Chapters An Open Heart in a Closed City
“… And as you can see, the author shows his pain and depression through his use of the colour blue” a tall, young man at the front of the room said. He had brown eyes, short dark brown hair, and was extremely slender. The girls in the class swooned, while the guys groaned. At the back of the room, I exhaled and rested my head on the table.
“Or he could be saying that the curtains were fucking blue…” I sighed quietly. I brought my arms up onto the table and closed my eyes.
“Do you find my class that boring?” a voice said. I opened my eyes and sat up.
“N-no sir… I just didn’t get much sleep last night…” I said, rubbing my eyes.
“Oh right… Your sister comes home today… Well, I can give you the notes after class, Tom” the teacher said. I smiled sleepily.
“Thanks sir” I said. My head dropped slowly and he rested his head on his arms.
“Oh my god! Mr Kora and Tom together! The two cutest guys in the school!” I heard a girl a few seats away whisper. I groaned quietly and nodded off.
20 minutes later the bell rang and I shot up, alarmed. Everyone in the room turned to look at me. I smiled sheepishly and sat down quickly, avoiding the stares. After everyone had left, I packed my stuff and walked to the front of the room.
“Are you sure you’re ok to be here Tom? Your Opthalmophobia does seem to be getting much better, but it’s better to be safe than sorry” Mr Kora said, handing me a stack of paper with the lessons notes.
“At least I’m not crying…” I sighed. I took the notes and put them in my bag. I ran my hand through my snow white hair which stopped halfway down the back of my neck. I had always enjoyed playing with my hair because of my sister.
“You’ve got IPT now, don’t you? Better hurry along. Just make sure you’re fine” Mr Kora smiled and stood up. I nodded and put my earphones in. I hit play on my iPod and Pendulum started to play. I left the room, followed by Mr Kora, and waved as we went our separate ways. There was the odd student still in the corridor, and the girls always stared. I looked down at myself every time I saw them looking.
“I’m not that good looking…” I thought.
Please… White hair, pale skin, 6’2 and slender… who wouldn’t want you?You shut up
After a short amount of walking, I entered the computer lab. Nobody looked up because I entered silently. I sat down in the corner of the room, where no-one was sitting because there were no computers on the table, and pulled out my laptop. I stopped my iPod and plugged my earphones into the laptop and booted it up. I was greeted by my Yuno Gasai login screen. I swiped my finger over the touch pad and the fingerprint reader logged me in. I pushed my glasses up the bridge of my nose.
“Good morning, Tom” an animated girl popped up on the screen. She was dressed as a maid with pink hair.
“Good morning Lauren” I typed. Usually I had my headset, but I always left it at home so this was the only way to talk with her.
“Do you want the usual things today?” she asked. I hit the ‘Y’ key, and she opened Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Skype and RuneScape. I opened Facebook on Firefox and signed in.
“Nothing” I sighed contently. I heard the Skype notification ring, and I answered the call.
“Hey man! You up for some Nex?” the voice on the other side said. Tom laughed quietly.
“Yeah sure, let me sign in” I typed back. I brought up the RuneScape window, but stopped before I entered any details. Mr Das, the computer teacher was standing at the front of the room with two new students. I took out my left earphone.
“Sorry mate, I can’t right now. Something just came up. Maybe tomorrow. Jen’s coming home today” I typed into Skype.
“Alright mate. I’ll catch you later. Say hi to her for me” the guy said, and the Skype call ended.
“Ok students… we’ve got new students joining us. Make them feel welcome and all that crap… Introduce yourselves, please” Mr Das said. I chuckled. Mr Das was one of my favourite teachers, because he simply didn’t give a shit.
“Yeah, I’m Rainbow Dash” one said. She looked a bit shorter than me and fit. What caught my attention was the shoulder length rainbow hair.
Not much up top… Ah what the hell, we’d still nail her…
I can’t say I don’t agr- you’re lucky I need you to live…
“Nothing else?” Mr Das said, looking up from his computer screen.
“Nah, I don’t really wanna talk to eggheads” Rainbow Dash said, shrugging. I chuckled in my head and turned my attention to the other one.
“I’m Twilight Sparkle. Nice to meet you all” She said. Tom’s eyebrows rose.
DAMN! Her rack is better than any girl in the damn school! And her legs are… Whoa…
While I agree, if you make another comment like that I’ll use THOSE sites…
… I’ll behave…
Rainbow Dash was wearing a Cyan shirt and dark blue jeans, while Twilight was wearing a dark purple shirt and skirt. I hit the spacebar on the computer and it started to play ‘Swing! Tavi, Swing!’. I typed in my details on RuneScape, signed into world 39 and went back to my divination. I started browsing the internet on Firefox.
“Alright then… If that’s all you’ve got to say… well, the only spots left are up the back” Mr Das said. The guys in the class were practically drooling when they walked past them. They sat down on either side of me. I looked up for a few seconds before going back to what I was doing. I felt a poke on my right arm. I pulled out my earphones and looked over. Rainbow Dash was looking at me, looking extremely bored.
“Yo, you’re not one of these eggheads are you?” she asked, glaring at me.
“I’m Tom… P-please don’t stare at me…” I said quietly and turned back to the computer. Rainbow Dash poked me again.
“I can stare at who I want” she said, smirking. I sighed.
“Please don’t… I hate it” I said in a slightly lower tone. She looks at me.
“Why?” I hear from my left. I turn and see Twilight looking intently at me.
“I-I have O-Opthalmophobia…” I was starting to shake.
“What’s that?” Twilight and Rainbow Dash were both staring at me. All reasoning left me. I stood up quickly, knocked my chair over, and sprinted out of the room. The entire class looked towards the door. Mr Das stood up and calmly walked out after me.
“What was that about?” Rainbow Dash asked. She looked at the computer, which now had a Wikipedia page open. Lauren had heard the conversation and she brought up the definition.
“Oh… So it makes him uncomfortable… We should respect that” Twilight said, and Rainbow Dash sighed.
I ran down the hall to the bathroom with the speed of ten Kenyans. I stood in front of the mirror with the tap running in the sink in front of me, staring at my mismatched eyes. It was a mutation I’d had from birth, causing one of my eyes to be a brilliant blue, and the other a bright purple. I washed my face, turned off the faucet and left the bathroom. Mr Das was standing outside.
“All better?” he asked. I shrugged, and we both walked back to the room. He walked in, and I followed. I quickly sat down, and both the girls were sitting there awkwardly.
“Uhm… I want to apologise… I didn’t know that it made you feel uncomfortable…” Twilight said in a sweet voice. I sat down packed up my laptop.
“Y-yeah… Sorry about that…” Rainbow Dash said, smiling nervously.
“I-it’s ok, really… I’m just not used to… people…” I said softly. I sat for the rest of the lesson with the two girls next to me. They were chatting with each other, and I was content to just sit there and do nothing.
“I’m sorry, but could I ask what’s up with your eyes?” Twilight asked, snapping me out of my trance.
“Uh, sure. It’s a mutation” I said plainly. She nodded and went back to talking with Rainbow Dash.
The bell went for the end of class, and the end of my day. I was so glad that it was my short day today, and I went to my locker. As I unlocked it and put whatever books I had in, I heard two familiar voices.
“We don’t have anywhere to stay… And how are we supposed to eat… I saw people using a different currency here…” Rainbow Dash said. I closed my locker and clicked the lock shut.
“I know, Dash… Just give me a minute to think” Twilight said. I thought for a minute
DO IT!
I walked over to them.
“Uhm… I couldn’t help but overhear what you just said…” I said quietly. They both turned and looked at me.
“Uh… I should have enough space at home… so I could hold you guys up for a while… if you want, that is” I offered, smiling sheepishly. I looked up and both of the girls had their mouths hanging open. All of a sudden I was pulled into a bone-crushing hug sandwich.
“Thank you! Oh thank you!” Twilight cried.
“Dude! You are awesome!!! Thanks!” Rainbow Dash cheered.
Boobs… squeezing… life…
Best way to die EVER!
I… can’t disagree…
They released me from the hug of death and I sucked in lungful’s of air.
“A-alright… Do you have any more classes today?” I asked, catching my breath. They pulled out their timetables and made confused faces. I looked at them, and their schedule was exactly the same as mine, right down to the subjects and times.
“That means no… What do you say we get some lunch?” I said. Both of their heads shot up.
“I’ll take that as a yes…”
“Wow, this place is amazing!” Twilight said. She and Rainbow Dash were looking around the shopping centre.
“It’s just a Westfield’s…” I said. As the girls ran around looking through the stores, I was thinking.
How could I not have noticed this before… These girls are from My Little Pony…
I thought their names were dead giveaways…
Then why didn’t you say anything?
Because fuck you, that’s why.
It doesn’t matter anymore… we just need to make sure no bronies recognise them, otherwise it could end up disastrous.
“Hey Tom! Come check this out!” Rainbow Dash yelled. I wandered over and saw that she had found the Sports shop. She was already inside, looking at all different things. I sighed and walked in.
20 minutes later, we bother walked out of the shop. I was carrying a basketball, a soccer ball and a dumbbell set. I sighed, and Rainbow Dash grinned.
“Thanks Tom. I’ll pay you back sometime” she said. I smile slightly.
“Hey, where’s Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Tom!” we both heard the loud voice. We looked up to see Twilight standing at the entrance of a bookstore, holding a large stack of books.
“I’m so sorry… I’ll pay for them when I can” Twilight said, smiling sheepishly. I sighed.
“How about lunch now?” I asked, standing up straight. Both girls nodded vigorously. We walked to the food court. Twilight and Rainbow Dash looked around in awe.
They’re so adorable!
Agreed.
“I’m gonna get a sub, what do you girls wanna get?” I asked. They both looked at me.
“What’s a sub?” Twilight asked. I shrugged.
“A long sandwich” I said. Both their eyes lit up.
“That!” Rainbow Dash said loudly. Twilight just nodded. We walked over to Subway.
“You want the usual, Tom?” the girl behind the counter said. She was slender, tall, and had long blonde hair.
“Couple of extra’s, too” I smiled.
“Two more chicken fillet’s then?” the girl asked. He heard Twilight gasp slightly.
“Two veggies thanks, Bianca” I chuckled softly. Rainbow Dash leaned down to me.
“Y-you guys eat animals?” she whispered. I nodded.
“We need meat for protein. Don’t worry, though. We make sure the animals don’t… suffer…” I had to think about the words I used. Rainbow Dash visibly relaxed and she leant back. They got to the register and I pulled out my wallet.
“The usual discount applies” Bianca smiled.
“A coke and three Iced Tea’s” I said and leaned on the counter. Bianca turned around and pulled the drinks out of the fridge. She put the subs and the drinks in front of me, and then put her hand on my head. She ran her hand through my hair a few times and laughed.
“$3 off for letting me do that” she giggled, as she rung up the order. Twilight and Rainbow Dash looked baffled. I placed the money on the counter.
“See ya next time” Bianca smiled. I smiled back.
“Next Tuesday, as always” I said. I turned to the girls.
“Let’s be on our way” I smiled weakly.
We had been walking for three minutes before Twilights curiosity got the better of her.
“Ok… why did you get a discount for her rubbing your mane?” she asked, grabbing the back of my shirt. I almost fell backwards, causing Twilight and Rainbow to gasp slightly.
“S-sorry!” Twilight said. I chuckled.
“I-It’s ok… A lot of people have a fascination with my hair because of its unusual colour. I don’t necessarily hate having my hair played with, so when she asked if she could touch it I was fine with it. She gave me a discount on my food, and this has continued to this day” I explained.
“Wow…” Twilight said. She put her hand on my head and ran it down to the end of my hair.
“It’s so soft…” she said. Rainbow Dash scoffed.
“Pfft… No way…” she said. She ran her hand through my hair as well.
“… It’s softer than Rarity’s…” she said in disbelief. Twilight nodded, and then realized something.
“Hey… you don’t seem as uncomfortable around us as before” she said. I shrugged.
“I must be getting used to having you girls around” I said. They noticed I still avoided eye contact. Both of them smiled.
“Are all the houses this big?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking around in awe. I noticed Twilight was staring at some of the houses.
“I dunno…” I said. I’d never really thought about it much before, mostly because I didn't really care. We approached a house with a large iron gate and a hedge fence.
“Wow… whoever lives here must be really important” Twilight marveled. The house behind the gate was white and three stories tall. In front of it was a large driveway and a well-kept garden. I pulled a card out of my pocket with my free hand and held it up to a metal panel with two buttons and a screen. A beep sounded, and the gate started to open. Both girls stared at me, and I looked back and smiled.
“We’re home” I said sheepishly.
Author's Note
This is my first upload anywhere :)
An Open Heart in a Closed City
“H-home?!” Rainbow Dash cried. She and Twilight were both staring at me.
“Uhm… well… actually, I live out the back. But I live on the grounds, so technically it’s my home” I explained. I turned and started to walk down the driveway. The girls regained their composure and ran after me. I was walking down the path to the main house, but turned onto a path that lead behind the house.
“What do you mean when you say you live out the back?” Twilight asked. I shrugged.
“We have a guest house out back that’s fully equipped. Me and my sister live there now” I said. The guest house came into view. It was a little smaller, but still two stories high and white.
“So why do you live there and not in the big house?” Twilight asked as we continued walking.
“My sister and I used to play house in it as kids, and gradually we started staying there more and more. In the end, we ended up just moving in. It was easier” I smiled. Twilight nodded, and we made it to the front door. I pulled a set of keys out of my bag and unlocked the front door. I opened it and motioned for the girls to head inside. After they walking in, I closed the door behind me. I noticed a note pinned to the cork board in the hallway.
‘I came home earlier and went to sleep. You can wake me if you want, but if you don’t I may see you later.
“Ah, she’s home. I’ll leave her…” I said, pulling the note down. Twilight and Rainbow Dash read the note over my shoulder as I did.
“Is Jen your sister?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Yeah, her name’s Jennifer” I nodded. Rainbow Dash looked at me while Twilight was staring at a painting in the hallway.
“Where did your sister go? On a vacation?” Rainbow Dash asked. I smiled sheepishly.
“N-not really… I should probably tell you seeing as you’re going to be living with her now” I sighed. I started walking through the hall and into the lounge room. Twilight and Rainbow Dash followed.
“Hey, Tom? Who was that a painting of? Were they important?” Twilight asked.
“That’s… uh… actually me…” I grinned. Twilight’s eyes went wide, and Rainbow Dash went back to look at the painting.
“WHAT!? NO WAY!” we heard her cry from the hall. She came rushing out.
“There is no way in Tartarus that that’s you!” she said, glaring at me.
“I agree… For one, the person in that portrait has black hair” Twilight observed.
“And two, he looks athletic and muscular. You look scrawny” Rainbow Dash grinned. I walked into the living room and grabbed a picture off the table. I took it back to the hall and went up to the painting. The painting was of what appeared to be a young boy with black hair standing in a tree, smiling with a radiant orange and red sunset.
“When I turned 13, my hair colour began to change. It’s still unexplained to this day” I explained. I held up the picture I took from the lounge room. Twilight and Rainbow Dash leaned in to get a better look. Twilight reeled back, and Rainbow Dash just raised her eyebrows. The photo was a photo of me when I was 10. I was smiling and holding an award from my primary school teacher. Most notably, I had black hair.
“That doesn’t explain the athletic and muscular look” Rainbow Dash smirked. I smiled.
“That’s because I never stand straight anymore” I grinned. I stood up straight, and I immediately looked more athletic. Rainbow Dash tilted her head to the side. I lifted the bottom of my shirt and Rainbow Dash reeled back to join Twilight, who was currently pressed up against the wall.
“Why are you fit?” Rainbow Dash asked. I chuckled and lowered my shirt.
“Because of reasons…” I said, shrugging. I walked back to the lounge room and put the photo back on the table. I walked up the stairs and the girls followed me. I came to a stop outside a room with a massive drawing of a dragon on the door.
“This is my room. I’ll dump my bag off and show you girls to your room” I said. I opened the door and threw my bag in. The girls heard the soft thud of it landing on my bed, and I closed my door.
“Alright, this way” I continued down the hall to the next door.
“Here you are. Currently unused, lots of space and the bed is huge” I said, opening the door. We walked in. Rainbow Dash threw her bag to the side and dived onto the bed.
“Whoa!!! It’s so soft!” she cried, rolling around. Twilight put her bag down gently and sat down on the bed.
“Wow, it really is” she marvelled, sprawling out backwards. I smiled.
“My room is next door. If you need something, just knock” I said. I turned around and walked down to my room. I opened my door and closed it behind me. I quickly pulled the MLP poster above my desk down and rolled it up. I slid it into the cardboard tube it came in and put it in my wardrobe. While I was there, I grabbed a black shirt and some tracksuit pants and changed into them. I took my bag off my bed and crashed down onto it. I spread out on the sheets and sighed. I closed my eyes and started to drift off to sleep when I heard a slight knock on the door.
“It’s open” I called out. I opened my eyes and propped myself up on the wall my bedhead was against. Twilight poked her head in.
“I just wanted to see what your room looked like” She said, and started looking around. She looked at the posters for different shows I had accumulated. Her eyes fixed on a door on the other side of the room.
“What’s in there?” she asked. I shook my head.
“Nothing anyone needs to concern themselves over” I said, standing up. Twilight looked at my clothes, and I heard Rainbow Dash walk up behind her.
“Oh, so you have more than one set…” Twilight said, looking at me. It only just then occurred to me that the girls didn’t have any other clothes.
“Uhm… Are those your only sets?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“Yeah” Rainbow Dash called from behind the door.
“Well… I should wash them for tomorrow…” I thought out loud. I was thinking about waiting until they changed into another set of clothes for bed, but they had other ideas. Twilight and Rainbow Dash walked into my room. Rainbow Dash was already pulling her shirt over her head, and Twilight was undoing the zip on her skirt. I went bright red and reeled back.
AWWWWW HELL YEAH, BOY!!!
THIS ISN’T RIGHT!!!
“W-w-w-what the hell are you doing?!” I yelled, turning around and covering my eyes.
“We’re giving you these to wash… Duh…” Rainbow Dash said matter-of-factly. From the corner of my eye I saw a pair of jeans, a skirt, two t-shirts, two bras and two pairs of panties land on my bed. I went a brighter shade of crimson, and quickly ran to my wardrobe. I opened the sliding mirror and rummaged for about three seconds before finding what I was looking for. I pulled two huge jumpers out of the wardrobe. One was blue, and the other was grey. I threw them over my shoulder.
“J-just put those on for now” I said, covering my eyes again. I heard the rustling.
“They’re on…” I heard Rainbow Dash say. I turned around, and saw them both inspecting the jumpers.
“I don’t get why you turned away… Or why we have to even wear these…” Twilight said, fascinated. I sighed.
“Because our culture isn’t used to nudity…” I said.
“I’ll have to go and buy you girls some more clothes… You aren’t to leave here at all… Especially not dressed like that…” I said. I pulled on my shoes and socks, grabbed my satchel, wallet and phone off my dresser. I slung the satchel over my shoulder.
“I’ll be back soon” I sighed as I walked out. Both girls followed me downstairs as I was walking. I stopped in the hallway and turned around.
“Don’t bother my sister. She’s been away for a while and she must be exhausted” I said. Twilight and Rainbow Dash nodded. I turned around and raised my hand. I opened the front door, walked through and closed it behind me.
I went to a shop on the other side of town. I was sure people would recognise me, but I wouldn’t have to deal with them every day. I walked into the women’s clothing store and started looking around.
I don’t even know their sizes…
Judging by what I’ve seen-
I’ll estimate.
You’re no fun…
After about 20 minutes of browsing, I had come up with quite a collection of clothing. I started walking to the front of the store, but stopped when I saw something in particular.
Dude, yes.
Dude, no.
They need them.
You want them.
But come on! They’re perfect! Plus, you don’t know how many others are going to come to this world
… I hate it when you’re right.
I walked over to the item in question and picked it up.
’12 pack underwear. Rainbow”
I sighed as I picked up packs of rainbow, white, pink, yellow, purple, orange and dark blue. I saw matching bras out of the corner of my eye.
“Gotta get the rainbow and the purple ones…” I sighed.
Yo dude. I know you know. What were their sizes up top?
A and C
I found the correct sized ones and grabbed a few. I threw them in the trolley and went to the counter. Luckily the store was empty save for me and the cute girl running the register. I brought the stuff up.
“Who’s the lucky girl?” she chuckled as she started to scan the items.
“Couple of friends who just moved here. They’ve got nothing” I grinned.
“Damn… they must be spectacular girls to get you to even consider this. I’ve seen girls do some pretty desperate shit to get their guys to go shopping like this WITH them, and you come here on your own” she smiled at me. I smiled back.
“Yeah, they’re really something” I said, biting my lip. She got to the underwear.
“Wow… expecting more of them?” she asked slyly.
“Maybe…” I smirked. She laughed.
“And your total is… Wow… $1242.00” she said. I sighed and pulled out my wallet. I handed over my card.
“This is gonna hurt” I lowered my head, defeated. The clerk just laughed.
I was halfway home and carrying 6 bags of clothes. I was listening to my iPod when I noticed a bunch of students staring at me.
Shit… Demon High students…
Maybe if you keep walking, they won’t do anything…
And that’s exactly what happened. I made it back home without an incident. I sighed as I put down the three bags in my right hand and held my card up to the gate. It opened I picked up the bag and walked out back to the guest house. I opened the door.
“I’m home!” I called out. I heard a loud crash from upstairs.
“Oh hay! He’s back!” I heard Twilight say. I sighed, put everything down in the lounge room, and walked upstairs. My door was ajar. I pushed it open with my foot and saw Twilight buried under a heap of books and Rainbow Dash was sitting on my bed, whistling.
“What did you do…?” I looked at Rainbow Dash. I walked over to Twilight and helped her out of the pile.
“W-what do you mean?” she said, looking away.
“What did you do?” I asked again. She started fidgeting.
“N-nothing” she said, still looking away.
“What did you do?” I said. I walked right up to her and leaned down.
“ARGH! I LOOKED IN THE ROOM!” she cried out. My eyes went wide.
“…Out. Now” I said. Rainbow looked over at me with tears.
“I’m sorry…” she said.
“Out” I said. I sat down on my bed and put my head in my hands. She quickly stood up and left. Twilight followed.
“Don’t leave the house” I said. I heard the door close.
“Why… why did they have to open the door?” I sighed out loud.
Dude… It’s not that bad…
It’s something I’d rather forget…
Well now you have to live with it. I don’t care what happened with us in the past; just get the fuck over it.
I did so much shit with that stuff…
Now I see why Jen calls you her sister…
Shut it, asswagon.
“Dash… Why did we look in that room?” Twilight asked. They were both sitting on the couch in the living room. Dash had finished crying.
“I don’t know… we were stupid…” she said.
“We should apologise… But I don’t get why he would want to hide that stuff… It was just some clothes” Twilight said.
“Yeah… a long black coat and a mask aren’t that bad, is it?” Rainbow Dash asked. Twilight shrugged. They heard a door open and
“Ah, Tom!” Twilight called. I stopped for a second to acknowledge that I heard her, and then continued to the kitchen. I poured myself a glass of water and downed it in one breath. I sighed and put the glass in the sink.
“T-Tom?” Twilight said again. She was leaning on the bench that was between the kitchen and the lounge room.
“Yeah?” I said, turning to face her. She went red and started making circled with her right foot. Dash had walked up beside her.
“We really want to apologise for looking in that room…”Rainbow Dash said. She was bright red. I sighed and looked up.
“It’s ok… I might have overreacted… And the truth is that I really need to get over what’s in there” I said. Twilight walked into the kitchen and pulled me into a bone-crushing hug. Rainbow Dash came in and made it a bone-crushing sandwich. I smiled and sighed.
“Jeez… I really can’t stay mad at you girls…” I wheezed out. They let go and laughed. We heard a loud crash from outside.
“The fuck was that?” I said. I walked out into the hall and out the front door. From there I ran around the building to behind the house.
“Really?” I said, collapsing on the floor. Twilight and Dash ran out behind me.
“F-Fluttershy?!” they cried in unison. A very sheepish girl was curled up on the ground. She had long pink hair, and was wearing a green shirt and green jeans.
“Where am I?” we heard a southern voice from behind us. I turned around and saw the source. There was another girl leaning against the house. She was wearing a red shirt with black polka dots that was tied in the middle above her waist, blue jeans, and a Stetson. I sighed.
“Another friend?” I asked. Twilight nodded.
“Applejack, what the hay are you doing here?” Rainbow Dash asked running up to her. Twilight helped Fluttershy stand. I fell backwards onto the grass.
“I’m too tired to deal with this right now…” I sighed. The girl in the Stetson slowly walked up to me.
“Now what do ya mean by that?” Applejack asked, looking half annoyed and half concerned.
“I’ve had a long day, and tomorrow is only going to be worse… I’m exhausted…” I said sitting up. Applejack visibly relaxed.
“I’m gonna head inside. Watch some TV, eat some food, or do whatever. Just don’t bother Jen” I smiled weakly. I stood up and headed around the house.
“Let’s talk inside…” I heard Rainbow Dash say. Fluttershy, who I had never heard speak, finally spoke up.
“A-Are you sure we’re allowed?” she asked.
“Yeah, come on in. Just close the door when all of you are inside” I called out. I was rewarded with a short ‘eep’. I walked into the lounge room and collapsed onto the couch. The girls all came in soon after and took seats in the lounge room. I shifted my feet off the couch, and Rainbow Dash crashed down.
“Ahm goin’ to ask the obvious question… Why are y’all helping us, sugarcube? I don’t even know your name” Applejack said. She didn’t take off her Stetson, and I didn’t really care.
“I’m Tom, and do I need a reason to help?” I shrugged. Applejack chuckled lightly.
“Ah guess not” she said.
“Anyone thirsty?” I asked, sitting up. Fluttershy nodded almost undetectably, while the others were all noticeable.
“Right, I’ll get you girls some water” I stood up and went into the kitchen. I poured 4 glasses of water, and grabbed a 1.25 litre bottle of Coke from the fridge. I brought the glasses in 2 at a time, then came in with my bottle. I cracked the lid off and took a huge gulp.
“That stuff looks like muck!” Twilight said, staring.
“Try some” I said, handing her the bottle. She took it and looked at it for a few seconds before taking a sip. Her eyes lit up and she took another sip.
“Wow… It tastes really different than what I expected!” she said. She handed the bottle back to me. Rainbow and Applejack were looking at the bottle, so I passed it to Rainbow. She took a swig and almost spit up.
“You didn’t tell me it was fizzy!!!” she cried. Applejack took the bottle, and was trying to stifle her laughter.
“You didn’t ask” I smiled. She glared at me, and Applejack took a much smaller sip.
“It’s not bad” she grinned. She offered the bottle to Fluttershy, who turned to me. I nodded and she gingerly took the bottle. She took the smallest of sips before putting the bottle on the table.
“It’s quite sweet…” she said quietly. The girls giggled. I grabbed the remote off the table and turned on the TV. They were all amazed at it, and I just laughed. The news was on and the story being told at the moment was the only one I was interested in.
“Today, the city wall was breached by Dark Followers. If you encounter a Dark Follower, you are encouraged not to engage it and to contact an Enforcer ASAP. In other news, head Esper researcher Vale Calendine has discovered a new way to protect those undergoing the ESP treatment”
I sighed and got up. The clock read 10:45pm. I started to walk upstairs.
“Twi, you can show Applejack and Fluttershy your room. I’m gonna take a shower, do some work then go to bed” I yawned.
“Alright” Twilight called out. I wandered upstairs.
After my shower I was sitting in my room. I put my glasses on and was staring at one of the 3 monitors on my desk. Twilight poked her head in 20 minutes after I started.
“What are you up to?” she asked. I looked away.
“Working. I’ve gotta make some cash” I said, pushing my glasses up the bridge of my nose. She walked over and saw lines of text.
“What exactly are you doing on this weird contraption?” she poked the screen.
“First: This thing is a computer. Second: I’m writing a program code for someone who hired me. Essentially, they want me to make something that wasn’t working before work. It doesn’t take too long for me…” I smiled and went back to typing. Twilight sat on the edge of my desk watching my type. 10 minutes passed and I finished the code and emailed it to my client. I turned off the computer and took off my glasses.
“I’m going to bed. Night” I said. Twilight stood up.
“Oh, ok. Good night” she smiled. She flicked the light off as she left and closed the door. I curled up in my sheets and, before long, went off to dreamland.
Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Fluttershy were all curled up in the bed when Twilight went back to the room. She giggled before climbing in next to them. After a few minutes she felt a slight rustling of the sheets, before hearing the door softly open and close.
I’m a light sleeper but when I’m exhausted, it’s extremely difficult to actually wake me up. I’ll react to things around me, but still be asleep. I was aware that my door was opened and closed again, and my response was to groan. I was also aware that something had climbed into bed behind me and put its arm over my waist, and my response was to hold the hand of said arm and let the body it was attached to press against my back. After that minute, I was completely dead to the world.
Author's Note
Second chapter is out! With the sudden appearance of 2 more girls, what's going to happen?!
Tell me what you think in the comments, and I hope you like it :)
An Open Heart in a Closed City
Fluttershy woke to Applejack’s light snoring. She got up, left the room and started to look around for a bathroom. She poked her head in each door to no avail. When she got to my door, it was a different story. She opened the door and let out a slight gasp. She saw my white hair, which she expected. But what she didn’t expect was the Rainbow haired girl cuddling up to me. She quietly
“Twi. Twi” she whispered softly shaking Twilight awake.
“What is it, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked groggily. Applejack woke up as well, sat up, rubbed her eyes and yawned.
“G’morning” she said, smiling.
“There’s something you should see…” Fluttershy squeaked. Twilight tilted her head, but followed Fluttershy when she left the room. Applejack tailed behind. Fluttershy got to my room and pointed at the door.
“Fluttershy… What could possibly be wrong in there? It’s just Tom’s room” Twilight asked. Applejack opened the door. Silence followed for a few seconds.
“WHAT IN TARNATION IS GOING ON HERE!?” Applejack cried out, startling me and Rainbow Dash awake. I looked back and saw Rainbow lying right next to me. I screamed like a girl and hurtled out of bed. As I stepped back once more, I tripped over something lying of the floor. I banged my head on my wardrobe.
“Ow…” I said, rubbing the back of my head. I looked at what I tripped over, except it was more of a who. A girl with pink poofy hair was curled up on the ground snoring lightly. She had a white singlet top, and bright pink trousers.
“Another one… And what were you doing in my bed?” I said, turning my attention to Rainbow Dash.
“I honestly can’t remember coming here…” Rainbow Dash shrugged.
“She ain’t lying…” Applejack said, shaking her head. Twilight had a look on her face not even master code breakers could decipher. Fluttershy’s entire face was a bright crimson and she was looking around, not quite sure where to look. I turned my attention to the being sleeping on my floor.
“Onto the more pressing matter… How did this one get into my room?” I said, pointing at the sleeping girl on my floor. Everyone looked at her, and she rolled over to face me. Her face bumped into my knee, and she slowly woke up. After a few seconds she laughed and pounced on me, causing me to fall backwards again and hit my head.
“OW! GOD FUCKING DAMN IT!” I cried out. Twilight rushed over to me. She pulled the pink haired girl off me and took a good look at her.
“Pinkie?! What are you doing here?!” she cried, startled. The other girls all rushed over to see her. I sat up and went to brush myself off. I noticed something when I ran my hands down the front of my shirt.
“Aw hell, she drooled!” I said, quickly pulling off my shirt. Fluttershy squeed and hid her face. I stood up.
“Everyone head down stairs… I need to have a shower, and then we’re going to sit down and have a proper talk about this…” I said. Twilight and Applejack were carrying Pinkie.
“WAIT! Before you go downstairs, shower and get changed into your uniforms!” I called out after them.
“Kay!” Rainbow Dash called out. I heard clothes rustling.
“IN THE BATHROOM!” I yelled. I heard Rainbow Dash groan.
“So sensitive…” she muttered.
“I heard that!” I yelled back. I heard her stumble and scuttle back to the bathroom. I couldn’t help but laugh.
Well… That was one of the best things to wake up to.
Getting screamed at isn’t that great…
I meant the other thing.
Neither is another one of the girls.
The OTHER thing!
Oh… Yeah, that was pretty cool.
I yawned and went to my wardrobe. I grabbed one of my uniforms which was hanging with 4 others. I walked out my door and heard the shower running in the door over. I also heard talking and laughing.
“Too early in the morning to have THOSE thoughts…” I said. I was about to go to the other bathroom, which was 3 doors to the right of my room (the one the girls were using was 1 door to the left), when I noticed something downstairs.
There wasn’t anything purple down there before, was there?
Searching… Searching… Nope.
… Crap.
I slowly plodded downstairs. Sure enough, lying asleep on the couch, there was another girl. This one had purple hair, a white shirt, and black pants. I hung my uniform over the single seater couch next to the three seater she was asleep on, leaned over and gently flicked her forehead. This caused her to wake up. Startled, she squealed and backed up as much as she could.
“Who are you, you ruffian?” she asked in a terrified tone. Her accent was a posh British one.
“The person who owns this house” I say, standing up straight. The girls looks extremely embarrassed. She sits up straight, straightens her clothes and coughs.
“Well, my name is Rarity. I would like to thank you kindly for letting me spend the night here” she said, bowing her head a little. I laughed.
“You’re welcome, but to be honest I didn’t notice you until about a minute ago” I chuckled. Rarity straightened up.
“Everyone else is having their shower now. Feel free to go join them and then join everyone for breakfast” I sighed and rubbed the top of my head. I turned around and started to walk up the stairs.
“Uhm… I never caught your name” Rarity called out, following me.
“I never threw it” I laughed. I turned back to see Rarity with her cheeks puffed out, anime style.
“Alright, alright… It’s Tom” I sighed. I held up my hands in defeat.
“Well Tom… It seems I don’t have any other clothing” Rarity coughed awkwardly. I laughed again.
“There should be some clothes that fit you in the pile I bought Twi and Dash yesterday. But you’re going to need a uniform, so you’ll have to get fitted at school…” I said. Rarity stopped.
“How did you know I was going to the school?” she asked. I heard her start to climb the stairs again.
“Two reasons. 1: everyone else here is; 2: I’m not leaving anyone alone in the house” I said. I reached the top of the stairs, and Rarity was close behind.
“They’re using that bathroom. For some reason it’s Japanese style, so there’s a room to put your clothes before you get to the actual bathing area” I said and pointed at the bathroom the girls were in. The water was still running. She nodded in thanks and went in. I walked over to the other bathroom, removed what remained of my pyjamas and hopped in the shower. I could hear Pinkie singing over the water pounding my head. After washing my hair and turning off the shower, I stood in front of the mirror, pulling at my fringe. It had turned a light grey.
“I still don’t fucking understand this…” I said. After drying my hair thoroughly with a towel, I dried the rest of my body off before realising.
HAHAHAHA What a fucking dumbass!!!
You didn’t remember either!
Doesn’t matter! It’s not me who’ll be doing a Nudie Run!
I sighed and wrapped a towel around my waist. I left the bathroom and tried to quickly make my way down the stairs. What I failed to notice was the door to the other bathroom opening. Rainbow and Twilight walked out. Unlike me, they weren’t wearing towels. However, like me, they noticed the other party. My eyes went wide and I felt my entire face start to burn.
“A-a-ah… SHIT!” I yelled. I turned around, crouched, and held my face in my hands. Rainbow Dash and Twilight were both stunned. They weren’t sure what just happened but both of them felt their cheeks burning, and their chests burning with embarrassment. For the first time, they felt the need to cover themselves up. Applejack walked out of the bathroom wearing the clothes she was wearing the previous day.
“Ah told you girls to wear towels… Now look what you’ve done” she sighed and handed Twilight and Dash the towels she had been carrying. They quickly wrapped them around their bodies, and went into their room to get their uniforms. Applejack quickly followed, and Fluttershy quietly plodded after, avoiding looking at me at all. I heard Pinkie bouncing on the bed in their room, and I guessed Rarity was still getting changed. I leapt down the 15 stairs in one jump and grabbed my uniform. I locked myself in one of the small closets and quickly got changed. I left the closet and went to the kitchen. I filled the kettle and put it on to boil while putting pre-made coffee in a cup. I sat down at the bench between the kitchen and the lounge room.
That mental image is now stored in your personal memory
… I have no response.
Not even a little one?
I started to read the newspaper that was on the table when I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. I looked up to confirm. All six of the girls walked down the stairs, talking merrily.
“Good morning!” Applejack said cheerfully. It was obvious she was trying to forget what happened. Twilight and Dash weren’t having as much luck. It seemed like their blushing cheeks were semi-permanent.
“Mornin’. Anyone want some coffee?” I asked. The kettle perked and I stood up.
“I do I do I do!” Pinkie cried. Applejack nodded and so did Rarity. Fluttershy looked uneasy.
“How about tea?” I offered. Fluttershy looked up and smiled, so I assumed that was a yes. Twilight nodded gently for tea.
“Uh… I’ll just have coffee” Rainbow Dash said, still slightly embarrassed. I got 6 more cups, and made 5 cups of coffee and 2 cups of tea. I placed them on the counter and moved the sugar jar onto the bench. I went to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of milk.
“Help yourselves” I smiled. The girls made their drinks to suit their tastes, and we all sat around the bench drinking.
“Ok, I’m going to address the elephant in the room here…” I said. Everyone looked up.
“This is why I told you to take your uniforms into the bathroom with you” I said, Twilight and Dash went bright red.
No you didn’t.
“No you didn’t” Applejack said. I looked off to the side, trying to remember.
“Well… I meant to… So I guess it was partially my fault… Sorry” I said, rubbing the back of my head. Twilight quickly started waving her hands in front of her.
“Oh no! Don’t apologize… We should have known!” she said. Rainbow Dash nodded vigorously next to her. I smiled.
“Alright… Now for the second order of business… The matter of payment for allowing you to stay here…” I said. I put down my cup of coffee. Rarity gulped. She grabbed the bottom of her shirt.
“I-I-If I know what stallions want for p-payment… Then he wants-” she started, and began to lift her shirt.
“Information” I finished, stopping her in her tracks. Everyone looked at Rarity, and she lowered her shirt, which was raised above her belly button.
“O-oh…” she said, embarrassed. I coughed and leaned back.
“I want you to tell me what happened. What are you? Why are you here?” I said, looking at Twilight. I knew she would answer me.
Knew it already.
Then why’d you ask, dipstick?
Would have been weird for them if I knew all about them if they didn’t tell me…
I hate it when you’re right.
Love you too.
“Rarity and I are unicorns. We can use magic. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are Pegasi, and thus have wings. Pinkie Pie and Applejack are Earth ponies. They have a special connection to the earth, and incredible strength” Twilight explained. I nodded.
“I was practicing a spell that one of the Rulers of Equestria, Princess Celestia, had given me. Something must have gone awry in the spells’ matrix, because before I knew it I had created a portal. It must have been created out of extremely dense matter, because it started to suck me in. I cried for help, and Rainbow Dash was nearby. She rushed in to help me but the gravitational pull was too strong, and she got sucked in as well…” Twilight finished. I blinked.
“And we all came in search of them” Applejack said, sipping her coffee.
“I see. If I may ask, how did you girls even find this place when you got here?” I directed my question to Applejack. She reached into the space between her breasts and pulled out a gold necklace with a flawless ruby apple.
“Our Elements of Harmony lead us to them” She said. Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy all pulled out similar necklaces. Rarity’s had 3 perfect sapphires, cut into diamond shapes. Fluttershy’s had 3 butterflies made out of pink diamonds. Pinkie’s was the funniest, being 3 balloons made out of 2 sapphires and a yellow diamond.
“Hmm… And do you two have them as well?” I asked Twilight and Rainbow Dash, full well knowing the answer. They ran upstairs and came back down with their bags. They rummaged around for a second before pulling out necklaces.
“Huh… Mine was a tiara before…” Twilight said, looking at the necklace. It was an 8 point star made of a light purple amethyst, with the points aiming diagonally substantially smaller. Rainbow Dash’s was a Lightning bolt made out of a Flawless Ruby, just like Applejack’s.
“I see… Alright then… we’ll get breakfast on the way to school. I’ve got to grab a few things, and then we’ll go” I smiled. The girls put their necklaces away. Twilight and Rainbow Dash put theirs on. I opened the draw and pulled out a Hardballer Longslide hand gun. I ejected the clip and checked the ammo. It was full. I clicked the clip back in, and pulled back the top. I let go and it snapped back into place. I slipped it into the holster inside my shirt.
“What’s that?” Pinkie asked, staring intently.
“A gun” I said. Twilight gasped slightly.
“I heard about those… They’re evil…” she said. Everyone backed away.
“W-why do you have that?” Rainbow Dash asked, slightly scared.
“City law. In case of a Dark Follower attack, citizens are required to carry at least one weapon on themselves at all times” I said. They visibly calmed down and came back.
“Oh right… I have to grab something for you guys…” I said. Twilight piped up before I got too far from the kitchen.
“Why is you’re uniform different?” she asked.
“Apart from the fact I don’t have to wear a skirt?” I smirked. No-one laughed.
“Well I thought it was funny… Anyway, I changed it a year ago, and haven’t been pulled up on it… so yeah…” I said. I looked down. Instead of the normal white shirt, black pants and grey blazer, I had a red t shirt, white pants and a white jacket that looked like it should belong to a school.
“I must say, I really like the design of that jacket. Where did you get it from, darling?” Rarity asked, grabbing my arm to inspect the sleeve.
“Actually… My sister made it for me” I said sheepishly. Everyone looked at me. Rarity’s eyes lit up.
“I simply must meet her! She has incredible fashion sense. Where would she be?” she asked. I walked over to a white door in the living room.
“Judging by the empty cup in the sink, she’s already off to school” I said. I opened the door.
“Don’t follow me” I said. I entered and closed the door behind me. The spiral staircase lead downwards to a vault door. I stepped up to a panel. I keyed in a 9 digit code, held my eye to a retinal scanner, placed my hand on a scanner, and had my voice run through vocal recognition software. Once everything had been checked, the door began to open. I quickly stepped inside and turned left to face a desk. I opened the draw and pulled out 6 Samsung Galaxy SIII phones. I checked the backs, and made sure they all had full battery and a sim card. I closed the draw and the vault, which closed behind me with a hiss. I headed up the staircase and opened the door. The girls were still sitting around the bench. I shut the door with my foot, walked over, and dumped the phones on the table.
“Take one each. They’re mobile phones. They’ll let you contact me and each other, even when we’re not together. My number is already in there, and you’re number is written down in the memo. Give it to each other and I’ll teach you how to call and text on the way to school” I said. Each girl took a phone.
20 minutes later, we were all walking towards the school. I had finished explaining to the girls how to use their phones, and they had all put them in their bags and forgotten about them.
This must be the rarest sight in the world. Teenage girls who aren’t glued to their phones.
Call David Attenborough, we’ve just found the most endangered species ever!
I love it when we agree
“So, Tom. Can humans use magic?” Twilight asked out of the blue. I stopped to think about it for a second.
“I suppose it’s not entirely impossible. The closest thing we have would be ESP…” I said. Twilight stopped as well.
“What’s ESP?” she asked. Rainbow Dash groaned.
“Something for Eggheads, I bet!” she sighed. Everyone had stopped.
“Hmm… How can I explain this...? It’s sort of like the Schrödinger’s Cat experiment, but that’s a bit too morbid for you girls… So, uh… Oh!” I spied a convenience store. I ran inside and came back out with a box labelled ‘chocolates’.
“Ok. What’s in the box?” I asked. Twilight looked at the box.
“It says ‘chocolates’, so I’m going to say Chocolate” she said. Everyone else agreed.
“Suppose you’re right. However, it could be caramel fudge inside. So I’ll ask again: What’s in the box?” I asked again. I shook the box to let them know there was actually something in there.
“Now that you’ve said that… I think it might be caramel fudge…” Twilight said. Applejack and Fluttershy agreed but Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Pinkie didn’t.
“It says ‘chocolate’ right there!” Dash cried. I opened the box.
“You were correct, Dash. There was chocolate inside” I said, showing everyone. I closed the box again.
“You had to open it to be sure. Now… what’s in the box?” I asked again. Twilight looked at me, puzzled.
“You… You just showed us that it was chocolate…” she said. Applejack looked at me suspiciously.
“I did. But what if there’s someone who believed that there was caramel fudge inside? Then that person opened the box, only to discover that there actually was caramel fudge inside?” I look Twilight in the eyes. She steps back and starts to process this.
“That person would have created a ‘Personal Reality”. People who can create that reality are called Espers. To answer your question, ESP stands for ‘Extrasensory Perception’. That essentially means gaining information outside the basic scientific means” I grinned. I could see Twilight’s mind working at a million miles an hour behind her indigo eyes.
“So, what you’re saying is that certain people can create their own reality in which they can use powers, and implement it into this reality?” she asked. I raised my right hand to eye level. An electrical current ran between my fingers.
“Exactly” I smirked as another electrical current ran through my hair. Everyone stepped back.
“It’s kind of like your magic. If we use it too much it tires us out” I said. I kept walking. The girls jogged to catch up to me, still trying to process what they just saw.
As we made it to school, there was a large congregation in the front courtyard.
“What’s going on? Is this normal?” Fluttershy had started to panic. I shook my head.
“3… 2… 1…” I sighed. After I said 1 I gently pushed Rainbow Dash, who was standing on my right, to the side. Before she could react, a boy slammed down into the pavement right where she had been standing.
“Thought so…” I sighed. I started to walk forward.
“ANYONE ELSE WANNA CHALLENGE ME?!” a female voice yelled from the centre of the crowd. It spooked Fluttershy, who hid behind Applejack. I made it to the crowd, and started to push my way through.
“Wait! It sounds dangerous!” I heard Applejack cry out to me. I listened and exited the crowd.
“GET OUT HERE!” I yelled, causing the girls behind me to gasp. Poor Fluttershy almost fainted. Within a few seconds, a girl marched out of the crowd. People parted to make room for her. She was wearing a modified uniform that looked almost like mine, only with blue decals and a grey skirt. She had bright golden blonde hair that went down to her butt. She stopped right in front of me. It looked like she was sizing me up, even though her head only came up to my shoulders. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were getting ready to run in if she attacked. Instead of attacking, she leapt forward and pulled me into a huge bear hug.
“I missed you, bro!” she cried out, tightening her grip. I was wheezing. I put my hands on her shoulders.
“Too tight! Too tight!” I groaned. She released her grip and pulled me into a normal hug. I put my right hand on the back of her head, and my left hand around her back and on her right shoulder.
“Good to see you again, sis” I smiled as she buried her face into my shoulder. The 6 girls behind me had recovered from the initial shock enough to allow their jaws to drop.
“T-t-that’s his… s-s-sister…” Rainbow Dash said, staring. Jen released me and looked at the 6 girls.
“Who’re they?” she asked, looking up at me.
“Transfers. Been helping them in your stead” I shrugged. She laughed.
“I’ll be sure to make something awesome for dinner then” she smiled. I grinned. Jen walked over.
“I’m Jennifer Dunois, Tom’s sister” she said, offering her hand. One by one, the girls took it.
“Ahm Applejack” Applejack smiled and shook her hand warmly. It seemed to be a small test of strength that ended with them both feeling evenly matched.
“I’m Rainbow Dash!” Rainbow Dash enthusiastically shook her hand. Jen laughed.
“I like you! You’ve got fire in your belly!” she said.
“I’m Pinkie Pie! We’ve gotta throw a party!” Pinkie yelled as she took Jens hand and shook it.
“Sounds like a plan to me!” Jen chuckled.
“I’m Rarity. Might I just say that your uniform and your brother’s look absolutely divine!” Rarity said, daintily shaking Jen’s hand. Jen smiled widely.
“I’m glad you like them. If you don’t have a uniform, I can whip one up for you by tomorrow” Jen offered, to which Rarity nodded enthusiastically.
“I’m… Fluttershy…” Fluttershy said, almost inaudibly. She gently took Jen’s hand.
“Nice to meet you, Fluttershy” Jen grinned sweetly. Everyone was wondering how she heard her.
“And I’m Twilight Sparkle. Your brother told me you’re really smart” Twilight shook her hand in a normal fashion.
“I don’t like to brag, but I’ve come first in all my classes in… Forever” Jen smiled. Twilight felt she had finally found someone she could relate to.
“My sister, the crowd pleaser” I smirked. She turned around.
“And my sister, scaredy cat” she poked out her tongue. I laughed. The girls all walked up to me.
“Shall we head in?” Twilight asked. I nodded, and Jen pushed Twilight aside and hooked her arm into mine.
“Let’s go!” Jen cried, pointing forwards. She began to pull me along, and the girls all followed, laughing at my failed attempt at struggling.
Author's Note
ESP explained, and in a way that didn't make Fluttershy cry! And the elusive Jen finally appears! How will she react when she learns about the new guests in the house?
An Open Heart in a Closed City
“I hate math!” Rainbow Dash cried out in frustration. We were sitting outside the classroom waiting for the teacher, all 7 of us. Jen had gone off to her first class, which happened to be Advanced English.
“If you hate it, then why did you pick 4 unit maths? This is the hard shit…” I sighed as I sipped on a juice box I had gotten from the vending machine across the hall.
“Because I didn’t know it was hard!” she cried. She rubbed her temples in frustration.
“Relax, dummy. We have PE next, so you can go nuts there” I finished the juice box and threw it into the bin across the hall.
“Why did Jen have to leave?” Pinkie complained. It was the first time I had ever heard her complain.
“She’s a year older than me, so she has a different set of classes” I said. We all saw the teacher coming down the hall, and everyone got up. I stayed seated on the floor.
“Care to join us, Mr Dunois?” Mr Creed sighed, frustrated.
“Nah, I’m good out here” I sighed. I closed my eyes. There was a tug on the back of my collar, and I felt myself getting dragged into the room.
“Apparently we’re discarding the ‘hands off’ policy…” I groaned. Mr Creed pulled me to the front of the room and let me go. I fell backwards and hit my head on the floor.
“Ow…” I moaned. I stood up and went to the seat just in front of the corner, next to the window. I proceeded to stare out the window. I could hear the teacher introducing Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rarity, and Applejack, but just kept staring out the window. I heard the chairs being pulled out around me, and I saw in the windows reflection that I was now surrounded by all 6 of the new students.
“My rotten luck” I said. I muted my hearing and continued to stare out the window. I started to make up imaginary situations in my head like if my whole life was a story coming out of some nut jobs’ mind to be posted on the internet, and what the world would be like if it were ruled by giant bananas. I stopped my crazy train of thought when I noticed in the reflection of the window that I was being stared at. I unmuted my sound and heard Mr Creed yelling at me.
“- ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTION! I SWEAR IF YOU’RE BLOCKING ME OUT AGAIN I’LL FAIL YOU!” he looked like he was going to burst a blood vessel. I stood up.
“That question has no answer…” I said. Now he really looked like he was going to explode. I was tempted to shout ‘BOOMER!’ and hide behind my desk.
“Explain…” Mr Creed fumed. I sighed.
“You accidently added a ‘divide by 0’, so the question becomes a mathematical error as well as a spatial anomaly if it were to actually be solved somehow…” I said, trying to hold back my laughter. I heard some of the other people in the class chuckling and giggling. Mr Creed turned around and read the equation over and over again.
“…Sit down…” he sighed, defeated. I flashed him a grin and sat back down. I was about to resume staring out the window when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked over to see Twilight staring intently at me.
“W-what?” I said feeling slightly unnerved at her fixation.
“How did you figure that question out? Not even I was able to notice the error…” she stared. I shrugged.
“I guess I was just looking for it” I chuckled. Twilight sat back in her chair and returned to her frantic note taking. I muted my sound and began to stare out the window again. I felt another tap, and turned to see Twilight. Un-mute.
“Yeah?” I said again.
“What did he mean by ‘blocking him out’?” she asked looking puzzled. I grinned.
“Some Espers have more than one ability. I can also manipulate sound. That means I can mute people, use it to amplify things to myself or others, or use sound waves physically” I smirked. Twilight looked at me with an astonished look on her face.
“Not even Princess Celestia is able to do that as far as I’ve seen” she said turning back to her book and muttering to herself. I was slightly concerned.
Please… I know you talk to yourself… I’m the proof.Don’t you have anything better to do rather than being a burden? … And I thought you loved me enough to blow off anything just to annoy me.
I muted the class and went back to staring out the window. I wasn’t disturbed for the rest of the session, and it was amazing.
I stretched as soon as I left the class. I had my bag slung over one shoulder.
“So where are we off to now?” Applejack asked. I turned around and smiled.
“PE, we have to go to the gym. I’ll warn you, though… I’m a target” I said. I turned and started to walk towards the gym.
“Also, you’ll have to get changed. In the girls changing room…” I clarified. I heard Dash groan. I chuckled.
“What did you mean by ‘target’?” asked Rarity with a concerned tone. I didn’t stop walking.
“You’ll see soon enough” I sighed. After a couple of minutes of walking we reached the large blue double doors that lead to the gym. The girls behind me had been talking about all sorts of things, most of which I ignored. I only heard the parts with my name, my sisters’ name, or anything to do with food. I pushed the double doors, and the latch yielded with a click. As the doors opened, the girls behind me stopped their chatter and gasped at the size of the room behind it. It was big enough to comfortably seat 500 people to the left and right, and 300 on the other sides. In the middle, there was a rectangle of 3 by 2 basketball courts. I walked in, and the girls followed me, looking around in awe.
“The girls change rooms are over there” I pointed to the right of the door, and they saw a blue door at the end of the wall. Twilight nodded and the girls all followed her. They had gone back to talking. I turned to the left and walked to the red door in the right corner. I got changed into a plain black t-shirt and black tracksuit pants. I stuffed my uniform back into my bag and left the change room. I threw my bag onto the bleachers next to the change rooms and saw the rest of the class changed and listening to the teacher talk. I sat down on the bleachers and muted the sound around me. I was watching the teacher so that when he stopped talking and started to team everyone up, I would be ready. I un-muted the sound around me when I felt the seat shake. I looked over at the source of the disturbance and saw the girls, all wearing different things. I looked at Applejack in particular.
“Is that my shirt? And my pants?” I asked, slightly confused.
“They… uhm… might be… None of the clothes you bought Twi or Rainbow fit me” she confessed, blushing. It was at this moment in time I noticed how much taller Applejack was compared to the rest.
She’s like a giant!
She’s my height…
Compared to them, you’re a giant.
You’re right, but fuck you anyway.
You really hate me, don’t you?
Of course, and you’ve got a massive shit-eating grin on your face.
If I had a face I would.
“I… see…” I said. I noticed Fluttershy hiding behind the group. She was wearing one of my baggy Disturbed shirts and a pair of my tracksuit pants. I laughed. Everyone in the small group in front of me looked at me, and then turned to Fluttershy.
“That shirt doesn’t suit you” I chuckled. Fluttershy went red.
“I-It doesn’t look good?” she asked, looking up at me. I instantly felt bad.
“N-no… That’s not it. I just don’t think you’d like the band on that shirt” I explained. Her face lit up a little more. I smiled. I heard the teacher call out.
“Tom, bring the new students down!” Mr Densa called out. I stood up.
“C’mon…” I sighed as I started to walk down the bleachers. The girls followed me as I joined the group, but stayed a good distance away.
“You girls need to join the big group” I said.
“Why?” Rainbow Dash asked as everyone else looked at me.
“You’ll see VERY soon” I grimaced. Dash shrugged and the girls walked over to the group.
“Ok everyone! Today’s target is Tom. Seeing as there are new people in the class, I have to explain the whole thing. You see, everyone in this city is trained to fight the Dark Followers that lurk outside our walls. That’s what the ‘Target Game’ was made for. You work together as a group to take down one opponent. We play this three times a week with different people in the class as ‘The Target’. Today is Tom’s turn. Take him down by any means necessary. Of course, you will be rewarded. You get to tell the Target to do one thing if you take them down and they can’t refuse” Mr Densa explained. Rarity and Fluttershy looked mortified. Twilight and Pinkie looked as indifferent as they could, while Applejack and Rainbow Dash’s eyes gleamed with a hint of competition.
“I bet I take him down first” Dash grinned at Applejack.
“I’ll take that bet” Applejack smirked at Dash.
“Don’t forget, you’re up against the class!” Mr Densa smiled. He raised his hand. I braced.
“GO!” the teacher cried. Rainbow Dash shot at me like a rocket. I saw this and dropped backwards. I saw the shock in her eyes as she passed right over me. As I hit the ground I rolled backwards and pushed my legs up. They drove into her stomach and launched her further than before. I pushed off my hands and landed on my feet, completing my backwards roll. Rainbow Dash crashed into the Gym mats piled on the floor. As I turned to see what I did, a guy from the group ran forward and tried to punch me.
“Too slow!” I grinned as I caught his fist with my left hand. I spun on my left foot and kicked him three times with my right foot, each kick rising higher. I pulled my leg in, let go of his hand and slammed my foot into his chest, causing him to go rolling back. I stepped back in time to avoid 3 flame spears that were thrown by 3 fire Espers.
“Already on to the powers, eh?” I smirked as they started to charge another shot. I whistled and disappeared from sight. Twilight saw me first when I appeared behind one of the Espers and knocked them out. Before anyone could react I had whistled again and was gone. I repeated this until all the fire Espers that attacked were laying on the floor.
“I’ve had enough combat… Might as well finish it with a BANG!” I laughed as I pulled a coin out of my pocket. Rainbow Dash had re-joined the group, and they all noticed that everyone had stepped back
“W-what’s going on?” Fluttershy asked, scared. I smiled sweetly at her.
“Sorry about this, Flutters, but I have to protect my dignity” I apologised and turned to Twilight.
“Twilight, are you familiar with a ‘Railgun’?” I asked. Twilight shook her head.
“By borrowing the Law of Kinetic energy, I can use electricity to launch objects at three times speed of sound” I smiled. I threw the coin into the air. The students standing in front of me scattered and left where I was firing empty. As the coin came back down to my hand, I closed my hand and flicked the coin. The coin turned from small metal object to a mass of pure energy travelling at three times the speed of sound in a matter of nanoseconds. A loud explosion was heard and felt as the Railgun blast destroyed the ground and hit the side of the gym, which had been reinforced to withstand any form of supernatural power. The girls all gasped, and Fluttershy screamed when the Railgun fired.
“TOM! What did I tell you about using your Railgun?!” Mr Densa cried, running over. I smiled sheepishly.
“R-right… sorry sir…” I said, hiding my face from sight.
“Never mind… let’s just play dodge ball…” Mr Densa sighed. He rubbed his eyes and walked away. Students had already started to get the balls and began to organise themselves into two teams. I sighed as a group of girls was calling out.
“Hey Tom! Come join our team!” one of them called out. I turned my face to the side, and the group of girls started to giggle. Mr Densa sighed.
“Tom, go with those girls. Twilight, Rarity and Fluttershy, you go with him. Dash, Pinkie and Applejack, on the other side” he placed us into our teams. I walked over to the group of girls, with Twilight, Rarity and Fluttershy following me, while Dash, Pinkie, and Applejack went the other way.
“Alright. No powers whatsoever. Same rules still apply: You take down Tom, you get the reward. Start whenever” Mr Densa said. He sat down on the bleachers and started writing on a piece of paper on a clipboard. A ball was rolled to my feet. I picked it up. As I stood up, I saw a ball headed straight for me. I spun to the right and the ball whizzed right past my face.
“Shit…” I swore to myself, and ran into the crowd. I saw a boy standing near the front, looking the wrong way. I thought it was a trap, but I also saw it as an opportunity to thin out their ranks. I stepped forward and jumped up. I threw the ball with a side arm, and quickly spun to the left. The ball I threw hit the boy right in the leg despite his efforts to dodge. He groaned before walking off court. Twilight ran up behind me.
“H-how do you play this game?” she asked. I quickly blended back into the crowd, trying to avoid being hit by a ball.
“Try to hit members of the other team with a ball while trying not to get hit yourself” I explained quickly, not paying attention.
“Oh” Twilight said. She didn’t seem comforted in any way. The group of girls I was behind screamed and moved to the side. I noticed the ball before it was too late and managed to catch it with my chest. I quickly wrapped my arms around it to stop it from falling to the ground.
“Damn it!” I heard a guy cry out from the other side. I stood up and flipped him the bird. He grimaced, and I laughed. I saw a girl on the other team line up a shot. She was aiming for Fluttershy and Rarity, who were cowering in the corner. She threw the ball. It wasn’t going fast, but it would hurt if it hit. I quickly spun on my heel and threw the ball I was holding. Fluttershy screamed. The ball thrown by the girl was about to hit, but my ball intercepted it. It hit it right on the side, causing the girls ball to get knocked to the side, and my ball to bounce back slightly. I dove forward to grab it again when I saw James, the schools resident asshole, laughing. I grabbed the ball and rolled on my right shoulder. When I landed on my feet I spun and threw the ball. Before he could react the ball hit his leg, causing his leg to be pushed backwards and him to face plant into the wooden floor.
BULLSEYE!
HELL YEAH!
“You are so dead!” James cried. He picked up the ball and drop kicked it at me. A shockwave pulsed as his foot collided with the ball. He was using his power. I grinned and whistled. The ball stopped right in its tracks. I whistled again, and the ball shot off at an insane speed. It slammed into James’ chest, knocking him out of the court.
“You’re out” I said flatly.
Smooth…
Blow it out your ass.
Mr Densa looked up, shrugged and went back to writing.
“Why did you do that? That seemed quite… mean” Twilight asked with an angry expression. I turned to face her.
“You’re right. It was mean. But I’m not going to apologize. Do you know why? Because he’s tormented me all throughout my school life. He won’t listen to Jen, or Teachers, or anyone” I explained, my expression flat and unchanging to match my voice. Twilight just looked at me, her face melting from anger to understanding.
“Still… you shouldn’t have done that…” she said, staring at me,
“Meh” I sighed as I turned back to the front.
20 minutes passed and the only ones left of my team were Fluttershy and I. On the other team, there were 6 people, including Applejack and Rainbow Dash. I gritted my teeth.
I hope they all aim for me… I’m not sure Flutters could make it …
Should be funny for me either way.
You suck.
I had one ball in my hand, and another was sitting on the ground on my side of the court. I knew that if I went for it, I would get hit. Fluttershy wasn’t moving anywhere. She just cowered in the corner of the court. I thought for a moment about what I could do in the current setup. An idea hit me like a flash of lighting.
They’re not far apart from each other… this might work…
I love your crazy schemes
I quickly threw the ball I was holding at the ball on the ground. It caused the ball which was sitting on the ground to ricochet unpredictably. Naturally, one of the opposition got hit. As it ricocheted off the opponent, Dash dove forward to dodge, and it hit the boy next to her. She laughed. As everyone was distracted by the ball, I shot forward to try and grab the other ball. A member of the other team quickly noticed and threw her ball at me. I noticed the ball coming at me before it was too late. My sisters’ training lessons kicked in. As the ball came close, I jumped into a no-handed cartwheel. I caught the ball in my right hand. As I completed the cartwheel, I used the extra momentum to propel the ball into another male students shoulder. He sighed and left the court. The momentum caused me to over balance a little bit, but I was still able to grab the ball I was going for before. However, when I looked up, I saw another ball headed for me. I was still leaning down, and couldn’t dodge.
I ain’t gonna make it…
WHY ARE YOU FACING THE BALL YOU GODDAMN RETARD?!?!
The ball hit me directly in the face, and I fell down onto the floor.
“Ow…” I groaned as I wiped the tiny amount of blood that was trickling out of my nose away. I sat up and saw members of the other team run over.
“Are you alright, man?” a male student yelled, as he ran over and helped me sit up.
“Ugh, yeah… Thanks Justin” I smiled weakly. He grinned back. Applejack was looking extremely sheepish.
“Ahm sorry, sugarcube… Ah guess ah don’t know my own strength” Applejack crouched down. I smiled.
“It’s alright, I’ve survived worse… Still, that’s one hell of a throw…” I marvelled. She smiled, and Mr Densa walked over.
“Well done, transfer student… You win. Are you gonna save your request for later, or tell him to do something now?” he asked. Applejack pondered for a second.
“Ah guess ah’ll save it for later” she said. Mr Densa shrugged.
“Alright everyone… Get changed, the end of the session is in ten minutes…” he called out.
Everyone got changed in a matter of minutes and sat waiting on the bleachers for the bell to go. I was leaning back on the bench ignoring Pinkies’ rambling when the bell went. I stood up and made my way to the doors I had entered in. The girls all followed me. I left the gym and headed to my locker.
“Don’t you girls have your own lockers?” I asked as I pushed the key into the lock, undid it, and took it off.
“Uhm… no…” Twilight said sheepishly. I groaned.
“We’ll go talk to the principal about it later… Anyway, time for food” I grinned as I put my sports clothes in the locker and closed it. I put the lock back on and hung the key around my neck. They all seemed to perk up when I mentioned food.
We walked into the crowded lunch room and looked around. All the different cliques stuck to their own area: The jocks in the top right corner, the Musicians in the top left, the Eggheads in the bottom left, and the Eco’s in the bottom right. Throughout the rest of the room, every other group of people shuffled around, remaining in their groups: The Fashionistas, The Nerds, the Emo’s, and the Goths. I spied an empty table.
“Grab that before someone else does” I pointed at it, and Pinkie shot off faster than a Railgun.
“… Okay…” I said. It still hadn’t sunk in.
That was insane…
I think… I think she broke my physics…
MY PHYSICS!!!
You shouldn’t exist.
That just proves how insane you are.
The girls and I wandered over to the table. We sat down and I started to think about how we would get our lunch and not lose the table.
“Usually I just make myself something at home…” I bit my thumb nail, thinking. I came to the only logical conclusion: We would leave someone at the table and one of us would get their lunch. We decided that no matter what I would have to go because the girls weren’t familiar with the lunch room etiquette yet.
“Uhm… I could stay behind…” Fluttershy offered quietly. Over the dull roar of the crowd, it would have been drowned out if I hadn’t been using my sound control.
You have the Global Scale Volume Knob… you would make an awesome spy.
I know, right?
I yawned and Rainbow Dash stood.
“Let’s get some grub” she grinned. I everyone got up, and Fluttershy (sort of) told me what she wanted me to get for her. We walked over to the left side of the lunch room and lined up to get our food.
“So, what’s the routine here?” Pinkie asked, hyper as usual. I shrugged.
“Calm down, darling. You can get your food” Rarity tried to calm her. It was unsuccessful. I simply walked past them and began to read what the lunch room had in stock today.
“Okay… Fluttershy wanted something vegetarian… so Lettuce, Tomato and Cucumber sandwich it is… And for me, I guess I’ll grab the Chicken, Bacon and Avocado” I said to myself as I leaned over to grab both of the sandwiches. Rarity and Applejack looked appalled and Pinkie had stopped jumping and just stared.
“C-chicken? You eat a-animals?” Rarity asked with a concerned look on her face.
“Yeah… it’s how we get our protein” I shrugged as I grabbed 2 apple juices from the fridge and took them to the counter.
Déjà vu.
Indeed.
… You’re not classy.
And you’re me.
Touché.
The girls all quickly grabbed their sandwiches, which I guess would have been the same one that I got Fluttershy seeing as their diet is the same. I put a $20 note on the counter.
“Grab some juice. You’ll need it” I pointed at the fridge.
“Why, are they that hard to swallow?” Rainbow Dash asked with a grin.
“No, but our next class is” I smirked. She laughed and everyone walked over to grab juice. It was all apple juice. The lunch lady took the $20 and handed be back 5 cents.
“Is that a good price?” Twilight asked as we were heading back to the table.
“It’d be cheaper if I made lunch, but I’ve seen worse prices” I shrugged. We got closer to the table when we saw a young male with shaggy brown hair sitting across from a very uncomfortable looking Fluttershy. I started to move a bit quicker when I saw this.
“… be fun. C’mon, come hang out with us” The guy was attempting to flirt, and failing horribly. Fluttershy was sitting trying to look away. I put our lunch down on the table.
“I think that means no” I looked up, emotionless. He stood up.
“Then she can speak for herself” he sneered at me. I looked at the colour of the pocket cover on his jacket. It was red.
He’s a year older.
You fucked, bitch.
“If she didn’t have anxiety issues, maybe” I swallowed my fear.
Holy shit, you’re actually learning your limits.
Bite me.
No mouth.
The guy seemed to become enraged at that comment.
“You smug-ass little shit!” he growled. He reeled his fist back. I clenched my eyes shut, waiting for the crunch.
It didn’t come.
I looked up to see a hand holding the arm back. I looked behind the student to see another male student. This one was as tall as me with long blonde hair tied back into a ponytail.
“Is it really worth having the air literally ripped out of your lungs?” the newcomer said calmly. The enraged student growled. He pulled his arm free and skulked off to whatever table he was at before.
“You saved my face…” I grinned at the student. His pocket cover was red as well.
“I saved his life” the man grinned. He patted me on the shoulder.
“How’ve you been, buddy?” he continued to grin.
“Pretty good. I should probably introduce you. Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rarity, this is Ryan. Ryan, this is everyone” I pointed at them in the respective order. Ryan laughed.
“So you’re the new girls.I’m Ryan Lewis Carmen, pleasure to meet you” he smiled. The girls all smiled.
“Thanks for waiting, numb nuts” an all too familiar voice called out. Jen stepped out from behind and smiled when she saw us.
“So, you forgot to make lunch for yourself” she smirked evilly as she saw me carrying the sandwiches.
“Yep” I replied plainly as I put the vegetarian sandwich that I was carrying in front of Fluttershy. She quietly thanked me and tucked into the sandwich.
“That reminds me… I saw you sleeping on our couch this morning. You two didn’t get up to anything funny, did you?” Jen grinned and turned to face Rarity. Her face went red and my eyes widened.
“N-no! Of course not! He has just given us a place to stay, that’s all” Rarity said, flustered. I banged my head on the table.
So much for breaking it to her lightly.
Kill me.
No, this is gonna be funny.
“A place to stay, huh? And when you say ‘us’, what exactly do you mean?” Jen raised an eyebrow. Ryan was eating quietly, waiting for an eruption.
“Well, we’re all staying at Tom’s place for the time being…” Rainbow Dash said without thinking. My head shot up and I looked terrified. Jen looked over at me, smirking evilly, a shadow covering her eyes.
“Oh ho… Is that right?” she glared at me. I swallowed and nodded.
“N-not the face…” I whimpered. She sighed.
“And when did you ask me about this?” her face went back to normal and she just looked at me.
“Uhm… well… on the day I let them in, you had just gotten home… so I thought it would be best to let you rest” I feverishly explained. She leaned over the table and gently placed her hand on the back of my head. I relaxed as he stroked the back of my head. She stopped suddenly and pulled my head down towards the table. A loud thud echoed as my head collided with the table top. I recoiled and fell out of the chair. Jen got up and threw a large stack of napkins at my now bleeding nose.
“Don’t get any more red on your uniform. Next time you tell me… I live there too” she said, her face emotionless. I sat up, still dazed, and groaned. Twilight and Applejack had quickly moved to my side, and the rest of the girls were staring, worried.
“Are you alright, sugarcube?” Applejack asked. Twilight glared at Jen.
“You didn’t have to go that far!” she cried. I used them both as leverage to stand up.
“I-It’s fine… This much is nothing…” I grimaced as I used the tissues to wipe my nose. I sat back down.
“Besides... You would normally have used your sound to stop the impact. What happened?” Jen asked, tilting her head to the side.
“I used it a lot today… I know my own limits now…” I gingerly kept wiping my nose, as the blood kept trickling out.
“Oh. Good boy, we don’t want another replay of that... Sorry, I only went that far ‘cause I thought you could block it” Jen looked down sheepishly. This time she reached over and started to pet my head again. However she only stroked it then went back to sitting down.
“What do you mean by limits? Things like mana?” Twilight asked, looking at me. I was about to reply when Jen piped up.
“Tom may seem unbeatable, almost like the main character of an anime, but he’s not. His sound control power may seem like it’s incredibly strong, but it has an extreme weakness” she said, sipping the bottle of water she pulled out of her bag.
“And that would be?” Rarity asked, now interested. Everyone looked at her.
“Normally, an Espers’ powers will weaken and stop working after a certain amount of energy has been used to avoid burning out the user. Tom’s sound manipulation uses a lot of energy, but it doesn’t weaken or stop when he runs out of energy. Instead, it takes its power directly from his body. This results in ‘shredding’, or Tom being ripped apart from the inside out. It starts with his organs, creating small cuts in them as it draws power out of him. Once it’s made its way through his internal organs, it moves towards his skin. Long story short… If Tom uses his sound manipulation too much, he dies. What makes it more dangerous is that he doesn’t know when he’s running out of energy” Jen explained. The girls all looked shocked, and turned to me. I nodded.
“The incident was 10 years ago. A dark followers attack caused me to use my sound manipulation a lot. Thanks to that, my heart got shredded up pretty badly. If it wasn’t for a doctor called ‘Divine Canceller’ I would have died” I said, taking a bite out of my sandwich. They all stared at me, horrified. I shrugged.
“It’s all in the past. Eat your food, third session is gonna start soon” I said, taking a swig of juice. The girls all quickly turned to their sandwiches and started eating. Jen, Ryan and I started to laugh at them.
Author's Note
It's finally out! Sorry about the huge delay, but I was out of the country, and when I got home I got rather sick.
Tom's weakness is revealed! Who is the 'Divine Canceller'? Will we finally get to see a Dark Follower attack? What's so terrible about third session?
These questions will (possibly) be answered in the next chapter!
Every rating and comment helps
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An Open Heart in a Closed City
How to explain current events to Humanised Technicolour Ponies
“And you can see the artists pain in the brush strokes” the woman said, as she traced her hand over the painting. Of course, I was half asleep at the back of the class and not paying attention to the shenanigans going on around me. People were throwing paper, talking, and generally fucking around. Pretty much anything but what they were supposed to be doing. The only plus: It was a joint class with the year above, so I got to watch Jen bored out of her mind in front of me.
“Kill me, bro” she whined quietly.
“No can do… Who’ll kill me if you’re dead?” I sighed, letting go of my head and allowing it to hit the desk. I look over to the side at the girls. Dash and AJ seem to be bored beyond belief, Rarity was drawing sketches for dresses in her notebook, Pinkie was scratching a self-portrait into the desk with scalpel she procured from god knows where, Fluttershy was sitting quietly and looking at all the paintings of animals, and Twilight was trying to take notes. I turned back to Jen, who was light banging her head on the table. Ryan, who was sitting to my left, tapped my arm.
“I’ll kill you” he offered. I laughed and shook his hand, then tapped Jen on the back. She turned around.
“I’ll kill you, he kills me, and then he kills himself. We all win” I grin at her. She bursts out laughing.
“Jennifer! Be quiet while I’m talking!” the teacher yelled. Jen sighed.
“Sorry Miss Worth” she rolled her eyes as the teacher turned back to the painting. I chuckled, which caused Jen to turn around a glare. I shrunk back into my seat.
“Alright, class. It’s free draw time. Supplies are in the cupboards, so have fun” Miss Worth said, before quickly hurrying behind her desk and playing around on her computer. The students all pushed their desks into 2 large rectangles and started to talk, completely ignoring the art supplies. The girls joined us as we made a smaller rectangle with 6 desks.
“So what do we do with the rest of the day?” Ryan asked, leaning back in his chair. Jen shrugged as she rummaged around in her bag, which was now sitting on the table.
“Should we be drawing something?” Fluttershy asked meekly. She was rewarded with a sideways glance from Ryan.
“Sure, as long as you don’t mind getting shown up by Jen. She does design clothes” he raised an eyebrow. Rarity piped up.
“I design clothing as well” she exclaimed, extremely proudly. I looked over at Jen, who was staring at me. She motioned towards the door with her head, and I nodded. I tapped Ryan on the shoulder, and did the same. He nodded.
“Girls, let’s go sit outside for a bit” I yawned. All six of the girls nodded, and Jen stood up.
“Miss, do you mind if we go outside for a bit? Our creative engines run better in a more natural environment” Jen lied, smiling sweetly. The teacher looked up from her computer with the brightest grin anyone had seen on someone other than Pinkie.
“Oh yes, of course dear! Get those creative juices flowing!” she laughed and went back to her computer. Jen, Ryan and I stifled our laughter as we led the girls outside. Jen had her bag slung across her shoulder as we made our way across the oval to the fence bordering the school.
“So why did we come out here?” Dash asked. Jen reached into her bag and pulled out a packet of cigarettes.
“Because that class is absolute shit?” Jen said, mockingly. She opened the packet and held it out. Ryan and I took one each Ryan reached into his jacket and pulled out a lighter, while I just put the cigarette in my mouth. As Ryan lit his, Jen now had a cigarette in her mouth, and she had taken a zippo lighter out of her pocket. She flicked it open and lit it. She brought it to the cigarette and inhaled slightly, before blowing out a steady stream of smoke. She handed me the lighter, and I did the same thing. As I inhaled, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I stopped abruptly, and started coughing. After a few seconds, I turned around with tears in my eyes to a sheepish-looking Applejack.
“What are those things?” she asked. Jen piped up before I could answer.
“Very bad for you, can’t recommend them unless… well, not at all” she sighed, as she took another drag on her cigarette. We continued past the fence outside the school, and sat down at the playground just outside.
“So, why did we come out here?” Twilight asked. Pinkie was getting extremely close to me, and making me edge around the slide I was sitting on. Every time she caused me to move, she would start giggling.
“I thought it would be our chance to fill you in. You’re obviously not from around here, so you don’t know the customs, special laws, and some more… shady circumstances we’re involved in” Jen said seriously.
“First off: Customs. Pretty basic. School is mandatory, passing is not. Move away if you see anything dangerous. Most importantly: don’t be a hero” she grinned.
“Special Laws. Here’s where we start to differ from other places. Residents of the city must be armed at all times. Carry a weapon. If you see a dark follower, call for Guardian. They’ll take care of it before it can harm anyone” Ryan said, actually looking like a teacher (complete with know-it-all smirk and upturned nose).
“Finally; circumstances. The only one I can think of is-” I began, but Jen held her hand up to stop me. The remaining eight of us followed her gaze just past me. Four young men, wearing dark grey school uniforms were standing across the street. Jen, taking a last drag on her cigarette before dropping it and stomping it out, stood up and walked towards the men. Ryan followed, but I stayed behind with my head down.
“Just stay with me, looks like you’ll be learning our circumstances first hand” I said softly.
Lemme at ‘em, I’ll fuck ‘em up!
And get me killed in the process. Not to mention give me a panic attack before I die.
I’m afraid I don’t really care.
I die, you die.
Shit.
Fluttershy had taken up a spot behind me, with her hand on my shoulder. Applejack and Rainbow Dash continued sitting on either side of me. Fluttershy was soon joined by Rarity and Twilight, and Pinkie just continued to swing on the swings.
“Hey! You guys are from Demon High, right?” Ryan called out, alerting the men to their presence.
“Yeah, what’s it to you?” one of the men, wearing a bandana that covered his brown hair, called out rudely. Jen stepped forward.
“This is Dawnstar territory. You’re breaking the treaty. You get one warning, before we break you” she said, glaring at the men. They laughed.
“Just go back to your tea sets, girly. We’re busy” the man laughed, causing his friends to start laughing. Jen laughed dryly before taking out her phone. She dialled a number quickly.
“Oh yes, hi Wynston. Yeah, some of your Neanderthals have set foot in our territory again. One more time and you’ve broken the treaty. You want to speak to them? Alright, I’ll put him on. Hey fuck-knuckle, it’s for you” she grinned, holding the phone out to the man. He took it and as soon as he brought it to his ear, an angry yelling could be heard.
“B-but sir, we didn’t know this was their- yes sir. No, we didn’t mean to break the t-treaty. S-s-s-she’s who?! Oh god, I’m so sorry sir, I- no, no, we’ll leave immediately” the man stammered. He handed the phone back to Jen.
“Thank you Wynston. No, no trouble at all. But since they came into our territory, we have to send a message. Sorry about this hun, I’ll buy you something nice at the next meeting to make up for it. Alright then, I’ll talk to you soon. See ya” she smirked as she hung up, and put the phone away.
“So, you’ll be leaving immediately, then?” Jen asked, cracking her knuckles.
“What’s the rush?” Ryan asked, grinning. The four men all swallowed at once.
“Look, we didn’t know, please just let us go” the man with the bandana pleaded. Jen simply laughed.
“But we need to send a message. This is the last chance we’re giving you guys. Stay off our turf” Jen grinned as she placed a hand on the back of the mans’ head. She quickly pulled down, causing his face to impact with the concrete. This left a splatter of blood, and the man had stopped moving. The other three men, all with black hair of varying lengths gasped. Ryan stepped forward and kneed one of them in the gut. As he doubled over, he was met by Ryan’s right fist impacting into his jaw, knocking teeth out. Before he passed out, he was met by a left hook which would leave him with an amazing black eye.
“We need to leave at least one of them conscious to drag their friend’s bodies back” Jen said, yawning. Ryan nodded, picking a tooth out of his right fist. One of the remaining two men had pulled a knife from his pocket.
“Lights out for that guy then” Jen shrugged. The guy cried out and lunged. She easily dodged it and jumped into the air, slamming her knee into his face. Blood arced backwards as he fell, and crumpled into a heap. The last man standing was now a shivering mess.
“Now get out of here. Take your dumb ass friends with you. I wouldn’t come back, either” Jen glared at the man, who nodded quickly, and started to drag his friends away.
“What you just saw… that was justified” I said, Twilight looked at me angrily.
“No matter what, nothing like that could ever be justified!!!” she yelled, causing me to wince and shrink away. She instantly felt bad.
“T-these are the c-circumstances we were talking about” I said, still slightly nervous from Twilight yelling.
“A few years ago, two rival schools were locked in an all-out war. Dawnstar, our school, and Demon High, their school. The fighting got so bad, that it even lead to the deaths of some students and teachers. The Student Council Presidents of both schools decided that was the last straw, and decided to attempt to work everything out. With that notion, the Treaty was created. Dawnstar stays off Demon High territory, and Demon High stays off Dawnstar territory. To cross into a territory, you have to contact a member of the school board, and have them give you permission. If not, then it can be seen as an attack, and may be acted upon. If students are spotted in the wrong territory five times without a permit, the Treaty is broken, and the war begins again. A new Treaty will be written up immediately, but there will be a few days of fighting, and that’s enough for the deaths to start again. That was Demon High’s fourth strike” I said quietly. The girls listened intently as Ryan and Jen sat back down.
“Right, now we’ve explained everything, we can just relax” Jen continued, smiling as though nothing happened. She took another two cigarettes from the pack and handed one to me. I dropped the used butt at my feet and stomped it out. Jen flicked her Zippo, and I leaned forward and lit mine on the same flame as she did.
We spent about two hours doing nothing. We would watch Pinkie and Rainbow Dash play around on the playground, and talked with the girls. Jens looked at her watch.
“Oh shit, the bell’s about to go. We gotta head back, then we can go home” she smiled. She reached into her bag and pulled out a pink can of deodorant. She gave herself a quick spray, before turning it on me. I coughed a few times and shielded my face. When she stopped, I sniffed the air a few times.
“I smell fabulous” I smirked. Jen laughed at me as she put the deodorant back in her bag.
“Oh right, a question from before. If those things are so bad for you, why do you have them?” Twilight asked, stopping Ryan, Jen and I in our tracks.
“We… don’t know…” Ryan said, looking at Jen, who just shrugged. Twilight did not look impressed as we made our way back to the classroom. Jen stretched as she entered the room.
“Oh wow, nature sure has fired me up!” she said loud enough for the teacher to hear. I quickly ducked past her and sat in my seat.
“Wonderful!” Miss Worth exclaimed. As she did, the bell rang. I grabbed my bag, and Jen slid her arm through mine.
“Let’s get our hot asses back home! We’ve got TV to watch, and stuff to drink!” she grinned as she dragged me behind her again, drawing attention. I began to have a small panic attack as she continued to drag me through the school, with the six girls and Ryan in tow.
“It’s like this every Friday… she’s gonna end up killing him one day” Ryan said, causing the six girls to laugh.
“Help me!” I looked back pleadingly at the small group. They all shrugged, and left me to my panic attack.
Good luck getting out of this one.
FUCK YOU!!!
Author's Note
Holy shit, a chapter for this?! Could it be real?
Yes, yes it is. I haven't forgotten, but since it's my birthday today (11th), I thought i'd finish this short chapter up just for you guys! As you might know, I've had irl shit going on, and it's been hell. But I've taken a small break from my jobs and have started to make these stories up again.
Let's get the ball rolling again!
Also, if you're a good artist, I have a small request. I'd like to change the image for this story, but I'm not god a drawing without a set image. So if you'd like to, post a comment down below with your art for this story, and I'll pick the one I like best for the cover art. Thank you in advance :)
