“Are you ready for this?” I asked Sunset as we sat in my truck, parked in the student parking of CHS.

“No, but it can’t really be avoided.” Sunset replied before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. “Let’s go.” She said, turning to me with a smile.

I smiled back as we climbed out of the vehicle and grabbed our bags. Meeting in front of the vehicle, I took her hand, entwining my fingers with hers and giving a gentle squeeze.

Together, we walked into the school. Once inside we headed to the office so I could pick up my schedule. After retrieving it, Sunset looked it over.

“It looks like we have the same classes.” She said.

I rolled my eyes. “Why do I get the feeling that Celestia is meddling?”

“Because she probably is.” Sunset said with a laugh. “Joke’s on her though. This just means that I get to spend all day with my very pretty boyfriend.” She said, giving me a kiss on the cheek.

I laughed. “Even if he’s prettier than you?” I said with a smirk, recalling her saying something similar a few days ago.

“Yup.” She chirped happily.

We had a bit of time to kill, so we located my locker and I dropped off my bag before we headed to hers so she could get her books.

Reaching her locker, we saw evidence that the door had recently been repainted.

Sunset sighed.

“Must have happened before everything came out.” I said. “We will handle it as it comes hun.” I added, rubbing her back.

“I know. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t sting.” She said as she opened her locker and pulled out her books for the first half of the day.

I looked around as she did so. The students that had already arrived glanced our direction looked for a moment and then looked away in shame.

Good. At least some of them have remorse for what they did.

As the day progressed, a number of students approached Sunset and apologized. She gracefully accepted their apologies each time.

Finally lunch arrived.

Getting our food and sitting down, I groaned.

“I forgot how much high school sucks.” I groused.

Sunset laughed.

Before she could reply, her friends nervously approached the table.

Sunset took pity on them and waved to the open seats.

“So how’s the first day back going?” She asked.

This opened the floodgates as we all discussed how the classes were going so far.

Then Rarity turned to us and asked, “So I take it things are going well with you two ladies?”

Sunset and I looked at each other and started laughing.

The girls looked at us with confused looks, causing our laughter to get louder.

After we calmed down, I wiped my eyes.

“Actually, you of all people should know that appearances can be deceiving.” I replied with a smirk.

Rarity looked at me blankly, then her eyes widened in realization.

“Well, I will certainly say that you can pull off the look darling. How would you feel about modeling for me? I do enjoy a challenge.” She said with a smirk of her own.

“Why not? Finding outfits in my size that look good can be challenging.” I replied as the other girls became even more confused as Sunset shook with silent laughter, her head resting on my shoulder.

“Somebody mind fillin’ us in on what is so gosh darn funny?” Applejack asked finally.

“Talisman is not, as we had assumed a member of the fairer sex.” Rarity replied.

This cause Rainbow Dash and Applejack to become even more confused while Pinkie Pie started giggling and Fluttershy let out a quiet “Oh my.”

Deciding to take pity on the pair, I leaned across the table, and in my normal voice, I said, “Howdy.”

The look on their faces was priceless. Finally Rainbow Dash started laughing and Applejack chuckled.

“I have to admit, that was pretty good.” Applejack said finally. “So is this going to be a normal thing?” She asked.

“Dressing like this?” I asked in my ‘female’ voice. “Yup. I enjoy doing it and I look damn good too.”

“That he does.” Sunset added as she pecked me on the cheek, causing Fluttershy to blush even deeper.

I looked at her for a moment. “Manga?” I asked, to which she nodded. “Thought so. Goddess bless Japan and their wackiness.” I said, raising my glass.

After lunch we hit our end of the day classes. Gym was a bit awkward, but it passed quickly, the coach and the rest of the class being surprisingly okay. With the exception of one.

The girl’s name was Gilda, and after looking for a moment I placed her from the picture of Dash that was released during the ‘Anon-a-miss’ mess.

“So what are you some kind of sissy boy?” She asked.

“Nope. Just like wearing the clothes.” I replied with a smile, making her growl.

Then the coach came in and announced that today’s activity was dodge-ball.

Unfortunately, Gilda and I were placed on opposite teams.

Unfortunate for her at least.

Soon the air was thick with flying rubber balls and the sounds of people getting hit with them.

Sunset had gotten hit earlier due to misplaced footing and I was currently the only one left on the floor.

“So pretty boy, ready to feel the pain?” Gilda asked, her remaining team members smirking with her.

I flipped my ponytail off my shoulder and smirked, before waving at her to bring it.

One of the main things I love about having been turned into a SOLDIER 1st Class is the reflexes. Eight balls came flying at me, and I was able to weave around them, moving like a dancer, catching the last one, taking that person out and getting Flash off the bench.

“Damn dude, you can move.” He said as he grabbed a ball and threw it missing his target.

“Thanks.” I replied as I chucked the ball I was holding at Gilda with only about half my strength.

It hit her in the thigh, knocking her leg out from under her, causing her to crash to the floor, face first.

Play stopped for a minute as everyone stared at me.

“Oops?” I said as I shrugged.

Gilda was rolled over and aside from a bloody nose, her thigh was covered with a massive rapidly forming bruise and was swelling.

The coach, Spitfire, came over.

“How hard did you throw that ball Stryke?” She asked.

“About half strength ma’am.” Her tone almost made me come to the position of attention.

She hummed thoughtfully and picked up a ball and handed it to me.

“I want you to throw this as hard as you can at the wall.” She said, pointing at the far end of the court.

I shrugged and wound up before letting loose.

The ball traveled the distance in less than a second and exploded when it hit the padding on the wall.

Spitfire’s jaw dropped.

“Well, I think you should sit out the next time we play dodge-ball, unless you can pull your throws more.” She said finally.

I considered. I had mostly been getting people out by catching the balls and the one I hit Gilda with was the first one I had thrown the entire game.

“I’ll sit out. Rather not hurt anyone. Honestly didn’t expect to do that much damage. Just enough to shut her up.” I replied.

Spitfire nodded. “Well then you can do some PT for the rest of the period. Go to the sidelines and start doing push ups until I get tired.” She replied.

I raised an eyebrow. “Where you a drill instructor at any point?”

“I was.” She replied.

“Thought so.” I replied as I headed over to perform my ‘punishment’.

I started doing normal push ups, maintaining proper form, back straight, head up, and breaking a ninety when going down. Once I had knocked out a hundred, I switched to wide grip push ups. Another hundred down, I switched to diamond pushups. Another hundred knocked out, I switched to fingertip push ups, holding myself up with just my fingertips and knocked another set.

At this point Spitfire stormed over.

“Just what are you kid?” She asked.

“Would you believe a bio-chemically enhanced super soldier from another reality?” I asked.

“With some of the weird shit that goes on at this school lately, yes I would.” She replied.

I smirked and pushed some Mako into my eyes, making them glow.

“Damn. Can’t participate, I can’t PT you into the ground, what am I going to do with you?” She asked.

“TA?” I suggested.

Spitfire considered the idea.

“I’ll have to run it by Principal Celestia, but sure. I’m pretty sure since a couple of people were filming it with their phones, she has probably seen what kind of damage you can do on purpose. I would hate to see accidentally.” She said with a shudder.

“I wouldn’t want to see that either.” I replied as the final bell rang.

“Well, looks like it’s time for you to go.” Spitfire said.

“Yup. Meeting the girls to watch their band practice.” I said.

“So they made up?” Spitfire asked.

“They’re not at one hundred percent yet, but yeah.” I said. “See ya later coach.”

Shortly both Sunset and I were in the music room the girls practiced in and I was surprised by the speed of the CHS rumor mill.

“So I hear ya put the hurtin’ on Gilda.” Applejack said where she was tuning her bass.

“Seriously? That was like half an hour ago tops!” I said.

“The rumor mill at this school is quite efficient that way.” Rarity replied, adjusting the strap on her key-tar.

“Apparently so. And nice throw back to the 80s. Didn’t think they still made those.” I replied as I took a seat on one of the cases.

“So what happened?” Rainbow Dash asked excitedly.

I raised an eyebrow. “She was talking smack. I threw a dodge ball at her at about half power and she went down, busted her face up and has one hell of a bruise on her leg.” I replied.

“Seriously? Half power? I doubt that. Gilda is made of tougher stuff than that.” Dash countered.

“Um, Rainbow Dash, she’s telling the truth.” Fluttershy said, showing Rainbow Dash her phone.

Dash watched the video a few times, growing paler every time.

“Please don’t play baseball.” Dash said nervously.

“I don’t plan on it.” I replied. “Not really my thing.”

Dash sighed with relief, making all of us laugh.

“Now go on and play. I want to hear you girls.” I said as I lounged on the cases.

The group started playing. It was shaky at first, like how their friendship was, but after a few songs, everything just meshed.

I bobbed my head along to the beat and then I noticed all the girls starting to glow as they sang ‘Better Than Ever’. Pulling out my phone, I began recording.

It was faint and flickered on and off, but as they moved into ‘Shine Like Rainbows’ the glow intensified. Then halfway through the song, there was a pulse of arcane power.

All six of them sprouted pony ears, their hair lengthened to have what appeared to be actual pony tails, and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy grew wings.

They stopped singing after finishing the song.

I smiled and went up to Sunset.

“I like the ears. Very cute.” I said, pulling her into a hug.

“Thank you.” Sunset replied with a wide smile on her face.

“Looks like you still have the magic.” I replied with a smirk, getting a smack to the chest.

“That was bad and you should feel bad.” Sunset said with a mock glare, slightly ruined by her twitching lips.

“Oh, yes. Woe is me, I made a horrid joke! My soul is rent in two!” I cried out dramatically, falling to my knees, head tilted back and the back of my hand resting on my forehead.

Silence. Complete and total silence.

I cracked an eye open.

“Too much?” I asked.

“Too much.” Sunset agreed, the other girls agreeing, though I could swear Fluttershy was letting out a very quiet but high pitched ‘squee’.

No, check that, she was.

“Bishie?” I asked her.

She nodded rapidly before slumping in a dead faint.

Fortunately, Applejack caught the girl.

“What was that about?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Does Shy have a large collection of manga and anime?” I asked.

“Yeah actually. How did you know?” She asked.

“When you get a chance, look up bishonen.” I replied. “Or just have her show you. Either way works.”

Dash pulled out her phone and did a quick search. “Oh, okay. Meh, not really my thing.” She said after looking at the results. “So do you play anything?”

“Guitar and violin.” I replied.

“Well, let's hear you play.” Dash said.

I looked around. Spotting a pair or acoustic guitars, I turned to Sunset.

“Play with me?” I asked.

She looked at me, then to the acoustics. She smiled as she realized what I had in mind.

For her present, I bought her a nice acoustic guitar. We had been playing together a couple of hours a day and we had been able to get a few songs down together.

“Medley?” Sunset asked as we picked up the guitars.

I nodded.

Taking a seat on a couple of stools, we turned our guitars and started playing.

There were a couple of missed notes, but we were able to make it through the over ten minute song with little difficulty.

“That was AWESOME!” Dash shouted once she was able to find her voice.

Sunset and I laughed before standing and taking a bow.

“I think things turned out okay.” I said as Sunset and I collapsed onto the couch at home.

Sunset nodded, before curling up to me.

“I was worried, but things did go alright.” She said.

I nodded as I ran my fingers through her hair.

“So what are those marbles in your gloves?” She asked, looking at the wrists of my gloves.

“Magic.” I replied.

She sat up a bit and looked at me, an eyebrow raised.

I pulled the Ice Materia from its slot and motioned for her to hold out her hand.

I placed the marble in her hand and she gasped.

“You can hear it can’t you? The song of the Materia.” I said.

“I can. It sounds like a cold winter’s night and a snow storm.” She replied, awe in her voice.

I nodded. “That is a nearly fully Mastered Ice Materia. I have other spells as well, but this is how I made that Barrier that Pinkie bounced off of the day the Princess came by.” I explained.

“I had wondered about that. I just thought it was Pinkie being Pinkie.” Sunset replied.

Having spent more than a few minutes with the girl when she was in a good mood, I could understand what Sunset meant.

“Do you think you could teach me how to use this?” Sunset asked.

“Certainly. I have some lower leveled Materia I could give you to learn on. Let you Master them yourself.” I said.

Sunset smiled. She made to stand and winced.

“You okay?” I asked, concerned she had injured herself.

“I must have pulled a muscle in gym class. I’ll be fine. Just need to rest.” She said.

“Or, alternatively, I can show you an alternative use for Materia.” I replied. At her raised eyebrow, I elaborated. “Materia has other effects if you only channel a little bit of power into them. Go to the bedroom and take off your shirt and bra and call me when you are laying down.” I said, letting her know I wasn’t going to peek.

“You just want to get me naked.” She said teasingly.

“Nope, not yet anyways. Trust me, when I want to see you, all of you. You will know, mostly because I will let you make the first move to let me know you are ready. And that will not be tonight.” I replied, a serious expression on my face.

Sunset smiled happily at that. “Good. I just hope you will be worth the wait.” She said, smile turning into a smirk.

“Tease.” I shot back, sticking my tongue out, causing her to laugh as she headed to our room.

As I waited for her to call for me, I slotted a Fire Materia into each bracer, the marbles touching my skin through small holes on the inside of the cuff. Hearing Sunset call me, I headed to the room.

I paused for a moment, seeing Sunset shirtless, laying on her stomach with a pillow under her head and neck with her only wearing a small pair of sleep shorts made for a very fine sight.

“Enjoying the view?” She asked, looking at me with half-lidded eyes.

“Very much so.” I replied as I reached the bed and lightly ran my fingertips up her leg, lifting up as I reached her shorts and set them down again on the small of her back, causing her to let out a sound of disappointment.

“Hey now, we are just going to get you back loosened up.” I said as I climbed onto the bed and straddled her shapely backside.

Hey, I might be waiting, but I ain’t made of stone.

Taking a deep breath to re-center myself, I channeled a small amount of energy into the Materia, causing my fingers to warm.

Sunset was about to say something, but whatever it was, it was lost in a pleasurable moan as my fingers made contact with her shoulders.

I carefully made my way down her back, making sure to get each of her muscles, feeling the knots loosen and disappear under my ministrations.

The area of her shoulder blades was exceptionally tight.

“How long has your back been this tense?” I asked.

“Since, ooh, the Fall Formal.” She replied, interrupted as I hit a sensitive spot.

I recalled seeing the pictures and hearing Sunset’s own description of the event. From the sound of it, it was exceptionally painful.

I continued to work my way down her back, easing the tension in her muscles as I went.

Soon enough, or far too soon depending upon how you look at it, I reached the waistband of her shorts. Re-positioning myself off to the side, I began to rub down her legs, starting just below her buttocks and ending at her feet, taking a moment to pop her toes, easing the tension in the joints.

Once both legs were finished, I poked her in the shoulder, only to not get a response.

I moved to look at her face, I giggled a little seeing that she had fallen asleep.

Shaking my head I turned out the lights and moved back to the bed and carefully re-positioned her so I could get her under the covers. Once she was situated, I went to take a shower.

Pulling off my shirt, I noticed something in the mirror. My chest, which was flat and toned when I woke up here, was slightly more rounded. Shrugging, I decided that I needed to start doing PT again anyways. I had gotten a touch soft during the winter.

Author's Note

So I have always been amused with the idea of Fluttershy being an otaku and had to include it her. And before you ask, she will not be getting involved with Sunset and Talisman.