Hunters

“I hate assemblies,” Flash complained.

“Assemblies are necessary to foster a sense of unity. As well as provide us with school spirit,” Twilight explained.

“That’s such a textbook answer.”

“Yes. Which is why it is the correct one.”

Flash moaned. He was sick of school assemblies.

He was sick of all the students being led into the large auditorium. Despite its size it always managed to feel cramped. He was sure if he was to actually breathe he’d hit someone’s head with it.

That was only nuisances. The real issues was the speeches. They’d always boil down to ‘our school is great RARA’. Rarely did the headmistress have something interesting to say during these assemblies. The only hope he had for them was the slightly possibility of seeing a friend or two. Maybe even the chance to sit with them.

“So do you think we’re getting new textbooks?” Twilight asked giddily. His partner’s enthusiasm was not helping his mood. With the auditorium filling fairly quickly he decided to see if any of his  other friends had entered yet. Sniffing the air various familiar scents penetrated his nose. Of the scents three in particular caught his attention.

“Yo. What’s up, bro?” A familiar voice called.

“Yo Soarin,” Flash replied happy to have the time to talk to someone. Well someone who wasn’t drooling over new books about that person with the overly long facial hair.

“So dude do you think this assembly is about Celestia’s new squeeze?”

“What?”

“Soarin think Celestia and the Scorpan are an item,” Dash chimed in as she took a seat.

“Hey, Dash. For real, man?”

“Dude lets face facts. Celestia ain’t exactly young. She is still kinda cute though. So if she wants some action now is the last time she can get it. You know before she becomes old enough to be everyone’s grandma. And what’s more attractive to a woman than something exotic? Women love foreign guys.”

“You do realize Scorpan is a fiend, right?” Twilight asked.

“Women love foreign guys,” Soarin’ repeated.

“It’d never work!” Twilight shouted in a hushed voice.

Flash loudly cleared his throat. The distinct noise caught the attention of the other three hunters.

“Is something wrong?”

Flash offered no verbal reply. Instead he sent an angry glance aimed in Twilight’s direction.

“Don’t be immature Flash. You know as well as I that Celestia already has enough bad press with the community as is with our school. The last thing she needs now is to go act like a school girl with Scorpan,” Twilight lectured.

“Not what I meant.”

“Well, what did you mean?”

“Forget it. It wasn’t important.”

“Tantrums seldom are,” Twilight huffed.

Flash rolled his eyes. His nostrils flared. He had fought with Twilight in the past but never like this. Never about fiends. Her comment stung his heart.

Dash grunted annoyed. She had already had her fill of yelling when she had to force Soarin’ to go to the assembly. The last thing she needed was two of her friends screeching like raptors.

Soarin’ was still groggy from his interrupted sleep. He zoned out during the fight. So when Rainbow Dash sent him a look of disbelief at the argument the only response he could muster was a simple shrug.

“Hey is that Fluttershy over there?” Dash exclaimed pointing.

Flash’s head rose narrowly. “O-oh. I guess it is. I don’t think she sees us.”

“Well I’ll take care of that,” Dash said confidently pulling herself up.

She cupped her hands near her mouth. And proceeded to shout. “Hey Fluttershy over here!”

“Dash, stop!“ Flash hissed.

“Dude, what gives? It’s been awhile since the four of us did anything together.”

“I-I know, but-”

“But nothing, Flash! She’s our friend.”

“Dash, listen for a second-”

“Um, hello?” Shy asked more than said.

“Tein.” Flash swore under his breath.  Shy caught a glimpse of Flash. Her nervous eyes turned back to the more welcoming expressions of Rainbow Dash and Soarin.

“How are you both? It’s been such a long time since we’re together like this.”

“Awesome as usual.” Dash said flashing one of her confident grins.

“Eh, can’t complain.” Soarin said. “But I will anyway.”

Shy giggled. “Oh, Soarin. You're still so funny.”

“Aw, Thank you so much, Shy.”

“Howdy,” AJ said as she came up from behind Fluttershy.

“Uh Hi.Um. Who are you again?” Soarin inquired.

The blonde sighed. “Applejack. Call me AJ.”

“Right, right.” Dash nodded. “Why does your name sound familiar?”

“Probably cuz yah heard about my brother.”

“Brother? Wait, is your brother-”

“Hey, Jackie,” Mac greeted.

“Greetings Applejack! Greetings Miss Fluttershy!” Quick Snap yelled.

“Hey, Mac. Hey Quick,” AJ replied.

“Hello, Quick Snap. Uh, Hello, Macintosh.”

“Shy, Ah told ya, it’s just Mac.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

Mac shook his head before taking a seat next AJ. Quick gave a short tip of his hat before taking the empty seat next to Mac.

The doors swing open from the other came the teachers of the school. Hoity Toity and Cheerilee led the charge to a group of seats. These seats were near a the school’s podium.

“Alright, everyone. Quiet down,” Cheerilee instructed.

The students own chatter canceled out Cheerilee’s voice. The teachers grew agitated at this disrespect.

“ENOUGH!!!” a voice shouted.

The sheer volume dwarfed Dash’s earlier one. The powerful sense of authority compelled the students to seize their conversations. They wished they had heeded Cheerilee’s instruction. It would have saved their ears.

From the entrance stood the one in charge of the school. The one whose magic power trumped everyone’s in the room. The queen of the sun; Celestia.

Every step she took presented an aura of benevolence and power. It always caught the students by surprise how much they didn’t fear her. They knew she could wipe all of them out if she so wished. They also knew she wouldn’t.

The students respected her restraint. Which made her loud outbursts unnerving. Could they have broke her? Were they all doomed? Would this be their last assembly ever?!

Standing at the podium Celestia took a second to clear her throat. The students suspected it was more to get her voice back to normal level than the loud one it just was. When she was done she addressed them.

“I apologize for the outburst. I hope I didn’t frighten anyone.”  The students were blown away by the sincerity in her voice.  They could hardly believe that the woman before them was the same one who, just seconds ago, released a fearsome shout to silence them.

“Now, the reason for this assembly. This school was founded on the idea that humans and fiends could work together. I believe in this ideal, however, I also feel that we should not only work together but try to gain an understanding of our fellow man and fiend.”

“She’s totally with Scorpan,” Soarin whispered.

“Shh. Don’t be rude,” Twilight shushed him.

“As such, the teachers and I have devised an experiment. For the next week, you will have partake in a mission with a different person.”

The auditorium became dead quiet as the students let Celestia’s words sink in. Seconds passed before a voice chirped up.

“Uh, Miss Celestia? How are going to decide who gets paired up?”

“First I need all of you to take a ball in your hand,” Celestia instructed.

One of the teachers got up from his seat. He was the size of a bull. A white shirt threatened to be shredded to pieces due to his mighty upper body. Tight dark blue sweat pants hugged his legs. He wore dark blue shoes.

The teacher’s face matched the air of dominance his body did. A ring was lounged in his nose. Under his chin was a long goat like beard. His hair was spiked in three directions. It looked like he had three horns.

This teacher was Iron Will. One of the P.E. teachers of the school. He was also the most feared. Partly because he was supposedly the strongest of the teachers so he could break even the highest students like twigs if he so wished. And partly because of his hairdo he was nicknamed the Demon Teacher of the school.

“Please refrain from hurting anyone, Will,” Cheerilee whispered.

“That moron will kill at least two,”  An elderly lanky looking man,sporting a black hair piece, sneered. Black slacks hung off his legs. A brown sweater vest clung to his small chest. He wore brown formal shoes.

“As long as he doesn’t make them as ugly as you Cranky. I’m sure it’ll be alright,” Hoity added.

“I can’t hear you over all those cosmetics in your hair,” Cranky retorted.

“Well at least I care about myself enough to treat myself.”

“Stop it! Both of you!” Cheerilee scolded. “Honestly, you’re worse than the children!”

“Don’t worry, Lee. I’m not gonna hurt’em. Much.”

He had grabbed a large crate. Once he stood in the middle of the auditorium he placed the crate down. He prepared to flick his finger at the crate.

The auditorium of students watched with bated breath. They had heard of Iron Will’s impressive feats of strength. One claim was he once lifted a mountain. Another was he threw said mountain into the ocean creating a new island. Yet another was that he managed to defeat one hundred fiends with a donkey’s jawbone.

His finger collided with the crate. And nothing happened. Everyone looked in awe at the poor display. The great and mighty Iron Will defeated by a mere crate?!

“You idiot! You need to psych yourself up!” Cranky criticized.

“Right!” Iron Will yelled embarrassed.

“Dumb middle agers,” Cranky grumbled.

“When you need to sock you need to tell yourself that you rock!” Iron Will shouted.

Once again he flicked his finger at the crate. This time it let out a powerful shockwave. If the students had not been sitting then they could’ve been sent up into the sky.

The crate opened to reveal a great amount of bubble wrap. Iron Will’s eyes flashed in glee at his accomplishment.

“Why is he smiling like that?”

“Didn’t Celestia say something about balls?”

“You don’t think-”

“I got a knot in my stomach.”

“I can help with that. I used to be a boy scout.”

“Idiot! He means he’s feeling sick.”

“I learned how to treat that in the boy scouts. I can give one heck of a belly rub!”

“Don’t worry. This crate does not contain anything dangerous. It does have balls. But they’re just tennis balls. You’ll be fine,” Iron Will assured them.

“Oh the knot in my stomach is gone!”

“Yay! We were worried over nothing.”

“Belly rubs are on me guys!”

“Don’t touch me.”

Reaching into the crate Iron Will pulled something out. The object was not a tennis ball as he said but a much large white ball.

“That’s not a tennis ball.”

“Oh! That’s a baseball!”

“Coach Will lied? Shocking.”

“Coach?! I didn’t vote for him!”

Wasting no time Will launched a ball into the crowd. Moments later, a thud following a screech of pain were heard.

Before anyone could move he threw another. And another. Celestia watched as the onslaught of balls continued, a feeling of regret taking form in the pit of her stomach.

“Perhaps the lottery would have been a better choice,” Celestia sighed.

“Yes. The fewer students the better,” Cranky agreed.

“Not that kind of lottery.”

In the far back of the room Flash and the others ducked down from the volley of pain.

“Happy I chose the backsets, now?”

“I can’t hear you being in the back,” Twilight shot back.

“I knew Coach Will was nuts, but this is alpha nuts!” Dash yelled.

“Don’t think that’s a thing, Dash!”  Soarin cited.

“Oh what a wonderful new term!” Quick shouted.

“Ah hate tah interrupt, but we gotta catch these things!” AJ interjected.

Flash growled. This was going to hurt. Raising an arm his hand came into contact with one of the rapid fire balls.

Yelping in pain he quickly brought his arm back. It felt like his entire arm was on fire and ice cold all at once. He had no idea how a single throw could even do that.

“Ow. Yovita, that hurts.”

He turned to see the others had all gotten their balls. And unlike him their hands were not a shade of red.

“How?!” Flash demanded.

“Mac,” Twilight answered.

“Mac,” Soarin agreed.

Flash’s eyebrow twitched. Had he waited a few seconds more he’d still have some feeling in his hand.

With the crate now emptied Will returned to his seat. His smile of achievement still plastered on his lips.

“Thank you, Iron Will. Once the assembly ends, anyone who might may injured report to Nurse Red Heart.”

“Aw but her medicine is all grape flavored!”

“But she is a hot tamale!”

“I will heal her heart and our two hearts shall become one!” Quick exclaimed.

“Quick. You ain’t hurt. And you ain’t sick. You ain’t going to the nurse.”

“But I am Mac. I am lovesick!”

Mac shook his head at his friend’s declaration. He had hoped his friend would remember the last time he went to the nurse to ‘heal his heart’ he got beat up by the nurse’s very real husband. Though it was by accident.

“Now then, does everyone have a ball?”  A collective groan was Celestia’s reply.

“Then I require a volunteer.” No one moved from their seats. Possibly due to the previous assault or perhaps the overwhelming sensation of being so close to Celestia.

Celestia frowned somewhat. The lack of volunteers irked her a little.

Heaving a sigh Flash began to get up from his seat only to find Twilight had already stood up. And was making her way towards the front.

“Shoulda seen that coming.” Flash lightly chortled, returning to his seat.

Twilight strode towards the podium with the utmost confidence. She paid no heed to the piercing eyes of her school mates and even less attention to the snide remarks she heard every few seconds.

All she cared about at this moment was helping her idol. It was a honor for anybody to do.

Once she reached her destination she offered a bow to Celestia. She returned said bow with a warm smile.

“Thank you, Twilight,”  she said pleasantly.

“It was my pleasure,”  Twilight said grinning brightly.

Nodding Celestia turned back to the crowd. “To decide how pairs will be matched, all the balls have a student id on them. You shall be matched up with a new partner for your next mission. You will be split into pairs.”

Celestia urged Twilight to turn her ball. On Twilight’s ball was the number 114.

“Given Twilight’s number her partner shall be whoever holds the number 113. Any groups larger than two will be dissolved for the time being. Remember this exercise is to get to know your peers.”

“I’ll show her. I won’t even go on a mission today then,” a student said defiantly.

“In the event you choose to abstain from this exercise you will be expelled from the school immediately. We will not tolerate those who can not adapt to change.”

“Dang it,” the defiant student hissed.

“Since no one has gotten up and left the auditorium I will take that as a sign there are no objections. Now get in your new pairs. And make sure to try and learn about one another,” Celestia finished giving a small smile.

After Celestia’s speech ended, several handfuls of students scattered amongst the auditorium to find their temporary partner.  Some were pleased or even ecstatic for their new ally. While others were less than happy. Some even contemplated Celestia’s threat of expulsion. It was beginning to sound like the more viable option.

Twilight made her way back to her seat. She found the sitting arrangement had changed. Soarin was now sitting next to Mac. Fluttershy next to Flash. Rainbow Dash and AJ opted to stand and stare at one another. And off to the side was Quick who greeted her.

“Greetings, partner,” Quick said removing his hat and giving the mage before him a bow.

“Oh! You’re my partner?”

“Indeed I am, miss sparkle.”

“And judging from the arrangement of seating-”

“Yup! I got paired with Big Mac!” Soarin cheered. “ One of the strongest guys in the school is my partner. Doesn’t matter what the mission is. It’s gonna be cake.”

Mac rolled his eyes at the swordsman's comment. Guys like this always burned him.

“Try not to slow me down, cowgirl,” Rainbow warned.

“Ah think that’s mah line,” AJ retorted.

Twilight noticed neither Flash nor Fluttershy had said a thing to each other. Flash in particular looked downright miserable. She recalled Flash’s words early and the sheer amount of nervousness in his voice.

“So Miss Sparkle," Quick's voice broke her out of her musing.

"O-oh! Yes?"

"I hear you are an avid reader."

She nodded. “I am.”

“What was the last book you read?, if you don't mind my intrusion.” The gambler cocked a brow.

“I believe it was ‘I must screech for I don’t have a mouth’. It was a very upsetting book, but still very interesting."

“Really now?" Quick replied eagerly. "I'll have you know that's one of my favorite books!"

“Really? Mine too!"

"Great mind think alike to seems." Quick gave a small chuckle. “Perhaps we could discus the book more so on our mission?”

From this comment, a large smile sprouted on the purple haired mage's face. "I'd enjoy that!"

“Great,” Flash mumbled. "Twilight found her soul mate."

Fluttershy stirred uncomfortably in her seat. Stealing a glimpse of Flash, she slumped down into her seat.

“He’s changed.”