//------------------------------// // Ch. 17 - Past and Future // Story: Equestria World, Book 1: Surviving Canterlot High // by Gear Works //------------------------------// Ever since our first homecoming meeting, I knew it was going to be tough for everyone to trust Sunset. But I had to give it some time to make it happen. Chrysalis and Trixie decided to have the update meetings every Wednesday during free study, with some of us being there, and full group meetings at my place every Saturday, working on display parts and checking on what we have and what we need. We had least than four weeks to get it done, but we knew it could be done. And Miss Luna would make sure that we have the gym the week before homecoming. It was Friday, meaning that it was time for our second game, and the first road game for this season. So I had to stay after school to get our gear together and get on the bus to Appleloosa. It has been so long since we lived there that my teammates wanted to know why we lived there that one time. I was just a little boy in elementary school, but I remember my father working on building a farm that some big time farmer businessman wanted. It was that time we brought in a barn building expert for open space buildings. The only problem is that there was a conflict with the Buffalo Indian Tribe on land claims. One of the students that I became friends with was from that tribe named Little Strongheart. We became good friends that both sides noticed it. So they were able to work out their differences and come to an agreement with the land. That’s when I knew that I wanted to help out others with their problems when they needed it the most. My teammates were impressed with my story. They even told me that Applejack had a cousin living there name Braeburn. I doubt I ever met the guy when I was there. Since I had to keep my soul powers a secret, I never had them when it happened. But I did spend some time with the tribe to learn about their culture. It was also the time that Little Strongheart felt that I was something special. I never knew what she meant by that during that time, but when my powers came to life, I slowly understood what she finally meant by that. We grabbed our own equipment and started heading outside. Me, along with Shining, Flash, Thunderlane, and Swift, were met by two cheerleaders: Cadence and Roseluck. “You boys ready for game number two?” Cadence asked. “You know we are,” Shining Armor replied. “Twilight already on the bus?” “With Moon Dancer, of course,” Roseluck said. “By the way Jack, you have a fan club waiting for you.” She pointed to the other cheerleaders up ahead. “Really?” I said as I rolled my eyes. “Don’t tell me they’re single.” “Maybe,” Cadence said. “You never know.” “And where’s our fan club?” Thunderlane asked. “You should know that they have to deal with the captain if they want me,” Shining said as he was pointing to Cadence. “And I don’t think they want to mess with Twilight for Flash.” “Yea. And you have Roseluck with you, so you know they don’t want to cross that line,” Flash said. “Hey, we are not in a relationship,” Thunderlane said. “We’re just friends.” “Tell that to Soarin and Dash,” I said. “I think they would be in the same spot as you to are.” “Then I guess you never heard about what happened last semester,” Swift said. “Oh, this is going to be good,” Flash said. “Tell him what happened between the two of them.” “I was playing with them on three on three soccer with a few other students. I was the goalkeeper while they were kicking the ball between the two of them. It’s what happened after we won the game that was interesting. Soarin gave Dash a victory slap on her rear, and she just change in an instant. When Soarin realized what just happened, he just bolted with Dash chasing him down.” Flash continued. “I was with Twilight and her friends waiting for them when Soarin starts blazing though saying ‘GET OUT OF THE WAY! MAD GIRL ON THE LOOSE!’ Then Dash is running after him cursing like a lunatic. Took a while to realized it was all because he slapped her butt.” “Oh, you should tell Coach Spitfire this. I have a feeling she will get a laugh out of it, since she thinks they make a great couple,” I recommended. “Well, I better get the girls on the back of the bus before you guys get in.” Cadence starts running up to the other girls and orders, “Alright ladies, on the bus. Don’t need to give these guys any distractions right now.” “Jack, you might want to brace yourself after the game, if you know what I mean,” Roseluck said with a wink before joining the girls. “Does this happen to every single popular guy?” I asked. “YES!!!” “Forget I asked.” So it was cheerleaders in the back, players in the middle, and captains and staff in the front on the trip. We were busy with Twilight and Moon Dancer on what we needed to know before the game. And it was a good thing for us because we won, 38 to 7. Shining Armor only played three quarters before Thunderlane took over, which allow me to take his spot. The only down side was the crazy wind. I caught on to it on the kickoff, and Swift was one for three in field goals. I told him that I missed four field goals when West End High played Fillydelphia High last year in crazy wind, just so he didn’t feel bad. As we took our equipment off and headed back to the bus, I can see why Roseluck warned me about the cheerleaders, because they were all waiting outside the bus. “Looks like someone has his own fan club,” Spitfire said jokingly. “Brings back old memories in high school.” “Very funny, coach,” I said. “How am I supposed to handle THAT?” “Like a man,” Soarin said. “Unless you’re chicken,” Dash added. “Already pressuring the players, Dash? You’re lucky my cuz ain’t around.” We looked around to see a yellow guy with orange hair and farm clothes that are similar to Applejack’s. “I was hoping that you would see us before we left,” Soarin said before turning to me. “Jack, this is Braeburn, Applejack’s cousin.” “So this is the guy that Applejack has been talking about on the phone. Nice to finally meet ya,” Braeburn said as he shook my hand. “I’m glad I was able to stop by and see you guys for a moment. I’m waiting for one of the school’s cheerleader to meet up with me.” “Babysitting already, Braeburn?” Rainbow Dash said. “Only because she’s the daughter of the Buffalo tribe’s chieftain.” He looked back to see an orange girl with long, golden hair coming to us. “Was hoping you get here. Everyone, meet Little…” “…Strongheart?” I said. She took a moment to look me over before she recognized whom I was. “Jack Diamond? Is that you?” I nodded to her, in which she placed her hands on her mouth in shock. “I can’t believe it. You’ve grown since I last saw you.” “I should be saying the same thing about you too,” I said. “At least your father is still letting you attend school.” “It’s because I’m working on student relations with the Buffalo tribe, helping out by bridging the gap between both sides.” “With my help, of course,” Braeburn added. “I didn’t know you were on the visiting school’s football team,” Little Strongheart said. She came up to me and felt my arm. “You even worked out a bit.” “Well, I had someone help me with that back in the 8th grade in Fillydelphia. And did some football playing in the 10th grade in Manehattan. Now my family is living in Ponyville, which I hope is our final move between cities.” “Yea, this guy been very helpful around us that his popularity sky-rocketed in school,” Rainbow Dash bragged about. “You just had to say that, Dash,” I replied. “Hey, the cheerleaders behind you is just proof of that,” she said as she pointed at the group next to the bus door. “I knew you were special, but not like this,” Little Strongheart said as she giggled. I scratched the back on my head and said, “Yea, I know. I just wish I didn’t hear you tell me that when I was living here. But we need to head on back home. Can’t hold up the bus now, can we?” “Well, at least I know where you are living, in case I want to come and visit one day,” she responded. “Just have Braeburn get my address for his cousin Applejack,” I replied. We said our goodbyes before they left. Then I still saw the group of cheerleaders waiting for me. “So, are you man enough to face them or what?” Dash was egging me on. Twilight and Moon Dancer walked up to us as they heard Dash’s dare. Twilight said, “Give it up, Dash. He doesn’t need to go through that if he doesn’t want to.” “But where’s the fun in that?” Dash replied. “Forget about it,” Moon Dancer said. “Besides, I need to talk to him on the way back, so those girls have to wait another day to sit with him.” Rainbow Dash was disappointed in seeing that her dare just failed on her. So I walked up behind Rainbow Dash and said, “Besides, would a chicken do this to you?” I gave her a big slap on the butt, causing her to react in shock and embarrassment. “And if you try to chase me, I’ll knock you down on the spot.” She started to look at me with those angry eyes. Then turned her stare at the other guys who were on the bus and yelled, “You are so going to get it for telling that story to him.” After saving me from the group of cheerleaders, Moon Dancer wanted us to sit in the back of the bus, since everyone else would take a quick nap while she wanted to look over some videos and images of the game. I just used the time looking out the window, trying to clear my head of all that has been going on around me. It was when she got a text on her cell that caught my attention. “Who’s it from?” I quietly said to her. “Twilight.” She opened the text and saw a picture of Thunderlane sleeping on Roseluck’s shoulder. We tried to contain our laugh when we saw it. “At some point, they are going to have to make it official,” I quietly said. “I can never understand why a boy and girl just want to be friends in front of others when they’re afraid of taking their friendship to the next level,” she quietly responded. “You ever thought about finding a boyfriend?” “Not really. I’m not much into having a relationship.” “So you’re one of the single types?” “You could say that. I just don’t see how I can handle that stuff like Twilight does with Flash.” “Well, what kind of guy would you go for, if someone peaked your interest?” “Someone who can hold an intelligent and challenging conversation, which I don’t think you can even come close, Jack.” “Ouch. You know how to go below the belt,” I sarcastically said. “Well, at least I saved you from those cheerleaders. I know you have more important things to focus on.” “Like Sunset,” I said. It was quiet again before Moon Dancer decided to put her tablet down to speak. “Coco said that you were tired of dealing with…bullies, I guess, before you met her. It’s been bugging my mind, but when did you start dealing with them?” “Back in the 6th grade, before I acquired my gift. I was tired of being picked on, not to mention seeing others do the same. Someone needed to step up and do something. I just needed to find a way how.” “Makes me wish I had you around as well,” she said. I asked her, “You were bullied back then?” “Yep. But I just ignored them and went about my business. And that was before I met Twilight. She was just as smart as I was. And we both needed new friends to make, since I never really had any back then. But you look like someone who doesn’t get bullied by others.” “I wasn’t like this before,” I said. “When my gift started to show up in the 7th grade, I thought I was going crazy. Then Little Strongheart, the girl that was with Braeburn, told me that I was somewhat special. She’s a member of the Buffalo Indian Tribe and the chief’s daughter. Remembering what she told me, I thought more about what was happening to me. So I started to understand my gift. Most of the focus was on either bullies or those being bullied. “By the time I started the 8th grade, I saw some kids picking on one kid a lot outside of school. I decided to take a stand and make them stop what they were doing. They decided to start a fight with me. Somehow I was able to dodge their attacks, but I struggle fighting back because I wasn’t strong enough. That’s when she came along and joined the fight. She was tougher and quicker than the guys and started to put them in their place before they ran off. I remember seeing her in my homeroom class. She hated bullies a lot and felt like others weren’t doing enough to fix the problem. See how I wasn’t strong enough to take them on; she decided to help me get better in handling them. We spent every weekend training and sparring against each other in martial arts, something she picked up years ago. That’s how I got better when someone wanted to pick a fight with me. And we had one rule. Never go into a fight alone.” “I’m impressed. What was the girl’s name?” I took a moment to think before I remember her name. “Indigo Zap.” She put her hand on her chin and started to think. “Indigo Zap, Indigo Zap. Where have I heard that name before?” “Well, she was hoping to be the best athlete out there, kind of like Rainbow Dash.” “I might need to look her up when I get a chance this weekend. But…as for the fact that you were able to dodge any attack in that fight, do you think it has something with your gift that helped?” “Now that you think about it, I was able to sense when some…threat was coming my way without seeing it. You would think it was part of my gift. I don’t see that it was a part of the ‘soul release’ power that I learned.” “I don’t think so either,” she said. “Celestia let me look over her book so I can keep an eye out of anything new showing up from you. I think you might have already unlocked one of your powers long ago, but we haven’t noticed it at the time. And I want to think it’s one that she might have overlooked. I’ll let her know about this and see if she can come by tomorrow at the meeting with her book. We need to discuss all this after everyone else leaves the meeting.” When we had our next group meeting at my place, it was to start working on some of the display props that we can carry there on the week of homecoming. This time, Principal Celestia was able to come by to see the progress that we have done. When we were done for the day, Celestia, Luna, Coco, and Moon Dancer stayed with Chrysalis and me. That’s when Celestia brought out the book from her bag. “So what is it that you said I might have overlooked?” as she was handing the book to Moon Dancer. “Some of the pages listed in the book described a list of soul battle skills. It could also be a reason for his powers to awaken, but that would be hard to prove at this time. It does explain how he has been able to avoid any attack against any bullies that he has faced.” Moon Dancer was flipping through each page before she came to the one that she was looking for. She adjusted her glasses to make sure she found the right page. “Here it is, Soul Sense.” She handed the book to me to read over the page listed. “Soul Sense” A person can dodge any attack that it cannot see coming. This can allow an opening to execute a counter attack. It can also allow them to detect any threat that someone cannot see behind a wall or around a corner. This is a common battle skill to know, but comes with a downside. If one cannot control its own emotions, it can mask any hostile attack with its own negative power. Celestia asked me, “Was there ever a time when you got hurt buy any bullies that you faced?” “It was back in the 8th grade when a group of bullies kept picking on the same kid. I was with my friend, doing our best to get them to stop. It was at one point when the same group of bullies crossed the line. The kid they picked on almost committed suicide by hanging himself, but his parents were lucky to save him, but it left him with brain damage. My friend and I knew who was responsible for all this and decided to confront them. When they didn’t care what happened to him, that was the only time I lost my cool. I didn’t care what happened to me, as long as they paid for what they did to him. We even crossed the line ourselves and made them experience what that kid was going through before they gave in. It wasn’t the wise thing to do, but someone had to send a message, even if there were risk in what we did.” “Sounds to me that you were more of a bully than they were,” Celestia said. “Then I wasn’t clear about how we took care of bullies. We had one rule. Never cross the line unless the bullies cross it first. When the picking never stopped and he decided to commit suicide, we knew we would have to cross that line and make sure they paid for what they have done. At least they gave up and gave in before it got worse.” “I’m surprised that you would confess something like that and didn’t get caught,” Luna said. “Well, turns out they had some past criminal history with who they were hanging out with. Some gang, I believe, so going to the police would be pointless to them. After what they experienced, they decided to make up for what they did and offer their services to help care for him until he was able to recover, which could be a few years, maybe more. Doctors couldn’t give a timetable on his recovery.” “Well, I hope he recovers back to his normal self, I hope,” Coco responded. “And it looks like you were lucky in what you did.” “Fate has a way of making these events happen,” Luna said. “Just like they have now.” “Well, I’m not sure fate has a way of dealing with this. Remember when you told me her name? I looked her up online and found a news article on her.” Moon Dancer brought out a piece of paper from her book bag and handed it to me. “Indigo Zap is a student at Crystal Prep.” I looked at the paper, seeing that it was about Crystal Prep’s top ranked athlete from last semester, Indigo Zap. “Started attending in her sophomore year…starter in the girls’ basketball team…top track athlete…ranked in the Top 5 of all Crystal Prep students in her class.” I looked up and asked, “She did all this?” “Yep,” Moon Dancer responded. “Then what the boys at Cloudsdale said could be true,” I said. “What do you mean?” Celestia asked me. “I asked them before the first game about Crystal Prep, and they said that the school has been getting the best students from outside Ponyville.” “You think she would have this gift as well?” Moon Dancer asked. “Hard to say,” I replied. “All I know is that she works hard to be the best. So if she has the same gift as me, hers would have awakened after I left Fillydelphia.” “Unless someone in Crystal Prep has done some kind of enhancement on them,” Celestia said. “And if that’s the fact, we might not be able to trust her at all.” I looked back at the paper and noticed something at the end of the article. “Hold on for a moment. She brings up how a friend of hers was able to train with her back in the 8th grade to keep her on track. And I was the only one who trained with her, so she must still remember me.” “We don’t know for sure,” Luna said. “But for now, we can’t tell anyone that you know her, including Rainbow Dash.” “Why is that?” I asked. “Remember when she crashed into my office on the first day?” Celestia said. “Yea. She panicked about losing help with her scholarship.” That’s when I knew that Rainbow Dash and Indigo Zap had something in common. “OH HECK NO!!! You cannot tell me that they are fighting for the same scholarship.” “They are,” Celestia responded. “And that’s not the only real rivalry out there.” Luna brought out some more info to show me. “When Moon Dancer told me about Indigo, I figure you need to know some others that have caught our eye.” I saw some of the girls from the basketball team in action. “The bluish girl with white pigtails and glasses sitting on the bench is Sugarcoat. She’s on the same level as Twilight and is also fighting for the same Dean’s scholarship. She also works on the game plays just like Twilight.” “Brains and tactics,” I said. “How interesting.” Luna continued. “The yellow girl with the reddish ponytail is Sour Sweet. She’s more of an aggressive girl on the team. And the reddish girl with the long green hair is Lemon Zest. She has this ritual of listening to loud music before every game.” “Lemon Zest. Why does that sound familiar?” I asked myself. “Well, she’s kind of like Vinyl, but into rock instead of electronic,” said Moon Dancer. “Oh crap,” I said as I hit my forehead with my hand. “After I learned that Vinyl got 3rd place in the amateurs this past summer, I looked up to see who beat her, and the one in 2nd place was ‘DJ Lemon Lime’. We have a way of using stage names instead of our own names, and if I remember seeing who it was, it almost looks like Lemon Zest in this picture.” “Let’s hope that’s not true, because she would freak if she heard that she got beat by a Crystal Prep student in disguise,” Chrysalis said. “Look at the next picture that you have,” Luna said. “The mint girl with the mixed yellow hair is Lightning Dust. Coach Spitfire once knew her when she coached back in Cloudsdale in junior soccer with Dash and Soarin. She was more of a troublemaker back then. Don’t know why she attends Crystal Prep now.” “And the mint girl with the short violet hair is Sunny Flare, Principal Cinch’s daughter,” Celestia said. “Don’t let that poised look fool you. She can manipulate others easily, and is just as athletic as the others. Plus she’s the only one I have seen with those electronic bracelets on her.” “They’re data pad bracelets,” I said. “I read about them on an online magazine. They’re very expensive from most portable technology out there, and have all the advanced features than any other that’s out there. Looks like someone’s been spending a lot of money to get these for her.” “Jack, there’s one other you should know, although I don’t think she would be like the others,” Coco said as she got out her cell. She pulled up a picture of a light purple girl with violet hair. “Suri Polomare, I assume. I remember Rarity said something about her,” I said. “We doubt she’s like them, but we can’t take any chances,” Chrysalis said. “What about the guys on the football team? Anything that stands out from them?” I asked. “Still haven’t gotten anything on them yet,” Luna said. “So we are still in the blind on them.” “Then the only best hope I have is with Indigo Zap,” I said. “And I hate to get her involved in all this when she could be put in the line of fire.” “Then it’s best that we don’t get anyone else involved until further noticed,” Celestia recommended. “And if Indigo notices you and is willing to help, I might accept her help in this.” I said, “I can live with that. And if you find out anyone else that stands out, I want to know as soon as possible.”