An unexpected incident awakens a young man's destiny far sooner than expected, yet it still sleeps....
What happens when the darkness in someone's soul, drawn forth by envy and anger, billows forth, drawing the attention of beings far more dangerous than this person? It is always possible that what one person sees as darkness is covering what people see as something far more startling and powerful.
What path will they walk, darkness, or light? It is their choice, though it can be swayed by those around them. The past and the present walk hand in hand, for one is shaped by the other, yet the future is unwritten.
Ten-year-old Tomas Raines was nobody all that memorable, although he was quite fit and strong physically. He was, however, well known to those tourist hikers as well as the local National Parks Ranger Squads for several dozen miles sound as the town he lived in was barely 6,000 people.
He stood slightly over five feet tall and had wild, untamed dark auburn hair that was almost the shade of dark burgundy but was tipped by deep, bright silver tips where it hung in messy waves almost to the middle of his back.
His eyes were a startling deep golden amber that faded to a soft pale goldenrod near the edges of his irises. He wore a reflective pale gold and orange vest over his usual dark brown hiking vest and pale tan hiking cargo jeans and boots as he was assisting a group of officers in warning about a recent landslide on this particular mountain road that had a drop over the guardrail of just under three miles straight to the forests below.
He heard a curse as a sharp thumping report echoed as he spun. In that moment, he felt a dull burning sensation intensify in his chest; he knew it wasn't heartburn, as it didn't rise from his gut but started over his heart and spread over his body as he instinctively reacted as he knew his adoptive parents wouldn't like him doing what he was doing as his eyes narrowed as he saw the sparks flying from beneath the oncoming car as well as how the rear end was snapping around.
“Broken axle on the front left, from what I can tell, likely snapped right behind the brake rotor. Tire blew suddenly, though from that cute passenger's reaction, her seatbelt locked up on her,” he analyzed quickly, not even realizing he was daring towards the vehicle in what most would have called a very stupid, reckless charge. He drew his hiking knife, a short four-inch blade, as he planted his feet before pushing off, vaulting up the hood though he lost his footing and tripped over the windscreen before tumbling into the car. He heard a yelping gasp as he landed upside down in the beautiful teal haired passenger's lap, his gaze meeting her startled blue eyes for a few scant seconds, before he swiped the blade and cleanly severed the seatbelt before he saw the blonde grab his knife before he felt the young woman jerked from beneath him.
Unfortunately for him, when the blonde did so, it spun him and his left elbow slid into the gap between the seat and the passenger door.
”Kusō, gaki!! Hiku anata jishin muryō!!” he heard the blond yell, spotting her bluish gray eyes on him.
“I don't know what you said! But… I get the gist of it… unfortunately… I'm pinned!” he yelled before everything went dark for him as he heard an echoing crash of metal and the grinding of rock before he heard a feminine yell that seemed to trial after him into the void of unconsciousness.
TomasPOV
My eyes fluttered open, though the first thing that crossed my mind was how much my body ached. The second, however, was how my left elbow felt…. strange. I flexed my fingers on my right hand, finding that my arm and shoulder on that side was extremely sore, as well as noticing the intravenous line before my gaze drifted to my left arm… or more precisely…. what was left of it.
Inches of bandages wound around my upper arm around three quarters of the way down my upper arm and bicep. My eyes widened in shock before I heard the sharp inhalation of surprise. My head snapped around before I groaned as pain surged through my head, setting it to pounding painfully.
“Anata wa kōun'na. Tashika ni anata no ude totta saiaku no jidōsha jiko, gō niku… Anata no hiji to kawan hidoku tsubureta soshite…… suru koto ga. ... Setsudan sa reta... Anata o sukuu tame ni,” the young woman spoke. Her wavy deep teal hair falling to just above her shoulders caught my eye as did her deep oceanic blue eyes.
“Yeah…. Uh…. I have no idea what you said. I don’t speak Japanese very well… about the only word I recognized was ‘anata’... which I assume whatever you’re referring to has to do with me,” I croaked with a grimace.
“Oh…. I apologize. Haruka and I are rarely in America, so we don’t often speak English. Well… American English, that is,” she said with a grimace. I noticed her accent, which was somewhat strong, yet I noticed hints of a British accent blending smoothly with the Japanese accent. She stood, picking up a nearby glass of water with a straw. “Drink slowly, now. You’ve been unconscious for several days, and when you weren’t, you were rather… delirious,” she said kindly.
I carefully sipped at the water, sighing softly as the cool water soothed my dry, burning throat. From the hoarseness of my voice, I assumed that I’d had a breathing tube in my throat at some point.
“What about my…. parents? Have they… come?” I said hesitantly. I noticed she frowned almost immediately at my question as if it annoyed her.
“I would have thought that they would have come for their only child, but they haven’t shown up yet,” she said softly, her tone gentle, apparently trying to keep me calm.
“Figures… they adopted me when they found they couldn’t have a second child… yet I tend to look after myself more than they do… they have an older child… sixteen or seventeen… hell, that team of Rangers I work with sometimes is more of a family than the one who’s supposed to be taking care of me,” I muttered with a bit of anger but loneliness was more noticeable in my voice.
I felt her squeeze my remaining hand gently, obviously trying to comfort me. “The saddest part… is I can’t play a bloody guitar with one hand. Drums… I probably could… like that guy from Def Leppard that lost his arm, yet…. I prefer the guitar more,” I said softly, feeling prickling at the corners of my eyes as I saw her smiling softly.
“You’re like Haruka and I then… you have a passion for music, don’t you? Oh, I am Kaioh Michiru… I believe the English translation would be Michelle. We can pay for some of your medical bills thanks to some of our own concerts we have held, and from what I heard, the Ranger teams of the area are gathering money to pitch in as well. Also, I hear that they are working on a prosthetic arm for you… one that hopefully will be able to work as feasibly as a normal arm,” Michiru said.
I sighed, unsure about taking their charity. I grimaced as my eyes fluttered shut. “I don’t see how, though I don’t know much about prosthetics. I do, however, know they can’t work without… a power source,” I muttered.
I heard Michiru’s voice gain a teasing quality. “Perhaps you’re unique… like myself and Haruka,” she said with an amused edge to her voice. Something felt like she was hiding something with that comment, as if she knew something I didn’t. “Why do I feel so…. weak? Like something is… missing from my body? Something essential, yet… part of me,” I thought, cautious and confused.
Several Years Later --- Canterlot High School True to Michiru’s words, the Rangers and Michiru, along with Haruka, did end up satisfactorily paying my medical bills, though they claimed I was a hero for saving Michiru and Haruka, whom are now more like older sister figures to me. Indeed, they did give me an advanced prosthetic, with an odd gemstone as the core. It looks like a Fire Opal blended with a Black Opal, yet has the odd color qualities of both and a normal ‘White’ Opal as well. Strangely, the arm, while removable, feels almost natural, as if it is part of me.
This will be the first time in a few years that I’ve been to a proper ‘public’ school as I have been ridiculed for the prosthetic arm, though it does make for a comedic prank to stumble and let the arm detach and freak people out. I have to admit that this school seems… energetic. The feel of the energy in the air seems… almost relaxed, yet there is an odd undercurrent of tension, as if there is something that doesn’t quite feel… normal. As if there is something dormant, yet merely sleeping here.
Tomas Raines sighed softly, his golden amber eyes scanning around, his tawny copper-bronze skin like caramelized chocolate. He rolled his shoulders as he made his way into the school, spotting many students almost immediately. Rarely, he tended to feel itching or strong tingling in the prosthetic arm, which was odd as other than the part to attach it, there were no nerves in the arm, hence there shouldn’t have been any sort of sensation, yet… there often was. He could feel with the prosthetic arm just as if it were his true arm, though the doctors couldn’t explain how. They assumed it was Phantom Limb Syndrome.
He had the sense that Michiru-onēsan and Haruka-onēsan might have had an idea, but at the moment, they were out of the country in England for one of Haruka’s races, this one a road course race in northern England. Only reason he hadn’t joined them was because unlike the older duo, he still needed school. The fifteen-year-old grimaced, shivering in the air conditioning before he felt his body acclimate. He preferred from around early spring until mid-fall, for his favorite time of year, which never ceased to amuse his adoptive older sisters.
Just as Michiru-onēsan had surmised upon meeting him several years before after he’d saved their lives, he did possess a passion and moreso, a strong, keen memory for music. Unfortunately, much to Michiru’s embarrassment, he could never read music no matter how much he tried, and he had tried very often.
He was talented with the steel guitar, bass guitar, electric and acoustic guitar, as well as the violin, much to Michiru-onēsan’s delight. It wasn’t too unusual for them to play together, as he did appreciate classical music, though he tried to keep from falling asleep during it as it tended to give him rather…. Strange dreams.
He let his gaze slide around before blinking at a young woman with creamy yellow skin and warm pink hair that fell over her hair and back in gentle curling waves. She wore a white blouse and pale salmon skirt that fell to just above her knees while she had a v-neck sweatshirt that kept her upper body warm, though the sleeves stopped just above her elbows. He noticed her deep aquamarine eyes met his almost the same moment he observed her.
He tried not to smirk at the adorable blush that crossed her face almost immediately as she looked both shy and embarrassed. “H-hello,” he said shyly. Admittedly, when he wasn’t doing music or playing music, he was remarkably shy himself, even withdrawn.
He saw her blink before perking up as if she noticed he was shy. “I’m… Fluttershy. Are you new here?” she said softly. The energy that seemed to cling to her was quite…. relaxing. It was calming.
He nodded shyly. He was struck by a memory, then. He knew that prosthetics, normally, were slow and tedious to respond.
FluttershyFPOV
It's nice to know I'm not the only one that's shy about starting at Canterlot, although that glove is…. funny looking. He seems to be lost in thought… hmmm? The glove is twitching almost like it's muscle memory. Does he play guitar? Or something with a softer sound, perhaps?
“Um…. if you don’t mind me asking…. Do you play any instrument?” I murmur shyly. I notice he pauses, though for a moment I think that he didn’t hear me.
“I play several instruments, though none at the same time. I play the violin like my adoptive older sister, as well as the acoustic and electric guitar as well as the steel guitar and bass guitar. I even play the flute, though it’s a very… specific flute that I don’t have on me at the moment,” he replied shyly.
His shyness almost makes me giggle as it reminds me of myself. I notice several students passing by. “Have you been shown around?” I ask softly. I notice Rarity in that moment noticing us before a slow playful smile crosses her face.
I noticed out of the corner of my eye that he shook his head before he snorted, drawing my attention before he tilted his head, spotting Sunset Shimmer just as I did.
“Has anyone told her her hair looks like bacon?” he murmured, making me blink a few times before giggling.
I didn’t miss Rarity glancing over her shoulder at Sunset before covering her mouth before a low giggle escaped her as she apparently overheard him.
“What’s your name?” I said softly.
“Tomas Raines,” he said softly.
TomasFPOV
I cocked his head, trying to keep from snickering at ‘Bacon Girl’, though I did like the fact that both of these girls seemed to find it funny. Though I noticed they did giggle and chuckle softly as the girl passed. Was she popular, or feared? Or potentially both?
Hmmm. Looking at her stride, she seems confident, self-assured, and borderline arrogant. Not always a good combination. I felt a light, hesitant tug on my natural hand rather than the prosthetic, noticing as they both took my hands, I felt a slight tingling rush through the prosthetic. I wonder if the gemstone ‘heart’ within the prosthetic is… unique.
I never told my adoptive older sisters precisely what the ‘odd dreams’ I had when I sometimes dozed off to their practicing or music was, only that they were ‘unfamiliar and strange’. What I didn’t say, however, was that I remember every detail of them and one person I remember looked very similar to that ‘Bacon Girl’. I’m probably going to say that loud enough to let her hear it at some point just to see her reaction.
I sighed softly, letting my gaze scan around, noticing several students, though one in particular, a light raspberry skinned girl with puffy pink hair and blue eyes, caught my eye for a moment as she grinned. However, I did notice that Fluttershy tugged me slightly closer to her as if she didn’t like that particular student at the moment.
“A bit protective, Fluttershy, are we?” I heard the violet-indigo haired girl with pale alabaster skin say in a soft, teasing tone.
“A little, maybe,” Fluttershy replied softly, a bit of crimson darkening her cheeks.
My gaze drifted around, spotting various other students, including a trio with intriguing ruby necklaces, though I sensed an odd familiarity with them, as if I knew them from somewhere despite the certainty that I’ve never seen them nor met them before.
I also noticed, that around that particular trio, my prosthetic arm tingled even more strongly, though it was like a muted tingling around these two, as well as that pink girl. “Is the gemstone heart aware? I do know there’s much more than most would let on. Hell, even Michiru-onēsan has a few tricks she doesn’t always let on, such as her hydrokinesis gifts. “Sometimes the sea’s depths hold secrets” my ass… everyone has secrets, and I think she can sense things before they happen, perhaps from the ocean?” I thought. He had noticed as of recently, the days in which the sun was out much more were more… preferable… for him…. as if something within him craved the Sun’s strength.
“No… it isn’t that it ‘craves’ the Sun’s strength… that doesn’t feel quite right… but it does seem to be tied to the Sun’s strength… but one thing I’m very certain of is that even what I’m sensing now… is barely the surface. It’s like looking into a gemstone but seeing only one facet of it… if I have to put my instinctual feelings into words,” I thought.
I absently paid attention to their little tour, focusing on their words so to distract myself from my thoughts. “Something felt both off about those three, yet at the same time, I had the feeling I know them. It's stupid to think, but for some reason, I keep thinking the past reaches into the present,” I muse thoughtfully.
I exhaled softly as the duo, Rarity, as she’d introduced herself, and Fluttershy, went onto their classes, whilst he waited at the office for his schedule and books. He was mildly surprised as a young woman perhaps ten years older than his adoptive older sisters charged in, looking a bit panicked, her light phthalo bluish gray skin glistening slightly. Her moderate opal eyes flicked to him as he focused, feeling the prosthetic detach before dropping with a dull metallic clunk to the floor before her eyes widened, seeing the arm lying on the floor before she gasped.
“T-tia?” she said with a nervous stutter, her moderate sapphire blue hair streaked with pale light grayish persian blue swaying in the air. He noticed the door to the office opening before he scooped up the arm, revealing the unusual narrow metallic cap just below his elbow as well as what was beneath it.
Haruka-ōnesan had contacted her godfather, someone by the name of Anthony Stark, who'd called in a favor. He hadn't really paid attention to what followed, as it had been weeks after the loss of his arm, though he'd been mildly surprised when the philanthropist himself had delivered both the prosthetic with the gemstone heart along with the inactive cap.
He did, however, recall their shock when the inactive reactor within the cap, once attached and linked to the nerves in his arm, which should have only connected to the edges of the cap, flared to life, glowing brightly before the glow settled to a muted glow.
He exhaled as wiry tendrils twice as thick as human hairs extended before attaching to the prosthetic and pulling it up and into place.
“Sorry… Fuku kōchō,” I apologized sheepishly.
He saw her blink as if she didn't understand him at first before she blinked. “You speak Japanese?” she said with a hint of surprise.
“Kinda hard not to learn when your older sisters tend to use it at home,” I said shyly.
The vice-principal smirked before she shrugged. “I dabble in other languages, sometimes, though I'm not an expert,” she admitted wryly.
I hummed thoughtfully. “I only know English and Japanese… though if it came to insults… I could probably insult someone in about four or five other languages,” I murmured.
The vice-principal giggled, obviously amused. “So, your sisters enrolled you?” she said curiously.
“From what his papers say, yes, Luna. A ‘Haruka Tenōh’ signed him in, with a ‘Michiru Kaiō’ as witness,” a slightly older woman spoke, her hair swaying in the air, pastel shades of soft pink, sea green, light purple, and soft, pale goldenrod flickering through it.
“That’s them," I confirmed. I was a bit surprised when she handed me a warm, deep bronze toned backpack; it felt a bit heavy.
“Schedule’s in the outer right pocket on the side. Don’t hesitate to call Luna or I for help, if necessary,” the woman said with a small motherly smile.
“She’s far more enjoyable to be around than my mother…. before she lost her ever-lovin’ mind and ran off that bridge that night… maybe it’s a good thing that I lost that arm… nerves and flexibility were never the same after that night,” I muse thoughtfully.
Flashback - Ten Years Ago, 3rdPOV
A five year old Tomas looked up at his distressed mother from the chair within the waiting room, his keen hearing picking up the words virulent leukemia and has metastasized to the brain, unfortunately though he didn’t quite understand what that meant. He gasped as his mother, her platinum blond hair and almond shaped gray eyes a sharp contrast to his deep, auburn-crimson hair and dark aquamarine-teal eyes. Her pale hand grabbed his before she all but dragged him out of the room. He stumbled out alongside her, quiet as he tried to piece together what was wrong. “Leukemia is a sickness of the blood, kitten,” a low growl whispered in his mind. He frowned before he shivered at the chill night air as he lacked a jacket.
He yelped in surprise as his mother shoved him in the SUV that they’d driven to see his father, a Japanese businessman. He hastily buckled himself in as he shivered from the chill before the heat kicked in, making him sigh as he looked up at his mother; he didn’t even think twice of the fact she’d shoved him in the front seat rather than the back seat as usual, too innocent to realize something was wrong.
“Mama, what’s wrong?” he said softly, innocently.
“Nothing. Only that my lover is dying, not like you care,” she scoffed scornfully as she hit the gas, reversing in a sharp motion that made the child grip the edges of the seat before she accelerated out of the parking lot and onto the street. He was nervous, though he did notice something odd... a trickle of blood coming from his mother's nose.
He remembered quick twists and turns in the vehicle, though the biggest memory was hearing a grinding crunch as the vehicle lurched sharply to the left, making him very thankful he’d buckled in as the seat belt locked in, holding him close to the seat before he realized that he could see the ground…. then the sky… then water…. and rocks before a sudden, sharp impact and darkness overwhelmed him.
Deepinthedepthsofhismind….
“Do you truly wish to survive? There will be a cost. Our link will be cut off unless you gain a strong energy boost,” the entity growled, appearing as a lion of prismatic, swirling flames.
The child before the entity was bloody and heavily injured, cradling his right arm which was twitching spasmodically, obviously injured badly with possible nerve damage. The child looked up defiantly. “You said it yourself, Latoius, that the others, including your sister, Selene… would be rather embarrassed if your own Chosen failed to awaken your Gifts and mature in them. So…. YES… I want to survive, even if it means our link will be cut. Though if, as you claim, it would eject the Purity Crystal… which would weaken me… I suspect that anyone that finds it will assume that it belongs to my ‘mother’ or myself… in which case it will remain close. I do have those Aura Manipulation lessons you’ve given me, after all,” the child retorted, his tone determined and strong despite his injuries.
“Very well, Kitten… you have strength that will show itself in time, even without our communication bond. No doubt you will be the one… not only to catch my eye, but THEIR EYES as well,” Latoius chuckled, a deep rumbling purr escaping the embodiment of the Solar Fires as his form shrank into an elliptical multi-faceted golden red gemstone roughly two thirds the size of a golf ball before it shone brilliantly and vanished.
Inthewakingworld….
Tomas’ eyes snapped open, unaware that a sign of his link to Latoius being severed as well as the Solar Embodiment’s power rushing through his body and healing the worst of his injuries was that his formerly dark aquamarine-teal irises were a deep golden amber now…. not that anyone knew the truth…. save for him.
Within six months, he had been shuttled off to his mother’s brother and wife, neither of whom really bothered to watch out for him, though he did get monthly checks for not only the injuries he’d sustained, but from his mother’s life insurance. His cousins, one Taichi Yagami and Hikari Yagami, set up a bank account that got the money. His aunt and uncle got the checks for his injuries each month, but the life insurance, more substantial by far, went into the bank account for him to use later.
Sadly, when he was injured and lost his arm, as he’d kept the Solardius Athánatos Ílios over his heart, it was assumed that it was his, which it was. Fortunately, Anthony Stark had found that it would channel an obscene amount of energy, and so used it as the ‘heart’ of his prosthetic arm. They had needed to use an inactive nano-tech arc reactor as an arm cap. Though due to his suppressed Aura, it did activate as it tapped into it, letting it have a warm golden amber glow rather than its usual bluish white.
FLASHBACK END
TomasFPOV
My gaze flickered over the room, noticing that the blonde farmer girl Rarity had mentioned… Applejack or AJ to her friends, I think her name was.. was in the same room. It appeared to be Home Economics, from what I could guess. “This will be interesting,” I muse thoughtfully with a small, shy smirk that could be construed as both playful and shy.
Of course, the Bacon Girl did try to talk to me, though I ignored her. A guy with goldenrod skin and blue eyes as well as navy and pale navy streaked hair glared at me momentarily. I glanced over my shoulder noticing the intrigued look on her face as well as the small smirk that crossed her face before she hugged the guy. “Flash Sentry, quarterback for the football team, though I’ve never held much interest in those sports. I’m more the runner, though my style of running could translate into cross-country running. Unfortunately for these jock jokes, my style of running is one they could, perhaps, with enough practice, manage…. Though I doubt it,” I thought, very aware that Latoias couldn’t hear me.
I haven’t forgotten the connection between us, though I have to wonder if the other Embodiments are known by their respective Guardians. We will see in time, I’m sure. A small smirk crossed my face as whilst I had ignored Bacon Girl, whom I knew was named Sunset Shimmer due to mutters and murmurs, I had heard what she’d said.
“What’s with the funny glove? I mean, it’s tacky and ugly,” she’d commented. Obviously, she was unaware of its true nature. However, there are things that I’ve found are in it that I suspect that Anthony Stark put into it secretly. I half crouch not far from the gym and flex the cybernetic fingers, the tips of the fingers sharpening into claws of black fibers. I assume they’re nano-fibers, but I don’t know for sure. I flex them again, retracting the claws into semi-normal nails, if fingernails were a deep copper whilst skin was a deeper tone of gold. I smirk slightly as I twist the arm, noticing the streaks of red underneath the forearm; seems that Anthony Stark has a fondness of red and gold, though being the infamous Iron Man, if rumors are true, would explain that.
I could definitely feel something in the air, almost being drawn to the prosthetic and the gemstone within. It wasn’t noticeable, but I’ve always been sensitive to energies, both light and dark. I have noticed posters for a ‘Fall Formal’ dance, though I’ve never been that big a fan of dancing. I let my gaze drift to the rearing horse statue before my eyes narrowed slightly, noticing a very slight surge of energy within the air. It felt almost like a cork being released from a bottle… or a doorway being opened. I did notice that very few of the students noticed it, though ‘Bacon Girl’ a.k.a Sunset Shimmer did, her head tilting slightly. “If you knew, Sunset…. you wouldn’t be so full of yourself,” I whispered, noticing her ears twitch at my murmur. Being that she’s only two spots ahead of me and one to my right, she probably could hear me, if her hearing was sharp. This Coach Spitfire reminds me quite a lot of Haruka-onesan, though not quite as… blunt.
A small smirk crosses my face at the fact that we are playing dodgeball. I think I’ll do my best to rile ‘Bacon Girl’ up a bit. Of course, I’m on the same team as Fluttershy and Rarity as well as a country looking girl named ‘Applejack, but call me AJ’. I darted forward at the whistle, grabbing two balls swiftly, noticing a chromatic haired girl smirking at me with soft cyan skin before I flicked the ball at Sunset Shimmer, who ducked, before firing the ball in her hands at Fluttershy as I slid over, catching it just a few inches shy of Fluttershy but noticing Sunset’s eyes narrowing in annoyance before I flicked it suddenly at the chromatic haired girl, who blocked the ball with the one in her hands before she launched it at Rarity, who narrowly ducked it before catching the girl off guard.
“Gotcha, Rainbow!!” Rarity called with a grin before a ball narrowly missed her, deflected by my thrown ball before I heard Fluttershy cry out softly as she was hit. My eyes narrowed fractionally as I scooped up the ball that had rolled near my feet before launching it. To my mild surprise, it bounced off Flash Sentry’s shoulder, then caught some guy called Thunderlane in the chest.
“Nice shot, there, kid!!” I heard Rainbow’s slightly scratchy voice yell before laughing. Rarity caught a few students by surprise with quick, accurate throws, I note out of the corner of my eye. “Possible baseball or softball skill? Or something else?” I thought with mild interest.
I noticed a ball flying at my face before I instinctively fell backwards, bouncing on my palms as I unconsciously flipped back onto my feet in a kip up, narrowly evading a ball aimed at my lower back as I regained my feet.
More than a few students whooped and whistled in surprise at the acrobatic tactic before my hands snapped up, catching one ball before deflecting a second as I noticed a girl with mint green skin walking away, apparently the thrower, before I pushed off, twisting before firing the ball at Sunset, catching her high in the abdomen before she slid several feet on her back.
I noticed the coach darting out as students gathered the balls up as Sunset sat up, glaring at me. “Greed and hatred aren’t going to get you anywhere. They will only harm yourself, in the end,” I sighed, turning away.
I exhaled softly, rolling my shoulders as I turned away before my ears twitched slightly at Sunset's scoff. A very faint smirk crossed my face. “She'll learn, either through opening that shell of hers willingly… or it will be shattered the hard way,” I thought. I noticed those three students, one with brilliant raspberry eyes, luminous vivid orange hair with brilliant yellow streaks, and pale apple green skin. The other two had moderate mulberry eyes and moderate raspberry eyes with light arctic blue hair with moderate persian blue stripes done up in a ponytail high on her head and arctic bluish white skin. The one with moderate mulberry colored eyes had moderate purple hair with light brilliant aquamarine streaks in twin ponytails on either side of her head and pale, light grayish fuchsia skin.
My eyes narrow on the ruby amulets. To my senses, their auras, felt, to me, much like a solar eclipse. It was like something was blocking and diluting the true strength of their auras. “I can almost sense something about those amulets… they appear harmless… yet… if I’m right, they’re diluting what these three are truly capable of… not to mention how familiar their auras feel to me, though I’m certain I’ve never met these three before. It was almost like meeting Haruka-nee and Michiru-nee, yet different,” I muse as I tore my gaze away.
“You don’t have to look away if you don’t want to… after all, we’re amongst the most beautiful in the school,” the wavy orange and gold streaked haired girl said with a smirk. “We could make it fun, you know, considering we do need to clean up after class,” she said in a saucy tone.
My eyebrows rose slightly. I smirked slightly as the girl with twin ponytails elbowed the wavy haired girl’s abdomen, apparently annoying her.
“What, Aria?” the girl said.
“Adagio, as tempting as that idea is, we should wait until later… though we do have the music class near the end of the day, and study hall is so boring even with Sonata acting like an airhead,” Aria said, huffing the last two words as she stretched them dramatically.
“We could get tacos!!” the ponytailed girl said in a bubbly tone.
“You have music for your next to last class? So do I. Wonder who is stronger with the guitar,” I quipped. Adagio smirked at me.
“Is that a challenge? Because both Aria and I play that and bass respectively,” she challenged.
“I play both myself, though obviously not both at the same time, though that could make for an interesting instrument,” I replied with amusement.
Adagio chuckled. “We’ll see, though I have to admit, I’m curious if you have any talent. Hope you can work up a good sweat later,” she said with a challenging yet playful smirk.
I was mildly surprised when the ponytailed girl hugged me suddenly.
“Though I act like an airhead, I’m smarter than my sisters often account for. I just like messing with their heads… well… everyone’s heads, really, it’s funny to see their reactions when I shock them with something unexpected,” she said softly before backing away with a childish, slightly louder than necessary, giggle.
“All right, though don’t be too embarrassed later. Gotta admit that the outfits for you three are rather flattering,” I quip. I smirked as all three of them blinked, looking down at their outfits. Adagio’s outfit was a warm, yet soft light purple tee shirt with dark blue shorts, while Aria’s was a deep bronze tee with dark burgundy shorts. Sonata’s was a rich royal blue with navy shorts.
Sonata looked amused at my teasing, while Adagio looked unamused, and Aria just snorted as she smirked.
“Then I wonder how you’ll react later,” she quipped.
I cocked my head, a small smirk crossing my face. “React to what?” I deadpanned innocently as I slipped through the gymnasium doors.
I thought I heard Adagio and Aria snickering while Sonata snorted. “I wonder how he’ll..” was all I caught as the doors swung shut, apparently from Sonata. I frowned slightly, thinking of those necklaces. I had a bad feeling about them, like they were meant to do something that even those three didn’t know about. Strangely, I also had a strong sense like I’d seen them before, but couldn’t recall from where, precisely.
I blinked, feeling the same odd pulsations in the air I’d felt that morning. This time, however, I tilted my prosthetic so that a small screen opened in the top of the forearm, exposing the gemstone ‘heart’ at the left edge of the bluish purple screen, barely visible as the screen lit up, so it hid the ‘heart’. Energy wave signatures and code flickered over the screen before I cocked my head. “Intriguing. So there is something about the ‘Wondercolt’ statue that seems to radiate an energy similar to that which I’ve felt around that…. Stephen Strange… who is friends with Haruka-nee’s godfather,” I muttered under my breath.
It was neither new nor old, I noticed, though the vibrations of the energy weren’t malicious. If anything, they were the opposite. They were certainly different but as they did not seem dangerous or hateful, I saw little reason to bother with them. Hmm…. seems they are drawn to the Sunstone Ruby, or something from this ‘mirror’ is. I can feel the energy of it flowing through my body. It feels like a warm summer’s day’s heat, to my senses.
I turned away from the statue to see Fluttershy, Rarity, that girl AJ, and the chromatic girl as well as the odd, bubbly pink girl, sitting not too far away. Rarity’s gaze spots me before she looks surprised as I notice Fluttershy spotting me almost at the same time, though strangely, her cheeks tint a rosy gold tone for some reason.
My eyebrows rose slightly, though I was a bit surprised when both AJ and the chromatic girl whom introduced herself as Rainbow Dash, pulled me over to join them. However, I made sure to hide the scanning screen on the prosthetic’s forearm.
Canterlot City, Earth, Canterlot High School Tomas, FPOV
I sighed softly, shivering slightly. Fluttershy had mentioned she saw me as a brother, better than her birth brother, someone she called Zephyr Breeze. She said she acted like a womanizer, even hitting on her. That was a disturbing idea. If I had a sibling, I wouldn’t hit on them, making it sound like I was romantically interested in them. Rainbow apparently liked that I was athletic, while AJ claimed I should come over to her place for dinner sometime.
A soft exhalation escaped me as I slipped into the music room, noticing only one or two students other than the teacher were there. “I have an idea for something, but I need a bit of help from someone with drums,” I said quietly. It was a song I’d come up with from speaking to some of the veterans that seemingly went unnoticed and unappreciated on the streets.
“Whatcha thinking?” a girl with streaked dark navy and deep cyan hair said, smirking as she wore dark purple glasses.
“I’m thinking a fade in, though I’m open to keyboards,” I said wryly, shrugging.
“Name’s Vinyl,” the girl said with a grin.
“Tomas,” I replied with an amused edge to my voice, glancing around. I noticed one girl with grayish tangelo eyes, moderate aquamarine hair in wild waves, and light greenish gray skin grimacing as she hit a few notes before I blinked, noticing the simple tune held potential. “You mind repeating that over and over?” I said, making the girl look up with surprise.
“Eh?” she said, confused. Wallflower grimaced, unsure why he was even talking to her.
“That simple rhythm… it’s four or five notes… but I think we can build that into something that would be mind-blowing,” I said, amused at her mild confusion.
“Oh… oh… okay… I guess,” she said softly, her tone hesitant and unsure. She made me think of Fluttershy, but even more shy. It was rather obvious few people even noticed her. “That, I will change,” I thought with a firm look.
“Go ahead,” I said gently.
Her fingers hesitantly pressed the keys, repeating the simple little rhythm over and over before I glanced at Vinyl with a nod as she tapped the edge of the snare drum in a steady, 1-2-2-1-2-1 beat. “That’ll work,” I thought, lightly strumming the guitar in my grasp.
3rd POV Wallflower blushed slightly at being included as well as what she saw as very mediocre musical talent being the basis for such a powerful song.
TomasFPOV
I couldn't tell if the girl was shy or embarrassed from being included. I noticed the trio I'd overheard called ‘The Dazzlings’ leaning against the wall with amusement in Sonata's eyes, intrigue in Aria's, and interest in Adagio's.
A soft sigh escaped me as I idly strummed the guitar, flicking the switch to its acoustic sound as I hummed softly, thinking. “There is one song I came up with… my older sisters inspired me to keep… pushing… fighting… after a particular incident,” I said softly.
“What sort of incident, sugarcube?” AJ said, making my gaze flick towards her.
“Tell me, do you think this is a glove, or something else?” I said instead, amused at the somewhat confused look that crossed hers, as well as most others, including the Dazzlings’ faces.
“It looks like a glove, sugarcube, why?” she said after a moment.
“Because that’s how it’s supposed to appear… in truth,” I said wryly before pressing the pressure triggers on the underside of the ‘elbow, hearing the soft, pressurized hissing before the wires detached, retracting into the outer ring of the hidden arc reactor before the cap covered it as well, hiding it from sight as I tugged the prosthetic away, much to the gasps of the students. Just to mess with them, I made the hand wave, making more than a few students freak out as I smirked. I noticed Rainbow, Adagio, Sonata, Aria, AJ, and Pinkie amongst the students, though surprisingly, Rainbow and Pinkie seemed the most calm, both grinning.
“Have you ever freaked anyone out by having it fall off randomly?” Rainbow said in her slightly scratchy voice.
“Uh…. I kinda did that earlier today… freaked out the vice-principal when she bumped into me,” I admitted sheepishly.
Adagio snickered as Rainbow and Pinkie laughed as I reattached the prosthetic, though Rainbow’s comment does give me an idea how to really freak people out if they don’t know that it’s a prosthetic arm.
I smirked slightly, thinking. "Accelerate the decoupling process, the vibranium lined wires, add a few thrusters so the arm can hover, yet keep my Aura connected to it… it’d freak people out seeing a hovering arm playing an instrument,” I thought. I noticed Pinkie and Rainbow grinning madly.
“Hmmm, how to do the hovering while keeping it compact and subtle, though? Hmmm… doubt air channels would work, though I could see, if the need arose, a way to use something similar to project a weapon, would have to be a small barbed dart, though. Perhaps sleep drug, or a weak paralytic? Hmmm. perhaps compress the gravity field at certain points and expel it from beneath as a cushion of sorts?” he thought.
A soft sigh escaped me as I turned away as the bell rang, cocking an eyebrow as Adagio touched my forearm. I noticed her cheeks darken slightly as she gained a thoughtful look for a moment, before she smiled slightly, looking up at me as her eyes were an inch and a half or so below my own.
“Want to go swimming? It’s not like anyone will notice, and the swim team doesn’t meet today, so we could play… my sisters, me… you,” she said softly, whispering near the end with a small smirk.
My eyebrow rose. “If you tell me where these came from,” I reply with a controlled edge to my voice as I tap the ruby amulet with one finger. This close, the way those gemstone necklaces feel is giving me a headache. “I don't know what they're intended for, but they aren't going to help…. only harm,” I said quietly.
“Um… we don't know where they came from. They arrived in a box with no stamp and an odd black inverted heart logo with a green gemstone stylized in it,” Sonata said quietly.
My eyes narrowed fractionally, though I didn’t recognize the description. I shrugged. “Call it a gut feeling about those amulets. But I have no problem going for a swim,” I sighed. I did notice Pinkie and Rainbow lingering behind, though I wondered why.
“They’re probably hoping to drag you away to some party or something,” Aria snorted, sneering slightly before Adagio swatted her in the back of the head, making Sonata smirk before the smile shifted, becoming vapid as she seemed to drift off. Her eyes, however, gave away that she was a lot smarter than she looked and acted.
A few hours later, I strode quickly out of the school, sighing softly. Admittedly, being around the Dazzling Sisters felt like being around both old friends and borderline siblings, at least to me. "I wonder if it has to do with whatever I'm sensing that is within them. It feels... familiar," I thought. My eyes narrowed slightly, recalling that they had removed the amulets that still felt unnatural to me, yet the amulets had remained near, not far from the edge of the pool. Something tells me the longer they have those amulets, the worse whatever effects they'll have end up being. I felt the slightest tingling from the prosthetic as I took a deep breath of the mid afternoon sun.
"I wonder why the principal didn't notice we were swimming after school," I muttered.
A demonic creature with dark green eyes and pale red irises held up a young woman with light harlequin green eyes, light violet hair streaked with mulberry, and pale grayish amber skin by the throat, a dull bluish aura seeping from the young woman before a flare of golden light formed into an arc, shearing the arm of the creature off just above the elbow as a shadowed form stands in the mouth of the alleyway shrouded in the moonlight. The only visible part is a dark golden copper arm with a dark red glove sheathing the hand. The armored form looks almost like the classical ninja, though the helmet looks slightly elongated almost like that of a samurai’s near the shoulder pads. The weapon it holds is a long, slightly curving blade that has embers and wisps of smoke rising from the blade.
The girl drops to the dirty alley’s ground, barely conscious. She moans from energy drainage.
“Sky Slash, Star Reaver,” a low, deep voice whispers as the armored form vanishes with a sharp crack before materializing behind the creature, an arc of light flaring suddenly from left shoulder to right hip before a second slash materializes, crossing the first in the opposite direction as the armored form spins, the blade shearing through as golden fire trails from the blade as steam rises from the twin fatal wounds before the creature, trembling, stills as its form shifts into silvery dust before dissolving into a pile of fine, glittering moondust. A darkened gemstone no larger than a human thumbnail shatters in amongst the moondust before the semi-conscious girl groans as flashlights shine on her before she realizes the armored form of her savior has vanished as if it had never existed.
The rooftops of Canterlot City
The armored form of the warrior lands with a soft metallic clicking sound, having employed the fire escapes evading detection. The figure’s right forearm pulses with golden light as the armor begin to crack and fracture before dissolving into motes of golden fire that stream into the armored arm, the blade fading into tendrils of light before being consumed by the arm as the male youth collapses to his knees, then flat on his face. A soft groan escapes him before his eyes flutter.
TomasFPOV
“Ugh… where… am…. I? Damn it… not again… this is the third time this week…. and more irritating, I have no idea how I got here or… well… where ‘here’ is,” I thought wryly, grimacing before gagging at the odors of old paint mingling with grease. My crystalline golden amber eyes drift around before spotting the lights of the nearby theater. Unfortunately, in the recent five days, I haven’t had much chance to acclimate and explore Canterlot City, so I don’t know it very well. Homework is a real pain in my ass… and the Dazzlings seem…. drawn to me… I wonder if it has to do with what I am sensing from them. I’d prefer if they got rid of those amulets… to me, they feel like the moon between the sun during a solar eclipse. At the same time, though, whatever energy that seems to filter through them… from within the Dazzlings… feels corrupted and foul, unnatural… nothing like what their auras feel like from around the ‘crystalline moons’ that those amulets are to my senses.
I darted towards the edge of the rooftop, my eyes sliding half-lidded before snapping alert before my arm reared back, the iris within the palm opening, protracting, and igniting in the space of half a second as I shoved off the edge of the rooftop, the added thrust shoving me in a high arcing leap before I tapped three points on the opposite bracelet, the bracelet expanding into a mid-forearm length gauntlet, though the pads of my fingers up to the first knuckle remained exposed as a second crystalline sphere opened and protracted within my palm before it too ignited with a clear ruby-orange flame that turned my uncontrolled vaulting leap into a hover before I touched down several dozen yards beyond the theater, fortunately deep in the shadows.
“This is at least the fifth time this has happened. I black out and come to in a different location, sometimes hours later. Ugh, it’s irritating. I got this bracelet that can apparently link to the prosthetic arm and the gemstone heart within it several days ago. I can practically feel the darkness seeping off those amulets, but where they came from is a mystery still, as the Dazzlings have no idea where they came from themselves. But the logo they referred to… I’ve been seeing it recently… potentially a new company or a gang trying to go active and dangerous? I will have to figure that out… eh?” I muse warily, cocking an eyebrow as I notice ‘Bacon Girl’ and her boy-toy.
I sigh softly, shaking my head slightly as I turn away before my eyes widen fractionally, seeing a glimpse of golden fire flaring up at the corner of my sight before I grimace, as I get the strong sense that whatever that fire is is linked to the blackouts. “What are those blackouts and what’s behind them?” I thought as I took a deep breath as I started walking.
My eyes narrow slightly as I turn away. A slow breath is drawn in before I whistle out a few sharp notes that fade into the air before a distant rumbling growl sounded before he half turned as his bike pulled up into an idle.
I knew even if someone could impersonate the whistle, the bike would analyze their energy the moment they straddled it, and if it didn't match what was in it already, the bike would shut down.
