Saint Celestia's Academy Life

Chapters

The beginning of Greatness
The Train
The Past 1: Black Visor
Testing, Testing
His Secrets and Purpose

The beginning of Greatness

Cold rain tapped on the closed window, drumming a repetitive rhythm into the man’s head. He was sitting on the edge of his military grade cot, shuffling a deck of cards. A small smile was just visible by the dim ceiling light and he was quietly humming. He stopped what he was doing and put his cards in a small, black metal box on his small bedside table and turned out his light. He lay down in the cot, pulled the thin blanket over himself and started to drift into sleep. There was a sharp knock at the door. The man didn’t bother rolling over, or even getting up. He heard the door creak open.

“Oh, you’re already in bed… sorry” a female voice whispered gently. The man groaned.

“Just got in. What do you need?” the man said quietly, not moving.

“I just wanna talk, Char” the girl said softly. She closed the door behind her, and flicked on the light. Char hadn’t get gotten used to the dark, so the light didn’t come as too much of a shock to him. He rolled over and sat up. His eyes focused on the girl standing by the door. Her wings were curled behind her back, but Char could still see the dark purple tips poking out. He grinned.

“I don’t see why they gave you up. You’re gorgeous, Nightshade” he said in a slightly mocking tone.

“Oh, you’re such a charmer” she giggled sarcastically. She walked over to his cot and sat on the side. It creaked, and Char and Nightshade decided it would be best to move to the floor.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Char said, falling to the floorboards.

“Where do you keep getting the money?” Nightshade’s tone turned serious. Char stopped smiling.

“Huh? You know where it comes from” he said, pointing at the metal box on his bedside table.

“Have you been stealing again?” Nightshade pressed. Char shrugged.

“Have we had enough to eat?” Char asked. Nightshade nodded.

“Then yes” Char said bluntly. Nightshade put her hands on her hips. Char looked her up and down. From her dark purple hair and viridian eyes, down her slender body, right to her feet.

“You know how we feel about crime, Char” she said.

“Whatever we need to do to survive” Char shrugged. Nightshade sat down next to him and put her head on his shoulder.

“We can’t lose you, you mean too much to us…” she said, closing her eyes. Char pulled her into a hug.

“I’m not planning on getting caught with anything” He chuckled. While he was holding Nightshade, he looked over at the small mirror adjacent to him. His ash grey hair came halfway down the back of his neck. His most notable feature (if someone was looking for it, that is) was his eyes, which were grey, with 3 curved red lines going from the outside of the iris to the pupil in a spiral. His dark grey horn protruded from his forehead.

“That wasn’t the only thing, was it” Char asked. Nightshade pulled away.

“Sharp as ever. There’s only one more thing…” she smiled mischievously. She tapped the floorboards twice with her foot. The resulting sound echoed through the room. All of a sudden the door opened and three young children, a boy and two girls, ran into the room, followed by two teen boys, three teen girls, and an older woman who looked to be in her 30’s.

“Happy Birthday, Char!” a young girl with light blue hair jumped on him, knocking him onto the ground. The other young children soon followed, and soon Char was a seat for them.

“Happy Birthday!” the boy grinned, while the remaining girl continued to suck her thumb.

“Amber, Dawn, Mist! Let him breath!” the older woman called out. Amber, the little girl with bright red hair who was sucking her thumb, quickly got up. Mist, the young boy groaned and stood next to Char. Dawn, the girl with light blue hair simply rolled off of him. As soon as Char sat up, Amber quickly moved to his lap.

“Jeez…” Char grinned, running his hand through his hair. Everyone sat down in a circle on the floor. The older woman spoke first.

“It was just under 18 years ago that you were left on the doorstep of this house. Over that time, I’ve watched you grow from an energetic boy, to a fine young man. People have come and gone from here, but you treated them like family. You were, are, and always will be one of the greatest additions to the Hope’s Peak Orphanage” she smiled, she brushed her long brown hair out of her eyes, and her brown wings flicked out and then back in. Char smiled.

“Thanks Gem” Char grinned, keeping hold of the quiet girl on his lap.

“Now… these 5 want to say something” Gem said, turning to the five teenagers standing to the side. The two boys, and two of the girls looked like they were forced to be there, and the last girl looked like she felt slightly awkward.

“Tidal, Wolf, Leafa, Ren and Duskshine, what do you want to say?” Gem smiled sweetly, and Nightshade cracked her knuckles. Duskshine, a small unicorn with a green horn and dark brown hair tied back in a ponytail, stepped forward.

“H-happy Birthday, Char” she stammered nervously. Char chuckled. The other four teens nodded, muttering ‘Happy Birthday’. Tidal was an Earthian with deep blue hair that stopped halfway down her back and light blue eyes. Wolf was a Pegasi with similar coloured hair as Char that stopped halfway down his neck, but his eyes were a light brown. Leafa was an Earthian with dark green hair which flowed down to her knees and dark green eyes. Ren was a unicorn who had a red horn, blonde hair that stopped halfway down his neck, and hazel eyes.

“Thanks, you lot” Char smiled. Nightshade, who had returned to her spot next to Char, rested her head on his shoulder. Leafa and Tidal giggled at this, and Gem stared daggers at them.

“Now that the formalities are over, I can get to the main point” Gem said seriously, looking at Char. Confused, he continued to watch Gem without saying a word. She pulled a small wooden box out from behind her. The box was about 1 foot x 1 foot. She slid it over to Char, who slid it in front of himself. Hesitantly, he lifted the lid and peered inside. He pulled out two black gloves that had a grey emblem on the back. The emblem was of the number 1, surrounded on the left and right by Pegasus wings.

“Those are so cool… Little fancy, but so cool” Ren admired, as Char slipped them on. As soon as both were on, Char felt his magic focus exponentially.

“They’re magic items… Attuned to me” he said with a hint of surprise. Everyone wondered where they came from. He took them off, and pulled out the second item in the box. It was an envelope with Char’s name written in cursive on the front. He opened it neatly and read the letter.

“Dear Char,

Your mother and I are sorry we had to leave you, but IF you learn about our situation, you will realise that it was for the best. While we couldn’t provide for you, we always wished for your wellbeing, and know that you will have grown into an intelligent and cunning man.
We have asked Gem to give this to you on your 18th birthday, as our gift to you. We haven’t been the best parents, or even adequate parents… I’m not sure we could even be called parents at all. Never the less, we still love you. No doubt you saw the gloves? Those were created by someone very special to us all for you specifically. We’ll let you figure out who that is.

As to the next two items, both will be equally useful in the future. If you’re anything like you’re mother or I, you’ll have opened this letter second. If not, then you already know what they are. Good luck in the future and I hope we get the chance to meet.

Love Dad.”

Char finished reading the letter out loud. Gem put her hand on his shoulder.

“They still love you, Char, but I’ll understand if it still leaves a bitter taste in your mouth…” she said, but Char smiled it off.

“I’m more indifferent than bitter. They had their reasons, and I’ll find them out eventually” he shrugged. He placed the letter to the side, and pulled out a large object covered with a black cloth. He removed the cloth to find a box made out of grey metal.

“Wow, your parents sure liked boxes” Nightshade laughed. Char chuckled. He opened the box and his eyes widened.

“Well… these are certainly unexpected…” Char carefully pulled two grey wrist cuffs out of the box. They looked a little too big for his wrists, but he tried them on anyway. They shrunk to fit his wrists.

“Groovy” Char grinned as everyone stared at them.

“His parents must have been rich!” Tidal marvelled. Char noticed something glint in the bottom of the box. He reached in and his hand touched another two cold metal objects. He pulled them both out.

“Whoa! These aren’t something you see every day!” Char cocked his head to the side. He was holding two black handguns with slits instead of holes at the tips.

“Oh my god! Those are Class 1 Arcane Boosters!” Duskshine squealed.

“Rare, I take it?” Wolf asked, almost laughing.

“More like Fabled! Last I heard only 3 pairs were made, and one of those went missing” she said. She had crawled over to char and was staring intently at the guns. Char put them down and moved his attention back to the bigger box. He pulled belt holsters out. Dusk looked up and realised how close she was to Char. She went bright red and quickly backed up.

“You right there?” Char laughed, and everyone joined in. Dusk was looking away from everyone. The last thing in the big box was another letter.

“Another letter. Is it something like: ‘Psyche! We aren’t your parents!’?” Char chuckled. He pulled it out and carefully opened it. He read it out:

“Dear Recipient,

We would like to inform you that you have a place saved for you for the entrance exams for Saint Celestia’s Academy. The exams will be held on the 13th of December at 8:00 in the morning. Please be 1 hour early so we may seat you accordingly.

Regards,

Princess Celestia & Princess Luna”

No-one said anything for a minute as they allowed the information to sink in.

“Uhm… I’m… uh… Well… Shit” Char stammered, unsure of what to say.

“Isn’t that the school that all the prominent nobles and genius’ get into? The one that pretty much sets you up for life?” Gem asked, her eyes wide.

“Yeah… It’s the one I’m taking the flight aptitude test for tomorrow” Nightshade said unable to hide the massive smile on her face. She pulled Char into a hug and squealed loud enough to cause him to attempt to block his ears.

“Okay, okay, I get it. Can you let me go before my ribs puncture my lungs?” Char laughed, and Night let go.

“Since we have to get up early, I suggest we hit the sack. Yes, I agree with that” Char said, answering himself. Gem laughed, and everyone stood up.

“We’ll see you in the morning then” she said, kissing him on the forehead. Everyone said their goodnights, and Char finally collapsed onto his cot and fell into a nightmarish sleep.
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Princess Luna looked disturbed as she sipped on her coffee.

“Are you alright, sister? You’ve been nursing that cup for about 20 minutes now…” Princess Celestia, who was wearing a white nightgown and carrying a pillow, asked. Luna sighed.

“No… Something is bothering me… Every so often, I keep being launched into the dreams on one person… And those dreams are really starting to get to us…” she hung her head. Celestia came and sat by her sister, placing the pillow on her shoulder and resting her head on it.

“Well, would it help to talk about it?” She asked, yawning.

“Blood” Luna said quietly, glaring into the bitter, brown beverage.

Author's Note

Because I've been away for so long, I figured I should apologise greatly to you guys. And what better way to do that then with another story idea I've been tossing around in my head!

Enjoy everyone!

The Train

The morning came peacefully for a change. No screaming, no yelling, no gunfire. Just birds.

“Nightshade, wake up or you’ll miss the goddamn train!” Gem shouted from the kitchen. A door burst open, and nightshade ran down the stairs. She barrelled into the kitchen, her bat wings flared.

“What time is it?!” She screamed. She heard a small groan.

“Seven, and thanks for the little pick-me-up” The voice said. She turned her attention to where the voice came from. She saw Char sitting at the table, a spoon in his mouth and a bowl half filled with cereal in front of him. A small smirk was forming at the corner of his lips. She looked down, and realised she was only wearing a pair of panties. Her breasts were exposed for the young man to ogle. And boy was he. She squealed and flew up the stairs back to her room.

“Good morning for you, Char?” Gem sighed to the man. He laughed.

“One of my better ones thanks for asking” He said as he tipped the bowl back and drank the milk.

“Now, when you get into the Academy, you probably shouldn’t do that. It still freaks me out how you can do that…” Gem said sternly. Char nodded.

“I know… I’ll only use it if necessary” He saluted jokingly, but Gem stared at him.

“And don’t do that again, or I’ll pile drive you” She said. He knew she wasn’t joking, and gulped. Nightshade walked back down the stairs, this time dressed in a dark blue top, and a pair of black jeans. She was wearing a pair of worn out white runners and was wheeling an average sized bag behind her.

“Got anything for the go, cause we gotta get going?” Night asked, as Gem threw her an apple.

“We’re coming with you guys until you get in” Gem smiled, as Char stood up. He was wearing a white shirt with several green splotches on it, and a pair of grey pants that had been modified with a specific pocket for easy access to his metal case that held his cards. The most noticeable change in his outfit was the leather straps around his waist and left thigh. As he turned around to pick up his backpack, Night saw the two Arcane Boosters holstered in leather holsters on his back, just above his hips. She also saw the two bracelets on his wrists, and the fingers of one of the gloves hanging out of his pocket. His worn out grey sneakers had nothing out of the ordinary.

“Nice mods” she remarked, as Char turned around. Clattering and shouting was heard from upstairs. Before Gem could shout out, she was interrupted.

“SHUT UP AND GET DOWN HERE!!! AND IF I HEAR ONE MORE PEEP OUT OF ANY OF YOU UNTIL WE’RE ON THE TRAIN, SO HELP ME CREATOR, I’LL SHOW YOU A 'FIREBRAND’ LIKE YOU'VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE!!!” Char yelled. The screaming stopped, and the clambering became more frantic until everybody in the house had bolted downstairs, and now stood in a line. The only one missing was Amber.

“I’ll go get her, can you get everyone ready?” he asked Gem, who simply nodded. He walked past the line of teens and kids and up the stairs. He opened the third door on the right, and saw the little girl standing on the edge of her crib, holding the side.

“Hey princess, we gotta get going. Let’s get you changed” He smiled sweetly. He heard a chuckle from behind him.

“You’re so cute when you’re in dad mode” Nightshade laughed. Char rolled his eyes as he picked Amber up. He quickly changed her from her pyjamas into a bright pink dress with a large sunflower on the front. He picked her up and she wrapped her arms as far as she should around his neck. Nightshade and Char made their way downstairs, where everyone now had their luggage by the door, courtesy of Gem.

“Let’s get the hell out of here” Gem sighed. Everyone quickly grabbed their luggage and rushed out the door.
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20 minutes of walking later, the group arrived at the train station.

“See you later, Anvil!” Nightshade hollered, and Char softly hit her on the head.

“I agree, but lower the volume a touch” He raised an eyebrow. Night laughed sheepishly. Char walked up to the woman at the ticket station.

“9 returns, and 2 one-ways to Canterlot, thanks” He said, pulling a note out of his bag.

“Char? Is that you?” the woman said, quickly ringing up the tickets. Char looked up and recognised the woman.

“Oh shit… Ivy? Damn it’s been a while” He grinned. Their hands clasped together across the counter.

“Word travels quickly, man. Congratulations and good luck in the station” Ivy laughed, as she handed him the tickets. Before Char could ask what she meant, she had ushered the person behind him to come forward. Confused, he headed back to his group and handed out the tickets.

“Alright, stick together, and if anyone tries to take your wallet or bag, you yell for me or Gem” Char lectured. Everyone but Gem nodded, and they all entered the station. All of a sudden, around forty people all turned and cheered. Two men and two women walked up to the group.

“Ey-yo man, we heard da news” one of the men, a small bald tattooed man, said. He pulled Char into a hug. He was wearing a white singlet with sagging blue jeans.

“Congratulations, you two” one of the women, a slender woman with long blonde hair, said as she pulled Nightshade into a bone crushing hug. The other woman said nothing, simply typing away on a smartphone. She was wearing a simple black business suit, and her long black hair was tied back into a ponytail.

“It won’t be the same without you guys” the last man said. He was wearing a black hoodie with blue jeans. His short brown hair was messy. He held out his hand, and Char took it.

“You need anything there; you go to this place and speak to this person. Show them your badge, and they’ll hook you up with whatever you need” the man said as he palmed off a note. Char nodded.

“We’ll remember you guys when we’re rich” Night chuckled, and everyone but the suited girl laughed.

“We’ve used the allotted time, we need to get back to work” she said, sighing.

“Jeez, always so stingy… alright, we gotta go. Good luck you guys” the man with the hoodie said. They all left, followed by the forty or so other people.

“Never thought the faction would come see us off, heh” Char laughed.

“And we’d better get on the train, or else we’re going to be seeing them again real soon” Gem said, giving Char a small shove towards to train that had pulled in.

“We’d better find a room, or I’m gonna be super pissed for the entire trip” Night said, frowning, and pushing past Char in the hunt for a good room.
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After a 3 hour journey, the train pulled into a station. Mist looked out the window.

“We’re in Ponyville now” he marvelled as he stared out the window in awe.

“Looks cool. I’m gonna head to the food cart, I’m starving” Char said. He stood up and began to walk out the door, when Nightshade grabbed his arm.

“You haven’t finished with me, yet” she said, pointing at the chess board in front of her. He sighed and moved his rook three squares forward.

“Checkmate” he winked, opened the door and walked out. Night sat back and swore under her breath. The teenagers laughed loudly, and Night glared at them.

“You can’t beat him Night… How do you think we survived for the first 10 years?” Gem giggled as she took a sip from her bottle of water, and continued to entertain Amber, who was sitting on her knee. Tidal, Dusk, Ren, and Leafa were all sitting and talking with each other. Dawn was looking at the chess board, and Mist was still looking out the window. Wolf stood up.

“Ugh, I’m gonna go see who I can meet out there” he groaned, as he stretched. He left the room, and wandered down the hall. He made his way into the food cart, and saw char standing in front of the buffet.

“God, there’s no-one interesting on this train” he complained as he walked up to Char. Char shrugged.

“What did you expect? My guess would be the most colourful characters come from The Anvil” Char chuckled. Wolf laughed. He grabbed a plate and started to pile food onto it. Char grabbed a bottle of water and walked over to a table. He set his plate down and waved wolf over. Wolf grabbed cutlery and his own bottle of water and walked over.

“So man, you’ve never told us how you got so good at gambling. Spill” Wolf said as he sat down and started to pile food onto his fork. Char made a small cut into the schnitzel on his plate.

“I’m not good at gambling. I’m just lucky… and perceptive” Char grinned as he raised the fork to his mouth and ate the chicken on the end. Wolf shook his head, and started to talk about random things as they continued to eat. 20 minutes later, they felt the train lurch forward as it continued its journey.

“And we’re off again” Wolf sighed as he held his head. Char reached over and patted his head.

“You’re really not good with this stuff, are you?” he sighed. Wolf shook his head, and then raised it.

“I’m fine. Just need some water” he said. Char slid his bottle over to him and Wolf skulled the entire thing.

“Much better” he said. Char smiled. Wolf pointed at him.

“Could you show me how you shuffle again? I still don’t really understand how you do it with one hand…” Wolf asked. Char nodded and took the metal box out of his pocket.

“Sure, I don’t really know how to explain it, but if you follow my fingers you should be able to see how I do it” he said as he slid the deck of cards out of the box. He began to slowly show Wolf how he shuffled. About 35 minutes later, he stopped when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned his head and was met by two girls who were standing behind him, smiling. Wolf smirked.

“How can we help you, ladies?” He smiled, instantly looking better than he did earlier.

“You seemed pretty interesting. We’ve never seen anyone like you” one of the girls said, grinning. She had long, bright red and yellow striped hair, and seemed to give off an air of control. The other one had long, Ice blue and white swirled hair. The Red haired one seemed to be trying to read Char, staring at him with her light blue eyes, while the Blue haired one just seemed interested in the cards he was holding, her bright green eyes were following his hand movements as he shifted the cards around.

“Well, why don’t you sit with us, and we’ll try to answer anything you ask” Wolf asked, grinning slyly. The girl with red hair sat next to Char, and the girl with blue hair sat next to wolf.

“I’m Sunset Shimmer, and this is my friend, Blizzard” the red haired one said, smiling.

“Well, I’m Wolf, and this is… well, he’s sort of my brother… Char” Wolf said, pointing at Char, who nodded and smiled.

“You don’t talk much, do you?” Blizzard asked, looking at Char.

“Not really” he smiled. Sunset smirked.

“I bet 20 bits I can get more than two words out of you at a time by the next hour” she held out her hand. Char shook it.

“You lose” he grinned and pointed at the clock. As she looked, the clock ticked over, reading 4 pm. She sighed and took out her wallet.

“Bloody technicalities” she laughed, as she put the note on the table. He picked it up and looked at it for a second. Char waved over a waiter.

“Can we get a three Chimera’s and a coke?” he handed him the note. The waiter nodded and scurried off to the back.

“What’s a Chimera?” Blizzard asked. Wolf grumbled something about not being able to drink.

“A strong Cocktail” Char shrugged. Wolf answered any questions they had for a few minutes, until the waiter came back. He placed the coke down in front of wolf, and he placed a tray down with 3 tall glasses on it. They had a combination of red, green, blue, purple, orange and grey liquids in it, with a little umbrella. The waiter placed them in front of the girls and Char, and left. Char sipped his and sighed, remembering his old job. The girls slowly took a sip, and their faces lit up.

“Well, you weren’t wrong… that’s nice” Sunset smiled. Blizzard nodded.

“And Strong” she added. They finished their drinks as they all talked. Wolf did most of the talking, while Char mainly listened. After another ten minutes, he saw a blue haired man approach Wolf from behind and tap his shoulder.

“You enjoying chatting up our girls?” he asked, glaring at Wolf. Behind him was another man with orange hair. Sunset sighed.

“God damn it, Flash… we can have whatever friends we want” she glared at the blue haired man.

“We do have lives, Carbon” Blizzard turned to glare at the orange haired man.

“When they’re buying you drinks and staring you up, I’d say they want to be more than friends” Flash stated, now glaring at Char.

“Winning personality there, bud. It’s called being friendly. But I can understand why you’d be so protective over them” Char said glaring back.

“What was that, you little shit” Carbon said, stepping forward, and Blizzard stood up.

“Let’s not make a scene here. Don’t want the train guards here” Char said, sitting back in his chair and picking up his card case. Carbon growled and stepped back. Flash chuckled.

“Kid’s got some brains” he said, smirking.

“I’m pretty sure we’re the same age” Char deadpanned. Sunset sighed and stood up. She pulled a pen out of her pocket and took Chars arm. She wrote two numbers on it.

“Call us some time, we’ll do lunch” she smiled, and Blizzard nodded.

“Will do” Wolf grinned, and Char smiled. Flash and Carbon frowned as the girls joined them, and dragged them away. Char and Wolf decided it would be best to go back to the room. As they were heading back, they came across a large congregation around a cabin.

“Dude, she hasn’t lost a hand yet!” a man said in the audience.

“There has to be a trick or something” a girl said. Curious, Char wound his way through the crowd. Naturally, Wolf followed him. As they made it into the cabin, they saw an older gentleman sitting across from a younger girl. The girl had lavender hair with a pink stripe, and was sporting a purple sweater vest with a white shirt underneath, and a skirt that was a slightly darker shade of purple. On the table was a poker set up. The gentleman seemed to be sweating bullets, while the girl was calm. He threw down his cards.

“Argh, I can’t win…” he sighed and stood up. He put 20 bits on the table and left. People cheered as he walked past them. Char grinned.

“Mind if I sit in for a hand?” he asked. The girl nodded and pointed at the seat the gentleman was just in.

“What’s your name?” he asked as she started to shuffle the cards.

“Twilight Sparkle. What’s yours?” she asked sweetly. As she put the cards down to reach for her wallet, Char leaned over and picked up the cards. He began to shuffle them a different way to her.

“It’s Char, and we’ll play with my shuffle” he smirked. Twilight waited for a second before shrugging. She placed the 20 bit note she just won into her wallet, and Char put the deck back onto the table. She set up and dealt quickly, and looked at her cards. To everyone else, no emotion showed on her face. To Char, however, there were small tells all over her. The slight twitch of the right index finger, slightly accelerated blinking, minute sharper breaths. He grinned, and quickly looked at the top of his cards, not allowing anyone around him to see. He smiled at the cards.

“Raise 20” he said confidently. Twilight didn’t react.

“Raise 10” she said flatly.

“Raise 10” Char said immediately after. Twilight raised an eyebrow.

“Call” she flips over her cards.

“Flush” she smiled, as she reached over for the cards.

“That’s 40 bits-” she started, but Char raised his hand.

“Not so fast, Missy. You’re basing your win off your cards. Maybe you should wait for your opponent” Char chuckled as he flipped his cards.

“Royal Straight Flush” he said. Twilight's smile dropped.

“Wait, what?” she said, leaning over to his cards. They did indeed match up to a Royal Straight Flush.

“How the…” she started, and Char leaned forward so his mouth was right next to her ear.

“50% luck, 50% knowing how to stop someone counting cards” he whispered, and she sat back, dumbstruck. The entire congregation was silent.

“That’s 40 bits” Char smirked. Twilight reached into her wallet and pulled out the notes. She handed them to Char, who just put them in his pocket.

“Better luck next time, Twilight” he smiled as he stood and walked through the throng of people, Wolf in tow.

“S-she lost?” a girl in the crowd asked.

“I need some time to think, can everyone please go?” she asked politely. Everyone began to file away. 5 girls stayed in the cabin.

“Jeez Twi… Did it really hit you that hard?” The rainbow haired Tomboy asked.

“It’s not that Rainbow Dash… How did he know I was counting cards?” Twilight asked, looking out the door in the direction he had walked.
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Char and Wolf had made it back to the cabin. Char was lying across several of the seats attempting to sleep, Nightshade and Gem were sitting across from him, talking and minding the children, and the Teens had left to go somewhere. Chars’ eyes shot open just before there was a knock on the door. Gem stood up and opened the door.

“Uh, Char. There’s a girl here for you” she said, walking back into the cabin. Char sat up and recognised Twilight.

“How did you find me?” he asked, looking worriedly around the room. Before she could answer, another voice called out from the hall.

“She can get mighty hung up about the smallest things” a girl with a southern accent walked in. Her red and grey checked shirt and blue jeans added to the southern stereotype, only beaten by her Stetson.

“Hung up? About what?” Char asked, confused.

“How could you tell I was counting cards?” Twilight asked, taking a step closer.

“Oh, that all?” he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Not much to say, really… It’s really obvious to someone who’s seen it for most of their life” he said, lying back down.

“What did you mean by ‘stop someone who’s counting cards’?” Twilight asked, taking another step closer.

“Well, I noticed you had OCD. With my HPD, I was able to make small gestures that annoyed you and knocked off your concentration, such as leaving a card slightly off centre” Char explained with a sigh.

“OCD? HPD? What the hell are those?” a rainbow haired girl wearing a sports singlet and gym shorts leaned in.

“OCD is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. She can’t stand it when things don’t fit together right. HPD is Hyper-Perception Disorder. I notice the smallest things about anything, even when I don’t want to” Char explained again. Before anyone could start saying anything else, they heard a small grunt and Nightshade sighing.

“Char, she wants you again” Night said, holding out Amber. Char sat up and took Amber off Night, placing her on his knee. She grabbed his arm.

“You’re nearly four now, Tiny” Char smiled. Amber shuffled up to his body and grabbed his shirt

“Don’t care” she said softly. Gem raised an eyebrow and grinned, while Night’s jaw dropped.

“She never speaks to me… this is bullshit” she grumbled, and Char shot her a glare.

“Language” his eyes drilled holes into hers, and she backed away.

“S-sorry” Night replied nervously. Twilight looked kind of nervous as well.

“I-Is she yours?” she asked hesitantly. Char turned and looked at her blankly for a second.

“Oh, she’s not my daughter. I guess I’m the closest thing she has to a father, though, so I’ve take the role of a father” he shrugged, rubbing Amber’s head as she clung to his shirt.

“What do you mean ‘closest thing she has to a father’?” Twilight continued. This time, Gem spoke up.

“I can answer that one. This lot, and the missing 5, are orphans. Char is the closest thing they have to father, and I’ve tried being the best mother I can” she said calmly. Char and Nightshade nodded. The three girls looked at her, confused.

“Oh, I’m sorry… I should probably introduce myself. My name’s Gem, and I’m the House Mother for Hopes Peak Orphanage” she smiled warmly and extended her hand. The girls shook her hand and introduced themselves.

“I’m Twilight Sparkle, it’s nice to meet you” Twilight smiled.

“Ahm Applejack” the girl wearing the Stetson grinned warmly and took a firm grip of Gems hand.

“My name’s Rainbow Dash!” the girl with rainbow hair exclaimed, and enthusiastically shook Gems hand.

“I’m Nightshade” Night spoke up from next to Gem, and held out her own hand. The girls shook it, and turned back to Char, who had seemingly lost all interest and was now playing with Amber.

“Ah think we should leave them be for now, Twi” Applejack placed her hand on Twilights’ shoulder.

“But I still have a few more que-” she began, but Applejack and Rainbow Dash dragged her out of the room before saying their goodbyes and shutting the door. Rainbow Dash was the first to speak up.

“Oh crap, that might have been really insensitive” she said with a worried look on her face. It took a second for it to sink in, before the other two realised.

“Oh crap” Twilight said, her mood sinking, and Applejack just stayed silent. Night poked her head out the door.

“Don’t worry, we don’t care” she said plainly. The three girls turned around and stared at her.

“I have amazing hearing” Night shrugged. She said goodbye and shut the door. The three girls didn’t know what to say. They walked back to their room in silence. Nightshade sat down.

“Ugh, someone reeks… shower before we get there” she complained.

“That’d be you” Gem said, looking sideways. Night raised an eyebrow and quickly gave herself a sniff. She retched and practically teleported into the bathroom.

“I’ll take one before we have to get off… too lazy now” Char sighed as he lay down. Amber had gone back to Gem. He closed his eyes, and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

12 hours later, the train finally stopped at the final station. Nightshade stretched as she exited the train.

“Ah, man… that took too long” she complained. Char, who had exited the train behind her, cracked his neck.

“Good view, though” he smiled, as he peered out at the castle in the distance. The teens and kids followed behind them, ushered by Gem.

“C’mon, c’mon, we need to get going or we’re gonna miss the bus to the compound” Gem said, ushering everyone forward.
After an hour on the bus they caught outside the station, the group, as well as many others, disembarked in front of the compound.

“Jeez, I didn’t think it’d be at the Palace” Dusk said with wonder. Everyone muttered their agreements. Tidal turned to Gem.

“Didn’t you head up here for a while a few years ago?” she asked. It was Char who spoke up.

“Yeah, and I never thought we’d come back” he grimaced. Gem nodded solemnly.

“That was an unpleasant trip… And I’ve been to Draconia in the middle of a war…” Gem said.

Author's Note

Birthday updates, yay! I've got plenty of ideas for all 3 stories, but putting them into words is gonna take a while.

The Past 1: Black Visor

CANTERLOT, 5 YEARS AGO

The building was smoking and in ruins, but it made the perfect cover. 6 people, all in Black power armour, were hiding behind the walls. One of them pressed a pressure pad on the side of their neck, and their black helmet retracted into their neck brace. The woman didn’t bother flicking out her brown hair, seeing as she would be re-activating her helmet soon.

“Sweet creator I can breathe again” Gem sighed. She quickly did a scan of the area, and her weapons. The Devastator class spell rifle she held was showing half charge.

“Hey C, can you recharge this for me?” she threw the rifle to a smaller person, who didn’t press the pad on their neck.

“Sure, gimme a sec” a very young male voice said. He cracked his shoulders and took hold of the rifle. His hands began to glow grey and the rifles’ charge began to increase. The other 3 had passed their rifles to another small person, who sighed.

“C’mon F, you make the best explosive rounds” one of the men said.

“Fine, but you better not go ham with them again. It was a nightmare to clean up last time” A young girls’ voice came from the helmet. Her hands glowed red and the charge in the rifle began to increase as well. Gem had set up a Holo-Recorder. She tapped the top, and a map of the castle in front of them came up, along with a report on current events inside.

“Alright, everyone fall in” she called, everyone quickly gathered around the recorder.

“It seems that the Changeling Queen has broken into the throne room. The three princesses seem to be in immediate danger, so we need to hoof it and get in there. You three will provide back up once we get to the throne room. No-one gets close to the throne room” She pointed at the three people next to F. They nodded.

“C will charge in and do what he does, while F and I will provide covering fire to keep any grunts in the throne room off his ass. We all clear?” she shut down the Holo-Recorder. Everyone nodded. She pressed the pad on her neck brace, and the helmet enclosed her head.

“C, wipe your visor, we need all the accuracy you’ve got” she patted his shoulder. He wiped his hand over the V shaped visor over his eyes. The layered, mana-infused plate metal glinted around the black infused glass.

“Alright, let’s do this!” Gem held out her fist. Everyone put their fists in.

“Let’s go!” Everyone yelled. They moved as a cohesive unit into the compound.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

20 minutes later, the group of 6 were outside the throne room. The three men stood at the ready, prepared to defend everyone. C threw his rifle over to F who dropped the mana charge pack out of the gun, and grabbed another one from the container on her thigh. She jammed it in, and she got a confirmation bell. C pulled a knife out of the sheathe on his back.

“We’ve got one chance. Let’s do what we do, and kill those who say it’s impossible” Gem nodded C and F nodded as well, the three men had all restocked their rifles, and were ready to defend.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“It’s simple, Celestia. You give us Equestria, and we kill you and your sister quickly” the Changeling Queen laughed, as she lifted Celestias’ chin. She was restrained to her throne, next to Luna. Cadence was unconscious on the floor next to the both of them. Celestia simply shook her head.

“Very well… this is going to be fun” the Changeling Queen smirked. A changeling pulled a pair of pliers out of a bag, and gave it to her. Before anything could start, the door was blown off its hinges. The Queen turned around to see three people in black power armour charge in. Two stayed back and began firing their spell rifles into the surrounding changelings, causing them to drop like flies.

“FUCK! THE JACKHAMMERS ARE HERE!” a Changeling yelled, just before getting hit with an explosive round. The Queen was about to fire a spell at the two Jackhammers killing off her men, but she quickly realised that the third one was missing.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

As soon as F blew the door, C rocketed forward, using his Sonic Step ability to add extra speed. Before the Queen had realised it, C was already in front of her. He slashed up with the knife, leaving a neat cut right across her eye. Green blood sprayed out and she screamed in pain. C wasn’t affected, as he continued his assault. He moved at a blinding speed, his knife accurate and deadly. Even with her eye incapacitated, the Queen was still able to dodge 20% of his strikes. The strikes that landed were beginning to take their toll on her. Even though they were small, they were strategically placed to slow her down and limit her movement.

“C!” F yelled. She had pulled her knife out of her sheathe and thrown it to him. He spun quickly to catch the knife. The Queen saw an opportunity. A blade appeared in a flash of green magic in her hand, and as C spun to continue his assault, the Queen rammed her blade through his stomach. It penetrated his armour, and the blade exited though his back. He gasped in pain, but he didn’t stop. He pulled himself down to the hilt, and used the Queen herself as leverage to get himself to just above her eye level. He lifted the knives above his head, and as he came down brought both blades down into her shoulders. They penetrated her shoulder plates, causing her to scream. Without missing a beat, C grabbed the neck of her chestplate and rammed his helmeted head into hers as hard as he could. A loud crunch echoed through the throne room and green stained black glass tinkled onto the ground. As C brought his head back, the Queen had green blood staining the entire lower half of her face. C let go of her with his right hand and reels it back. It glowed grey as he poured as much mana into it as he could. He brought his fist into her face and forced all the mana he had charged out. She flew back into a pillar, which cracked and fell around her. A heavily armour changeling smashed through a window behind the thrones, and flew over to the pile of rubble. It pulled the Queen out.

“We’re pulling out, everyone back home!” she shouted, as she flew through the window behind her. Any surviving changelings had begun to evacuate the city. C pulled the blade out from his stomach and threw it to the ground. He sighed. F walked up behind him and put her hand on his shoulder.

“Awesome” she said. He laughed. He walked over to the princess’ that were restrained. He took a shard of glass from the ground, and slashed the ropes holding them to the throne.

“F, take care of the collapsed one” C said, pointing at Princess Cadence. F nodded and walked over to her. C scanned the room. Gem was debriefing the three men who defended the room. After a few minutes, Cadence had recovered enough to sit upright. F was assisting her in drinking and energy restoring drink, and the other two Princesses were seated on their thrones. Luna was still shivering. Everyone else was standing in front of them.

“We… don’t really know what to say other than thank you. You’ve not only saved our lives, but the lived of many, many of our subjects. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts, and all of Equestria thanks you” Princess Celestia bowed her head. The three guys were all whispering to each other excitedly. C was the first to speak.
“We don’t do what we do for thanks. What we do is for ourselves” he said. Princess Celestia raised her head and looked at the boy, who had just doubled over and started coughing. F stood up and wrapped her arms around him. The both of them glowed green for a few seconds, before she let go. He straightened himself, and Celestia looked at his shattered visor. She stared into his eyes. His grey eyes with red talon swirls.

“Whether or not you do it for thanks, you are deserving of it and much more” she said smiling. C turned around and started to leave. F followed him.

“If you want to thank someone, thank her. She’s the one who taught us to protect what was dear to us” He called back, pointing at Gem, who hit the pad on the side of her neck causing her helmet to retract.

“And what is your name?” Celestia asked Gem, still watching C and F leave.

“My name is Gem, your majesty” she said, flicking out her brown hair.

Author's Note

Don't you just love Birthday updates?

Testing, Testing

It was 7:30 am and the hall was full. People were standing around, talking and laughing. Char was standing around, holding Amber, and waiting for it to start. Nightshade was talking to a group of girls, and the teens were all talking to different people. Gem was standing with the other parents, keeping the children with her. Amber refused to leave Char, so she just left her with him. He heard a sigh next to him.

“Shouldn’t you be with the other parents?” he heard a girls’ voice next to him. He turned and the first thing he saw was the outrageous witches’ hat she was wearing. Her pale light blue hair stopped halfway down her back, but it was mostly covered by a purple cape. Her blue skirt was short, and her white shirt showed a bit of cleavage.

“She’s not mine, but I could probably use her to pick up some mothers” he said flatly, causing the girl to raise her eyebrows.

“So you stole a kid, and now plan to stand in front of the Princess’? You’ve got some balls” the girl said, taking out a wand.

“I’m like her brother, and her guardian is over with the other parents. She refused to leave me, so I’m holding her. And can you be a bit quieter, she’s asleep” Char said, staring at the girl. She thought for a second, and put her wand away.

“So, who are you?” she asked, facing the front.

“Name’s Char, and you?” Char said, also facing the front.

“I am the Great and Powerful Trixie! You would do best to remember that” she announced loudly, causing Amber to shift in Chars’ right arm.

“Yes, nice to meet you, now please be a bit quieter” he turned to her and held out his left hand, which Trixie reluctantly took. Before the conversation could continue, someone tapped on the microphone on the stage.

“Welcome everyone. I am Princess Celestia, Princess of Equestria and the head of the Academy, and this is my sister, Princess Luna. We thank you all for coming, and know that some of you have had to travel quite large distances to be here. The entrance exams will begin shortly, so if you are taking the exams please ready yourself. We are expecting great things. Good luck to all, and thank you for coming. Parents, guardians and others, you may wait outside the exam room for your child to finish. Please head to the throne room, and we’ll place you in groups of 25. We shall see you all very soon” Princess Celestia, who had taken her place at the podium, spoke with confidence and grace. Princess Luna was standing next to her, smiling and scanning the crowd. Princess Celestia was wearing white pants, and a white blouse, while Luna had gone more formal, wearing a flowing dark blue dress. They both walked off stage, and everyone started to chatter again, and began moving out of the hall. Gem, Nightshade, and all of the teenagers walked back over to Char.

“Here we go!” Night said excitedly. After a bit of prompting, Char was finally able to hand Amber over to Gem.

“Good luck you two” Duskshine said, hugging Nightshade. Nightshade rubbed her head. After letting go, she turned to Char. She slowly wrapped her arms around his waist. She was hiding her face. Leafa smiled, knowing what was going on. The other teens were saying good luck to night, but Leafa just watched Dusk hugging Char. Char pulled Dusk into the hug.

“We’ll see you guys real soon, don’t worry. I hear the Academy lets you take breaks” Char laughed. As the hug broke off, everyone else had finished talking to night.

“Jeez, you took your sweet time there, Dusk” Ren laughed. Leafa giggled, and Dusk went bright red. Trixie coughed.

“Don’t you need to get going? Guardians are to wait outside, so why are they wishing you good luck?” she asked Char, who turned to her.

“I’m not a guardian, I’m an applicant” he said flatly. Trixie’s jaw dropped.

“You can’t be serious… Looking like that?” she exclaimed, pointing at the green splotches on his shirt.

“I really don’t want to hear that from you” Char said, raising his eyebrow. He turned to leave the hall as Trixie fumed at the comment.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Everyone had gathered outside the throne room. Gem looked on reminiscently while Char and Night were give colour-coded armbands. Both were a bright red. A Royal guard came out of the room.

“Alright everyone. I’m going to call out colours one at a time and when your colour is called, enter the throne room. Your colour has been decided by the armband you were given. The first colour is red. Anyone with a red armband is to enter the throne room” the guard said, pointing at the door.

“That’s us, Night. Let’s roll” Char grinned, placing his hand on Night’s shoulder.

“Let’s do this” she smiled widely. With the group waving them off, they entered the throne room.

‘Man, it’s been a while since I’ve been here… hmm… needs more green’ Char thought, causing him to laugh out loud. Night looked at him.

“Welcome everyone in red class” Princess Celestia said, sitting on her throne. Princess Luna was sitting next to her, but looking slightly anxious to get off of her throne. Celestia stood up.

“We’ll give you some time to get acquainted with your classmates, teachers, and us” Celestia said. The 36 people began to mutter. They began to move around talking to each other and the various teachers littered around the room. Night walked off, and Char started looking around the room. He saw several men and women that he thought looked interesting. He felt a tap on his shoulder, and he turned around. He saw a familiar head of purple hair.

“Hey, you’re in this class too” Twilight smiled sheepishly. A smile made its way on Char’s face.

“Hey Card counter” he grinned.

“It’s Twilight! And I have something to say to you…” she said, making circles with her foot. Char’s face lightened up a bit.

“I’m… uh… sorry about being insensitive… I had no idea you were an orphan” she said softly. Char placed his hand on her head.

“Don’t worry about it, Twilight. I got over it years ago. They must have had a good reason to leave me, and if I never find out what it is, that’s just how it goes” he smiled gently, causing Twilight to relax. All of a sudden, they heard a gasp.

“Not you again, Twilight Sparkle!” a familiar voice shouted, drawing attention from all around the room. They turned to face the voice.

“Oh come on, Trixie! Can’t we meet without you trying to insult me?” Twilight groaned, and Char looked back and forth between the two.

“Bad blood?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. Twilight sighed.

“You don’t know the half of it…” she said. She proceeded to explain their situation, with many interjections from Trixie.

“Ok… So basically, you don’t hate each other, but you don’t know how to get along?” he asked. Both girls were about to argue, but stopped. They couldn’t think of an argument.

“Uh… I really don’t know how to respond to that…” Twilight said, scratching her chin. Trixie remained silent. As the two continued to think, Char heard a small voice from behind him.

“Uhm… excuse me?” a small female voice asked. He turned around to see Princess Luna fidgeting behind him.

“Oh, hello Princess” Char smiled. Princess Luna squealed when he said that, surprising the two girls behind him.

“I can’t believe it’s really him, sister! It’s Ash!” she squealed with joy and handed him a note pad and pen.

“Would you please give me your autograph?” she asked excitedly. Char chuckled and quickly signed the paper.

“How do you know who I am?” he asked curiously. He handed back the pad and pen. Before Luna could respond, Celestia spoke up.

“Anvil Bloodsports are posted on the internet all the time” she said, smiling elegantly.

“And you are my favourite fighter” Luna said. She pulled out her smart phone and showed him the wallpaper. It was a picture of him with blood on his knuckles standing in a ring. Char shook his head.

“They record those?” he sighed. Twilight walked up next to him.

“Oh yes, they even make print-it-yourself posters. Luna has several in her room” Celestia said calmly, causing Luna to go bright red.

“Sister!” she exclaimed, causing Char to laugh.

“Uhm, what are Anvil Bloodsports?” Twilight asked. Char turned his head.

“Simply put, a fighting tournament. No padding, no cushioning. The only way to win is either knock out or kill” he said darkly causing Twilight to go pale. Luna was quickly tapping away on her phone. After a few seconds, she handed the phone to Twilight.

“Press play” she said. Twilight did so, and the video played.

“Oh my…” Twilight said, her eyes showing a mix of curiosity and terror. Char was slightly embarrassed.

“Jeez…” Char sighed rubbing the bridge of his nose. As Twilight was about to speak, Char quickly braced. Not a second after he did, a pink blur slammed into him. The resulting mass tumbled for a few seconds before coming to a stop. Char was lying on his back with his hands on the back of his head. He groaned and tried to get up, but felt a weight pressing down on his hips and chest. He slowly opened his eyes and was greeted by another girl.

“And just what do you think you were doing, mister?” she said looking him up and down. He groaned again as he took in the situation. A girl with pink, poofy hair, wearing a pink button up shirt and a short blue skirt, was currently straddling his waist with her hands on his chest.

“Pinkie! What the heck?!” Twilight ran over to the two and started trying to pull the girl off, but was having no luck.

“Please get off” Char said plainly. The girl kept staring at him. He sighed and the bracelet on his left hand glowed grey. Almost instantly, the girl was surrounded by a grey hue, and was lifted into the air. She started to giggle as Char stood up and put her back on the ground. As soon as he did she zipped straight up to him, her nose touching his. She was glaring straight into his eyes.

“What’s your game, mister?” she asked. Char still had no idea what was going on, and Twilight was trying to reason with the girl. A thought popped into Char’s head, and he formulated a plan around it.

“Look here, miss. Shouldn’t we introduce ourselves first? I mean, your only options now are to either back up, or give me a kiss” he smirked. As the girl glared into his eyes, Char was trying to read hers.

‘What the ever-loving fuck is going on in this girls head?’ he thought, seeing nothing that made sense. The girl giggled slightly not moving her face away.

“My name’s Pinkie Pie, but everyone just calls me Pinkie. And we both know there’s only one correct choice” she said, and by the wait her cheek bones rose, Char guessed she was grinning. Without warning, she quickly pecked him on the lips and stepped back, laughing. Celestia had raised an eyebrow, and Luna and Twilight had gone bright red. Char smirked.

“P-P-P-P-Pinkie!? Why did you do that?!” Twilight practically shrieked, to which Pinkie just stuck out her tongue playfully.

“I don’t believe Char gave her a choice” Celestia said calmly. Twilight turned to the Princess.

“He gave her two choices: one that she had to take, and one that was optional. My guess is, he deciphered her personality, and worded the choices in a way that would work in his favour. Twilight had slightly recovered.

“Great, so he’s a perv, then?” she said, looking over at the man, who shrugged.

“If wanting a cute girl to kiss you is being a perv, then I guess I am” he said, matter-of-factly. He turned back to the girl. His eyes quickly scanned her.

‘Definitely not bad in the body department’ he thought, his eyes quickly gliding down her figure. Her larger than average breasts definitely stood out, but what he noticed was her hips. Somehow perfectly proportional to the rest of her body, but and still managed to fit into her very short skirt.

“Oh, by the way, my name’s Char” he smirked as he held out his hand. The girl took it and shook it enthusiastically.

“Wonderful to meet you, so how did you make friends with Twi, here? Did you meet her at a library, talk over a book? Or did you meet in a book store? Or did the author of the story really just want you to me-” Twilight quickly covered the flow of words leaving Pinkie’s mouth.

“Interesting ideas, but the story is much funnier. I caught her trying to count cards on the train, so I beat her at her own game. Our first meeting cost her 40 bits and her pride” Char laughed, causing Twilight to go red. Trixie burst out laughing.

“I wouldn’t be laughing, our first meeting consisted of you thinking I was going to stand in front of the Princesses with a kidnapped child” he smirked, causing Trixie to go red and Celestia to chuckle.

“I guess we had better get the exam started” she said. She and Luna teleported up to their thrones, causing everyone to stop and look.

“Alright everyone. We must ask you to split into 3 groups. Valkyrie’s to the left, Earthian’s in the middle and Magus’ to the right.

“I’ll see you after, Pinkie” Twilight said, pulling the pink haired girl into a hug.

“Of course silly” she laughed, returning the hug. When they let go, Pinkie quickly turned to Char and pulled him into a hug.

“It’s weird that we had our first kiss before a hug” she laughed, which made Char laugh. He hugged her back.

“A pretty good first meeting, if you ask me” he chuckled. They let go, and before anyone could react, the pink blur and ran to the centre group. He turned to Twilight.

“You know her pretty well, right? Is she always like that?” he questioned and Twilight shrugged.

“Pretty much. You learn not to question most of it” she said flatly, and they went and joined the group of the left where Trixie was waiting. After a few minutes the other two groups to the left disappeared, causing slight distress among some of the people there. After a few seconds, Celestia appeared. Char stared at her suspiciously.

“Now then, pick a desk and stand behind it” Celestia said pointing at the twelve desks that just appeared. Char quickly picked the desk third from the right. Twilight took the desk to his left, and a familiar face took the one on his right.

“Yo, haven’t seen you since the train” Sunset Shimmer grinned, as she patted his back.

“Far too long, let’s do lunch sometime” he smirked, causing her to laugh. Celestia stood in front of the desk at the far left.

“Alright everyone, please place all of your conduits on the desk in front of you” she said, still with her motherly air. Char looked over at her again. Clattering and clanging could be heard as the people put their conduits on the desks. Twilight had a watch and a pair of earrings on her desk, while Sunset had a ring. As Char looked down the line, he noticed that people didn’t have many conduits. He shrugged and started to place his down. First he took the gloves out of his pocket and laid them out flat. Then he removed the two bracelets and placed them just under the gloves. He reached behind and took the boosters out of their holster and placed them on either side of the gloves, and finally he reached into his pocket and pulled out the metal deck holder and placed it in the centre. Twilight looked over at his desk with a look of shock, and Sunset just giggled.

“Overcompensating for something?” she asked. Char turned with a smirk

“Wanna find out?” he said.

“Maybe later” she said with a wink. Celestia was going down the line, looking at everyone’s conduits. She had stopped at Twilights desk.

“Ah, you still have the ones I gave you” she said with a smile, picking up the earrings. Twilight smiled.

“Of course, Princess. I love them” she smiled warmly, causing Celestia to laugh. She placed them down and walked up to Char’s desk, where her smile suddenly dropped.

“I never thought I would see these again…” she said, picking up the boosters. The studied them thoroughly.

“No doubt… these are the real ones… how did you get them?” Celestia asked, placing them back on the desk. Char shrugged.

“My dad left them for me 18 years ago, apparently” he said, causing Celestia to raise an eyebrow.

“Did he now? And what about the others” she said, scanning all the conduits on his desk.

“The gloves, boosters and bracelets were from my parents, but the box was from my mother specifically” he said as he picked up the box. There were runic markings etched into the metal.

“I see. Do you keep it to remember her?” she asked.

“I can’t remember what I never knew in the first place” he said with a shrug. Celestia stepped back.

“Ah, I’m sorry” she said, and Char just waved his right hand.

“No apologies” he smiled. Twilight punched him in the arm, causing him to glare at her.

“Watch how you talk to the Princess” she hissed, and Char continued to glare.

“Or what? As far as I’m concerned, she’s a regular person, like you or me” he growled, causing Twilight to almost have a heart attack. Celestia had continued down the line, talking to people about their conduits. When she had finished, she walked back to the centre.

“Alright, now… Time to test your magic detection skills. Spells have been cast in the area. I would like you to identify them apart from the obvious one, which is closed space. You have 5 minutes. Begin” she said, everyone started to look around the room. Suddenly, something clicked in Char’s mind, and he smirked. The 5 minutes passed, and a sheet of paper was given to each person. Everyone wrote down what they found. Celestia went through them, one by one. She got to Char’s paper.

“Projectile illumination, climate control, and a perception spell. Very well done” she said in a soft voice. Char grinned. She finished reading all the papers.

“Well… you all did well, but no-one manag-” she began, but Char raised his hand. His grin had turned into a sinister one.

“Yes, Char?” she asked turning to him. He lowered his hand.

“I forgot to mention a spell that I didn’t write down” he said. Celestia raised an eyebrow.

“And what spell is that?” she asked.

“Clone” a voice came from behind her. She turned to see Char standing there, and grinned.

“Bravo. Very well done indeed” she laughed. The Char that was standing behind her disintegrated into a stream of pure mana that flowed back into the Char behind the desk. Celestia smiled.

“And now for the final test. I want to see how well you know spell casting…” she clicked her fingers, and 3 pieces of paper appeared in front of everyone.

“I want you to decipher the activation sequence, paradox limiter, and finaliser sequence for this certain spell. Tell me what the spell is, what it’s effect is, and how, if at all, it affects the user” Celestia said, taking out a watch.

“I’ll give you half an hour. Go” she said. Everyone began to frantically read the paper. Twilight seemed calm as she flipped through the pages. Char hadn’t even touched his paper by the time Celestia called out that they had 15 minutes remaining. The remaining 15 minutes seemed to pass by faster than the previous 15 minutes.

“Alright everyone, put down the paper. I’ll provide you with blank paper and pens, so write down your answer to the question” Celestia said, snapping her fingers. The papers on the desks disappeared, and a single sheet of blank paper and a pen appeared in their place. Everyone began to write things down. Char quickly wrote four lines of text and placed the pen back on the table.

“Are you sure that’s all you want to write?” Celestia asked, walking over to his desk.

“That’s all I need to write” Char shrugged, smiling. She picked up the page.

“You didn’t really pick up the other pages to take a look, either” Celestia noted, earning her another shrug from the man. She read over his answer, and her eyebrows involuntarily raised.

“Impressive” she said, placing his sheet back down on the table. Twilight quickly finished writing an entire page while Celestia talked to Char. She quickly put down her pen and sighed. Celestia picked up her page and quickly scanned the writing, smiling the whole time.

“Well done, as expected” she smiled and placed the paper back on her desk and wandered around to others that had completed their work.

“You didn’t take a good look at your pages, you can’t have gotten them right” Twilight said, looking at Char’s paper.

“You also didn’t write much, so… what did you get?” she asked, reaching over for his paper. Before she could react, Char’s hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.

“Please don’t take my stuff without asking. And I got 100” he said, releasing her hand. Her eyes widened.

“No way you got 100… you didn’t write enough” she exclaimed, staring at the page that was face down on the desk.

“It’s not about how much you write, it’s what you write that matters” Char grinned and flipped his page. Twilight read the four lines of text over and over again, trying to wrap her head around the fact that this amount of writing got the same as her detailed explanation. She raised her hand, and Celestia walked over.

“Yes, Twilight? How can I help?” she asked sweetly.

“How is this worth 100?” she handed Celestia Char’s paper.

“Because he gave me exactly what I asked for” Celestia smiled, placing the paper face down on Char’s desk, and looking at his smug grin. She laughed.

“But-” Twilight started, but Char piped up.

“Butts are for sitting on” he looked at her out of the corner of his eye, just to see her start fuming. He only just held back his chuckle as Twilight started re-reading her answer. After another few minutes, Celestia stopped everyone. She went down the line, reading and re-reading everyone’s answers.

“Alright, some of you didn’t quite decipher it, but that’s fine. I didn’t really expect this many of you to actually do it. I want to explain the two different kinds of answers you can provide during your time at the school. Both will be marked with the same. First, Twilight, could you read out your answer?” Celestia smiled and pointed at Twilight, who stood up and cleared her throat. It took her two and a half minutes to read her answer out, and some people were completely stumped at what she had said.

“Thank you, and second is Char. Please read yours” She smiled and pointed at him this time. he stood up the same as Twilight.

“The activation sequence used is a slightly modified elemental fire. The paradox limiter is for a cloaking spell that was modified to fit the activation sequence. The finaliser sequence is an extinguish spell. When used, the spell coats the user in fire, leaving a thin veil of protection, and extinguishes the flames when the spell is finalised” Char grinned. He sat down as everyone was nodding and chatting.

“Thank you. Both of those answers tell you the same thing, and therefore both get the same marks” Celestia chuckled as the destroyed the closed space. As she did, the desks and chairs disappeared; causing the Magus’ to fall to the floor. Char rolled back onto his neck and put his hands flat on the floor next to his head. He sprang up, landing completely upright. He straightened his shirt and pants, and then looked over at the other two groups, laughing at the magus’.

“Lovely” he smirked, waving at Nightshade, who was doubled over laughing. He noticed the tears streaming from her eyes. Char picked up his conduits, which were strewn on the floor. He clasped the bracelets onto his wrists an put his hands behind his head. Everyone else had finished getting up.

“Now, the final part of Magus testing: Practical skills” Celestia said, holding her right hand in the air. Only it now sported a golden gauntlet instead of the usual golden bracelets. The space around the group began to shift, turning a very light pale blue.

“You will be assigned a partner. This test is simply a show of how well you can use your magic theme. How you decide to show it is up to you: a duel, a tag team spell, or even a little performance. It’s all up to you. To explain what magic theme is for people who don’t know, it’s a magus’ area of expertise in magic, such as Pyrotechnica, and Arcana” Celestia smirked and snapped her gloved fingers. A small scrap of paper appeared in all the magus’ hands. Char flipped his, and he raised an eyebrow.

“Alright… who’s Blueblood?” he called out, drawing the attention of everyone. He heard a smug scoff.

“That’s PRINCE Blueblood to you, peasant” a young man with bright blonde hair stepped forward. He spoke with a posh English accent.

“You could be the Queen of Draconia, but you’re name’s still Blueblood so that’s what I’m calling you” Char said bluntly, causing the man to gasp.

“You should speak more politely to your superiors” Blueblood said arrogantly. Char stared blankly.

“You may apologise by licking my shoes, now” he said. Char’s right eye twitched. Nightshade, who was watching from outside the barrier, groaned.

“He’s done it now…” she said, her head dropping into her hands. a familiar farmer stepped up next to her.

“What’s he done now?” Applejack asked, removing her Stetson.

“That Blueblood guy just stepped on a landmine” Nightshade sighed.

“I think I’ve decided how I want to showcase our magic theme” Char’s mouth curled into a smirk. Celestia simply turned to look. Blueblood was staring at the man. Char’s bracelets began to glow, and his entire body was engulfed in a grey light. After a few seconds the light subsided and char’s outfit had changed.

“Magus Mode” Celestia grinned, and everyone began to cheer. Char was now wearing a dark grey sleeveless t-shirt with a long dark grey sleeveless coat that ended at his knees, and pitch black pants. Both of his upper arms had tattoos. His right sporting a portrait of a young girl with the name ‘Rin’, under it and his left had a crest, two crossed scythes with the blades pointing out and a blue flame in the gap above the crossed handles.

“Thema: Mantra Accel” Char slid both his hands into his pants’ pockets. Celestia stepped up.

“Alright, combat it is” Celestia said, clapping her hands. As she did, both men disappeared. They reappeared in the middle of the throne room, with a large ring surrounding them. Everyone rushed over, but if they tried to pass the ring, they were stopped by a barrier.

“Any damage sustained inside the barrier will be nullified, just as a safety precaution. It’ll still hurt, though” she smiled. Blueblood quickly activated his magus mode: a white shirt, blue pants, and long royal blue cape.

“Thema: Arcana” he smirked, raising his right arm, the ring on his middle finger glowing. Char slid on his gloves.

“Let’s get this show on the road” Char laughed, cracking his knuckles.

Author's Note

Birthday stuff! Now, I will be using fight scenes from movies, because there are a lot of things that I can't really write well. Enjoy these uploads!

His Secrets and Purpose

Char slowed his breathing. His eyes stayed locked on his opponent. Reading him. Calculating his every move. He quickly stepped to his left as an energy blast roared past him. It hit the barrier and dissipated upon impact. As the crowd of students and teachers roared behind the barrier, Char was weighing his options. He saw the way Bluebloods' muscles moved, and the way his magic circulated when he cast spells. It was all too predictable.

'Basic casting. I can read him like an open book' Char thought, as he prepared his counter attack. From Bluebloods' perspective, the man was so weak that he couldn't feel any magic from him.

'Unbelievable. To think they would pair someone like ME with a weak little peasant like this' he scoffed as he prepared to fire a much faster blast. Just as he was about to fire it, however, Char disappeared. In a split second, the man reappeared right in front of Blueblood. He literally grabbed a hold of the spell the Prince was holding in his left hand with his right.

"Was that..." Celestia though out loud, causing Luna to look over at her quizzically. Char clenched his right hand, and the spell shattered like glass. Before he could react, the prince felt something hit him in the gut, and saw Char's left hand. All of a sudden, it felt like he was hit by a truck, and he blasted back by an incredible force. The resulting shockwave from the hit rippled out.

"Mantra Accel. A thema that can dramatically increase the speed and strength of it's user. However, It's a double-edged blade. It uses a lot of my mana reserves to use one spell like that one" Char grinned, as the Prince stood up.

"But for someone like me, that's no problem. Even the air here is rich with mana particles. Not to mention, the mana here is of a higher purity then in the Anvil" the man started to glow a nearly white-blue, and it looked like rather large shards of the same colour that Char was glowing began to stream towards him in what looked like a vortex. The act cause both Princesses' to stare in shock and Twilights' jaw to drop open.

"HE CAN ABSORB MANA PARTICLES?!" she shouted. Char stopped glowing, but his smile stayed plastered on his face.

"You think that's going to help you, peasant?" Blueblood glared at the man. He began charging the same spell he fired before.

"You won't hit me with that. Not ever" Char said. Blueblood fired the spell, and Char simple side-stepped it again.

"I've read everything about it. It's mana composition, the way your mana flows when you charge it, even the way your muscles move when you fire it" he said, staring at the blonde haired Prince, who grimaced, and began charging it again.

"Don't you listen?" Char said. He raised his right hand and drew a small circle with it. Just as the Blueblood fired the spell, Char appeared in front of him and simply touched the spell with his right index finger. The spell disappeared into nothing.

"I said, you won't be able to hit me with that" he said blankly. the last thing Blueblood saw before blacking out was the gray haired mans' right fist colliding with his face. After flying back nearly six feet, the Prince landed in a heap, unconscious. Char sighed as he absorbed some mana from the air and deactivated his Magus Mode. Just as he did, Bluebloods' Magus Mode was forcefully deactivated as it's user was unconscious. He looked around at the crowd of students and teachers, all of whom were cheering for him. Celestia snapped her fingers and the shield disappeared. The blood that had began to trickle down Bluebloods' face from his nose disappeared, and Char walked over towards Nightshade, who was looking at him with a knowing smile.

"You know you're crazy, right? You just knocked the Princess' nephew on his ass in front of them" she smiled as she patted his shoulder.

"And yet, they don't seem to mind one single bit" Char smirked, as he ruffled her hair.

A few hours passed and everyone had been tested. Including all other coloured bands, there were close to 1200 new students all standing in the throne room, with parents or guardians to boot. In all Char assumed the Throne room had nearly 3000 people, and he was still shocked at how much room there was for everyone to move. He was bouncing Amber in his knee, while everyone else but Gem was socialising with others. About thirty minutes after his little demonstration with Blueblood, Char was sitting to the side, and Sunset Shimmer walked over, having completed her test. She sat down and the two began to talk. Gem came in with Amber about half an hour after that and handed her to him, before sitting down.

"You two are so adorable" Sunset was still dawwing over the way Amber clung to Char. He sighed as he poked Ambers' nose, causing her to giggle uncontrollably. She crawled forward and hugged him.

"Bubby" she smiled at him.

"Come on, Amber. You're four now, and Gem taught you to speak properly" Char smiled gently.

"I know, but Bubby is Bubby" Amber gripped him tighter.

"Yeah Bubby, calm down" Sunset teased, laughing at the man. He flicked her forehead faster then she could react. The two looked at each other, before bursting out laughing.

"THERE YOU ARE!" they heard a familiar voice call out. Amber gripped Char even tighter.

"Yes here I am, Twilight. Not so loud, You're scaring her" Char said, as he pointed to the girl sitting on his lap. Twilight quickly caught herself.

"How are you able to absorb Mana Particles?" she asked.

"I dunno, just something I've always been able to do. I've always been sensitive to that sort of stuff" he shrugged as he lifeted the girl off his lap. She walked over to Gem and sat in the chair next to her.

"No ordinary person can absorb Mana Particles. In fact, I don't think there's been a recorded incident of anyone being able to do that in, well, ever!" Twilight said loudly, to which Char just shrugged again.

"Don't know what to tell you, Twi. I've just always been able to do that. And I know for a fact that I'm not the only one, since I know three other people who can... or could..." he said, starting to look a little sad at the last part. Twilight was still curious, but decided to let it go when she saw how he felt. Gem rubbed the mans' back.

"Chin up, Char. She wouldn't want to see you like this" she smiled sweetly, and the man sat up.

"Yeah, I know" he grinned. The small group began to talk about meaningless things, and before long they were joined by the rest of Twilights' friends, Trixie, and Blizzard. After some time spent on more meaningless chatter, Dash decided to ask the question that was on all of the girls minds.

"So, Who's Rin?" she asked Char. His face went serious for a second, before going back into a gentle smile.

"She's my older sister" he said calmly. The girls began chattering amongst themselves.

"So why do you have a tattoo of your sister?" Applejack asked, causing everyone to look at the man again. His face went blank.

"She was killed" he said. All the girls stepped back in shock.

"Are you ok? Do you want to talk about it, darling?" Rarity asked, to which the man shook his head. Gem quickly grabbed the mans' shoulder.

"You should tell them. It wasn't your fault. Plus, I think it'll be good for you. I think you can trust these girls" Gem said, squeezing his shoulder. Char sighed.

"You know I always trust you Gem..." he said before straightening up.

"Four years ago, My sister and I were out shopping for food. We got grabbed from behind by someone, knocked unconscious and bundled to some place that only the Creator knows. When we woke up, we were marched out onto as stage. I recognised a lot of the audience as prominent nobles from upper Canterlot, as well as a few foreign dignitaries. Once the man who walked us out began talking, we both realised we were being auctioned off to the highest bigger. Rin started to fight back, and I started to as well. We were knocked to the ground. Once the auction ended, we were still held on the ground. The auctioneers goons were replaced by the buyers. He was going to rape her... He started to unbuckle his pants when she managed to headbutt one of the guards holding her down. She almost broke free when the noble pushed her head down and pulled a gun on her. He pressed it to her head. And then she spoke the last words she every said to me" Char his head in his hands. He wasn't crying, just shivering.

"She said 'Don't be afraid. Your sister will always love you'. Then... bang. One bullet, right through her head. I was close enough to get some of her blood on me... I... I screamed. In sadness, in rage, in frustration... In fear... Just after he shot her, the guards stored the place, arrested him on the spot, and tried to help me. I wouldn't let go of her..." he shook. To this day, he still shook. In sadness, in rage, in frustration, and in fear. He was pulled into a hug, and before long, he felt a lot more people pulling him into a huge group hug.

"Oh you poor dear" Rarity said,wiping a tear from her eye. None of the other girls knew what to say.

"I think she'd be proud of you, Char. You've become the man she always wanted you to be" Gem said, to which Char shook his head.

"No, not yet. I need to prove myself to her. I need to prove to her that she made the right choice in loving me. I won't stop until I complete that. My one purpose..." he growled as he clenched his fist.

"And what's that?" Gem asked. Char just shook his head again.

"You'll find out when I'm ready to start" he said as he sat up. The girls all stepped back. Gem felt a little concerned, since the smile Char was wearing was the same as always; a genuinely happy one. They heard someone clear their throat and looked around to see the three Princess's standing up at the two thrones at the back of the room. Quickly, the attention of the people in the hall fell on the three monarchs.

"Thank you everyone, your displays were very impressive, and we look forward to seeing you improve over you time at the academy" Celestia smiled out a the crowd.

"Wait, wasn't this a selection thing? Why's she talking like everyone got in?" Char asked, confused. Twilight turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

"Uhm, the selections were a month ago. You should remember them..." she stated matter-of-factly. Char just scratched his head.

"A month ago? Jeez, so that's the power of a letter, huh?" he chuckled. Gem smiled.

"What are you on about? What letter?" Twilight was just as confused as Char was before. Char reached into his bag and pulled out the admission letter. Twilight's right eye started to twitch as she read it.

"H-how old is this thing?" she asked, gently handing the note back.

"18 years or so, I'd say" Char said, scratching his chin. He'd assumed his dad had gotten it for him when he was born. Twilight nearly keeled over.

"I struggled my butt off to get into this academy, even as the Princess's personal student, and you've been accepted without knowing it for 18 years... AND you got a free pass through the selections!" she was freaking out.

'Just who is this guy?!' she thought. He had piqued the scholars interest.

"Yes, yes. We understand that you're all excited by the fact you got accepted, but we're not finished here" Celestia smiled sweetly, as all chatter ceased in the throne room.

"Thank you. Now then, to explain your studies. We do things a bit differently. We have the regular study modules you would expect here: Science, Math, English, etc; but we also have a special set of modules. These modules are only for those approved by the modules head. There are 13 extra modules that are headed by a single person. To enter these modules, you'll need one thing, and one thing only: The attention of the heads. Who are these heads? We'll introduce them now" Celestia happily pointed towards the doors that the students entered. They swung open and 12 people started to walk in. Their presence elicited gasps from most of the crowd, and murmuring from the rest. Chars' smile turned into a malicious grin. The 12 people were all wearing matching white cloaks with numbers on their backs.

"Oh this is just too perfect" Char chuckled as he watched them all.

"These are the Captains of the Royal Court Guards, and the heads of the special modules. In case you're wondering, I'm the head of the First squad" Celestia smiled. A smile that seemed to be directed towards Char. He noticed it immediately and smiled back. Now he understood the numbers on his gloves.

"The thirteen of us have and will continue to observe you until you start. If you receive a message on your student ID's on the first day from one of the heads, you are to proceed immediately to the room specified in the message. If you're chosen, you'll be taking extra lessons after school. Sure, it's more work, but it's also a high paying job guaranteed after you finish up at the Academy, so just think of it like that. You can do a meet and greet after we hand out your student ID's and have our finishing speech" Celestia snapped her fingers and an electronic handbook, about the size of a small tablet appeared in front of all the students. Char took his and it lit up. His name and a picture of him was displayed on the screen, as well as the Saint Celestia's Logo.

"Those are your Student ID's. They'll have your timetables automatically input once they're finalised. They can also be used for contacting people. Essentially, they're a large phone provided by the school. Just show it to someone and it'll get you the student discount. It also has whatever information you're willing to share about yourself, so update that at your leisure. It has a few other features, but I'm sure you'll figure those out soon enough. Anyway, now for the boring final speech" Celestia laughed, and Luna and Cadence sat in the thrones, ready to be bored out of their minds.

An hour. A whole hour. That's how long the final speech took. Even Celestia was starting to look bored about three minutes into it. Gem had to wake Char up because he actually fell asleep around fifteen minutes into it. He stood out and stretched out his stiff muscles.

"Sweet creator that was some torture" he yawned. The group of people surrounding him had only increased in size. He now had two of the three Princess' as well as the rest of his family.

"Can you record that speech for me? I might have trouble sleeping, and I think I found something better then sleeping pills" he smiled, causing the group to laugh. he turned to Celestia.

"So you know what my gloves are" he stated. Celestia smiled.

"I don't know who they belonged to, but they're yours now. To answer your thoughts, Yes. Whoever owned those before was a member of my Squad. I don't know who, though" she said. Char rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"I don't think it's my dad. It's just a feeling, but it's strong enough to make me believe it" he muttered. They were about to continue a pointless conversation when everyone felt a large pressure begin to push them down.

"YOU" they heard a female voice growl. Everyone turned to see a woman with long black hair. She had a white coat and was only about 5'3.

"'sup Buzz" Char smirked. The girl lunged at him, but her fist only connected with air. She felt something grab the back of her head.

"Too slow, sorry hun" Char was now standing behind her, grasping the back of her skull. He let go and she straightened herself up. She cleared her throat. Just as she was about to speak, someone beat her to it.

"OMIGOSH you're THE Captain Buzz Kill! I am such a huge fan!" Dash squealed

"N-nice to meet you" Buzz Kill said, slightly unnerved.

"I thought you're teleportation was a bit strange, but now it makes sense. It wasn't teleportation, but rather Sonic Step" Celestia sighed.

"Don't be silly sister. That's a high leveled move. And more over, It's Spiritual magic. Only certain people are able to use spiritual magic" Luna said, flaunting her knowledge.

"Actually, that's exactly what it is" Buzz Kill said. Luna's smile dropped.

"He learnt the Sonic Step alongside me from Lady Flash Queen. It seems you've modified it a bit, since I couldn't follow it" she said, turning to the gray haired man.

"Haha, yep. I've called it the Burst Step now" he grinned. Before he was able to relax, Buzz's fist shot out trying to connect with Chars' face. It didn't.

"Temper, temper" he sighed as he caught the fist with his left hand. The group surrounding them was stunned.

"How... did you see that?" Celestia asked, slightly losing composure. Char shrugged as he let go of her fist.

"Her fighting style hasn't really changed much in six years. Still almost a carbon copy of Queen" he smiled and turned to Buzz.

"I can still read every one of your moves" before she could react, his right hand shot out and pulled the sword hanging from her back out of it's sheath and threw it behind him.

"Now what will you do, Buzz? The only thing you can beat me at is swordsmanship, and now you have no means" his smirk said everything. He knew exactly what she was going to do, before she even did it.

"Of course, you could try hand to hand, we were pretty evenly matched. I wouldn't recommend it, though, since you can't read my burst step" Char stepped back. He looked like he was about to attack her. Before he could lunge, someone started to clap.

"Ok, enough already. Jeez, you finally see each other after six years, and not five minutes later you're at each other's throats" a gently feminine voice called out.

"Old habits die hard, Queen. You know how we are" Char grinned. Buzz dropped to one knee almost instantly.

"Lady Flash, you grace us" she said with her head bowed. The group turned to the newcomer. Snow white hair, pale skin, and piercing yellow eyes. The short blue skirt she was wearing went well with her grey sleeveless top. Char held out his hand towards her.

"What's with this handshake crap, Char?" she raised an eyebrow before appearing in front of him and pulling him into a hug. He started to laugh.

"I forgot how hands-on you were" He wrapped his arms around her. After a minute they both let go.

"One after another, they come..." Gem sighed, causing the orphans to laugh.

"Yeah, who's next? Maxs' sister?" Char said, causing the orphans to laugh even harder.

"Wait, Max? As in... Maximillian Clock?" Cadence asked. The laughter stopped.

"Yeah... How do you know about him?" Nightshade asked.

"Uh... the school nurse is Noel Clock..." Cadence said sheepishly. Char looked like he was having a stroke.

"Ok, I'm calling a time-out on this top quality bullshit" Nightshade said as she helped Char sit down on the ground.

"No more... please... I can't handle any more of them..." he muttered. Dusk softly pet his back.

"It's highly unlikely, but there can't be many more..." she said.

"Well... there is one more I can think that would really get him" Wolf said, causing Char to stiffen.

"HER" the three men said at once. Everyone but the orphans and Gem looked confused.

"Who?" Dash asked. Char shook his head.

"Nope. Not gonna jinx it" he said adamantly. A small beeping was heard, and Luna took out her phone. After a few seconds of looking at it, she turned to the other two princesses.

"It's them. We need to go" she said. The two women nodded in response. They turned to leave, but Celestia remembered something.

"Oh right, before I go" she turned to Twilight.

"You'll thank me later" she said cryptically, leaving everyone puzzled. She then turned to Char.

"I hope you find your place to your liking, and I'm sorry" she smiled at him. It took him a second to catch on and he looked at his student ID. He smiled.

"I'll have to see it first. How many people per room?" he asked.

"Ten. Now I really must go. Have fun everyone" Celestia waved to the group and left. Char still couldn't firgure out why she had apologised to him. The next one to talk was Buzz.

"I've got somewhere I need to be, but-" she began, but was cut off by Queen.

"Don't you mean 'somewhere you need to BEE'?" she smiled a cheesy smile. Char stepped forward, but was stopped by the rest of his family and Buzz.

"Oh come on, I'll only kill her a little" he growled, causing Queen to laugh loudly.

"You might have gotten faster, but I still taught you everything you know" she smiled sweetly. Char relaxed and laughed.

"I guess. You always were way too strong" he sighed. His shoulders drooped, and everyone around him relaxed.

"ANYWAY... I wanted to ask you something" Buzz said, turning to Char with a serious look on her face. Char cocked his head.

"Is you goal still the same as it was before?" she asked. Chars normally happy grin turned sinister.

"Of course. You say that like I'd ever change it" he said, a burning heat behind his words.

"Good. I'll wait for you. I won't let you fail before I get a shot, since it's the whole reason I became a Captain" she smiled back.

"I thought you became a Captain because you wanted to stand next to hi-" Queen started, but Buzz Kills' face went bright red and she screamed loudly. She started to push the white haired woman out of the room, who looked back at the man, who was laughing so hard he could barely breathe. He started to choke on his own spit, and Tidal was patting his back as he coughed. He looked up at the laughing woman being pushed away with tears in his eyes. She pointed to Buzz, made a heart with her hands, then pointed at the man. This started a whole new bout of laughter from him, as well as the group surrounding. As she pushed Queen through the door, Buzz looked back at the man with an angry look on her face before leaving.

"Oh fuck that hurts" Char wiped tears from his eyes.

"She always had the best reactions" Gem giggled. The family of orphans nodded in agreement.

"Oh yeah, you guys are going to the party after you get settled in your rooms" Sunset said. Everyone recovered from their laughing fits before nodding. All the orphans except Nightshade had no idea what she was talking about.

"Party? What party?" Char asked.

"The traditional party for all new students. Held for every year on the night after the test. Students and teachers of all years are welcome. IT's a huge party, alcohol everywhere" Twilight puffed out her chest in pride. Chars' eyes lit up.

"Oh fuck the hell yes" he said, high-fiving Wolf, who was standing behind him. He pulled out his Student ID.

"Well, I'm gonna go get settled in my room. I wanna see where I'll be living for the next five years" he stair. He picked up his small bag aqnd slung it over his shoulder.

"I'm gonna go do that, too" Nightshade said, taking her luggage. A Magus with purple hair and pale white skin gasped loudly. Everyone turned to look at her.

"What's wrong... uh... Never got your name" Char said, cocking his eyebrow.

"The name's Rarity, dear. And what's wrong is your luggage. Is that all you have?" she asked, looking at their small amount of luggage. Char and Nightshade both nodded, and a look of apparent horror spread over Rarity's face.

"Then... where have you kept all your clothes?" she asked, apparently dreading the answers.

"I've got a dress, and another set of pants and a shirt in here" Nightshade said, confused. Char simply pointed at his shirt.

"You're looking at them" he said with a serious expression. The purple haired Magus simply collapsed on the spot. None of her friends ran to her aid, and the orphans just looked scared.

"Is... Is she ok?" Dusk asked, looking at the group.

"No" they all answered in unison. All of a sudden, she sat upright.

"That is a wardrobe emergency. I will make you some clothes post-haste!" she exclaimed. She practically jumped up, before being stopped by Nightshade.

"That's ok... We don't really have the money to pay for them" she said, she was waved away by Rarity.

"Please, for an emergency such as this, I'll do it for free" she smiled at the two.

"But-" Nightshade started, before Rarity held her hand up again"

"I insist, darling" she said with an even bigger smile. Nightshade was about to start again, before she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked back at Char shaking his head.

"If you insist, we'll take you up on your generous offer" he smiled back. The five girls giggled when he said this, and he shot them a confused look.

"We'll tell you later" Twilight dismissed the look with a wave. Char shrugged before turning to leave. Nightshade, Gem, and the rest of the orphans followed him.

The orphans had been wandering around the school for an hour.

"Alright, I'm gonna just ask someone" Char sighed. He noticed a guard patrolling the area and quickly jogged over to him.

"Hey, sorry to bug you, but can you point me to G wing?" he asked, rubbing the back of his head apologetically. The guard looked at him sceptically.

"Why do you wanna go there?" he asked, cocking his eyebrow.

"'cause that's where my room is?" Char said, confused. He showed the guard his student ID, and sure enough, it said Room 1013, G wing. The guard looks between the ID and Char a few times, becoming increasingly confused.

"Uh... Ok... then..." the guard said slowly. He handed back the idea and pointed him towards a large building to their left.

"Oh" Char deadpanned.

"Thanks" he said, smiling and waving at the guard as he walked away.

"Why the hell is he living there?" the guard talked to himself as he continued his patrol. Char walked back to the group and pointed at the building. Once everyone had finished groaning, they made their way towards it.

"Man, this place is huge... It's like... ten stories or something" Leafa stared in awe.

"Fifteen, actually. Not including ground floor, which probably won't have rooms on it" Char said. His eyes took in every detail about the building. Chips in the stone, discolouration, everything. The entrance was blocked by heavy looking wooden doors. Nightshade gave it a push and found they were surprisingly light.

"Wow" the orphans said in unison. the room they just walked into had a high ceiling, at least ten meters. Medieval-design lamps littered the wall, and a chandelier hung right in the centre of the roof. Lounges, tables and chairs littered the reception area, where students were sitting and talking, or playing board games. All the orphans except Char and Nightshade were slightly alarmed at the number of girls. They approached the receptionist; a young woman with cream-yellow hair, tied back, and bright yellow eyes. She looked up. Char spotted her name tag almost instantly. 'Buttercup'.

"Hi, can I help you?" she asked, beaming at the group.

"Yep, we're looking for our room" Char smiled back. He nudged Nightshade, and they both handed her their student ID's. Buttercup turned them on and her smile widened a little.

"You know, since the Princess specifically put you here, I was wondering what you'd look like" she smiled at Char. He did a little twirl.

"And the verdict?" he smirked when he was facing her again.

"I can tell that I'll like you. And you're cute, so bonus points" she winked and handed back their ID's. She directed her attention to Nightshade now.

"We also don't see many Nocturn around here" she beamed. Nightshade gave her a confused look.

"Why not? I thought there were a lot of us" she said, cocking her head.

"Because they all attend the Night school. Different dorms. It's refreshing to see one. My old childhood friend was a Nocturn, so I think we'll get along fantastically" Buttercups' smile widened as she spun around and grabbed two sets of keys from the wall behind her. It was a large board with numbers and key hooks. A lot of keys were missing.

"In this dorm, All the years mix, so you'll meet Fifth years right off the bat. The people in the years above will help you with whatever you need, but you'll be bunking with people in your year until you graduate" she smiled as she handed the two students their keys. They had small flowers with the number '1013' in the middle.

"Fabulous" Char grinned. He spun around, posing with the flower next to his face, causing the kids behind him to laugh loudly.

"This is gonna be an interesting five years. It's the first time this has ever happened" Buttercup clapped excitedly.

"What are you talking about?" Tidal asked. Everyone but Char and Nightshade looked at Buttercup curiously.

"Well, what do you think? A guy is gonna be living in the Girls Dorms!" she squealed excitedly. The colour instantly drained from Dusks' face. Leafa quickly turned around.

"Dusk? Dusk, speak to me! Wake up!" she grabbed the catatonic girl and shook her. This got her no response. She looked at Wolf, who grabbed Char and pushed him towards her. Char looked back, but then snapped his fingers in front of Dusks' face. As fast as it had drained, the colour returned and Dusk blinked rapidly. While the girls were all gathered around Dusk, The boys pulled Char into a headlock.

"You lucky son of a bitch, why does this shit happen to you?" Wolf growled as he squeezed his brothers' neck. Ren grabbed Chars' face and stared him right in the eyes.

"If you fuck this up, I will end you" he glared at the man. Char was weakly struggling with their grip. All of a sudden he went limp. Ren and Wolf looked at each other. All of a sudden Wolf felt a sharp pain in his side and let go of the mans' head. Before anyone could react, Char had picked both boys up by their heads. A sadistic smile was plastered to his face.

"Did you forget who the fuck you were messing with?" he growled. Both boys had a look of pure terror on their faces.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Ren cried out.

"We won't do it again, we swear!" Wolf tried to struggle out of the death grip. Char placed both boys on the ground lightly. They breathed a sigh of relief. But that relief was short-lived, because not a second after, Char knocked their heads together, knocking them out cold. The two dropped like stones, and Gem just sighed.

"You're oddly calm about this, Gem" Tidal said, helping fan Dusk.

"Well... This is Char we're talking about. I mean, yeah, he just knocked out two fifteen year olds... but he is responsible... I trust him, and that all there is to it. He won't betray my trust" Gem rubbed the bridge of her nose. She felt a pair of arms wrap around her shoulders and saw the young man.

"As expected of the woman who raised me" he smiled sweetly. Gem hugged the man back. Ren and Wolf woke up, and tried to stand. They promptly fell back to the floor. Buttercup giggled.

"Well, you guys should get to your room. I hear the party tonight is gonna be huge" she smiled. Char threw both boys over his shoulders, causing them to groan.

"Thanks. We'll see you 'round" he grinned. He would have waved, but he was holding the teens. Everyone waved to the woman and headed towards an elevator to their left.

"Char, just drop the boys here. I think they can walk with some help now" Gem said. Char literally dropped both boys, who hit the ground with a loud thud.

"That doesn't help" Gem looked at him with an unimpressed look. He shrugged.

"I know" he pulled the key out of his pocket. Nightshade had started fidgeting.

"This is real, isn't it? We aren't dreaming?" she turned to the man, who smiled and placed his hand on her head.

"We're here. We're at Saint Celestia's, Night" Char confirmed, giving her head a small rub before turning to the rest of his family.

"Well then, you have a room to settle into, so get going" Gem smiled as she pulled them both into a hug, which they returned.

"What about you guys?" Nightshade asked. The teens and kids all looked at each other with a concerned look.

"Don't worry. Princess Celestia put us up in a hotel for a few days since we're from WAY out of town" Gem laughed as she let go of the two new students. Char started to laugh, as the rest of the family cheered.

"Still can't let it go, can she?" he grinned, and Gem chuckled.

"Guess not. I kind of wish she would though, it makes me feel a little awkward" she shook her head. Everyone took turns saying their goodbyes. Dusk, who had recovered slightly, was pulled into a tight hug by Char.

"I don't need to worry about you girls, but look after the guys. They're idiots, so you can smack 'em around if they start acting up" he whispered into her ear. She started to giggle and squeezed him back. Next was Wolf. They clasped hands and pulled each other in for a hug.

"Remember, keep your sticky little fingers to yourself" Char pat him roughly on the back. Wolf chuckled.

"I got ya. You're not gonna be there to bail my ass out" he grinned, patting him back. Up came Ren. He did the same thing as with Wolf.

"Now... keep it to one at a time. And if they've got a partner, steer clear. I won't be there to beat up angry husbands and boyfriends" Char smirked, and Ren laughed.

"Not my fault they keep coming to me. It's just who I am" he puffs out his chest. Char shakes his head.

"I know" he sighs. Tidal walks over to the two.

"You've had your turn, Ren. Move it" she gently pushes him and wraps her arms around Char's waist.

"I'm not telling you where I hid them" he said blankly, quickly wrapping his arms around the girls shoulders. Upon hearing this, she started to struggle against him, trying to get away. Everyone started to laugh at the scene. During the struggle, Char slipped a piece of paper into her back pocket. When he let her go, her hand immediately went to her butt, where she felt him touch. She found the paper and looked at the man, who simply winked. She smiled and mouthed 'thanks, love ya' and trotted off to the other's happily. Leafa simply jumped at the man, who caught her.

"Creator, I'm gonna miss you... Won't be as fun without you guys around" she squeezed him, and he squeezed back.

"Sure it will be. You just gotta try harder, now" he laughed. They let go, and Leafa pulled her back off her back, opened it, and pulled out a notebook.

"I copied these out. I'm sure you'll find a use for them" she handed Char the notebook, who flipped it open and skimmed through. In the notebook were herblore recipes and apothecary notes. he slid the book into his bag and tussled her hair.

"Thanks, I can think of one we're gonna need tomorrow" he laughed. Everyone chuckled, knowing full well. Char crouched down, and was immediately rammed by three kids, knocking him onto his back.

"Good luck" Dawn and Mist said in unison. After cuddling with the downed man for a minute, they got up. Amber kept clinging onto his shirt.

"C'mon Honey, we need to go" Gem said walking over to the two. She crouched down and was about to lift her off, but stopped when she saw her little shoulders shaking.

"I don't want bubby to go. I want bubby to stay" she cried softly into Char's shirt. Char began to gently pet her head.

"I'm not going far away. And I'll still be able to visit you. Be a strong girl for bubby, eh?" he whispered to her. The shivering girl nodded, but continued to cry softly into his shirt. A few minutes passed, and she finally let go. Gem picked her up, and Char stood up.

"Feel better, Princess?" he asked, smiling sweetly at the girl. She wiped her eyes and nodded as Gem put her back down. Nightshade had finished saying goodbye to everyone, and had already called the elevator. It opened up behind them, and Char and Nightshade got in. They waved to the group, who waved back as the doors closed.

Author's Note

Sweet Creator it's updated. I'm working on fixing all my problems, and I'm also working on my fics, so this should be fun. Sorry for the wait, but I hope you enjoy. Extra long Chapter for an Extra long wait.