Are you a Weapon or a Meister?

As Maka had her hand extended, flashes of happiness and kindness fluttered through the girls' eyes.

"Howdy, sugarcube!" One of them yanked Maka's right hand and shook it excessively with so much strength she was sure her entire body was shaking, even if the other girl wasn't budging a inch. Maka stretched her fingers and rolled her wrist the instant she let go.

Gosh, why does she have such a strong grip?! She thought, shocked. She looked up and forced a smile even though her hand in general hurt like it got ran over by a steamroller. Her urge to rage was strong, and normally, she'd Maka Chop someone for doing something like that and criticize them to be careful next time, but these girls seemed a bit too sensitive to her. She didn't want them to be afraid of her or avoid her, so she kept her mouth shut and tried to ignore it.

The girl's slightly messy platinum blonde hair, which was in a low ponytail and secured by a red band, jumped to the side as she flipped her bangs. She placed her hand on her chest, motioning to herself, as she spoke. "I'm Applejack, but you can call me AJ if you'd prefer."

Maka nodded to the obvious cowgirl. She had tan skin and muscles along her limbs like Rainbow Dash, although her legs (especially her calves) were the bulkiest; they looked like pure muscle, really. Over these guns, she wore a tiger-orange T-shirt with long, denim overalls, straps overlapping her shoulders. Right below the middle of her chest, there was a large pocket with a red apple-shaped symbol sewn into it. Brown,  leather cowboy boots with no spurs went from the bottom of her feet to half of her calves. White laces in the shapes of apples were scattered among her footwear. She also wore a plain cowboy hat that looked like it held a lot of value. Applejack's grassy green eyes lit up with so much respect it was almost overwhelming.

Next, Maka turned to another girl. When she shook her hand, it was soft and smooth, unlike Applejack's calloused one. She shook it with such delicacy it was just screaming "fancy". Along with this difference, her skin was pale, and she wore a ring on her right hand with a golden shank and a baby blue, four-sided-diamond that seemed of great importance. She donned a white, silky spaghetti-strap dress (with few visible dirt smudges, but it was very clean for someone who wore it in a small alleyway for two days in a row) with a sleek, purple ribbon surrounding her waist. The dress ended just below her knees, and she also wore white low pumps. Her dark violet hair was in two, large separate curls going in different directions and looked just as smooth as her ribbon. The curl covering her left eye was shorter than the other one, ending near her ear while the other curl stopped at the base of her neck.

"It's quite a pleasure to meet another lady such as yourself," She smiled warmly, giggling a bit. "I'm Rarity, darling." Maka could already feel her anger slipping away a little bit by this point - key word being little.

Maka turned to her left to see the girl who explained everything in one breath. She had remarkably puffy, magenta hair with a small, gravity-defying curl in the front. Her light blue eyes sparkled with obvious excitement, along with a teeth-showing smile that reached from ear to ear. Below her face a detailed necklace hung from her neck in the shape of three balloons - on the left and right sides were blue balloons with yellow strings, and in the middle was a higher-placed yellow balloon with a blue string. The collar of her white polo surrounded the rest of her neck, while her shoulders were covered by a bubblegum pink, denim short-jacket. A hot-pink short skirt halting at mid-thigh was worn above baby blue socks starting at her knees. Neon pink sandals concealed her feet, which were tapping to a hidden, upbeat tune in the girl's mind.

She shook Maka's hand excitedly like Applejack, although definitely not as strongly. "Well, it's nice to meet you too, Maka! If I need to be formal, I'm Pinkamena Diane Pie! Everypony calls me Pinkie Pie or Pinkie, though, so you can call me that as well! I'm very happy you decided to help us. I know taking in six new girls might not be your forte," Her smile faded for a split-second, but widened even more (if that was even possible) in the seconds that followed. "so thank you so much! You really don't know how happy we all are. Living here for a day has been terrible, and I'm starving!" Her smile lowered into a humored grin. "Oh, you should've seen Rarity's face when a cockroach ran up her arm! She screamed and ran around waving her arms even though it already fell off minutes earlier!" She burst into giggles and snorts, while Rarity's eye twitched in displeasure. "She reminded me of a person being chased by bee-" The rest of her words were muffled as Rarity shoved a hand over her mouth (which didn't stop her from talking) and laughed nervously, forcing a grin.

"Sorry," She apologized, obviously embarrassed. "She can get a little...carried away. I'm so very, very sorry."

If it were Soul or Black*Star running their mouth, she would've definitely Maka Chop'd them with all her available strength - with Pinkie, however, she wasn't so sure what to do. It was extremely rude to hit someone after they introduced themselves, no matter how talkative, and it would put a bad impression on herself.  Instead, she tried to keep her positive attitude as best she could.

She shrugged. "It's fine, really. There's no need to apologize."

Wait. Maka thought. Wasn't there four girls? Which one am I missing? She scanned the area quickly and noticed a few pink strands of hair dangling from behind Pinkie's right. Unlike Pinkie's magenta hair, they were taffy pink. When she directed her gaze lower, she now noticed some faint-yellow, low-heeled fashion boots with blue buckles behind Pinkie's legs. It was hard to see the person, almost as if they were trying to hide.

"Uh...hi?" Maka extended her hand again, this time towards the hidden girl. The girl slowly tilted her face an inch outwards, and Maka was able to see pale skin and cyan eyes. Almost immediately she shrunk back again, only to step out from behind Pinkie a second later from the other direction and minced a few steps towards her. She took her hand and shook it barely before quickly letting go and rubbing her other arm.

She reminds me an awful lot of Crona... Maka thought silently.

She started muttering small whispers that Maka couldn't hear. "I'm sorry, what did you say?" Maka tried to sound as soft and caring as possible - this girl seemed to be the extremely sensitive type. The girl went completely silent as she glanced up at Maka.

Yup. Maka confirmed as she kept her gaze on the girl. She's like a female copy of Crona.

"I'm Fluttershy..." The girl muttered again, this time at least a bit audible. She brushed a long cluster of hair away from in front of her eye and placed it behind her ear. She wore (now-visible) pink butterfly earrings and a matching necklace with a silver chain. A yellow-laced sundress with spaghetti straps started below her neck and ended at her ankles. It was tight around her waist due to a thin, silky, baby blue ribbon and a bow on her left hip, and was loose near her feet - so loose that she could do the splits if she wanted. She also wore two blue-pearl bracelets on each wrist. Her hair was so long it ended with a curl just above her waistline. Bangs covered half her face at an angle.

Fluttershy suddenly became interested in the wall next to her. Her long eyelashes swayed as she blinked. There was an awkward silence among the whole group (except for Pinkie, who was still talking with Rarity's hand over her mouth) as Maka thought about some things. Would she really be able to take them in? How is she going to pay for the food, now that it has to be multiplied by six? Were the sleeping bags good enough for them? They were guests, after all, and she didn't know how long they would actually be staying. With school and missions in mind and other responsibilities, she wasn't sure if searching for their town was an option. When the thought of struggling by having to care for the girls for the rest of her life came into view, she mentally cringed.

There was some good to it, however. She could always have a few more female friends to hang around. They would provide good company, they could help with paperwork, chores, or other work, and they seemed like the kind of person everyone wants to have as a friend. Along with that, if they cause too much trouble at home, she could enroll them at DWMA so they could occupy their time there instead. She knew that the DWMA isn't a place where you dump people because they mess up your house, but it could also help them learn self defense moves in case a kishin attacks or someone tries to rob them. All she needed to do then would be to find out if they were Weapons or Meisters.

A cough belonging to Rainbow Dash interrupted Maka's pondering and worries. "So, uh," She scratched the back of her head. "Do we leave, or...?"

Maka blinked and glanced at Rainbow. "Right, right. Sorry about that. Let's go."

Well, the choice of leaving them here just got hurled out a window. She thought to herself.

As she led them away, Pinkie turned around to say goodbye to the alleyway. Maka thought it was a bit strange, and she sighed, angry and impatient. If she wasn't going to Maka Chop them, she had to release her hidden frustration in some way. Pinkie turned around, a bit surprised at her sudden hurry, and got the memo. As she skipped over to her friends, she hummed a cheery tune.

"So, where do you live? Also, what is this place called? I don't think I've ever seen a town like this." Rarity decided to start a conversation.

Maka laughed a little. "You don't know where you are right now?"

"Well, if I did, I wouldn't be asking, would I?"

Maka nodded. "Good point. Well, Soul and I live in an apartment together. This is Death City, located in Nevada."

"This place is called Death City?" Rarity repeated. She sounded a bit surprised.

"Yes. Is there a problem?" Maka turned to Rarity slightly.

The elegant woman shook her head. "No, no. I'm just... surprised that the citizens here would call it something so dark." Her expression seemed troubled.

Maka shrugged. "It's not much of a surprise. As you can see, this place is already dark, with kishins running around every now and then."

"Uh, girls?" Fluttershy raised a finger as she looked at the sky with eyes wide in utter shock and fear. To her annoyance, no one turned around (or reacted, in general).

"There's even a school I go to named DWMA, which stands for Death Weapon Meister Academy." Maka continued, not hearing Fluttershy due to her quiet voice.

"Girls..."

"The master there is named Lord Death."

"Girls?"

"He has a son named Death the Kid."

"MAKA!" Fluttershy suddenly snapped, causing Maka to whip her head over her shoulder.

"What?" She stopped walking and turned to Fluttershy completely (which made everyone else stop, too) as she searched the area in alarm. "What happened?"

"T-The moon..." Fluttershy pointed to the sky, where a bright yellow crescent moon smiled eerily. "I-I-It's... smiling at me..."

Everyone else deadpanned when they looked up; except for Maka, who sighed in intense annoyance and continued walking in the direction she was going earlier. She guessed they had never even heard of Death City before if they never saw the moon or the sun like that before. "It's fine." She bit her cheek so she wouldn't Maka Chop them. "The moon is always like that."

They all stared at Maka (who kept walking despite them staying behind) with expressions of pure amazement. "You're not scared or at least surprised that the moon looks evil - or better yet, has a face?" Applejack inquired, mouth wide open.

Maka glanced over her shoulder, her movements jerky from frustration, and shakily answered, "No. Not at all. The moon's always been like that. Now, come on. Soul is waiting for us." And with that, she continued walking.

The group all looked at each other, shocked at her anger. Without another thought they all hurried to catch up, not wanting to make her more frustrated than she already was.

When Soul came into view, the group of girls eyed him suspiciously but with hints of respect for protecting their friend. He had positioned Twilight so she sat upright, facing the wall Soul sat up against with her legs in an Indian-style pose. He had his head dropped as if he were sleeping, but Maka could tell he was awake due to him humming a random song.

When Soul looked up, on the other hand, he nearly choked on his own spit when he saw how many girls came back. "Woah woah woah," He stood up, his eyes flickering all over the newcomers, and then snapping his attention to Maka. "Are you planning on overrunning the apartment with women and leave me to be the only cool guy?"

Maka laughed but motioned to the other end of the alleyway with her hand, which opened up to the streets and roads of Death City. "We'll be right back, okay?" She informed the girls as she and Soul headed towards that specified direction. They abruptly turned a corner at the opening and disappeared behind the brick walls, leaving the girls to themselves.

Many buildings sat side by side in different shapes and sizes. All of the buildings had white walls with red roofs, but because of the nighttime darkness, it made everything look grey or black. They seemed to loom overhead, making the city a lot more creepier. The smiling moon in the pitch-black sky only produced a minuscule amount of moonlight, so everything was lit up dimly. Cafes and stores had signs protruding out of them, displaying their name (which often had 'death' in it). The city seemed averagely occupied, with the occasional group of people hurrying down the sidewalks, paying no attention except a glance at Maka and Soul. Skulls with spiky teeth scattered the city's signs, buildings, etc.

"What's the meaning of this?" Soul inquired with a sigh, stuffing his hands in his jacket pockets.

"They were in an alleyway, Soul. The one with the dead end." Maka huffed. "Do you expect me to leave them there? What kind of person do you take me for?"

"It's not that," He argued. "I agree they might die if they were left there, but six girls? How do you plan to pay for the bills and such if they're using up half our income? I doubt they have money to buy suitable clothes, too. It makes me all the less cooler if I'm poor."

"I know, I know," She crossed her arms. "But what choice do we have? We've already brought their hopes up. I may be the kind of person to kill kishins and Maka Chop you and Black*Star when you're acting up, but I'm not the kind of cruel person to tease girls about where they're going to live."

Soul looked away, hands still in his pockets. He was quiet for a few minutes. "You're right," He suddenly sighed, dropping his head. "It would be uncool to deny them to live with us now."

Maka tilted her head to the side and grinned. She twirled on her heel and turned the corner, continuing down the dark alleyway. Soul sauntered right beside her. "It's not all bad, Soul. We could enroll them in the DWMA, after all. That could help them to become more responsible than they already are, and then they could buy themselves their own apartment, if they don't find their town by then."

"Town?" Soul raised an eyebrow, keeping his gaze fixated in front of him. "You mean they don't live here?"

"No. They live in a town named Ponyville."

"Whatever. Anyways, you'll have to have their and Lord Death's permission to let them enter the DWMA. You know that, right?"

Maka nodded. "Of course I do. I'll just contact him through a nearby win-" She suddenly caught her breath in her throat, slamming her foot into the ground to cease her movement. Her eyes widened in surprise as she stared into nothingness.

"Maka?" This time, Soul turned his head to look at his Meister. When she didn't answer, he grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Maka! Maka, snap out of it! It's not cool to act like you're having a heart attack, Maka! Maka? What's wrong?"

The girls, who were surrounding Twilight, snapped their attention to the horrified Maka now. Rainbow stood up, but stayed where she was. "Is she okay? What happened?!"

"Stop! Let go of me, Soul!" Maka's voice was shaky yet stern, but she started to breath again. Soul reluctantly released her. "It's just...how long ago was it that we killed that kishin earlier?"

Soul blinked in confusion. Was she worrying about that? "Uh, I dunno, an hour ago? Why?"

Her eye twitched and she laughed nervously. "We...uh...." Maka gulped. "Forgot to contact...uh...Lord Death." Her voice cracked near the end.

Soul looked expressionless for a second before he closed his eyes, exhaled the breath he forgot he was holding and put a hand on his chest where his heart was. He used his free hand to support himself on the wall. She was just overreacting. "Don't freak out like that, Maka. You made me think you were dying. That wasn't cool at all."

However, when he looked up, Maka was already at the far end of the alleyway - the end that was closer to where the girls came from - and was frantically breathing and writing on a window as she muttered quiet words. The girls now stared at her with a bewildered expression. Rainbow sat down slowly, as if she thought Maka was still having a heart attack.

Soul rolled his eyes and made a 'tch' noise. "She reminds me of Kid sometimes..." He muttered under his breath.