//------------------------------// // A New Master and Student // Story: One Punch Equestria // by Iolaus //------------------------------// The day after the brief “fight” with the bug monster, Kevin found himself lounging on his couch reading a magazine he picked up during his daily walk around town. The television filled the small apartment with news segments and occasional advertisements. Kevin scratched his stomach under his tank top as he felt himself getting more and more drawn into the articles of the small and colorful magazine. Kevin’s concentration was broken by the sound of knocking at his door. “Who could that be?” Kevin muttered as he lazily got up from his spot and shuffled over to his door. Casually swinging it open, Kevin only had one thing to say when he noticed the pony before him, “Ah, right. I forgot about you.” The cyborg mare from yesterday stood in his doorway with steely determination etched on her face. She lifted her head up before quickly bringing her body into a kneeling position. “Master! Please teach me to be strong like you!” Kevin rubbed his neck awkwardly, he never had someone kneel before him like this at any other point in his life. Kevin stepped to the side and lazily waved the mare in with a hand. “Get up, it’s weird having someone kneel before me, I’m not royalty or something. But come on in, I’ll make us some tea.” “Thank you for inviting me in! Master!” The mare’s head shot back up and she quickled trotted into the apartment. After the mare entered into his home Kevin closed the door and called out into his apartment, “And don’t call me Master! That’s even weirder!” After a few minutes of making the tea, Kevin set the mare’s cup down on the table before taking a seat in the chair for himself. The two occupants of the room stared at each other, only one of them doing so awkwardly. As he stared at the mare, he couldn’t help but be irritated at the fact he was caught off guard by this whole similar situation between his and what the actual Saitama went through. The fact that he unconsciously said yes to this mare’s want of being his disciple made it all the worse. Kevin took a sip of his tea as he metaphorically tore out his hair in frustration, regretfully he didn’t actually have hair anymore. And he couldn’t very well say no now that he already said yes. Also... he couldn’t say that the appeal of being just like Saitama didn’t occur to him. Being like Saitama was what he wished for in the first place, before being put in this world. Kevin decided to go for the honest approach, see where that led him. He set down his cup with a sigh and stared right into his future disciple’s mechanical eyes, his features sharpening into unnecessary seriousness, “I have absolutely no idea how to teach.” The mare didn't waver, “That is alright. I am content in observing and documenting, I may perhaps learn from something you unconsciously do. You may not be an active teacher, but mayhaps a passive one.” That sounded mildly creepy to Kevin, but he shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. No pun intended. At least he would not have to come up with lessons. And as long as she didn’t try and watch him all the time, like in the toilet, then he was fine with things the way they were. Kevin scratched his bald head, “That’s fine. But...” The mare questionally cocked her head at Kevin. He pointed a finger at her, “You’ll have to join the Hero’s Association with me. I’m planning on going pro this Friday, I’ve already sent in my application.” The mare nodded her understanding, “That is fine, Master. I’ve been planning on doing just that as well, my application has already been sent in too.” “Again with the master thing…” Kevin grumbled, she clearly wasn’t going to let up on that. He shook his head and continued, “Right, but just one more thing…” “And what is that?” Kevin looked at the mare blankly, “What’s your name?” Silence perpetrated the air between the two, and the mare’s mechanical eyes widened to comical degrees. She looked off to the side in disgrace, “I cannot forgive myself for forgetting one of the most important rules of social decorum. And I so brazenly asked to become your student too… Forgive me, I shall leave.” The mare moved to get up but Kevin held up a hand, “Don’t worry about it. It was an honest mistake, I probably should’ve asked for your name to begin with anyway.” The mare sat back down in her seat. She cleared her throat, an action that confused Kevin since she was a cyborg, and said, “My name is Sunny Flare, but please just call me Sunny.” “Hello Sunny, nice to meet you. My name’s Kevin.” “It’s a pleasure.” Silence once more reigned supreme in the apartment, sweat lined the forehead of Kevin as the social pressure increased tenfold. He put a hand on his knee as his leg twitched up and down from nervousness. He looked around his room, looking anywhere but at Sunny as he tried to think of a way to start a conversation. “Shit! I’ve been spending most of my time here training, not socializing! If I start a conversation, then what if I miss important social cues?! All of my previous conversations were brief and unimportant! Ah! Why can’t things be simple like buying grocer-” Kevin’s internal rant ended as eyes darkened, he remembered something important. His head shot to the side in a blur as he took in the time on the clock. “Oh, no,” he muttered, horrified. Sunny quickly stood up from her perch on the couch, battle ready. “What is it Master?! An enemy?! My sensors detected nothing in the immediate area.” Kevin shot up from his seat, throwing his hero suit on over his tank top and boxers. “Even worse,” he grumbled as he zipped his suit up. Sunny’s eyes widened. “What could be so bad as to make him worry so much? Does he have prior knowledge of a catastrophe soon to happen? A lifelong rival he meets to conduct battle?” Kevin shoved on his glove, deadly serious, “The four bits for a dozen apples sale ends in thirty minutes.” Sunny fell to the floor, tripping over her hooves with the silly declaration. Quickly getting back up and following Kevin as he ran out of his apartment at super speeds, making sure the door closed properly. Their legs a blur, the two dashed down the city streets faster than any cart or pegasus. “Master, why do you care about a sale so much?” Sunny couldn’t help but ask as she looked at the concentrated face of her teacher. He looked down, eyes shadowed, “Sunny, there is one thing you should know about me. Something I’ve had to live with for the past three years since I came here to Equestria.” “Something you’ve had to live with?” Sunny echoed. “Yeah,” Kevin replied as the two rounded a street corner. Kevin glared ahead at nothing in particular, “Ever since I came here, ever since my previous occupation became obsolete because nobody here uses cars….” Sunny gulped, wanting to hear what was troubling her new teacher so. Kevin looked at her with comical tears in his eyes, “I’ve been dirt poor for these past three years and I barely make enough doing odd jobs.” Sunny gaped at Kevin, slowing down in her shock. Quickly catching herself before she got too far behind Sunny sprinted back to Kevin’s side. “Dirt poor? But I saw your strength yesterday! With that kind of power money should be no problem, why join the Association now of all times?” Kevin looked forward, slowing down as sight of the store came into view, “I wasn’t always this strong you know, I just felt I was ready now.” Sunny’s face contorted in confusion, “What do you mea-” “Ah, we’re here,” Kevin spoke up, not noticing he cut Sunny off. The two finally stopped at the entrance of the store, quickly walking through the double sliding doors. A store greeter welcomed them, Kevin giving the stallion a nod. “Lucky! They still have plenty of apples!” Kevin gleefully jogged up the the fruits, Sunny sighing at his antics. The doors to the dark office hissed open, letting light flood into the room. A sharply dressed unicorn walked into the room, a file levitating in his magical grasp. “Princess Luna?” Fine Thrust asked out loud, not seeing anybody in the room. Curious, he casually walked around the large table in the center of the room, ignoring or stepping over cans of energy drinks and old snack wrappers. “Princess Luna?” He called out once more, receiving no answer. Finally, Fine Thrust turned around the corner of the table, the swivel chair of his boss directly in front of him. Princess Luna was fast asleep in the chair, still managing to keep her sitting posture pristine and perfect. Although, much could be said about the line of drool coming out of the corner of her mouth. Fine Thrust cleared his throat before yelling out, “PRINCESS LUNA!” The night princess jolted awake instant, flailing her appendages around in surprise before falling out of her chair in an undignified heap. Her head shot up, an old bag of chips resting on top of her head like a hat. “Yes! Yes! I’m awake!” Luna rubbed her eyes with a hoof, yawning out, “What is it?” “Some of the more recent applications sent in,” Fine Thrust replied, not bothered by the princess’s state of being, knowing full well how hard she is working. He levitated the files in his magic grasp over to Luna. “Hero applications?” The princess waved them off with a dainty hoof, “Just give them to the pencil pushers to sort out.” “I’m afraid it’s not that simple, one of the very high profile individuals we have been watching has finally entered in an application,” Fine Thrust replied, moving the files over to Luna again. “You should look into it, as I believe we might have potentially found a new S-class hero. She was found at the scene during that Pillbug monster invasion, and despite being heavily wounded, all of them were dead. That was a high class Demon level threat, Princess.” Luna sighed and took the files out of Fine’s grasp and into hers. The file folder opened and pages flipped over rapidly until the princess came to the correct paper. A picture of a cyborg mare was at the top of the file, her name off to the side along with several other tidbits of information. “Sunny Flare huh? Sounds like something my sister would come up with as a disguise,” Luna grumbled, turning the page over to look at its other side. She sighed, “But I do see potential, the fact that she is a cyborg means she will probably ace both parts of the exams anyway. But if she does anything else noteworthy before the exams, then I will grant her immediate S-class status, otherwise I’ll have to think about it.” Before giving the papers back Luna idly flipped through a few more of them, stopping at one that had an image of a bald creature staring with boredom at the camera. Luna hummed in thought as she stared at it a while longer before snapping the file shut and levitating it back to Fine Thrust. The stallion bowed his head before quickly trotting out of the room, before he could exit Luna called out to him, “One second Fine Thrust.” He stopped in place and looked at the princess from his spot in the doorway. “Ma’am?” He asked. Luna swiveled around in her chair to face him, “How goes the investigation into the slightly increased monster activity? Any leads, or is it just another typical flux?” Fine Thrust shook his head, “We have found no evidence of anything that could cause an increase in monster related activity. We believe it is just another normal spike, any reason why you think there could be something behind it?” Luna softly shook her head and tapped her hooves together, “No, it is just a feeling I have, Fine Thrust.” Luna swiveled back around to face the monitors, “And I’ve simply learned to trust my feelings. You’re dismissed, Fine.” Fine Thrust bowed, despite Luna being unable to see it, “By your leave Princess.”