Admin –
Tell us about any mysterious stories, strange incidents, or scary rumors that you know about!
The Newspaper Club will find the truth!
Something you want to investigate or something that stumps you anything at all is welcomed!
Please post here!
"So you are telling me this just appeared in the forum out of nowhere?" Rainbow asked. "Who is this admin anyway? Can you find out who's running it?"
The Rainbooms met at the music room just like usual, and Sunset showed them the recent development of the forum. The group met before classes started for the day, and what was supposed to be a band practice session turned into speculation on the newest information on the mysterious forum.
"I asked mom, and apparently, it's an account made to monitor schools' online activities. The Vice Principal would join every forum made by students and would be the admin of them. It's supposed to be where only the principal and vice-principal can access this," Sunset said.
"And none of them post this?" Applejack asked.
"Why would they do that? Not to mention that Aunt Luna didn't even know the login info. She had to call the previous principal to know the username and password since it became irrelevant to use with the introduction of mystable."
"She's still alive?" Rainbow asked only to get an elbow to her side by Rarity. "What?"
Rarity's disapproving glare was all Rainbow received.
"Well, however this happened, Principal Celestia could be right. Something is going on, and it seems weird for this to be just some random hacker," Twilight said. "As far as any of us know, this could all be my fault."
"Now wait a minute, Twilight. This has nothing to do with you. You were forced to do it. If it's anyone's fault, it's that Principal Cinch's fault," Applejack said.
"She's right, don't think like that. Everyone makes mistakes, even teenage geniuses that learned to store magic in a necklace made of broken-down machines from the dump. What matters most is for you to learn from them and keep moving forward," Sunset said. Twilight smiled at her. Just then, they heard a knock at the door, and Pinkie ran towards the door to answer it.
"Hi, Aiko!" She screamed, throwing open the door and hugging the surprised girl. The poor girl barely had a second to process anything before she found herself brought inside the room and in front of the group. The girl looked around in confusion as to what had just happened.
"You'll get used to it," Sunset said, moving forward to get the girl's attention.
"B-but, I how… how did, huh?"
"Don't think about it too much. It's just Pinkie being Pinkie. Anyways, girls, this is Aiko, she's new here. Aiko, these are my friends, Twilight, Pinkie, who you've already met, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow, and this is my girlfriend Fluttershy," Sunset introduced as each of the girls greeted back in their own way.
"I'm Aiko Whiskers. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu (nice to meet you)," Aiko said, bowing a little.
"Oh, you are Japanese. I knew you were Asian but didn't know from where," Twilight said.
"That's so cool! Do you read manga or watch anime?" Rainbow asked.
"Uh, not really. I prefer the light novels," Aiko said sheepishly.
"Oh, uh, that's cool. I loved reading Auto Memory Doll. What about you?"
"I find them enjoyable to read."
"Can I give you that party now?" Pinkie said, jumping in place impatiently.
"Um… I-I… guess so?"
"EEEe! I'm going to give you the best party. We can keep it to ourselves if you don't want to invite the whole school," Pinkie said, smiling brightly.
"T-that would be appreciated," Aiko said while Pinkie jumped in victory.
Sunset looked at the clock and silently swore. She didn't mean for this to get them so side-tracked. She only hoped that she had enough time for the tour.
"Hey, we still have a few minutes before the school starts, so why don't I show you the club room real quick," Sunset said. The girls all left the music room and followed Sunset through the school hallways. As they moved through the hallways, everyone traded numbers and schedules with Aiko. Sunset smiled as she looked back at Aiko. She seemed to be relaxing into the group just fine and was already less tense than she was mere minutes ago. Looking back down the hall, Sunset saw the door and began to fish the key from her pocket. She cleared her throat before gaining the attention of the girls.
"Here, this is the room," Sunset said as she stuck the key that Luna gave her into the lock and opening the room. Walking inside, they found the room was, thankfully, clear of any clutter and looked to have just been recently cleaned. Sunset grinned at the sparkling clean room that looked more than ready to fill with stories about everyday life for CHS students.
There is a table with bookshelves on the sides and two computers on the center table. And the wall opposite of the entrance is the cupboard and table underneath them and along the sides of the room are bookshelves with files and notepads.
"Whoo weee, this sure is a nice club. If ah wasn't a part of the going home club ah mighta joined yall," Applejack said after whistling from the entrance, as the other girls went to look around.
"These are from the old club. I wonder why they didn't get rid of these files." Fluttershy asked, examining the files already on the shelves.
"Ne (hey), look at this," Aiko said, taking a hard drive from the computer table. "It's really old."
"It has to be from the old pc. Luna might have left it when she replaced the pc." Sunset said.
"Luna?" Aiko asked.
"O-oh right, you don't know. I'm Principal Celestia's daughter. So Vice-Principal Luna's my aunt," Sunset said.
"Really?"
"Yeah. No one actually knows, though. Except for us. So I appreciate it if you don't tell anyone."
“Yakusoku suru (I promise),” Aiko said smiling.
"Thanks."
"How do you know Japanese?" Rainbow asked.
"Did you forget where I work at, Rainbow? You catch some words after a while. The real question is, how do you know Japanese?" Sunset asked smugly.
"Wha-, Hey, anime can be educational too. I don't watch every anime in dubbed."
The girls began to laugh at Rainbows expense when they heard the school bell ringing. Everyone piled out of the room with the start of school, and Sunset locked the door up.
"So, can all the club members meet here during our free period?" Sunset asked as luck would have it Fluttershy, Twilight, and Aiko all had the same free period as Sunset. Everyone nodded, and they left for their classes.
The school went by its usual slowness for the rest of the day, but Sunset couldn't help but think about the latest post. Before long, Sunset found herself in the cafeteria with the rest of her friends and took the seat beside Fluttershy.
"Hey, Sunset, did anyone reply to that post?" Applejack asked.
"Not yet, fortunately. But I have a feeling that it won't be long before someone does, and I have a really bad feeling that something awful will happen when they do," Sunset said.
"Don't worry, my firefox. We will be with you if something happens," Fluttershy said. Sunset smiled at her while Rainbow gaged, earning her a shoulder smack from Rarity.
"So Sunset? Are you going to tell Aiko about… you know what."
"Yeah. I mean, not everything. Not yet. But she deserved to know. She looks like a really nice girl,"
"Um… e-excuse me?" They heard Aiko call them with a tray in her hand. "Can I join you?"
"Of course, shugacube," Applejack said, pulling the chair beside her.
"Arigatou (thanks)," Aiko said while taking the seat.
"So, how do you like the school so far?" Rarity asked.
"It's actually really great. The students are really nice. Everyone is very expressive and accepting of your views. It's certainly a change from the last school that I was at. Not that it was a bad school, just too many students for there to be any real expression outside of clubs or sports teams."
"Yeah, it's great here. I actually transferred recently," Twilight said. "I went to Chrystal Prep before,"
"Really? That's a great school, from what I heard."
"Academically, yes, but it's very stressful and competitive. They care more about their appearance than they do about personal growth and friendly bonds that they can foster in the student populace. It becomes too much pressure for me, and I made a huge mistake because of their no-lose attitude."
"But, you've learned and grown from the experience and are now in a school that cares about you as a person instead of the grades you brought with you," Sunset said, causing Twilight to smile at how similar she sounded to Principal Celestia without even trying.
"I see," Aiko said. "Hey um… what happened to that pedestal in the courtyard? It seems like there should be something there, but there isn't," Aiko asked, missing the way Twilight flinched.
"O-oh… um… well… you see… that's actually a long story. Since lunch is almost over, why don't we tell you that while at the club?" Sunset said as she tried to steer the conversation from an uncomfortable topic for Twilight.
"Um… okay. We can do that."
They spent the rest of the break talking about their band and sleepovers while also asking Aiko about herself. She didn't get to share much due to the bell ringing, leaving them to learn that her mother was Japanese, making her half Japanese. Once the break was over, the girls split off to their other classes while Sunset, Fluttershy, Twilight, and Aiko went to the club room.
"So, what are we doing now?" Fluttershy asked.
"Well, first of all, we have to join the forum. Luna already made me an admin, so I can make you admins too," Sunset said, booting up the PC. "While we are doing that, Aiko, we need to tell you something."
"Um… what? Is this about the statue?" Aiko asked.
"Yeah. But there's more. Tell me, Aiko, do you believe in supernatural or magic?" Sunset asked casually.
"What?"
"Magic, what's your thought on it?"
"Well… I don't know if it's real. My obaa-san (grandma) believes in it. She always tells me that she feels the changes in the air, and she communes with spirits by dividing her mind and soul from her body. I don't really know how that works, but she tells all sorts of stories. I suppose I'm on the fence about it, I guess."
"I see. Maybe I'll get a chance to talk with her," Sunset mused. "Anyways, Aiko, listen carefully, what we are about to tell you is really important, and you should not talk about this with others outside our friends and my mom and aunt. Can you promise me that?" Sunset asked seriously as she stopped and grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her dead in the eyes.
Aiko looked surprised at this sudden change in the mood. She didn't know what to say at first, but she felt something from Sunset like she could trust the girl despite only knowing her little over a day. She seemed to have this power in her that made her so much brighter than any of the other girls despite them being almost as bright. It was these feelings that made Aiko feel like she could trust them with anything and they would never betray her. All the girls and Sunset took to her just as she took to them. Pinkie still scared her, though. After thinking about it for a few more moments, Aiko made her decision.
"I will. I will promise you, and I will never go against my word," Aiko said.
Sunset looked at her eyes for a while, and Aiko felt as though she was searching her very soul and mind for deceit before a smile began to spread as Sunset seemed to find what she was looking for and let her arms fall from Aiko's shoulders.
"Well, Aiko, your grandma is right. Magic is real," Sunset said. "I can not tell you more than this since I barely know you, but that doesn't mean we are not friends. Just know that I'm choosing to believe you. I can see you loyal and honest, so even if I can't tell you everything right now, you will know about it in due time."
"I... suppose that's fair."
"Thanks for understanding, soon you'll know everything, but for now, you'll just have to believe me on this. As I said, magic is real. This world does have some innate levels of magic. But it's not powerful, compared to other places. But, all you need to know for now is that I brought some magic here," Sunset said, bringing a hand up and summoning a flame. Aiko stared at it in amazement. "You might probably hear things like magical demons or rips in space from the fellow students. They are real, and all of our friends were involved in them. One of them has something to do with the statue. I'm not going to tell you about that, though. It's not my place to decide. If you want to know, you'll have to ask Twilight and only if she's willing to share."
"Oh wow… I… I…"
"Do you need some time?"
"No, no, I'm okay. Just need to finish processing this… wow,"
"Also, Aiko, there's something with this club too. That I want to tell you about. First, let's finish setting up our accounts," Sunset said, logging into the forum from the pc.
After making their accounts and joining the forum, Sunset made everyone admins over the forum. She also saw that the forum was already gaining followers and knew it wouldn't be long before the first post was posted to the forum.
"You see, Aiko, this club has been closed for almost a decade. However, something happened just before you joined," Sunset began.
"What happened?" Aiko asked.
"You see this forum? No one knows how, but this forum was suddenly active again, and for some reason, this forum cannot be closed either. Some say it might be a hacker. But mom thinks it's magic. Considering what happened at this school, it's as likely as the hacker, maybe even more so, if I'm honest. As the magic experts here, we're looking for a way to solve this and stop it before it gets out of hand."
"But can magic actually do this?" Aiko asked.
"Why not? Magic can do all sorts of things. There is little law that it follows, unlike in-, sorry that's one of the things I can't tell you right now. In any case, it's very possible for magic to be involved in this case."
"Aiko, do you really want to do this with us?" Twilight asked. "I'll be honest, I don't really know how I feel about you being in the club. Magic is a really dangerous thing if it isn't used right. On top of that, you have no experience with it like me, and the others do. I'm concerned for your safety."
Aiko didn't know how to respond to that. All of this is really new to her. It all seemed made up, but she knew Sunset wasn't lying to her. She didn't know how she knew she just did. As she thought about Twilight's concerns, she couldn't help but remember a saying her father told her when she was little.
"Maybe that's enough reason for me to help you," Aiko said.
"What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked.
"I don't know much about this, and I wouldn't be lying if I said I think this might be a prank. But if all this is true, and magic is as dangerous as Twilight said, then this forum could hurt someone. And if I can help in any way to stop it, then that's exactly what I'm supposed to do," Aiko said with determination in her eyes.
"Huh, with that attitude, we'll be able to solve this in no time," Sunset said with a smile. "Since we don't know much about this forum yet, we might have to wait till someone replies and see what happens. Until then, let's get on to club business. First thing first, we need to design the newspaper," With that said, the four girls began to brainstorm ideas for the newspaper. And just like that, the first day of the newspaper club began.
The rest of the period went well for the girls, and the period was close to ending. They progressed far with the initial designs for the newspaper that they nearly forgot the reason for them being there. The notification came as suddenly as a strike of lightning, causing all of them to jump when their phones sounded with a single loud beep.
"Goodness, that startled me," Fluttershy said.
"What is it?" Aiko asked.
"It's a new post. Someone replied," Sunset said eerily before going to the computer. "Here it is. Wallflower? Who's Wallflower again?"
"I think she's in the yearbook club with Rarity," Fluttershy said.
"Hmm, I think I know who you're talking about. Thanks, Shy."
The girls gathered at the computer to see the new post.
Wallflower –
Do you know the rumor about the "Blue Spider Lily" which we can see at the local park? It's a boring rumor compared to others. You won't see anything like scary ghosts or spooky things.
At the local park, you can sometimes see the flower bloom. It blooms all seasons of the year but only blooms shining lightly when the moonlight hits it at night.
I don't know why this flower blooms or why it blooms so beautifully.
So… I really want to know why. Will you investigate this flower?
"I've heard about that rumor. I don't know if it's true, though. Never went to see it. It's so dark at the park when it's night. For whatever reason, the city never put lights in and refuses to because they don't have the budget to put in lights," Fluttershy said.
"So what now, we go there?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah, Let's go tonight. Who wants to come?"
"I don't think I can. My parents wouldn't let me leave after nightfall. Especially on a school night," Twilight said.
"Me too. We just came here, so my parents are not comfortable with letting me go anywhere alone or with people they haven't met yet," Aiko said.
"That's okay. I think that's a no for you too, Fluttershy?" Sunset asked.
"Um… well… i-if you are going… I can… maybe."
"You sure shy? It's going to be dark," Sunset said teasingly.
"I… I can… hold on to y-you," Fluttershy said, with flushed cheeks.
"You know, I'm beginning to see why Rainbow always gags at you two," Twilight said, making Fluttershy blush.
"Oh… I forgot…"
"I wish I could forget, Aiko. It's the one thing I'd be fine with forgetting constantly," Twilight said when the bell rang. "Let's go and give the two love birds some space," Twilight said before she left the room along with Aiko, who bowed slightly at the door, before leaving two blushing girls inside.