah,” she replied waving her hand, “I’ve got this one.” She stepped through the mirror and was instantly transported to the location on the other end. She turned to see the image of her room was still there. She reached through it and something landed in her hand. She pulled it out and saw a small, purple seed. She smiled and put it in her pocket. She walked down the long, cavernous hall, lit by glowing crystals. After a while she came to a door. Two eight-foot tall crystalline figures stood in front of it, spears crossed to block her path. “Oh, come on guys,” she said batting her eyelashes. They didn’t as much as twitch. “You guys are no fun,” Lavender said, pouting. “Fine. Silk.” They moved their spears and the crystal doors opened. There was a long table with chairs on each side and one at each end.

“Lavender!” The voice warmed the girl’s heart. “How have you been?”

“Not bad, Symbol Spell,” she replied to a young, blonde, blue-eyed man wearing a long white cloak with gold trim over a white shirt, black trousers, and black shoes. He was sitting along on his side of the table. On the other side was a figure wearing a midnight blue cloak with a series of straps strapped in place rather tightly wearing a similarly colored witch hat with a smiley face button hanging from the tip of the limp top. The black scarf around its shoulder turned into a pair of arms, one of which waved at her. She waved back as she walked over to sit next to Symbol Spell. “Hm, so now we await-“

“Well, it seems that you finally decided to start taking things seriously and arrived on time today.”

“There it is,” Lavender said as she turned to the doorway to see a rather pale woman who appeared to be in her mid-to-late thirties. She had green eyes, flowing greenish-blue hair, and wore a long black dress. The sides of the dress had pale green accents, as did the shoulders, and a similarly colored band, divided into three segments by black lines, ran around her midriff. She wore a black crown with a hole that let her green focus gem fit through.

“Lavender,” she said blankly.

“Chrysalis,” Lavender replied with the same enthusiasm.

“I thought my little speech would get you back on your feet.”

“Well, you thought wrong. I just got bored doing nothing.”

“Settle down, you two,” said Symbol, “He’s here.”

They turned to the black shadow that formed in front of the chair. It solidified to reveal a figure clad in silver armor and a red cloak with fuzzy white edges with black dots. The figure’s entire body seemed to be made of shadows or some kind of thick, black mist. He smiled sinisterly, revealing his fanged canines and other sharp teeth. “Ah, I’m pleased to see you could all make it today,” he said. His voice was deep and husky, but relatively calm. “I would like to keep this short, so we shall simply discuss your progress so far and what the next step shall be. Symbol Spell?”

Symbol tapped the black crystal table and a blob of black liquid floated from it and took on the shape of the planet. Three red dots appeared on the globe and kept blinking and changing positions. “The objects seem to be in a state of flux. They keep changing positions randomly and their positions are difficult to track due to a distortion spell placed on them. It’s either high level illusionary or chaos magic. I have, however, found a few books that I can use to get some information that could help make things a bit easier.”

The figure nodded and turned to Chrysalis. “Same thing on my end. I’ve stationed some of my Changelings at known magic hotspots. Should it appear, they will attempt to retrieve it and alert me of any occurrences.”

The figure nodded and turned to Lavender. “I’ve just established another checkpoint in the Rainbow Spring Forest a couple of weeks ago, just a few hundred meters from the Resonance Lake. The cavern is full of magically imbued gems and my Changeling have already begun mining. Several barrier and illusion spells were cast on that area to prevent it from being located and the creatures that reside there would scare off anyone else who tries to cross into my territory.” The figure smiled.

“And if the intruder is brave or stupid enough to cross over? What if they do defeat these terrifying creatures?” Chrysalis sneered.

Lavender looked back at her. “Then they’ll have to deal with my army of my personal guard… or me, if I get bored,” she added smiling.

“Very well,” said the figure, “Then we are all on schedule. Chrysalis, expand your watch. Station troops at any and every magic hotspot they can handle. Symbol, get those books and get reading, immediately. I want a report on your findings every three days, at most. Lavender, I want an inventory of all the gems you have mined as of the moment you send it.” They all nodded.

“What about him?” Symbol asked, gesturing to the cloaked figure sitting next to Chrysalis. “He hasn’t said a word.”

The shadow figure smiled. “He knows what he needs to do. Dismissed.” With that, he turned into his shadow form and sank into the ground and they all began to head for the door.

Chrysalis felt something hold her and looked down to see a vine holding her arm. She turned to see Lavender, her hands and focus gem covered in a purple aura, her eyes filled with anger. “The next time you question my work like that again, I don’t care who’s around, nor do I care how important your contribution is supposed to be, I will kill you myself. Do you hear me?” The rage underneath her calm voice was almost tangible.

“HOW DARE YOU?!” Chrysalis summoned her scythe and slashed off the vines. She tapped the ground with the end and the earth cracked and glowed as creatures made of bone, clad in armor, rose from the ground. She smiled. “You think Changelings are the only things I can control?” The undead warriors brandished their weapons and surrounded Chrysalis.

“Ha! You actually need those things?” Lavender said, cracking her knuckles. “I’ll show you exactly what I meant when I said I would take care of intruders myself if I ever got bored.” The magic aura around her hands sparked and extended into a pair or energy whips.

“That’s enough, both of you,” Symbol said, standing in between them. Lavender glared for a while, then retracted her weapons. Chrysalis, however, left her little army out, as well as her scythe.

As Lavender walked out, Chrysalis blocked her with the scythe. “Never touch me again. Or else, I’ll kill you. Simple as that. Learn some respect for your elders.”

Lavender smacked the scythe out of her way and said, “Earn it first, you wretched old bitch,” as she left the room.

“You did WHAT?!” Twilight cried.

“I don’t know what happened,” Fluttershy replied. “I just wanted to thank him. Then it just… sort off… came out, I guess.”

“There’s only one explanation for this,” Rarity said. “Fluttershy… developed a subconscious crush based on the events of that day.” The other five girls stared at her. “Think about it.”

“I’d prefer not to,” Rainbow muttered under her breath.

“A girl is very likely to fall for a guy that does something to prevent them from getting hurt. Even something like saving a girl from getting hit by an open door can trigger some… possible dormant affections… or outbursts of it, anyway.” They all stared at her.

“Well, it’s the best explanation we’ve got,” Twilight said.

“I still don’t get it,” Rainbow said, folding her arms.

“Well, he does seem kinda approachable,” Applejack added. Rainbow grumbled. “Look, Rainbow, I know ya don’t like the guy, but did you ever bother to think that maybe you got off on the wrong foot?”

“I considered that the foot we got off on was the only foot.”

“You’re impossible,” Applejack said, face-palming.

Sunset spoke up. "You could just call it off." They all looked at her. "From what I know about the guy, he's pretty considerate. He'll probably understand."

Twilight looked at her. "Well, it's worth a shot. But it's entirely up to you, Fluttershy."

“COME ON, PEOPLE! I WANNA SEE YOU SWEAT TILL YOUR NOTHIN’ BUT HUSKS!” The Sparks (again, Zest) had come to a conclusion: either Pixel enjoyed working them to death, or she’s taking out her anger towards her old gym coach on them. Either way, it was not enjoyable. “YOU’VE STILL GOT TWENTY MORE LAPS TO GO!”

“Say… WHAT?!” Sunset and Trixie were lagging behind while Zest took the front, followed by Digit and Nox, then Amethyst. “We just did our twentieth lap… and each lap is a mile!”

“Exactly,” Pixel said, her voice now lowered. “That way, you’ll be able to run any distance with the stamina of a bison… at least.”

“I think we’d be too sore to run anywhere,” said Amethyst.

Twenty laps later, Pixel decided to call them in for a group huddle. “So, unfortunately, the rest of the gang couldn’t make it. Surprise and Aerial had some Wonderbolt business to attend to, Sapphire and Chrome have jobs in law enforcement, and Harebell had urgent business back at Dodge Junction.”

“Thank Faust,” Digit said with a sigh of relief. “Thought she was going to sit on me again.”

“Wait, what?” Sunset asked with a chuckle.

“N-Nothing.”

“I thought guys were into that kind of thing,” Amethyst added.

“Not the point. And you can’t generalize on everything.”

“Point being, you’re on your own now. Besides, I’m pretty sure that with all your endurance training, you should be ready. Just work on your weaknesses and buff up your strengths and you’ll be fine.” That instant, a bright blue portal opened up behind her. “That’s my cue. See ya!” She jumped backwards into the portal, which vanished instantly, leaving the team to just stare on.

“She ditched us,” Amethyst said blankly. Then, she punched Digit.

“Ow. Why?”

“You guys are siblings. Don’t you share some weird biological bond?”

“First off, that’s a myth. Second, I’m pretty sure the bond is mental, not physical.”

“Meh. So what now?” They all just stared.

Meanwhile, Pixel made her way to the Starswirl Academy when she felt something odd. She rubbed her shoulder. “What the…? Why did it feel like a five-year-old just tried to punch me?” She shrugged and kept walking.

Back at the new Heart residence, Lavender was bored… again. “Bags packed, chapters read, homework done… urgh, back to boredom.” She collapsed on her bed and took out her smartphone. She smiled as she scrolled through the pictures she took on her date with Digit; the Spire, the ice cream, the walk. “Well, it was fun while it lasted.” She got up and walked out and noticed Nightshade’s door was unlocked. “Maybe Nighty and I can chat the night away.”

Meanwhile, Nightshade and Descent were on their way home from the supermarket, hands full of groceries. “I’m telling you,” Nighshade said as she sucked on a lollipop, “The kid was savage.”

“Why do you keep calling him kid?” Descent asked. “You’re practically the same age.”

“One year older,” Nightshade replied, pointing at herself with a wing, which she retracted. “Besides, he doesn’t really act his age, he acts much younger.”

“Speaking of savage, how long till meltdown?”

“Huh?”

Descent groaned. “Must I spell it out? How long till Lavender finds out?”

“The longer, the better. Never is a blessing from Faust herself!” They flew over the gates and went through the door. They dropped the things in the kitchen. “Well, I’m off to bed. Still got some kinks in my back I need to sleep off. That’s what happens when you get slammed into a tree.” Descent just laughed.

“I think the sleep thing is a good idea for both of us.” They went up together. As they opened the door, they saw Lavender, sitting on Nightshade’s bed, holding a piece of paper. They both froze as she looked up.

“Hello, Nighty,” she said in the kind of voice you’d expect from an eight-year-old homicidal psychopath. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

“R-Really?” Nightshade was paralyzed. What the hell is she doing here?

Lavender got up and walked towards them. She held out a sheet of paper. “I wanted to ask what this was.”

“I-It was a letter from some dumb kid who thought he had a chance with me.” Not entirely false, but he certainly had a better chance than most of the other losers.

“Really? Because I recognize this hand writing.” She brought out a piece of paper from the back of her cellphone cover. “This was from one and a half years ago.” She held the two notes side-by-side, hers saying something about agreeing to a mutual break and meeting to make it official. “He was so sweet and gentlemanly... and probably the least jerky guy I’d dated. So I now ask: why in the name of all that’s unholy in the fiery pits of Tartarus IS HE STILL ALIVE AND DATING?!”

Nightshade reeled back from the force of the yell. She looked at Descent who said only one thing. “Kaboom,” he said, calmly.

“So, you came,” Digit said. He was wearing a gray sleeveless shirt, blue khakis, and blue and white trainers. A girl with long pink hair walked towards him. She was wearing a pink shirt, yellow sweater, blue jeans, and yellow sandals.

“Oh, um, I’m sorry I’m late,” Fluttershy said. “It’s just that-“

“You were having second thoughts and you were trying to look for a way out because you felt it was a mistake based on some foreign and unwanted instinct?” he finished for her. She just stared. “Yeah, I figured. Contrary to popular belief, I’m pretty good at reading people. I don’t do it out loud because I don’t want to look like I’m judging them and I don’t want to be seen as a know-it-all.”

“Oh, um…”

“Look, for your trouble, how about I walk you home.” Fluttershy opened her mouth to speak, but he said, “And no, it won’t be a bother.” She nodded and they headed off. “So, where do you live?”

“About two miles east of the Everfree.” Digit stopped.

“I, uh, think it would be faster if we fly. Not to sound lazy, but that’s a two hour walk… at half past nine.” Fluttershy nodded. She summoned her ethereal yellow wings, which solidified to a translucent color. Digit stared at her for a while, then held her hand before she could take off. “Hey, uh, can you keep a secret?”

Fluttershy was confused. “Um, sure. What is it?”

“You have to promise not to tell anybody. Not a soul, not soulless being. Not even your friends or teammates.” Fluttershy looked down. He squeezed her hand a bit harder. “Please. I just feel like you’re the only person I can trust with this knowledge. Only my family and Princesses Celestia and Luna know about it, but I feel like I can trust you with it. So, can I?” He seemed nice enough, and she had no reason to doubt that he had a good reason for confiding in her. She nodded. He let go of her hand and took a few steps back. A light blue magic aura surrounded him and began to twist and warp as it crawled up his body. A large amount of it folded over to his back and went from transparent to translucent. Then, they burst out. Fluttershy stared in awe at the glorious, ethereal, translucent blue wings that appeared behind his back with an impressive three-foot wingspan. They looked like dragon wings, but instead of the normal scaly appearance, these ones looked smooth. There was a large, white circle in the middle and five lines extended from all around it, following the path the bones would be. He looked at her.

“I-I-I thought you used self-levitation? Like Twilight?

“I do. But only because no one is allowed to see these,” he said, gesturing to the wings.

“So why tell me?”

Digit walked over to her and looked her in the eye. “Because… because you remind me of someone I used to trust almost as much as my sister. The only difference between you two were your personalities. She was a lot more like Pinkie.” They chuckled at the thought of Fluttershy acting like Pinkie.

She held his hand. “Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me.” He smiled. “So, um, shall we?”

“Ladies first.” She nodded and gently levitated off the ground. She was considerably high up when she looked down and saw him take off to meet her. It took her about eight seconds to reach her current height; he was next to her in two. She just gawked. “Yeah. That was her first reaction too. I didn’t have these back then, but I was a pretty fast flyer for an Esper using self-levitation.” She nodded as they flew off. She watched him fly next to her gracefully. After a while, he ducked beneath a cloud and popped up beneath her.

“Oh, oh my.”

Digit looked up at her. “How about I just fly you home?” She nodded hesitantly.

“Th-That would be n-nice, I g-g-guess.” She was amazed at how smooth the ride was. It was almost terrifying. The only other that had done this was Rainbow Dash, and she wasn’t exactly the kind to go for slow joy rides. This was new territory for her… and she liked it. “There,” she said, as they approached a small apartment building. Behind it was one of the many entrances to the Everfree Forest. It wasn’t as terrifying as the inside, it just looked like an ordinary, non-magical forest… which were uncommon in Etheria. As they landed he dove suddenly and she fell off his back. Just before she hit the ground, he caught her and set her down. She looked up, shaken, as he landed in front of her, laughing.

“I’m sorry. I… I couldn’t help myself,” he said as he forced back the laughter.

“Th-That wasn’t funny,” Fluttershy said. “A bit scary, but not funny. Did you do that with her?”

Digit’s laugh turned into a weak smile. “No, the roles were flipped. I was the scared one.”

Fluttershy felt bad now. “Oh, um, I’m sorry if that was too personal. It’s just that-“

“No, I’m sorry. I probably shouldn’t have done that, anyway.” He looked at the apartment building. “I though you stayed at the dorms?”

“Well, I come here over the weekends when…” she paused. “Shoot! I forgot we were having a sleepover! They be here any minute!”

“’Kay then. I’m gone.”

As he floated up, she said, “I promise, I won’t tell anyone, with or without a soul.” He smiled and took off. “Hey girls,” she said as Twilight, Applejack, Sunset, Pinkie, and Rarity arrived.

“Hey there, Fluttershy,” Applejack greeted back. “How’d the date go? Apparently it didn’t take long enough to miss the sleepover.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t miss one for the world. And it wasn’t a date. I just took Sunset’s advice and called it off. You were right,” she said, turning to Sunset, “He was understanding.” Sunset smiled. “So he just walked me home.”

“Just now?” asked Twilight. “We didn’t see him on the way here.”

Fluttershy panicked a bit. “Oh, uh, he took a different way.”

“Which way?”

“He, uh… self-levitated.”

Twilight stared for a while. Fluttershy was scared that Twilight might figure out something was up. “Oh. Okay. Personally, I think it’s a waste of magic energy, but it’s his magic.” Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief. “Rainbow’s late, as usual.”

Meanwhile, a figure sitting on a cloud stared off into the distance, watching a certain blue speck fly off. “So that’s what you’re hiding, you son of a bitch.” She looked down from the cloud she was sitting on and saw some girls chatting. “I hope you at least tell your friends, Shy.”

Elsewhere, a certain pink-haired young woman in a mulberry shirt, black trousers, and black shoes was walking out of a library, carrying a huge stack of books. She held the pile with one hand and locked the door with the other. She groaned. “Never thought I’d wish to be the school librarian again. Maybe they’ll take me back if I asked nicely.” As she walked over to her car, she felt an odd chill. She looked around. “Who’s there?” She walked faster and faster, but tripped over something she couldn’t see over the pile of books. She looked back and saw her leg caught in what looked like a golden vine. She pulled to no avail.

“Evening,” said a voice, causing her to jump. “Sorry for the inconvenience, but you have some things I need.” The books she was carrying were covered in a golden aura as they floated towards a shadowy figure, who scrolled through the books. “Ah, yes. This is exactly what I need.” He looked up to her. “I hope you don’t mind if I borrow these without a library card.”

The woman kept trying to pull herself free as the man approached her. “L-Leave me alone! Who are you?”

The man stopped in front of her and raised her up with the vine. “I’m just a researcher. And I’m quite invested in a particular topic…” He leaned in to her ear. “…The Trinity Jewels.” The woman froze. “Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of these,” he said, gesturing to the levitating books. “However, I can’t promise the same about you.”

Author's Notes:

Okay, stuff's about to get crazy. You saw the big goodies meet, now you've seen the big baddies meet. And what's gonna happen to Nightshade now that Lavender's found out the truth? And what does this mean for Digit, in addition to him telling Fluttershy his secret and someone else spying on them? Find out next chapter... and those that follow! (P.s.: I'm gonna stop trying to preview the next chapters because the story isn't as predictable as I thought. A lot of stuff changed from what I originally had planned.) Also, something big is about to start, can you guess what it is?

Please leave a comment, like, fav... anything encouraging and/or helpful. Also, couldn't think of a consistent release day for new chapters, so I'll just release as I finish them. I will confirm that there won't be anything more than a one week gap between each chapter. Hope I can make it to the featured box before the 10th chapter. Thanks for all your support!

The Buid-Up

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"Whoa!" Nightshade ducked as another blot of purple energy flew over her head. Descent had gone outside to avoid getting hit by a stray bolt of energy. "Wait! Lavender, I can explain... I think... GAH!" She rolled to avoid another.

"Explain? EXPLAIN?! How could you possibly explain how you failed to get something this easy done?" She launched more bolts at Nightshade. "What, did you actually start feeling something for him?"

"What?" She dodged another bolt. "Don't be ridiculous. If I knew how he survived I would have told you by now." Finally, she tripped when a bolt exploded in front of her. She turned and saw Lavender standing over her, arm outstretched with energy cackling around her hand. "Wait, look, I did my part. I did kill him. If he survived, then someone else must have saved him... somehow."

"You said you shot him in the heart with an ice arrow. How do you save someone from having their heart frozen?"

"I don't know." Lavender stared at her. Nightshade was a good liar, but she wouldn't lie to her.

"So, if he didn't die, how did the spell work when I cast it?" Lavender asked, backing away.

Nightshade sat up. "I don't know. Maybe he was on the brink of death when you cast it. That would still qualify for the spell. But what worries me is that I don't know how he survived. It would take a lot of magic energy or some serious dark magic to bring someone back from the brink of death. Then again, he's too clean for it to have been dark magic."

Lavender sat down on the scorched bed. She looked up at Nightshade. "Figure this out and fix it. And hurry up. If that wretch hears about this I'll never hear the end of it."

"YOU DID WHAT?! What were you thinking?!" Pixel, sitting on her bed, was on the border of bemusement and fury, but took from both sides. "Do you realize how dangerous that was, both for you and her?"

Digit, sitting on the floor against the wall, held his head in his hands. "Keeping this secret is driving me nuts! I needed to get some of it out of my system. And yes, I know it's dangerous, but I trust her to keep it quiet. She isn't exactly on the school's journalism club."

Pixel face-palmed. "Still, do you realize she could be in danger, now? You just said you encountered Nightshade, meaning she knows you're alive. If she finds out about this in any way, you, Fluttershy, and anyone else even remotely involved with you is in trouble." Digit held his head harder, as if hoping to pop it like a balloon. Pixel got up and sat next to him. "Look, I know it's hard for you, but you need to know that this isn't just for you, it's for everyone's safety."

"I know."

"And the person you felt watching you?"

"I only felt the presence. I don't know who it is, but I'll keep an eye out. Hopefully, she'll keep it to herself and only confront me about it."

Digit looked at the ceiling. "Yeah, well, he's back in my head. We had a little chat." Pixel reeled back slightly I confusion. "Don't worry, I pushed him back, but it feels like it's getting harder." He folded his arms. "I can't keep doing this. Keeping secrets, pushing everyone away... it's not me. That isn't who I am." Digit sniffed, his eyes welled up with tears. Pixel pulled him into a hug as he said, "Mom would be disappointed, wouldn't she?"

"What? No, of course not. But she would tell you to be careful. Just... do that, okay?" Digit nodded and hugged back.

"So... Fluttershy, huh?" Digit pushed away, blushing. "You into shy girls now, or does she seem like she could be... submissive?" she asked, grinning. Digit turned even redder, if that were possible for someone with skin as tan as his. "Oh, or is it the rack?"

"W-What? No! Look, it was a spur-of-the-moment thing."

"Uh huh."

"Sh-Shut up!"

Pixel was still smiling, but was a lot more serious now. "But there is someone, isn't there?" Digit went silent. "Someone who might be able to sympathize... to understand?"

Digit looked away. "There are a lot of girls in the school like that."

"You know, you hide your emotions pretty well, especially for someone who hates to. And you don't need to push anyone away. So why?"

Digit shifted on the bed. "Don't you remember what happened to her? The last thing I need is someone else I care about getting caught up in the chaotic hell that's my life and getting hurt because of it... or worse." He held his arms. "I can barely live with one. If I lost two, I would..." Pixel pulled him in for another hug.

"Ssshhh. I understand. But you'll need to say something eventually. Bottling up any kind of emotion is bad. Anger is dangerous, love even more so. And forcing yourself not to feel is... well... denying your humanity."

"What if that's what I want? To not feel? To deny everything-"

"STOP IT!" Digit shook in her arms. "Now mom would be disappointed. You used to be strong. You never let anything seem bigger than you. You used to want to take on the world. That's the thing that kept you going for so long." She hugged him tighter. "Don't let go of that. Don't let go of who you are... of what makes you you... of what makes you strong." Digit wrapped his arms around her and cried into her shoulder. "I'll always be here for you, bro."

Sunset was worried. She was at her seat at homeroom on Monday and realized that it's been barely a month since school resumed and there was already a bunch of stuff that troubled her. First, it was her team, then it was the possibility that someone on her team was either mentally unstable or keeping something from them (she didn't think she wanted to know which it was), and then, Rainbow was acting strange during the sleepover. The strange was on account of her constantly wandering off and watching Fluttershy as if she was waiting for her to say something important. But it was Monday, which means she would have enough work to keep her mind off of those things. "Hey, Sunset." Sunset turned to see Twilight standing next to her. "Something bothering you?"

"No," Sunset replied, "It's nothing. Why?"

"Well, you seem kind of... out of it, lately."

"I'm fine." Sunset heard the door open and turned to see who it was. Her heart started pounding when she saw Digit walking into the class and up the steps to his seat at the back. She wasn't sure what, but something was off. For one thing, he didn't run up to greet them. The other oddity was that he seemed unusually deep in thought, like last week. Then, she noticed he was staring at something. She followed his eyes to the three new students... but why?

After their first class, Sunset was even more confused. She felt that she needed to talk to someone about all the craziness she had been noticing. So, during the first free period, she went to meet the one person she felt she could trust to keep this confidential. She knocked on the door to the classroom. "Come in," came the reply. She entered, and the man said, "Ah, Miss Shimmer. What can I do for you?"

Sunset turned and walked over to him. "Professor Creed. I, uh..." She needed to be careful. This kind of information could get Digit, and possibly her, in trouble. She started having regrets. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, but she couldn't turn back now. Creed looked at her, waiting for her question. "I... just wanted to know something about emotion spells."

"Ah. I studied those for a while," he said. "Quite an interesting history behind that particular branch. What would you like to know?"

Sunset got her thoughts together. "If it's possible to alter a person's personality, would it also be possible to split the person into two different personalities?"

Creed thought for a moment. "Well, yes. A multiple personality can be induced into a person by a variety of things, the most common being emotional or mental trauma and bottling up one's emotions."

"But what would it take for someone to split into multiple personalities."

Creed froze for a moment, then looked up from his work to star at Sunset. "You're... asking about splitting a person into two or more separate entities, each with it's own personality. That is highly advanced and dangerous magic... and it's usually dark magic." Sunset's heart jumped. "There are very few regular magic spells that can be used for such a thing. Most are used to help a person get rid of psychological trauma by having them face that emotion in physical form. But to give that emotion a physical form and a mind of it's own? That's ... dangerous... to say the least."

Now Sunset was even more worried. "I-Is it possible for the other half to possess magic?"

Creed was getting worried about her curiosity. He had always known her to be interested in rather unusual topics, including theoretical applications and even dark magic, but this was troubling. "Well, it is an individual entity... so... yes, I believe that would be possible. But why all these questions, Miss Shimmer? Most of the knowledge required to cast such spells are hidden from the general public or forbidden to mages below a certain degree, as are the spells themselves."

"Oh, I know. I was just curious."

"And what sparked this curiosity?"

"Um..." She thought of something that could get her out of this. "I was, um... reading a book and came across the story of the mage with ten names.

The Mage with Ten Names
A powerful mage who wished for a deeper understanding of the human mind. He completed a spell that allowed him to separate a mage into his/her most dominant emotions. He delved deeper and manage to completely separate the different personalities into different bodies. He used the spell on himself, using acronyms and titles to name each of them to avoid confusion, and used his nine other personalities to obtain the results he wanted. He faced his demise when three of his embodiments, Pride, greed, and anger, overheard (or overthought, as the case may be) him planning to reunite the individual personalities and decided to stop him... permanently.

Creed stared at her for a while before saying, "Well, I guess it's not so bad to embrace one's curiosity, but be careful what you decide to delve into." Sunset nodded and left the room. Once she was gone Creed sat back in his chair. "He's back... and she's seen him... but how?"

The rest of the day was relatively uneventful... that is, until team meeting. "Guys, it's almost here!" Zest said in an excited tone.

"Yep," Amethyst said. "Two more days until the trials. It feels like forever."

"It feels kind of early to be doing something like this," said Nox.

Amethyst gasped. "He speaks!" Nox rolled his eyes and everyone laughed. "Okay, I say we get matching outfits for this."

"And there's the inner diva I've heard so much about," said Sunset. "Why don't you show that side of you more often? It reminds me of Rarity."

"Yeah, well, I got rid of it because it sorta made me an insensitive jerk to others. Then I figured that the clothes don't make the person and, well, you can't judge a book by it's cover. Just because someone doesn't share your taste in fashion doesn't mean you're any better than them. So I just stopped caring."

"Uh, you're wearing a designer shirt, skirt, stockings and boots," Sunset said, noting Amethyst's outfit, "I'm not seeing the lack of care."

"Hey, I never said I stopped looking good," Amethyst said, posing for a non-existent camera, which made them all laugh.

"Looking good?" asked Trixie. "HA! That outfit lost its value the moment you put it on."

"Yours lost its value the moment you imagined wearing it," Amethyst replied.

"Whoa, whoa, save it for the trials." They turned and saw Digit walk into the gym. Sunset's heart jumped, and not in the good way. She was still uneasy about what she saw last week. "I see we've at least managed to put most of our differences behind us?"

"Well, I guess some people aren't as obnoxious as they seem," said Amethyst, staring at Trixie. "Then again, that could just be the ignorance talking." Trixie glared back.

Digit laughed and said, "Well, glad to see that's settled. But we also need to get our entrance badges tomorrow. Zest, could you remind everyone to get theirs tomorrow?"

"Sure thing," Zest replied.

"Okay then. If there's nothing else, I guess we can call it a day."

"NIGHTSHADE! DESCENT!"

"Great, I hope your happy." Descent would not let Nightshade hear the end of it. "Thanks to you, Lavender isn't gonna give us a break."

"Hey, you wouldn't help," Nightshade replied as they made their way to Lavender's room. "Besides, I'm the one who isn't getting any sleep because I'm the one taking the blame here."

"But since we're related, I take that pain with you, unfortunately. Stupid sibling bond."

"I thought the bond was only mental," Nightshade said thoughtfully, "Like mind reading and finishing each other's sentences."

"Well, you thought wrong." They arrived and Descent knocked on Lavender's door, which opened of its own accord. Lavender was sitting on her bed with her phone. "Um, Lavender?"

She was sitting on her bed with a laptop on her legs wearing a t-shirt and a pair of short-shorts. She looked up. "Oh, good. You're here. Come here." She didn't sound as angry as when she was shouting their names. It made them uneasy.

"W-What is it?" asked Nightshade.

Lavender noticed her hesitation. "Relax, Nighty. I've forgiven you. We can't all be perfect."

"Oh, um, thanks." Oh, sure. Of course you forgive me right after trying to kill me, she thought. "So, what's up?"

"Check this out." She showed them a social media page with the school's logo. "Someone just Cheeped about an upcoming trail or something hosted by the school. It's supposed to be a sort of test for whether or not the students can start taking missions."

The siblings looked at the webpage. "Huh. Never woulda guessed that schools needed that much publicity," she said. "Any reason this caught your attention?"

Lavender grinned. "According to this, Princess, or should I say Principal, Celestia said that if the classroom performance of the students is compromised in any way, those competeing members will be removed. Lose more than two members and you're out."

Nightshade grinned as well. "Lemme guess. You plan to sabotage a bunch of students so that hopefully the Princess will let us take their place and we can use that opportunity to deal with Digit." Lavender nodded, grinning sinisterly. "That might actually work. Just one problem. Won't the school take precautions to avoid any student from being mortally injured?"

Lavender feigned a face of defeat. "True. It would be unfortunate if someone was seriously wounded during this event." She grinned, adding, "It would be just as unfortunate if, I don't know, something disrupted the transport spell they set up to get injured or endangered students out of the area."

"But how will such a horrible thing happen?" Descent asked, joining the jest. "Wouldn't the Princess and the guards be on high alert and check the runes and transporters on a regular basis?"

Lavender looked up in thought. "Well everyone makes mistakes. I mean, anyone could mistake a detonation rune for a transport rune. And the engineers aren't always watching the equipment. Why would they need to? They've already dine it a hundred times before."

"True," Descent said nodding his head. "It would be such a shame if they got careless with something so serious. Nightshade, let's go for a walk, shall we. I feel like sightseeing."

Nightshade nodded. "Well, I am feeling a bit bored. Can we go to the Eclipse Spire?" Lavender blushed and went from joking to serious.

"J-Just go," she said, as Nightshade laughed her way out the door.

The next day, the students were given a free day on behalf of the competing students. But something happened that day. Something rather unexpected. Then again, it was a high school. Sunset heard all the rumors of some teams getting laid off because of "inappropriate behavior". "I heard Eco and Green sprayed some "Save the Planet!" graffiti on the school wall," Amethyst said when the team met. "And the Forces of Nature ain't the only ones that got knocked out." She scrolled through her Cheeper page on her phone. "Apparently, Six Storms also got kicked out."

"Why does that not surprise me," Sunset said. The love rectangle between Thunderlane, Blossom Forth, and the twins, Flitter and Cloudchaser was a very common and popular topic among the students. Some saw it as cute, some saw it as a powder keg being laid next to a dragon's mouth. "What's the story this time? The usual kissing behind the school? Naked photos? Or was Thunderlane caught with Blossom's underwear again?"

"Nope. This time Thunder stuck his fingers in two beehives... if you know what I mean."

Sunset and Trixie both turned red. "Well... that's... a new level," Sunset said. "How'd they get caught?"

"Especially if it's Thunder," Trixie added. "I always thought that bozo was at least smart enough not to get caught."

"Apparently, Principal Celestia caught them under the bleachers at the field," Amethyst explained.

"And they weren't expelled?"

"Nope. Apparently, they were all hit by some kind of spell that got them horny. Admittedly, I'm curious about that. Wonder what it's like..."

"Amethyst," Sunset called, bringing Amethyst back to reality. Amethyst blushed in response. "So, is anyone replacing them?"

"Yep. Two teams got the spots. First, the Travelers."

"That's Savannah's team. Who else?"

"Some other group called the Midnight Hearts. I think it's the new girl's team."

"Hey guys." They turned to see Zest and Nox walk into the gym. Digit followed soon after. "Heard the news yet?" They nodded. "Sheesh. Wonder if Thunderlane thinks it was worth it. Kinda wish I was in his shoes... minus getting kicked out of the trials." Amethyst hit him over the head. "Ow," he said rubbing his head. "But if it was a spell, ten bits says it was Blossom getting back and getting off at a safe distance." Another smack.

Celestia paced in her throne room. "Sister, please, try to relax," said Luna. "You've done everything you can to prepare."

"I know. But is this right?" Celestia asked. "Those who pass won't just take missions early, they'll be called for very dangerous ones as well... like assisting with the investigation of the Infinity Jewels."

"Well, you don't need to worry about that, Sunbutt," said a voice. Celestia turned and saw one of the pictures on the stained glass windows dancing. "Remember, you have me."

"That's exactly what worries me, Discord." Suddenly, a picture of Discord, the Lord of Chaos, on the glass doubled and one slithered out and solidified. He donned a grayish-yellow shirt, orange trousers, and brown shoes. Over this was a reddish-brown hooded overcoat with a furry yellow right arm and a scaly brighter yellow one. His white hair and goatee were messy and unkempt. On his back were the phantasmal forms of purple bat wing and a blue feathered one, as well as a red tail with a white, furry end which looked like another hand.

Discord frowned. "Ouch. That hurt my feelings."

"Take this seriously, Discord," Celestia snapped.

"I am! You don't think I had a reason for locking those tings up in the first place? If anyone get's their hands on those jewels, what will I have left to play with?" Celestia shot him a look. "I mean, um, a lot of people will get hurt."

At that moment, a guard ran into the room. "Princess, there's a problem."

"What is it?" Celestia asked.

"We just received a message from Professor Spellbinder. It's about Miss Cherilee..."

Ten minutes later, Celestia, Luna, and Discord stood around Cherilee, who was lying in a hospital bed. The nurse read off the list of injuries. "Ruptured spleen, collapsed lung, punctured kidney, crack collarbone, two dislocated vertebrae, one broken arm, one broken leg..." The nurse closed the pamphlet. "And that's just half the list."

"Well, she a tough cookie, I'll give her that," said Discord. He leaned in to look at the x-rays. "Almost as if she was being slammed against the ground and a bunch of walls like a three-year-old's toy."

"That seems to be the case." They turned and saw Spellbinder standing at the door. "I found her outside the Chantalot Public Library last night... lying next to some cars with mysterious dents and broken windows. I rushed her here as fast as I could."

"Thank you," said Luna. "No trace of the culprit?"

He shook his head. "I'll do a little more investigating later today and tomorrow, but I need to get some equipment from my lab first. Believe me, I intend to search until I find the one responsible for this."

"Very well." With that, he left.

Discord wandered around Cherilee. "I'm sure the same questions are on all our minds right now?"

"And what questions would those be?"

"Who attacked her, what did he want, and why didn't he kill her?"

"She was attacked in front of the library," Celestia said, thinking. "The person also must have known she was there, which means he or she was waiting for her. But what could they possibly have wanted? And did they get it?"

"I shall contact the library assistants and ask them to look for any books missing or checked out from the library. Maybe that may provide some insight... at least until she awakens," Luna said, looking at Cherilee.

"Good idea," said Celestia. "I'll station some guards around the area and undercover, just as a precaution."

"You mean in case someone tries to kill her again?"

Celestia nodded. "They decide she'd be better off dead."

"Yikes. The things people do to get a book," Discord said, shaking his head. He looked down at her. "I'll stay and watch her."

"What? Why?" asked Celestia.

"She's probably going to be surprised to see me, and I'd love to see the look on her face when I tell her that I've been watching over her. Besides, don't you two have some event to prepare for?" The sisters looked at one another. "Don't worry, it'll be fine."

"Fine," Celestia said reluctantly. As they left, Celestia turned to him and said, "Don't try any funny business." Discord nodded and they left.

"I wouldn't dream of it," Discord said when they left, pulling out a paint brush and palate, suddenly dressed in an artist's regalia, smiling.

"Today's the day!" Zest was as excited as a teenager getting his first game console. "Woohoo!" He and Amethyst were waiting in their locker room in the arena.

"Relax, Zest," said Amethyst. "Save your energy for the trials." Zest wore a simple red t-shirt with a black streak across it, black khaki shorts, and red high-top sneakers, alongside his signature sports glasses, armlet, and fingerless gloves. Amethyst wore a black shirt with 3/4 length sleeves and a pink cat face, purple skirt with black stockings, and purple sandals and had a bracelet around each wrist and fingerless glove. She had also tied her hair into a long, back-length ponytail.

Soon, Sunset, Nox, and Digit walked in. Sunset wore a pink tank-top, orange short-shorts, and red high-tops with orange accents. Nox wore a dark blue t-shirt under a black sleeveless jacket with a fur-trimmed hood, gray khakis, and black boots and had a similar armlet and gloves as Zest, but with the addition of sports tape. Digit donned a blue sleeveless shirt, gray 3/4 length khakis, and blue high-tops with white accents, along with a pair of fingerless gloves, his signature goggles, and a blue and white scarf. Sunset looked around. "I see Trixie plans on making her grand entrance." She stared at the entrance to the locker room. "Three... two... one..."

"Trixie is here!" Trixie burst in, donning a purple sleeveless shirt with long detached sleeves, light blue skirt with a matching ribbon around her waist like a belt, a slightly darker pair of stockings, and light blue boots with dark blue accents. She also had her signature purple cape with star emblazoned onto it.

"Ugh, will you ever stop saying that?" asked Amethyst.

"Will you ever be on time?" asked Sunset.

"Find out on the next episode of..." Zest stopped when he noticed them all looking at him. "What? You can't say you didn't just set me up for that." He handed each of them a pass... each of them except Digit. "Oh... crap."

"Don't worry about it," Digit said, smiling. He took out his phone and typed something. An alert came in a few moments later. "Done. The beauty of social networking." They all stared. "What? I just got someone to help me get registered."

"I won't even ask," said Amethyst.

Meanwhile the arena was filling up with students and staff. At the extreme end of the arena was the high table overlooking the arena. At it sat Princesses Celestia and Luna, Professors Creed, and Inkwell, all of whom were a lot less excited than they would have expected. "Is this necessary?" asked Inkwell. "Should we not be more concerned about Ms. Cherilee? Or the magic phenomena that I've been reporting."

Celestia sighed. "Spellbinder is investigating the incident. I have also stationed guards at her hospital just in case. And I am confident in your abilities to handle any issues regarding the hotspots. Besides, Zecora is helping with monitoring the hotspots. If she notices anything, she will inform us." Then came a ring. "That must be Spellbinder." She pulled a stone out of the pocket of her royal gown and tapped the sun insignia on it. The symbol projected a gold pentagram, followed by the figure of Professor Spellbinder. "Spellbinder. Have you found anything?"

"Well, the culprit left no trace of their being there. Even the mage's magic is untraceable, like the essence vanished without a trace. But I'll keep looking."

"Do you know what they wanted? Did she have anything valuable stolen?"

He shook his head. "Purse, money, ID, credit cards, debit cards, house and car keys... everything is still here. And it doesn't seem like they took her magic energy or essence. But judging by the timing, it was definitely planned and the were definitely after something. I just don't know what or why. But I'll keep you informed on my findings." Celestia nodded and the image vanished.

In the crowd Twilight and her team, sitting together. They were all excited, especially to see Sunset compete. Suddenly, Twilight lost her vision. "GAH!" She reached for her face and felt a pair of hands. "Pinkie, knock it off."

"It's not me," replied Pinkie. Twilight noticed the voice came from in front of her, as did a few stifled laughs and giggles. Then again, Pinkie was a trickster mage.

"Pinkie, if it's you, I'm serious."

"It's not me... I promise... Pinkie Promise..." she said between stifled laughs.

"So that must mean..." She reached behind her felt soft, silky hair. She traced along the hair and hit something hard and heart-shaped. She jumped up.

"Hey!" cried a voice from behind. Twilight recognized it instantly.

"Cadence!" She turned and hugged the young woman behind her. She looked up and saw a girl with light purple eyes and streams of purple, pink, and cream colored hair. She wore a brilliant pink dress with gold accents. The accents curved to form a stylized heart over her torso. Her bangs hid most of her blue heart-shaped focus gem and on her right collarbone was her signature shaped similarly. She embraced Twilight. They broke the hug and whispered:

"Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hands and do a little shake." They laughed after the little dance.

"It's been a while, Twilight," said Cadence. "How's my favorite sister-in-law?"

"I'm great." Twilight looked closer. "Wait, are you sure you're no Chrysalis posing as Cadence again?"

"Who knows? Are you?" They stared intently at each other, then burst into laughter. "But seriously, let us never speak of that again."

"Deal." Twilight looked around. "Where's my BBBFF?"

"Right here, Twily." Twilight looked behind Cadence and saw a young man clad in a white shirt and combat trousers with gold and purple armor. He hugged Twilight. "How's my little sister?"

"Sorry, she beat you to that question," she said, gesturing at Cadence. They all laughed.

"Well, we should probably get going," said Shining. "You know where to find us." They waved Twilight and her friends goodbye.

They took their seat next to Princess Celestia, while the teachers sat by Luna. "How was your trip?" asked Celestia.

"It was okay," replied Cadence. "How's Cherilee doing?"

"She's recovering slowly, but at least she's alive."

"Thank Faust." She leaned back in her chair. "Who would do such a thing? Cherilee was such a kind person. And she's a school teacher for goodness sake. Why would anyone attack her?"

"And from the reports I got, she wasn't robbed of anything valuable," said Shining. "So what reason could the attacker... or attackers have had?"

Celestia stared at him. "Attackers? Plural?"

"Well, either the assailant was extremely powerful of a high-level mage, or she was attacked by more than one person. Considering her condition, it's only logical to assumed there were multiple assailants."

"That is a possibility. But, no offense meant, Cherilee isn't exactly a brick wall."

"True, but until we get some answers, it would be wise to consider all possibilities."

"Agreed. Spellbinder is working on it and will get back to us as he progresses."

"Right..." said Shining, drifting off.

"Um, you okay, Shiny?" asked Cadence.

He came back to reality. "Hm? Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Just got lost in thought there for a second."

"I can't believe Discord isn't here," she said, staring at the empty seat next to her. "This doesn't seem like the kind of thing he would miss."

"He'll probably show up sooner or later," sadi Celestia. "He said he was watching over Cherilee, but I have a feeling he'll find a way."

"Maybe a clone, or something?"

"Possibly."

A bell rang and Celestia looked at her watch. "That's the signal." She stood up. "GOOD DAY, STUDENTS OF CHANTALOT MAGIC ACADEMY!" The Royal Chantalot Voice echoed through the arena. Once she had their attention, she continued. "Welcome to the Trials of Chantalot. For the next three days, six teams will compete in tests of strength, skill, and sheer willpower. These trials will determine which of them gets to go on higher missions earlier in the year than others. And now, the teams." The symbols of the six teams appeared over the entrance they were to use. The insignias lit up as the names were called.

Back in the locker room, the Sparks awaited their name."Team Xplosion."

"That was five," said Sunset. "We're next."

"Team Sparks."

"Well, this is it, guys," Digit said as the doors opened. They walked out to meet the cheering students. All classes, from Freshmen to Advanced Learners were there. The team looked and saw the other five teams at other entrances to the arena.

"Welcome to the Trials, my students. For the next three days, you shall be tested beyond your very limits. Would any of you like to forfeit?" Silence. Celestia and Luna nodded to each other and raised their hands and a giant eclipse insignia appeared in the middle of the arena. The glow expanded, engulfing the entire area in a big white dome.

"WOOHOO!" cheered Zest.

"WHAT THE..." cried Amethyst.

"I HATE THIIIIIISSS!" yelled Sunset.

"OH MY..." cried Trixie.

"HERE WE GO!" called Digit.

"Then let the games... trials..." Dramatic pause. "...BEGIN!" Then, the blinding light swallowed the entire arena, and the crowd cheered at the signal of the start of the trials.

Mages of Etheria Q&A: Whatcha Wanna Know?!

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Hello, viewers. In case you didn't already figure it out, I'm Digit Weaver.
I'm Sunset Shimmer.
And I'm Nox Moonrider. And we would like to welcome you to...

Mages of Etheria! Q&A! Whatcha wanna know?!

Wow, nice one, Nox. Never knew you could actually speak up that much.

Well, this is all non-canon, so I guess it's okay if they see what I'm really like inside. And by they, I mean you! *Points through the screen*.

Right on both accounts. First off, this is all non-canon, so take that as an explanation for any inconsistencies that you may notice. Second, since we aren't animated, please use your imagination for any parts that may require visualization. Finally, yes. Nox isn't really a silent, negative sourpuss he is portrayed as in the story, but hides behind a cloak of mystery... no rhyming intended.

We had the idea to do a Q&A segment right before the tenth chapter, which will be the start of the Trials Arc... an idea Digit and Azreal, Architect of Etheria, got from a writer named Jetto, creator of the Stallionverse. You should check it out, really nice stories.

Yeah, but the Sunset there ain't a ball of sunshine. Trust me... I know.

I still don't get why Azreal took you, but not us.

What? Dude, the wall was broken. I just stepped over. You guys could've joined the conversation anytime.

This is all non-canon, right?

Yeah. Why?

Because then it won't matter if I use you as an axe to harvest some zap apple trees. Sunset, you in.

Meh, why not.

Ummm... okay... Now, not sure whether you guys are shy or too busy, but I'm pretty sure I speak on behalf of everyone when I say that I'm pretty sure you're not sure you understand everything that's going on perfectly.

I got that, but could there be a little less "sure" in the way you say it?

Nope!

*Groans* This is you're chance to ask us any questions you want. Our favorite pastime.

Our favorite color, which isn't as obvious as it may seem.

Even our personal... interests. Thoughts, dreams... love interests.

Is that necessary?

Yes... yes it is.

O... kay. Oh, and don't worry. The three of us may be presenting, but that doesn't mean you can't ask questions about other chara... people. If it involves our other teammates, we'll either get back to them or answer the question for them... you know, to save time.

HA! So, whose image do you want to ruin?

What makes you think I'd want to ruin anyone's image? We're all on the same team, here.

Mhm, I said sarcastically. HEY! Put down the war hammer! You're nice Sunset!

Nope. You guys just haven't pissed me off... yet!

... Anyway... We will, however, talk around any topics that may lead to spoilers. However, questions about our past, families, etcetera may be subject to exception, depending.

So ask away. Anything you want to know about us, the other students, the teachers, anyone else, or even the universe as a whole! Whatever you wanna know!

We'll be doing this every five chapters from now on... or something else. Q&A's mean different things to us. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!

Creepy as hell, dude.

Agreed. So, join us again in a few days to see the answers to your questions. Unfortunately, this website doesn't have a hashtag function and I doubt you guys have access to Etherian social media. So please, ask using the comment box and add #...(Person you're asking) so we know who we're going to destr- I mean who you wish to answer your question.

Oh! Nice save!

Hehe.

*Glares* One that note, we're signing off. Till next time on...

Mage of Etheria! Q&A! Whatcha wanna know?!

Dude, you need to be more like this in the actual story. I prefer the old, happier Nox.

Nah. Being mysterious is my thing. Besides, anyone else who tries to do this part would screw it up.

Probably. And Sunset, why aren't you as tough as you used to be?

WHAT WAS THAT, YOU MARSHMALLOW?!

There we go! That attitude sorta suits you.

Really? I always thought it made me a terrible person to be around.

Oh, no, it kinda did. But I don't mean go full-on raging she-demon on us. Just...

More open? Hmmm... I could try that. But then you have to be more... um... uh...

I've always been this happy. There's nothing to change, add, or subtract.

But could you be a little less... secretive. Like I said, mysterious is me.

Secretive? What do you... I would never... *Sighs* Fine. Maybe I'll open up a bit more. But don't push your luck. By the way, did anyone else notice how coordinated we were when we announced the segment?

Huh. That is odd. And the colored dialogue kinda makes it easier to know who's talking.

First of all, coloring the dialogues is much more stressful than you think. Besides, this is non-canon. Try not to get a brain cramp over it. We practically broke the fourth wall, here. These are the least of our problems.

Guess you're right. Hey, anyone wanna get a coffee?

I'm down.

Hey, don't leave me behind.

Mages of Etheria Q&A: ... Answers?

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Hi there!

Welcome to the second part of...

Mages of Etheria! Q&A! ...

Unfortunately, Nox couldn't be with us. Said he had other business to attend to... whatever that is.

Haven't seen him since the last time. But I was pretty bummed too when I didn't see a single question.

I think you speak on behalf of the entire team. But that just means the viewers are all following perfectly, without a hitch or doubt. So, I guess there's no need for the special guest.

OH, COME ON! I BLEW OFF A SPA APPOINTMENT WITH RARITY FOR THIS! WHAT THE !@#$?!?!?!

So, um... with no questions to answer, I... guess that's it.

Um... yeah. I guess so...

Well then...um... see you guys next chapter.

Day 1: Trial 1

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"So, what now?" asked Sunset. The team looked around, trying to understand what had happened. The landscape hadn't changed, with the exception of a wall that left the Sparks apparently facing off against the Supersonics.

"Welcome to your first trial," said Celestia's voice as a giant image appeared between them. "This round is called Ultimatum. The rules are simple: Teams have thirty minutes to be reunited to move on. All of you progress... or be eliminated. BEGIN!" With that, the image vanished.

"But we're all together," said Sunset. Suddenly, each of them began to glow and in a flash of light, were transported to a different location. Sunset looked at her new surrounding. It wasn't too different... except for that odd breeze. When the alls came down, she realized the cause of the breeze. She gasped in awe as she saw the stadium floor had been shattered and was now levitating in pieces, far above the ground. "Wow. Must've taken a lot of magic to pull this off... then again, she throws the sun around like a trained puppy."

"I know, right." Sunset turned, surprised to see, and hear, Vinyl Scratch, sitting on the ground behind her. "Sup."

"Oh, hi Vinyl," said Sunset, cautiously. "You got zapped here too."

"Yep. Kinda weird. But you were lucky to get me. Octavia and Breezy are cool and Shred liked your bad girl attitude, but Meadow's... well, you were kind of a jerk to him back before freshman year."

"Oh... yeah. How bad is it?" Sunset asked, fearful of the response.

"Well, his good side remembers you tried to change. His bad side also remembers that you shoved him into the school sewage system... three times... in the same month."

"Hey, he threatened to stab me one of those times. I took that seriously when he attached a knife to his ukulele like a bayonet the next day." Sunset paused. She knew about Meadows... problem. Most kids in school did. He had a horrible case of MPD (Multiple Personality Disorder) which gave him a kind, gentle side, and a maniacal, homicidal one... and it was sometimes hard to tell the two apart due to the occasionally smooth transition. "Great. Well, gotta go." She waved Vinyl goodbye as she took of to find her teammates.

Vinyl waved back. "Later. Good luck," she said as Sunset ran off.

"You..." Trixie stood face-to-face with a traitor: Mirage. The red-haired girl stood, shaking in fear, but trying to put up a bold front. "My team... my name... HOW DARE YOU?!"

"HEY!" She yelled back with as much courage as she could muster, "Y-You left us for those losers. We couldn't exactly wait for you." Trixie growled in anger. Mirage stepped back. "It was mostly Mesmer's idea. She got impatient waiting for you to leave your new group."

"So, that yellow-haired bitch decided to try to take over, huh?" Trixie turned to pace, not knowing Mirage was taking the opportunity to escape. "Then I, the Great and Powerful Trixie shall make sure she suffers for her-"

"Give it a rest, will ya." Trixie turned to see Nox and Amethyst. "She's gone," Amethyst added, pointing to the empty spot initially occupied by Mirage. "Besides, we've gotta find the others. I do not want to get eliminated on the first day."

"Yeesh." Digit stood at the edge of the landmass he had reappeared on. He had been walking for a while from somewhere around the center of the landmass and was now looking at the sea of scattered islands. "It had to be floating islands. It couldn't just be an obstacle course or something."

"The Princess knows that that is way too easy." Digit turned to see a girl with ice blue hair and matching eyes. She wore a light blue skirt and skirt and blue and white high-tops. She also wore a ribbon around her waist. "Why don't you use your other powers?"

Digit smirked. "You and I are different, Star Shine," he said. "Everyone already knows you're half dragon. Those who know about my... condition are either scared or pissed at me."

"Yeah, well none of that's your fault."

"They don't know that." Digit brought up some runes and tapped them. His body glowed with a bright blue aura. "Y'know, you're one of the few people outside my family who actually get me."

"Ain't you lucky. Now get going. I really wanna get the chance to kick your butt later on. For now, I'll let you warm up for it." With that, Digit took off, jumping down to the platform below. He landed with a mighty CRASH that probably rattled the little island.

He looked down at his watch. "Ten minutes gone. Time sure flies when you're having fun." He saw the dust cloud and put on his goggles. He clicked a button on the side and changed it to a scanner. He searched and searched and eventually picked up and identified Sunset running towards him. "Hey, Sunny," he said, walking towards her. Suddenly, a ball of fire whizzed past his ear. He cupped his ear and reeled back. "Whoa, Sunset, it's me." But couldn't see him through the unsettled dust cloud. At closed range, she threw flaming punches, still unable to see her opponent, but not willing to take any chances.

"Sorry, but I need to find my team, but slowing you down may give us an advantage. Nothing personal." She lunged at him repeatedly, trying to land a knockout blow. Finally, Digit jumped back and put some distance between them. He snapped his fingers and a number of runes appeared in the air around him. He tapped some rapidly and crossed his arms. The runes spun, the untouched ones faded, and a strong wind blew away the cloud. Sunset now saw who she was attacking. "Oh... sorry about that."

"Look before you leap, especially if the leap is followed up by a punch," Digit said, taking off his goggles and dusting himself off, his aura fading. "Have you seen Zest?" As Sunset shook her head, and bolt of bright red and orange crashed between them. Both were knocked back several feet. Digit looked up to see a smiling Zest crawl out of the crater. "Never mind. His timing is always convenient."

"Are you sure?" Celestia asked the image of Pixel, Digit's sister, on her comm-stone.

"Yes. I advise you keep an eye on him. He's... acting up again."

"Okay then."

"What was that about?" asked Cadence as Celestia put the stone away.

"It's nothing. Don't worry."

Back in the stands, Rainbow Dash was getting worried. She knew Fluttershy was hiding something but still couldn't figure out why she wouldn't tell her closest friends. The tension was made even worse when began to get the feeling that Rainbow was onto her. She knew she promised to keep it a secret, but she found it difficult to keep things from her friends. So Rainbow decided to help her out. "I know about your little... date with Digit."

Fluttershy froze for a moment. "W-What do you mean, Dashie?"

"You know, how he flew you home." Fluttershy was shaking now. "What's wrong? Anything you'd like to say?" Fluttershy shook her head wildly. "Okay." Rainbow leaned back in her seat, slowly loosing her patience. "So, how're his wings?"

Fluttershy's heart stopped for a few seconds. She looked at Rainbow, then ran off. Before Twilight could asked Rainbow said, "Probably bit a popcorn kernel. I'll go check on her." Rainbow trailed the shy girl to one of the bathrooms.

"You... You know?" Her eyes were filled with tears. "You followed us?"

"I don't trust him. He's keeping too many secrets. I mean, Star Shine was pretty open about being half dragon. What's his problem? Besides, the guy seemed like a jerk and-"

"JUST STOP IT!" Rainbow jumped at Fluttershy's cry. "I get you're worried about me. Everyone's always worried about me. But there are people who need to be worried about more than me... like Digit." Rainbow stared in awe and confusion. "I get it. You think he's a jerk, but he isn't. You two got off on the wrong foot, but did it ever occur to you that maybe you rubbed him the wrong way?" She calmed down and Rainbow walked over to her. "He told me not to tell you girls, and I only said yes because at least he was honest with one person: me. And I don't know about you, but that's a step forward in my book."

Rainbow sighed. "Fine, but does his team know?" she asked. "Why would he tell you, but not even his own teammates? That does warrant a little suspicion."

"Rainbow, please." Fluttershy held her friend's hands. "Just do this for me. He'll explain when he's ready. Until then, just drop the topic. Okay?" Rainbow nodded, but her mind still wasn't at rest.

"TIME!" Celestia's voice echoed across the scattered arena as it began to reconstitute itself. "Well done," said the large image of Celestia. "You have all been able to rejoin your teams. But keep in mind, future challenges will not be so easy... not even close. Now, there will be a thirty minute intermission before we continue on to the next event of the day, so use it wisely."

The teams dispersed to their locker rooms, but Sunset grabbed Digit before he could leave with the rest of the team. "Hey, um, Digit, can I talk to you?" she asked. Digit nodded and she added, "In private?" Digit nodded a bit more slowly now.

They stood in the corridor leading to the lockers. "What's up?" Digit asked. "Must be really important."

"It is." Sunset hesitated. Should she really be doing this now? She knew she had to focus on the trials, but she couldn't focus with all the questions bouncing around in her head. "Are you... okay?"

"Yeah, great. Why?"

Sunset felt a lump in her throat. "Well, um... I... uh..." Digit looked confused as Sunset struggled to form words. "I was worried. I kinda... saw... something... last week." At those words, Digit froze. His eyes narrowed. Whatever kindness and warmth Sunset was used to feeling around him suddenly vanished.

"Oh yeah?" he asked, calmly. "Something like?"

"Um... another side of you?"

Digit kept a straight face while Sunset kept one of mixed terror and anxiety. He smiled. "We'll talk later." As he walked off, he thought to himself, "If anyone, she may be able to help me. Being overtaken by evil and an evil entity are different, but similar enough. Besides, Pixel can't blame me for this one."

In the locker rooms, Trixie was livid. Nobody was sure whether this was real of if she was just hoping for attention, because if she was, she got it... from Amethyst. "Okay, seriously Trixie, SHUT UP! For the love of Faust, we get it! You're pissed 'cause your former bandmates made a team without you and didn't call you back in. Big whoop! Get over it!"

Trixie turned to Amethyst. "Oh, yeah, like you get it. Trixie has been humiliated in many ways, but this is just over the top! Twilight Sparkle was a worthy opponent and Sunset Shimmer was a fair challenge. But Mirage and Mesmer? That's just... just... GAH!"

"Yeah, we get it. But you don't have to bitch and moan about it every single time."

"You're the bitch you rejected blockhead!"

Amethyst froze. She glared at Trixie with a stare that could scare off a cockatrice. "What did you call me?" She was calm, but the rage was audible.

"Unwanted has-been."

Amethyst tackled Trixie against the locker behind her, holding her up with one hand, keeping her legs suspended in mid-air. "Say it again. Just insult me one more time." Trixie said nothing, though that could also be due to her struggling to breath. The purple Gaian tattoos on Amethysts arm started to glow a bright purple. "Go on. Piss me off!" It was then Trixie realized that Amethyst only looked average height, even though she was two inches short of six feet tall. Three inches is a lot more significant than she thought.

At that moment, Sunset walked in and saw the commotion. "What the...?"

"Sunset," Trixie said, turning to face her, "Could you tell this ape to get her hands off of Trixie?"

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Amethyst drew her fist back.

"Amethyst, wait!" Amethyst froze at Sunset's voice. "Just put her down." Amethyst lowered Trixie...roughly. "And Trixie," she added before Trixie could say anything, "Apologize."

"What?!"

"DO IT!"

Trixie jumped. Ever since the Elements purged the darkness from Sunset, people hardly ever saw the louder side of her. Trixie turned to Amethyst, avoiding eye contact, and said, "Sorry."

Amethyst relaxed and said, "Yeah. Me too." She turned to Sunset. "You'd better not say we should hug."

"Nah," Sunset said. "I was gonna say you two should kiss and make out."

"WHAT?!" they shouted in unison. Amethyst continued. "Okay, first of all, it's "kiss and make up,". And second, I know that you did that on purpose, but I say again, for clarity, I. Don't. Swing. That. Way."

"Trixie could never reduce herself to such."

"Really back to the third person? And as if you could even arouse me if I said you could do whatever you wanted to me for 24 hours."

"Are you insinuating your sexuality? Because I think you made that clear with all the boys you've chased off."

"You want to apologize to each other again?" Sunset threatened. "This time, more... intimately?" They two kept quiet. "Thought so."

"Wow. Looks like we found our team leader." They all turned and saw Digit standing at the door. Sunset blushed at the comment.

Nox sat up to face Digit and asked, "Hey, have you seen Zest? He didn't come to the locker room with us."

"Actually, I was about to ask you guys about that," he replied. "The next part of today's trial will be starting soon."

Meanwhile, behind the stands, a certain fiery-haired boy was chatting with someone who was supposed to be competition. Standing in front of him was a girl with dark blue hair and eyes wearing baggy dark purple shorts, and black tank top, and black boots. "Look," Zest said, "I don't know what it is you want out of this. The only way this is going to work is off the field. But what do you have for me?"

"Why should I give you anything?" asked the girl. "We want the same thing, but knowing you it's not that cheap. Five thousand bits." Zest smiled. "Now, what do I get."

"A plan," he said. "Digit will have to fight too. I suggest we wait after his fight, when he's still weak."

"Okay. But it'll have to be fast and precise. He tends to recover quickly."

Meanwhile, back in the hospital, Discord sat next to the bed Cherilee was laying on, watching the trials from his tablet. "Looks like everyone made it," he said. "How boring. No fight, no one got hurt." As he scrolled through to see the next matchups, Cherilee began to stir. "Oh, look who's awake."

Cherilee opened her eyes slowly, gradually adjusting to the light, and saw Discord. "D-Discord? ... DISCORD?!" She jumped. "What the heck are you doing?" She groaned in pain.

"Watching you. And take it easy. You'll break something else." He used his magic to recline her back into the bed. "Do you remember anything from when you were attacked?"

Cherilee sifted through the info in her head and explained what happened. "After that, he just left me in the car park and vanished."

"He only took books. All your other personal belongings are still here." Discord wondered what was so important about the books for the person to have gone so far. "What were the books for?" He did not like the answer.

Five minutes until game time. Celestia was looking over the roster for the next part when her comm-stone started ringing. "Yellow?" An image of Discord appeared. "Oh, Discord. Is Cherilee awake?"

"Yes. And I asked her about the attack," he said franticly.

"A bit early, but what did you get?"

"She didn't see his face and all he seemed to care about was the books. But the disturbing part is what he was researching."

"What?"

"The same thing we don't want people to be registering." Celestia's face froze with shock. "Yeah. But my reaction was a bit more comical. On the other hand, I expected a slightly more hysterical reaction from you. Don't worry, I'll get to work on searching for the books and the culprit. I've already informed Spellbinder. Just relax and deal with your little tournament. But try to make it a bit more interesting, okay? Tah!" With that, the image vanished. Then the bell rang.

Celestia stood and said, "Welcome back to the Trials. First, the teams had to remain teams. Now, a member from each team will be asked to fight against a member from another. This will occur after every trial and combat will either be single, double, tag, royale, triple threat, and so on, randomly chosen. Today's match: Amethyst of Sparks VS Savannah of Travelers!"

"Wow," said a surprised Amethyst as she got up. "Did not see that coming."

"You'll be great," said Sunset. At that moment, Zest walked in. "Where have you been?"

"Trying to find us a good seat," he replied. "And snacks," he added, holding up a bag of snacks.

"Cool. Amethyst is up."

"I heard." He turned to her. "Good luck."

"Thanks." As she left, the others followed. For some reason, Sunset had an uneasy feeling about her team. What was up with Digit? Why is Nox so quiet? What do Trixie and Amy have against each other? And why does Zest always seem to be watching Digit?

"Too many questions," she thought as she walked with them to the stands.

When they arrived, they took a seat next to Harmony, who congratulated them. "But it wasn't that tough a challenge," Rainbow pointed out. "I could've found our team in ten seconds flat!"

Twilight leaned towards Sunset and asked, "How's the team?"

"Yeah... about that..." Sunset said nervously.

"What?"

"Um... I'll tell you later. Meet me at my apartment after the trials."

"I thought you were staying at the dorm."

"Didn't see the point anymore now that I have my own place."

In the judges panel, a comm-stone was ringing, but it wasn't Celestia's. "Excuse me," said Creed, "I need to take this." He stepped away from the panel and answered when he reached the entrance to the platform. The caller's image came up. "Discord?"

"Surprised?" he replied. "I always thought you were the closest person to me aside from the Princesses and Team Harmony."

"Yes, well, I wasn't expecting your call. What is so important that you couldn't have just called my cellphone?"

"Well, I was doing some thinking about my magic. I think I know where the next jewel may appear." Creed's eyes shot open. "But before you celebrate, know that this is an educated guess. I may be right, I may be wrong, I may wish I was wrong-"

"Wait, what? Where do you think it will appear?"

"In the Royal Chantalot Garden."

Creed was speechless for a few seconds. "We're talking about the garden maze behind the royal castle and the Academy, right?"

"Of course not, silly you. I mean the one in the middle of the ocean. OF COURSE I MEAN THE ONE BEHIND THE CASTLE!"

Creed jumped at Discord's outburst. "Wow. I have never seen you this edgy before."

"Because three of the most dangerous items on the planet weren't being sought out by some unknown force before."

"Whoever they are, they can't be planning to do any good with it if they were willing to harm Cherilee in the way they did. How is she, anyway?"

"First of all, no one, good or bad, would ask about items that dangerous in the first place, mostly because they would be treated as suspicious or ignored for everyone's safety. Second, she's fine and awake... and apparently she wants to speak with you."

Cherilee's image appeared over the stone. Before Creed could ask how she was, she said, "I'm still in pain, but at least I'm alive. But I also have bad news. The man that attacked me said he was also doing some research on the Trinity Jewels. He didn't specify, but by the way he slammed me around like a ragdoll, I can take a guess on how bad it will be if he finds it. The books he took were limited edition; the only ones in the public library. All the others are in the Chantalot Archives, which he obviously can't access himself."

Creed scratched his chin in thought. "What of your own research?"

"It's back at my house."

"Okay. Just to be safe, I'll go with some guards to retrieve it. Whoever this is may decide to get a second opinion." She nodded and the image shifted back to Discord. "Have you heard from Spellbinder?"

"Yes. He said he had gone back to his lab to check the vines. Apparently, not all of them were magic, some were actual vines in the ground."

"Why would the attacker use two different entanglement spells?"

"Who knows. Maybe he was trying to confuse us. Or perhaps just to make sure Cherilee couldn't break free or phase through. Each one seems to make up for the other and he probably didn't know Cherilee if he had to take that precaution."

"Meaning he saw her as a threat?"

"Meaning he wanted to send a message. Probably something along the lines of, 'This is what happens when your weak ones get in my way. I'll leave the consequences of the strong to your imagination.' or something." He suddenly burst into laughter. "Sorry. I couldn't help it. The typical cocky bad guy line was just begging to be quoted." Creed was worried, because Discord might actually be right. "Anyway, SB said he'd get back to us when he gets anything."

"Okay then." He switched off the stone and headed back for the stands. He felt a presence behind him. "You? I thought you were still back at the Everfree Forest." He turned to face the man in a black cloak, with pitch black hair. "Forest life too rough for you, Bane?"

"Not at all, Creed," Bane replied. "In fact, it's quite peaceful."

"Then why are you here?"

"I just decided to visit the city. My Lady gave me some time off."

"Y'know, I'd love to meet this Lady of yours. She sounds interestingly mysterious."

"You are not worthy," Bane snapped. "But that isn't what I came here for."

"Were you eavesdropping?"

"No. I could never stoop so low and I couldn't care less about your problems. I just wanted to see how much you've changed in the last ten years... and I must say, you don't look a day over thirty... even if you are much older than that."

"You don't exactly put your real age on document, do you? Does you Lady even know how old you really are?"

"That is on a need to know basis, and she hasn't asked."

"But I see you're enjoying the lack of aging?"

Bane stretched his shoulders. "It is nice to enjoy being in my prime for as long as this."

"You do realize you are still very much mortal."

"Yes, but so are you. And unlike you I intend to do as much with it as possible." An alarm on his watch went off. He turned it off and said, "Well, I must be off."

"I'll be watching you." Creed said as Bane vanished in a plume of shadows. "Something is up with him," Creed thought out loud. "Perhaps I really should be keeping an eye on him. He isn't a typical Umbramancer."

Back in the dark, crystal meeting cave, Symbol Spell appeared from a gold rift that opened in the middle of a throne room. It was dark, lit up only by the glow of the light crystals. Statues of armors and beasts lined the walls. At the end of the room was a throne made of black steel with blood red crystals adorning the top of the backrest with a shadowy figure in armor and a royal red and white cape seated on it. Symbol approached and said, "My report, sir."

"You're early," said the figure, his voice echoed with growls. "I like that. Proceed."

"I was able to... retrieve some useful books from the library. She was nice enough to let me borrow them without even having a library card." The figure grinned at this. "After doing a little reading, I discovered that there is actually a fairly easier way to get the jewels than waiting for them to appear and then trap them in a containment field. It will save us time and resources and allow you to even accelerate your timetable as you see fit." Now, the figure's interest was piqued. He leaned forward as Symbol brought up a holographic diagram of the jewels, which were constantly switching places. "My deduction is that a powerful spatial distortion spell is causing the jewels to only be present in the physical plane for no longer than three seconds at a time, docking in subspace, with the addition of the randomizing effect which makes it harder to predict when and where they will appear next. However..." He snapped a finger and only two jewels were moving. "With a powerful enough magic jammer, we should be able to halt the process in at least one of the jewels when it appears. I've reconfigured my scanners to pick up on the magic ripple they produce when they appear. With one, we can find the rest."

"How?"

"The jewels cannot be tracked by magic or technology while in subspace, but each jewel can be used like a magnet or compass to predict where the other jewels will appear next and even give a fairly accurate timeframe of when it will appear."

The figure smiled. "Excellent work." Then, a green portal opened and Chrysalis stepped out.

"My Lord, I... oh... you're here," she said, spotting Symbol. "Anyway, I come with some good news. I was able to find the mine where the shadow crystals are located."

"And the bad news?" he growled.

"What? What bad news?" Chrysalis asked, feigning ignorance. The figure growled and she cracked. "Um, well, the problem is that the entrance to the mine is rigged. It doesn't allow Necromancers or Umbramancers or anything that has a dark magic presence to cross. Even my Changelings can't get through."

"Symbol?" The figure looked at the robed man.

"I suppose I could try," he said. "But I still need to finish a test I'm running in my lab for the magic jammer, and that could take another day or two. But the shadow gems should actually provide enough power for it for when it's completed." He looked at Chrysalis. "So lucky for you, we have a common interest in that mine. But what do you need those gems for?"

"None of your business," she snapped. "So will you do it or do I have to go hire some thugs to do it for me?"

"Come now, Chrysalis," he said, walking past her, "We all know you don't hire." He drew a rune in the air and a golden portal opened around him. He turned to her and said, "You seduce, mind-control, and manipulate," before vanishing in a flash of light.

"What are you planning to do with those crystals, Chrysalis? And I mean besides strengthening your drones."

Chrysalis froze. She turned to face her master. "Well, I was just hoping to help you."

"With what?" he growled.

"Well, um, after your... expulsion from the Crystal Empire, you were severely wounded." At this, the figure scratched a gray diamond-shaped gem on his forehead. "I believe these jewels can not only restore your magic, but also enhance it ten times over, at least! That is, in addition to repairing your arm and returning your physical form."

"Why would I want my physical form back?" he snarled, causing Chrysalis to jump back. "That weak form is the reason I'm missing my arm in the first place. It's the form that's missing an arm."

"What if I said the crystals could give your physical form the power of an archmage and extend that power to your shadow form?"

The figure leaned forward. "Then I would say you have done well. Come." Chrysalis approached his throne he pulled her onto his lap.

"OH!" she exclaimed, flustered. "Now, now my lord. Wouldn't want the others to walk in on us." He snapped his fingers and the crystals in the walls gloved a sinister shade of red as runes formed in them. "Ah. Lockout runes. I guess that could work." She kissed him deeply and pulled out suddenly. "I will always be yours," she wrapped her arms and legs around him, "Lord Sombra."

Day 1: Fight 1,2,3: Clashes and Washouts

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The arena was full of cheers and roars... and the occasional whistle from the male members of the audience. Amethyst entered the arena in a purple sleeveless crop top, black track bottoms, and white and purple sneakers, along with a pair of fingerless gloves with a purple heart-shaped adornment on the back. Her opponent stood opposite her in an orange shirt, brown khaki shorts, and barefoot. As they reached the center, the image of Celestia appeared between them.

"This will be one-on-one single combat. The time limit is thirty minutes. The fight will last until either the time runs out or one of you is unable to continue. Any questions?" Both shook their heads. "Then let the first fight, Amethyst Luster VS Savannah WIld... BEGIN!" They charged and clashed their fists as Celestia's projection vanished. The collision rocked the stadium and the shockwave could be felt all the way to the back of the stands. The sound of the clash was only matched by the cheers of the audience. They held on, each trying to overpower the other. Suddenly, Savannah released and kicked Amethyst away as she tumbled forward. Regaining her balance, she launched herself back at Savannah. Savannah sidestepped in time, but Amethyst swung her leg back for a sweep kick. It landed and Savannah began to fall, intercepted by the mighty punch Amethyst delivered, sending her back several feet. Savannah skidded to a halt on all fours.

"Oh. Starting off big, huh?" she asked, mockingly.

"Go big or go home," Amethyst replied. She punched the ground and the fissure made its way to Savannah. The latter hopped over the spiked rocks jutting out of the ground. She kicked forward off one of them and aimed to knee Amethyst in the face. Amethyst put up her hands, but Savannah feinted and slammed her other foot into Amethyst's chest. Amethyst doubled back and Savannah horse-kicked her again, sending her further back.

"Hope your not worried about your boob job," Savannah teased.

Amethyst grinned. "All natural, baby," she replied, jiggling her breast, warranting howls and whistles from the male audience... mostly. "Okay, let's get back to the real fight before this becomes a modelling or strip contest."

"Because you'll lose?"

"Because it'll be too easy." Savannah grinned and jumped at her again. This time, she was caught and flipped over by something long, purple, and silky. Savannah looked up to see Amethyst's hair, several feet longer, wiggling like vines.

"What?"

"Oh yeah. Turns out I'm really good at making magic hair potions. Now my hair is permanently silky smooth and flexible. Whadoyou think?" She whipped her hair at Savannah, who ducked under the hair blade and ran at her, again, dodging the barrage of hair tentacles trying to grab and punch her.

Meanwhile, in the stands, Sunset was worried. She and her team were sitting next to Harmony watching the fight. She was uneasy for two reasons. One was due to how disturbingly calm Digit was about her knowing his secret. The other thing was the constant feeling of someone calling her name or trying to get her attention. She kept looking around for where the feeling was coming from, but couldn't find anything. She needed to clear her head. "I'll be right back," she said as she got up and headed for the exit.

"You okay?" asked Twilight.

"Yeah," she replied. "Maybe it's the noise. Just need a minute." She walked over to the exit and leaned against the wall. "What's going on?" she asked herself. She kept looking around. "It feels like someone's trying to call me. Hello? Anyone there?" At that moment, there was a spark in the air in front of her. She jumped back and the sparking continued. "What the...?" The flashing became more and more frequent until it was as if electricity was arcing around an invisible sphere. Then, there was a bright flash and Sunset was surrounded by a swirling mass of orange and pink energy with a silver tint in it. She looked around for an exit and found none. She threw a bolt of energy at it, but it sparked off it. "WHAT'S GOING ON?!" she cried. "CAN'T ANYONE ELSE SEE THIS? OR AT LEAST HEAR IT?!"

"Nope. Just you."

Sunset jumped at the reply. "Wh-Who's there?"

"Long story, can't make it short. You're in danger. The entire team is in-" The voice started to crack.

"What? What do you mean? What are you saying?"

"No time... Danger... Be caref..."

"What?"

Then she saw an image materialize in front of her. It was like that of a young man in a long hooded cloak. She could see his yellow eyes glowing. "... Don't... trust... Di-" And it all stopped. The spiral of energy popped and all Sunset could hear was the noise from the arena and a mild ringing in her ear.

"Wha-?" She was still trying to understand what had happened. Now she had even more questions. Who shouldn't she trust? "Okay. Now I'm sure all that study on necromancy is driving me nuts." She made her way to the bathroom, hoping that splashing water on her face would clear here head.

Creed was getting worried. He had this constant nagging feeling that something wasn't right as he drove down to Cherilee's house in a nearby town ordering the city. He drove up to the drive way. Everything looked normal; houses, cars, flowers, trees, nothing out of the ordinary. His phone rang and he looked at it. It was an alert. "Oh? So there's one," he said to himself. He got out and walked over to the front door and realized he didn't have a key. Then he realized that Cherilee was a simple woman. He lightly moved the "WELCOME" mat over and saw a key under it. "People should really be a bit less predictable." He unlocked the door and noticed it, an odd feeling, like a second presence; someone had been in the house... or was still there. He walked in slowly, carefully looking through every entrance as he progressed, noting protection glyphs at every possible entrance to the house, doors and windows alike. The hallway was straight, but lined with doors that led to different parts of the house. He passed the closet, the basement, the kitchen, the living room, and finally made it to her study. He opened the door and was almost amazed by the rows and stacks and shelves of books that occupied the room... almost. He walked over to the desk and began gathering files. By the time he was done, he had a 40cm or so thick stack of books under his arm. "Now, for that reader." Cherilee had a special reader, like a mounted set of magnifying glasses, that allowed her to see fine print, hidden notes, etc in any document. it made it easier to find out when someone was trying to screw her over with any kind of written document... which almost actually happened. "Hmmm. It's not here."

He walked into the living room and dropped the stack onto the center table. He checked the cupboards and drawers on the TV stands and the tables, but found nothing. He was about to make his way to the kitchen when he heard a light thud come from upstairs. He teleported and stood in front of a much smaller hallway with only three door; probably one for the bathroom, one for the bedroom, and one for the storage. He walked slowly and saw that one of the doors was open. He peeked inside and was, oddly, not surprised. He saw a figure in a long white cloak with gold trim in the bedroom. He was holding a book under the reader and running his finger across the lines. "You know, it's not polite to spy one people," he said.

Creed stood at the door. "Nor is it polite to enter someone's house without permission."

"How do you know the owner didn't give me permission?"

"Because the door was locked, the house had a protective glyph on all the entrances, and you're being awfully quiet."

"I like quiet."

"Is that really it?"

"And how do you know the owner didn't give me access to the house?"

"Those glyphs were untouched, but the door was locked. So I'm guessing you used a spatial distortion spell to create a rift for you to travel through without the shield detecting and repelling you, or you used a temporal spell to create a time loop or suspend animation to trick the glyphs, both of which are highly complex spells, neither of which would be necessary if you had the proper authority. If you're wondering how I came to that conclusion, I felt an odd sensation as I walked through the door."

"Perceptive," the man said, putting down the book. "And how did you get in?"

"I had a key."

"Ah. So you know the resident of this abode?"

"Quite well, yes."

The man hummed. "So why are you here?"

"I was here to help her pick up a few things. Why are you here?"

"Just to pick up a few things," the man replied, patting the small stack of books on the table. He looked at his watch. "I must get going. I have an appointment to keep. I'd love to chat, but-"

"Oh, I'm in no hurry. How much time do you have?"

The man chuckled lightly. "More than you." He spun and shot a bolt of golden energy at Creed. He blocked with a shield, but was sent tumbling back into the wall of the hallway. He immediately compressed the force field into a ball and fired it at the man. The attack was blocked and the man teleported. Creed did the same and was now standing in the living room opposite the man, who was holiding a stack of books and the reader in a glowing golden aura. Creed immediately recognized it from Cherilee's description.

"You... You attacked her that night, didn't you?" he asked, anger building.

"Hm? Oh, the resident? Well, I needed to make sure she didn't put up a fight. Didn't want her making a scene when all I wanted was to borrow her books," the man relied, calmly.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Symbol Spell. Don't bother introducing yourself, Cypher Creed. I know all about you."

"Oh? And how's that?"

"I could tell you, but I think if would be more fun and less stressful to just do this." He flung another bolt of energy at Creed, who teleported behind him and kicked him.

"Espers are labelled as having to rely on magic. I'm one of the few that prefer to break that stereotype instead of embrace it."

Symbol turned and shot another blast, but Creed dodge and telekinetically levitated him and slammed him against the wall. "I admire that. But won't the owner be pretty mad when she returns to see her house in such a... scattered state?"

"She won't mind if it's this way if it's because I was dealing with an intruder." He slammed him against the ground and pinned him there. He engulfed the floating books and reader in his own bright silvery blue aura. "I'll be taking these back." He levitated a communication rune from his pocket and tried calling Spellbinder, but it went to record. "I know you must be busy, but if you're hearing this, get over to Cherilee's house now. Lock on the my stone and teleport. It should get you here immediately." Suddenly, Symbol slammed his hand on the ground and a bright golden rift opened and swallowed him. As the rift closed, Spellbinder appeared next to Creed.

"Whatever this is had better be important. I just left a-" He froze when saw the state of the room and the burn mark on the floor where the center of the portal was a second ago. "Oh... this does look important."

"I met him," Creed said, "The man who attacked Cherilee."

"Here?"

"He was trying to get a hold of these," he said, levitating the books and reader over to them. "Said his name was... Symbol Spell."

"Hm. Not a name I recognize. Necromancer?"

"No. His aura was bright and uncorrupted. He was a regular mage, but rather powerful."

"But you subdued him? But her escaped?"

"He used a dimensional rift spell, I'm not sure if it was spatial or temporal, to get into the house and used a portal string enough to break my telekinetic hold to escape."

Spellbinder thought for a while. "Well, you save the books, and the house... most of it, anyway. Looks like you handled things rather well. SO if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to my research. I left a vine under a floodlight and I don't want to risk doing anything to compromise the data." With that, he teleported.

"I should get these somewhere safe," Creed said. He left, locked the door and went over to his car. "I'll... deal with the damage later," he said to himself as he drove off.

Back in the arena, both Amethyst and Savannah were beginning to wear each other out. With only five minutes left, one of them had to either come up with a game-changer, or stall for time. Neither of them was planning for the latter. Amethyst had turned to massive amounts of her hair into giant fists and was trying to smash Savannah with them. "Stay still! You're making this more stressful for yourself." Savannah used her cat-like reflexes to dodge every slam, punch, and swing Amethyst had aimed at her. However, she missed a step and Amethyst caught her in her hair and held her suspended in mid-air. "Ready to give up?"

"Not even close. You?"

"Nope."

"Good." Savannah growled as her boners began to shift and crack. Fur grew over most of her body and her canines sharpened and grew and her nails became claws. Savannah was now a fairly large anthropomorphic hyena. With one swipe of her claws, the hair ripped and Savannah landed on all fours.

"Oh, no. You. Didn't." Amethyst was staring in horror at the cut ends of her hair. There was an "Uh oh," from the stands. "DO YOU REALIZE HOW MANY WEEKS I'VE GROOMED THIS?!" She stomped the ground and the entire ground shook.

Savannah smiled. "Now I get to see the Rough Gem I've heard so much about." She ran towards Amethyst on all fours. Amethyst screamed and let loose another barrage of hair fists. Savannah jumped and ducked under incoming attacks. As she got closer, Amethyst stomped the ground and flipped up a loose slab of rock. Savannah slammed into it, unprepared, and Amethyst followed up with a punch that shattered the rock and sent Savannah flying back. As the dust cleared, a rock flew past Amethyst's head. She saw Savannah holding a rock in each hand and another in her tail. She threw all three and Amethyst shatter each with a single punch, but was unprepared for the punch Savannah threw through the dust cloud. Savannah followed up with one punch to the stomach and another to the face that sent her to the ground. She picked her up and kicked her away. "Had enough?"

Amethyst spat as she got up. "Okay, that's it," Amethyst said. "Now, I need to end this." The Gaian marks on her arms began to glow and purple crystals began to form from them, armoring her lower arm in crystal.

"Agreed." Savannah roared and ran at Amethyst on all fours again, much faster than before. She scratched at Amethyst's armor, to no avail, sparks flying off with every contact. Finally, Amethyst caught Savannah's arm and flung her into the ground. The hyena-girl flipped Amethyst and jumped on top of her. Amethyst put up her hands as her opponent launched a barrage of punches at her, aiming for the face.

"Hey! First my hair, now my face?! This is my bread and butter!" She caught Savannah's hand with her hair and kicked her off. "Luckily, I didn't need Chrome's strategic style. Savannah gets me; no-holds-barred, straight up combat... my type of combat." She punched the ground. Crystal pillars began popping out of the ground around Savannah, trying to hit her. Her reflexes were heightened, letting her dodge without a problem... that is until she jumped and a crystal caught her in mid-jump. She got up and growled. Her fists were now coated in a brown aura.

"You're done now," she said as she sprinted towards Amethyst, who covered her fists in energy as well, the armor around her arms breaking and the shards spiraling around her hands. She ran to meet Savannah and the collision was more powerful than the first, this time making a small crater in the ground beneath them and pushing them back. They ran together and clashed fists again and again, picking up speed until all the crowd could see was purple and brown streaks clashing. The entire arena shook with the force of the clashing punches and the ground cracked under the pressure their feet were putting on it to keep their balance.

Finally, Amethyst broke off. She ducked under an incoming punch and slammed her fist into Savannah's side, causing her to shout. Savannah slammed her fists onto Amethyst's back. They pulled away from each other and put several meters of distance between them. "So... time's almost up. Wanna... call it... quits?" Amethyst said, breathing heavily.

Savannah's breathing was no better. "I will... if you will," she replied.

"Not happening. I'm taking this." Amethyst's armor turned to energy and moved over to her right fist, her marks still glowing. Savannah's hand had a similar glow, but in brown. "Time..."

"... To end this." They ran at each other, picking up speed as they went. Two massed of purple and brown energy were now speeding towards each other. The collision resulted in a blast that cracked the almost half the arena floor and kicked up more dust than a sandstorm. Once the dust settled, the two girls were visible, both returned to normal, both breathing heavily, Savannah now returned to her original form.

"So... wanna lay down?" Amethyst asked, exhausted.

"Nah," Savannah replied. "I think I'll wait for you." Both had the same idea and threw their other fists, locking them in another clash. There was only one other choice, and both of them wen for it. They reeled their heads back, then brought them forward. The sound was almost sickening as their heads connected. As they stood, using sheer willpower to stay up, a bell rang.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN," the voice of Celestia rang, "THE FIRST MATCH OF THE TRIALS... IS A TIE!" There was murmuring in the crowd, but it soon erupted into cheers. The two girls were still standing.

"So, can we both go down now?" Amethyst asked.

"Oh, yeah." And with that, both girls collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.

"Symbol Spell?" Celestia was chatting with Creed on her comm-stone and was running the name he had given though her head. "I have never heard of such a person."

"Neither have I," Creed replied. "But at least I was able to retrieve her Cherilee's research."

"That's good news. What do you plan to do with it?"

"For now? Keep it somewhere safe where no one will find it."

"As for Symbol Spell and whoever else he is working with?"

"Do you want my honest opinion, Princess?"

"You are wise, Creed. Go ahead."

"Trust. No one. As of right now, I suggest we stay on high alert. If this one was willing to try to steal this research in broad daylight, literally, then this is much more serious than we thought. For all we know, the enemy could be hiding in plain sight. Discuss this with no one; not the royals, not the senators, not the ministers, not your court, no one. This should remain between the ten of us."

Celestia thought for a while. "Agreed. Oh, and Creed?"

"Hm?"

"Pixel called. He's been acting up again."

"Which one?"

"She's only watching one. But the other is, as well."

"I'll keep an eye out." He turned off his stone. As he exited his car to enter the hospital Cherilee was in, an alert came in on his phone. He looked and his eyes widened. "What?" He wasn't sure how to feel. He brought out his comm-stone again, and contacted Celestia.

"Calling back already? Is something wrong?"

"I... I don't know." Celestia looked confused. "I did some research on the Lost Elements. I was able to task my cellphone to pick up on any sign of them; you can thank Crystal Empire scientists for the upgrade."

"And?"

"And... I got a ping." Celestia's eyes widened. "That was also my reaction. But it seemed to appear, then vanish. Perhaps either the signal is faint, or the wielder's power is faint."

"It is progress all the same," said Celestia. "Follow up. If we can find these Elements, we will have our cure before the plague. Which one appeared."

"That's the interesting part; two appeared: Bravery earlier today and Modesty just now."

"Interesting. The first fight just ended. Very well. I have noted two possibilities."

"I hope, for the world's sake, that our first guesses are right."

"THE SECOND BATTLE IS ABOUT TO COMMENCE. VINYL SCRATCH OF SYMPHONY VS PYRO MANIC OF THE XPLOSIONS." The two contestants stepped out. "BEGIN!" It didn't last long. Pyro threw fireball after fireball. No one had ever seen Vinyl as an acrobatic student, but dancing to her music seems to count as evasive maneuvers. She dodged every attack with expert precision.

Once Pyro was tired out, she grinned. "My turn," she said. She threw her hands up and projected a series of discs around Pyro. "Wall. Of. Sound." She snapped her fingers and a deafening sound was heard throughout the arena. Pyro held his head as the sound waves fired from the discs assaulted him. He went down on his knees, then laid down flat. Vinyl ended the assault.

"Yield! Yield!" he said, holding his ears. Somewhere in the stands, his team leader, Cherry Bomb, was face-palming.

The final fight was supposed to be Descent against Mirage, but the girl was, for some reason, too scared to leave her locker room. So Descent won by default.

"Hm. That was... interesting," Celestia said as Descent left the field.

"The day was much shorter than I thought," said Cadence.

"Agreed. Maybe things will liven up by day two. THAT CONCLUDES THE FIRST DAY OF THE TRIALS! THANK YOU, TO BOTH THE CONTESTANTS AND THE AUDIENCE. NOW GO HOME AND REST UP. TOMORROW WILL BE A DAY FOR YOU TO REST AND PREPARE FOR THE NEXT CHALLENGE, WHICH WILL BE THE FOLLOWING DAY."

That night, Team Sparks celebrated the best they could. Nox volunteered to stay with Amethyst in the infirmary until she recovered. Trixie joined in only so she could annoy the life out of Amethyst. Digit and Zest went out on the town. Sunset decided to stay with Harmony at Fluttershy's place.

"Cupcakes are ready," came a voice from the kitchen. A tray of cupcakes came out of the kitchen as if it were floating on its own. Twilight levitated the tray to the middle of the room to reveal a purple dragon with green spikes and emerald green eyes wearing a white chef hat and apron.

"Thanks, Spike," said Twilight, followed by the others. "Aren't you going to join us?"

"Nah," he said, turning back towards the kitchen. "There's a jewel cake in my head that isn't going to make, bake, or eat itself." The girls laughed as he went back in.

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked, noticing Sunset's mood and that she hadn't touched her cake. "You know, you can go stay with your teammates. I'm pretty sure Amethyst would love the company."

"No, no. I'm fine," Sunset replied. "I just... saw something."

"Huh? When?" asked Rainbow.

"When I left to get some air. I don't know what it was or what it meant, but it was... weird."

"How weird?" asked Pinkie. "Are we talking Twilight Zone weird, or Gravity Falls weird?"

"I... don't quite get those references... but it was really confusing."

"Well, come on, girl," Applejack said, "Spill it."

"There's no need to be so cryptic," Rarity added. All the girls now paid attention to Sunset as she explained the swirl of energy, the voice, and the figure.

"So..." Pinkie said, "A Twilight Falls or Gravity Zone kind of weird."

"I still don't get those references," Sunset said.

"Or why my name is in one of them," Twilight added. "But that is strange. Based on your description, it could be only one of two things."

"Shoot."

"Either it was all an illusion and someone is playing a prank on you."

"Unlikely. This felt way too real to be a prank and if it was, it was a very expensive one. What's the other option?"

"Highly unlikely."

"Discord turning over a new leaf sounded unlikely about a year ago too, didn't it."

"She's got a point," said Fluttershy.

"Well," Twilight continued, "The second theory is that someone is using a quantum flux spatial bridge while trapped in another dimension and what you saw was their attempt to communicate or cross over to this dimension."

"Is there anyway to tell what dimension?"

Twilight looked surprised. "You're seriously entertaining this?"

"It just seems more likely."

Twilight groaned. "No. There isn't a way to tell what dimension it's coming form unless a rift opens and we can see into it to get a view of the area. Why would you even consider this?" Sunset took a deep breath and told them what she had seen go on with Digit a while ago. "Interesting. A self-separation condition. How?"

"No idea. But if that's possible, what's so crazy about interdimensional travel?"

"I... touché," Twilight said.

Then, she felt it again. "There it is," said Sunset.

"What?" asked Rainbow.

"That feeling I got before the whole... thing." The she saw it: the sparks. But this time, they were somewhat bigger... and more violent. "Oh boy." Finally came the eruption. The ring of energy appeared in front of them, but this time it was pink and blue and looked more like flames. It grew brighter and brighter until it finally exploded, sending the girls flying back.

"What's going on?" Spike asked from the kitchen. He saw the mess and the girls struggling to get up. "Twilight! What happened?" He ran over to help them up.

There was a groan. The girls looked around and realized it didn't come from any of them. They looked at the smoking center of the room as a figure emerged. It was blue with pink spines running from its head to the base of its tail and glowing pink eyes. The tip of the tail had a heart-shaped point and the spikes on its head were arched forward."Um..." The girls were all speechless.

"Well, that took forever," she said, sitting up. She groaned again. "Wish the trip was a bit smoother. Might as well've just strapped me to a meteor an sent me in from the straro-". She paused and looked around the unfamiliar room. Then she spotted the girls and the dragon. "Oh... well... this is awkward."

"Ya think?" Rainbow commented.

Creed was resting his head on his desk back in his study at home. He had been trying to figure out who this Symbol Spell was and why he had gotten the pings when he did. His day was about to get a lot more interesting when he got another ping. He looked at his phone. On it was the image of a red hexagonal gem with an unidentifiable mark etched into it. Below it was one word: BRAVERY. There was a faint glow around the gem. "So where's the rest it?"

Mages of Etheria: The Infinity Matrix

by Nova Arc

First Day, New Beginnings

Little Things

Not All Rainbows Lead to a Pot of Gold

Advanced Training: Endurance

Data Page: Team Symphony

New Kid on the Block

Confrontation

The Next Stage

The Buid-Up

Mages of Etheria Q&A: Whatcha Wanna Know?!

Mages of Etheria Q&A: ... Answers?

Day 1: Trial 1

Day 1: Fight 1,2,3: Clashes and Washouts

To The Readers...