//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: School Battle Ground // by Raikiry //------------------------------// Chapter 1:Don’t Judge the book by it’s Cover Written by: Raikiry Canterlot Academy is the place Unicorns, Pegasi and Earth Ponies attend to achieve their dreams. No matter how difficult your dream, we promise to make it a reality. Here at the Academy you can make new friends and compete on numerous activities. Also, ponies attending this school will get a chance to participate in the Tournament of Power being held in 90 days from now, where the last pony standing will face the mighty Spitfire for the Cup of Honor and a guaranteed scholarship. We hope you enjoy your stay. The video screen turned to black. The stallion who had been watching was wondering now how this school would turn out to be. He was inwardly slightly excited -it was his first day- and couldn’t wait to see what the school was going to throw at him. It all started when he was at his hometown, Fillydelphia. He was relaxing in his room until a paper slipped by under the door, getting his attention. He got up from his couch and walked towards the letter. It had a seal from the Academy of Canterlot and, judging by the writing, he got accepted into the school. Now, two weeks later, he was sitting inside the train waiting for his destination. He also remembered one of his childhood’s best friends would be in the school too. ’Maybe when I get off the train I can start looking for her,’ he thought. The train stopped slowly enough for him to notice. He heard the conductor saying they had arrived to their final destination, and ponies inside the train were already getting off one by one. After waiting for everypony to leave, he got up and exited the train. As he set foot on the station, he saw two beautiful mares standing in front of him and, apparently, waiting for him. “Greetings! You must be Anonymous, I am headmaster Celestia and this is my sister vice-headmaster Luna,” she said. Anon smiled and set his luggage down to greet the two headmasters. “Hi, so I was being expected?” he asked, getting the headmaster to nod. “Yes, we saw your application and we could tell that you are the son of the great Bolt.” This shocked him, but he just smiled at the mare. “You knew my father?” “Yes. You see, I met your father here in this school, we studied together, and I have to say without him I wouldn't be here right now.” Celestia showed a warm motherly smile. “But I am sorry I had to bring him up, knowing that he passed away not too long ago,” Celestia apologized. Anon waved at her. “No, no it’s okay, I love my father, and now that he is gone I want to make him proud. Show him that I can achieve my dream,” Anon said, clenching his fist and smiling at the two headmasters. “That reminds me, was my father an idol here?” “Why yes, he is! Every student here knows about your father and wants to become a legend like him. I have more than a couple of students who want to make a name for themselves because of that man, so may I ask you not to get into too much trouble?” Celestia said. “Heh, no promises. So what can i do in thi-.” Before he could complete his sentence, a raging blast caused a full concrete wall to break and two students jumped out of the smoke and hit the tree, landing on their feet perfectly without a scratch on them. Both headmasters and Anon turned to look at the ruckus that had just began. He glanced at the two females that had just caused such a mess. He noticed one of them had a rainbow-coloured short hair, short cargo pants and a black tank top, and her friend beside her had a blonde ponytail and was wearing a red top and blue jeans. He suddenly heard a familiar voice, causing him to turn his head to the direction it came from when a spunky girl came out the building with a smirk on her face, accompanied by another girl with a similar hair color. “Gilda?” Anon blurted, getting the two headmasters to look at anon. Luna spoke first. “Anon you know Ms Gilda?” “Yeah, she and I are best friends since childhood. I was supposed to find her when I finished the tour around the place,” Anon said as Gilda stared at her opponents. Anon looked at his headmaster's, wanting some more questions to be answered. “So what’s going on? Why is Gilda fighting those two mares? Aren't you... I don't know, supposed to stop it?” “No, we can't,” Celestia said while looking at the students. “This school is all about combat and fighting, speed and magic. We give our students knowledge about their unique capabilities and show them how to use it.” “You see Anon, in this school we teach our students to protect themselves from the dangers out there,” Luna elaborated, getting celestia to pout at her. “But wait, that still doesn't explain why they are going to fight.” “Oh well, to put it simply, this school has a rank system where your rank can grant you access to certain activities. There are six ranks: ‘Student’, ‘Novice’, ‘Guardian’, ‘Elite’, ‘Master’ and ‘Grand Master’. We assign these ranks to the students who are very skilled, and by earning a rank you must complete the test your teacher gives you,” Luna explained. The fight had already started a minute ago. Anon had finally got the answers he wanted, but the whole thing was also starting to pique his interest. “So... anything else I need to know?” “Why yes, I almost forgot! The ranks we assign are also based on your skill level, the levels being A,B,C And The Highest is Rank S That are Rare to have. Right now, the two opponents your friend Gilda is facing are rank Elite A and B, those being Miss Rainbow Dash and Miss Applejack respectively,” Celestia said. “I see. And what’s Gilda’s rank?” “Oh, she is Guardian A I believe,” said Luna. Luna pointed at the fight and Anon focused on the battle once again.  He was surprised to find Gilda’s partner had already been knocked out, leaving Gilda two versus one. The speed and power displayed by Rainbow Dash and Applejack was outstanding, and for some reason it bugged Anon. “Can I help Gilda?” he finally blurted, taking off his jacket and throwing it to the floor. Confused, the headmasters looked at each other and back to Anon. “Sure you can,” Celestia started, “but Anon, I must warn you: if you participate in this fight, we are going to rate your skill and give you a rank.” “Yes, my sister is quite right. We were planning on giving you a little test to measure your skill, but should you choose to take part in this row, it will serve as your evaluation,” finished Luna. “It’s okay, I had to face it at some point anyways.” Anon saw a roundhouse kick coming towards gilda. “I guess i’ll take that as a yes, then.” In a flick he was in front of Rainbow Dash, expertly blocking her kick. Confused on what had just happened, Rainbow Dash and AppleJack backed away from their new opponent. “Who the heck are you?!” Rainbow barked. “Anon!” Gilda softly exclaimed. “Yo.” Anon helped Gilda up and dusted off her clothes before saying in a mocking tone, “I am very disappointed in you.” Anon softly patted her in the head and and looked up at the two mares in front. He scratched his head and, with a shrug, started stretching. “Anon, I thought you arrived later on.” “I arrived early.” He chuckled. “But let’s forget about that. Your partner is out, and I am going to help you on... whatever you got yourself into,” Anon said, eyeing his opponents with a frown. “HEY COWBOY! I DON'T KNOW WHO YA ARE, BUT YA BETTER SCRAM BEFORE YA GET HURT,” Applejack yelled. Anon sighed, there was no way out of it now. Might as well make it quick. “Wanna bet, Gilda?” “What, again? No! Every time we bet I lose” Gilda pouted. “Come on, you know I like to bet on my time,” Anon said with a laugh. “Ugh, fine. Two minutes.” “I'll give you all the credit for this one, but let me take care of the two and I'll make it one.” Students from all over the academy had started to pile around the fight, and the patio was starting to get crowded. “One minute, sister. Is that even possib-” Luna noticed the smirk on her big sister’s face. “Sister?” “Like father, like son I guess.” She pointed at Rainbow Dash and Applejack, and his smirk turned into a smile. “Now, those two are going to have their real test.”