Two Schools, Canterlot Arcane Academy and Wonderbolt Military School, Have been rivals for centuries. When two genius students join their ranks, each school will not stop untill the other is in complete humiliation
Two Schools, Canterlot Arcane Academy and Wonderbolt Military School, have been rivals for centuries. When two genius students join their ranks, each school will not stop until the other is in complete humiliation.
Twilight Sparkle is a genius, graduated top of her class, all she has to do now is pass the Canterlot entrance exam, but can even she do that?
Rainbow Dash is the first girl in a line of male warriors, she was raised to fight and be the perfect warrior. She far exceed that.
When the two schools clash, secrets are revealed, love is won and lost, life is given and taken. When Mages fight, the whole world trembles.
(Meta Note: the Cover image of Dashie is not necessarily how she looks in this world. I just though it was an appropriate picture.)
Twilight's breath came in short ragged huffs though her nose. If she opened her mouth, she would likely vomit.
“Don’t be so tense,” said the mint green haired Unikai girl that stood beside her.
Lyra had been Twilight's good friend since they were both young, and now she stood beside her in what was possibly the greatest challenge of her life. Walking through a set of doors.
Of course it wasn’t the doors themselves that posed a challenge, she had walked through hundreds of doors in her life, it was what lay beyond them. These doors in the Fifthwind City department of mages lead to The Canterot Academy entrance exam. The most challenging and terrifying test composed by any living being, Unikai, Human or other.
Twilight gulped, she had done it so many times it was a miracle that she had any left to swallow. Lyra looked over at her friend.
“You okay Twi? Do you need a…”
“NO I'M FINE!” Twilight shouted, then covered her mouth, embarrassed, when the other waiting students looked at her. She sat against a wall putting her head between her knees and rocked back and forth, moaning.
“What have I gotten myself into?”
Lyra rolled her eyes.
“It’s just a test Twi, no need to freak…”
“JUST A TEST!? JUST A TEST!” Twilight shouted, everyone looked at her again but this time she didn’t care.
“THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT TEST WE WILL EVER TAKE IN OUR ENTIRE LIVES!”
“Twi, you scored 109% on your final at Sentinel, the highest ever! You’ll do fine.”
“I could of gotten 110%, but I misspelled Luconnian Arcain Configurarium Complex.”
Lyra sighed, she had done all she could to help her neurotic friend calm down, but to no avail. The two of them had been best friends since either of them could remember, Twilight had always been a very left brained color-inside-the-lines type of kid where as Lyra had always been a free spirit (a free spirit often sent to the Dean’s office sure, but free nonetheless) and had never really been worried about the problems of life like Twilight had been. Even when the both of them had left Sentinel Academy, the local magic school in their little town, Twilight had been tense and nervous never once acting like the most talented Unikai to ever come out of Sentinel, which she was.
A tall narrow faced human walked out of the double doors that lead into the dark hall where the test would be held.
“All students who are taking the test follow me,” he said in a deep dark tone.
Twilight felt like she was about to have a heart attack.
“Come on,” Lyra said standing, “Let’s go.”
“I don’t think I can…” Twilight said gasping.
“Sure you can you’ll do fine.”
Twilight stumbled to a standing position and shuffled through the doors with the rest of the wave of students.
The professor lead the wave of students down a winding maze of corridors into a plain white room where a slew of desk were arranged in a stiff organized square. Each with a stack of paper and a nameplate.
“Find your name and sit at the desk, don't touch the test.”
Twilight heard Lyra gag, these massive towers of paper on their desk were the test!
The two of them found their desks (Lyra was directly behind Twilight) and sat down, not touching the tests.
“The written portion of the test will begin in ten minutes, prepare yourselves the best you can and begin on my queue.” the long faced man walked to the front of the room and stood in front of a large clock that was ticking away. Twilight turned to Lyra.
“I cant do it!” She hissed under her breath at her friend.
“Relax!” Lyra said for what must be the hundredth time today.
“But what if i mess up what if I do something wrong!?”
“Five minutes,” the supervisor's voice echoed through the massive classroom.
“YOU’LL, BE, FINE!” Lyra said, putting emphasis on each word. “Test taking is like, your thing! You'll probably be the first to finish!”
Twilight let out a squeak of fright.
“Not good! Not good! the person who finishes first usually rushed themselves and got allot of questions wrong!”
“So finish last then,” Lyra said exhausted with Twilight’s anxiety. But it was too late, Twilight had already turned back to her desk and was breathing heavily.
“Begin your tests!” The Supervisor said, as the giant clock buzzed.
Twilight took several deep breaths. Okay, lets do this! She looked down at the paper.
1. What is the proper name for a non physical energy source?
Easy, Aetherial-Proper source. Next?
2. Where is True magic transferred from Aetherial energy to Practical energy?
Was this test for kindergarteners? The Arcania plexa in Unikai and the appropriate organ in humans.
Twilight blazed through the rest of the test answering each of the questions to the best of her ability.
77. What was the name of the Mage who invented the Arcane Reflux method?
Wave Dancer.
453. Where do you find a bezor?
The liver of a goat, (or dragon if you're looking for an elemental type bezor).
Twilight clutched at her chest her heart was racing so fast it felt like it would leap out of her chest.
“You have ten minutes!” the supervisor said.
The room was spinning, Twilight’s heart felt ready to explode. This wasn’t normal test jitters!
“Five minutes!”
Twilight fell to the floor clutching her chest. her arms ached her jaw ached, she couldn’t see straight, everything was muffled!
“Twilight!” Lyra said leaping to her feet. She rushed over to her friend but the supervisor caught her arm.
“Wait until the test is over, Ms. Heartstrings!” He said as if nothing was wrong.
“But I need to help her!”
“You can help her all you want after the test, it’s over in two minutes!”
“SHE MIGHT NOT LAST TWO MINUTES!”
Two men in medical uniform entered the room and plopped Twilight unceremoniously onto a stretcher. Twilight tried to protest but all that came out was a meek “test…”.
She saw Lyra trying to get to her, she saw her struggling against the supervisor. Then everything went black, and she was the calmest she had been in days.
***
Hours, days, years. It was impossible to tell how much time had passed while she was asleep. Twilight stared at the ceiling, wondering what she would do now.
“I guess I could always get a desk job,” she muttered.
Lyra had visited almost every day, the first time she had she told her that she had missed the practical application test.
“You need a completion slip of both test to enter.” She had told her.
It turned out that Lyra had eked by on the tests and just managed to get accepted to the academy.
“That’s great!” Twilight had said. But she hadn’t felt any real enthusiasm, only jealousy.
Since she was a little girl, her dream was to one day be one of the Archmages that taught at Great magical academies like Avalon and Canterlot, the only way to do that was to graduate with the highest degree from Canterlot academy. And it looked like that dream was forever lost to her now.
She sat in her bed examining the poster on the far wall for what seemed to be the thousandth time. Yes, she knew how many servings of fruit she was supposed to have a day.
There was a knock on the door.
“Come in Lyra…” she said listlessly. But the person who stepped through the doorway was not Lyra at all. A beautiful Unikai woman, with long flowing hair of bright colors stepped into the room. Twilight gasped. It was Headmistress Celestia! The Dean of Canterlot academy AND the most powerful Archmage in history!
“M-MS. CELESTIA!” Twilight snapped her jaw shut and took a deep breath, stressing out hadn’t helped her in the past, it definitely wouldn't help her now.
She started over.
“Good morning ma'am. I’d rise to greet you but…”
“No need for that,” the Archmage said. “I have some news for you Ms. Sparkle.”
Twilight gulped, but how much worse could her life get? Any news should be good news.
Celestia summoned a small stack of paper out of nowhere and began to flip through it.
“Your written test was quite impressive, flawless in fact, except for the few questions that you didn’t answer. But I doubt you would have missed those. where did you go to school?”
"Sentient- I MEAN! Sentinel, Ma'am."
Twilight didn’t understand, what was the Headmistress getting at?
The headmistress sat on the side of the bed and handed the papers to Twilight, it was the transcripts from her test. Not a single question was marked wrong.
“Most students at your level average 60-70% on the entrance exam, just enough to squeak in, never have we ever had a student of your intellect.”
Twilight blushed. here she was, be complemented by the most powerful spell-caster since Archmage Astrum! And after failing a test!
“Unfortunately we are still not allowed to let you join classes without the practical exam.”
Twilight’s heart sank.
“Can’t you make an exception, pull some strings and let me take it?”
Celestia shook her head.
“Even if I could, you are in no condition to attempt the physical exam.”
Twilight touched the small scar that was left from the operation, she would have it for the rest of her life. And if she stressed out too much she would get another.
“However,”
Twilight looked up, Celestia was smiling deviously.
“I would be more than happy to take you on as a personal apprentice.”
Twilight gasped! Only the most skilled students were offered apprenticeships. and here was the the Archmage Celestia, asking her for one before she even started classes!
“Of course! I mean...” She started over “It would be my greatest pleasure, Headmistress.”
“Then contact me when you get out of the hospital, and please, just call me Celestia.” “Contact me in my office when you get out of the hospital, and please, just call me Celestia.”
Rainbow Dash snapped to attention at the drill sergeant's command, drawing her hand back from touching her newly shortcut rainbow colored hair.
She was dressed in the regular W.M.A student uniform, a dark green blazer and tie over a white shirt. Because they were doing the physical exam she was blessed with pants instead of those horrid skirts the female students were forced to wear. She wondered if she could find an old boy’s uniform to wear instead.
Every one of the other students were dressed exactly the same as she was, stiff uniforms and stances to match stiff expressions and moods.
The bald headed drill sergeant passed up and down the line of new recruits. Today was Testing Day, the day every day-dreaming military student both feared and anticipated. Of the 200 plus students applying for a position as a Wing Mage here, less than half would be allowed to enter Wonderbolt Academy, the top military academy in the Kingdom.
“So you pieces of shit think you’re good enough to go to my school do you?”
Rainbow's Dad’s voice echoed through her head.
‘Unless he addresses you directly, it’s a rhetorical question,’ she remembered. Don’t answer.
“Well let me tell you little ladies something, YOU’RE NOT! Otherwise I wouldn’t have to beat all the bullshit you’ve been learning out of those tiny brains of yours!”
He stopped in front of a nervous looking Unikai.
“YOU! What’s the fourth Armor Form cast sequence?!”
“Um…”
“NOW!”
“I-I…”
“I-I,” the drill sargent mocked “FIFTY LAPS!”
The boy rushed off, Rainbow Dash held back a scoff. Lightweight.
The sergeant went up and down the line terrifying random recruits, but the time he reached Dash, twenty more students were running laps.
“YOU! What’s your name?!”
“Rainbow Dash, sir!”
‘Look at him, but don’t make eye contact, look straight through him.’
“Are you Thunder Dash’s kid?” The drill sergeant asked.
“Yes, sir.”
“Thunder Dash was one of our best students, you think you as good as him?”
“Yes, sir.”
DAMN! She let her confidence get the best of her.
“We’ll see then won't we? Summon your wings private!”
Dash stepped forward and closed her eyes.
Lungs were the Focus of Xepher, Lord of Air, focus your magic through there and… BOOM!
Giant translucent wings sprung from her back, sending out a burst of wind and they flew open. Her wings were the pride of her last school, the largest in the school and shining like multi colored gems.
“Cute,” was all that the drill sergeant had to say. “Do you think this is some kind of gods-damned talent show!” he shouted.
“What the hells was all that runoff energy about! Are you trying to impress me? BECAUSE IT’S NOT WORKING!”
Rainbow dash flinched as the drill sergeant yelled.
“Back in line!”
Dash folded her wings and stepped back into the line of students
‘It’s their job to make you feel worthless.’ Her father had said.
Well that was working just fine!
“Since Ms. Dash seems so eager, we’ll go ahead and get you lowlifes in the air. Spread out and summon your wings!”
There was a rush of wind as the rest of the students summoned their wings.
“Can none of you horny bastards control yourselves? Conserve all the runoff energy, don’t let it out like some sort of damn windmill!”
“Up in the air, all of you!” the drill sergeant snapped.
Dash tensed and leaped into the air, using her wings to launch up farther than the other students. The drill sergeant flicked a finger and several loops formed in the air, each about 20 yards apart.
“You will race to the end of this course, we will be judging you as you do so, do whatever it takes to get to the finish line.”
Dash readied herself; this would be easy as flying over a field!
“GO!”
The drill sergeant's voice sent Dash rocketing off. She was through the third hoop by the time all the other students had cleared the first one! She had raced falcons, dodged falling rocks in cannons and had broken the sound barrier (and her legs) on multiple occasions. Competing with a bunch of racing club n00bs would be easy (especially when they were all fighting with each other)!
Suddenly something slammed into her side, knocking Dash off course. She spun and slammed into one of the rings. She shook her head and glared at her assailant, an athletic looking Unikai boy, the same boy who the drill sergeant had sent around the track. He had a terrified expression on his face. He only gave Dash a passing glance as he flew past.
“So you want to play rough do you?” Dash hissed.
Dash took off like a bullet after her assailant navigating her way through the throng of students that had caught up with her, until she reached the front of the pack where the punk was. Dash slammed into her rival at supersonic speed sending the both of them hurtling through the next nine hoops in only a few seconds!
Dash grabbed onto the attempted hit man and chucked him to the side he spun around for quite a while until her regained focus and sped at Dash.
Armor magic wasn’t her specialty, but she had to try.
The Bones, Skin and Muscles were all the Focus of Terrus, Lord of Earth. Dash called magic from the Aether and pushed it onto her skin. Hard, solid plates formed around her body, protecting her as the boy smashed into her.
The boy spiraled down, his wings disappearing as he plummeted towards his doom. Dash froze in the middle of the air, she looked toward the finish line, some of the faster students were already reaching it. If she went now she would easily make it before the rest of the students, but that would mean that the boy would die! Although judging by the mess of broken forms on the ground, that hadn’t stopped allot o f people.
Finally going into a nose dive toward the ground, she chased him. She scooped up the boy seconds before he reached to ground. Hauling him over her shoulder she rocketed back up to the finish line and tore across it, just in time to not finish last. “About time Ms. Dash,” the drill sergeant said as she floated down to the landing pad. “I was wondering if you had forgotten about us!”
Two men came and took the collapsed boy away. Dash watched as the loaded him into a medical cart and took him away.
***
The day wasn’t so easily won though. There was still combat practice. Although most of the students had gotten plenty of practice already, this time they would be fighting intentionally.
The students were allowed access to the class D weapon storage, blunt and old weapons that would have luck cutting butter, let alone flesh. Dash decided to go light and strapped a backless breastplate over her chest and grabbed a spear and a bow.
‘Be faster than your opponent, then you won’t have a risk of getting hit.’
They had announced that the applying Wing Mages would fight the applying Armor Mages. Dash grinned, with this she would easily out run some slow stupid Armor Mage.
The students had assembled in a small room that was attached to the arena where they would be fighting. Posted on a wall were the pairs that would be fighting. Groans and shouts of delight echoed as the students learned their fate. A student looked up at Dash.
“You’re lucky,” he said. “You got some country hick for your opponent.”
Dash looked over at the poastings.
1. Rainbow Dash (G.P.A: 88) Vs. Apple Jack (G.P.A 67)
If some 60th percentile hick was all she had to worry about this was going to be an easy A!
***
Dash sauntered out onto the battlefield suited up in her chosen armor and weaponry. Across the field her opponent entered, a Greatsword slung across her shoulder.
She was bigger then Dash, athletic, tan and summer blonde. And, Dash noticed with disgust, much more well-endowed.
“Ya’ll look ready for a beetin’,” The girl said with a smirk.
Gods! She even had a stupid hat! As if she could get any more stereotypical!
“I was just going to say the same thing, except I was going to speak correctly,” Dash Quipped back. The girl glared down at her.
“This will be a one round fight,” the moderator said from his perch above the arena. “Try not to kill each other.” He rang the bell to signal the match start.
Dash soared back on her quickly summoned wings, kicking up dust and blinding her opponent. She knocked an arrow, these little toys didn’t even have arrow heads but putting some earth magic in them would be more than enough. She focused earth magic into the light arrow shaft, a dull orange glow surrounded it the she launched it, then using air magic she knocked several dozen more in just a second, launching them at her opponent. Small explosions echoed from the dust cloud as they connected with her quarry.
Dash descended down to view what was left of her foe, the smoke cleared and out dashed the farm girl! All the arrows clutched in her left hand and the Greatsword, covered in an earth magic aura, clutched in her right. She swung the sword in an arch down at Dash, who was just able to dodge out of the way in time. How was she able to catch her arrows?! The she saw it, a grey and red gauntlet of aura round her hand. Fire and Air combined, that was a simple yet powerful speed-based combo. But where on earth did an Armor Mage learn Fire magic.
Dash didn’t have much time to ponder this as the girl swung her sword at her head again. Dash ducked down and pulled out her spear, focusing Air magic into it she sent out a flurry of jabs. She and the girl danced back and forth trading attacks, Dash swooped around using her wings to the best of her ability, but the Armor Mage’s skill easily matched hers. They both struck their blades pausing at their opponent’s throat. They paused panting.
“Not *huff* bad *huff* for a farm girl.”
“You *pant* anin’t so bad *pant* yourself.”
A slow clap echoed from the stands, the girls looked up, standing there was a woman with wild read and yellow hair in a blue officer’s uniform.
Colonel Spitfire!
Dash saluted. The other girl followed suit.
“C-Colonel! It’s a pleasure.”
“At ease private.”
Dash loosened and the Colonel jumped down to the arena. Colonel Spitfire was one of the heads of the academy, and a military legend. During the Dragon Wars she had fought off and entire army of Daraki warriors by herself.
“I was watching your little battle, I’ll admit, I was impressed. It’s not just anyone who can maintain such skilled spell casting under that much pressure.”
“Thank you ma’am.”
“Thunder Dash was our best student, keep it up and you may one day be one tenth of the warrior he was.” She turned to the other girl.
“Where did you learn fire magic?
“Pa’ taught me,” she muttered.
“You won’t need it as an armor student.”
She stepped back and looked at the sweat covered girls.
“Return to your homes, the results will be displayed tomorrow morning.”
As Spitfire walked past she tapped Dash on the shoulder and whispered in her ear.
Vinyl froze against the wall, back stiff and face contorted in fear. This was bad this was very very bad! She peeked around the corner to see if the guard was coming up the hall.
“HEY! YOU! STOP!”
Yep, he was.
Vinyl dashed around the corner and tore down the hall, knocking over a dozen irreplaceable artifacts as she did. No use using her Sound Magic to muffle the shattering echoes now!
It had been Top Knot’s idea, of course, to come to the Tars City Museum of History to try and steal something valuable. The problem was, everything in this damn dust pit was valuable, (and heavily guarded) she had probably just made the museum 1,000,000 plus Bits in insurance money! Vinyl made a mental note to strangle the girl the next time she saw her!
“STOP, THIEF!” The guard shouted, chasing her down the hall and tripping over a suit of armor with a loud CLANG! Vinyl couldn't help laughing as the guard struggled to get up. She tore down the next hall not waiting for the guard to catch up.
Vinyl skidded to a halt, a window! Why did there have to be a window right there? Boots thundered down the hall as a dozen more guards closed in around the blue haired thief.
“Alright kid,” said what looked to be the biggest and stupidest of the guards, so of course he was the leader. “There’s no where to go, just come with us and make it easy on yourself.”
Vinyl glanced around, three, six, eight guards in all. This was too many, maybe she could… NO she had sworn never to use that!
“Come on, you piece of Halfkai shit!” Hissed one of the guards.
Oh it was on now!
Vinyl rocketed toward the offending guard, using her Sound magic to launch herself off the ground. She drove her fist into his chest, the resulting sound wave made the other guards clap their hands over their ears. Vinyl felt a satisfying crunch as the man's ribs shattered sending him hurtling back. Standing over her fallen foe, Vinyl realized she wasn’t done quite yet. The rest of the guards surrounded her glaring, nursing ears that would be ringing for a week.
“You’re in trouble now, girly!” Hissed the big one.
Vinyl glance out the window, a small pink butterfly flew past.
“You know what guys,” she said, striking a nonchalant pose. “It’s been fun, but I really need to… fly!”
With that she launched herself out of the window.
***
About halfway down she wondered if this had been a good idea. To most people, launching yourself out of the top floor of the Tars History Museum is not the best way to spend an evening.
Of course most people (luckily) weren’t Vinyl, and most people definitely didn’t have...
“OOOF!”
“Sorry! Sorry!”
Fluttershy!
“About time you showed up!” Vinyl said, adjusting her self in the Wing Mage’s arms, putting her hands behind her head.
Fluttershy flicked her head to brush a strand of pink hair out of her face.
“Sorry,” she said again, flapping her magic wings a little slower as the descended.
“Wish I could do that,” Vinyl though looking longingly at Fluttershy’s gold wings.
As they slowly fell, Vinyl opened up the little pouch that she had been carrying. The weird relic was still in there. Yhe statue looked like a man, but parts of him were morphed, one hand was clawed and the other was covered in fur.
“Where does Top Knot expect to pawn this?” muttered Vinyl.
When they landed a man shouted from the door of the museum.
“THERE THEY ARE!”
A platoon of Guards stormed out of the gates and charged toward the two girls.
“These punks just don’t quit do they?” Asked Vinyl shaking her head. She grabbed Fluttershy’s hand. “Now it’s my turn to show off!” She said grinning wide.
Blue rings of glowing runes encircled her feet and she dashed off, each step sending out a booming shock wave of sound.
They galloped through the city, twice as fast as the guards could run. zipping through alleys and leaping over walls. Fluttershy squeaked with fright as the narrowly dodged an overturned hay cart.
“I’D THINK YOU BE USE TO THIS BY NOW!” Vinyl shouted over her booming steps.
“YOU’RE NOT THAT EASY TO GET USE TO!” Fluttershy replied.
After a few more minutes, Vinyl skidded to a halt in front of a old abandoned tavern. Letting go of Fluttershy she glanced left and right, then knocked on the door, three times, two times, three times. The door opened a crack and the voice of little boy trying to sound like a big man came out.
“What’s the password?” He grunted.
“It’s me! Let me in!”
“Tha’s not it!”
“OPEN THE DOOR NOW, OR YOU WON’T EAT FOR A WEEK!”
The door flew open the rest of the way to reveal a small chubby boy, dressed in oversized clothes. Vinyl put her hands on her hips.
“Did I guess the right password?” she asked. The boy simply nodded. She couldn't help it, she let out a loud laugh and scooped the boy up in her arms!
Vinyl walked into the old building, holding the boys hand.
“You can go to bed now, Pip, you did a good job!” The boy wearily plodded up the stairs and disappeared behind a oaken door.
“Did you get it?” Asked a voice from the shadows. Fluttershy let out another squeak of fright. Vinyl simply turned and glared at the offender. A young woman, just older than Vinyl and Fluttershy, with a tangled mess of hair.
“You gods-damned shit hole! You nearly had me killed!”
“I would have thought the great theft, Vinyl Scratch had been up to the challenge. Do you have the statue?” Asked Top Knot.
Vinyl pulled out the statue and threw it onto the rotted counter of the bar, giving Top Knot detailed instructions as to where she could put the statue. Top Knot, pulled the statue out of the bag and examined it. She giggled excitedly.
“Looks like the great thief succeeded!” Vinyl snapped crossing her arms and plopping into a moldy bar stool.
“I’m sure, with all that noise you made, the entire town knows of your daring,” Top Knot hissed slamming the statue down onto the counter.
“WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?”
“I was thinking I wanted to get me and your little rescue bird out of there!” Vinyl said gesturing to Fluttershy.
“Did you fight anybody?”
Vinyl was silent. Top Knot covered her face with her hands.
“Please tell me you used your spell!”
“Of course I didn’t!” Vinyl snapped, how could Top Knot ask that!?
“We’ve been over this, if you fight then you have to use your spell! Or better yet don’t fight at all!”
“Haven’t we also been over how I’m never using that spell EVER AGAIN!?” Vinyl stood up with such force that the stool snapped in half!
“DAMN!” She tried to pick up the stool but a splinter pricked her finger and she jerked her hand back. In a rage She stomped the stool, unintentionally using her magic to shatter the once noble chair into a thousand splinters.
She stomped up the stairs to her room, ignoring Fluttershy’s calls to come back.
She tore off her sweat covered shirt and plopped into bed, sinking into the moth eaten mattress. Her body thanked her gratefully. all that flowed through her mind was ‘Halfkai... Halfkai... Halfkai piece of shit!’
She propped herself up on her elbows and looked over at the two kids sleeping peacefully in the crib behind her. Spick and Span, the two youngest of the kids housed up here, an adorable pair of twins. Three years ago she had been a street rat, scrambling for any food she could get. Then she stumbled upon this shack, where Fluttershy had made a safe house for orphaned kids, so long as they worked to help out. The thought of a roof over her head pleased Vinyl so she joined the little commune.
They had been like a little family, Fluttershy was the overprotective and caring mother, and Vinyl was the boisterous and daring dad. But of course, every family had to have a dysfunctional member. That member was Top Knot. She had joined the group about a year ago, and since then she had had many ideas to try and get them out of the dank stink hole that they lived in, so far they had done little.
Vinyl sighed as she watched the twins roll over in their sleep. She hoped this time, Top Knot was right.
***
A loud thudding echoed from downstairs. Vinyl woke with a start and stumbled out of bed. Looking out the window she saw that the sun was just peaking over the tops of the buildings. After throwing on a shirt, she walked down to the door and leaned in, to peek through a crack.
The door was suddenly blown off it’s hinges knocking into Vinyl and sending her sprawling onto the floor of the tavern. Several men, armed men, stormed into the building, these were not your usual city grunts, these guys were the real deal, the gold armor and brass lances defining them as the King’s Eagle Guard.
Through the center of the men marched a tall thick jawed man with a gold plate covering his right eye.
The man strode over to her and glared down with his one eye.
“Where is The Idol?” he hissed.
“I have no idea what you are talking about.”
“You are a bad liar, Ms. Scratch,” he growled
Vinyl froze. How did he know her name!?
he turned to a man in a gold cloak with a winged sun pin on his shoulders.
“Search the place. leave no floor board unchecked.”
The man nodded and signaled to the rest of the men who charged into the tavern up the stairs, behind the counter and even into the cellar!
A very confused looking Top Knot stumbled down the stairs and looked at Vinyl.
“What in the hells is going on!?”
“These gentlemen want to see the statue I picked up for you,” Vinyl hissed clinically.
“OH NONONONO! THIS IS NOT WHAT WAS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!”
A guard approached the gold eyed man holding a struggling Fluttershy in one hand and the statue in the other.
“We found The Idol, Sir. There’s also a bunch of kids living in the place.”
The man scanned the room.
“We only need the three, burn the building.”
“NO!” Fluttershy screamed, but was swiftly silenced by a blow from the guard.
The three of them were shoved out of the tavern and into a small cart with the rest of the soldiers. A few of the men took torches and oil out of the cart. Vinyl watched as the old building went up in flames, she felt the heat radiate off the blaze, she heard the screams from inside, she thought about little Spick and Span.
Finally she used her magic to silence the screams echoing from the burning building. It didn’t matter if she heard them, she could do nothing to help them.
A.J. slumped into the chair, it had only been a week since the day she fought with the Dash kid, and she still couldn’t believe that it had actually happened. She had looked up to the Dash family for years, the greatest warrior family in the kingdom and the family famous for leading the country out of the Dragon War! And she had fought a member of it (and bested her)!
A.J. looked up at the stage where the Colonel in charge of the school was giving a speech to the gathered students. But her focus wasn’t on the dry oratory he was giving. It was on the girl sitting behind him.
Along with several other teachers students Rainbow Dash sat in a row of chairs on the stage, asleep it seemed, a dribblit of saliva running from her mouth, was this really the first female member of the Dash family?
“As each of you know Armor Mages and Wing Mages have worked together since time immemorial,” the Colonel’s voice brought A.J. back to the stage. “Because of that we will be partnering each of you up with a respective Mage, the two of you will function as one unit, one warrior.”
This was nothing new to A.J., her family had been Armor Mages since as far back as anyone could remember that had all had their own Wing Mage, some had even married their partner. The Armor Mage represented the body and the Wing Mage represented the spirit, the two parts of a warrior. When they worked together the two halves made a fearsome whole.
“But now a new foe looms on the horizon,” the Colonel said leaning forward. “The Arcanists at Canterlot Academy threaten our way of life with their ‘Arcane Magic.’” hisses and curses flowed from the crowd.
“We must show those egg-headed bigots that the kingdom has no use of their irrational spells and rituals. Just like 20 years ago, all the Kingdom needs to win a war are our students!”
The students began clapping (just as much as the speech was over as the finish statement).
“It falls to you then,” The Colonel said not quite drained yet. “To show us If you are the warrior that W.M.A. expects, or if you’d rather have your nose in a book all day, like those imposters!”
***
A.J. unpacked her suit case. The dorm was small and spartan, with two flat beds with dull green sheets and a single dresser, to reinforce the idea that the two were one. A.J. was just glad they didn’t apply that philosophy to the beds! (Although she heard some students did so anyway.)
Her Wing Mage had yet to arrive, even though it was already past noon. The two of them would be taking all their classes and do all their training together, so she thought it polite to reveal yourself promptly, but apparently her partner had a different idea.
The door behind her slammed open.
“Sorry! lost track of time!”
That voice… it couldn’t be…
A.J. turned to face her roommate. A lanky figure with long arms and legs, a small childlike face, and rainbow colored hair.
“OH HELLS NO!” Rainbow Dash said when she saw her roommate. “I am not bunking with some C grade hick!”
“You want to say that again!?” Misty orange gauntlets formed around A.J.’s hands, just one punch and the bitch would be in the hospital ‘till New Year’s day!
“I am the elite! I’m the top of my class, I graduated from East Point with a perfect grade, and now I’m supposed to bunk with the cowgirl?”
“I’d be mighty proud to show you just what this cowgirl can do! Or did you get enough in the arena?”
“I’m not scared of you!” Rainbow dash hissed stepping forward. “You went and used Fire Magic, If you didn’t know, Cowgirl, while it may be okay on the farm, out here, in civilization, only sissy Canterlot Mages use Fire and Water Magic!”
A.J.’s mind told her to break the bitch’s face and drive a stake through her black heart. But she knew better, she wasn’t a brute anymore.
She relaxed and dissipated the summoned gauntlets..
“Well whether we like it or not, it looks like we'll be spending a lot of time together,” she held out her hand. “Truce?”
Rainbow dash glared down at the offered hand, like it was something better left untouched. She shoved past A.J. and dropped her small suitcase on the unclaimed bed. Then turned to the floor and using her foot, drew a line of Earth Magic across the floor.
“This is my side!” she said, then fell on the bed and went to sleep.
Well, A.J. had had worse first impressions. She stepped out of the room, leaving Rainbow Dash to rest in peace. She shook with fright thinking of all the thing she had almost done. Her passionate nature was what made her such a good user of Fire Magic, but it had also gotten her into a lot of trouble. Before she had graduated from the military school in Crosswood City she had been a violent little child, she never had any friends. Her father had trained her, focused her strength into something productive and made her the great warrior she was now. She was proud of her Fire Magic, no matter what Rainbow Dash said.
She rounded the corner and saw a group of students looking out a window.
“What’s goin’ on?”
One of the students waved her over. A.J. stepped up to the window and peeked out over the other student’s heads.
In the courtyard of the school was Colonel Spitfire and a man s that A.J. didn’t recognize with a gold eye patch with several guards around him, they were talking but she could only see their mouths moving.
“Open the window!”
The students moved and snapped open the lock and lifted the window up. Voices flowed in from the courtyard.
“...My jurisdiction, Colonel, you have no right-!”
“I have every right, Goldspear,” Spitfire interrupted. “The one girl is an incredible Wing Mage considering she has no formal training, and the other, I’ve never even heard of that type of Magic before.”
“The law allows you to take only one of the three! You can’t have both!”
Spitfire was silent, contemplating what the Goldspear guy had said.
“Give me a month,” she said. “By then I’ll tell you which one we’ll keep.”
Goldspear glared at her.
“These are stormy waters you’re entering Colonel,” he said, his voice cold. “These aren't just any pickpockets we grabbed off the street.”
“Hand me those Bramer Crystals.” Celestia said, gesturing to a pile of small glowing gems. Twilight grabbed a handful and handed them to the Archmage.
It had been only four days since her apprenticeship with the headmistress had started, and already she had learned more than she had in all her years at Sentinel. The Archmage’s office proved just how much she knew, the walls were covered in bookshelves full of books Twilight had never even heard of before. the floor was covered in maps and charts covered in arcane symbols.
Celestia took the crystals and added them to the bizarre contraption that was sitting on her desk. It looked like a small mechanical man, with a sword and a shield instead of hands. Apparently it was a commission from the king, it was called an Automaton. Ever since her first day Celestia had retreated up into her study late at night to work on the machine, tonight was the first time Twilight was allowed to help.
“With any luck, this thing should be up and running by the end of the week,” Celestia said, running a hand threw her long flowing hair to keep it out of her eyes.
Twilight examined her Mistress careful, Celestia had apparently Ran the academy since it had been founded 20 years ago at the end of the Dragon War, but the Headmistress didn’t look more than 5 years older than her!
The Archmage rested back in her chair and looked up at her student.
“Hungry?” She asked.
Twilight nodded, dinner had been five hours ago. Celestia sighed and dug a stone disc out of a mess of papers. The disc was engraved with a multitude of crisscrossing lines and runes, Twilight had never seen this kind of Magic Circle before. Celestia raised her hands above the circle and began chanting under her breath. The runes glowed with an unearthly light, smoke began to rise from the lines in the stone letting out an early hiss. The smoke moved on it’s own will and began to from into familiar shapes. A bowl of soup and a hunk of dark bread. Celestia fell back in her chair, apparently exhausted by the effort of the ritual she just performed. Twilight took the warm bowl of soup, murmuring her thanks.
“How in the world did you do that?” she asked.
“It’s complicated but basically I moved the parts of the air into parts of soup and bread.”
Twilight still didn’t understand. But she quickly forgot her concerns at the warm rich taste of the soup.
Twilight examined the Mechanical contraption on the table. She opened her mouth to ask her question but snapped it shut again, fearing a reprimand.
Celestia looked over her and gave a knowing smile.
“I expect my apprentice to ask questions if she has them, and not to make the mistake of guessing.”
“W-Well, I was wondering,” she gulped. “Why does the king want this… thing?”
Celestia let out a deep sigh, she suddenly looked much older.
“When the Dragon War was won 20 years ago it was not without cost, many soldiers and students died, to many. The king commissioned me to build this, to end the need for death, in the event of another war.”
Celestia looked out the window, a faraway look in her eye, like she was remembering the world 20 years ago.
“Partis…” she muttered.
“What?”
Celestia turned toward Twilight and then stepped out from behind the desk. The moment ended
“You’ve, helped me a great deal tonight Twilight, get some rest, it’s almost dawn.” With that the Archmage stepped out of the room and vanished from sight, leaving Twilight alone.
Twilight shook her head, there was no way she was going to bed NOW, not after that conversation. She needed answers! She rested the empty soup bowl on her lap and looked around her and realised, she had all the answers she could ask for standing silently around her. She stood up, it had been a while since she had gone on an all night study binge, the thought gave her a sense of comfort. She would not rest until she had answers!
Four hours later she sat barely awake in the study, mountains of unhelpful books lay around her dejectedly. Not one book gave a mention to Partis! She looked out the window and saw the sun begin to peek over the rim of the wall of the school. The door opened and Celestia entered, breakfast in hand.
“I thought you’d be up here,” she said closing the door with a flick of her wrist. she walked behind the desk and set the plate down on the table, moving aside the disc and Automaton from last night’s work. “Were you up all night?”
Twilight nodded slowly and looked down at the food presented to her. Toast with jam, eggs a banana and two sausage links. Ignoring the other parts of the meal she took the toast and began munching on it solemnly. Not one description Partis in those books, was Celestia making up the whole thing? She looked up at her Mistress, wondering what knowledge was stored in her head.
The Headmistress sorted through some papers and rested one in front of Twilight.
“I need you to buy me these,” she took the banana from the plate and began to peal it. “Don’t worry about money, just tell them I sent you.”
Celestia looked down at the plate that Twilight had left nearly untouched.
“I thought Unikai didn’t eat meat,” the drunkard inquired. Vinyl ignored him and continued to tare into the meat. she was so damn hungry, she didn’t care that half her body couldn’t digest the bodies of other animals, the worst that would happen is that she would get a stomach ache.
She had been stuck in this prison for almost a week now and she was to her dismay, getting used to the dank dark cell that she was stuck in. The rapist leaned against the bars of his cell across the hall and turned his head toward her.
“You don’t look like the usual scum that get thrown in here, like myself.”
“Trust me, I’m glad i don’t look like you,” Vinyl quipped through a full mouth. The drunkard laughed and grinned a gap toothed smile. truth be told the man wasn’t hideous, if a little grimy.
“You’re a spirited on, you from that Wonderbolt school?”
“No, I’m from lower Tars.”
“AH! A fellow lowlander,” the drunkard nodded sagely and turned to face her as much as his chains would allow. “I grew up in that part of town as well.”
“Then you can guess what I’m in here for.”
“You look too homely to be a whore, did a guard catch you pick pocketing?”
“Think a little more upscale.”
“Ah, a professional burglar then.”
Vinyl nodded and lay against the wall of her cell. she still had no idea of what happened to Fluttershy, she didn’t care about Top Knot, that greedy brainless nag could rot in the depths of Nessus for all she cared. The memory of the burning inn flashed through her mind and she rested her head in her arms.
A low clanking echoed down the dank hall of the jail and Vinyl looked up to see a guard marching toward her cell. He stopped in front of her and looked down through the bars of the cage.
“Your bail’s been paid,” he said unlocking the cell.
“What?”
“You heard me!” he opened the door and motioned for her to move. “You’ve been given a special summons.” He gave a evil grin and moved as she stepped out of the cell.
“Fair winds my friend,” said the drunkard “Good luck finding your friends.”
Vinyl turned, how did he know about that. But the guard slammed the but of his spear in between the bars of the cage knocking the man back.
“Shaddup! You lush!”
***
The guard showed Vinyl up the steps that lead to the guardhouse that rested on top of the underground prison.
“Wait here,” he grumbled and headed back down the steps into the dark dungeon that lay beneath their feet. Vinyl examined her surroundings. The guard house seemed to be deserted except for herself. A thought ran through her mind, she focused her magic, down her arms and into the cuffs that still bound her arms. Immediately she was blocked the magic drained away. She panted, mentally kicking herself. Of course they would use iron chains on a magic user.
“It would do you no good to run,” a voice said. Vinyl turned wildly looking for where the sound had come from. Her eyes met those of a woman, tall and athletic, with wild red hair. dressed in a military uniform. She had must hid herself, or Vinyl’s time in the dungeon had made her extremely absentminded.
“Who are you?”
The woman gestured to a gryphon pin on her chest.
“Colonel Spitfire, military commander in Tars and headmistress of Wonderbolt academy, that’s where you’re going.”
Vinyl knew about Wonderbolt academy, it was supposed to be the most elite military academy in the kingdom. But, Spitfire...where had she heard that name before?
Spitfire turned as footsteps echoed up the steps, Vinyl watched as the same guard led a terrified Fluttershy up the steps. The pink haired girl let out a cry as the man pushed her and she collided with Vinyl. he laughed and saluted Spitfire.
“Delivered unharmed, just as you requested ma’m.”
“You’re dismissed soldier,” Spitfire replied. The man unlocked the girls' cuffs, then Spitfire signaled to the girls to follow her out. They did as requested, but Vinyl leaned over and whispered to Fluttershy.
“Once we’re a good distance from the guard house, I’ll give the signal then we’ll make a break for it.”
“Shouldn't we wait and see what she wants from us?”
“I already know,” Vinyl snapped under her breath, startling Fluttershy. “We’re being drafted into that damn military school!”
“That might not be so bad,” Fluttershy replied “That means steady food and a warm bed, that's more then we could have on the street.”
“Have you already forgotten what the military did to our home? To our family?”
Fluttershy looked down at her feet, she was silent. Vinyl turned and glared at the back of Spitfire’s head then smirked. Did she really think that she could contain the great Vinyl Scratch? This old bird was about to have the chase of her life!
“Now!”
Vinyl dashed away, her Sound magic flowed through her, unhindered now by iron shackles. She stopped suddenly and collapsed to the ground. she looked down at her legs, they were tied together by a bola. She looked up as Spitfire approached, spinning another of the weighted ropes effortlessly.
“I was hoping that we would be able to do this peacefully Scratch,” she said kneeling down next to her prone target. “But if you insist on resisting I’ll have no choice but to drag your bloody and bruised body all the way to the academy, If we’re lucky, maybe you’ll survive the trip.”
“Now I remember where I heard your name,” Vinyl propped herself up on one arm and spat out a glob of spit and blood. “You’re the same Colonel Spitfire who murdered her supporting officer for disobeying orders.”
“Rumors of my past activities have been greatly exaggerated.”
Spitfire united Vinyl’s legs and she sat up. She looked into Spitfire’s eyes, she looked willing to take out the threat she promised.
“So will you comply to my orders?”
Vinyl let out a deep sigh.
“Fine, I’ll join your little academy!” She looked back up at her assailant. “but the moment I feel like it, I’m leaving.”
Spitfire nodded.
“That’s good enough for me, but if you do we’ll hold your friend a sword point until you come back.”
Rainbow Dash tightened her Armor and knocked an arrow into her bow. She straightened and nodded to A.J. from the boulder that they had place themselves behind. The Armour Mage nodded back and peaked out from behind the rock.
“They’re close,” she whispered.
“Right then, on my signal.” Rainbow closed her eyes and inhaled slowly. “One,” she opened her eyes and raised her bow. “Two-.” Suddenly A.J. leaped out from the rock, calling her armor in the form of her classic flaming gauntlets and charged down the slope of the hill.
“THAT IDIOT!”
Quickly Rainbow summoned her wings and flew above the rock. The trees of the forest kept her from going more than a few meters off the ground, but she still could get a tactical view from where she was. She saw A.J. charge down the hill at the two students, arms covered in flaming Magic armor. She loaded an arrow with wind magic and sent it whistling down past her supposed protector and connected with the head of the enemy Armor Mage.
The enemy Wing Mage saw her and glared up at where she hovered. The foe summoned her wings and speed up toward her. At the last second Rainbow side stepped out of the way of the winged bullet and dogged her hot headed adversary. The girl slowed herself as best she could and, turning, began jabbing wildly at Rainbow with her spear. But with each thrust she merely flicked her head to one side or the other dodging the blows easily.
The girl’s form was atrocious, did she think she was still on the ground? There's no surface to brace your self on up here, you had to use your wings to balance. Rainbow gave a flap of her wings enhancing it with a little Air Magic she sped back and sent the girl tumbling down through the air. She knocked another arrow. One Earth magic infused arrow to the chest would send this joke to the hospital for a week.
A buzzer rang and Rainbow lowered her bow. She didn’t want to look, but she had to. She glanced over her shoulder at the bottom of the hill lay A.J., collapsed, her gauntlets dissipated. Over her stood the panting figure of the enemy Armor Mage. He grinned, they had won.
***
Rainbow stood with A.J. in line, the two of them waiting to receive the transcript of their fight.
“Why couldn’t you have waited for me?”
“They were right there! Why did we need to wait?”
“Because we’re supposed to attack as a team, don’t you remember? Or did all those lectures that I had to suffer through with you get lost in that miniscule brain of yours?”
A.J. glared at her.
“I am sorry if I upset you, Ma’m.”
“Well, at least you know how to address me properly, hick.”
A.J. aimed a punch Rainbow in the face, but a quick block from her kept her from being sent to the medical ward.
“Don’t even try,” she hissed. “I’m in a whole different league than you.”
“Sure, a whole league, below.”
“Are you two done yet?” The woman at the counter asked. The girls turned, apparently while they had been arguing the line had whittled down to just them. Rainbow stepped up to the counter.
“Rainbow Dash and Apple Jack, class Storm.” The woman sorted through a massive book and pulled out one of the pages.
“Here you are,” she said as the page grew back. Rainbow took the scrap of paper and read.
Rainbow Dash [16yo: Wing] and Apple Jack [17yo: Armor] (Class Storm) Professor: High Winds Basic Sparring Evaluation
Performance: 8/10
Skill: 9/10
Teamwork: 3/10
Final score: 45%
Note: a lot of potential, but if you want any chance of competing in N.S.C.T work on your coordination.
Rainbow crushed the paper in her fist and threw it on the ground. This was all the hick’s fault! If she had listened to her they would have gotten 100! A.J. picked the paper off the ground and read it, her face darkening.
“What’s N.S.C.T?”
“The National Student Combat Tournament,” Rainbow sighed too tired to belittle the girl's lack of knowledge. “It’s held once a year in Avalon, the two schools, us and the posers over in Canterlot, get together and duke it out, who ever wins get’s a request granted by one of the schools.”
“So you can ask for anything?” A.J. asked.
“Within reason,” Rainbow replied shrugging. She wasn't privy to the rules, but she knew people had been made nobles by winning the tournament.
A.J. clutched the paper in her hand. A strange look crossed her face, one of determination, one of strength. Rainbow had never seen her so serious before. She looked up at Rainbow.
“Were entering this tournament,” she said, it was not a request. Rainbow scoffed.
“As if,” she said. “We can’t function well enough as a team to fight the other student, even Canterlot.”
“We’ll work on it.”
Rainbow stared at A.J., shocked. What on earth was she saying?
“You mean try to like each other more?” She asked.
“Not try.”
Rainbow waited for her to say that she was joking, but the farm girl just stared stoically back at her. Rainbow shrugged.
