Thunder and Magic: Season 1

by Rapane443

Episode 8: Call of the Cutie

Well damn... that was easy! Darklo thought to himself. The reason for such a sense of accomplishment would be the piece of paper in front of him. It was basically a test sheet composed of maths, science, history and all the basics that foals would learn at a school.

However, it baffled him about how oddly simple it was. Besides history, which he made sure to read about in Twilight's library -stories like the Tales of the Two Sisters and the Origins of Hearts Warming were especially interesting- every other subject was something a 10 year old could 100% complete, let alone a 13 year old with a very strict education. But they didn't know that of course.

In front of his vision, Miss Cheerlie sat by the desk of her office, busying herself with piles of tests herself, correcting them in a red coloured quill. He could tell since the cheerful smile that once fell on her face during the Summer Set Celebration was now one of a disappointed mother. It wasn't until she set the 6th one down that the teacher took the time to check on the new students progress, only to straighten her hunched position when she realised he was watching her.Motionless.

"Uhm, Darklo. are you having trouble?"

"No, I'm done."- Cheerlie was already beside him, analysing the answers the colt had written. Once she mentally confirmed the answers, she picked up the test to check the back side of the paper. Her eyes budged open and Darklo tilted his head, confused at her unnecessary reaction. Is solving fractions and distillation questions that impressive?

The teacher flicked her gaze from the paper to the colt who awaited a response. "Sweet Celestia... Darklo, this test was today's general assignment. And- wait." Cheerlie returned to her desk and marked it in quick succession. Eventually, the quill dropped back into the red ink canister without even interacting with his test paper and Cheerlie raised her head to meet the colt head on. "It's all correct. Well done Darklo, I don't know what Twilight has been doing with your home schooling but I must say, it works."

Oh, right. Of course they would believe the knowledge came from his sister's teachings. It wouldn't be that surprising to think the student of Celestia would take great efforts for his future. However, she never had to teach him in the first place, his past life made sure of that. After all, failure meant everything and it didn't matter who it applied to. Lux. Darklo. He was no failure.

"Yeah, my sister's methods are really simple to understand, so stuff like this doesn't take much brain power." Cheerlie had sworn she saw an arrogant smirk lift his cheeks as the office door opened. Beyond it was Twilight, she had her glasses equipped that glistened in the light.

"Thanks again for being so accepting over having a transfer, I would understand given how much work you do for this school."

"Nonsense Twilight, I wouldn't be a teacher if I left a student out of the fold. Let alone a student with so much potential." Cheerlie averted her gaze from the unicorn to smile at him. It was like her youth was coming back to her. "He got full marks. Really impressive for his age, but I shouldn't be so surprised, he's in your care after all."

Twilight rubbed her head in embarrassment, "oh I don't know about that, Darklo puts just as much effort as I do."

"Well, either way, I believe this enrolment test is over," she said with full confidence as she ruffled the colts mane, the cheeky smirk fully plastered on, "so Darklo, please go to the classroom tomorrow by 9 and we will get everything sorted."

And so with a nod from Darklo and a prideful smile from his sister he agreed. "Sure thing, I hope to impress!"

---

The classroom was all the same to Applebloom, foals talking and laughing at each other's jokes while the teacher wasn't about, and the loudest ones of all couldn't be more obnoxious. To her left, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were snickering at something they thought was funny. It was probably herself again if their flickering glaces gave her any guesses. Snips and Snails were play-fighting at the back of class over some robot toy and everypony else completely ignored her.

It was sickening. The only thing she had was just her thoughts, the booklet and pens on her desk and the introductory title on the board that would give away the topic of the day.Cutie Marks... at least it's somethin' interestin'. At last, the bell rang and every rambunctious foal swept into their seats to put on their fake halos like every other morning. But what came through the door was something nopony expected.

Cheerlie entered the class with saddlebags filled with the school equipment and an ever so popular cheerful smile on her face. Nothing unusual. However, the colt by her side was the one in the spotlight. They all could recognise that electric mane and shady coat from anywhere, after all, who wouldn't remember the colt that took a stand against Nightmare Moon?

"Hello class! I know this will be very sudden to you, but after some careful consideration, the school board has decided to bring in a transfer student. He's been through a lot so please treat him with care and respect." Cheerlie said and gently pushed him forward. "Now then, could you please introduce yourself to the class?"

Applebloom watched intently as Darklo exhaled his irrational fears out of his body and showed his teeth to the class. "Well, I'm Darkloud Sparkle as the adoption papers say but please call me Darklo, much easier on the tongue. I like learning magic and physical activities and I hope to get along with everypony here!"

Silence fell into the classroom as the majority of the foals mentally noted the general stuff and got to whispering. Snips and Snails looked as if they had seen a ghost when they caught eyes with the colt that lectured them long ago. And Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were pointing at his lack of a mark, chuckling. Applebloom was not going to let that continue so she clapped her hooves together, which got Darklo's attention immediately. He got on his 2 two hooves to whisper in Miss Cheerlie's ear (Seriously, that colt felt like a griffon with how many times he switched.) and whatever he said made the teacher nod understandingly.

"Of course Darklo, there's a vacant seat just on her right." And that was that. Darklo had sat on the seat beside her.

Maybe school wont be so boring after all. She thought to herself and how right she was. Cheerlie started it off with a lecture on cutie marks which sparked an entertaining debate, caused solely by a single hoof in the air.

"Yes Darklo, do you have a question?"

"Uh yeah, so I know that cutie marks are basically a showing of what you're good at. But why are they deemed important in societal standards?"

The shocking question caused a mental riot with the students as they whispered and gossiped about the blasphemy the colt was spitting. Diamond Tiara was happy to voice those words directly. "What do you mean? You literally just answered your own question. They show you have talent, separating the useless from the useful and that's that."

Darklo shook his head in discontent, his proffesional tone minorly cracking as he continued. "Uhm, that isn't what I said at all. A cutie mark isn't a show of superiority, if that were correct, how would we get cutie marks in the first place? You're essentially saying that everypony was useless before they get their mark, including yourself, so, by omission, your whole statement falls apart."

"O...Omission? Talk all you want, using big words it wont put a picture on your flank, newbie!" Diamond smirked to herself at her clever insult but to her surprise, the colt looked as if she didn't say anything. It made her blood boil. And Darklo was clearly enjoying it, if the pearly whites he flashed gave anything away.

"We are here to talk intellectually about the state of the world, not to cast flame on another's appearance. Now where was I- oh right. The point I'm trying to make here is that everypony has their talent before their marks even appear so it's essentially just a confirmation of finding their best trait or accomplishment. Take Bloom for example," Darklo grabbed the filly and reeled her close, seat tipping to the side to follow the shift in weight, "she doesn't have a mark yet, but that doesn't stop her from being an excellent listener and a hard worker. So conclusion: We shouldn't be so hasty when it comes to having a mark or not since the talent is already a part of us."

Red practically flushed from the filly's cheeks, hiding her face under her hooves to avoid suspicion. However, no amount of visual disturbances would stop everypony minus Cheerlie and Darklo from heckling giddily.

"Darklo, please leave me outta this." Applebloom whispered through gritted teeth.

"Why not? I know what I'm talking about."

And with a commanding "settle down" from Miss Cheerlie, the laughter ceased, prompting Silver Spoon to echo a chuckle into the silence. "Ooooh now I understand. All of this bravado of yours is just a silly front to impress the blank flank. How hilarious!" The noble fillies ruptured into a second wind of laughter, though nopony was laughing with them this time. Infact, the blank flanks in the back were sending daggers the pompous filly's way.

Diamond Tiara reveled in the attention and grinned towards the pair, forcing one to cower away from sight while the other kept their gaze on her, eyelids heavy from the lack of clever jabs. "How adorable, though I suppose you're ment for each other anyways. Blank flanks stick together am I right?"

"Diamon Tiara, Silver Spoon that's enough!" Miss Cheerlie finally broke the foals line of sight, attention at last, focused on the right pony. "I had just said to not cause trouble with the new student and here you fillies are..." A tired sigh escaped her lips, though it was found unnoticed by the students, and she attempted to plaquate them with a reassuring smile. "Now, if you could apologise to Darklo and Applebloom, that would be very sweet of you."

"But-"

"Diamond..."

"Ugh! Fine," The fillies expressions were anything except apologetic, "we're sorry."

Applebloom was almost swept off her hooves. The most stuck up fillies she ever knew, apologising to her? Even if it was half assed, the apple filly would only dream of such a scenario happening, yet Darklo didn't see the achievement he made, he just gave them an understanding smile. "Thanks, whether you mean it or not."

---

Play time had reached it's peak with everypony squabbles into their groups to create some fun for themselves. Be it pretend games or friendly sports, everypony was doing it with a joyous smile. Darklo was the exception, but not how one would think.

The colt lay behind a tree, facing away from the playground mayhem while reading a book. The same book that got from Trixie during her visit. He was almost through the entire book as he was noting the basic information of the 92nd trick.

'With a combination of sparkling energy and the manipulation it's light, you can create shapes and artistic images that will surely wow your audience for your opening act.' Oh, so this was how she made that little animation of the Ursa... hold on a minute Darko sat himself upright and checked his hooves. They still had his hoofpads on, adorning the symbols of air and fire. Couldn't it be possible to just create the symbols with magic?

His mind sparked in intruige of the possibilities. If he could break the need for a physical symbol, using the other signs would be just as easy as fireing them off from his hoofpads. Yeah...yeah that would completely change how I fight now. Maybe reaching my level as a Conduit wont be so much of a pipe dream after all. This will require some testing!

"Hey Bloom, I think I just got an idea." Darklo craned his neck to the branch above him, which sturdily held the filly. Though, only a grunt escaped her lips. "Uh Bloom," the colts voice grew a little concerned as an aura of unease could be felt in the air, "you doing okay?"

"Oh nothin' serious. Just thinkin' about cutie marks. That lesson gave me alot to think about..." Applebloom loomed over the branch to meet Darklo's gaze. "It's just, Ah've always been so gung-ho about gettin' my cutie mark, but Ah'm really stuck on what Ah need to do. Sure, somethin' apple related seems like a start, but Ah'd have thought Ah'd have it by now. What am Ah missin', Darklo?"

"If getting that mark is what you want to do, then I'll figure something out. There's gotta be something out there that you will love doing, aside from playing with dirt."

Darklo hid a smirk from the filly above him who was clearly unamused at the comment. "May Ah remind ya that Ah ain't the only one that likes playin' around. Don't think Ah didn't see all those symbols plastered around the school grounds."

"Touche, touche."

The colt decided to leave it at that and got to testing the waters of his magic. He charged his horn, which generated a couple sparks in the air. He concentrated really hard, slowly but steadily forming a circle, or that's what it looked like. "Eh... that seems more like an oval than a circle. No matter, I just need to stretch it out a bit more-"

"Woah, cool fireworks!"

The sudden noise instantly threw his concentration into the waters as the the shape fizzled out into nothing, granting a light grunt from the colt. Once again, a random mishap caused him to fail at something. Darklo was slowly getting annoyed at that pattern, yet now was not the right time to fume his frustrations as he still had two fillies watching him from behind the tree.

"Uhm, you girls need something?" Darklo asked, fumbling to put on a reassuring smile.

The orange coated filly smirked cheekily, like he had said something funny. "Oh we don't need anything per say. We just wanna talk about that AWESOME debate you had with Diamond Tiara! She desperately needed a mental thrashing and BOY you delivered."

Darklo's ears flicked in deterrence of the unusual tone pitches the filly employed in her language, and yet he shrugged his shoulders indifferently. "I was just giving out my opinion, if she gave a better counter point than 'I am better' then I would've just left it at that."

"Still a win in my books! The names Scootaloo, and this is Sweetiebelle. Nice to meet you Darklo." One nod of approval from both parties later, and the colt got a quick flash of remembrance jolt through his brain when locking eyes with Sweetiebelle.

"Oh! You must be Rarity's sister, I believe she had mentioned you once."

"Yeah, and she's mentioned you more times than I could count. Never imagined she'd act like mom a day in my life, but I guess that's over."

With the way Sweetiebelle talked about her mother, Darklo could already implant an image in his head. A middle aged pony dressed with clothing from the 90s and puffy curled hair squishing his cheeks dotingly. Well, putting Rarity into that position doesn't sound like that hard of a stretch but hey, I'm not her sibling so who am I to judge? Darklo fained a grimace and nodded in accordance. "Yeah, I guess that would be strange to see," however, his instincts betrayed him as his magic happily glowed along with a smile, "but putting all the introductions aside, it's really nice to meet some new ponies. Trust me, telling the same tale about Nightmare Moon got real old."

"Well, we don't need to know about that stuff anyway. We were there, you doofis!" Scootaloo tagged on. "In a matter of fact, Applebloom was with us too. Which reminds me, when did the two of you meet? It seemed you were pretty close with her if the last lesson gave anything away."

"I mean not everypony would stand up to Diamond Tiara for a stranger."

Is... is something wrong with that? Darklo pondered deeply. These colts and fillies constantly regal Diamond Tiara as some sort of evil mastermind but all she has that Darklo found particularly powerful was her passive aggressive words, but even that meant nothing to a child like himself. These foals would not survive the real world, let alone the Academy he studied at, if some down talking was too difficult to overcome.

"Well, why don't you ask her?" The colt answered cheekily as he pointed his hoof to the branch above him, resulting in the girls looking up and having the freight of their lives seeing Applebloom laid on the hard wood, watching them analytically. "Did you hear that Bloom?"

The filly sighed and nodded to her friend. "Alright,long story-short, we met at the barn after some complications with ma sister. And after that, we've been the best of pals." Although her bored tone felt forced, she couldn't hide a sincere smile in reminiscence of the last few weeks. Scootaloo snickered at the sight, granting her a side eye from the tight knit friends. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing at all. I just wasn't expecting something so short. Especially for a friendship with a nickname basis."

"A friendship of many weeks will do that. Besides, I do that with everypony. Think of it like a signal that you have my trust."

The two newcomers locked sight with each other and huddled together, whispering some sort of plan. At that moment, Applebloom hopped off from the branch and landed beside her friend without any difficulties. "What kind of bollocks do they have planned?"

Darklo shrugged comically ."No idea, can't predict ponies you just meet."

Eventually, the duel hug broke apart and they swarmed around them, blocking their exits from both sides as they smiled gleefully. "Hey, so we've been thinking... what would you say about being friends?" Sweetiebelle asked.

"I mean, with the four of us, getting our cutie marks would quadtroople! We would be like a team."

Silence filled the air for only a few seconds as Applebloom revved her excitement until it burst, resulting in the filly bouncing around the group like a Pinkie Pie on somepony's birthday. "Ah can't believe this, more friends for the road!"

Her bountiful enjoyment was infectious to the colt, it reminded him of his own group of friends. Rowdy, idiotic but inseparable. "Don't worry, if we really doing this, she'll grow on you."

"Heh, she already has." Sweetiebelle took the initiative and latched onto Applebloom, ceasing her round of excitement once and for all. And as if on que, they huddled together, extending one of their hooves into the center.

However, their excitement dulled over as their mouths laid open, unsure on how to proceed. "So how do you girls want to do this?"

"Oh, how about a team name. Ya know, so ponies know what to call us when we are together."

"A team name? Yeah, that sounds like a start. Alright everypony, get to thinking!" Scootaloo announced and for the last few minutes of recess, they passed through names that were rather too boring like Applebloom's 'The Friendly Four' or too girly for Darklo's taste like Sweetiebelle's 'The Filly Friends'.

"What about The Courageous Crusaders? I think that fits us pretty well."

Everypony curled their lips in deep thought until Scootaloo shook her head "I don't know, I'm digging the crusader part but the name is missing something... oh I got it!" The eager pegasus whispered her idea to the foals in the circle and with a nod of approval from all of them, the name was set. "Alright everypony, on 3."

And so, the 4 foals had their name. Something which will stick with them for the rest of their childhood, something which will act as a symbol for all ponies that interact with them, something which will mark the beginning of their friendship.

"And 3!"

"Cutie Mark Crusaders!"

Comments

[Aiwhisper]

Cute.

[Rapane443]

11888841
Little bundles of joy, these 4.