//------------------------------// // Day 8: Mysterious Strength // Story: A Nobody's Destiny // by Golden Flare //------------------------------// Day 8 Mysterious Strength Canterlot High School - Boy's Locker Room Time of Day: After School Weather: Sunny Time: 2:25 PM After some convincing from Celestia and Luna, you were able to get out of bed, eat breakfast, and go to school. You were able to more or less avoid the girls the whole day, except for Sunset, who still shared the same classes with you, but kept herself from asking questions. At the final bell, you remembered today was the day of your soccer tryouts, so you made your way to the locker rooms and changed into your uniform. You sat on one of the benches and began to think, I steered clear of the girls throughout the entire day, I only did so to keep them from asking me questions about my past, but Sunset didn't ask me anything, and she had every opportunity, why is that? Either way, I know I can't avoid them forever, so maybe one day I'll tell them the truth, but that day ISN'T today. Changing topics, today's my soccer tryouts, so the girls will most likely be cheering me on, not only that, Rainbow Dash is going to be on the field, so I'll have to face her eventually. Guess I can't escape them from here on out. "Hey." You perk up at the familiar male voice, you look up to see Soarin' standing in front of you. "You okay, man?" "Yeah, just thinking." "Whoa! You can talk!?" "Yup, found my voice just yesterday." "O-Okay then, what were you thinking about?" "...The future. And my friends." He cleared his throat, "Well, don't worry about it too much, you'll stress yourself out." "Yeah, you're right." "Could you find Fleetfoot and tell her that?" he joked, which made you chuckle a bit, "Anyway, I came in to see if you're ready, Spitfire's gonna start tryouts any minute." "Alright. Let's do this." you say as you stand up. "That's what I like to see!" he says while giving you a friendly slap on the back. You and Soarin' made your way out of the locker room and out onto the field. Canterlot High School - Soccer Field Time of Day: Afternoon Weather: Sunny Time: 2:30 PM FWEEEEEEE!! The sound of a whistle blowing earns everyone's attention. "ALRIGHT LADIES, LISTEN UP!" Spitfire yelled, walking along the line of contenders, "YOU THINK YOU GOT WHAT IT TAKES TO BE ON THE WONDERCOLT'S SOCCER TEAM!?" "Right!" everyone but you cheered. "WRONG!" Spitfire corrected, "CAUSE IF YOU HAD WHAT IT TAKES, YOU'D BE ON THE TEAM ALREADY! YOU'RE ALL HERE TO SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT, AND YOU'RE GONNA DO IT AGAINST SOME OF MY BEST TEAMMATES!" You look to the other side and saw another line of athletes, most likely the original team. "E-Even you, ma'am?" a nervous student asked. "YOU MAGGOTS DON'T EVEN GET THE HONOR OF LICKING MY CLEETS CLEAN!!" Spitfire roared in his face, "WE'RE DOING THIS A CERTAIN WAY; IF YOU MANAGE TO IMPRESS ME AS YOU WORK YOUR WAY ONTO THE TEAM, YOU'LL BE REWARDED WITH A BRONZE WONDERCOLT BADGE, WHICH MAKES ONE OF YOU MY HONORARY ROOKIE IN TRAINING!" Spitfire holds up a badge of a colt with a blown back mane coated in a brown metal, "AND AS TIME GOES ON, YOU'LL NEED A FURTHER DEMONSTRATION OF YOUR SKILLS TO MAKE SURE YOU'RE NOT GOING SOFT ON US, WHICH THEN YOU'LL PLAY AGAINST FLEETFOOT AND SOARIN' FOR THE SILVER WONDERCOLT BADGE, SYMBOLIZING THAT YOU'RE ONE TOUGH WONDERCOLT!" she holds up another badge, which is the same as the other one, but coated with a grayish colored metal, "THEN, YOUR FINAL TEST WILL TO PLAY AGAINST ME, FOR THE GOLD WONDERCOLT BADGE, WHICH MEANS YOU'RE THE BEST OUT OF ALL OF US!" lastly, she holds up one final badge coated in dark yellow metal, "BUT, YOU GOTTA BE ON THE TEAM TO GET ANYWHERE FARTHER THAN BRONZE, SO LET'S GET STARTED!!!" FWEEEEEEE!! 30 minutes later... After some major failures from the other contenders, your time has come to play. Spitfire step into view and yells in your face, "YOU READY, MAGGOT!?!" "MA'AM, YES MA'AM!!" you yell back, surprising her. "You...You can talk?" "Naxon can what!?" Trixie shouted as her bandmates were speechless. "Whoa! Never saw THAT coming." Flash said as his bandmates were slack-jawed. "Um, yeah, just started yesterday." Spitfire recomposes herself and goes back to shouting, "VERY WELL! LET'S SEE WHAT YOU GOT, KID!" You walk out onto the center field and turn to the bleachers to see your friends, the Rainbooms, Trixie and the Illusions, Flash Sentry and his band, Principal Celestia, and Vice Principal Luna watching and waiting for you to play, they cheered when they saw you were finally on the field. They're...cheering? For me? After what happened yesterday? You looked toward Sunset and saw her mouth, "We'll talk later, just focus on the game." You nod in understanding, which made Sunset smile. You turn your attention back to the field to see a purple skinned girl with yellow hair in a ponytail wearing a Wondercolt uniform like yours, except hers is form-fitting for females. Spitfire walked up to you two with a soccer ball in one hand and her whistle in the other. "NAXON VS. CLOUDY KICKS, FIRST TO FIVE GOALS WINS! BEGIN!!!" FWEEEEEEE!! She dropped the ball in between the two of you as she blew the whistle. Time began to slow down in your eyes as you remember how to play and assess the situation, Okay, I have to kick the ball to the goal without using my hands, but I have to maneuver around my opponent to reach my target. you smirk, Easy. As soon as the ball touched the ground, you simply kicked it in between Cloudy's spread out legs and the ball sped into the goal like lightning. surprising everyone present, even Spitfire. Fleetfoot, however, recollected herself and shouted, "ONE-ZIP!" then proceeded to mark the score, 1-0. Your friends snapped themselves out of their stupor and cheered for you. Cloudy gave you a determined scowl as you both got ready for the next round... 20 minutes later... There were three more matches after Cloudy Kicks, which ended 5-1. Match number 2 was you and Bulk Biceps, who had pure white skin and a short, blonde Mohawk, it ended 5-0, you guess his muscles were too heavy for him to keep up with you. Match number 3 was you and Tennis Match, she had short, light green hair and pale yellow skin, it ended 5-2, she was good, just not THAT good, even now, with the name, "Tennis Match", you wonder why she's on the soccer team. Match number 4 was you and Curly Winds, he had dark blue curly hair and light blue skin, it ended 5-0, he was slower than you anticipated, you make a mental note not to judge someone's ability by their name alone. Your skill alone was able to impress everyone in the stands. The next match was your final one; you against Rainbow Dash, the best athlete on every team in Canterlot High, you knew without a doubt that this would be your toughest challenge yet, and you make sure not to underestimate her. "Hey!" You turn to the brash-sounding voice and see Rainbow glaring at you. "Don't think I'm gonna go easy on you just cause you're my friend! I have a reputation to maintain!" You stare for a moment, then you smirk, "Then you better bring it." Your comment intensifies her glare, "Oh, it's brought." "ALRIGHT! NO MORE TRASH TALK!" Spitfire yells, "ON THE FIELD, YOU TWO!" You and Rainbow make your way to the center field with your friends cheering both of you on. "GO RAINBOW! GO NAXY! GO RAINBOW! GO NAXY!" Pinkie cheered. "Go for it, you two!" Sunset declares. "Show him what for, Rainbow!" Applejack shouts. "Tear her apart, Naxon!" Trixie cheers. "NAXON RULES! RAINBOW DROOLS! NAXON RULES! RAINBOW DROOLS!" Fuchsia and Lavender chanted. "Looks like we both got fans." Rainbow says to you. "Care to disperse with the banter?" you said. "Yeah, game time!" "FINAL MATCH!" Spitfire yelled, "NAXON VS. RAINBOW DASH! BEGIN!!!" As the ball fell to the ground, Rainbow was the first to kick it away and run with it. You were impressed because she was the only one out of the other players who could do that. With a plan set in mind, you ran after her and jumped, hoping to go over and land in front of her. You then felt a burst of speed and the wind whipping past you as you landed between Rainbow and the goal, surprising her. You kicked the ball away from her, which rebounded off the bleachers, you jumped and rushed in midair like before while doing a 180 degree spin with a leg stretched out and kicked the ball into the other goal with incredible speed. "Naxon: 1, Rainbow Dash: zip!" Fleetfoot declared as she added a point to your scoreboard. Rainbow stood there, jaw hanging wide open as you begin to comprehend the burst of speed you conducted in midair; you knew you learned a new ability. OBTAINED Air Slide LV1 Rainbow grit her teeth and growled in annoyance, "Don't get cocky, Naxon, this is just the beginning." For the next 15 minutes, you two were demonstrating your skills to each other as you and Dash scored back and forth, ground to air, and everything in between. When the score was at 3-2, you decided lay down some truth on Dash, smack talk or not. "If you spend half as much time concentrating as you do talking, Rainbow Dash, perhaps you'd be less predictable." Rainbow, who's even more annoyed now than before, replies, "Are you kidding me? I'm predictable!? I'm just getting warmed up!" The two of you kept trying to outdo each other as you scored, even going as far as showing off and getting fancy with your kicks and speed. Spitfire called a timeout when the score was tied at 4-4. You and Dash were on separate benches, panting heavily as the exhaustion was setting in. Pinkie and Applejack came up behind you and Rainbow respectively and dumped an entire bottle of water on your heads. "Ahh...thanks, AJ." Rainbow said. "Anytime, pardner." Applejack said. "Thanks, Pinkie, I needed that." you said. "No probla-mo, Naxy!" Pinkie cheerfully said. After a few minutes of R&R, you and Dash make your way back to the field, dripping in sweat and water. Spitfire came in between you two with the ball in her hand. "READY!?" You both glare at each other in determination. "BEGIN!!!" Rainbow stole the ball as it landed, rushing quickly past you and nearing the goal. Rainbow smiled as she knew victory was in her grasp, she got ready to kick until you swiftly appeared in front of her and did backflip with your leg stretched out in the process, kicking the ball high into the air. You took a giant leap and reached the ball's height in seconds, you reared back your leg and kicked the ball as hard as you could, time began to slow down as the force of the kick made it catch fire and quickly change from red fire to blue fire, time returned to its normal speed and the ball sailed straight through the net of the goal, leaving behind a smoking hole and grinding itself on the fence behind it, causing the metal to melt onto the ball. It abruptly stopped spinning, smoke coming from it as it melded into the fence, leaving everyone in complete shock as you made several flips in midair and landed on your feet in a crouching position. You stood up and noticed the damage you caused to the field. "Oops, guess I overshot it." you said. (stop music) You now have access to your statistics! Lv. 1 HP: 25/25 MP: 20/20 STR: 5 MAG: 5 DEF: 5 SPD: 5 Crit. %: 5 Crit. Bonus: 5 Statistics Your statistics measure your level, health, strength, magical ability, endurance, agility, critical hit percentage, and critical hit bonus. Every time your level goes up, your stats increase a certain amount. You can also use armor and accessories to improve or weaken your stats, so be careful. Suddenly, you felt yourself become stronger. Level Up! Lv. 1 > 2 HP: 25 +2 =27 MP: 20 +2 =22 STR: 5 +4 =9 MAG: 5 +2 =7 DEF: 5 +3 =8 SPD: 5 +5 =10 Crit. %: 5 +2 =7 Crit. Bonus: 5 +4 =9 Ability Level Up! High Jump LV2 OBTAINED Haste LV1 After noticing all the stares of disbelief you were getting, you quickly excused yourself and made your way to the locker room to change back into your coat. Before you made your exit, you heard a tussle out in the hall. "Hey, Rainbow Crash!" a tough, mocking voice spoke. "Whataya want, Dumb Bell?" you hear Rainbow say. "Saw your game with the new kid, how could someone like you lose to a loser like that?" you hear this "Dumb Bell" say, before a hear a 'thump' on the floor, "Guess you're too weak to be the best now. Ha-ha-ha-ha!" You look out into the hall to see Rainbow on the floor surrounded by three burly guys, who were all laughing at her. This angered you, so you decided to teach them a lesson; you snuck up behind the one who's back was turned to you and balled your fist up. "Maybe we should teach you how to be tough by roughing you up a—BLK!?" He was interrupted by a sharp pain in the back of his head. Dumb Bell fell unceremoniously to the floor, revealing you and your outstretched fist with an unamused look upon your features. Ticked off, the tanish skinned guy rushed you, only for you to jump and conduct a 180 spin with your leg out, kicking him in the head with the back of your heel and slamming said head into the wall, knocking him out. While in midair, you sped toward the last one using your Air Slide ability with your fist ready and punched him dead square in the face, making him fall to the floor with you standing on top of him. (stop music) You walk over to Rainbow and held your hand out to help her up, "You okay?" Rainbow was hesitant, but reached out and grasped his hand, allowing him to pull her up. Once she was back on her feet, she snatched her hand away from his, "I could've handled it." she said, defensively. You became downtrodden and looked away, believing that you did something wrong. Were you not supposed to help her? "...Thank you." You look back to Rainbow, surprised and confused at her sudden change in attitude. "Y'know...for helping me...and stuff. Maybe you're not so bad after all." she smiled, which made you smile back. You have forged a Z-Link with Rainbow Dash. Rainbow clears her throat, "Um, we should, uh, get somebody to do something about these three," she motions towards the unconscious trio, "I'll tell Spitfire what happened, you go on and get your badge...my newest rival." "Rival?" you ask. "Of course!" Rainbow say, enthusiastically, "You beat me, so now I have to beat you! Like I said, I have a reputation to maintain!" she proclaims proudly while pounding a fist to her chest. You nod, "Alright then. How about we start training together after school?" "Sounds good! See ya then!" she playfully punches your shoulder and runs off, most likely to get Spitfire. You walk back to the field to see how everyone's doing, especially after your performance. The first thing you see is Rainbow talking to Spitfire, you think it's about what happened in the halls. "...I see." you hear Spitfire say as you get closer, "I'll talk to Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna about this." she turns around and sees you nearing them, "Oh! Naxon! Just the guy I was looking for! You ran off before I could give you the final verdict of your tryout." "Well?" you edge her on. She just walks in front of you and pins a badge on your coat, "Congrats, you earned it...Naxon, The Hotshot Rookie." OBTAINED Bronze Wondercolt Badge This badge is your proof of being on the Canterlot High Soccer Team. "Congratulations on making the team, Naxon," Trixie said as she and her bandmate came into view, making Rainbow scowl, "though, I have to know, how did you acquire such power? Nobody in CHS could be able to do what YOU did!" "It just...came to me, I guess." you say, it wasn't entirely a lie. "Well, either way, you have impressed the Great and Powerful TRIIIIIXE! And she commends you for it. I hope we shall talk again soon." Trixie winks at you before turning around and leaving the field with Fuchsia and Lavender. Z-Link Level Up! VI - Trixie Lulamoon - 2/20 "Ugh!" Rainbow groans, "Who does she think she is, teasing you like that!?" You shrug, "I honestly don't mind." Rainbow was dumbfounded, "...You'd rather be teased by her than have an actual relationship with a girl who actually cares about you?" You have no idea what she's talking about, so you raise an eyebrow and say, "Huh?" Rainbow tried to hold back her amusement, "Oh, my gosh...you have no clue what a relationship is, do you?" You look away as you felt your face burn up. Rainbow stifled her giggles as she walked by you, "I gotta go, Naxon, I got something to do." You take your leave from the school and on your way back home, you notice Rainbow sneaking around, heading the opposite direction of her usual route with Pinkie following her. Curious, you decide to see what they're up to, only to find that they were headed into the city... Crystal Prep Academy - Training Field Time of Day: Afternoon Weather: Partly Cloudy Time: 4:09 PM At the side of a large, partially crystalline-like building was a field with several students in uniform lined up and crouched down, ready to run. The man standing behind them, most likely the coach, blew his whistle and the students ran to the other side of the field, you can only guess that they're training. Out by the trees, you see Rainbow Dash snooping around; from what you heard about Canterlot High and Crystal Prep, you theorize that Rainbow and Pinkie wanted an edge against their rivals. "Crystal Prep High School. The competition." you hear Rainbow say from your hiding spot. You see Rainbow rolling through the bushes and jumping off the trees as her way of sneaking around, then took cover under another bush when the students ran back to the starting point. Rainbow stuck her head out of the bush she was in and rushed into another one to take cover again as the students ran past once more. Rainbow peered through the new bush with a smug look on her face, only to realize soon enough that she wasn't in a bush. "HEY RAINBOW!" Pinkie said, a little too loudly, spooking Rainbow. It turned out she dyed her puffy hair green to make it look like a bush as part of her disguise. "Gah! What are you doing!?" Rainbow whisper-shouted. "You said we needed to be sneaky while we check out the competition for the Friendship Games!" I was right from the beginning, you thought, they wanted an edge against their competitors, so, similar to the Organization, they're gathering intel. Rainbow noticed the students coming back, so she pulled Pinkie and herself behind a tree as they ran by again. "Wanna see what else I have?" without waiting for answer, Pinkie ran off and modeled her other disguises for Rainbow. "Cat burglar!" with her hair pink again, Pinkie was wearing a black, skin-tight suit with green-lensed night-vision goggles and a grappling blaster on her hip, she used the latter and grappled away from sight. "Dog burglar!" she wore the same suit, minus the blaster and goggles, and put on a purple dog mask that had light green ears and a normal green tuft of hair at the top, then proceeded to dig herself underground. "Tree!" she was now dressed in an artificial tree with her arms as branches. "Bunny suit!" she was clad in an outfit made look like a human-sized rabbit, except for a part of her hair sticking out the front, complete with a rabbit's nose and buckteeth. You strongly doubt anyone would be fooled by that disguise. "Camouflage!" lastly, Pinkie dressed up in a multiple pink camo outfit with a cap, which Rainbow grabbed tossed aside. "That's, like, the opposite of camouflage." Rainbow said, before she noticed the students coming back, "Quick, get down!" she pushed Pinkie into a bush and hid behind a tree before they saw them. ...Pinkie scares you sometimes. Rainbow snuck to a bush and tried to spy on the students, but they too far away at the present moment, "We need to get better view..." she whispers. Then, the sound of balloons being blown up fills the air and before she knew it, Rainbow was on top of a mass quantity of balloons with Pinkie tying their strings around her waist and the two of them floating into the air. "Best view in the house!" Pinkie said. ...Pinkie really scares you sometimes. Rainbow, not wanting to be spotted, pops all of the balloons one by one and she and Pinkie fell back into the bushes, making a crashing sound, earning the attention of the coach, but he saw nothing and turned away just when a lone yellow balloon floated above the bush they crashed in. Rainbow took it from Pinkie and squeezed it, letting all the air out of it and throwing it away. Pinkie leaned forward and smelled Rainbow, "You smell like vanilla!" Deciding to make yourself known, you step out from behind the tree you were hiding behind, "Um, hello?" you say, suspiciously. "GAH!" they both shriek quietly. "Simple question: what are you doing here?" you ask, half-rhetorically, since you already know. Pinkie was the first to react, "Yeah, Rainbow, whataya doing here!?" she accused, "You got answers, and we want them now!" "I meant both of you." Rainbow rushed, grabbed, and pulled you down into the bush and shushed you, "We're trying to eavesdrop! That's means they DON'T hear us!" "Oooh! I have just the thing!" Pinkie chimes. Near the foliage were two students; one was a male, doing pull-ups while breathing in and out, and the other was a female, holding his feet down. Out of nowhere, a large microphone attached to an extremely long pole was dangling over them, held by Pinkie, who was hearing his breathing through a pair of headphones. Surprisingly, neither of the two noticed the mic as Pinkie checked the volume on her headset. ...You decided to give up on logic with this girl. "What are you doing!?" Rainbow whisper-shouted, "We're trying to spy on them! Do you even know what the word 'spy' means!?" she took Pinkie's pole and tossed it to the side, "It means being sneaky! It means not being seen! It means BEING QUIET!!!" Rainbow realized her own mistake too late as she earned the attention of the coach and the students, making her smile sheepishly. "Bush to Dash: code red; you have been spotted." Pinkie picked up the bush she was hiding in and spun her legs like wheels, screaming, "RUUUUUUN!" And like a flash, she was gone, the same with Rainbow, run after Pinkie to escape the situation they were in as some of the students rubbed the backs of their heads and shrugged. You? You casually walked out of the tree you hiding behind. "I'm frustrated by the current situation." you said, then turned to the confused students and coach, and raised your hands defensively, "Don't mind me, I was just leaving." you then proceeded to walk away, not in any hurry, "Well, time to go home." And you did just that; you walked home, ate dinner, chronicled the days thus far into your diary, and retired to your bed. The rest of your day was uneventful... ??? Time of Day: Late Night Weather: Partly Cloudy Time: 11:48 PM In the dark of night, a lone, young-looking figure was running with a camcorder in their hands, desperate to get to where they're going. When the figure made it, another, taller, older-looking figure towered over them. "You're late." a sophisticated, feminine voice spoke from the older figure. "Sorry," a tough, brash, but female voice spoke from the younger figure, "I got held up." "Did you get it?" "I had dodge a few Wondercolts, but I got it." she held out the camcorder, which the older figure snatched out of her hand, "Before you watch that, we may have a problem." "...Go on." "I think...CHS may have a new ace up their sleeve." "What on earth is THAT supposed to mean?" "You should...go ahead and watch that...it's probably better for you to see for yourself." The older figure was hesitant, but soon opened it and watched the highlights of a soccer tryout. ...Your soccer tryout. After viewing the contents from start to finish, the older figure gave the camcorder back to the younger figure, "Tomorrow. Gather the rest of the Shadow 5. And bring me more intel on this boy. I want to know...everything." "No problem! Leave it to us!" the younger figure guaranteed before turning around and running off. "I hope so, Miss Zap...for yours and our school's sake." the older figure turned around as well and walked away. "After all..." "We have a reputation to uphold."