//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Expectations and Punishments // Story: Upgrade // by Cadet //------------------------------// Chapter 1: Expectations The school bells rung as a group of fillies ran out of the school to head home and relax. Among them was a white earth colt with a brown mane named Cadet. He usually was the first one off of the school grounds, as he was not like the other fillies. He had yet to find his special talent. He got teased by some students for not having a cutie mark. He trotted home to his house in Canterlot. As he went home, he already had ideas flying into his head. Ideas that might change the way everypony lives. He walked up to his front door and removed a key from his saddlepack to unlock the door. He went inside, got a snack, and then proceeded upstairs to his room. To his surprise, his older sister was home early.     "Hey Cadet! Mom is out getting food, and Dad is stuck at work." She said when she noticed him walk past her room. "Okay." Cadet said. He was not a colt of many words, but a colt of many ideas.. He had very few friends, and usually kept to himself. It was only when he was excited or in a conversation, of which the subject of it interested him, when he could felt like he could talk for hours. He continued down the hall to his room. As he entered his room, he took off his backpack and placed it on the ground next to the door. His room was simple. A few shelves were on one side of his room. His bed and desk were on the other. On the wall with the door, there was a table with many random mechanical pieces. He went to his desk to work in his homework when he noticed something on his workbench. He did not see at first when he entered due to the fact that a box was in the way. He walked over to the workbench and began to search for the object that caught his attention. It was a screwdriver, although . He picked the screwdriver up, examining it has he did. He had never held one in his life. He had no idea of how and what he could do with it. Setting it down, he found a note next to where the screwdriver was when he walked in. He picked the note up and read it. ‘We know what you are capable of...’ it read. Who’s we? Cadet pondered as he placed the note on his desk, and examined his room. His instinct told him that if there was one change to an object, there could be another. He saw another note on one of the shelves closest to the window. He walked over and picked up the small piece of paper. ‘We expect many things of you, Cadet.’ it read. He froze as he read the mysterious words. How do they know my name? Why do they want me? He thought. “Cadet,” His father said, “Are you okay?” “Y-yeah, I’m fine.” Cadet replied. “Okay, then. Dinner is almost done, so go wash up.” He looked at his clock, and noticed that thirty minutes had went by. Weird… He thought. It wasn’t normal for time to go that fast. But he will have to look into it later, his family was waiting for him. Before he left his room, he noticed yet another note on the ceiling. Cadet had to get on top of his desk to read it. ‘Hide the screwdriver, and destroy the notes. Covertly.’ He looked at the metallic object and connected the dots. After washing off a bit of mud from his white coat, he took the notes  and proceeded downstairs towards the fire place. He then ripped up the notes multiple times and then threw the remains in to the fire downstairs, and made sure that all of the remains had been burnt. After washing off a bit of ash from his white coat, he proceeded to the dinner table to join his family and eat dinner. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After he and his family ate dinner, he told his parents that he will be back and that he was going to visit a friend. He ran up to his room and grabbed his saddlepack. He made sure to hide the screwdriver in his pack. He grabbed his scooter, and took off to the home of his friend, Max Speed. As he rode, he had a flashback to the day when he got the idea to make his scooter. It was the day when his school took a field trip to a small village called Ponyville. While he was there on the trip, he saw an orange pegasus riding one. He noticed that this pegasus had no cutie mark. He imagined that her life must have been unbearable due to teasing, but she looked...happy. All he could do was smile. He returned to the present to find that he was just around the corner from his friend's house. He arrived at Max Speed's home and walked up the stairs. He knocked on the door and waited. It was Max who answered the door. "Hey Cadet! What can I do for you?" He said with an enthusiastic tone. "Hey, I need some help..." Cadet replied. "Alright," Max said, "C'mon in! Meet me in my room, I'll be up in a minute." "Okay." Cadet walked up the stairs into his friend's room. Max's room was full of evidence that supported the fact that he was a Wonderbolts fan. He had a couple of pillows in front of a screen, where he and Cadet would play video games. Cadet took a seat on the pillow and waited. After a few minutes of waiting, Max entered the room, closing the door behind him. "Right, now. What was it that you needed help with?" Max asked. "This. It's apparently a screwdriver. " Cadet replied, while showing Max the tool. "Huh, interesting. " Max said after carefully inspecting the tool. "Sorry, pal. I'm as confused as you are." "Oh well, worth a shot. Hey, since I am over here, how about that rematch?" "Hmm...sure, why not? After all, it has been a while." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cadet snapped back into reality to find that he was being transported to Princess Celestia herself. He smiled at the flashback. That was fifteen years ago, and now he had made the biggest mistake of his life. He had discovered a very distant land; A land of war. A land of danger. A land that was alien to him. He did not remember exactly how he discovered this land. It did not matter now. The guards that were pulling his transport stopped outside of the castle. It was time. He had discovered knowledge that was forbidden by royal law, and he had to be punished. The guards escorted into the Royal Chamber, where Princess Celestia waited, and she did not look happy.