Mages of Virtue: The Phantom Thief

by Nova Arc

The Ghost in the Halls

It was finally Saturday: the other holy day for students! Sunset opened her eyes to see the sunlight peering through a crack between the curtains. She smiled to herself as the warmth stroked her face. She stretched out her arms as she heard birds chirping outside by the window. The Fall breeze rustled the tree leaves, but it wasn't too cold. Not yet anyway. She closed her eyes to continue enjoying the moment. All seemed right with the world.

Obviously, it didn't last.

“What the hell is THAT!!!” Sunset’s eyes shot open at the loud yell.

“I should be asking that,” Sunset said to herself as she looked at the wall clock in the room. She got of bed and walked out of the bedroom into the living room, still wearing her pajamas. “What's going on here?” She asked as she entered the common area. “It's 8:45 on a Saturday…” Her trail of thought was disturbed, partially by her brain still trying to boot, partially from the large sound system that Loli stood next to. Trixie was staring at the large speakers, which towered over all of them at about seven feet and was about three feet wide.

“What does it look like, Trixie?” Loli asked, rhetorically. “It's our new sound system!”

“What did you do? Steal it?!” Trixie asked. “And how did you even get it here?!”

“You know, Trixie, I'm not a broke,” Loli deadpanned. “But if you must know, I preordered it a few days ago and they said it would be coming in last night. But… I wanted to surprise you guys. So I got up super early and went to the store to pick it up. As for how I carried it here, I got help from a friend.”

Trixie looked at the set from top to bottom. “Well… It's not bad. But I'm sure it's not the most expensive one there!”

“Well, no doy,” Loli said, making a goofy face. “The most expensive one is out of our combined budget!”

“Well, I think that was really nice of you,” said Sunset.

“Aw! Thanks! We really do need a new system. The current one has too much static!”

“Yeah.” Then, a sudden realization hit Sunset. “Um, Loli? You're still in your pajamas.”

“Yeah,” the girl replied. “And?”

“Wait, did you go twenty minutes into town wearing your pajamas?”

“Um… Well… Y’see…” Loli, unlike Sunset, did not wear regular pajamas. Hers consisted of a small, black t-shirt with a cat on it and pink short shorts; not very modest. “Look, we all make mistakes.”

“How long did it take you to figure out?”

“Um… When we got to the shop,” she said, averting eye contact. “I was in a hurry.”

“I wish I had gotten a photo,” said Trixie. “Comedy gold! Front page of the school paper for the next week!”

“Keep dreaming, Trixie! As if I'd let myself get caught like that!”

“The day you slip up,” Trixie continued, summoning a camera to her hand, “Trixie will be there to get it!”

---

Dawn remained in bed, staring at the ceiling. It was one of those days; he didn't want to get up.

“Dude! Come on,” he heard Thunderlane calling. “Are you coming or not?”

“Thunder, trust me. I want to go,” Dawn answered. “But my body doesn't feel like doing anything that requires me to leave this position.”

“Fine. Guess you won't mind me borrowing your scarf and-” Before Thunderlane could reach out for the rounded cloth hanging on Dawn's bed, a blur of yellow and blue whizzed past him, taking the scarf with it. Thunderlane grinned to himself. “Works every time.”

Thunderlane, Dawn, and the last boy, known as Bulk Biceps, or simply Bulk, headed out and were looking around the streets of Chantalot. They stopped just outside a shop that sold sports equipment. Thunderlane and Bulk looked excited, Dawn less so; he wasn’t really into sports… not normal ones, anyway.

“Have fun with that,” Dawn said, taking off as the other two entered the store. He made his way to Joe’s Donuts, one of the best, if not the best, pastry shop in the city, well known for its, you guessed it, doughnuts.

Dawn walked in and met a rather full room. It was normal for people to hang out here during their free time. The man behind the counter was fairly tall and wore a white shirt with a red band around the bottom, brown pants, and grey shoes. He had rather messy orange hair under a white hat and green eyes.

“Well, well, well,” the man said. “Dawning Forge, that you?”

“It’s just Dawn, Joe,” the boy replied.

“If you say so,” Joe said. “What can I get’cha?”

“Six Lemon Crunch, as usual, with the extra… something, six Strawberry Sundowns, and one grandѐ Ice Mocha.”

“Coming right up,” Joe said, disappearing into the kitchen. Not too long later, Dawn walked out of the shop with a bag in one hand and his drink in the other. He sipped his drink as he continued roaming the streets, looking into shops and just enjoying the peaceful Saturday morning while it lasted.

“Well, look who it is.” Dawn sighed. Something told him to keep walking. Something stronger made him turn around. Behind him was Blueblood, wearing a fashionable white shirt with a black vest, black pants and shoes, and his sheathed weapon hanging on a belt on his waist.

“Hello, Blueblood,” Dawn said, unusually warmly.

“Is that any way to great your superiors?” Blueblood said with a grin.

“Well, it’s all you’re getting out of me,” Dawn said as he turned around and walked away.

“Oh, is it now?” Blueblood vanished in a flash of royal blue light and reappeared in front of Dawn, blocking his path. Dawn in turn teleported behind Blueblood and continued walking. Blueblood saw this was going nowhere and cast a spell. A compass rose emblem appeared on the back of his hand, as well as beneath Dawn, who suddenly couldn’t move. “We’re not through here.”

“Blueblood, I’m not really in the mood,” Dawn growled.

“Aw! Does the wittle kitty not wanna pway?” Blueblood mocked. “You either give me the respect I deserve, or face my wrath.”

Dawn chuckled. “Me? Face your wrath? Oh forgive me, Prince Vladimir,” he said, in mock respect.

Blueblood’s face scrunched up into a snarl. “Tch! What did you call me?”

“What? Isn’t that your name? Vladimir?” Dawn felt the spell weaken as Blueblood’s focus was clouded with rage. Blueblood’s hand lit up and fired a bolt of bright blue energy at Dawn. The ground erupted in a display of smoke, dust, and sparks. Dawn, however, shimmered into existence behind Blueblood, completely unharmed. “Wow. Someone’s sensitive.”

“Don’t you ever EVER call me that again!” Blueblood’s voice roared through the streets, drawing a few wandering eyes.

“Then don’t bug me again,” Dawn said, “because apparently it’s the only way to get away from you.”

“Running again?” Blueblood taunted. “That’s all you ever do, you rat!”

“Not running, being smart,” Dawn said.

“You mean being a coward? I guess like it runs in the family.”

Dawn’s calm demeanor faded. He turned slowly to face the blonde. “Say that… one more time.”

“What, the part about your bloodline heritage being cowardice? Do I need to? I’ve been in the archives. I know a little bit about your family. Even your sister, the dumb bi-” Blueblood didn’t get the chance to finish as a fist collided with his face and sent him flying across the street.

Dawn stood up straight. “Don’t go there, Blueblood.”

Blueblood looked up in shock, a red mark on the point of impact on his face. “How dare you lay your filthy hands on me, you street rat?!”

“Talk about my family again, and I’ll do more than that, you pathetic excuse for royalty.”

Blueblood was seething. He cried out as he drew his broadsword from its sheath, the golden hilt shimmering with the silver blade as it streaked across the air. Blueblood charged at Dawn, who stood waiting. Roaring, he brought the large blade down. But Dawn caught it… with his bare hands. Blueblood looked confused.

“Now you dare touch this sacred weapon?!”

“How can it be sacred,” Dawn said, pulling his other arm back and lowering his stance, “if you can wield it.” He thrust his palm into Blueblood’s chest, knocking the air out of his lungs and sending him flying back across the street. Dawn walked toward him as he tried to pick up has sword and stand.

Blueblood swung his sword furiously at Dawn, who leaned and ducked to avoid them. He ducked under one swing and got back-to-back with Blueblood, wrapping his arm and Blueblood’s neck and flipping him onto the ground. But Blueblood sent a bolt of energy at Dawn’s chest, knocking him back. Dawn regained his balance in time to dodge another downward slash and countered with a left hook. Blueblood crumpled to the floor and couldn’t get up, seeing as Dawn was holding his head down.

“You think I can’t fight you just because I don’t?” Pulling by his hair, Dawn flung Blueblood several feet into the air with very little effort. In a shimmer, he appeared right above Blueblood. “Don’t be dense!” He delivered a rib-cracking punch, sending him crashing into the ground. Dawn floated slowly to the ground and stood over the crater. “And don’t pick fights you can’t win.” He turned around and walked away. He glanced down and saw the items he bought sprawled on the pavement. “Fan-freaking-tastic.”

---

Loli, Sunset, and Trixie all stood among the crowd, watching the fight. Sunset was the most dazed.

“He didn’t even draw his weapon,” she said. “How does he move like that?”

“Nobody knows~” Loli said in a fake spooky voice.

“Trixie didn’t see anything quite so impressive,” Trixie said. “It’s not like Blueblood is the best fighter in the school.”

“Well, he’s… decent,” Sunset said, struggling to find the right word to classify the boy’s mediocrity without sounding too harsh. Loli didn’t seem to worry about that.

“You kidding? He sucks! He’s all bark and no bite! The guy just barely knows how to swing a sword for Faust sake!”

“On that we agree,” Trixie said.

“And yet, I remember you having a crush on him at some point…”

Trixie turned red. “Wait, wha- No! Of course not! Why would Trixie aim so- … Say a word about that and Trixie will have your head!”

Loli watched as Dawn walked away from the scene. “I’ll be right back,” she said, walking off in the same direction. Soon enough, she caught up with Dawn. “Hey-O!” Dawn turned and waved back, waiting for her to catch up. “What’s up? You okay?”

“Yeah,” Dawn replied. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well, considering Blueblood actually got you to fight him again, I figured he must've said something really stupid.”

“How would that set me off? ‘Stupid’ is his first language!”

Loli giggled, but soon looked worried again. “You sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine,” Dawn said. “I’ll see you later. Gotta meet up with Thunder and Bulk.”

“Alright, if you say so.” Loli still wasn’t convinced, but let him go. She knew better than to push her luck with Dawn.

She met up with Sunset and Trixie, who were still at the scene, where Blueblood shrugged off any and all assistance from those around him and dragged himself away, boiling with anger.

“Well, this isn’t going to die down anytime soon,” said Sunset. She looked to Loli and asked, “How’s Dawn doing?”

“He’s fine,” Loli said, still not convinced. Sunset could hear it in her voice.

“Uh-huh.”

Trixie groaned. “Trixie is bored! She thought we were going shopping!”

“Alright, alright! Yeesh!”

---

Monday morning was like Monday morning for every high school student: you knew you had to get out of bed, but you just couldn’t bring yourself to move and your brain wasn’t even trying to encourage you. Sunset was experiencing this. As much as she loved learning, she didn’t quite share Twilight’s enthusiasm for getting up at six in the morning. She groaned as she finally managed to drag herself out of her bed. She could feel her hair sprawled in every possible direction! She looked up and saw Loli fast asleep, her mouth open, snoring quietly, with one leg hanging over the barricade of the top bunk.

“Hey, Loli, wake up,” Sunset said, shaking the girl carefully.

Loli mumbled something, but all Sunset got was, “… minutes…”

Sunset figured she’d go take a shower, and then come back out to check on her. Trixie seemed to have gotten a head start as she stood in front of her wardrobe, draped in a towel, trying to figure out what she would wear that day.

Sunset went in and as she took off her pajamas, she noticed something weird. “Trixie?” she called. “Did you move my stuff?”

“Maybe she did,” Trixie called back. “Trixie does need her space for all her beauty products.” She poked her head into the bathroom. “This doesn’t just happen, you know,” she said, motioning to her face. “But no… not today, anyway.”

Sunset rolled her eyes and used her telekinesis to shut and lock the door. It was wonderful being an Esper. Once she was done in the bathroom, she went back to the room, where Loli was still fast asleep, only this time she was hanging upside-down with only her lower legs holding the bed. Sunset looked around and saw her headphones hanging on the corner of the bed. She placed them over Loli’s ears and linked it to her own phone. She scrolled through her songs and selected I’ve Got the Music in Me. Turning it up to max volume, it didn’t take long before Loli was bobbing her head to the beat, and soon enough was singing along.

“Find the music in your heart,
Let the music make you start,
To set yourself,
Apart!”

With that she literally jumped out of bed and hovered for a moment before slowly descending to the ground. “Thanks, Sunset,” she said as she stretched. “I needed that. How’d you know that would work?”

“To be honest, I didn’t,” Sunset said with a sheepish smile. “I was just hoping the loud music would jolt you awake.”

“Well, you were half right,” Loli said smiling back before leaving to get ready.

---

Dawn yawned as he tried to focus on what Professor Creed was saying. All he was getting was bits and pieces of information and the rotating 3D image of what appeared to be the symbols of the three main types of mages.

“Dawn?” Dawn’s eyes shot open at the sound of his name. “Are you with us today?” A low laugh echoed through the classroom, with Dawn himself laughing.

“Yes, Professor,” Dawn replied, chuckling with the class.

“Then would you mind explaining the three types of mages and their gifts?”

Dawn composed his thoughts before speaking. “The Espers, who possess the Magic of the Unicorn, allowing them cast powerful spells and manipulate magic energy for a variety of uses; the Skyborn, who possess the Wings of the Pegasi, can manipulate their magic to project wings that grant them flight and possess unrivalled speed and prowess in elemental magic; Gaians, who possess the Strength of the Earth, which grants the unmatched physical attributes, as well as an affinity for earth and nature magic.”

“Very good,” said Creed. “But I think information stays better while you’re awake.” Dawn nodded as another low laugh went through the class. “Twilight? Care to give a brief explanation as to how these races came to be?”

“Each race was made when Faust, the Architect of Etheria, took the power of each mystical pony and granted one power to select humans. They, in turn, taught their skills to those who possessed each respective gift, and thus the teachings were passed down until it became first nature.”

“Very good, Twilight,” Creed said. “Lyra? Are those all that exist in the world?”

“No,” Lyra replied. “There are other races that exist such as Harpies, who were gifted by griffins, Drakes, who were gifted by dragons and a still unknown number of other races, not to talk of hybrids, such as-”

BRRRRRRRRRRRRNNNNNNNGGGGG!!!

“That will be all, class,” Creed said as the students packed up. “Remember, your first assessment will be coming up next week, so study hard.”

“Bored?” Dawn looked up and saw Loli standing in front of him. “Or did you just not sleep?”

“Bored, I think,” he replied as he got up and they walked out.

“So, how’ve things been with Blueblood?”

“I’m waiting for the moment he tries to sucker punch me,” Dawn replied. “I give it a few more days.”

“Probably. I’m waiting on Trixie.” Loli suddenly stopped. “That reminds me, I need to go meet up with Vinyl Scratch. She said she found the hookups I was looking for to fit the new sound system.”

“Cool. Catch ya later.” As they went their separate ways, Sunset noticed Dawn alone.

“Now’s my chance,” she thought as she approached. “Hi.” Dawn turned and waved back. “How are you?”

“Not bad,” he replied.

“Saw what happened with Blueblood on Saturday. You okay?”

“Never better, to be honest.”

“You sure? You two are in the same room.”

“Even he’s not dumb enough to wake me up in the middle of the night,” he said with a grin.

“Oh.” Sunset wasn’t sure what else to ask, so she sifted through the flashcards in her head. “So, um, you and Loli? How long have you known each other?”

“What's it to you?” Dawn asked.

“Oh, just, um, curious.”

“Curiosity killed the cat.”

Sunset was a bit surprised. It wasn’t obvious, but she could sense the venom in his voice. “So is that a no?” She asked with a sheepish smile. Dawn just walked off. “Dammit.”

---

Celestia sat in her office, groaning as sifted through files and documents on her computer. She hated paperwork of any kind. She preferred the good old days when she was out there fighting herself. She still could, but between being a Princess and managing the school, upon several other important duties, there simply wasn’t any time. Then there was a knock on her door.

“Praise Mother, a distraction!” She straightened up and said, “Come in.”

The door opened and Luna walked inside. “Good afternoon, sister,” she said. “You said you wanted to see me whenever I was free today?”

Celestia smacked herself mentally; she’d almost forgotten. “Oh, yes. Come in.”

Luna closed the door and grinned. “You forgot, didn’t you?”

“Hey! We all make mistakes!” Luna laughed as Celestia groan. Picking up the phone, Celestia hit the speed dial. “Raven, be a dear and bring me the files I’d asked for earlier, will you? Thanks.”

“What’s this about?” Luna asked as Celestia dropped the phone.

“Luna, you know I’m all about the students, right?”

“Of course. Has anyone said otherwise?”

“No… not yet.” There was another knock on the door. “Come in.”

The person who came in was a young lady in her mid-twenties with black hair and eyes wearing a white shirt with a short, purple tie, black skirt, and black low heels. She had her hair tied into a bow with a dark purple ribbon. She walked over and handed the files over to Celestia and said, “Is that all?”

Celestia opened the brown booklets and waved through the contents. “Yes, that’s it. Thank you.” Raven bowed respectfully before exiting the room.

Luna looked at the file’s labeling. “Those are student files. Celestia, what’s going on?”

“Luna? You remember all the students we asked personally to come in?” Luna nodded. “Have you taken an interest in any of them?”

“Quite a few, actually,” Luna replied. “They all have so much talent just waiting to be let out.”

Celestia laid one of the files down in front of Luna, who picked it up and looked through it. “Sunset Shimmer?”

“Outstanding student, both before and… after her… mistakes,” Celestia said. “Good in class, a slight rebel, but she is a teenager. In the past year she’s done everything possible to make up for her wrongs and personally I think she succeeded.”

“You took her in many years ago, Celestia. Why bring her up now?”

Celestia handed Luna the other file. Luna looked through it. “Dawning C. Forge… This is the boy you brought in about four year ago?”

“Five years, actually,” Celestia corrected.

“And?”

“Luna, in those five years, do you know how many friends he’s made?” Luna waited for the answer. Her first guess was- “Zero.” Luna stared in disbelief.

“What? But the girl he’s always with…”

“Loli Beats? They already knew each other from their less… glorious days.”

Luna looked at the file. “So… he’s made no meaningful relationships with any other student?”

“Nothing outside schoolwork, no.”

Luna looked at the picture; it did not look like the face of a loner. “So, what exactly brought this up?”

“Personally, I’m worried. Apparently, something happened over the weekend and he literally beat Blueblood into the ground.” Luna looked shocked for a moment. “He’s fine, though.”

“Although, Celestia, I must admit, he probably got what was coming to him,” said Luna. “Forgive me if I speak out of turn, but your nephew is a, how do you say… jackass.”

“Well he’s your nephew too, but I can’t argue,” Celestia said. “And I had warned him that he would receive no special treatment from me. But it worries me.”

“Sister, you can’t force someone to make friends.”

“I know. But you’ve seen his record? His history? I don’t think it’s safe for anyone like that to have only one friend in their life.”

“Even if that friend is one he would trust with his life?” Luna asked.

“I’m not sure if he even trusts her that much.”

“Celestia, you are overreacting,” Luna said. “But if you want, I can keep an eye on the boy for about a week and see what I come up with.”

“I would be forever grateful.”

Luna grinned. “You still owe me several eternal favors.”

“Luna, we’ll balance our accounts later.”

“You said that three year ago!”

“Um… really? I don’t recall- BYE!” Celestia vanished in a flash of golden light, leaving Luna sitting in midair alone in the room.

“I hate when she does that.”

---

Later that night, Sunset lay awake, staring at the bottom of the bed above her, hoping she hadn’t somehow blown her chances of making friends with Dawn. As she rolled around, she couldn’t help but feel she might have tried going to deep too soon.

“I’ll apologize tomorrow,” she thought as she rolled on her side and closed her eyes. She began to drift.

She was in a field of pink and red, surrounded by flowers, roses specifically, of all shades and shapes. A calm breeze blew past her. She felt more at peace at that moment than at any moment in her entire life. And it wasn’t the first time either. But as always, it never lasted.

From the dream, she could hear an unnatural shuffling sound, less like grass moving in the breeze and more like dry leaves being crushed. She looked around and saw nothing, just endless fields of grass. But slowly, the dream began to melt away.

Sunset woke up slowly, the wall her bed was next to being the first thing she saw. She heard a shuffling, but ignored it, thinking it was Trixie or Loli moving in their sleep. She rolled over, trying to get comfortable and opened her eyes a bit. She could see Trixie, half-covered by her blanket fast asleep, her magic items sprawled across the floor next to her bed, and a shadow. Sunset closed her eyes again… until it finally clicked. Opening her eyes again, Sunset saw it was not a shadow, but a silhouette. There was someone else in that room, looking through Trixie’s bag. Initially thinking it was Loli planning a prank on Trixie, Sunset reached up slowly and pushed against the top bunk; she could feel some weight there. She looked back at the figure; it wasn’t Loli.

Finally, the figure realized it was being watched. It stopped moving and just remained crouched on the floor, motionless. Then in a flurry of black, it popped one of Trixie’s smoke bombs and used the cover to take off.

“HEY!!!” Sunset reacted instantly, throwing off the covers and jumping out of bed, hurling a bolt of teal energy at the doorway. The loud noise of energy smashing the door frame jolted both Trixie and Loli awake.

“What the hell was that?!” Trixie cried, startled by the noise.

“Jeez, not so loud,” Loli groaned, rolling in her bed.

As Trixie was about to make a smart comeback, she heard the main door slam open, also noticing that Sunset wasn’t in her bed.

“Shimmer?”

Sunset ran as fast as she could, chasing after the shadowy figure. Unfortunately for her, she didn’t quite have the stamina of Applejack or Rainbow. So instead of trying to catch up, she hurled bolt after bolt of magic, trying to knock her evader off balance and slow them down. The shadowy figure ducked and winded and swiveled through each of the attacks, seemingly without losing momentum. It took a hard left and Sunset just missed it, striking the wall at the bend. She cursed and teleported right in front of the corridor and continued after the figure. It slid to its side, aiming to take another turn.

“Oh no you don’t,” Sunset said she teleported again and reappeared right at the corner. Using the edge and a pivot, she launched herself around the corner and slammed into the figure, knocking it on its back. “Got’cha!”

“You sure did.”

Sunset’s look of victory turned into one of disappointment as she noticed the mop of messy amber hair. Then blue eyes. Then the rest of Dawn, pinned under her weight.

“Ohmygoodness! I’m so, so sorry!” Sunset immediately got up and helped him to his feet.

“Don’t worry about it,” Dawn said. “I have that clumsy luck of literally running into people… and people running into me. Or was this payback for something I might have unknowingly down to offend you?” he added.

“What? No,” Sunset said defensively. “Wait, did you see anyone come through here?”

“If they did, I probably didn’t see them with you tackling me,” Dawn said.

“Again, sorry about that,” Sunset said. “And I’m sorry if I pried too deep earlier. I just-”

“Don’t worry about it,” Dawn said. “I don’t hold grudges.”

“So… we’re cool?” Sunset asked, holding out her hand.

Dawn looked at it for a moment. “Yeah, sure,” he said, shaking it.

Author's Note:

So... mysterious figures sneaking through the school. Nope. That's not suspicious at all.>.> Wanna find out more? Keep an eye out for the next chapter!

Comments

[Prince Leviathan]

Looking through Trixie's bag?
Hmm....