P.O.N.Y.

by SAmaster

First Letter

Starswirl has a long relationship between it and the City of Ponyville. While being a Huntsman Academy, for a significant portion of the cities history, it was the only place of higher learning accessible. Not to mention that it is only relatively recently that Ponyville could no longer be considered to be a frontier town, ravaged by monsters.

As such, many Ponyville natives attended, and continue to attend Starswirl Academy, even if they do not intend to become a Huntsman, or even any occupation that such combat skills would be required or useful. And many families here even send their children here continuing the tradition.

In particular, the lower-tier classes, those attended by the younger students, were popular, students would learn how to defend themselves, and the classes on their records would easily let them to transfer to any other school of their choosing if they so wish.

These were the classes Spike would be taking. And as was the order of the day, this meant that he had to get up an hour early.

And he had been enjoying being able to sleep in late.

Twilight made sure to worry, and they were up and dressed as early as they could be, and walked straight to the academy. “You know-“ Spike spoke up, as he adjusted his newly purchased backpack, purple in color. “It seems to me we’re a little early. Nobody’s here.”

“Spike, there is absolutely no such thing as early.” Twilight said, as they stopped beneath the horse statue. “Now, do you have all the books you’ll need?”

“Downloaded on my Scroll.” He said, already having gone through this checkup the night before.

“Writing materials?” She asked.

“Check.”

“Class Supplies?”

“Check.”

“Good.” Twilight said. “Well good luck. I hope you do well and enjoy yourself.”

Spike shrugged but decided not to give a snarky comment in return. Before he could think of something suitable to say however, they were distracted by the cavalcade of cars followed by a Limosine emblazoned with the symbol of the Apple Family. Men in suits filed out in a practiced fashion.

The door to the Limosine opened, and Applejack walked out. The two siblings caught her eye. “Howdy.” She acknowledged. Immediately after a tiny redhead popped out of the limo stretching back and forth with a big grin on her face.

“Both of you now, have a good day!” Came an elderly voice.

“Ah will!” Cried the small redheaded girl. She was dressed similarly to Applejack, she had tight blue-jeans with leather boots, and leather belt, a green plaid shirt and a pink bow. While their faces were similar, amber eyes instead of green, in build however the younger girl was near the opposite to Applejack, about half as high, and almost as scrawny as a healthy girl could get.

“Me too!” Applejack said ruffling the redheads hair.

“Good. Seeya!” Said the elder, as the door closed.

“Bye Granny Smith!” The younger girl yelled with a wave. “Goodbye Big Macintosh! Bye Ernie! Bye Jay! Bye Joe! Bye Joey! By Big Joe! By Little Joe! By Cuthbert! Bye Kenny! Bye Bob! Bye Bobby! Bye Billy! Bye Billy-Bob! Bye Billy-Joe! Bye Billy-Joe-Bob! Bye Billy-Bob-Joe! Bye Billy-Billy-Joe-Willy. Bye Reginald Kentsworth Huntington the Third! And goodbye Kevin!”

“Goodbye Ms. Applebloom! Goodbye Ms. Applejack!” They yelled back. “Have a nice day at school!” With that they filed back into their cars and drove off into the distance.

Naturally the two of them strolled towards Twilight and Spike by the statue. “Howdy.” Applejack stated.

“Howdy…” Twilight said. Normally she would just prefer to go straight to class, but she had an assignment to get started on. “This is your sister?”

“Yep. Applebloom, say Howdy.” She instructed.

“Howdy!” She said with a chipper tone. “Nice ta meet ya! I’m Applebloom!”

“Hey, I’m Spike.” Spike said introducing himself. “I met you last week.” He said indicating Applejack.

“Ah do recall that little pipsqueak.” She said.

“So, you’re going to be a Huntsman then?” Applebloom asked Spike.

“Ah, no, I’m taking classes here, but it’s a little complicated.” Spike said.

“Oh, alrighty then. Hey Sis, ah better be getting’ off, don’t want to be late.” Applebloom said, lugging her own rucksack. She then skipped off until Applejack whistled after her.

“Hey little sis! Lucky Apple!” Applejack said producing a juicy apple from her pocket. Applebloom ran back plucking the apple from her sisters hand, giving her a hug, and ran back off.

Spike turned to Twilight, and with a shrug and a smile he headed up the stairs at his own pace. With nothing to wait for Applejack and Twilight did likewise. Twilight was thinking to herself about Applejacks attendance. She was rarely tardy to her classes, but she was never as early as Twilight was. From that she could surmise that her sister was the one who wanted to get to classes early, rather than Applejack. But that wasn’t much of a conversation starter.

“So-“ Twilight began as they both hiked up the steps. “Is your sister looking forward to coming to Starswirl?”

“Yep.” Applejack. “Been buggin’ me nonstop the last week about it. Family tradition and all, she can’t stand being the last Apple to come here. Hoping to make lots of friends, stuff like that.”

“Right…” Twilight said, at a loss on how to continue the conversation.

“And yer brother?” Applejack asked out of courtesy

“Less enthusiastic. Actually we set this up as a last minute thing. Spike has absolutely no ambition or drive whatsoever.”

“Layabout?” Applejack asked.

“Basically.” Twilight sighed. Spike and Applebloom were heading to their classes, while Appplejack and Twilight headed towards theirs. “Still though, it’s nice to have him around.”

“Yeah, ya gotta keep family close.”

***

Conversation dried up after that. Twilight was quite frankly surprised to see she could have a relatively pleasant conversation with her at all. But she was lost as to how to continue.

When their classes passed around she preferred to focus on her studies, while her teammates did as they usually did. There was a nagging in the back of her head to remember Celestia’s assignment, but she had difficulty finding an opening, since they mostly kept to themselves.

There was a moment during one of their combat classes. The Professor, Professor Bulk Biceps, a wide giant of a man, bulging with muscles upon every surface, dressed rather informally as his size strained the cloth, was impressing on them the importance of good weapons maintenance.

So they split off into their teams, took to one of the maintenance benches, and started stripping and cleaning on their weapons. Twilight had seen each of theirs in use back in the Everfree forest and in subsequent combat classes, but she hadn’t bothered to pay too much attention on them. Twilight had extended her Caduceus Sidereus, and was polishing it, making sure its buttons and compartments were functional.

She surveyed the others, who were quietly doing their own maintenance, and she was trying to think of a way to start a conversation. It was not lost on her how easy it was for Celestia to manipulate her into socialize.

“…Did it take you long to forge your weapons?” Twilight asked. This caught their attention as this was the first time Twilight had actually started a conversation in their presence.

“Well, for me-“ Rarity said, more than happy to answer Twilight’s question. “It took me a while to find something I could settle down with. Until I came up with Le Tailleur de Diamants.” She said, referring to her scissor-blade.

“And what’s that in fancy for?” Applejack asked as she cleaned out her revolvers.

“The cutter of diamonds.” Rarity said with a slight flourish.

“What were you looking for?” Twilight asked. “You said it took you a while to settle on that.”

“Well I wasn’t sure at first.” Rarity said. “I had to find where my talents lay. I’m a horned-type Semblance, so I needed something to act as my catalyst, much like your weapon. And I found I work better with a single blade, but I wanted the versatility of two. Hence-“ She opened and closed her scissor blade with her hand, with an audible snip. “And of-course I also made it so it can extend and retract. For ease of travel, and for reach.” And with that she demonstrated with her weapon, the blades about doubling in length, from about the size of a shorstword to a longsword.

“And it sparkles too!” Pinkie Pie piped in.

“That would be the diamond-tipped blades.” Rarity answered as she resumed her maintenance.

“Fancy.” Applejack stated.

“Because only diamonds can cut diamonds.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Well yes.” Rarity said, laying down her weapon. “But also it’s to do with my semblance. I have the ability to control gemstones.”

“Neat.” Rainbow Dash said dryly.

“Yes, well it is admittedly limited, and all I can really do is some levitation, little better than telekinesis really, but-“ She extended her hand and her weapon leapt into her grip. “Easier.”

“Well not half-bad if ah’m bein’ honest.” Applejack said, snapping one of her revolvers back to her boot, and taking another one to clean. “Simple’s good. Harder to mess-up. Apple-Rose special right here. Six of the biggest bullets you can fit on a handgun, with a seventh tucked in-between, ready to give a face-full of buckshot to anyone I don’t like, and a knife as big as the barrel for those who don’t know the meanin’ of personal space.”

With a flick of her wrist, she snapped the cylinder back in place and twirled it amongst her fingers, going from the grip to the barrel where her fingers fit nicely into a knuckle-duster that formed part of the dagger tip.

“Seen action all over, best weapon to go for if’n you need to look.” She continued. “Slap six of them on each boot. It’d have to be a real bad day before ah have to start reloadin’.”

“Does seem a tad overkill.” Rarity said.

“Way ah see it, somethin’s worth killin’, it’s worth overkillin’.” Applejack retorted, going back to her maintenance.

“My sister helped me with mine!” Pinkie Pie volunteered, evidently deciding it was her turn to go next. She hit the top of the table with her pink and baby blue grenade-launcher. “She did all the smart stuff, but I got to color and name it! I call it, ‘the Party Canon’!” She twirled it a bit in the air like a baton for show. “I use it help me blow things up! This end for grenades-“ She flipped it, and the handle angled itself to form a grenade rifle, and one of the sights popped up. “And this one for rockets!” She flipped it again, and the handle bent backwards, the tube lying on her shoulder extending back, while a glass sight popped up. “And if the monsters get too close I just beat them with it!” And with a final twist the handle formed a line with the rest of the weapon, the sights folding back, loosely forming the shape of a baseball bat. “I also keep a bunch of other fun surprises in my bag. And in case of emergencies, I also use the explosions as a way of getting around!”

Nobody had much to comment on about that, lest they get locked in an unending tangent with the hyper girl.

“What about you two?” Pinkie Pie asked, referring to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.

“Eh, well…” Rainbow Dash put one her pistol-sabers down. “When you’re flying you want something light. Pistol-grade ammunition is easy to carry, but not good for penetration. Anything big enough to do the job would just throw me off course with the recoil. My main strength is speed, so I prefer to do strafing runs. Shoot ‘em up, and knock ‘em down with the swords.” She extended the jagged cavalry sword for emphasis. “If I need to take down something big though, I have them so they generate lightning, but I can only do that with both of them.”

She turned to see Fluttershy messing over her Halberd, and decided to volunteer her information for her.

“Fluttershy here is the opposite. I call mine Astrapios Mahaira. Fluttershy helped with the name. Hers is the Butterfly Knife. Knife-head is an LMG for suppressing fire, and the handle is a battle rifle for marksman shots, and the penetration I can’t get.”

“But doesn’t that impair your ability as a flier all that heavy weaponry?” Rarity asked.

“Yeah, but we cover each-other.” Rainbow Dash said. “I’m a much better flier, she’s… not as much. But we cover each-others weak areas.”

“Should be as self-sufficient as possible.” Applejack stated, doing a final check-up of her weapons. “You two won’t always be there for the other. Should prepare for that.”

“We’ll see…” Rainbow Dash muttered.

“What about you Twilight?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Me?” Twilight asked, surprised the attention was back on her.

“Yeah you!” Pinkie Pie said, the smile never once leaving her face. “You asked, and we all went, so now it’s your turn.”

Twilight sighed, and lifted her staff. “A mages staff. Compacted I use it as a wand, one button to extend or collapse it, used as a medium for my spells. Another button to open a compartment for a dust cartridge to augment my spells effects. A third to release any pent up energy for a spell. I manifest hard-light into the shape of the weapon I need in close combat, but I prefer to take down enemies from afar when I can.”

“That all?” Applejack asked.

“All I need.” Twilight answerd.

“Simple.”

With that the conversation died down a little. But every now and again snippets arose between them, even Twilight. The Conversation hadn’t been nearly as painful as she had imagined, and soon enough their maintenance was over with and they were off to the next class, and the next after that.

***

Each day for the rest of the week, Twilight tried to be just as sociable. It wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t always pleasant, but she thought she was making progress. She learned little things about them, but nothing that could really be considered important. But it was slowly getting easy to deal with them, slowly making progress

Pinke Pie was as energetic as always, and Fluttershy was still yet to say a word to the group, but Rainbow Dash was no longer isolating herself as much, Applejack and Rarity were forming a cordial back and forth relationship, and Twilight wasn’t quite as afraid of talking to them.

Spike meanwhile had his own adventures. He met quite a few interesting characters during his classes, and had to run several errands for Celestia, many of which he didn’t understand the full extent of them, but he was less idle than he would have liked.

They settled into their lodgings at the Library once Twilight had been satisfied on the ordering on all the books. Mrs. Ink-Spot had even insisted on paying her for the work, and Twilight was forced to accept. Twilight even mused on accepting part-time work at the library, as far as she could tell Mrs. Ink-Spot was the only one employed at the Library, so the work would definitely be appreciated.

But by the end of the week Twilight was forced to come up with a letter for the Headmistress. She sat down, got out a quill and paper, and began her work.

Dear Headmistress Celestia- She penned.

Today I send you my first letter detailing my progress.

I have tried to make conversation with my fellow teammates. It has been slow progress, but the task is less daunting than I originally thought. Begrudgingly I must admit that my team is easier to work with than I had originally anticipated. I can see that you had a point about getting along with them, but I must admit that my time with them is not necessarily pleasant.

However, aside from my classes, I have learned that people aren’t necessarily as difficult as you may first imagine them to be. Whether I can get past their many faults however is unknown to me at this moment.

I hope that this letter is satisfactory to you, and shall have Spike deliver it to you.

-Sincerely

Your faithful student Twilight Sparkle.

Spike was handed the letter, and sent to deliver it to the Headmistress. He read it over, but didn’t find anything interesting in it. He hadn’t been given any tasks to do over the weekend, so he spent it goofing off until next Monday.

He arrived at the Academy early in the morning, earlier than he would have liked, and during a spare moment went up to Celestia’s office and knocked on the big wooden doors.

“Who is it?” Celestia’s voice came, a little less composed than he normally heard.

“Spike. Got Twi’s letter.” Spike stated adjusting his bag.

“Oh Spike? One second.” Spike waited. “Come in.”

Spike entered and was surprised to see the curtains drawn, and the lights dimmed. Almost every time he had come here the area was well lit by the sun. But as it was, he barely noticed the cloaked figure sitting in the dark.

“Hey.” Spike said, entering the office, producing the letter. “Here you go.” He placed it on the desk. “You in the middle of something?” He asked, turning to the cloaked figure who sat eerily still.

“No Spike it’s fine.” Celestia said, sounding slightly strained. “This is my sister.” The cloaked figure kept still, unmoving, her skin barely visible, was unnaturally pale.

“Oh.” Spike said.

“She’s still quite ill, I’m afraid, she hasn’t much energy with her.”

“Hence all the-“ Spike gestured, and Celestia nodded. “Well then, I’ll be off classes.” Celestia nodded again, and he left. He could feel the cloaked figures eyes on him as he walked towards the door. He wanted to look but was too afraid to.

Author's Note:

Alright, so a few notes:

One I decided to edit a few names of the background ponies I mentioned earlier, I went back and fixed that.

Secondly, I had five of these chapters up on Fanfiction.net previously before I posted them up here, and this was the last. I'm currently working on the sixth chapter. I'm about halfway through. What this means it It'll take a while longer for the next chapter to go up, and for all subsequent chapters too, it's likely. I'm quite lazy and forgetful, so they'll likely be long breaks between chapters from now on.

Thank you very much for taking an interest in my story up until this point.
-Sincerely SAmaster01

Comments

[Kamen Rider Hyrule]

Ah, nownyou have caught up you can continue with the story. I can't wait to see what comes next!

[SAmaster]

4739515

Thank you for the praise and constructive criticism.

[raven618]

Luna this could get interesting. especially since we seem to be following a timeline simaler to the show's.