Canterlot Academy Trials

“Ooogh…” After a bit of studying, Luster Dawn groaned as she exited the room and walked out into the brown halls of the Academy. She trotted down the carpeted path until she was met with a face that caused her to-- “NYEGH!”

“Sorry…” Jun Fang was leaning against the wall of a corner that Luster had been about to turn to until she was startled by his presence. “I was just lost in thought standing here.”

The unicorn mare cleared her throat and regarded the dalmatian diamond dog with an attempt at a friendly smile. “...No no! It’s…my fault. I should’ve been paying better attention to where I was going.”

Fang let off a small, wheezing laugh. The dog man knew that his presence was rather…intimidating given his mean-looking underbite and red eyes. “No need to apologize. I’m aware that my visage isn’t exactly the most approachable. I drink coffee to keep myself as alert and attentive as possible.”

“You too, huh?” Dawn replied in agreement, then gave an ironic chuckle. “Ah…guess we overworked college students don’t have much of a choice, do we?”

“It’s important to stay healthy. And as a painter in my off-days, I know this feeling well,” Fang added, “If we don’t, our power won’t grow. Though it sounds as if you’re a bit tired from Princess Twilight’s insistence, hm?”

The unicorn mare shyly traced her hoof against the carpet that lined the middle of the hallway. Her uncertain frown and inability to look Jun Fang in the eyes indicated that she wasn’t quite comfortable with discussing her relationship with the princess.

“W-well…” she stuttered, but was interrupted by Fang.

“Don’t trouble yourself,” he offered words of compassion once he realized her situation, “I know you don’t wish to speak ill of your teacher, so I’ll leave you be.”

Despite this, Dawn was seemingly willing to speak out after all. “W-wait!” she yelped, then cleared her throat. “...it’s fine. And yeah, you’re right, I do feel a little bit stifled from Twilight’s teachings.”

“Hm…” Fang put his hands behind his head as he mused, “Let me guess. You have a feeling that she intends to raise you and train you up to become the next ‘Princess of Equestria, hm?”

The diamond dog’s rather sinister, bleak tone painted a rather alarming picture for Dawn. Her eyes shot open as she visualized herself in Twilight Sparkle’s horseshoes; paperwork, foreign relation meetings, having to be present for festivals and events instead of merely enjoying them…

It all made her heart thump and her ears flick as they filled with anxious blood. “...Yeesh…when you put it like that, it really gives me a new perspective.” She audibly shuddered, “Brrrgh…has anyone ever told you your voice is a bit…”

Such a response caused Fang to chuckle--though to the uninitiated, it came off as more of an evil snicker of someone plotting something sinister. “Hmhmhm…is it now? Apologies if I unnerved you, Luster. I’m merely speaking what I see in reality. Your concern is plastered all over your face.”

“Is it that obvious?” she sighed and hung her head as she began walking down the hall, “Sorry…oh, but I don’t wanna keep you if you’re busy with something.”

Fang shook his head and started to follow along with her. “Oh no, I’m actually just relaxing from a mission that my team and I had just completed. Just finished up in the nearby showers and getting ready to grab some food, actually.”

“I see,” Dawn tilted her head, and her tone changed to a more excited one along with the subject. “Hey, what was the nature of your mission? If you don’t mind explaining that is…”

Fang would reply modestly, “Oh it was but a simple dragon bandit repulsion near Sire’s Hollow…”

‘...mom and dad’s hometown?!’ Luster stopped on a time, turned, and stood in front of him with a wide, firm stance as she demanded an explanation, “Tell me everything.”

“Hm? Very well then…”

Earlier that day, when sunrise occurred…

Several dragons could be seen robbing the local treasury and having burned multiple ponies within the building with their fire breath. A red, black, and gold one. All female.

Dorm Block Sigma’s new teammate, Leelee the Monk, had taken a position as a helpless bystander. Once the dragons spotted her, they were distracted by the monkey woman juggling various fruits while also balancing a stack of spinning places on her right foot.

And when the dragons were fixated upon the primate’s little show, they were each swiftly subdued.

Spearklip the Zebra handled her target--the red dragon--swiftly. Two arrows pierced her wings before she was met with a heavy, deadly buck from the zebra mare’s hind legs that caused the dragon’s bones to rattle as she was sent flying into a nearby tree…

Just then, Rufus the Yak appeared, seemingly from out of nowhere and heaved the black dragon above his head. “The Notorious King of Grappling is here!” he shouted as he performed a classic Argentine Backbreaker over his head, rendering this dragon unable to fly.

“Seriously?” Spear critiqued him as she apprehended and tied up the red dragon with special rope made of poison joke flowers, “Now isn’t the time for--!”

“Up there!” Leelee shouted as the gold dragon woman was flying away with a bag of gold bits slung over her shoulder.

That’s when Fang had an idea, “Rufus! Throw me!”

The yak bull accepted his offer, and hoisted the diamond dog over his shoulder, aiming him like one would a paper airplane. “Alley-oop!”

With a quick chuck, the strength of Rufus’ throw was enough to send Fang into the air after the dragon who was unable to escape so easily due to the bits that weighed her down. As soon as she heard a rather psychotic laugh, she gasped--

“AHAHAHA!” Fang became hysteric as he reached at her with his claws out, “You’re not going to escape! I'll paint a picture with your blood, vermin!”

Before the dragon could react with fire from her maw, Fang grabbed her by the throat with his massive paw, and redirected them both to the ground where he dealt her a vicious chokeslam. The end result was the dragon thief on the ground, and unable to walk while Fang returned the bag of bits to the bank.

“Get out of my sight,” he spat on the ground before turning to leave the dragon to the Royal Guardsponies that had been posted nearby.

“...Is bāndiǎn gǒu always angry at enemies?” Leelee whispered to Spearklip.

“...something like that,” the zebra replied with a shrug, “You get used to it.”

Back to the present…

“...and that is what happened,” Fang finished his explanation, “Don’t worry, none of the townsfolk were harmed.”

“Whew…” Luster Dawn sighed with relief at the end of his story, “That…makes me feel a whole lot better than you realize.”

“Got any friends or family down there?”

“...” Dawn paused and blinked her eyes for a moment. The funny thing about it was that he was exactly on the money, which was something she asked about. “...do Diamond Dogs just see through everyone?”

“Mm, not most of us, no,” Fang idly wagged his tail with the best smile he could muster, “Others of my kind tend to simply lash out against those who disagree with them. But I like to observe the condition of others through their actions and mannerisms. So I guess you could say that I’ve trained myself to see through people.” He folded his arms, “...after all, I cannot stand liars…”

“I see…” Dawn had a worried look on her face, but decided not to press his issues for the moment. “...well, yeah. You’re right. I do have people I know down in Sire’s Hollow…my mom and dad are from there as well.”