//------------------------------//
// Where Acquaintances Met 
// Story: Cool Story Bro... MOAR PONIES! 
// by Shadowflame 
//------------------------------//

	The next morning I found myself on a bus filled with about twenty other kids, plus all of their luggage and crap shoved either at the back of the bus or at everybody's feet. Yeah, not exactly comfortable, but I doubted it was any better in the other bus. Behind our bus was another just like it, packed in the same way with teenagers and possessions alike. Oh, and we can't forget about the teachers either, two of them in each bus. They sat at the front near the driver, doing whatever they could to block out their noisy students.

I sat alone on my bench, just duking the ride out with my 3DS in hand. Yeah, that's right, you're never too old for Pokemon. However, don't peg me as an introvert or an anti-social. While that may be slightly true, I was just passing the time this way because there really wasn't anyone I wanted to talk to. Nobody bothered to share a bench with me, not that I'm complaining about that one. It definitely gave me some room to lounge. But there was also the fact I didn't really know anybody else on this bus, besides the teachers.

I took a look up from my game and glanced around the noisy bus. There were a few like me who kept more to themselves, or with their friends they decided to come with. However, it was easy to spot the groups of friends, the more extroverted kids who juggled around twenty different people daily in their routines. They were mostly the source of the noise on the bus, and whenever I heard or saw them, I had to wonder whether or not they came on this trip to see the capitol or escape home for a week.

Shrugging, I paid them no mind. Everyone came for their own reasons and so did I, so why not let them enjoy their trip while I enjoyed mine?

I turned my focus back towards my game... that is, until I heard someone hiss across the aisle between benches.

"Why not?" The voice, a girl's whispered, just barely audible to me through the noise, "He's right there, so why not talk to him?"

I glanced at the next bench over out of the corner of my eye.

Across the aisle sat two teenagers, a guy and a girl, both about a year younger than me. The guy sat at the end of the bench, but he seemed visibly uncomfortable about it... or maybe that was because of the subject they were talking about.

... Wait, were they talking about me?

The guy had straight brown hair, which flopped down a few inches around his scalp, as if he never bothered to do anything with his hair besides wash it. He wore a simple pair of khaki shorts, with a T-shirt and tennis shoes. His face seemed... softer, compared to other high schoolers, and his eyes seemed to have some timid look in them. He was glancing warily from me, to the girl he shared the bench with, and back again.

I had to glance back down at my game again, otherwise they would have noticed me watching them... and that situation is always kind of awkward. But there was no denying it, they were talking about me... but for what?

He definitely seemed like the type that got picked on a lot in school, but I wasn't one to judge on stereotypes.

The girl, however, seemed like the exact opposite from the guy. She was much tanner, with sharper features across her face, as well as eyes that didn't betray the rest of her demeanor. Her hair was cut down to only a few inches and stood spiking upwards. If it wasn't for her clothes, it could've been easy to mistake her for a guy; She wore a purple tank-top, jean shorts cut at the middle of the thigh, and strap-on, velcro sandals.

The girl was giving the guy next to her a hard look as she whispered, annoyed, "Look, you wanted to make new friends on this trip, not just latch on me like you did all year at school."

"I know, I know," The guy mumbled back, "But I can't make friends as easily as you."

The girl deadpanned back, "I don't have any friends." The guy opened his mouth to voice otherwise. "...besides you," The girl added, shutting him up.

She sighed in annoyance, "You know what, you asked me to help you make some friends, so that's what I'm gonna do." Suddenly, she lifted one leg up onto the seat and proceeded to less-than-gently shove the guy off the bench and sprawling into the aisle with a yelp.

Thankfully, for the guy's sake, the bus was full enough with chaos that no one really paid any mind to his fall. He quickly stood up again, only to find the girl was now lounging on the bench with her feet taking up where he'd been sitting before. She smirked at him with a demure smile, "Go find someone else to sit with, and you're not allowed back on this bench until you're buddy-buddy with them, got it?"

"What?!" The guy exclaimed, "But you can't-"

"Hey!" The girl snapped back pointedly, "No arguing about this. So help me, I will get you to meet someone you can hang with before we get to D.C. tonight. Now, go on, shoo!"

The guy just stared at her, most likely in horror, but I couldn't quite see his face from where I sat. Needless to say, those two were... an odd duo. It kind of made me wonder just how those two became friends in the first place.

I glanced sideways at the guy, who was looking around the bus for an available seat, probably to see who would be likely to get along with him... But lo and behold, after a few moments of timid looks around the bus, he reluctantly took the seat by me on my bench. Well, I wasn't exactly complaining, since I did hear most of his conversation with that girl. This guy was just looking for another friend on this trip. He seemed like a nice enough person, albeit a somewhat timid one.

Oh, well. I kept on playing my game, waiting for the guy to speak up. I mean, he did mention he wasn't good at making friends, but I was hoping I could help him see it wouldn't be that hard... or at least, not that hard with me. He seemed really nervous about it, so why not give him a confidence boost? He wasn't that bad at making new friends, was he?

...

...

...

...

Okay, I take that back. After about a full minute of full silence between me and him, he still hadn't said a word. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see him sitting quietly, his hand scratching his other arm idly and his eyes glancing back and forth between my 3DS' screen and the back of the bench in front of us. The longer I waited for him to speak, with no avail, the more awkward I started to feel. I hated to admit it, but this guy was a terrible 'ice breaker'... but then again, so was I, but not nearly on this level.

But thankfully, the agony of the awkwardness had extended to the next bench over, and I saw the girl, who had booted this guy off the bench, proceed to full-on facepalm, "Oh, for the love of-"

To both mine and his surprise, she stood up in the aisle, giving the guy a peeved look that read, 'seriously?!' She then glanced back at me, "Hey, buddy, you got a sec?"

I blinked in surprise, closing my game and stowing the console in my backpack under my seat, "Um, sure."

The guy glanced up at the girl with an astonished look on his face, "Fiora! What are you doing? I told you, I've go-"

"Got this?" The girl, Fiora, finished, "Sorry Dale, but at this rate, you wouldn't have even said 'hi' to him before we reached Virginia. Five minutes of that was way too painful to watch."

Fiora glanced towards me, "What's your name?"

"I'm Lyle," I replied.

Fiora nodded, throwing an arm around Dale's shoulders, "Well, Lyle, I'd like you to meet my socially helpless friend, Dale."

Dale muttered under his breath peevishly, "I'm not helpless..."

"Sure, sure," Fiora replied, dismissively, glancing back towards me, "So here's the deal. Dale here doesn't know anybody on this trip, besides me, but this poor guy needs someone to lean on, and since girls and boys are going to be separated at the hotel, he needs a friend to be with. So how about it? Think you can be Dale's buddy for the trip?"

Well, that's one way to make a friend, just have someone ask for you... But I doubted if I hadn't already heard their previous conversation, I would have been confused as frick.

But still, I managed a friendly smile, "Erm, sure."

Fiora, looking satisfied, proceeded to then flop back down on her own bench, as if our brief interaction hadn't even occurred. I turned back to Dale, who looked more peeved than before.

Well, since we've been... er, 'properly' introduced, might as well actually talk to him. "So, uh, how's it going?"

Dale simply huffed, crossing his arms, "Fiora's always treating me like a little kid. It's driving me nuts!"

I nodded a bit, "Yeah, quite the friend you've got there. She certainly seems more... out there." Way out there, I added to myself. Although, I still think Angela still has Fiora beat there.

Dale blinked in surprise, glancing towards me. He immediately grimaced, as if he had just realized he had said that out loud, "Uh... yeah." He glanced away, slightly embarrassed, "... But I guess I understand why she treats me that way. Our parents were friends, so we ended up friends, too. I've known her for as long as I can remember." All the while, he looked even more uncomfortable the longer he talked about it.

"That's cool," I replied, wanting to change the subject, "So, what do you do for fun?"

Dale glanced back at me, his discomfort vanishing as he thought to himself, "Umm, I dunno. I like reading, I guess."

"Reading what?"

Dale shrugged, "Anything, I guess. My dad has a bunch of books in his study, so I tend to hang out there." He bit the inside of his lip, "People think I'm weird though, 'cause I like reading documentaries as much as any novels, even when it wasn't for school."

I blinked in surprise, "Really?"

"Yeah, I never heard the end of it in Middle School." Dale frowned momentarily, "It sounds weird, doesn't it?"

"Hm, a little," I admitted, "But hey, not everyone likes the same things. Heck, you'd probably think I'm weird too."

Dale raised a cautious eyebrow at me, "... What do you like to do for fun?"

I grinned sheepishly, "History, which is my all-time favorite subject, and video games." And not to mention the occasional transformation into a pony... Yup, can't get any weirder...

... Wait, I take that back, and I doubt I even need to explain why.

Dale looked at me in surprise, "History? That's... odd. I hardly hear anybody say they like that class."

I scratched the back of my head, chuckling, "I know, right? But anything in history has always kind of clicked for me. It's like hearing a story you really like and remember later, except it happened centuries and millennia ago."

Dale bit his cheek in thought, crossing his arms, "... I never really thought of it like that. But then again, history wasn't exactly my favorite thing to read."

"What's your favorite then?"

"Well... mainly science, I guess. I like learning how the world work. It's kind of... amazing." A small smile came to his face, "Biology and Physics are my favorite classes, even."

"That's cool," I replied, glad to see Dale actually break a smile. I chuckled sheepishly, "I'm actually not all that good at physics, but that's just because I'm not good with numbers." I let out a laugh, "The same thing for girls as well. Celestia knows how I have a girlfriend now."

Oh... wait, did I just say that?

Dale stared at me in surprise, "Wait, Celest- You're a brony?"

I grinned mirthfully. Oops "Um, yeah."

Dale paused for a moment, before lowering his head, embarrassed, "Um... I'm one, too. But I don't like mentioning it. A few guys in my neighborhood found out I watched ponies and picked on me."

"Yeesh, I feel your pain," I sympathized. I spared a glance towards Fiora, who was still lounging on the other bench, earphones blocking out all outside sound. "Is Fiora..."

Dale shook his head, chuckling slightly, "No way she'd watch something like that, not even with me."

"Oh well," I shrugged, reaching into my bag for my 3DS, "Hey, you like Pokemon?"


________________________________________


The next few hours passed by swimmingly while in Dale's company. In that time, I learned he was actually a pretty cool guy. You know, the type of person I could easily get along with.

I had thought him completely timid at first, but after talking to him for the first while, he began to visibly relax. We talked about subjects between home, school, and even just strange or interesting sights passing by in the window. After an hour or two, he seemed to be more or less out of his 'shell' around me. Heck, even Fiora jumped into the conversation once in a while from across the aisle, and I got to know her a little better as well.

By the end of the ride towards D.C., I had learned quite a bit about both of them.

Dale wasn't really as timid as I had thought him to be, just very uneasy when it came to social interactions with strangers or acquaintances, rather than friends. Other than that, he was pretty much a normal guy. His love for science rivaled my own towards History, and he knew quite a bit more about other subjects, including details I never heard in the classroom. He was pretty well-versed in a few of my favorite video games, though understandably, he didn't play those a lot. He said he'd rather read, but a good few rounds of Smash Bros. or something else was a welcome break.

As for Fiora, she definitely seemed like Dale's opposite, though I say that in the best way possible. I don't mean that Dale's kind while Fiora's a jerk. It's more like opposite in personality and character. During the occasional times she joined into the conversation, I learned she liked more physical things like sports, though more specifically anything on wheels. Thanks to the rules for this trip, she had to leave her bike at home, and both Dale and I could tell she was pretty pissed about it. From what Dale told me, Fiora could pull off many a trick with quite a few wheels, though her bike was her favorite.

The whole bus ride was spent talking to those two, from everything like school, interests, expectations of D.C., movies, and everything in between. But pretty soon, our buses reached their destination, a hotel just at the edge of Virginia's border with the capitol. After that, the teachers wasted no time in ushering everyone to grab their stuff and head up to our reserved rooms. Fiora left the bus first with the other girls, while Dale stuck with me and we followed the other guys up to our rooms.

There were about twenty guys on the trip, so the teachers crammed us into two large rooms and we started unpacking and grabbing any decent places to sleep before any of the other guys took them. Thankfully, Dale and I were able to grab a couch and a recliner in the midst of the chaos. I let Dale take the couch, while I grabbed the recliner.

Although, Dale seemed a bit uncomfortable still as we put our stuff in order, "..."

"What's wrong?" I asked, catching his wry expression.

"Er..." He shook his head, "Nothing. It's just... I've never really slept in the same place with people I don't know... I guess I'm just a bit self-conscious."

"Don't worry about it," I re-assured him, throwing a pillow onto my recliner, "It's not like they're gonna try anything while you're asleep..." I paused for a moment, "Heck, if that happened, I'm thinking Fiora would probably 'go ham' on them before the teachers hear about it."

Dale winced slightly, "That's... not a pretty picture." He smiled, though still slightly unnerved, "Thanks anyways for trying to reassure me."

"No problem." However, just then, I heard my cell phone ring in my pocket. I pulled it out and checked who was calling:




Incoming Call From Angela




Well, I guess that's nice timing, if anything. Although, I wasn't expecting Angela to call me at all today. I glanced back towards Dale, "I'm gonna step out to take this."

He nodded in reply, turning back to his duffel bag. Meanwhile, I stepped out into the hallway and accepted the call.

I put the phone to my ear, seeing there was no one else in the hall at the moment, "Hello?"

Angela's voice resounded through the phone, "Heya, Lanky! How was the drive? You're in D.C. now, aren't you?"

"No, not yet. The hotel we're at is just outside the district." I then asked with a bit of curiosity, "Any reason you're calling me this late? You know I can't do any of your experiments out here. Don't even dare aiming that circle at me while I'm literally surrounded by these guys."

Angela laughed on the other end, "No, I wasn't gonna do anything like that. But I do have a reason for calling you. You're going to a bunch of museums and histori-lish places, right?"

"That's not even a real word, Angela," I deadpanned, "But yeah. Last I heard, the plan for tomorrow, we were going to be at the Smithsonian Museum all day."

"Great, while you're there, I want you to try to find something for me."

I raised an eyebrow at that. Angela's not usually this interested in history... unless... "What is it?" I asked.

She cleared her throat, ready for a long explanation, "Well, a while ago, I thought it was strange that only the circle transformation magic I found online had been the only kind I've ever found that ever worked... but why not anything else? All magic, whether fake or real, comes from an individual craft, and if the transformation spells work, then it's more than likely that if I found this particular craft it comes from, there would be more spells that could actually work."

"And what did you find?" I asked.

"Not much," Angela replied a bit sourly, "For a few weeks, I searched off and on for any leads back to the transformation circle's creator, but I always turned up with nothing. Even the site where I found the transformation circle before, it was taken down weeks ago for some odd reason.  I wasn't able to find any leads... at least, until tonight."

"Really?" I blinked in surprise.

"Really," Angela replied, "Have you ever heard of the Salem Witch Trials?"

"Yeah." Asking that to a history nut like me was like asking if I've ever heard thunder strike during a storm, "It was a big conspiracy massacre that happened in early Massachusetts. From what I remember, about twenty people were executed after being accused as witches."

"Exactly, and the transformation circles are Witchery."

"Wait, are you saying they were the ones who created that spell?"

"No, back when America was being colonized, there were plenty other witch hunts in the other colonies, not just Massachusetts. And from what I've found, the witches that created the circle came to America just before the Revolutionary War broke out, to Virginia."

I raised an eyebrow, "That's... interesting. But how'd you find that out?"

"A lot of surfing the web. You can basically find just about anything if you dig deep enough." She replied, chuckling for a moment, "But information on these guys isn't very obvious. You'd have to know the mechanics of their magic to be able to identify who they were, even more so if you're reading from vague online sources."

I nodded slowly, "Okay, I think I'm catching on. You want me to see if I can find any vague hints towards magic that anybody except us would overlook in the Smithsonian? You want me to find more information on these guys?"

"Yep," Angela happily replied, "They definitely had more magic with them besides transformations, and I want to find it. What better place than to look in one of the biggest history nerd expos in the world?"

I grimaced, "You just added 'nerd' in there to peeve me off, didn't you?"

"Well, we're both nerds in different fields. Take it as a compliment." Angela snickered on the other end, "But here's something else that might help with your search. The people who made this type of witchcraft, it said they were very family oriented. They kept almost all of their secrets within their immediate family, with a very close eye on them. It wouldn't hurt to guess they kept their magic in the family as well."

I nodded, "Got it. Just look for any mention of secretive families, and one of them would most likely be the guys we're looking for."

"Yup, you got it! Good luck searching tomorrow!"


_______________________________________



Meanwhile...


The musty workshop, filled in its corners by cobwebs that glinted slightly beneath the light of the single light-bulb hanging from its ceiling, came alive by sparks flying occasionally above the roar of a power tool. The only man in the room wore a welding mask and rough leather gloves as he worked with absolute precision and care.




"Wait, Angela?

"Yes, Lyle?"




The man kept his eyes trained on his little project before him, his hands working steadily and slowly. He couldn't bear to make a mistake now, or else he would have to scrap it. Messing up now would cost him what little precious time he had. It had to be finished by tonight, and after carving this glyph for hours, he wouldn't have enough time to start it over again should he create a flaw.




"This family of witches you mentioned... Do you think they're still, you know, alive? Do their descendants have their same magic with them?"

"I'm not sure. It's possible there's a secret family witches somewhere in the world, maybe somewhere in the country.




The man cut off the power to his power drill, lifting it away from the sheet of metal before him. He picked up the sheet, which was about the size of his palm, inspecting it closely. To his relief and silent satisfaction, the circle glyph had been fully completed, without so much as a scratch out of place. It was perfect.




"... Although, Lyle, it's also possible this family died out, or just separated and its secrets of magic disappeared over the generations."

"But if there's an actual source of magic, another power man could use in this world, why would it die out or just vanish?"




The man grabbed a glove from the edge of the table, the one he had used before on that man... Markus, was it? Either way, the glyph had been tweaked to suit the man's needs, and with a few clicks, the metal sheet was attached to the back of the glove.




"... I don't know..."




The man grinned viciously as he pulled the glove over his hand, feeling as his chi flowed through the glyph softly with a hum, his eyes glinting with a manic glee,

"Finally. Tomorrow, a test run is in order."