Author's Note

Sorry for the slow down, I've just been busy. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 10 School Life

Chapter 10: School Life

February 3rd, 6:00 AM ----

Twilight walked into class, annoyance and sleep deprivation showing across her face. Her eyes had bags under them, and her mane showed most of the wear and tear she had endured over the past few hours.

"Wow, Twilight, you look..."

"Don't say it, AJ," she replied with a grumpy yawn.

"Was going to say great," AJ said with the widest nervous smile on her face, showing her lie.

"Leave the kind lies to me, hun," Rarity commented.

AJ scowled at her for that comment, but she had to admit she was a terrible liar.

"Want to talk about it?" Fluttershy asked kindly.

"Talk about what? The fact that my alarm clock didn't go off? I stayed up way too late last night working on my project, and then on my way to school, I ran into a chimera? No, Fluttershy, I really don't want to talk about it," she said sarcastically.

Fluttershy only smiled, a sorry look in response.

"You ran into a chimera!!!" yelled Pinkie.

"Why do you think my hair looks like this?" Twilight replied.

"Huh, good point. How did you escape? I mean, those meanies are so well-mean," Pinkie asked.

Twilight didn't answer her, not wanting to give away the fact that she was a chimera too. She also didn't like being called a meanie just because she had been turned into a creature against her own will, nor did she like the others being called that, so she kept her mouth shut. She became very quiet as she sat and opened her book to take her mind off things.

"Well, I'm glad you're not hurt. You know, you're always in a grumpy mood every time I see you." Twilight bit her tongue, trying not to respond. "You know what you need to turn that frown upside down?" Twilight ignored her. "A party! A college dorm party! I always wanted to throw my college party," Pinkie grinned. "Oh, there would be drinks and music and dancing! Oh oh, I know! Why don't we have a party tonight? We could invite everyone, even your brother. Why, I'll even invite my brother; he loves parties."

Knowing who Pinkie was referring to, Fluttershy tilted her head in thought. She just couldn't see Mr. Ghost actually at a party like that. Not the Mr. Ghost she knew. Wait, did she even know Mr. Ghost? she questioned. But her thoughts were interrupted by Rarity.

"Well, I think that's a wonderful idea! Let's have some fun; it might cheer you up." Rarity told Twilight as she began to fix her hair.

Twilight raised her hoof to interject but soon set it back down, knowing all too well that her friend was right. A party actually sounded good to her, despite her own reasoning. Just then, the bell rang, and Dash moaned her annoyance. "This class is so boring," she muttered. "I mean, I'm going to be a pilot; why do I need literature? It was bad enough in high school."

"Quiet down, class," Miss Cheerilee, their teacher, told them. "Now, class, today we have a guest speaker."

"Not another one," Dash set her head down on her book, the title of which was *Daring Do*.

"Actually, Dash, you're gonna like this one," smirked Rarity as she leaned over her. "I pulled a few strings." She winked.

Dash grew immediately annoyed, wondering what she could mean by that. "What did you do?" she growled, only for the teacher to give Rarity an answer.

"And now may I introduce one of the best-selling authors, Mrs. A.K. Yearling, author of *Daring Do*."

With this news, Dash's eyes grew wide. She couldn't contain her inner fangirl as she slightly squealed in excitement. She watched as a pony walked up and stood next to Mrs. Cheerilee.

"Yes, thank you, Mrs. Cheerilee. It is an honor to be here," said a dark purple, middle-aged pony wearing a brown lady's cap and a green sweater-like dress. Her eyes seemed to have a dull, tired look, worn beyond her years. "As a writer, literature is one of the most important subjects you should ever know. However, while most of it seems boring, it is the greatest fundamental aspect of a working society. Knowing how to communicate and use literature to your advantage can come in handy in your day-to-day life. I've been all over the world, long before I ever began writing my books. I also used a lot of my experiences from my journeys and spiced them up to create my story, *Daring Do*..." She spoke in such a monotone, unexcited voice, it was hard to believe this was the same person who would write a story like *Daring Do*.

All except Dash, who hung on every word the author said.

As the class ended, so did the lessons for that day.

"I can't believe she actually came! Ohh, that was so cool!" Dash squealed.

"Okay, take it down a notch, darling. If I knew you were gonna act this nuts, I would have done this sooner," Rarity giggled.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Dash tackled Rarity into a hug, catching the mare off guard. She, a bit in shock, patted her on the head.

"Well, that was really, really cool! Hmm, I wonder if I could get her to come to the party. AJ, do you think I should invite A.K. Yearling to the party?" said Pinkie, a bit too quickly to understand.

"Oh, oh yes! Please, let's go, let's go, let's go!" Dash grabbed Pinkie and Applejack, trying to rush them.

"Hold on a minute, will ya?" Applejack pulled back and turned to Twilight. "Twi, what do you think? Do you want to go to a party tonight?"

"I'll meet you there, but I have a bit of research I'd like to get done before then. Pinkie, do you think we can have the party at sunset?" she asked.

"Oh, that's perfect! Gives me plenty of time to gather up the gear. See you then."

"What about you, Shy? You coming?"

"Sorry, I have my internship, but I will see you at the party." She nodded.

"Good to me, let's go!" shouted Dash as they all went their separate ways.

An hour later, Fluttershy sat at her internship. It was a quiet day, which, considering her job, was a good one.

Suddenly, someone ran into the vet office with a bird. "Hello, hello!" said a familiar voice. Fluttershy raised an eyebrow as she turned her head to see who it was.

A green pony with mid-red locks came into her vision. "Oh you there! Please, I got this bird, you see, and it broke a wing. Shame thing," said the pony.

"Ah, Tree Hugger."

The pony looked up. "Fluttershy? Is that you? Why, I haven't seen you since high school."

"Yeah, it is. You left after that to go and find yourself—did you ever?" she asked.

"Yeah, sorta. I found that helping people is the best way to clean up my inner consciousness. Hey, how've you been? You became a full-time singer, didn't you?"

"Oh no, no, that was a childish dream. No, I'm a vet, or at least going to be. I'm actually an intern. I'm also in college."

"College, huh? That's nice. Too much work if you ask me." She leaned against the table.

"Umm, Tree Hugger..."

"Yeah?" she replied.

"The bird."

"Oh yeah, yeah, mind taking a look at the wing? I found it on the ground, poor thing."

Fluttershy took the bird and checked its wing. "Hmm, seems strange. My best guess is it must have flown into a window. I'll help it out."

The bird tweeted its thanks to both ponies, and Fluttershy gave it a slight giggle as she bandaged it to take pressure off the wing and then set it in its own little cage.

"The vet can have a look at it later. But for now, that should be alright."

"Alright, then! Hey, I gotta go; I'm late for work."

"Work? You got a job?" Fluttershy said, a bit surprised.

"Yep! I work for a bar, believe it or not, as does Berry Punch. She's always with me. Hey, we should totally catch up sometime."

"What are you doing Saturday night?"

"Me? Oh, nothing much."

"Perfect! You can come and hang out at the bar I work at."

"A bar?" she repeated, questioning whether it would be good to go or not.

"Yes! Oh, and don't come alone; bring a date. It'd be more fun that way."

"A d-date? I'm not dating anyone."

"Hmm, oh, that's not what your brother told me," she said, pulling out her phone and showing Fluttershy.

"I totally got my sister to now date. I don't know who; she won't tell me, but I'm happy for her." She just needed the right push.

"Zephyr!" Fluttershy muttered a bit angrily. "I am not dating at all; I am studying."

"Well then, bring a friend anyway! I gotta go, bye!" she said, rushing out the door. Leaving Fluttershy nervously thinking about who to ask. A friend, she thought. But who? All my friends are underage except... Her face grew a bit embarrassed as she thought of Mr. Ghost.

Twilight was tinkering with her time machine, her plans for the device spread out all over her bedroom. When she was finished with her wrench, she looked over some calculations she had on her computer. "Hmm, now, if I could just make enough energy to pass the speed of light, I should be able to time travel." She rested a hoof on her chin. "But the energy to do that..." She then walked over to what was left of the strange goo that mutated them all. Its energy output was close to what she needed for time travel. She only needed perhaps half a teaspoon to make it work. But she had so little of the strange material left; she couldn't risk using it. She then examined a pepper that was sitting by it. "Hmm, its DNA structure is bizarre, but it is DNA nonetheless. Strange that it gives off that kind of power," she said as she grabbed a soda. With it in her hoof, she stopped and looked at it. "Hmm, warm. I'll fix that." Her eyes went yellow, and she blasted the can with an ice spray, turning it cold again. She took a drink as she thought to herself, "What kind of creature has a goat horn and can blast ice rays and fire beams from it?"

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. "Come on in," she called out.

Dash walked in with a pep in her step. She was already dancing her way into the room, and in her hoof was a copy of *Daring Do*.

"Wow, let me guess! Daring Do's author actually decided to join."

"Uh-huh! We're actually gonna be partying with the writer of my favorite book! Oh oh, and look!" Dash showed her the book. She sighed as Dash cried joyfully.

Twilight had never seen Dash act in such a manner; it was quite surprising, to be sure. Still, she was happy for her and put aside her antics.

"So, ready for the party?"

"Yes, yes, I suppose. By the way, Dash, have there been any developments in Chaos Vill?"

"Nope, not one. As soon as I joined, they just had me either feeding school kids or picking up trash on the side of the road," Dash shrugged. "Oh, but there is this," Dash pulled a crumpled-up paper from her pocket. "I forgot to give it to you," she said, handing it over.

Twilight took a look, unfolding it. "A street fighter tournament? But isn't that a video game?"

"No, not this! This is apparently a fight club tournament; all forms of martial arts are a go. No weapons, except hand-to-hand combat. That Smolder girl said it's Chaos Vill's biggest fundraiser every year. And this year, they're planning to make it their biggest one yet."

As Twilight looked at it, she was reminded of their conversation that night nearly a month ago after going to that bar.

Here’s your text with spelling, grammar, and punctuation corrections made while preserving your original writing style:

"Any more clues about him?" asked Rarity.

"No, both I and Twilight exhausted every resource on him," Shining said. He then pulled out the card the doctor gave him at the bar. "There's no sign of his existence."

He threw the card on the table. It fell on its back.

"The Chaos King is like a phantom. A ghost. There's no way to catch it."

"Umm, guys, remember that thing about the creature with horns and antlers?"

"Yeah, Rare, why?"

"Well, I think you weren't far off after all," she said, pointing at the card.

They looked and saw she was right. On the back of the card was some type of art—an abstract depiction of a creature with horns and antlers and the body of what looked to be a snake. It had wings and was surrounded by other creatures, looking as if it were a predator out to get its prey.

"Wow, how did I miss that?" asked Shining.

"No idea, but the thing is, you were probably talking to the lower tier," Rarity repeated.

"The what?" asked Shining.

"Oh, come now! Everyone knows that if you really want to know what's going on in a company, you never ask the receptionist. You go for the higher-ups. Hmm, it seems like that little organization is a lot bigger if it's involved with all of this. Well, we need to infiltrate its ranks." Rarity smiled. "Find out who the higher-up is, get close to them, and perhaps find the boss himself."

Everyone stood there a bit agape. The fact that Rarity, of all people, knew any of this was a shock to the system.

"What? I am the daughter of one of the richest people in town, ya know! I'm not just some airhead," she argued back.

"Okay, but how are we going to infiltrate?" Spike asked.

"Well, it can't be me or Shining; they saw us," Twilight replied. "I'm not getting involved; I'm too recognizable," said Rarity, who flipped her hair back.

"Well, I look too inconspicuous; it can't be me," AJ shrugged.

They all then turned to Dash, who was just fixing her fake muzzle, making her look like a pony again. "Me? A super spy? I like the idea of that; I'm in!"

"Okay, but Dash, you've got to be careful. If this really is connected to the Chaos King..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Look, I'll wait a few more days, then I'll go sign up. I'll try to figure out some of the ranks and report back what I know. If I don't find anything in a month or two, I'll pull out, okay?"

"Sounds like a plan if I ever heard one," AJ smirked. They all nodded.

"A plan at the time, perhaps, but since then, the trails have run cold," Twilight muttered to herself before looking at the date. "May tenth... it's in a few months, huh? That's convenient," she said sarcastically before placing the paper down on her desk. "Okay, let's get going to the party then."

Dash squealed as she headed out, making Twilight smile and shake her head.

The party was quite packed. Ponies, cats, dogs, and lizards all partied as Pinkie controlled the DJ setup with her friend, Pon-3.

"Come on, Twilight! You've got to learn how to have fun!" Pinkie called out into the crowd before pulling her onto the mini dance floor they had made by moving a table out of the way.

"Um, you know I'm actually a terrible dancer?" she said nervously.

"Ahh, it doesn't matter! As long as you're having fun. Now just do what I do." Pinkie began tapping her toe.

Twilight copied.

Pinky then spun around and landed with her hooves on her hips. Twilight did so, a bit clumsily. "There! You got it!" she said, nodding her head.

Dash then slid across the floor and punched the air. Pinkie followed Dash's moves as Twilight tried to copy.

"Alright, you're getting better, Twilight," Dash encouraged.

"No, I'm not, but thank you," she laughed.

"No, but I'm gonna go hang with A.K. Yearling. You coming, Rarity?"

"Right behind you, darling," she flipped her hair before leaving Twilight to dance with Pinkie. Fluttershy happily followed.

A.K. Yearling was talking to a few others but stopped when she noticed the two young mares walking up to her.

"Mrs. Yearling, thank you again for coming and signing our book," Rarity claimed.

"Yeah, how did you ever come up with these awesome stories, anyway?" asked Dash.

"Oh, well, you see, they are based off my personal life, though a bit overdramatic at moments. I'm not exactly an adventurer on the tips of saving the world," she chuckled.

"Right, right." Fluttershy sighed, noticing how strange she acted when she said that. A.K. Yearling seemed to have a bored, faraway look on her face. Something about it—why, it almost reminded her of Mr. Ghost.

Then again, everything reminded her of Mr. Ghost for the time being. She simply couldn't get him out of her head. Perhaps it was just because she agreed to ask him to go drinking with her and some old friends. "Well, I think I'm going to sit down for a moment, excuse me," she gave a friendly nod before leaving the little group. As she left, she heard Rarity asking something about romance in her stories. She sat down as she looked at her computer, searching all she could on the colt. What she found wasn't much—just a few rumors that had no evidence and some business records involving him. But other than the average sighting, he was, as his name implies, a ghost. Fluttershy shrugged; he was a private colt after all, and a lord at that.

Still, she found a new article—new to her, for it was actually an old one from over a decade ago. Still, she decided to give it a read and see what she could find.

"Young Equestrian soldier being promoted by the queen herself," said the headline.

The war of today is a hard one. In these troubled times, it is good to know that there are still heroes willing to fight for our safety and well-being against the threat of the dragons.

Fluttershy shook her head at that statement. Lizards were considered terrifying beasts back then, and she wanted to hear nothing of the sort. One of her own friends was a lizard, after all.

Mr. Ghost, age unknown, first name unannounced, is being presented with our most esteemed honor for his bravery. He single-handedly infiltrated an enemy's base and took out the top general of the Feline Armada. We hope that with this turn of events, the war will soon come to a close. But with the fight against the dragons and the civil war in Abyssinia, who knows when this battle might finally come to an end?

While he refused to give an interview, sources say he looks to be barely 19. He is now going to stand at the ranks of a three-star general, making him the youngest in existence, appointed to the position by none other than freedom fighter and future feline ruler Baast herself. The question is, is there anything going on between the two of them?

Many folk believe the only reason why he's being presented with such an honor by Queen Amber and Baast is because he's dating one of them or both. When asked for a comment on the subject, the crown herself rejected the notion, but rumors are still circulating. And what of the rumors that he flirts with the princesses' sisters? We asked General Luna, Princess's own word, and she had this to say:

"Preposterous! Mr. Ghost is a kind gentleman, not some ladies' man. None of this stupidity should take away from his achievements in battle, and I, as does my sister, thank him for his service to our country—nothing more."

We tried to ask her for any details on her past with the fellow in question but got no answer.

Is Mr. Ghost now Lord Ghost truly a hero of the day, or a wolf in sheep's clothing? All this reporter will have to say is thank you, Mr. Ghost, and congratulations on the promotion.

Reading the article made Fluttershy feel both furious at the very thought of him being a scandal. Still, the article was more gossip than fact and only had one photo of a young colt in a three-star general uniform being knighted by Queen Amber. Even when young, he seemed to look less handsome and more like a skeleton. Malnourished, perhaps. Not only did he have the strange fang-like tooth, but he seemed to almost look like a skull, even back then. Still, there was something about him—something that made him seem interesting, at the very least. And to be granted such a powerful role at such a young age was nearly incredible.

"Hey, Fluttershy, stop pulling a Twilight and get your flank here, ya hear?" Applejack called to her.

She put the laptop aside and pushed the thought of Mr. Ghost to the back of her mind. Tonight was supposed to be a chance to relax and have some fun, and right now, that's exactly what she needed.

"Sorry, sorry, I had some schoolwork to finish," she lied and danced around a bit as she came close to the window.

Across the street, watching the party through a pair of goggles, was none other than the twins.

"We can't just stalk them," her brother said as his sister watched through the binoculars.

She put them down and shrugged. "Why not? They are our key to finding him," Mel said to her brother.

"Do you even hear yourself?" he replied, typing something on his computer. "We don't even know when they meet. For all we know, she may not have met him yet, and it might take a while before they do. We have to find him now."

"Oh, now you're taking this seriously," she rolled her eyes.

"I've always been taking this seriously," he argued.

"Says the guy whining about chocolate chip pancakes," she muttered before looking through her binoculars again, much to his frustration.

"So your plan is to just follow her and see every guy she meets?"

"Yep," she replied as if it were obvious.

He sighed in annoyance. "According to our aunt, Dad was a chimera who was already researching a cure for the disease in a lab facility called Loco Labs that blew up. May eleventh, we have to find him and the lab before then, and we're running out of time. But I can't find anything on that lab, not in Aunt's files nor on the web." He shook his head.

"None of this adds up." He sighed and lay sprawled out on the rooftop.

"Well, you're the brains of the operation. Figure it out," his sister told him before getting up and leaving.

"Where are you going?" he lifted his head.

"To get something to eat. Don't worry, I'll bring you back something," she said nonchalantly, walking down the fire escape of the building. His only response was an annoyed grunt.