Be kidnapped, Be friendsby armidChaptersUnwanted teamateKidnapped with my teamateA little discussThe losers clubA ride to homeEnd of the pathNOT getting alongUnwanted teamateDear Princess Twilight, I apologize for my silence, but I am sure you will understand what I’ve been through in the past days! I hope you remember Prof. Skull Mustache since I want to start with his class. He warned us about the oral exam last session, when we already lost ten points for unknown reasons! Anyway, he asked several questions from each person which weren’t that hard for the most part but were quite tricky to be honest: “How did King Sombra rule his land?” “What was the real reason for his defeat?” “What persuaded his army to turn against him?” Luckily, my questions weren’t that tricky. After he asked everyone the questions, except for Flaming Star of course, he started explaining about the project that we have to hand in next week! “So, you have to do this in groups of two,” he said. “Now, do you want to choose your own partner or you want me to team you all up?” The answer was obvious: everyone wanted to choose their own teammate themselves. But he had other ideas. “Well then, it seems I have to team you all up!” I wonder why he even bothered to ask us our opinion. Did he not hear us, or did he simply not care? After that he started matching people together! “Lyra Heartstrings, you’ll work with Micro Chips. Maud Pie, you’re with Sweetie Drops. Wallflower Blush with Steely Armor. Rose and Twilight Sparkle.” Then he stopped. My name hadn’t been mentioned, so I made the mistake of pointing it out to him. “Excuse me, sir, but I think you forgot me.” “Also me!” Flaming Star said. He was right; he didn’t have a partner either. “Are you two blind or stupid?” he asked. We both wanted to answer him back, but he continued: “ Do you see any other students other than yourselves to be teamed up with?” It was then that we both got the message! “ME, HIM/HER!” we both shouted at the same time! “NO WAY!” I’m sure you both have very good reasons to justify your … opinions.” “He’s arrogant and gets on my nerves!” “She doesn’t give you any privacy!” “He won’t listen to me for a single second!” “She constantly wants to touch you!” I know he was talking about my psychic ability, maybe some of the other students knew it as well, but the rest of the class said “Oooooooooooooooooo!” as if we’d been caught kissing in the hallway. “ENOUGH!” The Professor shouted and smacked the table, he then started speaking and gesturing with his hands. “I can see you two have some … issues,” he turned his hand around and around and then he said, “But here’s the thing.” He pointed towards himself with four fingers and said, “I don’t care!” Then he slammed his hand to the table again. “Now if you want your marks, which you had better want, and since I’m the one who decides what you deserve in this class, you two had better get over your … problems!” The class ended afterwards. So I have to put up with him and come up with a project about one of our lessons with him! I think I’d rather be caught kissing him in the hallway. Author's Note Make sure to cheek out other chapters too. Special thanks to my editor Daniel Drazen. Kidnapped with my teamateAs I slowly opened my eyes, I found out that I was tied to a chair in an unknown place! “Where am I!?” I asked myself, but I couldn’t tell. Seemed like an old house, judging by all the wood panelling and all. I tried to move but I was tied up so tight! It was then that I heard a ground-breaking snort from behind my head, as if there was someone else tied with me. But I couldn’t tell who it was; all I could tell was that their snoring was destroying my ears! Then the door banged open! Surprisingly, whoever was tied with didn’t wake up! But someone came in, I could tell by the footsteps. “I hope the birdies are awake- what! You got to be kidding me!” Apparently he was surprised by Sleeping Beauty! He came closer, and I heard a slap! “Uh, HUH!” “Wakey wakey, little boy!” “Where am I?” And just when I heard that, I recognized the voice: Flaming Star! “Who are you!?” “Uh sorry, but no, not really sorry ‘cuz I didn’t kidnap you to answer your questions!” Being kidnapped was horrible enough, but now I have to tolerate Flaming Star, too! Perfect, just what I was looking for! “Hey, Trap! You mean we kidnapped them right?” The voice came from outside of the room. I guess there were two kidnappers! “Yes, Brad, I meant we! Now can you let me talk to our guests?” There was a pause. “Now, where were we?” “That I shouldn’t ask questions, Trap!” He was messing with them and it wasn’t a good idea. “Don’t call me that! Now, tell me your dad’s number so I can go easy on you!” “And if I don’t?” “I go hard on you!” I couldn’t see anything, but he sounded sure about what he wanted to do. “I suggest you don’t if you want money and all, ‘cuz you see, any scratches on me will decrease the value. It’s called ‘depreciation!’” I don’t know why, but he sounded like being kidnapped was nothing. I mean, they could hurt us in any way they wanted. “Clever boy, but I ain’t going to touch you. Her, on the other hand…!” “Who?” He probably didn’t notice me behind him, so I just announced it by clearing my throat and saying “Me!” I sensed that he turned his head to look, “What are you doing here?” “We’ve both been kidnapped I guess.” “No, I mean why were you kidnapped, you don’t have rich parents like me!” To be honest he was right; there was no reason for them to kidnap me, unless they were hunting Equestrian unicorns. I was wondering why, when suddenly Trap appeared in front of me. He was tall and skinny and he had his face covered with a brown paper lunch bag with holes for his eyes and mouth. He held up a knife! “Now, now, tell your boyfriend to give me what I want!” “WAIT!WHAT!” we both shouted. I was surprised that they thought that we were a couple! That was just ridiculous! “What is the problem!” he asked. "SHE/HE IS NOT MY GIRLFRIEND/BOYFRIEND!" we both shouted. He stepped back for a second, but then he put his knife to my throat! “The number, NOW!” I was scared, I could feel my heartbeat getting louder! “Hey, hey, hey!” Flaming star said, “You want the number? Then write it down!” He took his knife away from my neck and picked his cell phone! “1830 469 6768” Trap was keying in the numbers as Flaming Star was saying them. There was a pause. “No signal? What do you mean, no signal?” Wherever we were, we were in the middle of nowhere! “Brad!” “What is it, Trap?” “Why don’t we have a signal?” “You told me to find us somewhere out of reach, so I did!” “Wha- no I- you watch the birdies, I’ll go get somewhere with a signal!” “But we were supposed to stick together!” “What about these two?” “I don’t know, but I do know that we gotta stick together!” “Fine! It’s not like they’re going anywhere.” Then I heard the door open and close. I heard a car start, and then it faded. So I guess they were gone! Author's Note Make sure to cheek out other chapters too. Special thanks to my editor Daniel Drazen. A little discuss“You alright?” Flaming Star asked. “Yeah, thanks by the way!” I couldn’t ignore him giving away his father’s number for me! “It was nothing. Now let’s find a way to untie ourselves!” He was right, we couldn’t waste time. We needed to get out of there before they came back. So I looked around. “I don’t see anything that we can use.” “I don’t either. We gotta find another way.” “Hey, can’t you burn these ropes?” He turned his head. “Nope, I got my gloves on and my fingers are not in a good position!” “Of all times, now you have those gloves on!” I have to admit I was kind of frustrated at that point. “It’s better that burning things up, and I would have worn one of these if I were you with that frick frack snick snack magic of yours!” “Why should I? It’s not like it damages stuff or anything!” “No, but it invades personal space!” “I don’t invade the privacy of others, and I use it to help people with their problems!” “Oooooh, so you’re saying that you’re not the one snooping around other people’s stuff, huh?” “NO!” I kind of knew he was talking about the time we stole the Echo Launcher plans from Steely Armor. “Let me make this clear for you, Sunshine: Rainbow Dash has a big mouth and Twilight is not a good liar! On top of that, Steely has the video of you picking up his stuff!” I didn’t say anything because it seemed that he knew everything! “Oh, and what about the other time,” he continued, “that you tried to gang up on me outside of the café? Here is a tip: if you can see something from somewhere, be sure that other people can see that thing from there, too!” “I was just … curious. You are Steely Armor’s best friend, don’t tell me that you haven’t done the same things!” “I was curious, too, but I didn’t snoop around for two reasons: he told that he doesn’t like it!” I have to admit that was fair. He did warn me that he hates that! “And?” “I have things I don’t want other people to find out about, things I only share with me, myself, and I. Something that’s better off not being said, being forgotten. Don’t you have something like that?” That sentence remind of how cruel I had been to others, how desperately I wanted power. Call it a trip down memory lane. “Yes, I see what you mean.” I was really holding onto myself, trying not to cry in front of him. “I’m sorry for doing all of that I … I don’t know, I was just, just so into it that I didn’t realize that.” “Yeah,” Flaming Star said. “So, uh, you want to get out of here?” I could sense that he changed the mood; I guess he forgave me. “Yeah, sure!” “Soooooo, wait!” he said. “What?” “Are you wearing that super mega stupid spiky jacket of yours?” That was quite insulting but I ignored it. “Yeah, wait!” I understood what he meant. “Good thing they are actually sharp!” I started wiggling and after a couple of minutes we were both untied! Unfortunately, the door was still locked so I tried to look for an alternative way to get out, although Flaming Star had a better suggestion! “Did you tried to knock?” he took of his gloves. “No, why should- oh, right.” He blasted the door open like he did in school when Trixie has gone crazy! So he opened the door, and after that he said,” Knock knock!” He paused, “Not even a ‘Who’s there?’ I guess no one is home!” We got out of the house and looked around. We found ourselves out of the town, there were a lot of trees, but thankfully the road was close, so we started moving Author's Note Make sure to cheek out other chapters too. Special thanks to my editor Daniel Drazen. The losers clubWe walked for hours, no phone, no money and it was almost night! I didn’t know about Flaming Star but I was hungry, almost starving! “I can’t go on any longer!” I said as I sat down on the ground, “I’m hungry!” He looked at me as if I was pathetic. “Don’t look at me like that! Aren’t you hungry?” “Yes, I am, but I don’t see any food shops, and if I do, I don’t have a single coin with me. I guess you don’t, either. So our best chance is to keep moving.” “You’re right. But I just can’t.” I could barely stand. How could I possibly walk? Then suddenly he gazed at the distance. I tried to figure out what he was looking at when I saw a building with a neon sign on the roof in the distance! “We might get some help there!” I stood up again; the fatigue I had felt was suddenly forgotten, since there was the hope of food nearby! “It worth a shot, I guess,” Flaming Star said as we he started walking. We reached the building, which turned out to be a dive bar called “Losers Club!” which is what the neon lights on the top of the place said. There were a few motorbikes outside, which is never a good sign. The worst part of it, though, was I didn’t just have no money, I had no I.D. That meant that if I was carded I couldn’t prove to them that I was legal drinking age, which I wasn’t anyway. For a second I was tempted to just wait outside, but I’d already been through so much with Flaming Star I felt I had to stay with him. I guess the friendship lessons are having an effect on me. We went inside. I couldn’t see much of the interior; a lot of the light fixtures were dark or their bulbs were broken. Some of the bar stools were covered with ripped leather on the seats, and some of the chairs at the tables didn’t match the style of the others. A pinball machine stood in one corner; it had been unplugged and the glass top was cracked. What I also noticed was that everyone looked … sad, preoccupied with their own thoughts. There was a band playing on a bare stage but no one seemed to care. This bar was really living up to its name! We reached the bar, and Flaming Star turned his back on the bartender and leaned against the bar, looking over the room. He was obviously in no rush to ask for help or even a handout. My stomach, though, told me to take the initiative. I stepped forward to talk to the bartender, hoping I didn’t look too much like a high school kid who had no business being in a bar, which is also how I felt. The bartender had his back to me; he was wearing a leather vest with the name of a motorcycle gang: TIMBER WOLVES. That was also not a good sign, but I couldn’t wait for someone friendlier to serve me. “Hi, sir, could you please help us? We were kidnapped and we’re far from home, so we would be grateful if …” Of all the times for me to turn into a motor mouth! The bartender turned around. He had a scar across his face, he was bald, and his face looked like a clenched fist. “Look, little fella,” the bar tender said as he grabbed Flaming Star’s shoulder and spun him around to look at him, “no one here has single coin to give you, the food is trash, but everyone here is eating it because they have no other choice in their miserable lives.” “What happened to them?” I asked. I couldn’t help asking, but I was curious to know who had bigger problems than we did. The bar tender pointed out a guy at a table, about 4 empty beer bottles in front of him. “You see that guy there, he was in a car crash and after that he couldn’t speak! He was a translator back in the day. And cuz of that accident he got fired.” Then he pointed at someone else. “He’s Jimmy, he used to be a champion motorcycle racer, then one day he lost and he never made the cut in competitive racing after that.” Then he nodded his head toward a table in the back. “Those four back there, they performed in theatre in the past, but the owner got rid of them cuz they screwed up a line and made everyone laugh at them. And most of the rest used to be football players, but a couple of bad seasons and they were cut from the team.” “But what about you?” I couldn’t help asking. “Me?” he said as he closed his eyes. “I wanted to be a singer, but they said I looked too scary you.” “So what?” Flaming Star said. “You all sit here waiting for a miracle to happen?” All of a sudden being carded wasn’t my worst fear; my worst fear was finding myself in the middle of a bar fight! But Flaming Star was on a roll: “I mean everyone have falls in their lives. But you know what they do? They stand up again!” I was not prepared for what happened next: Flaming Star began singing: You all sit here and call yourselves losers When you have to go out and stand out for yourselves If someone punch you, you punch him back Now life has kicked you why don’t you kick it back! You all are sitting there and say the things you can’t do Have ever thought, of what you can do? I was afraid that they’d tell him to shut up, but nobody did. Flaming Star sang with … I can only call it “authority,” like you had to listen to him. The skinny guy in the band who played rhythm guitar, who looked like he needed a meal worse than I did, found the key and began to play along: Yes I know the hill is high I know that you will fall But please don’t give up Yes I know the rocks are sharp I know that it is though But you can’t reach there if you don’t try He stopped singing and looked at the bartender: “Now tell me, do you want to become a singer?” “Yes!” Then he started singling out other people in the bar: “How about you, do you want to perform again? You want to be a champion again, or do you want to become a football team again?” They all said as one, “ YES!” “Then why don’t you fight for it?” You all have goals But you don’t score them You are all alive But you don’t feel it Now what do you say? Then, all of a sudden, the bartender started to sing! Scars and wounds won’t take me down, I fell from the hill and I hit the ground I don’t care what others say, I want to sing and live today His voice was actually good, but what surprised me was that the actors joined in and started dancing and the football team clapped along and started singing! We know the hill is high We know that we will fall But we won’t give up We know the rocks are sharp We know that it is tough But we try to get to where we want At that point everyone was singing, except the mute guy, of course! No we won’t run away We won’t take the turn We will get to where we want Yes we know that we will fall But we always climb back up Till we reach the top! “Now tell me that you do have some money, a phone, or food?” Flaming Star asked. “Sorry, we don’t have any phone, but we got some food, and here,” the bartender put his hand in his pocket and dropped a few coins on the bar, “This should be enough for ya both to take the bus to the town, if it hasn’t stopped running for the night.” “Thanks!” we both said at the same time. “I think we should thank you for showing us what we missed. You may take your seats, food will be ready soon! And I’ll bring you a couple sodas, since you both look underage.” “No problem,” I said. We sat down at a nearby table. I looked around at the bar and saw that it was empty. I guess after what just happened, they all went to get started on fulfilling their goals. “Nice show, by the way. Didn’t know you could sing.” Honestly, I didn’t. “Huh, then I wrote all those lyrics and music for what?” The food arrived. “Ah, enough chit chat, let’s get down to business cuz I’m super mega hungry!” I couldn’t argue with that, I was starving, though what I saw didn’t look like food. I didn’t dare ask what it was because the bartender was in a good mood. It looked like he’d taken whatever he could find in the kitchen, thrown it in a blender, chopped it up, and blanketed it with some kind of cheese-in-a-can. But I was really hungry so I took a bite. As soon as I did, I split it out. Same for Flaming Star. This really was trash Author's Note Make sure to cheek out other chapters too. Special thanks to my editor Daniel Drazen. A ride to homeThe bus station was quite close, so we decided to get there as fast as we could because, let’s face it, we were still hungry. Luckily for us, the last bus arrived after a while. We hopped on, it was almost empty. We sat facing each other next to the window. Finally we were going home. “Long day wasn’t it?” I asked Flaming Star to break the silence. “It sure was.” He didn’t appear to be in a mood for talking, but I needed to pass time somehow. “So, aren’t you worried about how your father’s doing?” “What, because I’m coming home late?” “No, I mean those kidnappers have probably phoned him by now and …“ He cut me off. “Oh, yeah about that, that wasn’t his number at all. In fact I gave him mine!” That just shocked me. “You did? Ok, I gotta admit that was clever.” “That was nothing.” “You’re awfully calm about being kidnapped. If you don’t mind my asking, has it happened before?” He looked at me. “Well, yeah, a couple of times.” He said like it was nothing. “You managed to cheer up a whole club with just a song! I only saw that in Equ- …“ I just realized that I was getting ahead of myself. “In where?” I needed to change the subject somehow. “Nothing!” He looked at me, like he knew I was lying! “You do know that your eyes give you away instantly right?” “W-what do you mean?” “Your eyes, they’re calm and attractive, except when you lie, then they become messy. Just like the sea!” That was weird. I didn’t know what to say, like I didn’t know what he meant by that. “Are you trying to say that I have pretty eyes or that I’m not a good liar?” He leaned back in his seat. “Using number one to imply number two!” “Ha, ha, very funny!” I said in a sarcastic way to make him stop. “Look, I get that you don’t want to talk about it. But you need to understand that, too, if you do want me to help with the project!” I was surprised since he actually wanted to help and get the project done. But to be honest I almost forgot about it. “So you do want to help! That’s something.” “On one condition.” “What?” “You have to wear gloves, got it?” “You mean like that princess in the movie? Fine, I get it. What’s next, my jacket?” “Let’s face it, why would you need spikes on your jacket? If you ask me, I say it doesn’t look good on you, either. The one you worn that night was way better.” “You think so?” He didn’t say anything. We rode on in silence, for a while. He was looking out through the window the night landscape rolled by. “So, you’re not mad at me for snooping around and stuff?” He sighed and looked at me. His glare was serious, unlike what I had seen. “Look, ... It’s hard for me to trust people, and not just because I don’t want to, but because I learned not to. When I saw how close you seven were together, it reminded me of Steely and me. I thought you were like us. Just a little bittle not much. You showed me that what I do, I need to accept and control it instead of letting it control me. I was just getting along. You helped me solve my problems with my father, showing me that there are other ways. But you screwed up with your snooping around, even when I told you not to. But at least you get it now so I guess it’s all right.” He was looking into my eyes the whole time, and I just couldn’t turn my eyes away. “You know,” I said, “At first I thought I couldn’t tolerate you because I thought you were nerve-racking. You always frustrate me with how good you are at fencing and other stuff. Your being so aloof and stubborn all the time, sort of pissed me off. But now I see that it was just hard for you to get use to this whole new atmosphere. And that, yeah, I goofed up a few things here and there, too.” He smiled. I guess we worked on our problems, in a way. He yawned. “Oh, man, I’m tired. I’m just gonna take a nap till we reach town.” “Goodnight, Flaming Star.” He looked at me. “Just Flame.” “Goodnight, Flame.” “Goodnight, Sunshine!” At first I didn’t realized what he said, but then I noticed! “What did you just call me?” But it was too late, he had already fallen asleep and was rattling the clouds in the sky with his snoring. I tried to sleep, too, emphasis on “tried.” Author's Note Make sure to cheek out other chapters too. Special thanks to my editor Daniel Drazen. End of the pathTrying to sleep while Flaming Star was snoring was a challenge; I failed. So, for an alternative way to spend the travel time I tried to figure this out for myself. It’s been quite some time since I got my ability, along with the others, of course. We’ve seen other people, artefacts and such that were all imbued with Equestrian magic. We even saw some sort of magic outbreak. Perhaps there are many other artefacts out there that might cause some trouble, ones we don’t know anything about yet. However, in the middle of all of this, Flaming Star and Steely Armor haven’t caused any trouble except for their own mistakes, which I still believe were accidental. They didn’t do something like the Sirens did. Or, to name a better example, me myself. I got the sense that Flaming Star desperately wanted to get rid of his magic. But at the same time he uses it so creatively it’s like normal for him now. He has the power to turn anything to ashes, but here he is, using it to make stupid knock-knock jokes. He’s either silly or protective. Either way he’s not controlling the minds of a whole city or trying to conquer another realm. I don’t know why, but that night, I felt really close to him. I felt that I didn’t need to use my magic to understand him. We have things in common, things we need to hide and don’t just give away quickly or ever, like me. Now that I think about it, it’s ridiculous that we’ve known each other for months and even went out a couple of times, and knew nothing of each others’ past. We were on the road for hours, but finally we reached town. I tried to wake him up by calling his name, but that didn’t work. I nudged him on the shoulder; nothing. Then I remembered that one of the kidnappers woke him up by slapping him; for a second I thought that would work, but I stopped myself. I remembered him telling me how he felt about my trying to read his thoughts and how he wanted me to start wearing gloves around him. So I grabbed a small pillow from a seat across the bus aisle, about one foot square, and smacked him in the face with it. It worked. “WHO? WHERE? WHEN?” “We’re here. Time to go. “ “What was that for? You think this is one of your lame slumber parties?” “Sorry,” I said, wiggling the fingers of one hand, “I left my princess gloves in my other jacket.” He paused for a second, “Uh, OK, OK, let’s get going, then.” We were finally back in town. The only thing we needed to do now was to go home, on foot since it was so early there were no vehicles around. “So, I guess I have to say goodbye now,” I said. “Yeah, I guess.” He straightened up his posture, looking like a suit of clothes that had suddenly been starched. “Take care.” Then he started running. It had been a very long night. When I got home, I just fell into bed. I didn’t bother checking the cupboard or the fridge because I knew there was no food. I’m not sure what I dreamed about exactly, but it had to do with Pinkie Pie and cupcakes. Lots of cupcakes Author's Note Make sure to cheek out other chapters too. Special thanks to my editor Daniel Drazen. NOT getting alongAll the other teams got together and started planning their project. We were just nagging at each other for nothing. But eventually we started to actually cooperate with each other and try to agree on a subject. “So, what do you think we should do for our project?” I asked. He looked at me and sighed. “I don’t know, music history?” That actually wasn’t a bad idea. “Yeah, music is good! But I was thinking more about the traditions and all.” “Whatever!” As class ended, he rushed through the halls and left me behind. That was just rude and I didn’t know how long he was going to keep being distancing from me. The fact was, school was over and I just wanted to go home. On my way out I saw him in front of school standing with Steely Armor. I shouted so I could get his attention. “HEY!” I walked over to them as fast as I could. I wasn’t sure but I could tell Steely Armor was blushing for some reason. “What is it!?” Flaming Star asked in an awkward way. Steely Armor stepped back. “I think I better go since I need to be home so, uh, GOODBYE!” Then he ran off faster than Rainbow Dash would have. “Hey, wait ... never mind.” There was no one in the street by that time, we were alone; it was a good time for both of us to talk to each other about our issues and try to work as an actual team. “Look,” I said, “I know you don’t want me to be your teammate and I don’t like it either, but I’m sure we both want that mark so if it was-“ “Hold on a second, there, I don’t want that mark!” “WHAT!?” “Are you deaf or something ‘cuz I think I was super mega clear!” “What.... what is your problem? If you don’t care what kind of grade you or anybody else gets, why don’t you just stay at your house with your rich dad?” At that point I was just so frustrated and I couldn’t help not being mean. “That’s none of your business!” “It is when-“ “Oh, no, no, no, no, it actually is your business, because you can read people’s mind when you touch them!” “At least I help people, but the only thing you do is burn stuff down and I wi-“ I was answering him back when someone grabbed me from behind, their hand covering my mouth. I lost consciousness Author's Note Make sure to cheek out other chapters too. Special thanks to my editor Daniel Drazen.
Unwanted teamateDear Princess Twilight, I apologize for my silence, but I am sure you will understand what I’ve been through in the past days! I hope you remember Prof. Skull Mustache since I want to start with his class. He warned us about the oral exam last session, when we already lost ten points for unknown reasons! Anyway, he asked several questions from each person which weren’t that hard for the most part but were quite tricky to be honest: “How did King Sombra rule his land?” “What was the real reason for his defeat?” “What persuaded his army to turn against him?” Luckily, my questions weren’t that tricky. After he asked everyone the questions, except for Flaming Star of course, he started explaining about the project that we have to hand in next week! “So, you have to do this in groups of two,” he said. “Now, do you want to choose your own partner or you want me to team you all up?” The answer was obvious: everyone wanted to choose their own teammate themselves. But he had other ideas. “Well then, it seems I have to team you all up!” I wonder why he even bothered to ask us our opinion. Did he not hear us, or did he simply not care? After that he started matching people together! “Lyra Heartstrings, you’ll work with Micro Chips. Maud Pie, you’re with Sweetie Drops. Wallflower Blush with Steely Armor. Rose and Twilight Sparkle.” Then he stopped. My name hadn’t been mentioned, so I made the mistake of pointing it out to him. “Excuse me, sir, but I think you forgot me.” “Also me!” Flaming Star said. He was right; he didn’t have a partner either. “Are you two blind or stupid?” he asked. We both wanted to answer him back, but he continued: “ Do you see any other students other than yourselves to be teamed up with?” It was then that we both got the message! “ME, HIM/HER!” we both shouted at the same time! “NO WAY!” I’m sure you both have very good reasons to justify your … opinions.” “He’s arrogant and gets on my nerves!” “She doesn’t give you any privacy!” “He won’t listen to me for a single second!” “She constantly wants to touch you!” I know he was talking about my psychic ability, maybe some of the other students knew it as well, but the rest of the class said “Oooooooooooooooooo!” as if we’d been caught kissing in the hallway. “ENOUGH!” The Professor shouted and smacked the table, he then started speaking and gesturing with his hands. “I can see you two have some … issues,” he turned his hand around and around and then he said, “But here’s the thing.” He pointed towards himself with four fingers and said, “I don’t care!” Then he slammed his hand to the table again. “Now if you want your marks, which you had better want, and since I’m the one who decides what you deserve in this class, you two had better get over your … problems!” The class ended afterwards. So I have to put up with him and come up with a project about one of our lessons with him! I think I’d rather be caught kissing him in the hallway. Author's Note Make sure to cheek out other chapters too. Special thanks to my editor Daniel Drazen.
Kidnapped with my teamateAs I slowly opened my eyes, I found out that I was tied to a chair in an unknown place! “Where am I!?” I asked myself, but I couldn’t tell. Seemed like an old house, judging by all the wood panelling and all. I tried to move but I was tied up so tight! It was then that I heard a ground-breaking snort from behind my head, as if there was someone else tied with me. But I couldn’t tell who it was; all I could tell was that their snoring was destroying my ears! Then the door banged open! Surprisingly, whoever was tied with didn’t wake up! But someone came in, I could tell by the footsteps. “I hope the birdies are awake- what! You got to be kidding me!” Apparently he was surprised by Sleeping Beauty! He came closer, and I heard a slap! “Uh, HUH!” “Wakey wakey, little boy!” “Where am I?” And just when I heard that, I recognized the voice: Flaming Star! “Who are you!?” “Uh sorry, but no, not really sorry ‘cuz I didn’t kidnap you to answer your questions!” Being kidnapped was horrible enough, but now I have to tolerate Flaming Star, too! Perfect, just what I was looking for! “Hey, Trap! You mean we kidnapped them right?” The voice came from outside of the room. I guess there were two kidnappers! “Yes, Brad, I meant we! Now can you let me talk to our guests?” There was a pause. “Now, where were we?” “That I shouldn’t ask questions, Trap!” He was messing with them and it wasn’t a good idea. “Don’t call me that! Now, tell me your dad’s number so I can go easy on you!” “And if I don’t?” “I go hard on you!” I couldn’t see anything, but he sounded sure about what he wanted to do. “I suggest you don’t if you want money and all, ‘cuz you see, any scratches on me will decrease the value. It’s called ‘depreciation!’” I don’t know why, but he sounded like being kidnapped was nothing. I mean, they could hurt us in any way they wanted. “Clever boy, but I ain’t going to touch you. Her, on the other hand…!” “Who?” He probably didn’t notice me behind him, so I just announced it by clearing my throat and saying “Me!” I sensed that he turned his head to look, “What are you doing here?” “We’ve both been kidnapped I guess.” “No, I mean why were you kidnapped, you don’t have rich parents like me!” To be honest he was right; there was no reason for them to kidnap me, unless they were hunting Equestrian unicorns. I was wondering why, when suddenly Trap appeared in front of me. He was tall and skinny and he had his face covered with a brown paper lunch bag with holes for his eyes and mouth. He held up a knife! “Now, now, tell your boyfriend to give me what I want!” “WAIT!WHAT!” we both shouted. I was surprised that they thought that we were a couple! That was just ridiculous! “What is the problem!” he asked. "SHE/HE IS NOT MY GIRLFRIEND/BOYFRIEND!" we both shouted. He stepped back for a second, but then he put his knife to my throat! “The number, NOW!” I was scared, I could feel my heartbeat getting louder! “Hey, hey, hey!” Flaming star said, “You want the number? Then write it down!” He took his knife away from my neck and picked his cell phone! “1830 469 6768” Trap was keying in the numbers as Flaming Star was saying them. There was a pause. “No signal? What do you mean, no signal?” Wherever we were, we were in the middle of nowhere! “Brad!” “What is it, Trap?” “Why don’t we have a signal?” “You told me to find us somewhere out of reach, so I did!” “Wha- no I- you watch the birdies, I’ll go get somewhere with a signal!” “But we were supposed to stick together!” “What about these two?” “I don’t know, but I do know that we gotta stick together!” “Fine! It’s not like they’re going anywhere.” Then I heard the door open and close. I heard a car start, and then it faded. So I guess they were gone! Author's Note Make sure to cheek out other chapters too. Special thanks to my editor Daniel Drazen.
A little discuss“You alright?” Flaming Star asked. “Yeah, thanks by the way!” I couldn’t ignore him giving away his father’s number for me! “It was nothing. Now let’s find a way to untie ourselves!” He was right, we couldn’t waste time. We needed to get out of there before they came back. So I looked around. “I don’t see anything that we can use.” “I don’t either. We gotta find another way.” “Hey, can’t you burn these ropes?” He turned his head. “Nope, I got my gloves on and my fingers are not in a good position!” “Of all times, now you have those gloves on!” I have to admit I was kind of frustrated at that point. “It’s better that burning things up, and I would have worn one of these if I were you with that frick frack snick snack magic of yours!” “Why should I? It’s not like it damages stuff or anything!” “No, but it invades personal space!” “I don’t invade the privacy of others, and I use it to help people with their problems!” “Oooooh, so you’re saying that you’re not the one snooping around other people’s stuff, huh?” “NO!” I kind of knew he was talking about the time we stole the Echo Launcher plans from Steely Armor. “Let me make this clear for you, Sunshine: Rainbow Dash has a big mouth and Twilight is not a good liar! On top of that, Steely has the video of you picking up his stuff!” I didn’t say anything because it seemed that he knew everything! “Oh, and what about the other time,” he continued, “that you tried to gang up on me outside of the café? Here is a tip: if you can see something from somewhere, be sure that other people can see that thing from there, too!” “I was just … curious. You are Steely Armor’s best friend, don’t tell me that you haven’t done the same things!” “I was curious, too, but I didn’t snoop around for two reasons: he told that he doesn’t like it!” I have to admit that was fair. He did warn me that he hates that! “And?” “I have things I don’t want other people to find out about, things I only share with me, myself, and I. Something that’s better off not being said, being forgotten. Don’t you have something like that?” That sentence remind of how cruel I had been to others, how desperately I wanted power. Call it a trip down memory lane. “Yes, I see what you mean.” I was really holding onto myself, trying not to cry in front of him. “I’m sorry for doing all of that I … I don’t know, I was just, just so into it that I didn’t realize that.” “Yeah,” Flaming Star said. “So, uh, you want to get out of here?” I could sense that he changed the mood; I guess he forgave me. “Yeah, sure!” “Soooooo, wait!” he said. “What?” “Are you wearing that super mega stupid spiky jacket of yours?” That was quite insulting but I ignored it. “Yeah, wait!” I understood what he meant. “Good thing they are actually sharp!” I started wiggling and after a couple of minutes we were both untied! Unfortunately, the door was still locked so I tried to look for an alternative way to get out, although Flaming Star had a better suggestion! “Did you tried to knock?” he took of his gloves. “No, why should- oh, right.” He blasted the door open like he did in school when Trixie has gone crazy! So he opened the door, and after that he said,” Knock knock!” He paused, “Not even a ‘Who’s there?’ I guess no one is home!” We got out of the house and looked around. We found ourselves out of the town, there were a lot of trees, but thankfully the road was close, so we started moving Author's Note Make sure to cheek out other chapters too. Special thanks to my editor Daniel Drazen.
The losers clubWe walked for hours, no phone, no money and it was almost night! I didn’t know about Flaming Star but I was hungry, almost starving! “I can’t go on any longer!” I said as I sat down on the ground, “I’m hungry!” He looked at me as if I was pathetic. “Don’t look at me like that! Aren’t you hungry?” “Yes, I am, but I don’t see any food shops, and if I do, I don’t have a single coin with me. I guess you don’t, either. So our best chance is to keep moving.” “You’re right. But I just can’t.” I could barely stand. How could I possibly walk? Then suddenly he gazed at the distance. I tried to figure out what he was looking at when I saw a building with a neon sign on the roof in the distance! “We might get some help there!” I stood up again; the fatigue I had felt was suddenly forgotten, since there was the hope of food nearby! “It worth a shot, I guess,” Flaming Star said as we he started walking. We reached the building, which turned out to be a dive bar called “Losers Club!” which is what the neon lights on the top of the place said. There were a few motorbikes outside, which is never a good sign. The worst part of it, though, was I didn’t just have no money, I had no I.D. That meant that if I was carded I couldn’t prove to them that I was legal drinking age, which I wasn’t anyway. For a second I was tempted to just wait outside, but I’d already been through so much with Flaming Star I felt I had to stay with him. I guess the friendship lessons are having an effect on me. We went inside. I couldn’t see much of the interior; a lot of the light fixtures were dark or their bulbs were broken. Some of the bar stools were covered with ripped leather on the seats, and some of the chairs at the tables didn’t match the style of the others. A pinball machine stood in one corner; it had been unplugged and the glass top was cracked. What I also noticed was that everyone looked … sad, preoccupied with their own thoughts. There was a band playing on a bare stage but no one seemed to care. This bar was really living up to its name! We reached the bar, and Flaming Star turned his back on the bartender and leaned against the bar, looking over the room. He was obviously in no rush to ask for help or even a handout. My stomach, though, told me to take the initiative. I stepped forward to talk to the bartender, hoping I didn’t look too much like a high school kid who had no business being in a bar, which is also how I felt. The bartender had his back to me; he was wearing a leather vest with the name of a motorcycle gang: TIMBER WOLVES. That was also not a good sign, but I couldn’t wait for someone friendlier to serve me. “Hi, sir, could you please help us? We were kidnapped and we’re far from home, so we would be grateful if …” Of all the times for me to turn into a motor mouth! The bartender turned around. He had a scar across his face, he was bald, and his face looked like a clenched fist. “Look, little fella,” the bar tender said as he grabbed Flaming Star’s shoulder and spun him around to look at him, “no one here has single coin to give you, the food is trash, but everyone here is eating it because they have no other choice in their miserable lives.” “What happened to them?” I asked. I couldn’t help asking, but I was curious to know who had bigger problems than we did. The bar tender pointed out a guy at a table, about 4 empty beer bottles in front of him. “You see that guy there, he was in a car crash and after that he couldn’t speak! He was a translator back in the day. And cuz of that accident he got fired.” Then he pointed at someone else. “He’s Jimmy, he used to be a champion motorcycle racer, then one day he lost and he never made the cut in competitive racing after that.” Then he nodded his head toward a table in the back. “Those four back there, they performed in theatre in the past, but the owner got rid of them cuz they screwed up a line and made everyone laugh at them. And most of the rest used to be football players, but a couple of bad seasons and they were cut from the team.” “But what about you?” I couldn’t help asking. “Me?” he said as he closed his eyes. “I wanted to be a singer, but they said I looked too scary you.” “So what?” Flaming Star said. “You all sit here waiting for a miracle to happen?” All of a sudden being carded wasn’t my worst fear; my worst fear was finding myself in the middle of a bar fight! But Flaming Star was on a roll: “I mean everyone have falls in their lives. But you know what they do? They stand up again!” I was not prepared for what happened next: Flaming Star began singing: You all sit here and call yourselves losers When you have to go out and stand out for yourselves If someone punch you, you punch him back Now life has kicked you why don’t you kick it back! You all are sitting there and say the things you can’t do Have ever thought, of what you can do? I was afraid that they’d tell him to shut up, but nobody did. Flaming Star sang with … I can only call it “authority,” like you had to listen to him. The skinny guy in the band who played rhythm guitar, who looked like he needed a meal worse than I did, found the key and began to play along: Yes I know the hill is high I know that you will fall But please don’t give up Yes I know the rocks are sharp I know that it is though But you can’t reach there if you don’t try He stopped singing and looked at the bartender: “Now tell me, do you want to become a singer?” “Yes!” Then he started singling out other people in the bar: “How about you, do you want to perform again? You want to be a champion again, or do you want to become a football team again?” They all said as one, “ YES!” “Then why don’t you fight for it?” You all have goals But you don’t score them You are all alive But you don’t feel it Now what do you say? Then, all of a sudden, the bartender started to sing! Scars and wounds won’t take me down, I fell from the hill and I hit the ground I don’t care what others say, I want to sing and live today His voice was actually good, but what surprised me was that the actors joined in and started dancing and the football team clapped along and started singing! We know the hill is high We know that we will fall But we won’t give up We know the rocks are sharp We know that it is tough But we try to get to where we want At that point everyone was singing, except the mute guy, of course! No we won’t run away We won’t take the turn We will get to where we want Yes we know that we will fall But we always climb back up Till we reach the top! “Now tell me that you do have some money, a phone, or food?” Flaming Star asked. “Sorry, we don’t have any phone, but we got some food, and here,” the bartender put his hand in his pocket and dropped a few coins on the bar, “This should be enough for ya both to take the bus to the town, if it hasn’t stopped running for the night.” “Thanks!” we both said at the same time. “I think we should thank you for showing us what we missed. You may take your seats, food will be ready soon! And I’ll bring you a couple sodas, since you both look underage.” “No problem,” I said. We sat down at a nearby table. I looked around at the bar and saw that it was empty. I guess after what just happened, they all went to get started on fulfilling their goals. “Nice show, by the way. Didn’t know you could sing.” Honestly, I didn’t. “Huh, then I wrote all those lyrics and music for what?” The food arrived. “Ah, enough chit chat, let’s get down to business cuz I’m super mega hungry!” I couldn’t argue with that, I was starving, though what I saw didn’t look like food. I didn’t dare ask what it was because the bartender was in a good mood. It looked like he’d taken whatever he could find in the kitchen, thrown it in a blender, chopped it up, and blanketed it with some kind of cheese-in-a-can. But I was really hungry so I took a bite. As soon as I did, I split it out. Same for Flaming Star. This really was trash Author's Note Make sure to cheek out other chapters too. Special thanks to my editor Daniel Drazen.
A ride to homeThe bus station was quite close, so we decided to get there as fast as we could because, let’s face it, we were still hungry. Luckily for us, the last bus arrived after a while. We hopped on, it was almost empty. We sat facing each other next to the window. Finally we were going home. “Long day wasn’t it?” I asked Flaming Star to break the silence. “It sure was.” He didn’t appear to be in a mood for talking, but I needed to pass time somehow. “So, aren’t you worried about how your father’s doing?” “What, because I’m coming home late?” “No, I mean those kidnappers have probably phoned him by now and …“ He cut me off. “Oh, yeah about that, that wasn’t his number at all. In fact I gave him mine!” That just shocked me. “You did? Ok, I gotta admit that was clever.” “That was nothing.” “You’re awfully calm about being kidnapped. If you don’t mind my asking, has it happened before?” He looked at me. “Well, yeah, a couple of times.” He said like it was nothing. “You managed to cheer up a whole club with just a song! I only saw that in Equ- …“ I just realized that I was getting ahead of myself. “In where?” I needed to change the subject somehow. “Nothing!” He looked at me, like he knew I was lying! “You do know that your eyes give you away instantly right?” “W-what do you mean?” “Your eyes, they’re calm and attractive, except when you lie, then they become messy. Just like the sea!” That was weird. I didn’t know what to say, like I didn’t know what he meant by that. “Are you trying to say that I have pretty eyes or that I’m not a good liar?” He leaned back in his seat. “Using number one to imply number two!” “Ha, ha, very funny!” I said in a sarcastic way to make him stop. “Look, I get that you don’t want to talk about it. But you need to understand that, too, if you do want me to help with the project!” I was surprised since he actually wanted to help and get the project done. But to be honest I almost forgot about it. “So you do want to help! That’s something.” “On one condition.” “What?” “You have to wear gloves, got it?” “You mean like that princess in the movie? Fine, I get it. What’s next, my jacket?” “Let’s face it, why would you need spikes on your jacket? If you ask me, I say it doesn’t look good on you, either. The one you worn that night was way better.” “You think so?” He didn’t say anything. We rode on in silence, for a while. He was looking out through the window the night landscape rolled by. “So, you’re not mad at me for snooping around and stuff?” He sighed and looked at me. His glare was serious, unlike what I had seen. “Look, ... It’s hard for me to trust people, and not just because I don’t want to, but because I learned not to. When I saw how close you seven were together, it reminded me of Steely and me. I thought you were like us. Just a little bittle not much. You showed me that what I do, I need to accept and control it instead of letting it control me. I was just getting along. You helped me solve my problems with my father, showing me that there are other ways. But you screwed up with your snooping around, even when I told you not to. But at least you get it now so I guess it’s all right.” He was looking into my eyes the whole time, and I just couldn’t turn my eyes away. “You know,” I said, “At first I thought I couldn’t tolerate you because I thought you were nerve-racking. You always frustrate me with how good you are at fencing and other stuff. Your being so aloof and stubborn all the time, sort of pissed me off. But now I see that it was just hard for you to get use to this whole new atmosphere. And that, yeah, I goofed up a few things here and there, too.” He smiled. I guess we worked on our problems, in a way. He yawned. “Oh, man, I’m tired. I’m just gonna take a nap till we reach town.” “Goodnight, Flaming Star.” He looked at me. “Just Flame.” “Goodnight, Flame.” “Goodnight, Sunshine!” At first I didn’t realized what he said, but then I noticed! “What did you just call me?” But it was too late, he had already fallen asleep and was rattling the clouds in the sky with his snoring. I tried to sleep, too, emphasis on “tried.” Author's Note Make sure to cheek out other chapters too. Special thanks to my editor Daniel Drazen.
End of the pathTrying to sleep while Flaming Star was snoring was a challenge; I failed. So, for an alternative way to spend the travel time I tried to figure this out for myself. It’s been quite some time since I got my ability, along with the others, of course. We’ve seen other people, artefacts and such that were all imbued with Equestrian magic. We even saw some sort of magic outbreak. Perhaps there are many other artefacts out there that might cause some trouble, ones we don’t know anything about yet. However, in the middle of all of this, Flaming Star and Steely Armor haven’t caused any trouble except for their own mistakes, which I still believe were accidental. They didn’t do something like the Sirens did. Or, to name a better example, me myself. I got the sense that Flaming Star desperately wanted to get rid of his magic. But at the same time he uses it so creatively it’s like normal for him now. He has the power to turn anything to ashes, but here he is, using it to make stupid knock-knock jokes. He’s either silly or protective. Either way he’s not controlling the minds of a whole city or trying to conquer another realm. I don’t know why, but that night, I felt really close to him. I felt that I didn’t need to use my magic to understand him. We have things in common, things we need to hide and don’t just give away quickly or ever, like me. Now that I think about it, it’s ridiculous that we’ve known each other for months and even went out a couple of times, and knew nothing of each others’ past. We were on the road for hours, but finally we reached town. I tried to wake him up by calling his name, but that didn’t work. I nudged him on the shoulder; nothing. Then I remembered that one of the kidnappers woke him up by slapping him; for a second I thought that would work, but I stopped myself. I remembered him telling me how he felt about my trying to read his thoughts and how he wanted me to start wearing gloves around him. So I grabbed a small pillow from a seat across the bus aisle, about one foot square, and smacked him in the face with it. It worked. “WHO? WHERE? WHEN?” “We’re here. Time to go. “ “What was that for? You think this is one of your lame slumber parties?” “Sorry,” I said, wiggling the fingers of one hand, “I left my princess gloves in my other jacket.” He paused for a second, “Uh, OK, OK, let’s get going, then.” We were finally back in town. The only thing we needed to do now was to go home, on foot since it was so early there were no vehicles around. “So, I guess I have to say goodbye now,” I said. “Yeah, I guess.” He straightened up his posture, looking like a suit of clothes that had suddenly been starched. “Take care.” Then he started running. It had been a very long night. When I got home, I just fell into bed. I didn’t bother checking the cupboard or the fridge because I knew there was no food. I’m not sure what I dreamed about exactly, but it had to do with Pinkie Pie and cupcakes. Lots of cupcakes Author's Note Make sure to cheek out other chapters too. Special thanks to my editor Daniel Drazen.
NOT getting alongAll the other teams got together and started planning their project. We were just nagging at each other for nothing. But eventually we started to actually cooperate with each other and try to agree on a subject. “So, what do you think we should do for our project?” I asked. He looked at me and sighed. “I don’t know, music history?” That actually wasn’t a bad idea. “Yeah, music is good! But I was thinking more about the traditions and all.” “Whatever!” As class ended, he rushed through the halls and left me behind. That was just rude and I didn’t know how long he was going to keep being distancing from me. The fact was, school was over and I just wanted to go home. On my way out I saw him in front of school standing with Steely Armor. I shouted so I could get his attention. “HEY!” I walked over to them as fast as I could. I wasn’t sure but I could tell Steely Armor was blushing for some reason. “What is it!?” Flaming Star asked in an awkward way. Steely Armor stepped back. “I think I better go since I need to be home so, uh, GOODBYE!” Then he ran off faster than Rainbow Dash would have. “Hey, wait ... never mind.” There was no one in the street by that time, we were alone; it was a good time for both of us to talk to each other about our issues and try to work as an actual team. “Look,” I said, “I know you don’t want me to be your teammate and I don’t like it either, but I’m sure we both want that mark so if it was-“ “Hold on a second, there, I don’t want that mark!” “WHAT!?” “Are you deaf or something ‘cuz I think I was super mega clear!” “What.... what is your problem? If you don’t care what kind of grade you or anybody else gets, why don’t you just stay at your house with your rich dad?” At that point I was just so frustrated and I couldn’t help not being mean. “That’s none of your business!” “It is when-“ “Oh, no, no, no, no, it actually is your business, because you can read people’s mind when you touch them!” “At least I help people, but the only thing you do is burn stuff down and I wi-“ I was answering him back when someone grabbed me from behind, their hand covering my mouth. I lost consciousness Author's Note Make sure to cheek out other chapters too. Special thanks to my editor Daniel Drazen.
