So, Shall We Start the Experiment?
It's an overcast at Canterlot City this Monday, and the many students of Canterlot High are coming in to start the week. The first to pass by the Wondercolts Statue is Rainbow Dash, all thanks to her confidence in her speed getting her to school on time, early even. "Clouds, hrm." She scoffed at the grey puffs above her. "If I could, I'd push them all away. Mondays don't need to be any more miserable than they already are." She said to herself.
Soon, the rest of her friends come and greet her. "Mornin', Rainbow!" Applejack waved to her.
"You're here early, as usual." Sunset Shimmer said.
"Well, since everyone knows about my speed powers, I don't have an excuse to be late." Rainbow Dash responded.
"You sure you should be going overboard with your Geode powers?" Fluttershy asked Rainbow Dash.
"I know there's this quote from this superhero movie about powers and responsibility, but I can't quite remember how it went." Pinkie Pie said.
"Could we not call them superpowers? We're not superheroes. We're just ordinary girls who happen to have these powers, that's all." Twilight Sparkle refuted.
"Relax, I never said I use them to get to school. I just got here with ol' school running shoes." Rainbow Dash said as she points to her worn blue knee-high boots.
Rarity bends down to see a shoelace just fall off. "I must say, these shoes have seen better days. We must get you new ones." Rarity noted.
"Hey, I don't need a whole closet of sneakers when I just got one pair of ol' reliables." Rainbow Dash refused. "I'll be done with them when I feel like it."
"Now that we're all here…" Sunset Shimmer began. "Did anyone hear anything about a new substitute teacher?"
"Oh, that's right! Miss Cheerilee got injured in our last magic adventure." Fluttershy noted.
"Well, at least that we purified the last of that magic bottomless punch bottle." Twilight Sparkle noted.
"But she'll be bedridden from it for weeks." Applejack said. "Same goes for Big Mac, too. Shame he had to get caught in it, too."
"These news usually get to us at the start of homeroom. We'll probably see the principal show whatever poor sucker she hired to be our sub." Rainbow Dash chuckled.
As they conversed, they hear the sound of a motorcycle engine and see a man wearing a khaki coat and a red helmet pull up in a red dirt bike with a gear-shaped ornament on the cowl, a yellow cylindrical top-box, and warning tape decals across the chassis. "Who's that?" Twilight Sparkle wondered.
"We've never seen them before." Sunset Shimmer noted.
The man takes off his helmet and rests it on the let handlebar, showing a young man with a purple complexion and a somewhat messy black bowl-cut. "Mornin'!" he waved to them casually as he takes a metallic briefcase from his motorcycle. He walks by them without another word, entering the school.
As they stare at him, Rarity suddenly collapses. Applejack catches her in time, just an inch above the pavement. "Rarity, what's wrong?!" Applejack asked her.
"He… he…" Rarity muttered. "He's wearing mismatching sneakers!" Rarity cried profusely.
Her friends look at the man passing by the glass doors and see he's wearing red sneakers on the left and blue on the right. "Oh, is that all?!" Applejack responded impatiently before helping her up.
"Think he's Miss Cheerilee's substitute?" Twilight Sparkle asked her friends.
"There's no way someone with a bike that cool's a teacher." Rainbow Dash looks at the motorcycle. She goes over to the man's bike to get a closer look. "Look at that thing! It's like Aftermarket City! And the paintjob goes hard!"
"Uh, Rainbow? We're gonna be late for class if you keep ogling that bike." Fluttershy called to her.
"Oh, oh yeah! See you girls there!" Rainbow Dash turns to them before leaving a prismatic ribbon behind as she crashes through the school doors.
"If I ever see that man and his sneakers again, it'll be too soon." Rarity commented dramatically.
"They're just shoes. Please don't get yerself in a tizzy cuz'a that." Applejack said as she opens the doors for her friends.
"Excuse me." A tall man wearing a brown leather duster and a fedora approached the girls with his head tipped down, concealing his face.
"Can we help you?" Sunset Shimmer asked him, cautious about meeting yet another stranger.
He lifts his head, revealing an intense-looking, narrow-eyed silver man looking at them. "I wanted to ask if you've seen a friend of mine." he takes a photograph from his pocket. The photograph shows a stoic young man with beige skin and neatly-combed black hair wearing a pilot's jumpsuit decorated with military patches above his chest pockets and left shoulder. "His name is Juggler."
"Sorry, never seen him." Sunset Shimmer answered.
"That's all I needed to hear." The man said as he hands his photo to Twilight Sparkle. "If you see him, tell me."
"Wait, shouldn't you give us your contact info in case we find him?" Twilight Sparkle reached to the man.
"The world is round. We'll run into each other eventually." The man answered with a smile before tipping down his hat. He puts a harmonica to his mouth and begins playing a dramatic, slow tune as he walks away from the school.
"Weird guy." Pinkie Pie commented. "Is he a cousin of yours, Applejack? He's got the same fashion sense." she turned to Applejack.
"Very funny." Applejack rolled her eyes. "No, I've never seen him before."
"At least his garbs are somewhat sane." Rarity commented.
"C'mon, let's get to class before the bell!" Twilight Sparkle hurried through the doors.
Rainbow Dash rushes through the halls, and finds them empty: a sign that homeroom has already started. "C'mon, pick up the pace!" she said to herself.
With a skid at a right turn she swings the doors to her classroom open and sees the purple guy from before right in her face. "You're late." He said simply.
"What?!"
"Rainbow Dash." An authoritative voice spoke up. The man backs away to show the tall woman that is their Principal Celestia looking at the athlete sternly. "Of all the students to be late, I hoped it wouldn't be our fastest athlete."
The rest of Rainbow Dash's friends arrive at the door, and are just as shocked as she is to see the purple man at the front of class. "You six, you're late, too." He told them.
"I'm sorry, we were—" Sunset Shimmer spoke up.
"Please, sit down. You're disrupting class." Principal Celestia commanded.
Without another word, the girls go to their seats as their classmates awkwardly eye them. "As I was saying, as a result of Miss Cheerilee's health leave…" Principal Celestia eyed the seven friends as she said this. "This man will be her substitute for homeroom, physics, and chemistry for the rest of the month." She gestures to the man beside her.
"Told ya." Twilight Sparkle whispered to Rainbow Dash sitting beside her.
The man steps forward and clears his throat. "Hello, students. My name is Full Bottle, but you can call me Mister Bottle. It's nice to meet you all." He bowed as he addressed the students.
"I hope you'll give Mister Bottle a very warm Canterlot High welcome for the duration of his stay." Principal Celestia added. "Now, I'll leave you all to it." she turns to the door and leaves.
"No way! Someone with that cool of a bike is our substitute teacher!" Pinkie Pie blurted out to Rainbow Dash.
"Yeesh, don't rub it all in, guys." Rainbow Dash scoffed, when Full Bottle clears his throat.
"So, may I know the troublemakers who came late?" Full Bottle requested.
"Again, sorry, Mister Bottle." Twilight Sparkle stood up. "My name is Twilight Sparkle, and these are all my friends.
"I'm Sunset Shimmer, happy to meet you, sir."
"Fluttershy…"
"Applejack, here."
"I'm Pinkie Pie! I'm tickled to meet'cha!"
"I'm- I'm- I'm—" Rarity stammered as she stares at Mister Bottle's mismatching sneakers, until he snaps his fingers repeatedly to snap her out of it.
"Eyes up here. Name?"
"I'm R-Rarity." Rarity finally answered. "May I say, I think—"
"Rainbow Dash, and don't you forget it. If you heard anything about me, it's probs true." Rainbow Dash boasted.
"Well, it's nice to meet you." Mister Bottle smirked devilishly. "As punishment, you're going to help set up experiments for first period physics."
The girls were surprised to hear this: a long punishment for minor tardiness. "But we were only a minute late!" Rainbow Dash argued.
"One minute, twenty-five seconds." Mister Bottle corrected. "I'm not going to argue about this, so sit down." He then turns his attention to the rest of the class. "Now then, announcements for today…" he began reading a document.
"Sorry for getting you guys in trouble just for looking at the cool bike." Rainbow Dash apologized to her friends as they take their seats.
"It's alright. What better way to get in trouble than getting in trouble together?" Sunset Shimmer assured.
"As if we don't do that every day." Twilight Sparkle chuckled.
"We've never had a teach this sassy before. I mean, lab assist for being a minute late?" Applejack commented.
"We've never had a teacher this unfashionable, and that is quite saying something." Rarity added.
"I'll say he'll be the most interesting teacher we'll ever have." Sunset Shimmer commented when the bell rings and the class gets up to leave.
"I can't blame ya. My bike is pretty cool." Mister Bottle approached them.
"You saw us?" Fluttershy asked.
"From this window, yes." Mister Bottle answered. "And yes, it's all custom. Bet you wish you had a ride as cool as mine." He said to Rainbow Dash confidently, contending with her own sense of confidence. He takes his metal briefcase and opens the door. "C'mon, let's get to the lab."
"Sure thing, Mister Bottle." Twilight Sparkle saluted.
"Suck-up." Rainbow Dash muttered.
"I heard that." Mister Bottle flicks their chin at them as he holds the door open for the rest of class leaving. Soon, the girls leave the classroom in single-file as Mister Bottle eyes them on the way out.
Rainbow Dash was the last to leave, and she gives him a stern side-eye. "What're you looking at, star athlete?" he cheekily told her.
Rainbow Dash says nothing before leaving the classroom. Mister Bottle shuts the door behind him and leads them to the lab.
At the lab, Mister Bottle is giving the rest of the students a lecture while the girls set up a chemistry apparatus. "We don't know it, but chemical reactions take place every day, from within our bodies to the air around us. They range from just simply breathing to violent explosions…" he lectured to the class.
"Anyone else getting a weird reading on this Mister Bottle?" Rainbow Dash asked her friends.
"Is it because he's actually cool? I mean, he's got a bike you think is pretty neat." Pinkie Pie asked.
"It's not that neat." Rainbow Dash grumbled.
"Didn't you call it Aftermarket City?" Sunset Shimmer teased.
"You and me both, Rainbow Dash." Rarity added as she attaches tubing to the flasks.
"If it's about the shoes, you're not getting on this boat with me." Rainbow Dash said sternly.
"Oh, the teacher told you off. It happens all the time with you." Sunset Shimmer said for Rainbow Dash to give her another stern look. "Hehe… no offense?"
"Oh, how the tables have turned. None taken." Rainbow Dash snickered. "I guess it's that, out of all the students he picked to assemble this experiment of his happen to be seven of the most interesting students in school."
"I guess that is a rather strange coincidence." Rarity commented.
"It could just be a coincidence. Maybe his next victim'll be someone other than us." Twilight Sparkle said.
"You there!" Mister Bottle pointed to them. "I changed my mind. We're not doing it in here. Break it all down and take all the magnesium, a jar of hydrochloric acid, and the largest beaker you can find to faculty lot."
"Aw, what?!" Rainbow Dash whined. "We spent ten minutes on this thing!"
"I didn't ask for sass, so chop-chop!" Mister Bottle clapped his hands.
Rainbow Dash growls and turns to the apparatus and her friends. "See what I mean?"
"It is unusual for a teacher to change their mind about the experiment like this." Twilight Sparkle noted.
"Within the span of two hours, I've come from liking the new teach, to hating their guts." Rainbow Dash looks over her shoulder to see Full Bottle leading the class out of the lab.
"Remember to put all the flasks and beakers back safe and sound. We don't wanna break them." Twilight Sparkle advised.
"Yeah, yeah…" Rainbow Dash removes a rubber tube connecting a faucet and the apparatus.
Outside at the faculty lot, Full Bottle has the class gather around a vacant lot under the overcast; Rainbow Dash is holding a box of magnesium strips while Twilight Sparkle carefully pours concentrated hydrochloric acid into a large beaker. "One textbook example of a chemical reaction…" Mister Bottle presented a diagram of a science experiment in a textbook. "…is dropping a strip of magnesium in diluted hydrochloric acid."
"Mister Bottle?" Twilight Sparkle raised her hand. "Are you sure we should use hydrochloric acid this concentrated? We're supposed to dilute it at a ratio of—"
"I'm always sure. I'm Full Bottle: genius physicist." He answered with confidence to rival Rainbow Dash's own while putting on safety gloves. He snatches a roll of magnesium from Rainbow Dash. "So…" he hangs the roll over the beaker. "…shall start the experiment?" He gives a devilish smile before flipping down his safety glasses.
"Everyone, please, back away." Twilight Sparkle advises as the students back away. It was when they reach a safe distance Mister Bottle drops the roll into the beaker and makes a run for it. They all watch as bubbles foam from the liquid as is rises up, producing steam.
"As you can see, the moment the magnesium hits the hydrochloric acid, they immediately generate an exothermic reaction, emitting heat from the intense reaction." He said as the beaker rattles violently. "All this heat builds up in the mixture, and it all culminates in… well, you'll see." He smirks when he turns to the beaker.
Soon, the entire mixture bursts from the beaker, spraying chemicals all over the pavement. The students clap in amazement at the spectacle. "And the resulting byproducts are liquid magnesium chloride and hydrogen gas."
"This isn't really the standard procedure for such an experiment." Twilight Sparkle noted. "You've ignored countless safety rules!"
"If we've got our safety gloves and goggles on, then it's alright in my book." Mister Bottle turned to her.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you just wanted to blow something up." Rainbow Dash commented.
"I just wanted to make a good impression on you kids." Mister Bottle refuted when the beaker explodes into glass shards scattered around the lot.
Rarity quickly gets in the way of the students and generates diamond shields to protect them from the projectiles, and Rainbow Dash super-speedily pulls Mister Bottle away. After a moment, Rarity lowers her shields and everyone sees the shattered beaker base lying on the asphalt.
"Is everyone okay?" Sunset Shimmer asked her classmates.
Fluttershy is visibly shocked from the event that she's completely frozen from what just happened, and didn't even react when Applejack waves her hand over her eyes. "She'll be 'right." Applejack told Sunset Shimmer.
At that moment, Vice-Principal Luna comes to the parking lot and sees the students gathered around what was left of the experiment. "What's happening here?" she wondered as she looked around and sees the shattered beaker. "Who was responsible for this?" she sternly called for an answer. She then notices Rainbow Dash jogging back to the scene, holding a roll of magnesium. "Miss Rainbow Dash?" she raised her eyebrow at the girl.
"It wasn't me this time, honest! It was—" Rainbow Dash pleaded her innocence when Mister Bottle came to her side.
"Star athlete here was just helping me arrange a science experiment for the class." Mister Bottle stepped up. "Nobody else is responsible for this mess but me."
"You're the new substitute chemistry teacher, yes? If this is the result of an experiment, then we won't charge you for a replacement. Just be careful with the science materials next time." Vice-Principal Luna warned him.
As she walks away, Mister Bottle waves goodbye with Rainbow Dash looking at him. "Mister Bottle, thanks for standing up for me."
"Standing up for you? I just wanted to take credit for an explosion as cool as that. I don't want just anyone to take that from me." Mister Bottle chuckled, regaining Rainbow Dash's ire.
He then looks at the Geode necklace hanging from her neck, a long look before Rainbow Dash clutches it. "So, you're one of the superpowered students I've heard about."
"Yeah, what about it?" Rainbow Dash responded.
"Nothing." He looked over to Rainbow Dash's friends gathered with the class. "I thought it was pretty neat that this town have their own superheroes."
"What? You some kinda superhero buff?"
"You could say that." Mister Bottle gave a smirk. He steps forward to address the class. "I hope you all took notes, because we're going back to class." He told them. "You there." He points to the seven friends again. "Get some brooms and whatever to clean all this up."
"Yes, sir." They all sighed.
Mister Bottle leads the rest of class back to school, leaving the friends behind. "Rainbow Dash, I'd hate to agree with you, but Mister Bottle is a little off." Twilight Sparkle told her. "His gross ignorance of P.P.E., his eccentricity, I've noticed a weird fixation with annoying you, in particular…"
"Oh, and his sh—" Rarity was shushed by Applejack.
"No. We ain't continuing that." Applejack shook her head in disapproval.
"He saw our superpowers, and all he says is to clean up our mess!" Rainbow Dash complained. "Superheroes don't clean up their mess, the city does!"
"Rainbow Dash, we're not superheroes." Twilight Sparkle told her sternly. "We don't stop crime, we don't have villains to fight, and we use our powers for anything but all those listed!"
"Excuse me, but what kinda people save a camp from its control-freak counsellor, uncover a sabotage of a major motion picture, and save a mall from a giant woman?" Rainbow Dash argued.
"Actually, that last one was all Starl—" Pinkie Pie said for Applejack to put her mouth over her lips to stop the argument from escalating.
"Enough. The one thing we can all agree on is that this Mister Bottle's weird. We dunno why, but aside from this bout, he's harmless." Applejack stepped in.
"I still think we should take some caution around him. If being late gets us a whole hour of lab assist as punishment, I'd hate to see what he'll do for other misdemeanours." Sunset Shimmer added.
"Speaking of, why don't we get back to cleaning all this?" Fluttershy suggested.
"Let's be careful. This is concentrated hydrochloric acid, the kind supervillains dip hostages into." Twilight Sparkle cautioned as she hands everyone protective gloves.
"Supervillains, eh…?" Rainbow Dash went into thought as she turns back to the school, eyeing Mister Bottle talking to the students in class through a window.
After getting everything cleaned up in the next few minutes, the girls return to the lab to see Mister Bottle crossing his arms at the door and tapping his foot, as if impatiently waiting for them. "Oh, what now?" Rainbow Dash groaned.
"I dunno…" he steps aside to reveal a broken flask on the floor. "You tell me."
The girls are visibly shocked to see this. "But… we were all careful when we put everything away!" Twilight Sparkle stared at the shattered glass.
"This is impossible! Someone else must've done this!" Rainbow Dash said.
"When we returned to class, this was the first thing we saw." Mister Bottle gestured to the rest of their classmates.
"I can corroborate. I was the first one in." Micro Chips raised his hand.
"And the last to leave this room were you seven." Mister Bottle added.
"Mister Bottle, we didn't know who did it. Like Twilight said: we were all careful when we put away the equipment." Sunset Shimmer defended.
"Well, you weren't careful enough. If nobody's confessing, then all seven of you are staying behind for detention." Mister Bottle said.
"You can't do that! You don't have evidence we did it!" Twilight Sparkle argued.
"I'm a teacher: what I say goes." Mister Bottle insisted. "Star athlete, get a broom and clean this up!" he commanded Rainbow Dash, pointing to the glass shards.
"Yes, Mister Bottle." Rainbow Dash groaned. She gets a broom and starts sweeping, all while staring a hole into Mister Bottle.
After class, the girls go about their day, moodily thinking about their punishment after school. Soon, they all meet at the cafeteria for lunch. "This sucks! He sucks! Today sucks!" Rainbow Dash slams her lunch tray on their table.
"Lab assist for bein' a minute late, blowin' acid everywhere fer'n 'xperiment, and after-school detention for something we didn't do?!" Applejack complained. "Where'd they find this feller?!"
"It's almost like I'm back at Crystal Prep with what he puts us through." Twilight Sparkle added.
"He's like if old me if were a teacher." Sunset Shimmer commented.
"If that's the case, he's gotta have an ulterior motive for us." Rainbow Dash responded.
"Oh, forget I said anything." Sunset Shimmer groaned.
"Maybe he's a secret supervillain gauging our superpowers!" Rainbow Dash pondered.
"Rainbow, for—" Twilight Sparkle was immediately shushed.
"No, think about it! He showed up after an opening for a teacher came up, has a souped-up and probably tech-filled motorcycle, and keeps on picking on us." Rainbow Dash listed.
"He's not picking on us. I'm sure he has other victims by now." Sunset Shimmer said.
"Hey, were you girls talking about Mister Bottle?" a familiar young man's voice called them. They turn to the source and see Flash Sentry with a lunch tray.
"We were." Rainbow Dash said. "He's the worst, isn't he?"
"No way! He's awesome!" Flash Sentry denied with enthusiasm. "For third period physics, he pulled out his own tesla coils and played some old symphony with it."
"No, we mean, did he do some ridiculous punishment on anyone else? Like forcing you to ballet to demonstrate Newton's Laws of Motion?" Twilight Sparkle suggested.
"No, he's a cool teacher through-and-through." Flash Sentry said before the girls give him disapproving scowls. "Uh, except for what he did to you all." He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "I gotta go, Sandalwood's waiting for me." He said before rushing away.
"See? It's only us he's targeting!" Rainbow Dash told Twilight Sparkle. "He's probably keeping us after school to poke and prod us; see how we tick!"
Everyone was shocked, confused, concerned, or a combination of all three at what Rainbow Dash suggested. Fluttershy just retracted under the table like a tortoise. "Rainbow Dash, as much as I don't want to indulge in your fantasies, I think you're onto something." Twilight Sparkle said.
"I am?"
"For the most part. Everything you pointed out, even if Mister Bottle's not a supervillain, he's clearly taken an interest in us…" she then puts her Geode in her palm. "…Or rather, our Geodes."
"If he's lookin't take 'em, we'll won't give 'em up without a fight!" Applejack said.
"If he does anything funny in detention today, he'll for sure get what he wants… the hard way!" Rainbow Dash cracked her knuckles.
"Are you suggesting we should beat up a substitute teacher?" Rarity asked.
"Only if he really is a supervillain like Rainbow Dash says." Twilight Sparkle said. "I just hope it doesn't come to that."
To be continued…
So, Shall We Start the Experiment?
After school, the girls stay behind in the lab, overseen by a very casual Mister Bottle. "Welcome to detention. No phones. Study if you want." He said as he rests his feet on the desk and toys with a puzzle cube.
"And we're in here for how long?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"For however long I feel like." Mister Bottle answered before finishing the puzzle cube. "Hm." he said before tossing it to Rainbow Dash, who expertly catches it in her hand. "Scramble your cousin for me, will ya?"
"My cou—" Rainbow Dash shot up from her seat before Fluttershy puts her hand on her shoulder.
"Not now, or we'll be in more trouble." Fluttershy advised.
Rainbow Dash groans and sits down. With her Geode power, she swiftly scrambles the colours and tosses it back to Mister Bottle, who catches it with the same reflexes she demonstrated. "So, how'd you all get these powers?" he asked the question, the one they were all waiting for.
Twilight Sparkle looks to her friends, who all silently and subtly nod to give her the go. "We found some magic Geodes at a camp. It's a long story." She told him awkwardly.
"It actually started way earlier than that." Sunset Shimmer said. "Once, I stole a magic crown to… hypnotize… everyone in… school…" she recounted with increasing awkwardness.
"It was followed by a princess from another universe lending us magic to, uh, neutralize her." Rarity added to Sunset Shimmer's account.
"There's another time a trio of hypnotic singers came and we beat 'em with our own music." Applejack added.
"Ooh! Ooh! Before Twilight here transferred, she took all our powers and became a knowledge-hungry witch who ripped holes into another universe!" Pinkie Pie said as she hugs Twilight Sparkle's head from behind.
"All solved thanks to our friendship." Rainbow Dash concluded. "By now, that should be a warning to any future supervillains who try anything in this town." She looks right into Mister Bottle's eyes.
"Fascinating." He responded. "So, what? Do you fly around town helping people in need?"
"We do it a whole buncha times!" Rainbow Dash answered.
"But we don't really consider us full superheroes." Twilight Sparkle added, gaining an eye-roll from Rainbow Dash.
"So, you're fast…" Mister Bottle points to Rainbow Dash. "You make shields…" he points to Rarity. "What do the rest of you do?"
"I gots super strength." Applejack answered.
"I can talk to animals." Fluttershy spoke up.
"I can blow up candy!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.
"I have the ability to move objects telekinetically." Twilight demonstrated by solving Mister Bottle's puzzle cube from a distance.
"I can read minds when I touch people." Sunset Shimmer said.
"All you need is a talking animal mascot." Mister Bottle joked.
"We have Spike, but I usually leave him at home when I'm at school." Twilight Sparkle answered.
At Twilight Sparkle's home, Spike is sat before the front door impatiently wagging his tail, waiting for his owner to come home. "Twilight sure is taking a while. I sure hope she's not having another adventure without me. I almost missed that punch flood last weekend." He said to himself.
"Y'know, there's only seven magic high-schoolers in this school, and it just so happens that all of them are in detention with the new substitute teacher, who just so happens to take an interest in them." Rainbow Dash stated with suspicion.
"Seven?!" then, bursting from the door with a kick is Trixie, the school's resident illusionist. "Aren't you forgetting me? The Grrr—" Applejack slams the door into her face. "Ow!"
"Heh, well…" Mister Bottle stood up from his chair. "I'm a scientist. It's only natural I investigate such phenomena."
"Hey, just like Twilight! She came to study our magic, but accidentally stole them all and—" Pinkie Pie was shushed by an embarrassed Twilight Sparkle.
"So you are here for our powers!" Rainbow Dash runs up to his desk.
"Sit down, star athlete. You're still in detention." He commanded.
"Where is it?" she speedily rifling through his desk before getting his briefcase. "No teacher has a cool metal briefcase! The only things people keep in these things are—" she opens it to find a bento box, books, and stationery.
Mister Bottle slams the briefcase shut, narrowly missing Rainbow Dash's fingers. "What? Thought I have a magic-o-meter, or something? I may be a scientist, but I'm not that advanced." Mister Bottle told her with the same casual face as before, but with a tone of impatience. "Now get back to your seat."
Applejack pulls Rainbow Dash away from Mister Bottle before she can do anything else to him and sits her back down.
"Do you treat every new person you meet like this?" Mister Bottle asked them.
"Mister Bottle, we're really sorry Rainbow Dash. She's just really on edge today." Twilight Sparkle said. "Mondays, am I right?"
"Sorry won't fix that flask, and sorry isn't an excuse to violate my privacy." Mister Bottle responded. "For that, an extra hour is added to detention."
"Guh!" Rainbow Dash groaned as she bends her head over her seat. "Nice going, me."
"Buuut…" Mister Bottle said for everyone to pay attention. "I might just decrease detention time if you all do something for me."
"Like what?" Rainbow Dash asked, cautious but inquisitively.
"I wanna see what Canterlot City's own superheroes can do." He answered.
"Is that really all it takes?" Rainbow Dash asked. "And you really don't have an evil magic-siphoning machine to absorb our powers?"
Twilight Sparkle gives another sigh from being reminded of her past as Sunset Shimmer gives an empathetic hand to her shoulder.
"No strings attached. I just want to watch." Mister Bottle assured.
"If it's a show you want, it's a show you'll get!" Rainbow Dash declared. "Hold onto your mismatching sneakers, Bottle. That emergency outside was just the surface of this iceberg of awesome." She told Mister Bottle right in his face.
"So…" Mister Bottle smirked deviously. "…Shall we start the experiment?"
Mister Bottle escorts them to the soccer field where they prepare to show off their powers. "Glasses, you're up." Mister Bottle called to Twilight Sparkle.
"Good luck." Rainbow Dash patted her back.
"I'm just carrying stuff with my mind. How hard could it be?" Twilight Sparkle stepped up to the centre of the field beside Mister Bottle. "What do you need of me, sir?"
"Lift those bleachers." He pointed.
"Easy." Twilight Sparkle held out her hands and the wooden bleachers are lifted into the air with ease.
"Now disassemble, then reassemble it." Mister Bottle commanded. Twilight Sparkle gulps, then focuses her power on the bleachers. She unscrews the screws and pries the seating off. "If one piece is missing, I'm charging you for damages." He said to stress her out more. Twilight Sparkle continues disassembling until they're floating piles of pipes, boards, and screws. Then, the does her best to put them back together; doing everything in reverse before setting down the possibly-completed bleachers back down.
Breaking out into sweat, she falls to her knees as she tries to catch her breath. "That… that put more physical strain into me than I thought." She panted as Sunset Shimmer came to her side with a water bottle.
Mister Bottle goes to the bleachers to examine its structure, looking at every fastening point and kicking it. "Neat." He nodded. "Next is cowgirl." He points to Applejack. "Can you carry that vaulting box?" Mister Bottle pointed to said gym equipment.
Applejack looks to the stacks of wood and picks it up as easily as one would pick up a stick. "This strong 'nuff for ya?"
"Can you juggle?" Mister Bottle asked.
"I've been taking pointers from Pinkie lately." Applejack answered.
"Then split it into five and juggle." Mister Bottle commanded.
Applejack sighs and puts the vaulting box down. She takes the top-most box and tosses it in the air, followed by the next as she catches the first, so on and so forth. Her friends soon witness Applejack juggling all five segments of the vaulting box overhead. "Keep at it, A.J.! You're makin' momma proud!" Pinkie Pie cheered.
"Okay, that's enough." Mister Bottle signalled. Applejack rests the bottom-most segment on her right palm, and the rest of the pieces fall onto it, stacking it up like before. "Cotton candy, get over here." Mister Bottle called Pinkie Pie as Applejack joins her friends.
"Pinkie Pie front and centre! Need me to blow up candy?"
"Yep." Mister Bottle quickly handed her a piece of candy hidden in his hand. When he retracts his hand, Pinkie Pie finds a piece of mottled blue candy.
"This is sour candy!" she panicked when the candy starts to spark.
"Is there a problem?"
"My sugar bomb powers don't agree with sour candy!" Pinkie Pie quickly throws the candy in the air, causing it to explode in a gigantic colourful mushroom cloud.
"Now that's what I call a Warhead." Mister Bottle observed the dispersing cloud. "Your turn, drama queen." Mister Bottle called out Rarity.
"Oh, drama queen? You're taking it quite far with the names." Rarity scoffed.
"Just stand there while I get something." Mister Bottle said before walking back into school.
"What could be possibly be preparing for me?" Rarity shuddered.
"How much longer do we have to take this?" Fluttershy wondered.
"Was I really this bad back then?" Sunset Shimmer asked them.
"I'd say Mister Bottle's worse since he's a teacher picking on us!" Rainbow Dash responded. "But you, Sunset—"
"Yeah, okay, I get it. You don't have to remind me all the time." Sunset Shimmer interrupted Rainbow Dash.
"If not a supervillain, maybe he's part of a morally-grey clandestine organization monitoring us for their own agenda." Pinkie Pie suggested.
"And we're just here feedin' him data." Applejack crossed her arms.
"It's weird nobody big caught up with us after that Fall Formal. What's up with that?" Rainbow Dash shrugged.
"You have me." Twilight Sparkle said before sipping some water.
"You're an independent egghead. I mean eggheads with the government." Rainbow Dash responded.
Mister Bottle bursts out the door pushing a tennis pitcher machine onto the field, pointed in front of Rarity. "Put up those shields, and I'll start it up."
"This shouldn't be too bad." Rarity stammered before putting up a hexagonal diamond shield. Mister Bottle starts the machine, tossing tennis balls at a steady rate at the shield.
"What're they made of? Real diamonds, some magical projection?" Mister Bottle casually asked Rarity as he leaned against the machine.
"I like to think they're real diamonds." Rarity answered.
"Cool. Cool." Mister Bottle increases the speed, and the balls shoot out even faster, causing Rarity to back away shot-by-shot. "If they really are diamonds, you think the edges can cut like diamonds?"
"I've never actually tried that. I've only used these for defence and decoration."
"Decoration?"
"I made a chandelier once with my diamond shields."
"Huh." Mister Bottle nodded before turning off the machine. "That's all. Thanks."
"Oh, that wasn't so bad." Rarity said in relief.
With her guard down, Mister Bottle briefly re-activates the pitcher and flings a single tennis ball at Rarity. Before it could hit her, Rainbow Dash swiftly gets in the way and catches it. She gives Mister Bottle a stern mug, and he responds with his usual snark.
"Wallflower!" He called out to Fluttershy.
"Me?" another voice said from behind them.
They turn to the fence and see green girl wearing a striped sweater. "Who're you?" Rainbow Dash asked her.
"Wallflower Blush. I was in chemistry earlier." The girl answered.
"Get outta here. These girls are in detention." Mister Bottle said.
"Yes, Mister Bottle." Wallflower sighed before walking away.
"Is she new, too?" Sunset Shimmer wondered.
"New nickname, new nickname…" Mister Bottle was in thought before snapping his fingers. "Shrinking violet, that's it! Come here."
Fluttershy shyly approaches Mister Bottle, meekly clasping her hands over her chest. "Yes, Mister Bottle?"
"While I was fetching that pitcher, I got this little guy to help with the next experiment." From behind his back, he pulls a small white rabbit with a pink bow on its left ear.
"Oh, he's adorable. What's his name?"
"This is Utan."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Utan." Fluttershy greeted the rabbit as it hops onto her hands. "What can you tell me about yourself?"
The rabbit grooms itself. "He says he misses home already. He wants to go back home to someone called Mii."
"She's a friend. I had to kidnap him from her for this test." Mister Bottle answered. "Say, could you hold onto him for the rest of the experiment?"
"I will, Mister Bottle." Fluttershy agreed.
"Over here, sunshine." he called out to Sunset Shimmer. She cautiously approaches him, fiddling with her hands. "You can read minds, right?" Mister Bottle asked.
"I can see memories and feel emotions of whomever I'm touching." Sunset Shimmer explained.
"How does it work? Do you pick and choose?" Mister Bottle probed her further.
"It's really just whatever the other person's feeling at the time… at least I think so." Sunset Shimmer answered uncertainly.
"Interesting… interesting…" Mister Bottle nodded as he jotted down her statements.
"You don't have any secrets you don't want anyone to know, do you?" she nervously asked.
Mister Bottle silently stares at her vacantly for a moment before grabbing her hand. "No."
Sunset Shimmer's empathy powers activates, and she views the moment Mister Bottle entered school just now. From his viewpoint, she sees him running through the halls and meeting a blue man with shaggy brown hair and a blue varsity jacket holding Utan. The other man yells something in Japanese before Mister Bottle pulls the pitching machine out of the gym. "She's not going to find out. Now wait outside." Mister Bottle told the man before taking Utan and running off.
She pulls herself away from Mister Bottle. "Who's the guy with the jacket?" Sunset Shimmer asked Mister Bottle.
"He's a friend. That's all you need to know." Mister Bottle answered. "You're good. Go, join your friends."
Sunset Shimmer leaves his side and joins everyone else. "Whaddya see? Any evil plots you managed a sneak-see?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"I saw him grabbing the pitcher and the rabbit from another guy." Sunset Shimmer answered.
"What'd he look like? Anything suspicious about him?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"He wore a blue jacket, had brown hair, and spoke Japanese. That's really it." Sunset Shimmer described.
"It looks like you're the last one left, Rainbow." Twilight Sparkle told Rainbow Dash.
"I saved the best for last, of course." Mister Bottle approached them.
"So, what's it you want me to do?" Rainbow Dash asked with crossed arms.
"I thought you'd be more than happy to run, star athlete." Mister Bottle chuckled. "Run the perimeter of the school. One hundred laps in a minute." He challenged her.
"One hundred? I can do double that in a minute." Rainbow Dash scoffed.
"Then do two hundred." Mister Bottle challenged further.
"You're on." Rainbow Dash agreed.
They come to the school's front where Rainbow Dash is stretching her legs in front of the Wondercolts Statue, and Mister Bottle approaches her with a radar gun. "If you can't do two hundred in a minute, you'll all be staying behind until sundown." He told her.
"I thought I told you: I can make that time, and more." Rainbow Dash said.
"If you say so." Mister Bottle shrugged as he walks away to adjust his radar gun.
Twilight Sparkle approaches Rainbow Dash with a concerned look. "Rainbow Dash, all his challenges were tough for some of us, and it looks like he made this one especially hard for you."
"I figured… but I'm not letting that stop me getting us out of detention." Rainbow Dash declared.
"Are you gonna run, or what? I've got the thing calibrated." Mister Bottle said as he came to them.
"Good luck." Twilight Sparkle patted Rainbow Dash's back before joining her friends sitting at the school steps.
"On your mark…" Mister Bottle said as Rainbow Dash takes her place in starting position in front of the Wondercolts Statue, facing westward.
"Get set…" Rainbow Dash breathed steadily as she clasps her Geode.
"Go!" Mister Bottle pulls the trigger and starts a timer, just as Rainbow Dash sets off as a rainbow ribbon. Her friends watch as a spectral blur passes by the statue every second with a beep to count each lap.
Sunset Shimmer watches in anticipation as Twilight Sparkle does calculations beside her. "Rainbow's got this in the bag!"
"My calculations say otherwise." Twilight Sparkle said.
"What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked.
"Taking account of the school's perimeter and her current speed, I calculate every lap is roughly one second." Twilight Sparkle explained.
"Sounds like good odds t'me." Applejack said.
"There's only sixty seconds in a minute, Applejack. Unless she can, at least, double her speed, she won't be able to break seventy laps." Twilight Sparkle elaborated, and her friends faces only speak of shock.
Rainbow Dash kept on running and running, and every second all she can stare at is Mister Bottle's smug face. "Can you hear them?" he asked her. "They said you can't do it. You can't break two hundred."
Rainbow Dash could grit her teeth as she tries to run even faster, barely breaking past her initial speed.
"Don't you want to get out of detention? It doesn't look like it!" Mister Bottle taunted. "Thirty seconds; thirty laps!" Mister Bottle yelled.
"Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie Pie yelled. "Pick up the pace, girl!"
"C'mon, Rainbow Dash, you can do it!" Fluttershy yelled.
"Forget the numbers! You can do it!" Applejack shouted.
Rainbow Dash's gaze turns away from the teacher to her friends behind him cheering her on. "Don't run for me, run for them! Don't care if I want you to run, care that your friends do!"
After hearing his words, Rainbow Dash goes into thought. "Your friends believe in you; they have for a long time. I haven't let them down, and I'm not starting now." she declared to herself. "I wanna rub something in the new guy's face. I wanna show him what I can really do!" Rainbow Dash turns her attention back to Mister Bottle, who's smugness falters into a fierce stare.
"Run, Dashie, run!" Mister Bottle shouted.
Rainbow Dash picks up speed and sets off the lap counter every split-second. "Forty-five seconds; seventy-three laps!"
"She's doing it! She's really doing it!" Rarity cheered.
"Run, Dashie, run!" her friend screamed.
"Fifty-five!" Soon, she runs so fast her boots are set ablaze.
"Fifty-six!" Then, her body is engulfed in magic aura, speeding her up considerably.
"Fifty-seven!" her hair grows into a longer ponytail, and Pegasus wings sprout from her back.
"Fifty-eight!" she's more than doubled her speed after ponying up, trailing fire with every step.
"Fifty-nine!" with one last burst, she throws herself towards the starting line, letting momentum do the work.
"One minute." Her body lands face-first on the pavement, and ponies-down.
"Rainbow Dash!" her friends came to her and flips her over, seeing her tired face panting heavily.
"H-how'd I do, coach?" Rainbow Dash asked Mister Bottle.
He stares at the results on the radar gun, and it was hard to get a read on him with his stoic face. "The law of victory has been set…" he flips the display to the girls, and they were excited to see what it read: 200 laps in 1 minute, as promised. "…You won."
Her friends whoop and cheer as Twilight Sparkle helps up the star athlete from the pavement. "You did good today, Rainbow Dash."
"Good? I did great!" Rainbow Dash gave a strained thumbs-up.
"Since Dash won, can we go home?" Pinkie Pie asked Mister Bottle.
"Here's the thing…" Mister Bottle showed him security footage of the lab on his phone. On the footage, the shelf that the flask rested on tilted forwards, sliding the flask onto the floor.
"So it really wasn't our fault!" Rainbow Dash growled.
"Vice Principal Luna sent me this during your exercise." Mister Bottle added.
"Wait, you knew it wasn't our fault that long? Why didn't you let us go earlier?!" Rainbow Dash asked him.
"Like I said: you're out when you show me your powers." Mister Bottle answered. "And what a show it was."
"You're a strange one, Mister Bottle." Twilight Sparkle said.
"Please, call me Full Bottle." He smiled. "If you excuse me, I gotta return Utan before I get yelled at." Mister Bottle said before taking Utan from Fluttershy. He opens his motorcycle top-box to take a rabbit-sized helmet for Utan.
"You're really leaving after all that?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Yup. Saw all I needed." Mister Bottle nodded as he equips his helmet. "I'll see you girls tomorrow. Don't be late." He reminded them as he mounts his bike and kicks the kickstand. He revs the engine and drives away with Utan clinging onto his back.
"Rainbow Dash, remember our earlier conversation on footwear?" Rarity asked her.
"C'mon, not—" Applejack facepalmed before looking surprised at the ground under Rainbow Dash.
"What?" Rainbow Dash looks down, and sees herself barefoot. She turns around to see the charred remains of her boots. "Aw, I liked that pair."
"Have you any spares?" Rarity asked.
"I got sneakers with lightning on 'em." Rainbow Dash responded.
"Then I must assist in creating an ensemble to compliment it." Rarity giggled. "I have a design for joggers you'd absolutely adore."
"Save it, Rare." Rainbow Dash stopped her. "If you guys thought your trials were bad, mine's gotta be the worst."
"What do you think of Mister Bottle now, Rainbow?" Twilight Sparkle asked.
"What do I think?" Rainbow Dash said. "I think he's a power-hungry demon who gets kicks from torturing kids…" she answered with a scowl before a smirk calming her. "But he's got a pretty cool bike." She answered for everyone to laugh with her.
That night downtown, Full Bottle's varsity-jacketed friend is waiting underneath a lamp post, holding a purple camera. Soon, Full Bottle arrives on his bike with Utan. "[Waiting long, muscle monkey?]" Full Bottle asked the man in Japanese.
"[I've been standing here for an hour.]" his friend whined.
Full Bottle removes Utan's helmet and hands him to his friend. "[Make sure to put him back in bed.]"
"[Grease is keeping her busy. I'll slip in, then slip out. No problem.]"
"[And the pictures?]" Full Bottle extended his hand to his friend.
His friend quickly shoves the camera to Full Bottle. "[This guy here? More trouble than he's worth.]" he points to the camera before the flash goes off into his eyes.
Full Bottle chuckles at his friend's misfortune, joined by another chuckle from the camera.
"[Rah! I'm tired of this clandestine monitoring stuff!]" his friend roared. "[I've rigged a shelf, I've fetched Misora's pest, and I've stalked those girls like a pervert with a camera that can't shut up about composition!]"
"[We're on a mission in another world. What more could you want?]" Full Bottle shrugged.
"[I expected something cooler, not our world but people are coloured like rainbows! Why am I blue? Why are you purple? Why is this normal?!]" his friend complained.
After his friend's outburst, they fall silent, their eyes wander awkwardly, and the rugged man soon simmers down. "[I've done my part. I'm quitting.]" the friend points his phone at the alleyway, and a rainbow vortex opens up.
"[Don't worry. I can do this by myself.]" Full Bottle said before the camera vibrated. "[And with Flash. Funny thing, I have a student with the exact same name.]" he chuckled.
"[Good luck… Sento.]" his friend said before disappearing into the vortex with Utan.
"Goodbye, Banjo." Full Bottle smiled before looking at the camera. He looks through captures of the girls demonstrating their powers from a distance, in trees, and within bushes. "You know what, Flash? I think I'm gonna like it here." he told his camera.
"That makes one of us." A voice from the camera spoke back.
THE END
