Chapter 1 - Mysterious Scouter! Canterlot High School?
The sun shone brightly in an almost clear sky, what little clouds were still around drifting lazily through the air. Calm, still silence rang out as people went about their merry way, completely undisturbed-
“You’re not getting past me!”
In a nearby park, a large group of middle school students, boys and girls alike, ran around, taking up the local football field.
“We’ll see!” shouted another boy who flicked the ball over another person before running past him, as he said “Yeah, you definitely stopped me there… good try though.”
“Nice one Ross!” A third boy laughed, running backwards towards one of the goals. “Come on, bring it up to me!”
“Okay, get moving Gale! After the next defender, it’s heading to you,” replied Ross as he charged towards the oncoming defender. As he got closer, he clipped the ball, sending it to the right as it began spinning on the spot where it landed. Ross ran left before moving past the defender, the ball bouncing back towards his feet before he managed to bring it back under control as he ran on. “Gale! Your ball!” He cried, passing the ball forward.
Gale smirked, leaping forward to intercept the ball and bringing it under control. “Got it!” He cried, sprinting towards the goal. His grin faded, however, when another defender slid into his path. “Woah!”
Gale skidded to a stop, accidentally sending the ball into the air. He watched it go for a moment before grinning, leaping after it.
“Trick shot!” Gale shouted as he spun, lashing out with a side-kick that sent the ball rocketing towards the goal, spinning rapidly. The keeper watched the shot approach in shock for a moment before diving out of the way, the ball flying into the back of the net and remaining in the air for a moment from the force of the shot.
Every player on the field froze, staring in awe as the ball finally dropped to the ground. Nobody dared to speak for a while before the keeper let out an enraged shout.
“What the hell man!?” He cried, marching up to Gale. “You could’ve took my head off!”
“S-sorry!” Gale stammered, backpedalling. “I-I didn’t mean to!”
“Hey! Back off,” shouted Ross, before he kicked the ball into his back and said “You need to calm down, don’t make me show you what would really take your head off!”
The keeper glared at them both for a moment before snorting, turning and marching away. “Whatever,” he spat. “Come on guys, we’re outta here.” The other players shrugged, following after the keeper as he lead the way off the pitch and out of the park.
Ross then walked over to Gale’s side. “You okay buddy?” He asked.
“I’m fine,” Gale shrugged. “Guy was just a loudmouth. Still though, wonder how I did that…”
“Don’t look at me… Actually, how did I do what I did as well?” Ross asked.
“No idea…”
“I think I could help you boys out.”
The two footballers blinked, spinning around to find a tall, pink-haired woman dressed in an unflattering purple sweatsuit with a clipboard under her arm.
“Who are you?” Gale asked, taking a cautious step back.
The woman smiled warmly. “My name is Patricia Void. I’m a scouter, and I think you two have exactly what I’m looking for.”
“Why us?” Asked Ross skeptically.
“Those skills you just displayed,” ‘Patricia’ said, a knowing smile on her face. “You’ve never done that have you? It just sort of happened?”
“I don’t think I have… but even then I didn’t realise till just now, so who knows.” Ross admitted as he shrugged his shoulders.
“I know I’ve never done that,” Gale muttered. “That was just weird. I didn’t know I could kick that hard.”
“What if I told you,” Patricia said. “That I can take you somewhere that’ll let you learn all about what you did, and how you can do it again.” She paused, smiling airily. “Of course, I’d have to let your parents know, and they may not want you to go… after all, no parents I’ve ever met think football can be a worthwhile career.”
“My dad… definitely wants the money but thinks it’s an impossible dream to achieve,” Ross admitted.
“Oh, there won’t be any money,” Patricia chuckled. “Not for a while anyway. No, you’d be training for the most part, and having fun the rest of the time, as a real footballer should be. Football isn’t just a sport, it’s a game.”
“So true, my dad just thinks about money not enjoying what you do… you know, count me in he’ll get over it in the pub like always.” Ross admitted saddly.
“My mom doesn’t care what I do,” Gale shrugged. “I’m in, don’t even need to tell her. I’ll be glad to get out of here.”
Patricia smirked to herself before composing herself, turning back to the two and holding out her clipboard and a pen. “Then just sign right here then,” she said. “I’ll see to it you both get there as soon as possible.”
Gale grinned, snatching the clipboard up and quickly scribbling his name.
Ross the smiled before he began reading over the information on the clipboard before he signed his name at the bottom of the page and asked Patricia “So what now?”
“Now…” Patricia said with a smirk. “Now you get sent to your new school. Be sure to enjoy yourselves!”
Gale and Ross blinked in confusion before backing up in concern.
“I’m getting a bad feeling about this Gale,” Ross muttered.
“M-me… too…” Gale groaned before he fell backwards, blacking out.
“Gale!” Ross shouted before his vision began to blur. “Dammit… maybe I shouldn’t have signed where it said ‘free multiversal trip’...” he muttered before collapsing next to Gale.
As Ross slowly opened his eyes he felt lightheaded, almost as though he’d lost a lot of blood as he realised that his whole vision was blurred as he muttered “Uhh, what happened… I feel like I got hit by a truck.” Seconds later his vision began create a clear image as he saw what appeared to be a large building that appeared to have the image of a eight pointed star carved into the glass above the door.
He then looked behind him to see Gale on the floor before Ross quickly shook his shoulders as he said “Gale wake up.”
Gale groaned as he came to, holding his head in pain and pushing himself into a sitting position. “What the…” he muttered, looking around blearily before his gaze fell upon a large, marble horse statue, Ross leaning against the base.. “Where am I?
“I know where we’re not… home,” Ross answered.
Gale sighed, holding his head in pain. “Ugh… what happened to-”
“Outtathewaycan’tstopcomingthrough!”
“Wha-”
Gale never got to finish his question as a rainbow-haired girl attempted to leap over him, her foot catching him across the face and sending them both tumbling to the ground.
“...Ouch…” Gale moaned, his face buried in the dirt.
“Sorry dude!” The girl shouted over her shoulder as she pushed herself up, continuing her sprint. “Can’t talk, gotta get to class!”
“Class?... wait didn’t that ‘Patricia’ woman mention going to school?” Ross asked Gale.
“I… I think so?” Gale muttered as he pushed himself up, looking blearily at the large building before them as the strange girl dashed through the main doors. “Guess that’s the school?”
“I suppose… but didn’t that girl look familiar? I can’t place from where though.” Admitted Ross.
Gale shrugged, jumping to his feet and looking around before his gaze fell on the statue again. “You know…” he said, crossing his arms. “Something about that statue… and the girl with rainbow-coloured hair…”
“Wait… Rainbow hair… you can’t be seriously thinking what I’m thinking… and this statue looks like a horse.” Ross said as he put the pieces together.
Gale groaned, facepalming. “This is Canterlot High, isn’t it…” he muttered.
“That’s what I was thinking,” Ross admitted. “So she send us into those films.”
“Looked kinda different, though…” Gale said. “Like, if that was Rainbow Dash, why wasn’t she blue?”
“No idea, but it was pretty accurate to how she acts right… crashing into you,” Ross joked.
“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Gale sighed. “My face still hurts! C’mon, I suppose if we’re here we’re supposed to enroll or something…”
“Or get kicked off campus,” Ross added.
“That is a possibility,” Gale shrugged. “We won’t know until we try though, and it’s not like we know how to get home, if we even can. Might as well see about getting in and ask about dorms or something.”
“I suppose, shall we?” asked Ross.
Gale just shrugged again, shoving his hands in his pockets as he lead the way into the school. They paused in the first room, looking around in awe at the huge circular room. Three hallways lead further in, one straight ahead and one to either side. Two sets of stairs on either side of the doors lead to the upper floors, and a series of banners showing a golden horse head inside a large horseshoe-styles ‘C’ hung from the walls.
“Guess that’s their team logo…” Gale muttered to himself.
“Do you remember where Celestia’s or Luna’s rooms were?” Ross asked.
“Straight ahead I think,” Gale replied. “They never really showed all the directions in the movies…”
“Shame everyone’s in class right now, we could have asked for directions,” Ross admitted.
“That’s true…” Gale said quietly as he looked around, smirking as he spotted a woman in a dark purple blouse and dark slacks. “Ah, just our luck. Looks like a teacher over there, maybe he can help us.”
“No harm in asking.” Ross admitted before they walking towards the teacher. Gale followed before pausing, frowning in thought as he caught sight of the teacher’s two-tone blue and lilac hair before sighing.
“Oh dear lord…” he muttered.
“You there!” The teacher called, striding over to them. “Why are you not in class?”
“Because we aren’t students here… well, we’re not yet,” Ross retorted.
“Yeah, we’re, uh…” Gale said distractedly. “New to the area…”
“Oh, I see,” the teacher said, nodding understandingly. “And I assume you are here to enroll then? Very well, follow me.”
“Well… I suppose it for the best... I heard this was one of the best schools around,” Ross said.
The teacher chuckled, shaking her head in amusement. “While we would love to accept that, we are unfortunately not as good as some of the rumours would have you believe.” Pausing, she gasped, blushing slightly. “Oh, I’m so sorry, where are my manners. I am Vice Principal Luna Olympia. My sister, Celeste, is the principal. Her office is just around the next corner.”
“Ah, thank you, we were confused as to where we needed to go,” Ross admitted.
“Yeah, thanks,” Gale said with a strained smile, refusing to look at her.
“Gale… you need to relax,” Ross assured him whilst tapping him on the shoulder.
“Yes, please don’t be nervous,” Vice Principal Luna offered with a kind smile. “My sister may seem fierce at first, but that is just because she has been very busy as of late. She is actually a very kind person.”
“Okay, thanks,” Gale muttered, still a little tense.
They continued in silence until Luna stopped them in front of an ordinary-looking wooden door, a small sun emblazoned in the centre of it. “This is my sister’s office. Just knock and she’ll call you in, no need to be shy.”
“Thanks…” Gale said as she turned and walked away before shrugging. “Well, here goes nothing.” Stepping up, he knocked loudly on the door, waiting for a few seconds before a warm voice answered.
“Come in!”
Pushing the door open, Gale and Ross stepped through, marvelling at the warm and inviting office for a moment.
“How can I help you?” The woman sat behind a desk in the centre of the room asked kindly, her long hair a combination of pastel pink, blue and green.
“We’re new to the area and would like to enrol at the school… you approving of that of course.” Ross said.
“I have no problems,” the Principal said with a smile. “We always accept new students, and if I’m not mistaken you two are the ones detailed in this letter.” As she spoke, she pulled a letter out of a drawer, placing it on the desk.
“Sorry, a letter… do you know who sent it?” Ross asked inquisitively.
“Unfortunately, no,” Celeste sighed. “The only signature was discernible to me, despite my best efforts to decipher it.”
“Weird…” Gale muttered to himself before shaking the thoughts off. “Sorry if I seem rude, but do you have a football club at this school?”
Principal Celeste seemed to almost flinch at the question, her gaze drifting away. “Well… we do have a club here, yes, but…”
“Let me guess, they don’t have enough players to merit a full team,” Ross guessed.
The principal blinked in shock, her mouth opening and closing for a few moments before she seemed to find her words. “How did you…”
“To be honest,” Gale shrugged. “It was either that or you were gonna say they were terrible, or they were cursed, or something along those lines. I’m thinking that was just my friend’s first guess.”
“Right, of course…” Principal Celeste said unsurely. “Well, in any case, there is the matter of filling out your paperwork before you can go running off to join any clubs. Might I have your names please?”
“Of course, Ross Garbett.”
“I’m Galileo Winters, but most call me Gale,” Gale provided.
“Okay, thank you,” Celeste said with a nod, her pen scratching across the paperwork that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere on her desk. “Ages please?”
“Seventeen,” Gale said.
“Seventeen as well,” Ross added
Again, Celeste just nodded as her pen scratched away. “Okay, and places of residence?”
Gale and Ross flinched, sharing a quick, unsure glance before Gale spoke up. “Um, right, about that…” he said, rubbing his arm unsurely.
“Well… you could say we’re… homeless,” Ross lied as he said “My parents kicked me out a few months back.”
“And my father wasn’t exactly the most kind parent in the world either,” Gale said sadly. “He… well, he drank a lot, and eventually I’d had enough and left. I don’t think he’s even noticed…”
“I see…” Celeste muttered, before an understanding smile crossed her face. “Well, don’t worry, I won’t turn you away because of that. We do have a small community where people with less than gracious home lives can move, a sort of ‘student village’ if you will. I’m sure I can find you both a place to stay, either on your own or with a roommate.”
“We would be grateful for that... I’m tired of having to use my skills to just survive.” Ross admitted, wincing at the thought.
“Yeah, thanks,” Gale agreed. “We’d appreciate whatever you can get for us.”
“Then it’s settled,” Celeste said with a smile, her pen scratching on the paper again. “I’ll note you both down as staying in the student village, and anything else can be filled out when you get your medical proclamation sheets delivered. Now then, would you like someone to show you around?”
“That would probably be for the best… don’t want to get lost and be late for lessons,” joked Ross.
“No need to worry about that,” Celeste said with a giggle, shaking her head good-naturedly. “Your classes won’t start until tomorrow, so you have all of today to get yourself acquainted with the school grounds.” The principal paused as someone knocked on her door almost hesitantly, a smile crossing her face. “Ah, and I think we’ve just found the perfect candidate for your tour guide. Miss Dashworth, please come in!”
The door swung open, revealing the same rainbow-haired girl from earlier. Dressed in a simple white tee-shirt, black biker shorts, a pink and white skirt and a blue denim jacket, she walked in, avoiding the principal’s gaze. “H-how did you know it was me, Principal Celeste?” She asked hesitantly.
“Because, Miss Dashworth,” Celeste sighed. “You have been late every day for the past month, ever since you began your ‘extra-super-secret training’.”
“Ah…” ‘Miss Dashworth’ muttered in embarrassment, her cheeks flaring red. “Right… sorry…”
“No need to apologise, I can admire your tenacity for your newfound passion,” Celeste chuckled. “As it so happens you arrived at the perfect time. These two new students need a tour guide, you see, and-”
“I’ll do it!” The girl cried almost desperately. “Not a problem Miss, I’ll see to it they know every important part of this school inside and out, and that’s a Dash promise!”
Celeste chuckled at her display, shaking her head in amusement. “I never doubted you for a second, Miss Dashworth. Mister Garbett, Mister Winters, I’d like you both to meet Rachel Dashworth, Canterlot High’s resident sports savant.”
“Call me Dash guys, everyone does,” ‘Dash’ said, grinning cockily. “Nice ta meetcha both, stick with me and you’ll know this school like the back of your own hand, I sure do!” To prove her point, Dash held her hand up, seemingly inspecting the back before she blinked in surprise. “Oh… that’s new.”
“Umm, what's new? Apart from the speed meeting earlier,” chucked Ross.
“Yeah, I’m pretty familiar with your boot, thanks for that,” Gale grumbled.
“Oh damn, I’m so sorry!” Dash cried as she lead them both out of Celeste’s office and down the hall. “I didn’t mean to, honest, I was just in a rush to get to class! See, I was training for the new football club, which I am the captain of.” She paused, smirking as she struck a confident pose.
“You?” Gale asked incredulously. “Oh, well isn’t that convenient. We were hoping to join.”
“Really!?” Dash cried. “Alright, forget the tour, follow me!” With that, the girl sprinted off, vanishing around a corner. Gale and Ross blinked at each other for a moment before giving chase, struggling to catch up.
“Well we really are slower than we thought, ain’t we,” Ross admitted.
“She’s Rainbow Dash, of course we are,” Gale shot back before grinning widely. “I can’t believe I just got to say that!”
“Neither can I… although I wonder what Fluttershy’s like here?”
“Probably the same, if a little more… human-coloured?” Gale shrugged as they both skidded around a corner, managing to keep Dash in their sight. “And I’m gonna guess that’s a nickname here too, since we’re actually following ‘Rachel’ right now.”
“You're the brony here buddy, I only know snippets from what you told me when you were trying to turn me,” Ross joked, smirking slightly.
“Ah whatever,” Gale laughed. “You’d've loved it and you know it!”
“Come on slowpokes!” Dash cried, charging through a set of double doors. Gale shrugged and sprinted ahead, crashing through the same doors with Ross not far behind.
Skidding to a stop, Ross and Gale stared out across the large, professionally-sized pitch in front of them, a mad grin crossing the latter’s face.
“Awesome…” Gale breathed in awe. “Yep, I think I’ll like it here.”
“We’ll see how you feel after a week of school,” Ross replied.
“Would you two hurry up!” Dash cried from further down the pitch, hands on her hips. “God, you’re like a couple of old grannies!”
“Yeah yeah,” Gale laughed as they ran over to her. “Alright, we’re here. So where’s the clubhouse?”
“You’re lookin’ at it,” Dash shrugged, jabbing her thumb at the small, run-down shack behind her.
“I feel like I should have expected that, but I don’t know why,” Ross muttered.
“Dude…” Gale breathed, blinking owlishly before he grinned. “This is awesome!”
“I know right!?” Dash cried, grinning widely. “Glad someone finally gets it!”
“Well… it’s definitely quaint… what's the team like?” Ross asked.
“Dash froze, wincing slightly. “Well, um… small,” she muttered before sighing, pushing the door open and stepping aside. “Just take a look, everyone’s inside.”
Gale shrugged and stepped inside, looking around the shack for a moment as Ross followed behind him. Push up against the back wall was a line of eleven old lockers, some rusted, with a cage full of footballs right next to it. A large, wheeled whiteboard could be sign just behind the lockers, presumably pushed back there for storage, and a wooden folding table sat to the left with two large tires next to it, being used as chairs. Posters of footballers and tournaments covered the walls, and a banner similar to those in the main hall of the school hung from the ceiling.
Two people sat at the table, one a hulking, muscle-bound young man with a crop of short, ragged blonde hair on his head and freckles dusting his slightly reddened skin, the other a much shorter but no less strong-looking girl with long blonde hair tied into a braid, a brown leather stetson on her head.
Another, much shorter girl with a messy crop of purple hair on her head was leaning against the far wall, flipping through what looked like a comic book with a man wearing a long red coat on the front.
“I feel like I’ve seen this before… are we really this low on numbers?” Ross asked Dash.
“Well partner, we’re still a fairly new club ‘n all,” the girl in the stetson answered, not looking up from the cards in her hand. “Ain’ tha’ right Big Mac?”
“Eeyup,” the hulking man replied with a simple nod before placing three cards fown in a hand and throwing his last one into a pile in the centre. “Ah win.”
“Dag nabbit!”
“That’s Jacquelin,” Dash laughed, stepping up beside Ross and Gale. “Though we call her AJ. And the big guy’s Mac, or Big Mac. No prizes for guessing why we call him that.”
“Who’re these guys, Dash?” The shorter girl asked, beaming widely. “New members!?”
“Yeah squirt, they are!” Dash chuckled. “This ball of energy is Scooter, or Scootaloo.”
“Nice to meet you all,” Gale said with a polite nod.
“Same here,” Ross added.
“So?” ‘AJ’ asked, leaning back in her chair. “What’re yer names?”
“Oh, right!” Gale said, smacking a hand to his forehead. “Galileo Winters, but most call me Gale. This is Ross Garbett, my best friend.”
“More like only friend, before we came here,” Ross joked.
“Ah, shut up!” Gale huffed with a smirk as the others laughed.
“Nice t’meet y’all,” AJ said with a smile as she stood up, marching over and taking each of their hands before shaking violently. “What’re yer positions then? We here’re all defenders, cept’n Dash o’course. Girl just had t’be a striker.”
“Hey, I’m a great striker!” Dash cried indignantly. “And I can get past any of you three!”
“Except Big Mac,” Scootaloo said innocently, making Dash flinch. “You’ve never got past him.”
“Eeyup.”
“Well, I’m an attacking midfielder and Gale’s a striker… we used to be quite good by the standards of our old peers.” Ross admitted
“Yeah,” Gale chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head. “We’re, uh… we were actually scouted, that’s why we’re here.”
“You were?” Scootaloo asked in confusion. “But who would scout someone for our team? We’re not even registered with the FFL yet.”
“I’m starting to think that ‘Patricia’ lady played us for fools,” Ross muttered
“Yeah, me too,” Gale whispered back before raising his voice. “We don’t know why we were scouted, but how can we help you guys get registered?”
Dash smirked and hurried to the back of the room, pulling the whiteboard out. On the board was what looked like a long and complicated plan including lots of acrobatics, covert sneaking, and even what looked like a kidnapping sub-plan.
“We ain’t doin’ none o’ yer plan Dash,” AJ sighed, shaking her head.
“Aww, come on guys!” Dash whined. “I spent weeks drawing this up!”
“Nope,” Big Mac droned.
“Sorry Dash,” Scootaloo shrugged.
“Seriously, are all your plans gonna be to abduct people?” Ross groaned.
“Only the ones where it’s needed,” Dash shrugged.
“I… might have a better, less illegal idea,” Gale offered, chuckling oddly. “Why don’t we just go ask around the school? I’m sure there are people who’d want to join us.”
“Y’think we ain’t already tried that?” AJ asked, rolling her eyes. “Nah, ain’t nobody in’erested in foo’ball anymore.”
“That’s rubbish!” Dash cried, scowling madly. “Football’s still as popular as ever! These people just don’t know what they’re missing!”
“Or maybe you were too pushy and people decided that they didn’t want to be associated with you?” Ross suggested.
Dash blinked silently for a few moments before smirking, waving the claim off. “Nah, if anything I wasn’t pushy enough!” Her grin widened as the sound of a bell rang out. “Alright, we’ll try again then! Come on everyone, time to go recruiting!”
AJ, Big Mac and Scootaloo sighed, giving off less-than-enthusiastic sounding cheers as Dash sprinted out of the club.
“Sorry ‘bout ‘er,” AJ sighed. “She’s gone an’ got all riled up again, it’s a mite hard to deal with’er when she gets like this.”
“Don’t worry about it, we sort of caused this. I guess we were just a bit enthusiastic and wanted to get a team together.”
“Yeah,” Gale chuckled. “Don’t worry, I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“Let's hope so” Ross muttered. “We never actually got a proper tour of the school did we?”
“We’ll figure it out,” Gale shrugged. “It’s just a school.”
