Today’s the day where we get to start on the science project. The only catch is that we don’t know what project we plan on doing because each group will have a different project to work on. But that’s not the only thing going on. Doctor Whooves wanted me to bring my swords that I have with me on a special history lesson, and Miss Luna plans to help out on this, since Doctor Whooves learned from her that I own a Masamune and Muramasa sword. He’s heard of some of the various stories about the two, and wanted to show them to his classes on understanding the possible truth between the two.
I just pulled up to the school parking lot early to meet up with Miss Luna and hand her the swords for the time being, due to school rules.
“Thanks for bringing the swords to me. I’ll make sure I hold on to them and bring them to Doctor Whooves’ class,” Luna said.
“Well, I would have never known that the doctor would be interested in the blades’ history,” I said. “This might be a good learning experience.”
“At least I was able to make sure I remember some of its history after my time in the kendo club,” Luna said.
“I still can’t believe that you were in the kendo club and Coach Spitfire was in the karate club back then,” I said.
“Well, when the kendo club was declining in members, Spitfire decided to merge both clubs into the samurai club. Having to learn control in karate and focus in kendo helped improved the joined club to winning several championships in college. It has got me thinking about creating a samurai club here, with the fact that you can work with your fist and blades, Applejack is good at controlled fighting, and I believe that Silver Spoon has learned a bit of its history, which is also a big factor for the club. Speaking of which, I heard that you had a sparing match with AJ, with a bet in place that you and AJ each had. I’m guessing that you used your gift to get the upper hand.”
“I was getting tired of all the girlfriend talk everyone was giving me,” I said. “I’m not one who goes through this kind of thing.”
“And to think that you would have AJ as your girlfriend if you lost,” Luna said. “Would have made it easier for the two of you to get together more often.”
“It’s because I’m trying to help Sunset out, which everyone is concerned about. And what do you mean that it would have been easier between AJ and me?” I asked after hearing her last comment.
“You mean you haven’t noticed every time you’re with her?” I shook my head. “She hasn’t been interested in a boyfriend before, and no boy in the school has had the guts to ask her out. And that’s because of what she has to do for her family. You’re the first guy she has been interested in. She told me about this because it felt like a new experience to her and wanted my advice on the matter.”
I asked Luna, “What did you tell her?”
“Just to follow her heart, and let the rest play out. I guess she still haven’t found a way to do so.”
“And I though she was pulling a ‘Rarity’ on me before,” I said. “And she did it twice.”
“Would her version of Rarity is to display a sexy look and voice?” I nodded. “She should have just been herself, or just come out and say it. I’m guessing she’s trying to see if you would catch on, which you haven’t.”
“Well, she believes that I’m too focused on Sunset all this time,” I said. “Plus she said that maybe Rarity would be interested in me, but doesn’t want to get her club members jealous of her. Even Octavia might be interested in me, and Rarity’s not the only girl to tell AJ this. Vinyl has messaged me about hooking me up with Octavia because she thinks I’m nice and cute, but doesn’t have the courage to ask me. I’m just not one who is interested in a relationship at this time.”
“I’m surprised that Trixie has yet to come forward.” I gave her a confused look. “You mean you haven’t noticed her either. She’s been eying you at every meeting. I even overheard her asking Chrysalis about you. Did you make some kind of first impression towards her?”
“Well, I did pull some acting for Twilight when we met her on the first day of school.” And that’s when it hit me. “Wait, you mean she likes a guy who knows how to act?”
“More like playing the part with her,” she responded. “You really have no experience with girls, do you?”
I stopped and let out a sigh before I spoke. “It’s because I move from city to city every year or two.”
“Feel like talking about it? We have some time before classes start.”
“Sure,” I said, “but not out here, please.”
So we went to Miss Luna’s office to talk about my problem with relationships.
“Back when I was in the 4th grade in Appleloosa, I was friends with Little Strongheart. Basically, it was both of us who helped resolved an issue that was going on, which led to the first annual Indian culture festival. We spent some time together when it was going on, and even though we were young, both of us felt this…connection that we had. But we knew there would be problems, with her being the chief’s daughter and me always on the move, so we just stayed as friends. Then it was to Trottingham for the 5th and 6th grades. That was when the bullying started. It became the only focus that I had. Then it was to Fillydelphia for the 7th and 8th grades. That’s when I started to discover my powers…and met Indigo later on. All the times that we have done training in the 8th grade to deal with bullies together, and I never had the courage to ask her to be my girlfriend.”
“You mean that you were interested in her back then?” Luna asked me.
“I…I was. But I felt like if I had to move again, I would break her heart in doing so. So I became a friend to her instead. Then it was to Manehattan for the big project that my dad was working on. I had to leave Indigo behind and move on. I’m sure you know the rest from that point from Coco.”
“What about Coco? Have you ever thought about being more of a friend to her? I mean, the two of you were close at the time,” Luna asked me.
“I had the same thing going through my head about her, and I think it was the right thing to do, since she left after the 9th grade. I just felt like that it would be pointless in having a relationship with someone when I’m always moving from city to city. I guess that’s why I have no experience in this matter.”
“But here you are now. You’re back with Coco, and Indigo goes to Crystal Prep. Think that would be more of getting a second chance with one of them again?”
“I’ve thought about that, but Coco told me when we were reunited that one day I might find a girl that I can spend my time with, maybe in college, and I wouldn’t have to be moving from city to city ever again. So I knew that Coco was out of the question because I didn’t want to hurt our friendship that we have. And you can understand with Indigo being at Crystal Prep that’s a no go there.”
“So you never had any feeling for any of the girls that you have met since you’ve gotten here?”
It took me a moment before I could answer. “Well, only two that I know of. Applejack is one of them, but I wasn’t sure if she was serious of just joking towards me.”
“And the other one?” she asked me.
“Sunset. I felt like that there was some pain in her from her past that needed to be healed. AJ and me think her father could have abused her, after seeing how she reacted towards Mrs. Rich and bringing him up. But I still won’t know until I get her to open up about her past. And yes, I can understand if others think I doing something stupid being with her. But that’s who I am. I can’t change that.”
“Well…” Luna took a moment before responding. “I can’t tell you what you should and shouldn’t do about having a relationship. That’s something for you to find out on your own…with your heart,” as she pointed at my chest. “But don’t be afraid to talk to me if you need to get something off your chest that’s bugging you. Remember that.”
“Thanks.” I looked at the clocked and noticed that classes would be starting soon. “I better get to class. I’ll see you in 2nd period with my swords.”
By the time 2nd period came, I saw Luna in my history class with my swords. Both of us talked about the history of Masamune and Muramasa, explaining in detail what made both blades different, answering questions from my classmates. It was at one point that got heads turning when Sunset asked her question.
“Why is the Muramasa called the blood-thirst blade?” Everyone turned and stared at her. “I mean, is there a reason they call it that?”
Luna was able to step in and answer her question. “That’s a good question to ask, and I think I have the answer to that.” She placed one of the blades back into the case and went up to the whiteboard.
“It started off as a challenge between the two on who can made the finer sword. When they finished their swords, they decided to test the results in a small creek, which I’ll draw on the board. The top line represents Masamune, and the bottom is Muramasa. When the leaves came towards them, it traveled to the side of Masamune’s blade, while others that came to Muramasa’s blade were cut in half. This also had the same effect on the fish that came by. Muramasa felt like his blade was the better of the two. But a monk who saw what went on gave his opinion on both swords. He believed that the Muramasa, while being a fine blade, was a bloodthirsty, evil blade, because it would cut anything in it’s path, and believed that the Masamune was the purer sword because it would not cut down anything that was innocent.
“It would be later on that lords and noble captains would request a Masamune blade to help protect themselves and those they cared or wish to protect. But evil warlords and assassins would request a Muramasa blade so that they can kill anything that would stand in it’s way. They even believed that if a Muramasa blade was drawn, that it must draw blood before it can be sheathed, if you believe in superstitions. That’s why it’s been called the blood-thirst blade.”
Derpy raised her hand and asked, “Is there a reason that those are listed as the last blades ever made?”
“Now this one I can answer,” I said. “Because of the clients that they encounter, Muramasa decided to challenge Masamune to a duel, by creating a blade that themselves will use to battle each other. The battle was to be held in an unknown location so that no one would interfere. No one really knew what happened when they haven’t seen or heard from either of them for days. A villager was walking through a forest until he came up to an opening. He saw two blades that were stuck into the ground, and no blood or person around. When he saw the engravings on both blades, he made his way back to the village elder about what he found. Unknown of what happened to them, they took the blades and placed them on display together, as a way to honor them for their craft, even if it was for different reasons.”
Another student wanted to know how I got them. I told them that it was a give from a museum collector, but didn’t have time to explain because the bell just rang. I made sure that they were placed in its case so that Luna and Doctor Whooves can show them to the next two classes before placing them back to her office. Twilight, Applejack, and Sunset all came up to us for a moment.
“I hope my question wasn’t uncalled for,” Sunset said.
Twilight stepped in and said, “I think that was a good question to ask. I would have never known that it was a monk’s opinion to give it that title. While it might be a superstition, there are those who believe in those kind of beliefs.”
“Indeed it is, Twilight,” Luna said. “And since I have you here, I’ve been thinking about something that I want to discuss with the club. Jack, AJ, Sunset. Can the three of you meet me in my office during club activities? I’ll notify Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon to meet up with us as well.”
“Sure thing,” Applejack responded, while we nodded our heads.
4th period was coming to an end, and everyone in class got their science project assignments. Sunset was confused as to what we had to do.
“The science of…weather? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Is that what you two have to work on?” Twilight asked us.
“Yep,” I responded.
“Oh, that’s a good assignment to work on.” Sunset just glared at Twilight, but didn’t want to say anything just yet. “With the way the weather works, scientists have been working on understanding weather better as the technology has evolved for its use.”
“I saw a show with Silver Spoon about this last week,” I said. “I’m sure we can get this done.”
The bell just rang, signaling the end of class. Everyone grabbed their books and left the classroom. Sunset was still worried about the assignment that we had to do. Applejack was able to join us in the hallway, but unlike her usual hello, she could see the worry on Sunset’s face.
“Something wrong, Sunset?” she asked.
Sunset let out a huff, not knowing what to say.
I said, “We have to work on the science of weather for our class project.”
“The science of weather?” Applejack said with a confused look on her face. “Well, I can see why she has that look on her face. Even I wouldn’t understand all of the details about weather. We just follow the Farmers’ Almanac we get before the end of the year to help plan for next year. Those guys do all the science stuff just to help us prepare for the farm season. Plus they have some interested tidbits in the book as well.”
Sunset asked, “So there is some science to the study of weather?”
“Depends on what ya looking at. The book only explains the possible outcome of what we need to look for. None of the mumbo jumbo stuff that people like Twilight would really know,” Applejack responded.
“Well, let’s worry about that later and see what Miss Luna wanted to talk to us about,” I said.
When we arrived to her office, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were there, waiting for us.
Miss Luna spoke. “I guess you wanted to know why I wanted us to meet today. I have been doing some thinking earlier today after our morning chat with Jack, and I was wondering if everyone would be willing to be part of a new club at school, the samurai club.”
“That’s an odd club to have,” Diamond Tiara said. “Are we supposed to wear armor and carry blades with us?”
“The samurai club is a combination of the karate club and kendo club, allowing members to learn strength, discipline, and focus.” We looked behind us to see Coach Spitfire at the doorway with a bag in her hand. “Sorry if I’m a bit late, Luna. Had to make sure the sports equipment was put away.”
“Thanks for showing up, Spitfire.” We turned our attention back to Miss Luna. “During our college years, I was part of the kendo club and Spitfire was part of the karate club. When the kendo club’s numbers were on a decline, Spitfire convinced the karate club to join the kendo club, creating the samurai club.”
Spitfire added, “Since both clubs come from the same origin, we figured that we can use both teachings to improve both sports whenever we had to compete. This showed a major improvement in both sports, allowing us to win in most of the tournaments that we have competed. And since I have seen Jack and AJ in action, plus the fact that Jack, along with Silver Spoon, have some historic knowledge about the weapons that they used, it’s a good starting point for the club.”
Luna continued. “This will be a test phase until the end of the school year before we can make it an official club. But I need to know is all of you will be on board with this.”
All five of us looked at each other before making our decision.
“I’m in,” said Silver Spoon.
“I guess I can give it a shot,” said Diamond Tiara.
“Count me in, partner,” said Applejack.
“I can use something new to practice,” I said.
We all looked at Sunset, waiting for her answer. I can see that she was debating about it in her mind.
“Sunset, I’m going to need an answer from you before we move forward,” Luna said.
I knew I needed to help her with her decision. “Can I talk to her for a moment in private?” Luna nodded her head, so I took Sunset outside the office to talk. “Sunset, is there something wrong about this decision?”
“Well,” she was hesitant for a moment, “I really don’t know. I’m not good at this kind of fighting, but if I refuse, then the club won’t be created because of my actions. And everyone knows about my past.”
“Look, it’s just a trial run, and there’s time to learn the sport. Just give it a shot. Maybe this is the change that you need in your life.”
She though about it for a moment, before looking at me and giving me a nod. We went back to Luna’s office so she can give her answer.
“Miss Luna, I’ll give it a shot.”
“Good,” Luna responded. “I work on getting everything prepared for our new club. I hope that by the time football season has ended, we can find time to make it possible.”
“Until then, I have something to get you started.” Coach Spitfire got into her bag and brought out some pairs of red, fingerless gloves, and handed each one of us a pair. I noticed the symbol on the glove was a ying yang design.
“Forgive me for asking, but what’s this thing on these gloves?” Applejack asked.
“It’s a ying yang symbol,” Spitfire answered. “It represents the merger of the kendo and karate clubs; the light and the dark, the white tiger and the black dragon. While both styles are different, where they come from is the same as always. It’s the symbol that we used to represent our club back then during our college years.”
“By the way, Jack. I realized that you didn’t have anything to display your blades back home. So I did some looking around and found an old, two blade stand to use with them.” Luna brought out a box with pieces of the blade stand in it. “It should be easy to assemble when you get home. I’ll leave it with your blades in my sister’s office. So if there are not any other questions, you’re dismissed.”
As everyone left, Sunset and me decided to make our way to the library for resource materials, while there was still time.
“Sunset, do you think you can come by my place tonight so we can get some of this done?” I asked her.
“I’ll have to discuss that with my mother. We only have one car, which we share. I have it for today, but I’ll have to run by my mother’s workplace to pick her up.”
“What do you do when she needs it?”
“She drops me off in the morning, and I take the bus after school, if possible.”
“You must have it rough.”
“I wish things were easier, but…”
I placed my hand on her shoulder and said, “We’ll do what we can on this project. Even if it means through the phone.”
She let out a giggle and said, “Thanks.”
“So she’s slowly opening up,” Celestia said to me.
“So far. But it’s a long way to go. And we think we might know the problem with her,” I said.
“Something to do with that fight that you saw in your vision?”
“Close,” I replied. “Last week when Mrs. Rich came by, she came close to hitting her daughter before I stopped her. Sunset made a harsh reaction and brought up her father and the cops in the same sentence. I want to think it’s family abuse, but I’m not sure.”
Celestia started to have a worried look on her face. “Why do I get a feeling that you need my help with something here?”
“Her mother has only one car, which Sunset has at this time. This could create a problem with working together more often if she has to go and pick her up, or have to take a bus home while waiting for her to come home.”
“When do your parents get home?”
“Mom gets home after five o’clock. Dad is after six. So it’s just Chrysalis and me for the time being.”
“Let me see what I can do on that.”
So Celestia called my mother first, then Ms. Shimmer later on. She was hoping that they could talk to each other about getting the two of us to meet together at home. All I can do now is wait for the results.
“I’ve done what I can do,” she said. “If you do get to work at home with her, how do you plan to get her to open up?”
“I might have an idea, but I’ll have to call an old friend of mine,” I said. “She met someone while waiting for me, and I think it could have been Sunset when her mother took her there. If I’m right, her words could be the wake-up call that she needs to help her change.”
“Then let’s hope you’re right about this.”
Chrysalis was able to help me after school with carrying the box to my truck, while I was carrying the case with the blades. As we were walking to my truck, I saw a guy and two girls looking over the parking area. Chrysalis noticed something about them and pushed me behind one of the cars far from them.
“Did you see the girl with the violet hair banded in the back?” Chrysalis asked me. “That’s Suri Polomare.”
I took a quick glance before ducking out of sight again. “And if I’m right, the girl with the slick, golden hair is Lightning Dust. But who’s the big blue guy that’s with them?”
“I don’t know, but my guess is that they’re looking for you, I assume.”
“I guess I got Crystal Prep’s attention. Let’s play along for now until we can find out what they are here for.”
Both of us got back up and started walking towards them next to my truck.
“Hey,” I yelled. “I hope you’re not messing with my truck.”
“Oh, sorry. I was just noticing how old it was,” Dust said. “I don’t think I’ve seen you before. Are you new here?”
“Yea, transferred over the summer. I don’t think I’ve seen any of you around here. But I haven’t met all of the students here anyway.” I looked at Chrysalis and said, “Could you put that box in the back of the truck.”
“Sure,” she replied and placed the box in the back of the truck, while I placed my case on the corner of the back of the truck.
I continued. “This truck might look old, but it’s been well maintain. My father helped me in fixing it up.”
“Wish they could have fixed the body,” Suri mumbled to herself.
“Hey, you could at least show some respect,” Dust said to Suri.
I nodded to Chrysalis that it was time to make our move.
“Yea, Suri. Show some respect,” Chrysalis said.
Suri caught wind in what she said. “Suri, who’s that?”
Chrysalis responded. “Oh, cut the act, Suri. We know who you are and where you’re from, fashion has-been.”
Suri started to get furious. “What did you just call me?”
“You heard what she said, since you like to hang out with Lightning Rust,” I said.
“That’s Dust, you jerk.” Her face went from furious to cocky. “I guess Dash and Rarity filled you in on us, meaning you’re the new player that’s been showing off here.”
“More like doing a better job than what your lazy school is doing,” as I was taunting her.
“Oh, you are so going to regret saying that,” Dust said before her group started to back up and into the open.
As we started to make our way towards them, I said, “If it’s trouble that you want, then it’s trouble you get.”
“Three on two? My kind of odds,” said the big guy.
“Make it three on three.” We saw Sunset walking towards us.
“Well, well, well. Look who shows up, the fire demon herself,” Dust said.
Sunset responded, “Look, anyone who wants to mess with my partner, has to mess with me…BITCH!!!”
Dust had a mean look on her face. “What did you just call me?”
“You heard me…BITCH!!!”
“THAT’S IT!!! Brick Wall, take care of the guy, we’ll deal with the bitches ourselves.”
All of us got into a big fight. Sunset made her way to Dust with fist flying. Chrysalis and Suri got into what looked like a cat fight. And the guy named Brick Wall came charging towards me. I dodged his charge towards me and bumped into my truck, knocking my sword case to the ground with it opened. He looked towards me and started to make a swing at me, only that I grabbed his fist to stop his punch. He threw his other fist at me, only for me to stop it with my other hand. That’s when he started to put his weight towards me, trying to push me back.
“Come on, loser. Is that the best you got?” as he taunted me.
“Oh, I’m just getting started.” I gave him three knee kicks to his gut, causing him to go to the ground for a moment. I noticed that Suri has knocked Chrysalis to the ground, shaking her up for a bit. Sunset was able to push Dust far back. That’s when Suri went towards Sunset’s back and grabbed her under her shoulders. Brick Wall started to recover, so I gave a swift kick to his face, shaking him up.
Dust started to get up and drew a switchblade. “I think its time for a bloody makeover, bitch.”
I knew I needed to level the playing field. With my case open, I went and grabbed Masamune and drew its blade. With the girls farther away, and little time to react, I knew that I needed to make a mad dash towards them. That’s when my soul powers kicked in. For some reason, I was able to make myself end up behind Suri. Not knowing how, I put it behind me and focus on the matter at hand. I placed the blunt edge on the blade to Suri’s neck.
“You dare cut her up, and I’ll be happy to end her career.”
“You’re bluffing,” Dust said to me.
“You want to bet her life on it?” I can sense confusion in Lightning Dust, but it faded when she put a grin on her face. That’s when I sense someone coming behind me, maybe Brick Wall. But that came to an end when I heard a thud behind me.
“Sorry if I’m late to react. The bigger they are, the harder they fall.” It was Chrysalis who stopped Brick Wall from advancing.
Now the fear of panic came back to Dust again. “So, what’s it going to be?” I said.
It was deadlocked for a moment before we heard a voice behind her.
“HEY!!! WE GOT COMPANY HERE!!!!”
Dust looked back and said, “Damn it. It’s Dash.” She looked back at us. “Let her go. We’re out of here.”
Suri threw Sunset to the ground and made a mad dash with Dust. Chrysalis let go of Brick Wall, allowing him to escape.
Dust looked back and said, “This isn’t over, fire demon,” and got into the car and drove off.
Several of our friends came running towards us. I went and grabbed Sunset’s hand, pulling her up.
“You OK, Sunset?”
“Yea,” she responded, wiping the dust from her jacket.
Twilight was the first to join us. “Sunset, are you trying to cause trouble again?”
Before I could respond to Twilight, Rainbow Dash stepped in. “I don’t think so, since it was Lightning Dust that she was facing. I recognize the slick golden hair anywhere.”
“That’s not the only one we were facing,” Chrysalis said. “Suri was with them.”
“I can’t believe this,” Rarity said. “I know she likes to take credit for anyone’s work, but this is the lowest of the low from her.”
“What about the guy that was with them?” Shining Armor asked me.
“Brick Wall. Name rings a bell?”
“Crystal Prep’s big guy on the team,” Shining Armor replied with his arms crossed. “Looks like they’re trying to start the prank wars early.”
“Prank wars?” I asked.
“They start their prank wars with us on the week of our match-up with them,” Flash said. “But this is early for them to do this.”
“Because this wasn’t a prank,” Chrysalis responded. “They were after Jack.”
“Looks like ya got their attention, Jack,” Applejack said.
“Let’s just hope I was able to send them a message back to them.”
“I hate to interrupt all this, but I need to go and pick up my mother from work,” Sunset said.
“Go on. We’ll be fine here,” I said to her. She started to make her way to the car and drove off.
“So does anyone here have an idea why Crystal Prep would go after Jack?” Applejack asked.
We took a moment to think about it, while I went to put my blade away. Pinkie Pie started to wave her hand like crazy. We just started at her, waiting to hear her answer.
“It’s because he’s popular at school and great on the team and gets the girls attention and everyone must be telling about him online and…”
“Wait,” I said, cutting Pinkie off. “Does a lot of info get out on social media sites?” The girls nodded.
“We always like to tell our experiences to our friends online. Well, ones that we feel like telling,” Fluttershy said as she was blushing.
“But if Crystal Prep is looking into our social accounts, then…” Twilight stopped and grabbed her phone to look up online. “Of course. It looks like Jack’s the trending topic for quite some time around our school.”
“That could explain why some of them would be scared of you,” Rainbow Dash said.
I decided to think some more before coming up with another reason. “Twilight, is there anything that would be different from this football season and last year’s?”
“Expect for the fact that we made three straight wins in a row twice, I wouldn’t know. I have both last year’s and this year’s stats on my computer. I can look into it and see if something stands out. But what makes you think that would be the reason?”
“Would you be scared if your perfect record was about to come to an end by some rising star?” I said.
“I see your point,” Twilight said. “I’ll check on it and let you know tomorrow.”
“Thanks,” I said. “And let’s make it known to them that their attempted prank failed, but no names online. I want to see what their next move would be and who could be behind it.”
“Oooooo…we get to taunt them,” Pinkie Pie said. “I like that.”
“Let’s just hope it doesn’t backfire,” Applejack added.