Chapter 1: Thou art I
Persona: Equestria Girls
Chapter 1
August 25 23°C/73°F
Flash Sentry sat comfortably in his train seat, strumming his acoustic guitar to pass the time. As he strummed a simple melody he saw two girls, one wearing a yellow sundress and the other wearing a pink polo and white denim pants.
"So how was your vacation to Vanhoover?" asked the girl in the sundress as she flipped her green hair.
"Ugh, don't even remind me. Completely horrible. I mean, who cares about all that computer stuff they make? What's the difference between a Hextadon and an Alicorn P.C? They still open Harmonyspace just the same," complained the girl in the polo shirt as she used her phone.
"Oh, that's right. You went to visit your geeky cousins. It must have been pure torture. I mean really, why did your parents force you to go? Don't they know it's bad enough you have to admit that your family are a bunch of nerds that obsess over stupid cartoons. I can't imagine what it must be like to try and hold a conversation."
"It was horrible. Most of the time I would just run away to the nearest coffeehouse and hope no one recognized me. So anyways, where did you go?"
"I went to the beach with a group of friends, it was okay I guess." The green-haired girl pulled out a white Ophone from her bag. "Still, I would have preferred to have you with me. Some girls just can't hold a smart conversation."
They started to ignore each other as they played with their phones, until the girl in the pink shirt looked up in surprise. "Oh my gosh! I just got a friend invite from Wondercolt!"
The other one immediately snatched the phone from her hands. "How did you do it? Tell me now!"
"I don't know, it was probably my beautiful pictures."
"Or you know who it is and just don't want to tell me."
"Of course I don't know!" protested the polo girl. "I'd obviously tell you if I knew, we're like, BFFs."
"Really? Cuz you totally forgot to tell me you were dating Thunder last month. And BFFs tell BFFs when they're dating guys."
As the soothing sounds of his guitar lulled him to sleep, the interior of the train faded from view and he found himself in a strange room like nothing he had ever seen before.
The floor was a thick navy blue carpet, the walls sported a similar color, and even the windows gave off a blue light. There were several black tables all around the place, and silver chairs with blue cushions. As he faced front he gazed upon the most peculiar man he had ever seen in his life. His eyes were red dots in yellow sclera. His hair was nearly black, but his eyebrows and goatee were white.
He wore a patchwork suit of varying materials and clashing colors. While the trunk was a dark reddish-brown silk, the left sleeve was a bright yellow burlap, while the right sleeve was of a slightly darker yellow tone, and made of what could have either been velvet or fur. Beneath this bizarrely mismatched suit jacket was a polyester dress shirt of an ugly jaundiced grey.
His left pants leg was khaki, while the right was made of bright green leather. His shoes were similarly mismatched, with a green alligator-skin loafer on his right foot and a heavy brown leather work shoe on his left foot.
Behind him stood a girl, perhaps fifteen or so. She wore a blue uniform with a sleeveless top, with six yellow circles emblazoned vertically in the center. Her grey skin and blond hair really made her stand out from the background. Her yellow eyes were disoriented; one was looking up and the other down. Yet strangely he felt she was studying him.
"Welcome, my dear boy, to the Velvet Room. You are now in the only room that exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. I am Discord and I, with the help of my lovely assistant Derpy, will aid you on your journey."
"I'm sorry, but what are you talking about? Am I dead?"
Discord chuckled before leaning to one side of the chair, snapping his fingers to conjure a black table in front of them, and resting his feet above it as he leaned back on his chair.
"No, you aren't dead!" Discord chuckled, leaning to one side. "Not yet, anyway," he mumbled. He snapped his fingers; a black table appeared before him, with a deck of cards in the center. "Go ahead...take a card." Despite the amicable smile on his face, his tone was sinister.
Flash hesitated; Discord leaned forward, hands in front of his face. "Well? What are you waiting for?" Swallowing nervously, Flash took the top card.
The teen extended a trembling hand and picked up the card.
He showed his pick to Discord.
"Your card is The Fool, the beginning of all journeys. The number zero on the card describes a point of origin," said Derpy with a smile, one eye trying to focus on him, the other pointed off somewhere to the right.
"And now, to the point of this meeting," Discord said, snapping his fingers and producing cups of tea before the three of them. "Dark times are ahead of you, but there is light to be found within the darkness. Do not trust what you cannot see, and under no circumstances should you neglect a friend. Friends will be worth more to you than gold, and if lost, they may turn against you." At Flash's confused expression, Discord chuckled. "Hmm, it seems as if our guest is puzzled!"
"None of this makes sense!" protested the teenager as he threw his hands in the air.
"Were you expecting something else?" asked Discord. But Flash never got to answer, for the dream faded out and he woke up to the P.A.
"Now arriving at Ponyville Station. Please collect your belongings and prepare to exit from the right of the train!"
He felt a little dizzy, and his neck hurt, but he went for his duffle bag and put his guitar back in its case. Once all of his belongings were slung over his shoulder, he headed to the exit.
The train came to a smooth stop and the doors opened a moment later with a hiss.
Once outside, he was looking out for the dorm manager Cadence. He turned on his phone and looked at the picture again. From the crowd he managed to catch a glimpse of a person with the matching hair colors. She looked to be in her mid-twenties, with light pink skin and tresses of pink, cream, and purple. She was wearing jeans and a simple cream-colored polo shirt. She noticed him and started waving. "Hey! Over here!"
"You must be Flash Sentry. I'm Cadence," she said with a sweet voice as she extended her hand. After a firm handshake, she checked her phone once more. "C'mon, we should get you to the dorm to get settled."
They headed to the parking lot, searching for a white compact SUV.
"Do you want to ride shotgun?" she asked as they approached the vehicle. He rushed over and opened the door to the driver's side.
"Why thank you! What a gentleman." she said as she sat down at the wheel. "You can drop your things in the trunk and we'll get going."
He did as instructed and let out a sigh of relief when he relaxed on the comfortable seat.
"So what brings you here, city boy?" she asked as she pulled out onto the street.
"Well, my parents are archaeologists, and they're going to be participating in a dig overseas for the next year. Our landlord wouldn't let them renew the lease on our apartment if there wouldn't be any adults living there, and it's a lot less expensive for me to board and attend school here than to try to board at one of the schools near where they're working, so after we talked it over...here I am," he said with a somewhat tired voice.
"No way! Your parents are archeologists? Have they discovered some sort of ancient tomb?"
"Nah, so far they've only been bookworm archeologists. It was somewhat of a whim when they told me they were going to Trottingham to search the Canterlonian plains."
"Trottingham? Are they searching for ruins of the old empires?"
"No, they think that's lame. They're actually searching for the barbarian ruins."
"Wow, and what are you searching for?"
"Just a way to survive," he replied coldly.
"Oh, don't get so down. Or your parents will get to dig YOU up!" she chuckled as she took a left turn. "So, do you miss them?" she asked as she stopped at the next red light.
"My parents? Yeah, of course I do. Especially my dad, he used to tell stories about the clans he discovered in his dusty books."
"Really? And what about your mom? I'm sure you miss her just as well."
"I do! Mom always knew how to relate my life to some myth she'd just read, and somehow it cheered me up. And don't even get me started on her cooking! Oh God, do I miss her banana nut muffins."
"Well, would you look at that. We're here!" she parked the vehicle next to the dorm.
"Are you sure we can park here?" he asked as he got out.
"Of course! This isn't like Manehattan, here you can park almost anywhere. Just try not to do it near hospitals or on the parkway!" she joked as she turned off the engine.
As soon as the locks clicked he opened the trunk and took back his stuff.
The dorm was about three stories high, one story higher than the average. Like the rest of the street, it was painted white without any major differences. The inside of the dormitory offered some variation, but not enough to show any passion for design. That was not to say it looked horrible, just normal.
The living room had beige walls with red carpets, a full brown living room set, an extra sofa, a lamp and an oak coffee table. Lying on the sofa reading a book was a girl with lavender skin. She wore a light blue shirt with a purple skirt and matching boots.
Cadence placed her keys on the pegs next to the front door. "Welcome to Canterlot Dorm! Twiley, come greet our new friend!"
The girl let out a grunt, set her book down and sat up straight. "Hey, I'm Twilight Sparkle. Nice to meet you." But before she could walk over to the newcomer he raised his hand to stop her.
"No need to get up," Flash said, waving her down as he set down his guitar. "I don't want to interrupt your reading."
"How gentlemanly of you," Cadence said. "Well, you've met just about everyone here, except for Time Turner. He usually only comes in late at night after doing the grocery shopping, so it's mostly just us."
"Who's Time Turner?" he asked.
"He's our demented history teacher," Twilight said, rolling her eyes.
"Twilight! Have more respect for your teachers!" Cadence said as she headed to the kitchen. "He's just eccentric, that's all."
"Eccentric is the last word I'd use. Especially after the final exam where he made us dress up like barbarians and beat each other up with wooden swords, and the time he substituted for our physics teacher and had us doing egg trebuchets..." Twilight replied.
Cadence giggled. "Don't pay any attention, she's always had issues with the only teacher that ever almost failed her. Men's dorm is on the third floor, your room is the last one down the hall to your left."
"Thanks," Flash said. He headed upstairs and found his room. Inside, there was a bed, a small wardrobe, a desk along the right wall, a television, a bookshelf on the left wall, and even a sink. The walls and ceiling were painted white. There was a large window, the tan blinds raised to let sunlight in. Boxes cluttered the floor. It took him several minutes to unpack, during which time he spent quite a while gazing at pictures of his family.
"Better get settled then, no time waiting for the magic to happen," he said to himself. The unpacking took him at least ten minutes, and most of that time was spent looking at pictures of his family.
With a sigh he turned on his laptop and started checking his email. Most came from his old friends, but there was one from his parents.
Dear Flash:
I hope your arrival to Ponyville was great and that you finally got settled. We're sorry you couldn't come with us, but these ruins are too far away from any decent school and truth be told you're better off back in Equestria.
We're fine, our plane landed after a twelve hour flight and we were introduced to the crew. Most of them are locals, with the medic coming from Saddle Arabia and our head of security hailing from Neighpon.
We'll try to call you every Sunday, but because of our constant movement that may not always be possible. If we do call, it'll be in the afternoon due to us being six hours ahead.
And don't worry about anything that isn't school, because we've already taken care of it. But you're going to have to work for your own spending pleasure, because we've only covered the basics.
Take care and we'll see you next week.
Love: Mom and Dad.
After closing the letter, he browsed over to Harmonyspace, the social website everyone used. He was disappointed that he had no new messages or notifications.
His phone rang. It was Cadence. "Flash! Dinner's ready, come on downstairs!"
He closed his laptop and headed down to the kitchen, which was behind the stairs. The dinner table was set for five, even though he had been told there were only four people in the dorm. He guessed the fifth was probably the azure-haired, dark-suited man who was hugging Cadence.
Aside from his black suit he wore a grey dress shirt and a navy blue tie. His pale skin
"Hey there! You must be the new guy," he said as he let go of Cadence and held out his hand. "I'm Shining Armor, older brother of this bookworm and also this nurse's fiancé."
Flash shook his hand and took a seat at the table. There were take-out boxes on the table that smelled like Neighponese food.
"Sorry about the take-out. I had a long day at the office and was too tired to go to the supermarket," Shining Armor apologized.
"I thought Professor Time Turner was in charge of groceries?" Flash asked with a puzzled look.
"He's helping out in forensics and stayed behind examining some evidence from a crime scene. Who'd guess he was so good at performing DNA tests using only a hair?" Shining said as he heaped rice onto each of their plates.
The front door opened and closed suddenly; a tall man walked swiftly into the kitchen. He had light brown skin and messy dark brown hair, and wore a blue suit, a white shirt, a maroon tie, and red sneakers.
"Hello there! You must be the new guy! Oh it's so good to see you, I'm Time Turner. But you can call me The Doctor! How was your train ride? How different is life in Manehattan from life here? Are your parents searching for Asgard or are they just poking around the Stone Circle?" The man went on and on as he grabbed the poor teenager's hand and shook it vigorously.
"Doc, could you give him some space please? He just got here," Cadence said as she separated the welded hands.
"I'm sorry, but you know me. I love to meet new people, the new ones are always different! So anyways, what are we having for dinner? Spaghetti? Pizza? Or is it subs?" The man was clearly savoring each dish.
"How did you know about my parents?" Flash asked with worry.
"Oh, that? I have friends in the Archeology Guild and they told me all about it. So, who's the guardian of Bifröst big man?" shot the man in the blue suit.
"That would be Heimdallr, the god with foreknowledge and keen senses."
"Would you look at this top shot? He didn't even hesitate!" scoffed Time as he sat down. "Ooh! I love Neighpon food! Always good for digestion. Not as heavy as a burger. Say Flash, you wouldn't happen to mind if I interrogate you. Right?"
"Can we please delay it at least until after dinner?" Cadence asked as she poured soy sauce on her bowl of rice.
"Um. No, I guess it's fine. Fire away," answered the amber-skinned teenager.
"Brilliant! Now, first thing's first. What was your favorite stuffed animal when you were four? Now wait, don't answer that. I'm sure the answer's a pegasus," said the doctor as he stared at Flash.
"Nope, it's a wolf. The Fenrir to be exact."
"Fenrir, of course it was Fenrir. Your parents have made a name for themselves in the barbarian mythology department. Why did I go for pegasus?" Time Turner mumbled to himself as he started eating. And so dinner went by with only small talk, most of which eluded Flash.
After dinner everyone headed to their rooms, except for Shining Armor. He said his goodbyes and returned to his own apartment.
As Flash changed into his pajamas he meditated of his dream with Discord. It really made no sense, but there was this eerie aura that made Flash think the man with yellow eyes might just be right.
But his mind was giving up on thinking about the people he met in a dream. He has been up for at least two days, mostly because train beds aren't nearly as comfortable as stable ones. As he landed on his sheets, he immediately lost all consciousness.
Chapter 2
August 26 23°C/73°F
"Ah, I see you came back. That's good, it means you are the one. I was afraid I might have scared you off with my previous speech, but luckily I was wrong," Discord said from behind the café table, merrily sipping his tea. "Soon your challenge will begin, and you might want to hurry up before things get too hot."
Flash woke up the following morning to the irritating blare of his alarm clock. It was seven o'clock, just enough time for him to get back into the dull routine. He grabbed his toiletries and clothes and headed outside. At the other end of the hallway was the bathroom, and right at the doorstep was Time Turner wearing a brown robe. "Hello there Flash! Did you sleep well?"
Still groggy from the rude awakening, he managed to answer. "Good enough, though I'm still somewhat tired. I wish I had a week more to rest."
"Well, you know what they say: there's no rest for the weary," he history teacher said with a cheery voice and promptly entered the bathroom.
Flash followed, and noticed the bathroom was large enough to hold four of everything. Ten minutes later he was done with his shower and headed to the kitchen for a quick breakfast.
To his surprise, Cadance was up, wearing a personalized pink nurse uniform. "Good morning to you sir! I hope you slept well."
"Well enough after a two day trip and eight hours of rest. I'm sure a zombie has more life than me," he answered as he rubbed his temples.
"You're quite the comedian, aren't you?" she responded with a chuckle as she continued fiddling with her frying pan. "Anyways, eat up. I'm sure Twilight will join you shortly but you might as well start eating, she eats pretty quickly." She served him a large portion of scrambled eggs.
After thanking her for cooking, he started eating. Halfway through his plate he saw his fellow classmate taking a seat next to him. "So you wanna walk with me to school?" she asked with a grin as she began devouring her plate at blinding speed.
"I think you should slow…" Flash started, before realizing his sentence was now useless; in about half a minute she had managed to finish eating. "Never mind."
"Come on! I need to get to school now! I have a project to turn in!" Twilight said as she rushed for her backpack.
The walk to school was somewhat pleasant, if a bit too long. Fifteen minutes long to be exact. He was starting to like the atmosphere this town carried, it was serenity at the most simple form.
"So why don't you tell me about yourself? I want to know as much as possible about my new neighbor!" said Twilight as she fiddled with her Botphone.
"I'm not that interesting. Just the son of a couple of bookworm archaeologists living in Manehattan."
"Okay so your parents like history, but what about you? What do you like?" she inquired.
"Me? That's an odd question. I like boring stuff like cartoons, boxing, swords, books, guitar and general fun," he shrugged. "So I answered one question, so now I get to ask you one."
"I suppose that's fair, what do you want to know about?"
"What's that project you have to turn in?"
"Oh that? It was just a fifteen-page thesis about the importance of responsible cellphone use and the dangers of phubbing poses to social life."
"Sounds… entertaining. So what's the purpose of it? Other than helping keep busy during summer."
"Oh, it's just an extra credit project. Oh, and it could earn me the chance to represent Canterlot High during the next Scholastic Tourney in December," Twilight answered giddily.
"That's pretty ambitious, I hope you win."
"Oh I'm sure I will win, no one tries out for these things. Maybe Sunset Shimmer, but she's not likely to win. She's got bad writing habits, tends to put commas out of order and stuff," she answered.
Suddenly their phones buzzed simultaneously; upon inspection, he saw a Harmonyspace notification. A new friend called Wondercolt. There was no face, just the logo of a horse. He showed her the message.
"How on earth did you get a friend request from Wondercolt? And it’s so creepy that I got one at the same time!" Twilight showed her phone, and sure enough there was the same profile.
"Who's Wondercolt? I remember some girls talking about it on the train here, but they were mostly talking about nonsense."
“That’s the mystery: no one knows. Wondercolt is the school’s mascot, but the school has warned us that they didn’t create the profile, so it’s anyone’s guess as to who Wondercolt is,” she said as she out her phone away. “The thing is, Wondercolt only sends out friend requests to outstanding students. So why is he inviting you?”
"Maybe because he looked me up and thought I had some potential." Flash smirked.
“I doubt it. No one knows that you’re new, and if they did there’s no way they could locate you so fast. And you haven’t done anything for the school, so Wondercolt is just breaking his pattern,” replied Twilight.
"Get out of the way!" a voice shouted as a rainbow-haired girl with cyan skin dashed through them, barely dodging Flash as she jumped unto the rail before them and grinded her way down. Before landing on the ground, she jumped once more, making a full spin before landing on her backside.
Flash rushed to help her up. "Are you all right?" he asked as he extended his hand.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks anyways. This sort of thing tends to happen." The girl dismissed his help, merely shaking herself before standing up again.
"Are you sure? That looked like a nasty fall," he asked as he picked up her navy blue backpack.
"I've had worse, trust me," she replied as she grabbed her backpack. "But thanks for asking. Hey, you're new here right?"
"Yes I am, how could you tell?" he asked with a grin.
"I don't recognize you from any of the sports clubs, so I thought you were either a new guy or a techie," she replied as she began skating away. "See ya later!" She turned around and waved at Twilight. "Bye egghead!"
"Um, who was that?" asked Flash with a puzzled look.
"That was Rainbow Dash, our sports prodigy. She loves using a different ride every day. The last day of school she used a skateboard, and on April Fools Day she used a tricycle to grind through the main entrance. She nearly got suspended if it weren't for the principal who found it funny." said Twilight as they stepped down to the courtyard. "She got her friend invite last semester after the Wondercolts won the Regional Cup."
"So how many sports teams do you have?" he asked as they approached the school entrance.
"About ten. Most are seasonal, but the only ones that are open all year round are the swim team and the basketball team," said Twilight as they entered the main hall. There was a large crowd amassing in front of the billboard, some students were hugging friends while others cried uncontrollably.
"This is an outrage! How dare they put me in Mr. Time Turner's classroom!" cried a white-skinned girl as she stomped the ground. "I clearly should have been with Mr. Hoity Toity!"
Flash turned to ask Twilight, "What's with her?"
"Mr. Time Turner is known for being a little different when it comes to study methods. His idea of a good history exam is telling us to build dioramas of either the Siege of Osanala or the Battle of Staliongrad."
"Really? That sounds awesome!" exclaimed Flash as he adjusted his backpack. "Most teachers would make you read a boring text and tell you to extract the most complex of emotions that are only clear when you've been hit by a brick."
"Not if you're Rarity, prodigy fashion designer, it isn't. She wanted to be part of Mr. Hoity Toity's class. He's the one you want if you plan on learning about fashion. That and also if you want to avoid your hair from getting singed during science experiments." The bell suddenly blared, causing all the voices to die off as the students looked at each other in amazement and horror. Twilight quickly glanced at the list. "We'd better get going or you'll be late for class." Before Flash could reply, he was dragged away from the bulletin board.
"Wait! I don't even know who my homeroom teacher is!" Flash protested
"We're both in Time Turner's class, I saw your name just below mine," replied Twilight dismissively as she paid more attention to the signs above the classrooms than the young man she was dragging. After a couple of minutes, they burst through the door of Classroom 2-D. "We're here!" roared Twilight as she kicked down the door. To her surprise the brown-haired teacher was still not in attendance.
Flash managed to recognize Rainbow Dash sitting in one of the desks, talking to a group of students. The sports prodigy slowly turned her head to face Twilight and gave a chuckle. "Twilight, you know better than anyone that Time Turner is never on time."
Twilight's face turned pale at the sight of her. "Since when are you early for class?"
Rainbow hopped out of her desk and walked toward the girl. "Well, miracles do happen. Maybe I decided to change my irresponsible ways." she replied.
"The queen of tardies, having a change of heart? Please, I’ll burn a book before that happens.
Rainbow merely shrugged her shoulders. "What can I say? I'm one of a kind."
"Having fun without me Twilight?" came the voice of Time Turner from behind, startling most students as his presence was revealed. "You don't have to stop just because I'm here," he added as he settled a large sword on the table.
Half of the class resumed talking, the other half (including Twilight) immediately sat down and opened their notebooks. After a nudge from Twilight, Flash followed her lead. "Why are we staring at our notebooks again?"
The girl didn't answer, her eyes were focused on the teacher. "Alright ladies and gents, you can put your books away because I've got something to tell you," said Time Turner as he clasped his hands and sat on his desk. A few minutes passed as the classroom settled down, occasional whispers were hushed immediately. "What I have to tell you is this: happy first day of school!" exclaimed the teacher.
He turned his gaze to Flash with a smile. "My name is Time Turner and I will be both your homeroom teacher as well as your history teacher.” he paced around the room, looking at different students. “What does that mean? I hear you ask. It means that if you have a problem with the old Imperium, you can ask me for help. If your girlfriend dumped you before the Fall Formal for a jock, you can ask me for help on getting revenge.” he allowed a few chuckles to pass then grabbed a list on his desk.
“So, you know each other. You’ve shared stories of all sorts in the past. How do I know this? Because I have a magic list that says so.” he waved the piece of paper to his class. “And out of the thirty students here twenty nine were here last year. The only new one in the list is Flash Sentry.” He let the list fall back to his desk and pointed his index at the blue-haired student. “So introduce yourself!”
Flash stood up and walked toward the teacher’s desk, avoiding eye contact with his fellow classmates. Once he reached the blackboard he turned to his instructor. “Where should I start?”
“How about the basics: name, your previous school, a hobby, favorite dog, your preferred sushi. Trivial stuff like that.”
Flash looked at him with a cocked eyebrow. “Okay, I guess that’s a good start.” He faced his classmates: “Hello everyone, as Mr. Time Turner has mentioned, my name is Flash Sentry. I was born and raised in Manehattan, where I attended Midgar Academy. I like music, games, boxing, reading, Shiba Inus and Futo Makis."
“Very well ladies, I just made your jobs easier. Now back to your desk Flash. I have to talk about something that is not celtic or nordic mythology, so it’s gonna be dry.” Time turner said, prompting the class to heave in frustration in unison.
