Where Magic Awakens Darkness in Canterlot High

It was a half hour, give or take a few minutes, as Nurse Tenderheart began to open the door, allowing the people behind her to stand and watch. Who was present were the few who had talked to him. It was Fluttershy, Rarity, Celestia, Luna, and Octavia. However, there was one he didn’t know; Sunset Shimmer. She stood at the doorway, watching intently as Tenderheart took another run of his pulse, placing her fingers along his neck. It was the same, strong pulse he had since he went down. Each of them stayed outside the room, whether leaned against the wall, or sitting on the floor, all of them sat patiently. Luck seemed to stray in and place a spell over the catastrophe, because as the hands on the clock began to read eleven-thirty, Nurse Tenderheart walked outside.

“William’s awake, just has a bit of a headache.” Nurse Tenderheart mused with a smile, shaking her head with a sigh.

“Can we see him?” Fluttershy sprang off of her feet as she heard this, Rarity folding her hands in front of herself as she looked to Fluttershy.

“He would probably like some,” Nurse Tenderheart said, stepping by. “Just try not to overwhelm him.” With that, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Sunset Shimmer stepped inside to see him, standing by the bed as William turned to look at them.

“Oh dear, what happened? Is this the dream where I’m getting haunted by snapping?” William seemed to sigh as he put his hands over his face.

“What? No. Wait, you snapped?” Sunset Shimmer asked that question almost confusedly. “Is that why you came to me Rarity? You need me to give a whupping?”

“No, I meant to have you two introduced, but I just thought you’d be able to speak without making him mad,” Rarity parsed as she shook her head, sighing. “If I may ask… Why did you snap, uh... William, is that correct?”

“I…” William seemed to go silent and looked away, saying more without him having to open his mouth. Sunset Shimmer shook her head softly, Fluttershy sighing in relief.

“I’m just glad you’re alright.” Fluttershy added in as William looked to Rarity.

“I’m sorry to each of you for being rude. It’s not every day I come to a place like this.” But looking at the people in front of him, three girls just seemed too odd for William. He really didn’t like trusting one. But he was practically forced to oblige. ‘I need male friends, I feel the masculinity dropping like bricks,’ William thought to himself.

“Listen, William,” Sunset Shimmer began, “I have a gut feeling about you,” and that was her Equestrian senses telling he that, no gut guesses, “So at lunch today, you’re going to take a seat with me. And don’t take that the wrong way. I’ve got questions for you.” Fluttershy raised her hand hearing this.

“Will this be quick for lunch, or will it be the whole lunch period?” Fluttershy asked sincerely as Sunset Shimmer shrugged.

“Depends on if he’s willing to cooperate.” She parsed.

“Wait one second, I’m missing out on Geometry, I need to get back,” he said, standing up as the three took to the door, staring at him.

“Not until Tenderheart has cleared you to leave!” Sunset barked, but William rose up quickly.

“You had better be quiet, because if I can’t move, then I’m not cleared. I am my own doctor. And I know when I’m good to go or not.” He said, only for Octavia to slide through them, staring at the boy.

“Listen to them,” Octavia pleaded, “We may not be the closest of friends, or even developed a friendship yet, but just don’t push yourself on a road to getting hurt, because there are some people who don’t even know you that care.”

The words seemed to quell the boy, but he seemed to go into a trance for a few seconds, merely staring at the floor as he sat back down. Octavia put a hand on William’s shoulder as Tenderheart raised a brow.

“May I get inside?” Tenderheart asked agitated as Sunset, Flutters and Rarity moved out of the way. Octavia reached into her pocket while this happened, and put a single five dollars beside William, and patted his hand.

“That's so you can get more coffee,” Octavia mused with a soft smile as she strutted out, but William seemed dazed, not by the random act of kindness itself, but the words said, what could apply to him. Never before after what had happened had he put the effort into thinking about making friends. Primal instincts were tailoring up, tenth grade was nearing an end in 5 months, and he may have possibly been ended before any of his hopes would come true.

William didn’t even notice Tenderheart as she spoke to him, eventually patting his forehead to get his attention, which worked.

“Wha- hu- wuzzat?” He asked, almost unaware of what had happened.

“Are you able to continue with your day, or do you want to go home?” Tenderheart asked, with the immediate answer being William’s rise from his position, to stand in front of her as he nodded.

“Just send me back, because I don’t need to waste any more time,” William ordered, hating the fact that he had practically missed the class, even if he wasn’t a good number cruncher, he still tried his darndest to learn.

“No, you’ll be kept here until the lunch bell rings, because I don’t want you pressing yourself too hard.” Sunset, Fluttershy, and Rarity all nodded to him, turning around to walk out of the room as William sat down. With that, Tenderheart left to return to her desk, only for Celestia to pop in.

“Oh dear me, William, what happened?” Celestia asked, looking down at the healthy-looking boy. She squatted across the cot, and looked at him as he looked between his legs.

“I don’t know, honestly… It seemed like there was a rush through my head, and I got dizzy, and… If I remember hearing the clunk correctly, I hit the ground like a bag of bricks.” William didn’t even rub the back of his head. He seemed almost content, unhurt, but his eyes on the floor gave it away.

“William,” Celestia murmured, “if you need to talk, I can listen to what you need to say.” William didn’t respond. “William?” Celestia called out. He just seemed to nod right there, eyes unmoving from the floor. Celestia took this as a notice to leave, and slowly walked away as she looked back at him one last time. “I’ll be in my office if you need me.” And with that, she briskly stepped out.

However, inside of William’s mind, in his vision, sat not the current location of the Canterlot High Nurse’s Office, but in his eyes there was what seemed to be a void, but not filled with darkness, but images, moving images, with noise. He sat there, looking into the void, seeing a younger version of him throwing his arms up to defend himself, but being overpowered by a large, bearded kid with glasses.

“Friends… Don’t truly exist…” William softly whispered to himself. These words sat in his mind as he watched his older side become a mere limp binding of limbs upon the tiling of a bathroom, as the other had kicked him away.

“You don’t need friends. You’re too useless for one to want.” The bearded boy spoke as he walked away, the void starting to grow dark as William’s right hand clenched. There seemed to be a soft pain as he quickly began to sit on it, trying to ignore it. However, by luck, another bell had just saved his mind.

Briiiiiiing! The bell had once again broken Williams aim at any distraction. As he slowly got up, he realized his coat had seemed a bit clung to his shirt. With a single tug, he freed his coat from a soft sweat-bond to his shirt. Within seconds, William had briskly walked out as he proceeded to the cafeteria. He knew what he had experienced; an old part of him, one so damaged by who he had trusted that it forced him never to trust again. Now he could tell that the emotional demon he forged was fearful of what could happen again, making William fight a battle in his mind. However, he could often hear it talk to him before he left. It had a taste for wanton destruction, it wanted to destroy and ‘purify’ all it could, and lastly, it wanted no more pain. It was personally named by him as ‘Allucard,’ and he had no idea of the extent its power could grow. And inside of such a magical environment, with such power causing this manifestation to stir around.

As William walked around the cafeteria, looking for an empty table, his stomach rumbled. Looking at the food these people had on their plate made him sick, but aside from that fact, he had wasted his only five he brought on the coffee he got this morning, so a dollar and some change wouldn’t do it, and he wasn’t going to spend the money Octavia gave him. As William located a completely empty table in the corner, he decided to leap for it, stepping over only to finally feel the splendor of sitting with his back straight up again. However, such pleasure was quickly lost as Sunset Shimmer walked over, taking a seat right across from William as he proceeded to groan.

“Not even ten seconds, best record for interrupting my lunch,” William griped as Sunset Shimmer proceeded to place her palm against her face.

“Listen, I just want to talk to you for a min-” As Sunset Shimmer tried to speak, William put his head on the table with an audible ‘thunk’ that made a few heads turn.

“Please make it quick, I wasted money on good coffee that I lost, and I hate being awake and hungry at the same time.” Sunset seemed to understand where he was coming from, but decided it would be best to see if this boy wasn’t as bad as the Dazzerlings, or her former self for that matter. She sighed as she looked at William’s arm. The muscles seemed to make his coat move a bit, but Sunset Shimmer didn’t see his other arm moving at all.

“William?” She asked, reaching for his arm as William put his hand to his head, rubbing as his fingers seemed to have a slight twitch, and his hand’s vein below his knuckles was pulsing.

“Yeah?” William asked drowsily, unaware of what his hand was doing. As a concerned Sunset began to reach for it, she did now know what was about to happen.

“Are you alright, your hand is-” Zap! The golden color of her magic seemed to shock itself out of her hand, into his; Equestrian magic, just a small drop, in the hands of what was now awakened. William instantaneously grabbed his hand, pain growing intensely as he howled out in slight agony for just a second.

“Sweet” – William tried not to curse, -“nuclear explosion, my hand feels as if it’s on fire!” William said as he groaned. Sunset Shimmer instantly gasped, seeing William groan as his hand seemed to go spastic, but it slowly began to slow down as William breathed heavily, the pain gone, and the twitching unable to be seen.

“What was that?!” Sunset asked concerned, taking William’s hand again as he pulled away instantly.

“Watch it, you don’t need to be zapped or I don’t need to have a nuke go off in my hand!” William jeered as he sighed, looking at his hand. He couldn’t see anything wrong; no burn marks, lesions, or any physical or nervous damage of the sort, and all he felt was the average flow of blood and contractions of his muscles.

“I feel like I lost a part of my strength…” Sunset muttered as William looked at her, then at his hand. The cycle repeated; Sunset, hand, Sunset, hand, Sunset Shimmer, right hand, and it continued for about thirty seconds until he sighed.

“Please just, stay away, I don’t know what happened, just…” William began to feel an oddness speak in his head.

“Those who share obviously care. Well, I’m not letting myself be lured. But what’s mine is yours.” That voice seemed to be almost like a deranged version of his, the quick pacing, the stuttering, and the interrupting laugh between a few words.

“William?” Sunset Shimmer asked as William seemed to be in shock.

“Huh?” William snapped out of his state of listening to his head, seeing the girl he didn’t even know so well still giving a concerned look.

“You alright?”

“Yeah,” William answered, silently muttering “I hope,” to finish his sentence.

“Well, I have a party I’ll be holding since out Wondercolts won the Basketball game against Fillydelphia. Listen, if you want to know me more, and get a few more friends, you can come. Just give me an answer before the end of the day so I know to let the chauffeurs give you entrance. It’s going to be held in the Gymnasium.” A party was a foreign thing since William had never been to one, especially not to one in such a nice place. Planning out pros and cons in his head almost instantly, William nodded to her as he sighed.

“I’ll come along. What time is it?” William asked.

“Seven o’ clock, tonight.” Sunset answered.

“Alright, I’ll be here early.” William stated as he looked back to the table. Sunset Shimmer got up slowly, smiling to William as she left. William slowly placed his head on the table, sighing, only to hear a soft thump nearly inches away from his head. He looked up, seeing an apple by his head as Sunset Shimmer was already walking away.

‘Looks like I need to give Celestia another letter,’ Sunset Shimmer thought to herself as she returned to the table where she and her friends almost always sat. Taking a seat, she looked at Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash as they all smiled.

“So, what was the deal with that new kid?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I saw him earlier, he didn’t talk much though.” Pinkie Pie added in as she looked at Sunset Shimmer.

“Well, let me just say Twilight may be making an appearance here quite soon.” Sunset Shimmer retorted.