//------------------------------// // From the Ground Up; School's in Session! // Story: What Lies Within // by Rebellious_Requiem //------------------------------// Onyx groaned quietly as he rolled his shoulder and neck; his stiff joints making disturbingly audible popping noises, much to his dismay. Ugh. I was a lot more okay with coming in today to teach those girls when I made the offer, but the increase in bizarre noises and weird dreams I'm dealing with are making it way harder to get any good sleep, he thought while checking to make sure the shop's signs were all left in the "Closed" positions and the front entrance was locked up nice and tight so no one would try to come in asking for his help on a non-business day. Some people just really didn't like reading the "Business Hours" sign. It was right there! The owner of the local card store "One/Two Shuffle!!," -- Onyx's boss -- had agreed long ago to his request to use the store's back room as a makeshift card game classroom of sorts to use on Sundays or as needed, since it only operated as a business from Monday through Friday and opened itself as a local hangout/venue on Saturdays. Due to its multipurpose nature, there were always extra tables and and other kinds of equipment related to tabletop gaming stored in the back for a variety of occasions. Onyx glanced at the wall-mounted digital clock. 11:45 a.m. They either lost interest or just decided to sleep in. I can respect that. Kind of wish I'd gone with noon, now that I'm thinking about it. He went into the back room and set up a table and a chair for his own use -- but made sure it was big enough to put additional chairs around it if the need arose. Pulling the box containing his Duel Monsters Deck out of his backpack, Onyx laid the cards out on the table with the intention to review his last few Duels and make adjustments based on his performance -- but was stopped abruptly when he heard a rapid series of knocks on the door leading to the alley behind the shop. "Yo! You in there, weird guy?" "Rainbow Dash! You cannot just simply refer to him as 'weird guy' -- it's very rude!" "Yeah; well -- so's your face, Rarity!" came the first voice's snappy retort. An audible gasp and a huff. "Very mature." Another series of knocks, much more subdued that the first sounded out. "Onyx?" Now there was a voice the man in question found more familiar. The one with the fiery hair. "Didn't skip out on us, did you?" "Nope; I'll be right there!" Onyx called out. He grunted as he rose from his seat and rubbed at his eyes in an attempt to wake himself up a bit. Can't be looking like a wreck in front of my new "students"; bad first impressions never go over well in the long run. It sounds like they brought some friends along, too -- going to have to adjust for that a bit. As he opened the door, an almost alarming number of teenage girls piled into the room one after another. The two that Onyx had only heard behind the door were still bickering about "proper manners" and the like, while the two he had met at the park were whispering amongst themselves and to a new person -- this girl sporting a seemingly out-of-place, but oddly fitting Stetson hat -- in a somewhat conspiratorial tone. The final two girls seemed like polar opposites; one excitedly checking out the room in a blur of color and motion while the other appeared just about ready to fold in on herself and pop out of existence at any given moment. Onyx took a moment to closely consider the girls in front of him since they seemed more preoccupied with each other than himself at the moment. The girl with the blazing hair wore an outfit similar to the one she had worn at the park: a simple, casual set adorned with the same leather jacket she had worn before. The slight wear and tear of the material indicated she wore it often. The other girl he had met in the park -- the one with the dark blue hair streaked with pink and purple -- adjusted her glasses as her eyes met his. She half-smiled a little nervously before going back to her hushed conversation. She wore a more formal outfit: a short-sleeve buttoned shirt and a pleated skirt. It gave a professional and well-composed sort of feel to her appearance; in contrast to her expressive face and mannerisms. Eastwood kept stealing glances at him as Onyx eyed the group. Onyx could only guess by the logo embroidered on her clothing that she worked for that local apple orchard farm... thing he heard so much about. He had yet to try any of their products, as apples weren't really his thing -- something he was gradually regretting. Her muscles were toned and her skin was tanned from doing hard, manual labor out in the sun. Ony didn't like the way she kept regarding him as if he'd done something wrong. The fourth girl he recognized as the one who had called him "weird guy." That didn't bode well. Did the other two girls describe him as being weird? A sort of mild offense flared up in his mind, but he quickly banished it as to not betray any kind of unpleasant expression. This one seemed more athletic than the others; wearing a jogging hoodie and shorts. Onyx's attention was drawn more to her hair than the rest of her, though. A mess of windswept, multicolored hair sat atop her head in a way that screamed "check me out, I'm so cool!" It worked for her, though -- made her stand out in the crowd right away. The one arguing with the rainbow-haired girl had a high-class air to her that Onyx couldn't quite explain. Perhaps it was the way her perfectly-coiffed wavy hair seemed to shine or the obvious quality of her designer clothing, but something definitely suggested she was very into trends and fashion. Onyx debated whether or not this snarky in-his-head commentary was necessary in this situation, and eventually decided that it totally was. Her filed and manicured nails unnerved Onyx in a way he couldn't understand. Perhaps it was the way the pointed nails seemed like sharp little knives on the ends of her fingers? He shook his head and decided not to think about that any longer. The super uncomfortable-looking young woman just kept herself occupied by twirling a finger through her long, pink hair. She made absolutely sure that she was looking at anything but Onyx at all times -- teal eyes darting around the room to make sure there was not so much as a second of accidental eye contact. Onyx couldn't quite understand why she was there if she was this bad around strangers, but resolved to leave the direct contact with her to her friends. He didn't want to make her even more uncomfortable than she already was. As for the final girl -- oh. She was directly in front of Onyx's face. He didn't really know what to do about that, so he just kind of stared at her for a few seconds. "Hiya! What'cha looking at?" she asked cheerfully. Her poofy pink hair bounced with her movements and Onyx was oddly compelled to follow one particular curly strand, as it seemed to keep its shape no matter what the energetic girl did. "Uh. Right now... I'm staring at you, I guess?" Onyx replied, taking a tentative step back. "My bad." "That's okay! I was staring at you, too; so that makes us even! I think. Anyway, my name is Pinkie Pie! What's yours?" Onyx cleared his throat; caught a little off-guard by Pinkie's high energy. "I'm Onyx. Technically my full name is 'Ashen Onyx,' but I used to know someone named 'Ashy Skies' so I've gone by just Onyx for quite a few years now out of habit. Helped avoid confusion back then, and it just sort of... stuck." "Okay; Onyx it is! Ooh -- unless I can call you Ashie?" "I feel like that would be kind of confusing, Pinkie," chimed in the athletic rainbow girl. "You already call me 'Dashie' and those are pretty much the same." "Aw; you're right! I'll stick with Onyx for now, then. It's nice to meet you!" Pinkie exclaimed, grabbing Onyx's hand and giving it a thorough and intense shaking. Onyx swore he could hear -- and feel -- his brain rattling around in his head like a loose marble. "N-Nice to meet you, too, Pinkie Pie," he managed to get out through his newfound dizziness. "Quite a handshake you've got there." "Thanks; I practiced in front of the mirror this morning!" A beat passed in complete silence. "What?" "Okay, okay; enough about her!" the rainbow girl spoke up again. She slid swiftly in front of Pinkie Pie and pushed her lightly back and out of the way. "Lots of introductions to get through and not enough time for your... randomness." She turned and struck a confident pose, her chest puffed out and her grin wide. "My name is Rainbow Dash. Try to keep up, 'weird guy' Onyx!" she continued, turning to stick her tongue out at the offended fashionista. Onyx shook his head slowly, but smiled all the same. "I'll do my best, 'loud girl' Rainbow Dash." "Hey! Pinkie Pie is way louder than I am!" Rainbow Dash protested, rather loudly for someone who apparently wasn't very loud. "Whatever you say, Rainbow." The farmhand actually chuckled at this -- much to Onyx's relief -- and stepped up next. Onyx noticed her emerald green eyes held much less suspicion than they had previously... but it was still present. "Not bad; Dash here needs people around to keep her in check and indulge her little back 'n' forths from time to time. Name's Applejack," she said, giving a little tip of the brim of her hat. "'s a pleasure to meet you, partner." "You too, Applejack! I was worried you didn't like me for a minute there," Onyx admitted, unable to contain the small bout of nervous laughter that had bubbled up inside of him. "Well; I haven't known you long enough to have any sort of real opinion on you. You're okay in my book for now, but just know I am a little wary of you. Nothin' personal." Applejack shrugged. "Just lookin' out for my own, is all." Onyx nodded slowly in understanding. "I get it; makes sense. I'll try to stay in your good graces, then." "I'd appreciate that. Alright; who's next?" "I'll accept that invitation, Applejack. Wouldn't want to keep our gracious host waiting much longer, non?" the stylish girl asked. "Dear Onyx, allow me to introduce myself. I am Rarity, an up-and-coming fashion designer -- who will one day rise up and take the world by storm!" she announced proudly, before deftly handing Onyx a small, yet practical and modern-looking business card. "I can tell you seem to be fond of the 'dark and mysterious' look, but perhaps drop by sometime and allow me to fix up something a tad nicer for you to wear?" Onyx frowned down at his choice of clothing for the day. "What's wrong with a tee shirt and jeans?" Sure, the colors were a bit dark, but he loved this outfit! Granted, it wasn't exactly exciting to look at, but it suited him just fine -- or so he thought, at least. "It's just so drab, darling! Don't get me wrong, it's not awful, per se -- but you lack the proper accessories to make anything about your appearance pop, and when you're wearing such a dark color palette, all of.. well, to be blunt, all of you just sort of fades away into the shadows. It's most unfortunate." Onyx blinked. He tried to process what she was saying, but he ended up more confused than anything else. "I don't really get fashion." "You don't have to; that's why I'm here! We can discuss this another time, though -- I can actually feel Applejack and Rainbow Dash's disapproval growing as we speak," Rarity said as she turned to the two in question. "What ever is the problem? I'm just giving him some advice, is all." "Let the dude wear what he wants, Rare." "I'm gonna have to agree with Dash on this one here, Rarity. Leave 'im be." "But -- " Rarity began to protest. Onyx glanced at the image on the rear side of the business card, recognizing it after a brief tussle with his memory of the surrounding area. "Huh. I know this place. It's actually pretty highly praised -- good quality clothing and accessories all around. I'll think about stopping by... but only if the stuff you have in mind's not too expensive. This place doesn't pay that well." Rarity blinked. "Of course! I'll get to sketching some ideas right when I return home!" she cried out giddily, actually squeeing in delight. After a moment she stopped to collect herself and cleared her throat in a graceful and elegant manner. "If you really want me to, that is." And here I was thinking she was going to be a handful. "Of course, my lady," Onyx replied with an intentionally cheesy and over the top bow; received about as expected by a chorus of groans and a single amused giggle. "So who's up next? We're almost through the whole class." As Onyx spoke to the other girls -- plenty distracted by their unexpected but not unwelcome presence -- Sunset Shimmer's keen eyes wandered over to the table where his Deck lay unprotected. She was gripped by a sudden idea. She eased slowly over to the table as to avoid rousing any suspicion; and sure enough the card she had been looking for was left out in plain view: Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon. She glanced quickly over in Twilight's direction, and as their eyes met for a fleeting moment they nodded in unison. Sunset reached her hand out slowly until it was placed firmly over the card. A brief twinge of pain suddenly shot through her head and she recoiled from the card, careful not to make too much noise. Almost immediately after she removed her hand from the innocent-looking slip of cardboard the pain ceased entirely. Sunset's eyes shot toward Twilight again, greatly alarmed; and the other girl looked just as bothered -- apparently having noticed Sunset's reaction. There is definitely something strange going on here. Probably magical. It's almost always magical. Sunset bit her lip and glanced anxiously at the card again. She reached for it again in an effort to provoke the same reaction. As Sunset's hand reached the artwork of the armored dragon she was filled with a strange sense of fear. A low, threatening growl sounded in her ears. Sunset pulled her hand back once more and walked away from the table as quickly as she could without looking like she was about to freak out. She was totally about to freak out. "I'll go next!" the fiery girl volunteered quickly. She looked a bit frazzled and her voice held a certain edge to it. "My name is Sunset Shimmer. We met a few days ago, but I didn't really introduce myself back then. It's nice to meet you in a more official sense, Onyx." Must have had something on her mind. "You as well, Sunset. Honestly; I didn't expect you to bring quite so many friends along with you when you showed up. How did you manage to convince all of them to spend their precious Sunday with some random stranger learning how to play a nerdy card game?" "Well, we may not look it at first glance, but we're all very well-versed in the fantasy genre. It wasn't too difficult to convince them when I mentioned magic and monsters were involved," Sunset offered with a grin; technically telling Onyx the whole, honest truth. Sort of. "Plus, Rainbow Dash watched one of the cell phone recordings of your Duel with Buster online and she said... what was it, Rainbow?" "That your dragon thing was the bomb! I mean, did you see it?! I mean; of course you saw it, Onyx. But it was all like fwoom and then bzzt and then -- and then -- " Rainbow recounted, doing her best impression of Onyx's Dark Rebellion with all the enthusiasm her wildly flailing arms could muster. " -- and then it was all like 'GROOOAAHHH' and fwing and it blew up all those other dragons and then hit Buster's weak point for massive damage!" Pinkie Pie finished with a wide sweeping motion, picking up right where Rainbow Dash had trailed off. "It was so cool! It looked like such a fun game! You get to blow stuff up almost every single turn!" Sunset nodded her head toward the other two. "Those two were the easiest to convince." "That's fair. The -- admittedly kind of weird -- advanced hologram technology is certainly a solid eye-catch for most new players, if nothing more." Onyx sighed as he remembered the old days where playing on a table on a custom mat in an overly crowded room was the coolest playing his favorite card game ever got. "I'm glad to hear it. Alright; two left, right? Or, uh, just one?" he asked, glancing over at the lone girl in the corner. Glasses Girl spoke up next: "I'll go. My name is Twilight Sparkle. I'm sorry about that, by the way; it's not that she's specifically trying to avoid you or anything. Fluttershy just isn't very good with meeting new people. She's very..." "Shy?" Onyx offered with a shrug. Twilight nodded. "She should be able introduce herself to you when she gets a bit more comfortable around you. I'm also sorry we didn't contact you in advance about bringing all these extra people along with us. We're a very close-knit group, you see; so we do almost everything together these days. It's not going to be a problem or anything, is it?" "I don't think so; no. I'm pretty sure this is a 'the more the merrier!' kind of deal. Except the smallish space thing, I guess? Would have probably tried to clean this place up a bit better to provide a little extra leg room if I'd known we'd be eight instead of three," Onyx replied, frowning at all the cluttered floor space he could probably have been putting to good use if he'd been more thorough. Maybe he'd give it a shot when he was feeling better -- less exhausted. Applejack pulled a chair up to a larger circle-shaped table set out in the middle of the room and sat down. "I'm sure it'll be just fine, considerin' we're only gonna be playin' a game o' cards. None o' them fancy-schmancy holo-whatsits like in the videos, right?" Onyx nodded. "Those only appear if you play the game with a 'Duel Disk' -- the peripheral I was wearing on my wrist in those same videos; and those are a bit too expensive for me to just hand out to practice with. One of those things you'll only buy if and or when you decide you'd like to make a fairly substantial commitment to the game." Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes at him. "How substantial?" "... Fairly." "So basically: they're really expensive. Darn! I was totally going to get one. Maybe when I save up some extra spending cash," Rainbow sighed as she sat down next to Applejack. "So are we going to learn anything soon, or is this whole 'class' of yours just going to be a bunch of introductions?" "Huh, well I'll be." Applejack shook her head solemnly. "Rainbow Dash: actually excited to learn something. Never thought I'd see the day." "Hey! I was excited to learn how to play the guitar!" "Speaking of learning," Twilight interrupted as she joined her sitting friends, pulling an alarming variety of items from her bag considering its modest size -- including multiple calculators; several small notepads, pens, and pencils; what appeared to be some sort of actual written report; among other things -- and placing them on the table between them. "After a bit of prior research, I decided to bring along anything I thought might be helpful in learning the exact ins and outs of Duel Monsters. I'll be sure to take lots of notes! I already read up on the basic rules and reviewed Onyx's Duel with Buster a handful of times, but it can never hurt to have too many resources to pull data from!" The rest of the room turned to stare at her in silence. She coughed nervously and smiled. Onyx shook his head slowly. "At this point; you might already make a better teacher than me. I'll do my best to live up to your expectations, I guess?" "That'd be great!" "Alright; everyone else who's interested take your seats around me -- except you, Fluttershy. You can sit wherever you want. Just be careful not to break anything. I'd rather not get fired. I kind of like this place," Onyx announced. The rest of the girls complied and sat around the central table -- a few of them even grabbed some of Twilight's "study tools" -- and looked expectantly to him. Onyx cleared his throat and tried his best to sound like he knew what he was talking about. "Now; it sounds like most of you have already seen a real Duel in action, but I should probably start with the most basic of basics to make sure we don't miss anything important. First off: the three major types of cards..." "Okay, Rare; since you're wide open -- I can have my monster attack you directly for game!" Rainbow Dash declared as she tapped her Monster Card soundly on the playing mat that had been positioned closer to Rarity, who huffed and crossed her arms as she checked the math and discovered that Rainbow Dash had indeed wiped out the remainder of her Life Points. "That's no fair! You already practiced against Applejack, and I was still figuring out how to properly follow the rules!" she whined -- or, complained, as it were -- as she picked up her cards. "I demand a rematch!" Rainbow only laughed boisterously at Rarity's determination. "To be fair: you already practiced against Twilight. But you really want a rematch, huh? Fine; I accept! Try as hard as you want, you won't ever take me down!" "We'll see about that!" "Don't forget to have fun, you two," Onyx reiterated from his position leaned against the wall. "Can't tell you how many times I've forgotten to do that, myself. It's always nice to win, but it shouldn't be the most important thing. Not all the time, at least." "Yes, sir!" Rainbow Dash called back with a quick two-fingered salute. "He told you to stop calling him that, Rainbow," Rarity pointed out as she idly -- and a tad awkwardly -- shuffled her own practice Deck. "And I decided to ignore him! So there!" "I call winner!" Pinkie shouted as she bounced over to Rainbow Dash's side to peek at her cards while she played. "You're on!" Onyx smiled and relaxed against the flat surface behind him. He was glad to see that some of the girls had taken to the game in a pretty astonishing way, and were more than excited to throw down against each other in order to get the hang of things quicker. Fluttershy had even come out of her "designated anxiety corner" and joined the rest of her friends at the circular table; looking substantially more comfortable than she had earlier. Twilight, studious as she was, continued to make note of every single little interaction the cards had with each other on the board -- no matter how simple they seemed. "Something the matter?" Sunset asked -- causing Onyx to jolt a little -- as she leaned against the wall beside him with her arms folded across her chest. Onyx turned to face her, puzzled. "Not really. Why?" Sunset shrugged and looked back at her friends as they enjoyed their newfound activity. "Your eyes. I didn't notice it until a few minutes ago, but they're different from when I first met you. They're more... tired than they were that day. That, and you totally have bags under them. Not sleeping well lately?" "... Not really; no," Onyx admitted. "I've been having weird dreams and hearing strange noises at night. I think I'm spending too much time cooped up at home or in this place, as of late. Either that; or I'm literally going insane. I'm trying to be optimistic and assuming it's the former." "Dreams and... noises?" Sunset asked, interest piqued. Onyx sighed. "Yeah. Nightmares -- or just the one, actually -- about the same thing again and again. I always remember seeing everything before while it's happening, but the details get all fuzzy once I wake up. Stupid, right?" "I wouldn't say that. I used to have nightmares, myself. We've all been there." Sunset glanced at a pile of cards separate from the practice Decks the girls had been issued as part of their "schooling" -- suspicions aroused anew. "What about those sounds?" she asked. Onyx paused for a few seconds. "Sometimes it sounds like something's growling at me; like a wild, rabid dog. Sometimes it's little whispers in my ears. I think they're trying to tell me... to get on a healthier sleep schedule," he joked, smiling at Sunset despite the fact that it honestly seemed to be a problem for him. "That's... worrying. Are you sure you're okay?" "Yeah; I'm sure. Sorry, you know, I didn't mean to bother you with any of that." Onyx pushed off of the wall and shrugged. "You're just very easy to talk to, I suppose. We should get back to the group and see how they're doing," he continued -- eager to change the topic of conversation as soon as possible. Sunset looked after him with a frown as Onyx quickly strode his way over to the other girls surrounding the table with a big, cheerful grin on his face. Her eyes wandered once again to the card that had been on her mind for quite some time; now sure exactly why it had managed to impact her so. I should tell the others about this, she decided. We can talk about what we want to do about it from there. I just hope this doesn't get too out of hand... I'd rather get to know everything I can about this before someone ends up hurt.