Chapters Author's Note
Welcome to another sequel, and a very long one due to content. For starters, however, let’s hear a foreword for this from Cato.
Foreword - Cato
When I had that nightmare after the Friendship Games, I could never have realized that it meant that 7 months later, for at the time I had it was in late October, I would find myself in the crosshairs of the heart of the very evil I saw in that nightmare. Of course, there were the adventures, the fights, the dramatic moments, and the terrifying nights that all led up to this point, which included among other things, a ruined Spring Formal, a ruined Winter Formal, a winter break of research, a showdown on the roof of Crystal Prep High School, and much, much more. I never wanted to have my family drawn into this, but that night, I did pull my family into this and had to explain everything. Needless to say, the fact that there was another world full of magic wasn’t truly surprising to my parents, given that they had seen some of the magical outbursts from afar apparently.
As for the weird sword I touched right before I transformed, I never gave it up after that. It sits on a wooden rest in my room, along with a special glove that the user has to wear to protect against their body getting sent like a rag doll into the wall due to the shock waves the sword can emit. The blade was an extremely long length, spanning about at least over three eighths of the length of my room. I don’t really know why, but I took a placard that I placed next to the sword and wrote a name on it that I would call it by. I know this name might sound funny to some, but I decided to call it “The Zanketsuken Sword Of Tengu.”
After the Friendship Games Incident, two students from Crystal Prep transferred into Canterlot High. These were Twilight and a guy named Sunburst. Marvel and I made fast friends with him, and he has become one of the regulars in the friends circle of the Careers, us 24 transfers from Panem City. Turns out, the name Marvel suggested that we call ourselves stuck. We were like the most popular group at Canterlot High, and the most talked about group at Crystal Prep. Like, aside from one group of assholes that refused to believe we existed, most kids there were actually surprised by our existence. In their minds, the belief that Canterlot High could only produce weak competitors for anything the two schools butted heads in had been shattered. In Crystal Prep, the word “Careers” would become a slang term to describe Canterlot High students that possessed exceptional skills equal to, rivaling that, or exceeding that of a Crystal Prep student. In their eyes, there only existed 38 students of Canterlot High that were considered “Career Tributes”: me and the other transfers, Jackie and her friends, Trixie, Adagio, Aria, Flash, Twilight, DJ Pon-3, and Sunburst. Sonata was nearly on the list, but wasn’t quite there.
In Canterlot High, the term Career came to have a different meaning. In there, a Career Tribute is someone who goes above and beyond protecting other people and students. On that list, there only existed us transfers, Jackie and her friends, the Dazzlings, Shadowbolt 5, and Flash. Only 39 people were what Canterlot High would consider “Career Tributes” from their eyes. Basically, being a Career Tribute in Canterlot High came to be seen as like a badge of honor.
In the days after the Friendship Games, I received a special citation for above and beyond service to my school from Superintendent Faust. My family was extremely proud of me, as were my friends, and especially Jackie and Clove. Those two girls.. I am so extraordinarily lucky to be the guy that they fell in love with. Really, I am. Like, having those two around after that nightmare I had, I slept fine. Having two girlfriends did mean that my parents had to move some stuff in my room to help fit in a bigger king sized bed so the three of us could all sleep together, but overall, it didn’t really impact much negatively.
Cinch went on trial four months after the Friendship Games, and no surprise, she was convicted. She will spend the rest of her life in prison. Apparently, the thought of acquitting someone who had blackmailed a teenager with her college application didn’t sit well with the jury. I honestly was relieved. I already had bigger fish to fry by then, so the fact that Cinch could no longer harm Twilight or the rest of us was a relief.
But, there was still the nightmare. A dream of weird and epic proportions that was engraved in my brain so completely I could still see it go from start to finish to this very day. How was I supposed to know where this nightmare and the blood chilling audio from my computer that night would lead us to, as of right now, literally running two trains on top of the water trying to stop a runaway cruise ship and save our friends? I know it sounds weird, but believe me, given the series of events that lead up to this, weird can just describe every twist and turn this took.
In the aftermath of the Friendship Games, I started recording down information about my adventures in this notebook. As of this time, I had used over half of the pages describing the times of this adventure. As Marvel and Jason try to line the train up with the Cruise Ship as Thresh and Ryan shovels coal into the fireplace and Noah and Urchin direct another train into position on the opposite side of the ship, a more modern train than this one, my mind drifts back to where it all began, 7 months earlier, in the aftermath of the Friendship Games. So yeah, there’s a whole lot of info that stretches between there and now, so this is going to take a while. A really long while, from the looks of it.
So, you’re now wondering how a single nightmare and blood curdling audio file from 7 months ago led to this physics-defying rescue attempt in the present?
Well, let me tell you a story..
Cato I - The Morning After
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Expedition Group I - Preparing
Author's Note
Since our formidable protagonists are going to be in two groups for most of the arc, starting from the 2nd Chapter after this for most of the rest of the Arc, this chapter will solely focus on Cato's group as it prepares to undertake its expedition underneath the school. Would like to see you guys comment on anything you find interesting through these books. After all, I do like feedback sometimes. Also, this is still in Cato's perspective for parts of this chapter, but it'll be switching back and forth between his POV and Third Person POV.
Expedition Group I - Preparing
Later on that day, I talked to Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna and told them all about my strange nightmare and sinister audio recording received on my computer. I also told them about how I believed I could find some answers if I was allowed to search into the old school building underneath the school, and my gut check on how bad I believed things could possibly get if I wasn't allowed to do this. They had their concerns, rightfully, but they relented to the expedition. Permission granted, I could now tell the guys after school that day that the mission was a go, and we could start preparing.
Needless to say, some of the boys had an earful from their parents about the expedition idea. But, having heard first hand from other children the selfless and brave actions of their own children in the face of an unbelievable situation, the parents relented. Cato's family, especially, was keenly well aware of the potential for disaster should their son not be able to go on this mission to find answers for himself. They themselves had some of the magical outbursts at Canterlot High from a distance and from Cato's own words, knew that Equestrian Magic in the wrong hands could be devastatingly powerful.
"You got this, son. Go get some answers and make me proud" Cato's father would say before the expedition to the old building underneath Canterlot High would start.
"Thanks, Dad. I know I will" Cato responded.
Before the expedition began, I studied maps of the layout of the old school building, familiarizing myself with the layout. I was sure the others probably were doing the same. It had been years since the old building had mysteriously sunk into the ground during the summer one day 25 years ago. It would be crucial to know where everything was so that we wouldn't become lost once we were down there. It was a quest for answers, but even the most careful planning has to be made in order to be able to get those answers. My father had taught me this over the course of my life so far, and now, I was seeing the wisdom of his words. I mean, sure, entering an old school building while your other friends are dancing at a formal was probably a stupid thing to do when you're dating two beautiful girls. But then again, whoever said that didn't know that in this situation, he would have to factor in magic from another fucking world to explain my decision.
Marvel received an earful from Finch when he said he couldn't go to the Winter Formal with her. She calmed down, though, as he told her the story of my nightmare and audio recording and of my quest for answers. That call happened on Friday Night, and he would tell me on Saturday that he heard her say this.
"Jesus fucking christ, seems like Equestrian Magic can't give us a god damn break."
Like Noah, that statement was prophetic, to an absurd and tragically true degree. Urchin, meanwhile, had a less earful of a call with Adagio. She was miffed, he told me on Sunday, but she understood. After all that they had been through, she understood that Urchin was not one to sit idly by and let something destroy the love that connected the two of them. To be honest, I wish I didn't have to deal with this shit and could go with Clove and Jackie to the Winter Formal, but life had decided otherwise and I wasn't going to try to let my fate get worse, whatever it may be in the future in the aftermath of this expedition. I was going to see it through to the end, to make sure that no matter what happens, I could have a fate decided on my own terms. That meant getting answers, and that meant going down into the building underneath Canterlot High. Somewhere outside of Canterlot High and the city, there was a storm of trouble brewing, and I was racing against time to find a way to ride it out.
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Part I - Notes From Underneath Canterlot High
Author's Note
This arc of the book is inspired from TMNT 2003's "Notes From The Underground" Arc.
Part I - Notes From Underneath Canterlot High
Cato’s journal, post-adventure
Ah, where to begin with this whole mess, eh? I guess it’s best to start where this whole thing began. The nightmare I had the night before it all started was scary, it was intense, it was bewildering to say the least. I had no idea of even where to start. But, all I did know was that at one point, a ghost rose up from underneath Canterlot High accompanied by a prolifery of other ghosts. So I figured, best place to start looking for answers was in what Canterlot High was built on top of, the old Canterlot - Crystal Prep School. Yeah, shocking, I know. I brought the guys in on this exploration adventure, or to be exact Flash, Urchin, Marvel, Noah, Jason, Ryan and Thresh. Thaddeus was out sick, and the others were going to the Winter Formal, which just so happened to be going on at the same time me and the others ventured down into the old halls of the building Canterlot High was built on top of, unfortunately. What we found down there we ultimately ended up having to kill on the gym floor. But it, and the other discoveries we found down there, with the help of some interpretation from Twilight, gave us the first pieces of the puzzle to understand what my nightmare meant.
Clove I - Storm Clouds On The Horizon
On the one hand, I was miffed and bummed out that Cato wasn't going to the Winter Formal with me and Applejack. He was after all our boyfriend and we did love him dearly and the same could be said for him. On the other hand, after the events of the Friendship Games, I could see just how Equestrian Magic could be a threat to our lives and Cato seemed to be at the center of the incidents most of the time, so me and Applejack had to let him do what he had to do. I mean, the boy had survived Canterlot High twice, one almost single handed and the other assisting Urchin. So yeah, he had been through a lot already.
At least I could go to the Winter Formal with my friends, all except Thaddeus, that is. He came down ill on the day of the Winter Formal, but all my other friends, with the exception of Cato, Ryan, Thresh, Marvel, Urchin, Noah, Jason, and Flash, were going. So at least it could be a good time, even if it is without Cato. Even so, it was painfully clear to me that despite his normally calm and serious demeanor about this whole thing, Cato could see storm clouds on the horizon. I could see it in his eyes, when he had those moments when he was staring off into space the entire week before the Winter Formal, which was announced it was being held on Friday of this week. It promised to be a lovely night, for sure. No Equestrian Creatures, no insane demons, no monsters. Just a bunch of kids dancing their hearts out with their friends or the people they loved. None of us suspected of just what lurked underneath the building, or that Cato and his friends would end joining us for the Winter Formal. Only instead of dancing, they would be spending it trying to save a missing girl from Equestria from a minion of a foe that was connected to Cato's nightmare and the audio and killing the monstrous form of said minion.
Author's Note
Short Chapter, but I think it's necessary to see how Clove felt and give you a sense of at least part of what would happen underneath the school. Yeah, seems that they really can't get a break from the stuff that the others are doing, you know?
