A dark blue skinned girl with faded yellow hair worn in a ponytail walked through the halls of a school. She carried a tea pot with a couple of cups of steaming hot tea. It wasn't a glorious job, but it helped her parents pay the bill and the person who hired her was the nicest person she ever met. He had always been there for her and paid her more money than she had offered to work for, just because her family was in trouble. She started to whistle with a smile on her face, a spring in her step. It was always wonderful to see the teacher of the school for self-defense. She knocked on the door to the teacher's room, "Master, I bought some tea," she said in a cheerful voice, excited to have her usual conversation with him.
She knew that he didn't like to be addressed as her master, but she agreed to be a servant to pay the bills. She was only eighteen years old and had graduated high school only a few weeks ago. This school had become like a home to her, a place where she could live and send money to her parents. However, there was no response from the elderly man on the other side of the door. She wasn't worried, perhaps he had just fallen asleep, but she knew that she had permission to enter his room if that were the case. She grabbed the doorknob and twisted it. The door opened slowly and she quietly spoke, "Master?"
She didn't open the door all the way before a grizzly sight reached her eyes. There was her master laying face first on the ground. She screamed and dropped the tray, the tea cups and teapot shattered upon hitting the ground, spilling tea all over the floor. She ran to the side of the elderly man, his white skin marked all over with cuts and bruises. It was as if he had fought something earlier. She started to shake him, "Master... please respond! Cloud Runner! Please! Say something!" she yelled as she started sobbing.
She knew of only one thing she could do, she rolled him on his back to try to clear his airways. She noticed he was breathing, albeit weakly. She pulled out her phone and dialed the emergency number. The phone rang for what seemed like an eternity. "Hello, this is emergency services, how can I help you?" a calm female voice said over the phone.
"You have to send an ambulance right away! Please! I'm here in Cloud Runner's school for self-defense and he's fading! Please! Send them as fast as you can!" she yelled, half-sobbing and half-panicking into the phone.
"Alright, please stay calm and if you can, stay on the line. We're sending paramedics to your location ma'am. Can you describe his condition for me?" the operator said trying to keep the young woman calm.
The servant girl placed her hand on Cloud Runner's neck to feel his pulse, "He's still warm. He has cuts and bruises all over his body. His pulse is strong, but his breathing is weak," she reported.
"Thank you. Can you tell me your name, ma'am?" the operator asked.
"Moonlight Gleam, ma'am," the young woman replied.
"Listen, Moonlight. Everything is going to be okay. You just need to remain calm and most importantly do not panic. If he starts shivering, put a blanket on him to keep him warm. I know that things are scary right now, but it does sound like he was attacked. I'm going to send the police over to your location," the woman on the other line reported.
Moonlight didn't get the chance to thank her. Her phone immediately sparked forcing her to remove it from her face. A single glance revealed that it had been cut through, destroying it. Her heart started slamming in her chest as she looked around. Panic started to grip her, she clutched her arms across her chest and started to look around the room for where the attack could've come from. She hadn't experienced anything like this in her entire life. She hadn't heard of anything like this happening either.
The young woman's head started to turn around, her face twisted in panic, her breathing rapid. She didn't know what had happened or where it had come from, nor did she want to risk leaving her master's side. She sat down next to the body of Cloud Runner, hugging her knees and hoping that whatever had attacked her was going to leave her alone.
A tendril of black, purple, and green magic flew past her face causing her heart to skip a few beats. She breathed in sharply, panicked. Moonlight couldn't handle this, she wasn't trained to be much of a fighter. All she knew was how to defend herself in case some creep tried to hurt her. Magic was beyond her purview. She didn't know how to handle this, she didn't even know how to fight against it. The young woman clutched her head and closed her eyes tightly, "Go away! Go away! Go away!" she screamed.
"Why? When you have taken everything from me! You who came into this school a few years ago, looking to be nothing more than a lowly servant! My father was going to give it all to you!" was the venom filled reply from a voice that felt familiar, yet had a hiss to it.
It wasn't hard for Moonlight to put the pieces together. "Sunrise, why are you doing this!?" she cried out.
"You will not perish here. No, you will keep going on, I will just ensure that your life is a nightmare from now on. This is your penance for taking what was rightfully mine! Do you not think that I knew my father had taken you on as his own pupil! He made it clear to me that he did so in order make you his heir instead of me!" replied her old friend, venom dripping in his voice.
Sirens sounded off in the distance and they grew louder. The young woman heard the sound of someone rushing off from near her and she ran to the door to open it. She looked out into the darkened hall to see a shadowy figure leap through one of the windows, a figure that she could only surmise was Sunrise himself. She wondered why he would do this to his own father, why he would do this to her. She quietly walked back to Cloud Runner's body and placed a blanket over him.
The sirens grew increasingly louder as Moonlight went back to hugging her knees and trying to figure out why all of this was happening, she was never going to be the heir to this school. She was never going to be the headmistress, she was only learning self-defense to better protect herself. She even did some practice sessions with Sunrise in the past and the two of them considered each other fellow students of his father's.
The sirens suddenly stopped and there was a pounding at the door. The young woman walked out of the room and down the hall to the front door of the school. She twisted the knob and opened the door. Two police officers stood there, one had light purple skin and orange hair, the other had light blue skin and magenta hair. "I'm Deputy Copper, this is my partner. We're here to investigate the place. May we come in?" the officer asked professionally.
Moonlight could only timidly nod and stand aside as the two police officers walked into the school. Paramedics soon followed to the door, "Ma'am, can you show us where he is?" one of the paramedics asked.
The young woman nodded and led them to her master's room, the four paramedics quickly realized that they would need a stretcher and left. The dark blue skinned servant girl placed her hands in front of her mouth, trying to suppress tears and gasping. She never in her wildest dreams thought that this could happen, that any of this could happen. She leaned against the wall to hold herself up, she felt a little bit dizzy after everything that had happened. She knew that she was a witness to all of this and would have to testify, but the first priority for her was making sure that Cloud Runner was okay.
The paramedics returned with a stretcher and with a team effort, they lifted the unconscious man onto it and strapped him in. Moonlight was afraid, but she worked up the courage to ask them a single question. "C-can I come with? I want to be by his side, he's my employer and my teacher," she asked.
"It's not normal procedure, but it'd be safer for you than staying here," the paramedic replied.
For the first time since all this happened, the young woman smiled. It was a sad smile, but at least she felt some relief and some hope that things could perhaps go well this day. She followed the paramedics into the back of the ambulance and sat down. Two of the paramedics stayed on the ground and closed the doors, while another two hooked Cloud Runner up to machines to monitor his vitals and to keep him on oxygen.
The other two paramedics climbed into the front of the ambulance and buckled up. They turned the siren on and started to drive towards the nearest hospital. They were going to the emergency room as fast as they possibly could get there. Moonlight placed her hand on Cloud Runner's hand and his eyes opened a little. "Moonlight..." he said to her weakly.
"Please, Master, try to save your strength!" she exclaimed.
"I thought... I told you not to call me that," he replied, still just as weak. His yellow eyes looking into her dark blue eyes.
The young woman looked away from the older man who weakly smiled. "You have magic within you. It's untapped. You just need the emotional push to be able to use it fully. But please, do not hate my son. He has chosen the wrong path, please, be the one to bring him back to the right path. You're the only one who can do it," Cloud Runner pleaded.
Before Moonlight could respond to him, there was a slamming on the back of the ambulance, startling everyone. She looked at everyone and remembered the words that Sunrise had told her only moments ago. She was the one he wanted to make suffer. He didn't want to get rid of her, he just wanted to watch her suffer. So long as she was with them, the paramedics and Cloud Runner were in danger. "Stop the ambulance and let me out," she said eerily calmly.
"Are you crazy! You'll just get yourself taken out!" the driver exclaimed.
"He's coming after the ambulance because he knows that I am here. He knows that I care about his father, he won't stop until I face him! Stop the ambulance!" she snapped, tears in her eyes.
The vehicle came to a sudden stop and Moonlight looked forward to see her heart sink. Sunrise was standing in front of the vehicle, an orb of dark magic swirling in his hand. Red eyes glowing in the dark. The young woman grabbed the handle of the ambulance door and swung it open. "What are you doing!?" one of the paramedics screamed at her.
"This is the only way we all get out of this situation! I'm sorry!" she replied as she jumped out of the vehicle and out onto the road.
She expected to hear some rebuttal, but she instead threw the door closed for the paramedic to lock it. Much to her surprise, Sunrise walked around the ambulance, letting it continue onto its destination. A cruel smile crossed his features and rain started to fall from the sky, the two of them staring each other down. A look of surprise crossed the face of the aberration though, "Ah, I see that your latent magical ability has started to come forth," he said annoyed.
Moonlight was confused, but she looked at her hand and noticed that instead of hitting her, the rain was evaporating into steam. She closed her hand into a fist, anger bubbled up within her and a flame erupted in her hand. "I will defeat you if it's the last thing I do, Sunrise!" she yelled.
"As if you could, we both know that I was always better at fighting than you were. We both know that despite your latent magical talent, I'm stronger than you are. But I know something you don't," the aberration taunted.
The young woman didn't bother to listen to Sunrise's taunt, she threw the ball of flame at her former friend who swiftly dodged it and motioned his hand towards himself with a smile. Dark magic struck the servant girl in the back and she screamed out in pain from this, but much to the surprise of her former friend, she didn't go down. She remained standing on her two feet with a glare in her eyes. Her hair disheveled and her breathing became pained. It was obvious that his attack had hurt her, but she wasn't going to go down that easily.
Moonlight screamed and thrust her hand forward, a stream of flame erupted from it. Sunrise scoffed and fired back, hitting the stream of her flames. His magic easily pushed through, hitting her and knocking her off her feet and onto the ground. He rushed over to her and grabbed her by the neck, lifting her off the ground. "As an aberration, I have far greater control over my magic than you ever could!" he boasted.
The young woman's dazed face turned into a confident smirk. Sunrise was exactly where she wanted him. She slammed her hand into his chest and unleashed her magic. This shocked her former friend into letting go of her and she quickly capitalized on the opportunity to land a solid punch in his jaw, causing the aberration to reel back out of further surprise. She tried to go for another punch, the rush of adrenaline numbing the pain she felt earlier and clouding her judgement. Her fist was quickly caught and she was thrown to the ground by having her momentum used against her.
Sunrise went to lift his fist up, but something caught his attention. "This isn't over, Moonlight!" he exclaimed as he let go of her. He gritted his teeth and started to run. The young woman's reaction was to try to stand back up and try to attack him again, but she couldn't find where he went. People in strange uniforms moved towards her and one of them called out to another one of their members, "Agent Shimmer, do you think that this is the aberration?"
An orange skinned woman with red and yellow hair shook her head, "She doesn't have the taint of dark magic on her," she said.
Moonlight realized that rescue had come, she was relieved beyond all belief. The adrenaline that was flooding her system left her and she lost her balance and quickly lost consciousness. The last thing she heard before she hit the ground was, "She has magical talent, perhaps she could be useful to us."
The young woman came to in a room that was unfamiliar to her, a lavender woman with blue hair sat across from her wearing glasses. "I see that you have finally come to. My best agent, Sunset Shimmer, tells me that you have latent magical abilities. These would prove useful to us," she said calmly.
Moonlight tried to get her bearings, "What happened to Cloud Runner?" she asked.
The woman across from her hung her head, "He didn't make it, I'm sorry. I know you're upset, take a moment to relax. I've also received reports that the aberration that attacked both you and him is specifically targeting you. While standard operating procedure would dictate that you get your memory wiped and you be released back into the world, you will be putting not only yourself, but others at risk. I wish that I could provide you with a choice in the matter, but we're conscripting you into the Special Investigators. We track down and capture aberrations that we can in the hopes that we'll be able to turn them back into the humans they once were," the woman said.
Moonlight nodded, she was crushed by the news, but tears could wait. Rage boiled within her and she only had a single question, "When can I start work?" she asked.
The lavender woman shook her head, "As the director, I refuse to let you go out there without any formal training. At the earliest you will begin your first day out in the field in one year, Agent Gleam. As per standard procedure, all records of you have been eliminated and as far as the public is concerned, you have perished as well. This is not only to protect you, but the ones you love. Unfortunately, you will never be able to see them again, I'm sorry. I hope you understand," the woman said to her.
The director stood up and left the room leaving Moonlight to her thoughts. The young woman looked at her hand, she felt it was unfair that she would now have to give up everything that she had held dear in her life, she would never see her parents or her friends again. But she knew that she couldn't handle the idea of any of them sharing the same fate as her master. She closed her eyes and her brow furrowed. A frown crossed her face as she grit her teeth, she was going to bring Sunrise Standing to justice with her own two hands. This much she swore to herself. She had no idea how long it would take, but she was going to spend every waking moment trying to find him and capture him, even if it meant making the ultimate sacrifice.
