//------------------------------// // 1 - The Place Promised // Story: Bat's Academy // by Meep the Changeling //------------------------------// Sherbert - 4th of Solar Dusk, 25 AE Uneigh Ward, Neighdo - Neighpone I loved this spot. A little patch of concrete sidewalk just in front of the airfield in Uneigh. I’d stood here yesterday too when I’d first gotten off the airship. I hadn’t gotten time to appreciate the view here. There’s a lot to do right after you arrive in a foreign country and you’re staying there for the rest of High School. Particularly when you’re not staying with a host family, or at a boarding school, but you know, at a dojo. Mom held a manila office folder stuffed full of papers, out to me with her left hoof. “From what I can tell,” she began, “everything you need to have is in here. The top sheet of paper is your checklist, everything else is permits, identification papers, medical records, certificates, everything. Don’t lose any of it. Buy a safe the moment you can go to a store.” “I won’t lose it. And I’ll get one,” I promised as I opened the folder to look at the checklist. “Okay… Get off the airship, immediately find Exchange Program Agent, whatever their name is, give them the top form, they take me to a hotel. Then there’s the orientation meeting thing for… Hours, ugh… And it just explains everything on this list again. Then I have to get this bank to set up an overseas account so you and dad can send me my monthly budget…” I frowned and looked up. “I won’t get to the dojo until the second day at this rate. Why isn't someone from Hikō-ba meeting me there?” I asked with a worried frown. Mom sighed and brushed a lock of her purple mane out of her eyes with a wingtip. “Tradition. While I did get to arrange for you to attend the fall and winter semester there, and they do allow students to live at the dojo, you have to go to them. It’s part of the martial arts tradition. The Disciple must come to the Dojo in search of a Master. They were very adamant on that,” she explained giving me an apologetic frown. “You’ll have to find it yourself, give them your ID, and then you’ll be shown to your room. “Oh! Because you’re not staying with a family or in a state owned dormitory you’ll have a special agent you’ll need to check in with occasionally. You’ll get to meet them at the airfield.” I snickered, and shook my head. Yep. I did meet my supervisor at the airport. The stallion didn’t give a damn what I did. I’d been so worried that I’d have somepony always keeping tabs on me. Nope. Rei made it clear that as long as I didn’t die or get in legal trouble, all he wanted me to do was come to his office once a week and fill out some paperwork so he could prove I was alive and well. Pretty ironic that a guy whose name means ‘my shepherd’ in Equish and works as a special agent who makes sure young ponies are safe and sound, doesn't give a buck about his job minding young ponies. But that was good for me! It meant I got to come back here and look out at Uneigh again. From this spot on the sidewalk, I could turn my head to the left and see the whole of Neighdo stretching out down below me. Some of the gleaming glass skyscrapers reached as high up as the mountainside this district was built on, most didn’t. Neighdo was built on the eastern side of the mountain, and shaped in a really cool way so that the skyscrapers and other buildings formed an artificial extension of the mountainside. While the airship was landing, I’d gotten to see the skyline silhouetted against the evening sun. I’d thought they had carved the towers out of the mountain itself for a few minutes. Everything formed a seemingly natural slope down to the beach. If I were a pegasus instead of a unicorn, I would totally be flying just for the view right now. But a pegasi caught up in how pretty the gleaming modern city to the left was would have missed out on what made this spot special. I could turn my head to the right and see old Neighdo. Ancient temples with curved tiled roofs, held aloft by thick pillars painted bright red and decorated with gold. All scattered through a heavily forested area which had tunnels cut through the trees for streets, and only enough space for buildings cleared from the ancient forest. It looked like something out of an Oubliette’s and Ogar’s setting; a place where only the most mystical and powerful of arcane people's lived. Except for some hints of more modern things, that is. The occasional brick building poking through the wall-like trees. Power lines for both electricity and thaumaturgic current running overhead. Each modern device cleverly decorated to give it the same charm as the ancient structures. This was an ancient place people still lived in. You could see where new things were added to the old as new things had been invented. Unlike in Equestria, the Neighponese had not locked themselves to traditional ways, they’d embraced change while still respecting their past. You’d have never seen anything like this in Equestria a mere thirty years ago. Heck, we were barely here now! Not that we really needed to be. Equestrian magic had been more than enough to do everything tech could… At least until the beginning of the Era of Harmony. The ancient buildings and elegantly designed additions were like a painting of what Equestria could have been like if the Cultural Preservation movement hadn’t happened at the beginning of the Solar Era. And it was right here! Right beside a super-modern glass and steel extension of this very city! I could turn my head and see the beloved past, then the promise of a glorious future, all from one spot. So cool! Like a poster for some fantasy novel. I couldn’t help but smile and look at the divide between the old and the new for a few minutes. It was like somepony had picked up Ponyville and stuck it next to Manehatten. I could see lots of local ponies giving me dirty looks as I just stood there like an idiot, but I didn’t care. I’d never got to see this before. It was cool. They could deal with one Equestrian tourist for a few minutes. Sadly it could only be a few minutes. I had a lot to do today. School started on the twelfth, it was the fourth. The program gave everypony eight days to get used to the district their home and school was in, learn how to get around, where the places to shop, eat, and everything was, and then boom! School. Hard school. Probably harder school than I ever wanted to attend. But that’s fine. I’m a poor student but I can maintain a B average without too much effort. That’s all I needed to stay in the country. The real hard work would be training. I was here for martial arts, not school. Five years of long hard training and I’d get to go back home to Equestria as a real mare. A pony who could kick flank if needed, protect everypony she cared about, and hopefully not stay single forever. I frowned, ears drooping slightly. That would take a LOT of work… I wasn't exactly the most confident pony. I’d been psyching myself up to be able to go through with this for the last five years. That’s why I had to remake myself. Thank Luna mom and dad agreed to let me come here and do it. I don’t think I could change while they watched me. Too much pressure to be great like them. Not from them. From me. At least I could admit that I was the problem… Time to fix that. I turned around and reached into my left saddlebag, taking out the paperwork folder mom had given me the day before I left. I took the map out of the folder, and carefully put the folder back into my bag. I’d only got to stay at the hotel for one night. Everything I had in the world was in my saddlebags right now. Not an ideal situation… I had to find Hikō-ba no jimu super quick. Buying a safe would have to come after I knew where I was sleeping tonight. Even if the rumors about pickpockets here weren't true, it’s dumb to carry everything you own around on you in a city so big that you could fit three Manehattens or two Trottinghams inside it. I unfolded the map, assuming it wouldn’t be much bigger than two standard sheets of paper. I was wrong. There was more to unfold. And then more… And yet more. “Okay…” I mumbled to myself, only a little worried. I mean, sure, the map itself was big. But it was a big city, right? They definitely just needed space to make sure all the writing was clear. My eyes widened in horror as I looked at the incomprehensible tangle of squiggly lines, orderly grids, and little rectangles which formed the map itself. Map nothing, this was more of a fancy modern art painting. The kind that looks like some foal randomly spilled paint! Thank Luna I’d learned to read and write Neighponese three years ago, otherwise, I doubt I could read the itty bitty print! I squinted at the kanji, turning the map this way and that as I tried to find anything I recognized at all. Forget the dojo! I couldn’t even figure out where this district was, or the airport. The entire freaking metropolis was squeezed into this one meter by half meter map. That was NOT enough space! Why didn’t I think to ask Uncle Sky to put a digital map on my watch? I blinked, then snorted in amusement as I realized I could just call him and ask him to do it now. I folded up the map, put it back into the folder, stored the folder away, and then brought my watch up to my face, flipping back the leather cover. Uncle Sky made special versions for family members. With extra hardware and better software. I didn’t have one of those. I just had the basic version sold in stores. I’d always figured I’d get a good one on my thirtieth birthday as a ‘congrats on adulting’ present. I tapped the pink crystal screen with my left hoof’s frog, the soft touch waking the device. Which immediately flashed a warning. Error 22: Network Access Unavailable at this Location “Crap,” I grumbled, flipping the cover back into place. They’d told me that radio networks were spotty in Uneigh, but I figured the airfield of all places had to get a good signal! Unless that’s why their tower was extra tall? To get above the interference caused by whatever that mineral most of the mountain was made of was called? That would make sense. Unfortunately, it meant I had to ask a random stranger for directions. Not that I was worried about being attacked for asking directions or anything. This was Neighdo, safest city in all of Neighpone. In like two years there was going to be a big party to celebrate a hundred years without a single kaiju making it to shore here. Can you imagine? A hundred years disaster free. That’s just crazy safe! I wonder what their disaster forecast channel talked about? Cake shortages? That's probably what Ponyville’s would talk about if the weekly shenanigans stopped happening. I took a deep breath to calm myself, and looked around for a pony who looked like a local. That was harder than one might think. I was at an airfield after all. Plenty of non-Neighponese ponies, griffons, zebras, a few changelings, and even a smaller diamond dog were over here loading and unloading in the white zone. I spotted a taller, kinda thickly built, light yellow and bright red pegasi mare, standing by a little kiosk under a well groomed spruce tree. Judging by the logo and text woodburned into the front of the kiosk, and the way she was politely offering cheap looking small sized scrolls to passers by, she was employed by a local hotel to hand out pamphlets. Okay, Sherbert, you can do this. Your first conversation with a native Neighponese speaker without a translation spell’s help. You got this. I trotted up to the stand and smiled, opening my mouth to say hello only for the mare to beat me to the punch. “Ohayō!” She greeted enthusiastically before switching to Equish immediately. “Welcome to Neighdo. May I interest you in a tour guide? Every stop is within a five minute walk from luxurious accommodations at one of our many Soaring Goose Hotels.” I shook my head, deciding to speak in Neighponese anyways. “No thank you, miss. Could you please give me directions to Hikō-ba no jimu?” I asked doing my best to look lost but not touristy. “Not bad!” She mare praised, still speaking Equish. “Your accent is a bit thick, but that should go away with practice. That dojo is very easy to find. Do you have a pen? I will write you some directions.” I nodded and reached into my left saddlebag with my magic to levitate a pen over to the helpful mare. “Yes, I do. And thank you. Your Equish is very good,” I said, continuing to speak in Neighponese. After all, I had to get into the practice of always paying attention in and speaking in that language. I wasn’t going to be lazy and just buy a translation charm. “I should hope so! I’m required to speak to everypony in their own language,” the mare said as she plucked my pen from my arcane grip with one hoof. “I get quite a bit of practice in all seven of the world’s major languages.” She finished writing the directions down, and then quickly and expertly took one of the scrolls she was handing out, slid my pen in the middle of it, and wrapped the directions around the scroll-pamphlet, then held it back out to me. “Have a great day, Miss. Remember, if you’re near a historic site you’re near a Soaring Goose! Mata ashita,” she said with a smile. I blinked in surprise at the super friendly ‘goodbye’ she’d given me, and took the pamphlet and directions, only to realize in the same instant that her friendly goodbye was definitely corporately mandated. And possibly their slogan. After all ‘See you tomorrow’ would work well for a hotel chain. “Thanks,” I said as politely as I could before walking away and stuffing the pen and pamphlet into my saddlebags while slipping the directions off the scroll to read. The first thing I noticed is that cutie had really good hoof-writing! Especially since kanji were normally written with the mouth, not the hoof. The second thing is that she was a total pro at giving directions. That had to be a part of her job or something, because a more dirt simple checklist of directions could not be made. She hadn’t given me directions via the streets. No no, she’d given me something completely foolproof. Starting from me, face the center point of blue building across the street. Walk 12 meters forward. Turn right 93 degrees. Walk 40 meters forward. Turn left 22 degrees. Walk forwards 8 meters. Turn right 90 degrees. Walk forwards 33 meters. You have arrived. The dojo is in front of you. I had no idea how you memorized a city down to that level of detail, but I was super grateful for it! Because I seriously couldn’t see any street signs as I looked around the forest-tunnels cut through the trees. Quickly estimating how far from the mare I’d already gone, I got myself oriented and began to follow the directions. Uneigh was even cooler as you walked through it. There were sidewalks, but they were really wide. Wide enough to be a road back in Equestria. They were made of concrete but had little patterns pressed into them to look like stone pathways so that rainwater would flow between the ‘rocks’ and enter the gutters. The streets themselves were paved asphalt, similar to Manehatten’s streets, but obviously angled with a ‘peak’ in the middle of the road. Again, so water would roll off the road and into the gutters. The streets were twice as wide as the sidewalks, and had three lanes. A pony-powered vehicle lane in the middle for carts, bikes, and other personal transports, and one on either side for motorized vehicles. All traffic carefully controlled using traffic lights in cylindrical housings disguised as paper lanterns. It was super surreal to see electrically powered trucks moving quietly down a road with mana burning autocarts between them. That’s something I probably wouldn’t see in Equestria in my lifetime. Excluding SkyTech delivery trucks. Eh, well, truck is a bad word for them… Hovercraft? I mean, he calls them trucks in casual conversation but- “Oh crap!” I yelped as I realized my thoughts were distracting me from counting my steps. I quickly looked at the directions again, mentally backtracking how far I had gone until I realized something. It was just a turn by turn list. The actual distances didn’t matter. Because so far I had turned down the first road left or right that I had come across. But in that case, why had she given me the distances? Was she blind or something? No, she couldn’t be, she recognized me as Equestrian before I spoke. Tradition maybe? Possibly, I hadn’t heard of that one myself but well, there was no way I knew ALL Neighponese traditions. Shaking my head slowly I looked for a left hoof turn at an odd angle to the road, found it, and trotted down the street. That’s when everything changed. Before this turn, you could see elements of a proper city through the dense forest walls. Not on this road. This road had some modern features, the sidewalks, the paved road, the power lines down the middle of the arched tree branches, but that was it. The buildings on either side were all ancient in design, but extremely well cared for. This was definitely a historical district. I spent a couple minutes walking through the lovingly preserved buildings. I did see the occasional sign. There were some old temples, a few shrines, an old palace turned museum, and eventually, Hikō-ba no jimu, the Flying Horse Gym. That didn’t mean like, pegasi gym. I’d checked. The name was meant to imply the strength of a horse and the grace of a bird could be obtained within. It definitely looked like that was true. The dojo had a huge outer wall. It stood maybe six ponies high, the bottom half was carved jade featuring a geometric grid of ‘cubes’ removed from the jade with little stars embossed into the left over grid, and a sphere of polished marble stuck into each ‘cubby’ left over where jade had been removed. The upper half of the wall was made from something which looked so shiny, smooth, and red I could have sworn it was plastic but was probably some resin coated wood. All of that beauty was capped off with a bronze roof. The bronze had gone green with age, but that seemed to be intentional as it looked a lot like jade. Each tile was curved to allow the roof to form that traditional scalloped shape of Neighponese architecture, and easily a centimeter thick. The wall had to enclose an area which would be at least twelve thousand square meters, was four meters wide, and the roof peeked one meter high. That was important because that was a bucking Princess’s Ransom of bronze! Easily two or three thousand tons of bronze. Used as a wall roof! Forget the jade, this place was supposed to be THOUSANDS of years old and jade was Neighpone’s version of granite. But bronze? One of the most useful metals of that era, and also one of the most annoying to find? That much of it? From that long ago? “Who the heck paid for that roof!?” I demanded to myself, trying to keep quiet in case I was being watched and judged by the teachers already. It couldn’t be solid bronze, could it? No! No that had to be like bronze plates hammered over wooden forms. I could check… I frowned worriedly and looked around. I knew it was probably best to not let my curiosity get me into trouble but well, I had to know. “Screw it,” I muttered to myself as I mentally mapped out the quickest way to the roof. I ran forwards, jumping up at the wall, forehooves spread out to catch myself on the wall, rear hooves angled to land atop the ledge formed by the jade section. I focused my magic into my hooves, amplifying their natural arcane grip’s strength, and lunged forwards, pushing myself up the wall in three short hops. I couldn’t stay on the wall forever, heck, I couldn't’ stay on long enough to check out the roof tiles. I had to get over the overhang and onto the roof itself. I twisted around, jumping off the wall at the same time I grabbed the edge with my forehooves, pulling myself into a sort of flip to land atop the wall, facing away from it. My hooves clanged as they touched down, answering my question about the roof. It was solid, it had to be. I smiled, content to have learned what I’d wanted to know, only for my ears to fall flat with shock as I saw a somewhat short and lithe, warm beige furred, black maned bat pony stallion wearing a suit staring back up at me. The suit… White collared shirt, narrow black silk tie, black double breasted jacket, black pants, black hoof polish and trimmed fetlocks. No way that wasn’t a uniform. I’d seen Uncle Sky go to a party in a similar suit once. So it had to be expensive, definitely designer at the very least. He also was in his prime, no older than one thirty, the right edge for a seasoned security guard. Buck! I’ve been caught! Of course, they would have external secur- The stallion waved a hoof in a friendly manner, but I could see a deep seated irritation and dislike behind his polite smile. “Hello!” He called in Neighponese which sounded too flawless for him to not be a local. “You have some nice moves there, Miss. Your training here is paying off. Do you know if Master Xii is in today?” I blinked, then smiled. Realizing that my simple freerunning moves would likely come in handy during training, maybe I could adapt some of what I already knew to get more done more quickly! “Uh, actually, I don’t train here yet,” I answered politely. “I only wanted to see if this was a solid bronze roof or bronze plates on something less expensive.” The stallion cocked his head to one side, his short cut mane remaining perfectly still, indicating he used gel or mousse. “You’re not a student here, yet? As in you will be attending this semester?” He asked as that irritated look he was hiding slid just a bit more to the foreground. “Well, at least you seem to have talent in acrobatics. It would be a shame to waste that. “Would you like to be shown to the front desk? The campus is quite large, and they have not chosen their front desk logically. I’m here rather frequently on business, I know the way well.” That’s when it clicked. The well groomed look, the suit, the polite way he tried to hide his distaste for this place and the students here. This guy was an insurance agent. I nodded and turned, lowering myself down from the roof before dropping down, and turning back around to face him. “I would appreciate that. Thank you, mister… ?” I asked, giving him a polite frown and pause combination to prompt him to tell me his name. He raised an eyebrow in response. “You seem to be very polite, miss…?” Heh. Touche. “Orange Sherbert,” I answered. “But I go by Sherbert.” “My name is Rojā Sumisu,” Rojā greeted with a polite dip of his head, which I returned. “I recommend you don’t climb anything as we walk inside. The masters here are quite strict… At least as far as the facilities are concerned.” I gulped nervously and waited for him to walk towards the large dark hardwood gate before following along just behind him. “I’ll keep that in mind,” I said, hoping to sound like I wasn’t nervous. “Do many ponies here wear clothes? I’ve noticed a lot more ponies dressed than there are in Ponyville.” Rojā nodded. “Yes, generally speaking, most ponies here will dress in a particular outfit. The same one every day. It’s a way of looking more unique. This is Neighdo after all." I tilted my head to the side. "Um, why does that matter?" I asked, quite confused. "With forty two million people living in the city and the suburbs, you will find many look-alikes. A cutiemark simply isn’t enough to tell ponies apart at a glance, but knowing the pony you are looking for always wears sunglasses can be a great help to you," he replied with a smile. “What about Equestria? Do you normally wear that jumpsuit?” I looked down at the front left leg of the dark blue cotton coverall I was wearing. I did wear something all the time, actually. To hide my flanks… Because they were still blank. Even though I was twenty five and almost a legal adult as well as a biological one. “Um, yes. I do but it’s not normal,” I said to continue the conversation. “Nopony will make fun of you for it or anything, but most of us are nudists. Me? I like having pockets and not having to shower every time I get a bit dusty running.” That was also true. Secondary reasons are not lies. And besides, he was covering up his cutiemark, so he wouldn’t exactly care about me showing mine. So he didn’t need to know I didn’t have one. Rojā nodded. “Yes, your taste in clothing is definitely utilitarian. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. You live an active lifestyle and dress accordingly,” he said with a slight smirk. I raised an eyebrow. Was that an insult hidden as a complement? “Totally,” I agreed with a wink. “It also has the perk of greatly annoying my Aunt, Rarity Belle. Personally, I think the whole high society thing could stand a bit of fabric softener.” Okay, sure she wasn’t actually my aunt but hey, she did often say that the Bearers were close enough to be called family. Rojā snickered, his polite mask slipping for long enough to flash me a genuinely amused smile. “Sherbert, are you certain you want to study here?” He asked shaking his head before passing through the gate. I frowned. What did he mean by that? “Yes! Completely sure,” I answered immediately. “I need to learn martial arts, I’d like to study ninjutsu since that covers a whole bunch of things, not just fighting, and my aunt recommended this place. She lived in Neighpone for a decade or so.” Rojā hummed. “You do sound like you’re committed to learning ninjitsu. That’s a fairly popular art, though there isn’t exactly a tournament system for it. You are in luck, they do teach it here. Though frankly, I don’t know why anyone would recommend this place. It’s exceptionally expensive.” Ah, I get it. I looked poor to him, huh? “Well, I’m still in highschool, and my parents are paying for it. Dad said he could pay the tuition and fees without much difficulty. He’s a doctor,” I said casually, hoping to come across as an eccentric mare from a wealthy family. At least to shut him up with his elitism. “That isn’t quite what I meant, Miss,” Rojā said politely. “I meant to imply that this particular dojo normally caters to wealthy clients, and you don’t fit into their… Clique? I’m not quite sure if I got that expression correct. It doesn't translate very well. “Ah! I mean to say you likely will have a hard time making friends here.” Oh, he was warning me about their elitism. Thanks, but that’s fine. “I see,” I acknowledged politely. “Thank you, but I didn’t exactly have many friends back home anyways. I’ll be fine.” We passed through the gate and into the courtyard. The only way to describe entering Hikō-ba no jimu was ‘I walked through a portal into a Kung-Fu movie universe’. There were seven buildings, each one an example of the grandiose pagoda style unique to Neighpone. They were arranged in a u shaped line around a large granite tile training ground which had gravel lines forming a grid pattern around it. All of this surrounded by a thick strip of zen garden and the outer wall, with every last building, decoration, and even plant practically oozing wealth. You could see it in the gold trim, the jade veneers, the bronze statues, the extra fine silk gi each of the several hundred students wore… Luna! Dad could afford THIS!? Just how much did he make from Princess Cadence’s staff cosmetic and practical modification deal!? Rojā pointed to the third building back on the right side. “Those are the offices, Miss Sherbert. Would you mind if I went before you? You’ll have an entire orientation to go through while I only need to deliver a message to Master Xii,” he asked extremely politely. “Oh, sure,” I agreed as he led me around the edge of the training yard. “Thank you,” Rojā said with a hint of honest gratitude. “I have several other things I need to finish before noon today.” I nodded, and we finished our walk in silence. Well, relative silence. There was a lot of noise in the courtyard in general. Grunts, kiai, thuds, the sound of hoof hitting flesh. The occasional pop or crack as somepony got hurt. Yet no cries of pain. Whatever else they taught here, they definitely put a lot of focus on dealing with pain. I saw a mare just a little older than me try to throw a larger stallion while using a bipedal stance. Her rear left leg bent under his weight. In a way legs are not meant to bend. She fell instantly but didn’t make a sound other than to call, “Isha!” Medic. Not ‘help’, or ‘mom!’, or ‘Sweet bucking Luna’s tits, my leg!’ Just ‘Medic’. Gods, I wish I was that tough! I smiled. If she had been trained to be that tough, then I would be too! Rojā saw it too, and frowned, extreme disapproval flashing in his black eyes. “She’s too young for this kind of free sparring…” He muttered. “Joints are still soft. No body hardening at all, straight to the techniques…” I nodded to myself. Yep. Insurance agent. We walked up the worn smooth wooden steps and through the bright red wooden archway into the pagoda’s interior. It was spacious and had a feeling similar to that of a hotel lobby. Lots of comfortable looking couches, one small desk (albeit a fancy as heck one), a few hallways leading off deeper into the interior, and a lot of light earth tone colors to the relaxingly decorated entryway. A pegasus mare dressed in a purple silk kimono which was color matched to her long flowy mane gave us a polite bow as we entered, and yet gave Rojā an extremely dirty look. “Rojā-sama, welcome,” the receptionist greeted icily. “Are you here to see Master Xii, again?” I blinked. Sama? Wasn’t that a positive suffix? No, no wait, she was using it sarcastically. Lots of history here… Maybe I shouldn’t have walked in with him. “Yes,” Rojā replied politely. “This young mare is not with me, I merely showed her the way here. She has an appointment with the Master. If you would kindly show us both to him, I can be gone in but a few moments.” The receptionist nodded and stood up from her desk, beckoning us to follow with a hoof gesture and leading us down a wood paneled hallway to our left. We only went a short ways down the hallway when she knocked on the wall next to a rice paper screen door and waited politely. “Yes?” An older stallion’s voice asked from within after a few moments. “Xii-sensei,” the receptionist said as politely as she could. “You have a visitor, and Rojā-sensei is here to speak to you as well.” I flinched. Rojā-sensei. I felt my heart start to hammer in my chest. I’d shown up with a rival school’s instructor! Oh hay no! This was going to look SO BAD. Master Xii was silent for a moment. “Send Rojā-sensei in, please,” he instructed. The receptionist nodded and gently slid the door open, revealing the room inside to be a meditation chamber filled with candles, soft mats for kneeling on, and bowls of burning incense hanging from the ceiling. The unicorn stallion inside was old enough for his dark green fur to start turning gray at the tips, same with his mud colored mane. But he still looked pretty good. Not many wrinkles, plenty of energy left in his movements, and a fire in his eyes. The stallion was definitely rocking the benefits of a lifetime of staying in excellent shape. “What slander do you come to throw upon my students today, Rojā?” Master Xii asked icily. Rojā didn’t bother to walk into the room. He simply glared at the older stallion. “You know what your thugs did to my associate’s disciple. This is your last warning, Xii. One more incident, no matter how slight, and my fellow masters and I will no longer stay out of our disciple's battles,” Rojā informed adamantly. The glare Xii and Rojā shared sent a chill down my spine. I’d heard of school rivalries between dojos here. They were actually quite common. But this? This was something deeper. This was some kind of personal grudge, or there was something more important than school pride at stake… Worse yet, I’d walked into the dojo with my soon-to-be-master’s worst enemy. CRAPBASKETS! The master’s stare-off continued for several eternities, with each passing second raising the tension until the air felt like it was boiling. Master Xii’s laser-gaze snapped onto me! “You!” He demanded. “Are you Orange Sherbert, daughter of Scootaloo Dash and Azur Lily-Trigger?” I gulped, nodded and then bowed low. “Yes, sensei!” I yelped fearfully. “I um, he was just showing me where the front desk was, and-” The old stallion’s death glare returned to Rojā’s eyes. “I do not train thugs! Stand there and see the sort of people I teach!” Xii demanded. “She’s not like the people you teach,” Rojā said eerily calmly. “Nonsense!” Xii retorted, turning back to me. “Miss Sherbert, you have come a very long way seeking a Master to teach you an ancient discipline. Not as an adult, but as a young mare. This is a very formative time of your youth, and you have chosen to spend it here. Your determination and willingness to see your training through to the end are unquestionable. “We will skip the first test of character. May I see your entry form?” I nodded, relieved that I was going to be used as an example instead of arbitrarily punished. I guess I was too used to being bullied at school. “Of course,” I said as I opened my bag with a hoof, slipped my documents folder out with my magic, and then passed the entry papers to Master Xii. He accepted them in his own magic’s grip and flipped through them, nodding in satisfaction. “Everything seems in order… Your parent's signatures match the independent ones mailed in, the banking information is all here. All that remains is to learn what you wish to become and why. Please, be honest. Even though my unwanted guest will not believe you, it is important to only speak the truth within these walls.” I winced. The way he’s said unwanted guest… He may as well have said ‘plague rats’. Luna’s mane, this meditation room was about to be trashed in a fight to the death, wasn’t it? I bowed again, making sure to go very low and let my forehead touch the floor. “I want to learn Ninjitsu, sensei, and all of its associated arts,” I said as honestly as I could. “I believe it will give me the most well rounded skillset of any martial art. I want to follow in my family’s hoofsteps and be a hero one day. Learning how to survive the wilderness, sneak into enemy strongholds, blend into crowds, and mastering hoof to hoof combat will give me the skills I need, and the martial training should help me get over a few… Personal issues.” Like my inferiority complex… Assuming that’s a thing I can even get over. Master Xii nodded. “I see. So, you seek to use the knowledge you gain here outside of the world of martial arts?” He asked. I nodded. “Yes, sensei. I think I would wash out of military training because it’s not one on one and I do not learn well in groups,” I explained, hoping that someone would finally understand. I mean, a martial arts master totally had to understand that sometimes being in a group was really distracting and you just needed things to come at your own pace from a person who understood you well. Xii closed his eyes, and threw my entry papers onto one of the candles. I felt my heart stop beating. “Get out!” He ordered. “We do not teach those who seek to use the arts. This is a place meant only for their preservation as historic knowledge. Leave immediately! You are not welcome here.” “B-b-but-” I stammered, my whole body trembling despair as the papers caught fire. My whole future… Gone, up in smoke. Literally. I felt my eyes start to tear up, and did my best to hide my face. The last thing I wanted to do was break down into a crying fit and look like a fifteen year old. I had a little self worth left- Oh gods, my present! I was supposed to LIVE here, what would I do!? “BAKA NE!” Rojā snapped, teeth clenched in rage. “You’re turning away a promising young disciple just to keep up an illusion I’ve pierced! Can you not see her passion?!” “LIES!” Xii roared. “I will not have Hikō-ba no jimu’s name insulted any further. Leave now, or I will call for those willing to make you leave and have them throw you out!” I’d have to call dad. I’d have to tell him I failed… We’d find some other way to house me. Or maybe cancel the whole exchange. Fly me back to Equestria. Ash was going to make this a living hell… A worse one anyways. I could hear her now. ”Well well, look who washed out? Big surprise. Trying to become a ninja? Please, like that would have made you cooler. You're far too much of a loser to ever be anything more than that, freak,” Ash laughed while glaring at me in that odd hungry way, like she fed off my pain. “I- I don't have anywhere to stay!” I exclaimed, falling to my belly to beg. “I-I was supposed to live h-here. P-please! Let me just stay here for one night so I can c-call home and… Make arrangements.” “Kid,” Rojā snapped, turning to look at me. “Did this kuso yarō seriously agree to house you as an exchange student?” I nodded twice. “Y-yeah…” I said in Equish, grateful I even understood his neighponese as my tears started to flow. “How dare you refer to me in such a crass manner!” Master Xii snapped, jumping to his hooves with terrifying power and grace. “You have ten seconds to leave or I will ensure you never do!” “How dare you turn away a young mare who flew thousands of kilometers just to learn the real version of a martial art just to try and play the part of an innocent old sage!” Rojā roared. “I’ve always thought you had no respect for the ancient ways, and now I know that is absolutely true!” Rojā turned to face me and nodded towards the door. “Get up, we’re leaving,” he ordered. He said it so forcefully and matter of factually that I couldn’t do otherwise. I was standing up before I even thought about whether or not I should follow him. I just did, right out of the door, down the hall, and out into the training yard before I even realized what I was doing. But when I did. “W-wait. What are we doing?” I asked with a worried frown, my despair making way for fear as I realized I had no idea who this stallion was or who was telling the truth back there. For all I knew Rojā could be a gang member, or a criminal and about to sell me into slavery or worse! “Do you want to master ninjitsu?” Rojā asked me, his voice still strained with rage. I nodded. “Y-yes, but I can’t now… I’ll have to think of another way to be-” “WRONG!” Rojā snapped, turning to look me dead in the eyes with the single most serious expression I had ever seen in my life. “You can! I am Sensei Rojā Sumisu of Kōmoriakademī. I am not only a master of Bōryaku, Naginatajutsu, Seishinteki kyōyō, Shinobi-iri, Hensōjutsu, and Intonjutsu, but my ancestors were all Shinobi going back fifteen generations! “I am a teacher at one of the original ninja academies, and should you wish to be my disciple I will train you to the best of my abilities, not only out of respect for your dedication to learning the arts, but also out of spite! “And if you don’t, Bat’s Academy is open to you as a home for as long as you need it. Because that asshole just shamed our entire nation, and I feel it’s my duty to heal that wound. Well? What do you say? And fair warning, as a rule, none of the masters at the Academy offer to train a person more than once. If you say no, that’s it.” I took a few steps back. “Y-you mean you’re an actual ninja?” I stammered, eyes wide. “Shinobi,” Rojā corrected. “A ninja is primarily an assassin. A shinobi is primarily a spy. Each does both, but the training focuses more on some areas than others. But yes, I actually am a master of the arts you wish to learn. Master Xii is a master of Kung-Fu, he would have pushed you off onto lesser masters who only know one or two of the shadow arts. But between one or two of my friends, and I, you can have true masters teach you, and I’ll even focus on real world applications. “Well? What’s your decision? I’m mostly offering this to you out of spite. If you wait too long to make up your mind…” Rojā gave me a sympathetic look and shrugged. His message was clear. I had to think fast! What were the most important things to know? Right! “Just two questions first!” I exclaimed with a worried frown. “First, how come you just told me you’re a shinobi? Shouldn’t that like, be against the rules or something? Second, what will training be like?” Those seemed like the most important- Rojā laughed and rolled his eyes. “Miss Sherbert, everyone in Uneigh knows I’m a Shinobi. I’m respected for it. Kōmoriakademī, or Bat’s Academy in your language, has been a living history museum since the unification two hundred years ago. It’s my job to keep the ancient traditions alive exactly how they were in ancient times. That includes training disciples. “If you accept me as your master, your training will be in the traditional ways. You will learn the arts exactly as the historical ninja and shinobi did. It will be hard, but you will have help from me and the other masters there. Keep in mind that you will be training at a living history museum, and as such during your training you will likely be watched by strangers as you will be a part of the exhibit. You will fail many times, but so long as you do not leave the Academy, you will never be judged for failing. Failure is the best teacher. “But if you ever did leave your training, you would never be welcome back. Bat’s is living history… Though we will just bar you from returning rather than have you killed for leaving. There are a few small changes to tradition like that one. “Well? I’m waiting. What’s your answer? This is the last time I’ll ask.” I nodded to myself. Everything made sense now. Kōmoriakademī and Hikō-ba no jimu were more than just simple rivals because the former was purely traditional, while the latter was a business selling a part of history. Rojā was willing to train me because he was very traditional, thanks to that being his job, and also seemed to genuinely believe in upholding the old ways and was extremely offended when Xii rejected me just to send a message. Yes. This was safe to do and I would never have a better or even similar opportunity given to me ever again. “Rojā-sensei, please let me be your disciple,” I asked, bowing as low as I could. “I accept your request and will train you in the arts of the ninja, Orange Sherbert,” Rojā replied, to me bowing slightly. “We will work out the details of your stay with us later this afternoon. Right now, you will accompany me on an important trip. It will not take long, but it is not optional.” I nodded and stood up. “What is it?” I asked before flinching. “Oh! Uh, do I have to call you Master and end every question too?” Rojā shook his head. “No. Not yet. Aside from our agreement, I have done nothing to earn that respect from you. The other masters will insist you use their title. I prefer to use titles only once respect has been mutually earned.” “And where are we going?” I asked as Rojā began to walk towards the gate to leave the dojo behind. “We are going to Kazumi’s Clinic on Orchard Lane,” Rojā replied simply. “Why?” I asked, ears flattening at his evasiveness. Rojā cleared his throat. “To visit my fellow Master, Cho, and make sure her disciple is okay after the street fight Xii’s thugs forced her into last night.” “Oh…” I said with a wince. Well, at least I seemed to have joined the good side of this conflict… “Wait, did you say street fight?” I squeaked, tail raising in alarm. I was SO not ready for things to get all Rumble in the Bronc on my plot! SISTERS! I WAS NEGATIVE AMOUNTS OF READY FOR THAT! “Don’t worry, Xii knows if they try to push us around again it’s war. He’ll avoid that. He’s an old fool who only cares about lining his pockets, but he knows half his students ending up in the hospital would ruin him. You’ll be fine,” Rojā promised. “Come on, Nahrina is one of our six current disciples and the only one in your class. Meaning the only other first year student. You’ll be training with her. She’ll be happy to have a friend. Spirits know she needs one right now.” Sisters above… What the hay did I just get myself into!?