//------------------------------//
// Origins: Part 2 
// Story: The Hero They Need 
// by Bookpony579 
//------------------------------//

The rest of the day went on as usual, until she got to science class....

"Alright everyone!" The teacher, Orange Haze announced. "Time for our first project of the year! This will, of course, be a project between partners..."

Twilight internally groaned as the students around her began mumbling and whispering, hoping to partner with their friend or with a nearby nerd. Whenever she got stuck in a group project, it was usually Twilight who did all the work while her 'partner' got an easy 'A' with little to no work of their own.

"Now, now, quiet down class..." Mr. Haze interrupted. "Before any of you get too excited, I've already picked out the partners myself to keep things a little fair." He ignored the collective groans before him. "Now I'll call out names and after that you will move next to your partner so you can discuss what kind of project you want to do, alright? Now then..."

With that her began reading off names from a sheet of paper. The majority of the students didn't have much of a problem as their partner was usually someone from their own group or just someone they could tolerate enough to work together.

"Twilight Sparkle and.....Flash Sentry."

Twilight almost banged her head onto her lab table as a few other students gasped. Flash Sentry was one of the most popular kids in school, was in a cool band, handsome and a basketball star to boot. And to top it all of, he was the boyfriend of non other than Sunset Shimmer.

Well, there goes at any chance at a social life I've ever had.

"Mr. Haze?" Sunset asked, "Flash usually works with me on group projects, since we are dating and all..." She sent a cold glare Twilight's way at the word 'dating'.

"I'm sure your relationship will survive one project Ms. Shimmer. Your partner is Pinkie Pie. Do you understand?"

Reluctantly, Sunset nodded, but her frown never left her face.

Twilight heard the chair next to her move and found Flash taking a seat, smiling friendly at her.

"Hey. It's.....Twisight, right?"

"Twilight."

Flash blushed and smiled nervously while rubbing the back of his head. "Yes. Twilight. Because that's how the teacher pronounced your name just now....hehe..."

Twilight appreciated that he had the decency to be embarrassed at least.

"So...do you have any ideas for the project?"

Twilight quickly grabbed a list from her binder. "According to my list of pre-approved projects, it's time to build a miniature Tesla coil."

Flash's eyes widened. "Wait, a Tesla Coil? Aren't those things really big, powerful and dangerous?"

"It'll just be a miniature Tesla Coil, it won't even have a tenth the power of the real thing."

"That...still sounds like a lot. So do you want to meet up after school to start?"

Twilight blinked in surprise. "You know most other students just let me do all the work, right?"

"Why would I let you do all the work? It sounds like a lot, and I like to do my fair share of the work."

"Alright....we can start researching at the public library after school. They'll most likely have the materials we need than the school's."

"Sounds good. I can give you a ride."

With that, plans were arranged, but Twilight didn't raise her spirits too high.

He'll most likely ditch me when he sees the actual amount of work that's needed. It wouldn't be the first time that happened to me.




Lunch arrived and Twilight found herself, as usual, eating alone before heading to the peace of the library.

A hand slammed down next to her and she turned to find none other than Sunset Shimmer glaring down at her.

"Yes?" Twilight asked.

"I'm just here to remind you that Flash is my boyfriend, got it?"

"I'm pretty sure the whole school knows it at this point."

"Be careful what you say to me. Just do the project and never speak to him again." She began to walk away, only to pause and turn her head, "Oh, and make sure you do a good job on it, he needs the 'A' to stay on the team."

"Well your certainly good at attracting attention." A nasally voice said.

Twilight held a sigh as Virtual Genesis took a seat across from her. He was a tall, lanky boy with glasses even thicker than hers. He has carrot orange, frizzy hair and an oily face moved into a smug grin. 

"It's not like I asked for it..."

"But you are working with her boyfriend, right? The whole school's talking about it!"

Twilight groaned. "Seriously? It's just a class project, he's done plenty of those with other people before."

"But not with the girl Sunset hates the most."

Twilight just sighed and took a bit out of her sandwich while Virtual continued.

"Shame we aren't in the same class, otherwise we would show all those amateurs what real superiority is."

"Just because they might not do well in school, doesn't mean they're not smart. They might have plenty of other talents."

"Oh come on Twilight, you're not going to be that pretty forever, then the only thing you've got going for you will be your brains, and then you'll see what I mean. Just look at him." He pointed across the cafeteria, where Flash was playing his guitar while his bandmates watched. "Just because pretty boy over there knows how to play the guitar, doesn't make him cool. And the chances of him making it big in the music world aren't great. After we graduate, him all of the other 'popular kids' will wished they spent a little more time studying and a little less time wondering who trows the best parties."

Twilight quickly finished up her lunch. "I have to go. I have...other assignments I have t work on."

"Well, if you get tired of 'Brad' over there, you know where to find me. I'll show you what a real man is like."

"Good to know..."

With that, Twilight quickly made her way to the library as fast as possible.




Soon the day was over and Twilight and Flash made their way over to the library in Flash's car.

"Okay, the books we need should be this way." Twilight took the lead, since she practically knew the library inside and out.

Along the way though, something caught Flash's eye.

"'Superheroes: An analysis and history of the myths and impact of modern culture?' They have a book on that?"

Twilight shrugged. "For better or worse, there's a book about pretty much anything nowadays. And comic books are considered a form of literature and do play a large part in popular culture."

Flash had picked up the book and was now skimming through the pages and they walked on, "They even have a section on Superstallion! I love those comics!"

Twilight turned to him in surprise, "You read comic books?"

"You bet! Superstallion, Wonder Mare, Captain Equestria, I've read most of the books and practically seen all of the movies." He paused, considering what he just said. "Huh..."

"Huh what?"

"I've never told anybody that before...not even my bandmates."

"Why not? I think it's interesting."

"Well....super heroes and mystery shows don't really fit the 'rockstar image', as Sunset calls it, so it's not really something I like to show off to people."

"Well, Sunset does like to have her own way."

"She's just....passionate about stuff."

"If you want to call it that."

"I know it's hard to see, but there is a soft spot to her....deep, deep down inside."

"She didn't look like she had one when she told me not to talk to you at lunch."

"She what!?" A librarian shushed him. His next words were quieter. "Why would she do that?"

"Like you said, she's 'passionate'."

"Ugh...look, I'm sorry about that. I know she does stuff like this. I'll talk to her-"

"It's fine, let's just get those books and get out of here, alright?"

Twilight continued walking before Flash had the chance to speak, though even he wasn't sure what he was going to say.





They checked out the books and made their way outside in silence until they reached the sidewalk.

"So...we have each other's numbers...so I'll text you to figure out what we're going to do next." Flash said awkwardly.

"Alright then."

"And...I'm sorry again, about Sunset. I've tried talking to her about it before-"

"It's fine. I'll look mine over tonight and text you about what to do next." She looked over her books and- "Shoot! I think I left my library card at the desk. I'll be right back."

Twilight began to walk back up the stairs as Flash headed back to his car when-

"Well, boys, look at what we've got here!"

Twilight turned and saw Flash surrounded by three large thugs who she realized had been hiding in a nearby alleyway.

Walk away Twilight. This isn't any of your business. Just let the police or someone else handle it.

But she didn't move, and there were no police in sight.

"L-listen, I don't have anything to give you..." Flash said, holding up his hands.

Twilight looked across the street and saw a small construction site. While she didn't see any workers, she did notice a small metal pipe leaning against the fence...

"Oh? Let's just check to make sure."

With that, the lead thug grabbed Flash by his jack and banged him against his car door.

*WHACK*

"AGH!"

The lead thug dropped Flash and stumbled in pain. Everyone turned and saw Twilight holding a metal pipe. Before anyone could react, Twilight swung, hitting the second thug in the leg and the first one in the-

"OHHH!"

He grabbed his 'man part' and collapsed in pain.

"Sorry about that..." Twilight winced.

"Get her you idiots!" The leader shouted and Twilight took off, soon followed by the remaining two thugs.

Now, don't let Twilight's small frame and general dislike of exercise fool you, when the time came, she could run with surprising speed, which she did as she turned the corner and raced down the sidewalk and jumped over boxes and crates. She turned and saw the thugs not too far behind her.

I'mdeadI'mdeadI'mdead!

She continued to run, passing by some abandoned houses when-

"Twilight!"

She paused and saw Sunny Skies standing in front of one such house, holding the door open for her.

"In here!"

Twilight didn't hesitate and ran through the door. Sunny quickly shut it just as the thugs arrived. Not even bothering with words, they shoved Sunny aside and opened the door to find-

"Uhh....where'd she go?"

-an empty old hallway with no sign of anyone having run through there recently.

They didn't even notice Sunny leaving with no sign of injury.




The moment Twilight heard the door shut behind her, she collapsed against it, shutting her eyes and sliding to the floor as she caught her breath. She wasn't sure how much time had passed when she opened her eyes and actually looked around.

This place did NOT look like the inside of an old house. It looked like some sort of large cavern. The main source of light were the torches hanging on the walls.

"What the-"

"Twilight Sparkle..."

Twilight jumped to her feet. "H-Hello!?" In panic she turned around....and found that the door had disappeared, leaving only a stone wall.

There was no answer, so she, after a moment of though, decided to go down the strange cave. Slowly she walked on, carefully watching where she stepped, until she came upon another large circular room, with columns against the walls and statues of women wearing armor and wielding various weapons. In the center of the room was a raised platform with a pentacle symbol on it, with stairs leading to it. Twilight slowly climbed the stairs until she stood in the middle of the pentacle.

"Twilight Sparkle, I choose you...as champion."

Twilight whipped her head around, looking for the source of the echoey female voice.

She stepped back.....and bumped into someone.

She turned and found the tall figure of a woman hidden beneath a brown robe with a hood covering her face. She held a sword with a long, shiny blade what looked like it had seen many a battle and yet could still cut through armies. The guard was curved like a crescent moon with a five pentagram star in the middle. The hilt was black and looked braided with a vine curving around it and the pommel was carved into a sun. Believe it or not, the weirdest part were the ogham symbols written on the blade down near the hilt.

"Grab on."

Without thinking, Twilight onto the sword's hilt.

"Now, say 'by the forces of light and darkness' so that the powers of the Gods may flow through you."

Twilight felt her heart pounding in her chest. What was going on?

"W-what?"

"Say it!" The woman snapped.

"By the powers of light and darkness!"

There was a flash of light, and Twilight felt as though a wind were blowing up through the floor as lightning were racing through her veins. What was happening to her spine?! Something was happening to her clothes too! For a moment it was like they were made of light before a shadow joined it and made it solid again. They were still there but....different. At least she wasn't naked. She felt something form around her forehead, too.

Quickly enough, and it was over as Twilight fell to the ground, using her hands to keep herself steady.

"Easy...it's a little disorienting the first time."

First time? For what?

It was then that Twilight opened her eyes and saw while her hands and arms themselves hadn't changed, her hands were now wrapped in brown leathery strips, both her forearms were covered with large, silver gauntlets with gold at the the ends, and her left upper arm had a light blue metal bracelet on it.

Standing up, she finally saw the rest of her new outfit. She wore a one piece armor with a hot pink breastplate with light blue metal finishing of the top part and covering the top of her breasts, with a matching light blue belt attaching a black leather slitted skirt with bright white stars at the end and a pair of black shorts underneath with knee length black and light blue armored boots to match.

The woman summoned a floating mirror and Twilight saw that her glasses here gone and she now wearing a light blue tiara with a star in the middle.

The woman stepped forward, holding out the sword with both hands.

"Twilight Andromeda Sparkle, with this sword, I dub you the protector and defender of the world."