> One Punch Equestria > by Iolaus > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > One Punch Kevin > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "For countless thousands of years I slumbered under this new land. “Harmony” and “friendship” are but foreign concepts to me. These ponies so shamelessly flaunt these idealistic views, as if it gave them any right to this world! Territory should be fought over with blood and fire, not petty friendship!" A burgundy horn smashed through a large skyscraper, the sheer force of the attack cracked the nearby buildings in the modern looking city as the destroyed skyscraper flew across the cityscape. Screams were heard from the residents of the city as the shadow of the monster fell over them, various colored ponies, griffins, minotaurs, and the all the other species of the world ran down the streets in a panic. Stray rubble even nearly crushing an unlucky few. "I buried myself, weary and tired from the fighting I had done in the past. But these insignificant fools expanded too greedily. Too fast. The territory above the earth belongs to me, the mightiest of the world’s living beings. And they dare try to take that from me?" "Fools!" Insectoid legs stomped through the large city, mighty earthquakes following in its wake. The monster attached to them towered over even the largest of buildings. Suddenly, the monster stopped, turning its humongous head to the right and setting its gaze upon the rest of the metropolis. Rows of skyscrapers and heavy built buildings dotted the land, a sight that left a bad taste in the monster's mouth. The shining evening sun Celestia rose and lowered each and every day didn’t seem to bother its eyes. "These ponies awakened me, the mighty Lord Three Horns! I will-" “Oh cool! A three-horned rhinoceros beetle! I haven’t seen one of those since I was a kid! I loved catching them!” The sound of a voice caught Lord Three Horns’ attention, he swept his gaze down and was met with the sight of… something standing on top of a building across from him. It did not look like the usual inhabitants of this world, more like a deformed version of another species Lord Three Horns did not care to remember. It did not look impressing, its yellow jumpsuit, red gloves and boots, and white cape did not help its harmless appearance. It was also bald. “Ah man! And I totally forgot my net…” The new creature scratched its head, “Though, now that I think about it, I don’t have a bug cage big enough for you… Or one at all really.” The strange creature rested two of its claws on its chin, looking Lord Three Horns over, it seemed to be sizing the bug monster up. "Who are you, worthless vermin? Do you dare try and stop my righteous warpath? My quest to destroy those who would dare wake me up from my well deserved rest? Do you know what it’s like to suddenly wake up from a loud noise and barely getting a wink of sleep?! I single handedly conquered this world, no other could challenge me. Even the ancient dragon warriors could not hold a candle to my being, the mere sight of my majestic form sends them running to their hatch-mother. And now some insignificant runt of a mammal would even try and stand in my way?" “Ah right!” He rested his fist in the palm of his hand, as if just realizing something. The strange creature suddenly adopted a serious look, placing his fist in between him and Lord Three Horns, and smirked at the larger being, “My name is Kevin. A soon to be professional hero in the making!” Lord Three Horns laughed, the force of which created a shockwave that destroyed the nearby buildings around him. "You? A Hero? Don’t make me laugh-" Lord Three Horns was cut off as his front half promptly exploded into a shower of insect gore. Kevin had rocketed from his place on the building he stood upon, flying through the explosion as he reached higher into the air, fist raised. He fell back down to the ground and casually dusted himself off as the other unexploded half of Lord Three Horns’ body fell down after being separated from its better half. The chitinous backside of Lord Three Horns slammed down on another, less ruined, part of the city with its blood nearly flooding the area. Kevin stood up straight with a smile, not even looking at the destruction he accidentally caused, “Well. My work here is done. Better hurry up though, it’s a super bargain day at the supermarket across the stre-” The newly dubbed Kevin stopped short as he looked across the street, a horrified expression slowly dawning on his face. He fell to his knees and grabbed his shiny head with his hands as the horrid sight of the ruined and collapsed supermarket building entered his mind, he let out a desperate cry into the heavens, “Noooo! Damn it, I don't have the bits for full priced groceries right now!” He fell forward, catching his body with his hands, "Damn it." He clenched his hands into fists, dragging concrete with them. He whispered quietly to himself, a lonesome tear falling to the ground, "I won't have the bits necessary until I get work at the association. Who knows how long it'll take until the exams open up again?!" "Yes ma'am, the monster wrecking havoc in the Fillydelphia province was neutralized," a sharp looking unicorn pony said. His black business suit pristine and dark shades over his eyes. An earpiece was connected to a device snapped to his collar. Several other similarly sharply dressed ponies of various species lined the walls of the dark, nearly bare room that was lit with only the light of several monitors lined on the walls in front of a large swivel chair. "I see," a female voice coming from the large swivel chair said, it was turned so its back faced the unicorn and the pony in it faced the monitors. A table was between the talking pony and the as of yet unknown boss, it was stacked with many different comic books. The Power Ponies were among the most prominent. "Do we know who or what did it? I was told that the giant monster resembled an ancient myth. Lord Three Horns, I believe?" "Yes ma'am, you are correct. We have reports coming in from the city, it was even loudly proclaiming its name as the citizens fled out of its way." "Hmm," the voice was silent. Then she spoke back up, "You still didn't answer my other question Fine Thrust. Do we know who did it? Was it one of the S-class heros?" Fine was silent, he bit the bottom lip of his snout before saying, "No, Princess Luna. We have no idea who or what could have taken this beast out. There were other reports mentioning that the monster seemed to be talking to somepony, but was... violently interrupted." He levitated a piece of paper up, "According to this he, and I quote, 'Seemed to explode'. A few reports from various pegasi did confirm a figure flying through the hole in its chest though, but nopony saw in detail who did it. Just a, 'mysterious black blob of some kind and a weird shining light coming from it'." The Princess sitting in the swivel chair clicked her tongue in thought. "It must have been far if even pegasi couldn't see any detail." she muttered under her breath. "Not even Minotaurs? They have good eyesight as well," she said. "No ma'am, not even them." She turned her chair around and rested her front two hooves on the surface of the table, the Princess was a dark blue alicorn with a starry and ethereal mane, a dark blue tiara rested just above her horn, "Get my sister on the line. Perhaps in my thousand year long absence she could have some information on who or what could have done this. If the lines are busy tell them I personally need to speak with her immediately, it's of the upmost urgency." The unicorn, Fine Thrust, bowed his head at the alicorn across from him, "By your leave Princess Luna." As he turned and trotted out the automatic doors, Princess Luna hummed to herself. "Things are getting interesting. How will the heros of the organization handle things?" Three years ago… “As you can see we, Limitless Technologies, have always looked to better humankind with our state-of-the-art research laboratories. Just a few months ago we here at Limitless Technologies decided to unveil our newest creation, what we lovingly dubbed ‘The Dream Machine’. And we opened up a contest for that lucky person that gets to try it out.” The scientist on the TV screen said into the interviewer’s microphone, he was a handsome blonde haired man with hazel eyes. A standard scientists coat on him. Scientists and other workers could be seen running around the lab in the background. Kevin, a young asian-american with brown hair and eyes, eagerly sat at the edge of his seat in the living room of his apartment. He had managed to enter his name into the contest, a feat that required stalking the website with all the needed information on hand. He licked his lips as he watched the live program in front of him, he knew what he wanted if he won. “So, for our audience Mr. Hadger, can you explain again what this mysterious machine of yours does?” The unseen interviewer said before placing the microphone back in front of the scientist. He chuckled, “Phillip is fine. As for your question, I’d be happy to!” Phillip smiled at the camera, “Our new machine uses advanced equations and the tapping into new limitless energy supply we had made a few years ago, plus some other things we needn’t go into right now to save some time, to scan the person’s mind. During the scanning process, the person inside the machine’s chamber will think about what they’d like to come true.” He paused dramatically, “Whether it’s giving you a new car, or even a superpower. Whatever it is, the machine can grant it.” The interviewer pulled the microphone back, “But, as many have brought up as a concern, what about if the person chosen has any nefarious wishes. Like world domination, or even destruction?” Phillip held out a hand, “Not to worry! While we do want the lucky winner to have as much freedom as possible, we understand the risks of the wrong person being brought up. Which is why we have many failsafes and reliable countermeasures put in place during the scanning process. We can determine and stop the bad wishes before they are even granted.” “Get to the winner!” Kevin yelled, growing impatient. “But, I’m sure you must be tired of me just rattling on. How about we get this thing underway?” Phillip said, winking at the camera and pointing a finger. “Yes!” Phillip pulled up a folded up piece of paper, he unfolded it and read, “The winner of the contest is… Kevin Akiyama! From Houston, Texas. Oh, and please don’t forget to bring proper identification Mr. Akiyama. The list of needed materials shall be emailed to you shortly, and congratulations! Now the location is...” Kevin barely heard him, and barely remembered the place he had to go, he was too busy jumping up and down in glee. Only the irritated yelling of his neighbors and a few slamming on the walls made him quiet his celebrating. Kevin smiled, this was a once in a lifetime lucky break in his life. He wasn’t even able to sleep thanks to his giddy mood. A week later Kevin found himself in the building Limitless Technologies owned. After showing his proper identification, driver’s license, birth certificate, social security, they were very thorough, Kevin was lead by a scientist to the room where the machine was set up. There was a pod like container with a glass window on it’s front. Inside the pod was a helmet with wires extending to the tip of the pod that faced the roof. A large lever was connected to it’s side. Next to it was a large rectangular, metallic box. Kevin figured that was where most of the machine was located. Monitors connected to that box, two scientists were already prepping it. The scientist that lead Kevin there left, leaving him awkwardly standing in place. He jumped when a hand clasped itself on his shoulder. “Nervous?” Kevin looked behind him and saw the same scientist that was on TV, Phillip. He grinned, “Yeah, a little.” Phillip chuckled, “Don’t worry. This is completely safe, why don’t you step inside the pod over there and we’ll get you started. The sooner the better right?” Kevin nodded and slipped inside the pod, “Like a bandaid.” “Exactly.” Phillip put the helmet in place, strapping it under Kevin’s chin. He stepped back and seemed to look over everything. Phillip nodded to himself and closed the pod door. “This will be over quickly.” He said, voice muffled slightly by the door. Kevin nodded at him, Phillip said something to the other scientists and waited for a signal. He seemed to get one as the pod glowed inside, he looked back at Kevin and said, “Have fun kiddo. Equestria is a great place to do things like this. I might even visit you sometime.” “What-” Kevin was cut off as Phillip pulled the lever down and the world turned white for Kevin. Kevin woke up with a start, he was laying down in what looked like a park of some kind. “Wha?” He looked frantically to his right and left. He rested his head in a palm, “What the hell happened?” He felt tired even though he just woke up, he was busy rubbing his head when a slightly squeaky voice said, “Hey, never seen something like you before. What in Equestria are you? You a mister or a sister?” Kevin’s head fell down a bit as it slipped from his palm. “What kind of question is that you brat? Of course I’m a-” He stopped his soon to be rant short as he eyed the new creature in front of him. It was a tiny foal that looked suspiciously like it came from My Little Pony. Kevin himself didn’t feel strongly one way or another about the show, but he did watch it so he’d be able to have a conversation about it with his friends. Being the only non-brony in his circle that didn’t have a clue about what was being said would make things uncomfortable when the topic rose up. “Sheesh, don’t blow a fuse. I was just asking you whatever-you-are.” The foal in front of him bounced a ball with a tiny hoof. He was a light greyish blue, his mane a dark blue. He was also butt ugly and had a huge cleft chin that looked completely unsightly on anything resembling equine form. “Wait a second… Is this the-?” Kevin’s thoughts were interrupted as a roar was heard. A nearby brick wall that boxed in the park exploded, and a shadowy figure slowly walked through the dust that looked much too heavy to come from something like a brick wall. “Luna damn you kid… You’ll pay for what you’ve done!” The monster roared. > Super Television Pony > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Luna damn you kid… you’ll pay for what you’ve done!” Shouted the monster. It stepped out of the dust cloud, its massive form dwarfing both Kevin and the foal. It was an abomination in Kevin’s eyes, an abomination of one of his favorite myths at least. But that took a back seat to the fact there was a real life minotaur in front of him. However, the arms on its sides were extremely short and skinny, like his body was trying to mimic a T-Rex. Conversely, its legs were extremely massive and thick, as were its horns. Oh yes, Kevin could guess why it was mad. Connecting the horns together was bright pink ribbon that, thanks to the rhinestones, shined with a girlish splendor. Each horn had a massive bow on it that was also littered with rhinestones. As if the kid had some sort of death wish, he snorted, trying in vain to hold back his laughter. The monster grew even more irritated at the laughter, a snarl forming on its mouth. “Oi, you got something to say brat? Do you know how impossible it is to get rid of these things with these short arms of mine! I’ll stomp you!” As if to take out his anger, he swung a leg at the jungle gym near him. The pathetic and weak metal bent and practically exploded with the force. Several long, sharp poles stuck out at weird angles, the monster turned his gaze back at the two across the park. “I’m gonna enjoy flattening you into paste.” The monster roared and charged, once it was halfway it leaped up into the air, a good eight meters if Kevin had to guess. Kevin grabbed the tiny pony and yanked the both of them to the left, the monster’s heavy body slamming hooves first into the ground where they had just stood. Kevin grunted, “Just what in the hell made you do that to his horns?! You don’t mess with monsters like that you brat!” The foal had a blank, not understanding, face as he replied, “His arms looked funny on such a scary body, duh. Why wouldn’t I?” “Butt out weirdo! I’ll kill ya later!” screamed the monster. As he was a simple human without any sort of special training, Kevin wasn’t able to drag both himself and the foal very far from the monster. So the monster was able to do a simple swinging side kick on Kevin, knocking him towards the broken jungle gym, where he slid to a slow and painful stop. “What the hell am I doing?” Kevin thought as he looked back at the monster and foal. “I’m not a real hero, I don’t even have any sort of power or superhuman something. How could I think I could have saved the foal?” The monster raised up a hoof, Kevin couldn’t see but he was certain the monster had a sinister grin on its face. He pushed himself up, grabbing his side in pain, he grabbed a piece of rubble with barely a trace of thought. He chucked it at the monster’s head, “Hey Princess! Get your girly butt over here and fight a real man! What? does a weakling like you need to pick on a brat?!” “No seriously, what am I doing? I can’t kill this thing. I’m not really Saitama, hell, I don’t even have his superhuman abilities! I’m so fucking dead!” The monster grinned and brought his leg back down, “Oh? So you wanna die first then? Alright.” Kevin was on shaky legs, just the one hit from that monster hurt like hell. He looked at the terrified face of the foal and gulped, “But… I can’t just let a child die like this, no matter the species. Someone has to protect the weak.” He looked at the monster walking towards him with renewed determination, then looked around himself for any way to beat this thing. His eyes widened a fraction when he remembered what was behind him. “I might not be a superhero, but I’ll be damned if I just drop dead now!” “Come on, hurry up fruit cup! I bet your charge is as weak as your arms!” Kevin taunted. That seemed to work, the monster growled and slammed a hoof down to send him flying forward in blind rage. “I have the greatest leg strength in the world! I forgo working my arms in favor of pure leg work! The result is as you see! My charge can break mountains!” The monster was almost at Kevin now. “My charge can destroy-!” Kevin barely dove to the side, wincing when his hurt side moved, and the monster was interrupted mid speech as a broken piece of the jungle gym’s pipe pierced its throat. It was a one in a million chance. The momentum of the monster carried it further down the pipe until the body crashed into it. The already broken playground equipment came crashing down on top of the monster. Kevin slowly stood back up while the foal looked at the destroyed jungle gym and the corpse of the monster with wide eyes. “See ya brat. Don’t screw with monsters now.” Kevin said dramatically, quickly turning around and walking out the side exit of the park. “I think I see now. I can’t just be given these awesome powers out of the blue, out of the whim of some guy I never met.” Kevin looked forward, as if he was seeing the future, with narrow brown eyes that seemed to glow with a strange light for a brief few moments. “I need to earn them! Put in real effort, so that when I reach that higher level I’m all the better as a person for it. Saitama put in effort to change, so will I!” Kevin slammed a fist into his palm, “It’s time to train.” It was a hot day in the areas of Fillydelphia that weren’t under reconstruction, it was barely twenty four hours since the beetle attack, the people of this land work quick. Despite that, many of its citizens were roaming around, doing various chores and errands. Pegasi and griffons could be seen flying around in the sky doing their own thing. In the street Kevin walked down he could see an earth pony mare in a suit standing under a covered stand. She had stacks of blue paper sitting on her stall and was passing them out to passersby. Kevin held up the blue piece of paper he was given, the words “Equestria’s Hero Association” written in bold across its top. He continued to read down the sheet, absorbing the information. He smiled when he got further down, the association was looking for new potential heros to take the test in the large domed nearby hero facility here in Fillydelphia. Kevin gripped his hand into a fist, not caring that the paper was crushed into a ball. He grinned as he walked down the street, he was finally going to become a hero now. The past three years of training have lead to this moment and he would not miss it. With the donations the association gets Kevin will finally have a way to make better money now that he felt he was ready. “This has turned into a lucky day now! Only one more week until I’m a real hero!” He said as he walked down the street to the supermarket near his apartment. It was the only place that had lower prices on groceries. So lost in his happy thoughts, he didn’t hear or see the wall brick wall of a store not too far in front of him explode onto the street. “Oh hooo!!! Lucky lucky!” An extremely large unicorn stepped out of the store. “My complete passion for today’s tech has lead me to become what I am now!” “Super Television Pony!” At a better glance one could see the reason for his large stature, he was using two large and boxy televisions under each hoof to make him see larger. He was blood red, with blue zig zag stripes across his body. He also had a huge and wildly spiky black mane. A black visor was across his eyes, its glow suggested it was connected to a computer and showed different kinds of readings. He also had a large metal box like thing on his back. Screams rang out through the streets as every smart citizen ran for their lives away from the newest lunatic. Super Television Pony cackled as metallic tentacles of some kind shot out of the metal backpack he had on. They stabbed themselves into the televisions in the store and flung them at the fleeing citizens. “Ahhahahahahaaaa! Flee you vermin! Soon, all of Fillydelphia will belong to me! Ahhahahaha… huh?” He stopped his mad laughing when he saw a strange creature standing on the same sidewalk as him, simply looking at Super Television Pony as if he just noticed him. The lunatic turned to face Kevin properly, his television stilts making loud thumps. “What do we have here?” Kevin just looked at Super Television Pony blankly. “You look like a shitty original character in some weird fanfiction or fan art.” Kevin said. Super Television Pony snarled at him, screaming profanities as one of the tentacles threw a television at Kevin’s face. The television slammed perfectly into his face, exploding into a shower of metal and glass. Circuits and wires flew in all directions as Super Television Pony panted, all the rage induced screaming had taken his breath away. “You kiss your mother with that mouth?” Super Television Pony’s eyes widened under his black visor, the glasses dropping down his snout a bit in shock. The newcomer simply stood there with a bored look on his face, not a scratch on him. “Is throwing stuff all you do?” He sighed. “Ah, well. I suppose it doesn’t matter really,” Kevin said. “I’m not looking for a stimulating conversation right now.” “What does that mea-?” Super Television Pony didn’t get to finish, Kevin was already above him. A quick and light chop to the head knocked the criminal out cold as he slammed face first into the ground. The televisions tilts he had on shattered from the pressure. Kevin landed lightly on his feet. “Guess that settles that. I’ll let the police take it from here.” Kevin continued to walk down the street. “Gotta hurry before they close.” “How go the preparations of the hero tests in Fillydelphia?” Princess Luna asked as she faced the monitors of the dark room. The rustling of a page followed her statement. “All is going as planned, the only hiccup was a stubbed hoof. The pony was quickly taken to the hospital.” Fine Thrust said. Luna grunted, “A stubbed hoof? Next you’ll tell me a paper cut requires stitches.” She sighed, “Nevertheless, be on the lookout during these exams next week. I suspect the one who took out Lord Three Horns will be there.” Another rustle. “Are you certain Princess?” Fine asked. He did not mean to question her judgement, he just wanted to make sure such a powerful individual would actually show up. “I am. Call it a gut feeling if you will. I have learnt to trust in those, they don’t always lead you wrong.” Another rustle of paper filled the air. “Very well, I’ll tell the staff to be watchful of any potential candidates.” Fine Thrust bowed his head and made to leave as another rustle made itself known. He was almost at the door when he heard the Princess curse. “Horseapples!” Luna yelled, quickly shooting out of her chair. Fine Thrust quickly shot around, “What is it Princess?! Are we under attack again?!” She didn’t seem to hear him. “Curse you Mane-iac! The Power Ponies will prevail over your accursed trap! Mark my words!” Luna yelled in the Royal Canterlot Voice, a nearby wall cracking. A Power Pony comic book held in her blue magical grasp. “I’ll uh, I’ll just go then…” Fine Thrust mumbled as he slowly backed out the room, still wincing in pain from the sudden use of the Royal Canterlot Voice. > Building the Team > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The midday sun shined down on a typical busy street in Fillydelphia, the residents of the bustling street went along with their daily routine. Like the other days of the week it was a hot one, but everyone was happy despite the rather uncomfortable weather. The peaceful atmosphere quickly began to disappear when a crack in the concrete ground appeared under the hoof of a random unicorn. The stallion stopped in surprise and glanced down, blinking in confusion. The crack widened and, without warning, burst open. The unicorn was violently shoved into a nearby building with a surprised cry as a dark figure shot out of the newly made hole. It landed in front of the hole it created and chuckled ominously. Now in full view, the citizens screamed when they saw the monster and panicked. The monster was just over half the height of a Minotaur, hunched over, with black chitin-like armour segmented on its back to allow the monster to bend forward. It's mandibles clicked as it laughed, swiping at any citizen that dared get close to it with its pointy insect legs. More similar cracks appeared in the street following the first example, with even more of the first’s brethren coming out of the holes. The street was quickly taken over by the insect monsters, ten in total, the various citizens screaming for help as they tried to escape the latest monster attack. Then the middle of the street cracked, a crack even larger than the ones made by the others. The ground trembled as two sharp legs slammed out of the ground and dig themselves into the concrete on the rims of the large hole. A great behemoth of a monster that looked like the other monsters rose out of the hole and stood towering twenty feet over everyone there. “This pitiful city has been weakened by that blundering oaf that calls himself Lord Three Horns. It is now ripe for the taking,” Boomed the towering figure. “All that is left is for us to take these pathetic creatures as our food and begin our campaign across the world! Let us feast my subjects! For it is now the time of the Crustacean Empire once more!” The large monster roared into the sky, as the smaller ones cheered. The reinvigorated monsters rushed at the few citizens still running away from the street. The larger of the pack laughed maniacally as it watched its minions wipe away the weak prey. Then, without warning, a building next to one of the small monsters exploded in a raging inferno. The smaller monster yelped more in surprise than pain as its body was immediately consumed in flame, the incineration too quick for any feeling. Two glowing yellow lights shined through the smoking hole of the building. The source of the lights were actually the eyes of someone new, a metallic hoof stepped over some of the fallen rubble and slammed into the ash of the burnt minion. The ash was scattered into the wind and the new figure was still obscured by the smoke. “Not if I have anything to say about it.” The smoke finally dissipated, revealing the source of the metal limb and voice. An earth pony mare, whose body was almost entirely made of metal, glared at the monsters in the street. Her glowing yellow eyes scanned each hostile in the area, data flooding into her head. She blew away a dirty blonde lock of mane that got into her face. The new fighter took a step forward and her weapon systems could be heard whirring into life. She glared viciously at the surrounding monsters, “You must die before you can inflict more suffering.” “That’s right Dianne, there are many explanations about the current heat wave Fillydelphia is experiencing. Some of the more… erhem, radical opinions attribute it to something called ‘Global Warming’. But when the pegasi can-” Kevin tuned out the news anchorman on the television as he stood in front of the sink in his apartment, doing dishes in his boxers and a plain T-shirt. The earth pony continued to droll on about the boring bit of ‘news’ and Kevin, for one, can not think of a reason as to why the news station actually hired the guy who came up with the segment. The whole thing was way to boring to hold anyone’s attention, Kevin could actually feel his eyes drooping from boredom. He shook his head to clear himself of the drowsiness and went back to scrubbing the plate in his hand with a soaked sponge. He still didn’t know how shaking his head cleared up his drowsiness but, like many times before, ended up attributing it to becoming an anime character. When you can feel yourself doing an honest to god sweatdrop, not much else can shock you. “Man, today has been boring. Haven’t had any good monster attacks for a while now.” He muttered as he set the newly cleaned plate on the drying rack. He picked up and bowl and continued his absentminded chore, looking up at the light above the sink, “I wonder if I can get more done when I join the organization…” Kevin set the bowl on the rack, “Damn, of all the places I had to be sent to, it had to be the one without cars.” He sighed, “At least I’m actually able to do something in this world, I’d hate to think what would happen to me otherwise.” Kevin dried his hands on a towel and thought about the upcoming hero tests. He was confident that he would pass, he already had the physical part down pat with an extraordinarily overwhelming advantage. But the written would be an actual challenge. Despite not wanting to go through this exam just like Saitama did and end up as a C-class hero, Kevin had to face the fact that he sucked horribly with written exams. He was someone who learned by doing and applied by doing, not writing. He also had no way to study for it either, they keep the exam contents secret until you take them and change it every time a new test was given. Kevin set the towel back down on the counter and went to go sit down in his small couch. Besides the couch there was a television, its stand, a small table, and a chair that made up the furniture of his new apartment’s living room. He also had a bedroom, a single bathroom, and a kitchen. It was smaller than his apartment back on Earth, less taken care of too, but for now it was all he needed. Kevin grinned to himself as the thought of moving into a better apartment filled his head, no more cranky old mare and her equally cranky husband bothering him, no more peeling paint that the landlords refused to repaint as to ‘save bits’. No more rats that, no matter how many traps he sets, always steal his food and stare at him in an uncomfortable way. Life would be good once he actually made it to hero level. “This just in Dianne!” Kevin looked curiously at the television, interest piqued as the boring news segment suddenly became interesting. “Sleepy Street just came under attack a few minutes ago by a group of insectoid monsters, no pictures or video footage has been released as of now. I only pray to Celestia that nopony has been hurt.” “Me too Tom, me too.” Kevin’s features sharpened as he snapped into what he dubbed ‘hero mode’. His costume was soon on his person, the two years of putting it on and off made sure he could do so in his sleep. Slipping his hand into his final glove, Kevin strolled out his apartment door. “That street isn’t too far from here. It’s time to do a hero’s work!” A boom roared in the street as the cybernetic pony launched herself in a flying spin kick at the nearest bug monster, striking it hard with a metal hoof. The monster counter by curling into a ball, the hoof struck the hard chitin and sent the monster flying away into a building across the street. The other monsters chuckled darkly. The metal mare narrowed her eyes and asked, “What?” As if answering her question the monster she launched across the street uncurled itself from its previous ball like position. Aside from its back looking slightly dirty it looked none the worse for wear. The cyborg’s vision filled with new data as she analyzed her opponents once more. “I see, your backs have hardened armor. Even that attack with could shatter stone did nothing.” The monster she attacked laughed, “So you see now?! You can’t possibly w-” “Very well, it seems I must take this more seriously. I will destroy you all quickly if I must,” the mare said. On cue two compartments on her back opened up, metallic wings unfurled into place. The lightweight metal feathers, made to resemble the real thing if slightly bigger, had an open end with a bright orange glow emitting from it. The mare did a test flap before holding them out at the ready. The monster was about to make a retort but was unable to as a hoof buried itself in its stomach. The momentum of the hoof carried the monster with the mare until the hoof that was inside its stomach started glowing. “W-wait!” The monster started. The mare wouldn’t have it and screamed, “Incinerate!” Fire exploded from the hoof of the mare and engulfed the bug monster, soon it was nothing but ash. The others in the area got angry at the  loss of their comrade and charged the mare in righteous fury. The mare in response pumped her new wings once before the glow emitting from the feathers increased, she immediately shot forward at the charging enemy. The mare did a spin kick to another monster that was met with more success, it was hit in the soft underbelly even as it tried to roll up into a ball. The force of the hit sent it flying into another of its brethren. Another tried to swipe at her from behind, her sensors picked up the attack and she acted accordingly. Quickly grabbing the offending appendage in her hooves, she flung the monster away from her. Ignoring the other monsters her feather lit up and she raced out of the cluster after the thrown enemy. It managed to roll itself into a ball at the last second, catching its fall. The mare wouldn’t have it, she flew just past where the monster stopped its fall and slammed her front hooves together as her back hooves skidded down the pavement. The bottoms of the two hooves opened up to reveal a bright glow as the mare lined up the shot. The foolish monsters didn’t realize the danger they were in as they continued their wannabe zerg rush. “Charged Shot,” the mare muttered under her breath. Suddenly a fiery beam the width of a carriage rocketed out of her hooves. It didn’t even slow as it touched the first monster, merely tearing through it as if it were paper. The fiery bolt of energy angled down at the group and erupted as it struck the ground. A dome of heat and fire engulfed the attackers, leaving naught but ash behind. The mare’s hooves detached from each other and closed on the bottom, but having new vents open up on the sides of her forelegs as they steamed. She turned around and glared at the last monster. “You are the only one left. But that will soon change.” The big boss laughed, “Tough talk. But you merely killed a few worthless grunts. I am the real deal kid, your little heat trick won’t work on me.” “We shall see about that,” the mare said as she got into a battle ready stance. The two combatants rushed forward at an unspoken prompt, the large creature the mare was facing was surprisingly fast. The fighters exchanged blows, both blocking or deflecting the attack of the other in what looked to be a stalemate. The large of the two slowly gained the upper hand however, both seemed to be even in speed but the monster had the strength advantage. The stalemate ended when the mare made a tiny slip up, the monster's eyes flashed and backhanded the mare across the face, sending her flying into an upturned carriage. The mare slowly got back up and spat to the side in distaste. The monster couldn't help but admire her tenacity, "You're pretty good for an above-grounder. But I'm not even fighting serious right now, so how about you work for me? I could use actual fighters in my army." "Not a chance, I'm not beaten yet and I will win," The mare ground out. The mandibles on the monster’s face clicked in amusement, before the imposing figure disappeared from the mare’s sight. She widened her eyes and quickly went to scanning her surroundings. “Impossible, for something of that size to move so quickly?! Where is it?!” Suddenly something in her left peripheral caught her eye and she turned to look at an odd bald creature that randomly turned a corner into the impromptu battlefield. “Where are you looking?!” The mare’s eyes widened considerably as she turned to her right and raised a hoof to block the attack. They narrowed back down when the leg of the beast tore through the leg, the tip of the leg sticking out of the fresh hole. She tsked, ashamed of herself, and muttered, “Damn, I let myself become distracted. I mustn’t let this happen again.” The monster raised the mare into the air, still attached to his leg and shoved another into her stomach before ripping most of her chest out. “There won’t be an ‘again’ fool!” The monster bellowed as the mare fell back down to the ground. She closed her eyes as she neared the ground, “I guess I wasn’t meant to deliver justice after all. I’m sorry mother, father, everyone. But...” She opened her eyes and stared into the eyes of the monster in front of her, “I won’t die with my eyes closed like a coward.” The large monstrosity roared with laughter and swung a leg down at the falling mare, “Good eyes brat!” The final blow never came as the boss monster exploded away from her with extreme prejudice, the strange creature she saw merely moments before flying forwards. The body had hit a building, the force of the monsters impact obliterating it without any sort of resistance. Its fist was stretched forwards and a look of determination was etched on its face. The cybernetic mare could only watch in fascination as the newcomer paid no heed to the destruction he caused. The newcomer stared at the long distant bug monster for a few moments, as if lost in thought. After a while he looked down at the mare, he seemed to look at her oddly before shaking his head as if he was getting rid of a thought. Eventually he asked, “You gonna be alright?” “Yeah...” the mare said after a moment’s pause. “I can get myself fixed up. No need to worry.” “I see, well good luck with that.” As he turned to leave back down the street the mare shouted, “Wait!” The strange creature stopped and looked at her curiously. “What?” he eventually asked. “Please train me!” she shouted. > A New Master and Student > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The day after the brief “fight” with the bug monster, Kevin found himself lounging on his couch reading a magazine he picked up during his daily walk around town. The television filled the small apartment with news segments and occasional advertisements. Kevin scratched his stomach under his tank top as he felt himself getting more and more drawn into the articles of the small and colorful magazine. Kevin’s concentration was broken by the sound of knocking at his door. “Who could that be?” Kevin muttered as he lazily got up from his spot and shuffled over to his door. Casually swinging it open, Kevin only had one thing to say when he noticed the pony before him, “Ah, right. I forgot about you.” The cyborg mare from yesterday stood in his doorway with steely determination etched on her face. She lifted her head up before quickly bringing her body into a kneeling position. “Master! Please teach me to be strong like you!” Kevin rubbed his neck awkwardly, he never had someone kneel before him like this at any other point in his life. Kevin stepped to the side and lazily waved the mare in with a hand. “Get up, it’s weird having someone kneel before me, I’m not royalty or something. But come on in, I’ll make us some tea.” “Thank you for inviting me in! Master!” The mare’s head shot back up and she quickled trotted into the apartment. After the mare entered into his home Kevin closed the door and called out into his apartment, “And don’t call me Master! That’s even weirder!” After a few minutes of making the tea, Kevin set the mare’s cup down on the table before taking a seat in the chair for himself. The two occupants of the room stared at each other, only one of them doing so awkwardly. As he stared at the mare, he couldn’t help but be irritated at the fact he was caught off guard by this whole similar situation between his and what the actual Saitama went through. The fact that he unconsciously said yes to this mare’s want of being his disciple made it all the worse. Kevin took a sip of his tea as he metaphorically tore out his hair in frustration, regretfully he didn’t actually have hair anymore. And he couldn’t very well say no now that he already said yes. Also... he couldn’t say that the appeal of being just like Saitama didn’t occur to him. Being like Saitama was what he wished for in the first place, before being put in this world. Kevin decided to go for the honest approach, see where that led him. He set down his cup with a sigh and stared right into his future disciple’s mechanical eyes, his features sharpening into unnecessary seriousness, “I have absolutely no idea how to teach.” The mare didn't waver, “That is alright. I am content in observing and documenting, I may perhaps learn from something you unconsciously do. You may not be an active teacher, but mayhaps a passive one.” That sounded mildly creepy to Kevin, but he shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. No pun intended. At least he would not have to come up with lessons. And as long as she didn’t try and watch him all the time, like in the toilet, then he was fine with things the way they were. Kevin scratched his bald head, “That’s fine. But...” The mare questionally cocked her head at Kevin. He pointed a finger at her, “You’ll have to join the Hero’s Association with me. I’m planning on going pro this Friday, I’ve already sent in my application.” The mare nodded her understanding, “That is fine, Master. I’ve been planning on doing just that as well, my application has already been sent in too.” “Again with the master thing…” Kevin grumbled, she clearly wasn’t going to let up on that. He shook his head and continued, “Right, but just one more thing…” “And what is that?” Kevin looked at the mare blankly, “What’s your name?” Silence perpetrated the air between the two, and the mare’s mechanical eyes widened to comical degrees. She looked off to the side in disgrace, “I cannot forgive myself for forgetting one of the most important rules of social decorum. And I so brazenly asked to become your student too… Forgive me, I shall leave.” The mare moved to get up but Kevin held up a hand, “Don’t worry about it. It was an honest mistake, I probably should’ve asked for your name to begin with anyway.” The mare sat back down in her seat. She cleared her throat, an action that confused Kevin since she was a cyborg, and said, “My name is Sunny Flare, but please just call me Sunny.” “Hello Sunny, nice to meet you. My name’s Kevin.” “It’s a pleasure.” Silence once more reigned supreme in the apartment, sweat lined the forehead of Kevin as the social pressure increased tenfold. He put a hand on his knee as his leg twitched up and down from nervousness. He looked around his room, looking anywhere but at Sunny as he tried to think of a way to start a conversation. “Shit! I’ve been spending most of my time here training, not socializing! If I start a conversation, then what if I miss important social cues?! All of my previous conversations were brief and unimportant! Ah! Why can’t things be simple like buying grocer-” Kevin’s internal rant ended as eyes darkened, he remembered something important. His head shot to the side in a blur as he took in the time on the clock. “Oh, no,” he muttered, horrified. Sunny quickly stood up from her perch on the couch, battle ready. “What is it Master?! An enemy?! My sensors detected nothing in the immediate area.” Kevin shot up from his seat, throwing his hero suit on over his tank top and boxers. “Even worse,” he grumbled as he zipped his suit up. Sunny’s eyes widened. “What could be so bad as to make him worry so much? Does he have prior knowledge of a catastrophe soon to happen? A lifelong rival he meets to conduct battle?” Kevin shoved on his glove, deadly serious, “The four bits for a dozen apples sale ends in thirty minutes.” Sunny fell to the floor, tripping over her hooves with the silly declaration. Quickly getting back up and following Kevin as he ran out of his apartment at super speeds, making sure the door closed properly. Their legs a blur, the two dashed down the city streets faster than any cart or pegasus. “Master, why do you care about a sale so much?” Sunny couldn’t help but ask as she looked at the concentrated face of her teacher. He looked down, eyes shadowed, “Sunny, there is one thing you should know about me. Something I’ve had to live with for the past three years since I came here to Equestria.” “Something you’ve had to live with?” Sunny echoed. “Yeah,” Kevin replied as the two rounded a street corner. Kevin glared ahead at nothing in particular, “Ever since I came here, ever since my previous occupation became obsolete because nobody here uses cars….” Sunny gulped, wanting to hear what was troubling her new teacher so. Kevin looked at her with comical tears in his eyes, “I’ve been dirt poor for these past three years and I barely make enough doing odd jobs.” Sunny gaped at Kevin, slowing down in her shock. Quickly catching herself before she got too far behind Sunny sprinted back to Kevin’s side. “Dirt poor? But I saw your strength yesterday! With that kind of power money should be no problem, why join the Association now of all times?” Kevin looked forward, slowing down as sight of the store came into view, “I wasn’t always this strong you know, I just felt I was ready now.” Sunny’s face contorted in confusion, “What do you mea-” “Ah, we’re here,” Kevin spoke up, not noticing he cut Sunny off. The two finally stopped at the entrance of the store, quickly walking through the double sliding doors. A store greeter welcomed them, Kevin giving the stallion a nod. “Lucky! They still have plenty of apples!” Kevin gleefully jogged up the the fruits, Sunny sighing at his antics. The doors to the dark office hissed open, letting light flood into the room. A sharply dressed unicorn walked into the room, a file levitating in his magical grasp. “Princess Luna?” Fine Thrust asked out loud, not seeing anybody in the room. Curious, he casually walked around the large table in the center of the room, ignoring or stepping over cans of energy drinks and old snack wrappers. “Princess Luna?” He called out once more, receiving no answer. Finally, Fine Thrust turned around the corner of the table, the swivel chair of his boss directly in front of him. Princess Luna was fast asleep in the chair, still managing to keep her sitting posture pristine and perfect. Although, much could be said about the line of drool coming out of the corner of her mouth. Fine Thrust cleared his throat before yelling out, “PRINCESS LUNA!” The night princess jolted awake instant, flailing her appendages around in surprise before falling out of her chair in an undignified heap. Her head shot up, an old bag of chips resting on top of her head like a hat. “Yes! Yes! I’m awake!” Luna rubbed her eyes with a hoof, yawning out, “What is it?” “Some of the more recent applications sent in,” Fine Thrust replied, not bothered by the princess’s state of being, knowing full well how hard she is working. He levitated the files in his magic grasp over to Luna. “Hero applications?” The princess waved them off with a dainty hoof, “Just give them to the pencil pushers to sort out.” “I’m afraid it’s not that simple, one of the very high profile individuals we have been watching has finally entered in an application,” Fine Thrust replied, moving the files over to Luna again. “You should look into it, as I believe we might have potentially found a new S-class hero. She was found at the scene during that Pillbug monster invasion, and despite being heavily wounded, all of them were dead. That was a high class Demon level threat, Princess.” Luna sighed and took the files out of Fine’s grasp and into hers. The file folder opened and pages flipped over rapidly until the princess came to the correct paper. A picture of a cyborg mare was at the top of the file, her name off to the side along with several other tidbits of information. “Sunny Flare huh? Sounds like something my sister would come up with as a disguise,” Luna grumbled, turning the page over to look at its other side. She sighed, “But I do see potential, the fact that she is a cyborg means she will probably ace both parts of the exams anyway. But if she does anything else noteworthy before the exams, then I will grant her immediate S-class status, otherwise I’ll have to think about it.” Before giving the papers back Luna idly flipped through a few more of them, stopping at one that had an image of a bald creature staring with boredom at the camera. Luna hummed in thought as she stared at it a while longer before snapping the file shut and levitating it back to Fine Thrust. The stallion bowed his head before quickly trotting out of the room, before he could exit Luna called out to him, “One second Fine Thrust.” He stopped in place and looked at the princess from his spot in the doorway. “Ma’am?” He asked. Luna swiveled around in her chair to face him, “How goes the investigation into the slightly increased monster activity? Any leads, or is it just another typical flux?” Fine Thrust shook his head, “We have found no evidence of anything that could cause an increase in monster related activity. We believe it is just another normal spike, any reason why you think there could be something behind it?” Luna softly shook her head and tapped her hooves together, “No, it is just a feeling I have, Fine Thrust.” Luna swiveled back around to face the monitors, “And I’ve simply learned to trust my feelings. You’re dismissed, Fine.” Fine Thrust bowed, despite Luna being unable to see it, “By your leave Princess.” > The Hero Exam > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The testing building of the Heroes Association, a grand and spacious piece of architecture that boasts the world’s best and latest advances in technology and magic. Easily able to hold two thousand individuals of varying races alongside space for testing equipment. Kevin absentmindedly scratched an underwear covered butt cheek as he stood in one of the many lines inside the main testing building of the Heroes Association. His mind wandered around, not giving much thought to the many colorful individuals near him. Sunny stood behind him, looking bored as she watched some of the other applicants perform their tests. "It's been a few days since that weird pillbug attack. Nothing really interesting happened since then. I almost expected something similar to the House of Evolution come up since my life has recently started to more closely resemble Saitama's," Kevin thought to himself, staring ahead with a blank and expressionless look. "Well, I guess all of this could've just been a weird coincidence. No need to overthink things." Kevin pulled himself out of his thoughts as many of the other applicants started murmuring to each other. Kevin looked around confused, "Eh? What's with everybody all of a sudden?" "Master," Sunny spoke up. Kevin looked down at her and she pointed with a metal hoof, "I believe everyone must be talking about that." The bald man looked to where she was pointing, seeing a dark blue figure with a wavy and ethereal blue mane standing on one of the metal walkways overhead that helped the figure overlook the testing grounds. It took him a few moments to finally piece together who she was, one of the princesses of Equestria, though her name escaped him. "Princess Luna," Sunny spoke up, reminding Kevin of the Princess's name. "One of the co-rulers of Equestria and the current head of the Heroes Association. She doesn't normally come out to witness the testing for new heroes, I wonder what she wants." Kevin only paid half attention to Sunny, but he did feel like he had to ask, "Head? You mean she is the one in charge of this place?" Sunny nodded her head, "Indeed. But she wasn't always the one in charge, that honor went to another for at least twenty years, she came into her position relatively recently actually. About a year ago if I recall, approximately three years after her thousand year absence. She has adapted to modern life quickly, in fact with her in charge the Association has made several breakthroughs with responses to monster attacks. Though even with that said, there has been a notable rise in monster attacks ever since her return. Some of the conspiracy theorists have tried connecting that with her, but that's just a ridiculous thought." Kevin thought about that as he and the rest of the line moved forward. Then he finally noticed something Sunny had said. He looked at her and asked, "Wait, you said the previous head of the Association led it for twenty years right? The Heroes Association didn't form three years ago with some sort of rich guy starting it off?" Sunny looked at Kevin oddly, "No, Master. Although the Heroes Association was not always called such, it started out as a special and secretive Equestrian unit for monster hunting. But recently, as the monster attacks increased dramatically, they were forced to become much more open, prompting more recruitment. Eventually they needed good PR, and what better way than having the faces of the organization be well known heroes? The only important event with a rich pony that happened three years ago was the grandfoal of one of the CEO's of a major corporation being traumatized while playing in a park." "Eh?" Cold sweat trickled down Kevin's neck. "Yes, apparently that while the foal was saved by a 'strange creature he had never seen before', witnessing the impalement and death of the monstrous minotaur caused him to have severe nightmares. The CEO said that if he ever found that one that caused his grandfoal so much emotional trauma he would shake his or her hoof for saving his life-" Kevin started to breath out a sigh of relief but quickly stopped when Sunny continued. "-but would also 'Sue their flank so hard they couldn't afford a room in Tartarus'." Kevin gulped at the thought of being in debt for the rest of his life, there would be no way he could afford a lawyer good enough to protect him from that. Sunny remained quiet as she scrutinized Kevin, eventually she asked, "Do you know something about this, Master?" Kevin was saved from answering by the blowing of a whistle. One of the test instructors yelled out, "Next applicants! Line up and prepare for the side hopping exercise!" Kevin breathed a sigh of relief as he and Sunny took their places and readied themselves. High above the testing grounds Princess Luna watched the crowds of potential heroes perform what was asked of them. She, to be honest, was really only here for two of the applicants, and as luck would have it they stood right next to each other conversing as if they already knew one another. Luna didn't have much faith in luck, but she didn't question a good stroke of it. "Our two interesting applicants are down there, testing area eight," Luna said to Fine Thrust as he appeared to be searching for them. Fine snapped his eyes to testing area eight, observing the cybernetic mare and the bald creature, "Thank you, Princess." Luna hummed in acknowledgement to Fine's thanks as she watched the tall bald one take his place, she briefly flashed her horn to cast a spell that allowed her to hear what was going on down there. "First test! Side hops! Begin!" The minotaurian instructor shouted. Luna could see Sunny Flare narrowed her gaze and her form flashed into a blur and she jumped from side to side. The others with Luna could only gape at what they were seeing from the mare, their untrained eyes barely seeing anything. Luna could see Sunny perfectly, noting her speed down in her mental files. Luna turned her gaze over to the bald one, the human if what she remembered of Twilight's stories about the other world was true. When she looked at him Luna couldn't help but start a little in surprise, it wasn't often that she was caught off guard. Kevin Akiyama, as the application told her was his name, was moving fast enough to leave a constant trail of afterimages. Fast enough that even she could not keep well enough track of where he was at the moment. Luna licked her now dry lips, if this one wasn't the one who took down Lord Three Horns then she would eat her crown. Luna watched as the applicants went from test to test, Sunny Flare performed extraordinarily well in every single one. Luna jotted down a few extra notes on the paper she brought with her, deciding that even without any great feat of strength before the test Sunny's talents would be wasted anywhere below S-class. "Pass the word Fine, Sunny Flare is to become S-class when her testing is over and done with. I think it is obvious at this point that she'll pass with flying colors." Fine Thrust didn't say anything and immediately started on his orders while Luna went back to observing Kevin. He too performed exceedingly well on all of his tests, breaking every record set before him by impossible margins. Soon it was time for the gravity pressure test, a test where you are put onto a small raised platform just above a magical rune that artificially creates the effects of gravity magic. The test itself is surrounded by a magical barrier to prevent the gravity rune from interfering with the rest of the building. The purpose was to see how well one stacks up against ever changing pressures of gravity, users of such a skill have become more and more common. And it is not uncommon for some to use their ability to create gravity for more nefarious purposes. Thankfully, few of them are able to use their powers for more than minute changes in their surroundings, mostly on themselves to make their opponent guess on their next move with a subtle shift in direction or just to make themselves lighter. However, there have been several reports of users that can crush those that stand before them by simply increasing the gravity put upon them. It is wiser, in Luna’s opinion, to prepare for the inevitable worst. “So I just stand here, right?” Kevin asked an instructor, pointing down at the platform with one of his digits. The instructor held up a clipboard, jotting a few things down as he answered, “Yes. We will monitor how much gravity you can take and for how long, feel free to tell us to stop anytime it gets to be too much.” “Ah, got it. Start whenever I guess,” Kevin said. The instructor finished writing and nodded to the pony working the control panel off to the side. The pony lifted a few switches, pressed a few buttons, and slowly turned a knob. The rune under Kevin’s feet glowed a deep purple and gravity increased twice fold. Kevin didn’t notice, he was scanning the other potential heroes as they conducted their own gravity tests. “Ah, sir?” Kevin looked back down at the instructor as soon as he heard the voice, “Yeah?” “How… are you feeling? Is the gravity too much or…?” Kevin looked down at the his feet, “Ah. We started?” Luna tuned out the rest of his conversation with the instructor and focused her attention on Fine Thrust, “Tell the operator to increase the gravity.” Fine Thrust tapped his earpiece and relayed her instructions, “Gravity has been increased to ten fold, your highness.” Kevin didn’t seem to notice as he animatedly conversed with the instructor, Luna narrowed her eyes, “Again, much larger increase this time.” Fine looked unsure but hesitantly told the operator to increase it again. The pony down below looked up at Luna in shock but did so anyway. The bald man still did not notice, even as the gravity was increased to one hundred fold. “That is enough, Fine,” Luna said. “It is clear we won’t see how much he can take. The gravity rune only goes so high.” Fine nodded his head to his princess and told the operator to turn the rune off. “I believe we are done here, let us reconvene and discuss what we have learned,” Luna said, she and the others with her trotting off the walkways above the testing grounds and into the inner hallways of the building. “Ah, shit,” Kevin thought, sweating as he nervously tapped his pencil on his desk. “Half the written grade is an essay… Why can’t it be multiple choice?! I suck at essays!" Kevin stared hard at the paper down in front of him, doing his best to glare a hole through the paper and the wooden desk. He grasped his head in his free hand as he tried to think about what to write. Cautiously he eyed the rest of the room without moving his head, trying to see if anyone else was having trouble like him. Kevin spied his new disciple, already having finished her exam and was waiting patiently for everyone else to finish up. “Damn it, of course she would have no problems. She’s smart, and a cyborg! At this rate I won’t even finish the exam!” Sunny smirked to herself, having spied her new master trying to destroy the exam in front of him with his mind in sheer anger, “That’s my master for you, you too realize that this whole exam is a simple waste of time. They made this far too easy.” She gave a small, soft laugh, “Indeed, you find this test so pathetic that you’re intentionally waiting until the last few minutes to finish it.” Unfortunately, Sunny did not realize that Kevin was not having an easy time, and was not intentionally waiting until the last few minutes to finish the exam. “I only have three minutes left…” The clock ticked down to two minutes remaining and Kevin’s features sharpened as he grew serious, “Ah screw it, I’ll just wing it with one of my ultimate moves.” Kevin took a deep, calming breath as he readied his pencil. He softly released it, and with his eyes widening dramatically he mentally shouted, “Super Moves - Serious Series: Serious Bullshitting!” Kevin’s pencil flashed across the paper, most of the utensil and his arm becoming a blur. Lines upon lines of words flooded onto the page as Kevin wrote what he felt was best to answer the question before him. The bell that signaled the end of the written exam dinged just as Kevin finished his exam, his arm stopping at the bottom of the page. His pencil still smoking, Kevin placed it gently down on the desk as he handed his test to the instructor walking down the aisles collecting tests. Sunny walked up to Kevin, “I see you finished your test just in time. It was so easy that you couldn’t help but wait until the very end eh?” The bald man chuckled nervously as he looked at his apprentice, “Eh hehe… Yeah, I guess.” “We finally have our results, master,” Sunny said as she started to open her folder, the two sitting in a hallway on a bench between two vending machines. “Yeah,” was Kevin’s reply as he started to open his exam results as well. He looked over at Sunny’s and saw that she was given S-class rank seventeen. “Oh, S-class right off the bat, nice job,” was Kevin’s reply. Sunny smiled at him, “Thanks, what about you, master?” Kevin licked his lips and gulped, now was the time of truth to see if his bullshitting managed to get him through the written exam. He pulled the paper halfway out of its manilla container and stared at the results. He turned his head jerkily at Sunny, an etched expression of shock on his face, “I made sixty nine points… I failed.” A dark expression overcome Sunny’s face, “I will have words with... eh?” She stopped her rant when she looked down at the paper again. “What?” was Kevin’s reply, all shock was gone as he looked at his pupil confused. Sunny pointed a hoof at a small red piece of paper sticking out of the manilla container. Taking it out, Kevin picked the small rectangle up and read what was on it. Please see me as soon as you receive this, Mr Akiyama. We have much to discuss. ~Princess Luna “Eh?”