//------------------------------// // Class Zero // Story: Fate is a Funny Old Thing // by Steventheman //------------------------------// Rarity paced up and down the living room. Sweetie Belle would be home in a matter of minutes. Normally, Rarity would be annoyed at her for violating her curfew, but there were other, more important things. How was she to explain that three aliens have taken residence in the guest bedroom? She was snapped from her thoughts by the sound of the door opening and closing. A girlish song filled the room as Sweetie Belle wandered in, humming a strange tune. "Sweetie Belle..." Rarity started slowly, sitting on the couch. The filly turned around. "Hey, sis!" "I have to tell you something...sit down," Rarity pointed at the couch. Sweetie did as told. "Sweetie...you have to believe me when I say what I'm about to say. You must not tell anypony else, and you must keep this secret from everypony - your friends, our parents, your teacher. Everypony." "Okay, I promise," Sweetie replied slowly, concerned about her sister's sudden serious attitude. "I saw three aliens - Bipeds...they had nowhere to stay." "What." "Sweetie Belle, please don't panic...should I fetch one to see you?" Rarity asked. Sweetie Belle nodded quickly, a curious expression on her face. Rarity walked briskly to the guest bedroom, and sighed. She lightly rapped the door with her hoof. "Yeah?" Marisa greeted, opening the door to Rarity with a glass of wine in one hand and a still-dripping cleaning mop in the other. "What do you want?" "Uhh..." Rarity stuttered, staring past Marisa to Mobius sitting on the bed, combing Reimu's hair. "It's my sister." "And?" "She wants to meet one of you," Rarity explained. "Alright, sure. Where's the squirt?" Marisa agreed, closing the door behind her. Rarity looked at the mop in her hand. "...Is that my mop? And my wine?" "Yeah. I lost my old one, and a magician always carries a broom," Marisa answered. "I promise I'll give it back once I die." "I'd prefer for my mop to be returned immediately," Rarity sneered. "Okay, okay..." Marisa replied, still holding the mop. She peeked around the corner, and saw the white filly. She took a sip of the wine before she handed her drink to Rarity. "Hold my drink!" "Marisa, what are you-" Marisa hopped up onto the broom and with a devious grin, she sped down the hallway. Rarity stared in shock at the magic ability of the biped - and she had flight abilities too. "What the fuchsia?!" Sweetie Belle yelled, remembering to censor herself, jumping out of the way. Marisa stopped the broom suddenly, and looked down at the filly. "Hey kid!" Marisa greeted loudly. "The name's Marisa Kirisame! I heard you were curious about me!" "Sweetie Belle," the filly introduced herself, standing up. "Did you really need to do that?" "I love making an entrance!" Marisa said, dropping to the ground, and kicking the mop into the air, before catching it with her left hand. "So, what do you want to talk about?" "Well...what are you?" "Me? I'm a human." Marisa stated proudly, her hands on her hips. "Cool!" "It is, right?" Marisa smiled, lowering herself towards the filly, which to Marisa, was no larger than a medium sized terrier. She jumped backwards onto the couch. "So, what do you want to know?" "Well, where do you come from?" "Ah..." Marisa rubbed the back of her head in thought. "Well, I come from a place called the Forest of Magic. It's a big forest filled with weird things." "Like the Everfree?" Sweetie suggested. "Is that a big forest filled with weird things?" Marisa asked for clarification. She noticed Rarity and Reimu keeping an eye on her around the corner, but said nothing. "Yeah!" "Alright, it's exactly like the Everfree," Marisa agreed. "So I have my house right in the middle of this place, because taxes." "Isn't that illegal?" Sweetie wondered. "Miss Cheerilee said we should never skip taxes." "Miss Cheerilee clearly has money to spend on taxes," Marisa retorted. "How come you don't?" "Incident resolvers don't get paid much, if ever," Marisa admitted. "Especially me, because it's not even my job. It's Reimu's." "Who's Reimu?" "She's the girl I'm with. Red and white clothing. She's a shrine maiden, and it's her job to ensure the peace is kept," Marisa explained, watching said shrine maiden in the corner of her eye. "How does she do that?" Marisa smiled. "With the art of danmaku. It's magical energy, focused into creating intricate bullet patterns, designed to put the enemy into position to finish them off. I would say it's the ultimate art form," Marisa relaxed on the couch. "It's easily the best part of my day when I get to use it." "Wow!" Sweetie gasped in wonder. "Can anypony do it?" "It takes a lot of training, kid. Years of it..." Marisa said. "If your sister would let me, I'd help you." "No you won't!" Reimu yelled, running into the room. "We don't need these guys throwing danmaku around too. It's bad enough that I have to deal with it at home!" "That's Reimu, by the way," Marisa whispered to Sweetie, before she felt Reimu's hand on her collar. "Come on, it's past your bed time Marisa..." Reimu grunted, dragging the witch back to the guest bedroom. "You need sleep or you become a weirdo trying to teach children deadly martial arts..." Sweetie saw Marisa shrugging at her, before she turned the corner. She looked past her sister. "Aww! I wanted to learn this 'danmaku' thing!" Sweetie complained loudly, before pouting. "I never get anything fun to play with..." "Huh...uhh..." the girl panted, looking at the ground. She stood up, and looked at her muddy knees. Tutting, she wiped away most of the dirt. Despite the late hour, she could see clear as day. The streets below her vantage point were empty and lit only sparsely by oil lamps. Flandre Scarlet licked her fangs, accidentally cutting her tongue open on the sharp protrusion. However, no blood escaped. She giggled to herself as she advanced towards the town. After the excitement of last night, she really wanted to go home. She knew her older sister would be very angry with her, and that Sakuya would be angry too, but Flandre felt it was worth it for the one night of freedom. She skipped along merrily, humming her favorite song as she did so. She felt a disturbance in the air. Looking up to where the perceived threat was, she noticed a strange creature. It had a good wingspan for a creature its size. Of course, Flandre was only interested in one thing. It could be a new friend. Flandre flapped her stick-like wings and took flight, a colored trail behind her. "Air Patrol 93, reporting nothing," the bored, jet black pegasus stallion muttered into a helmet mounted radio. "Nothing...as usual." Flandre approached her target. She narrowed her eyes as the airspeed increased. She flew past the pegasus quickly, throwing him off course. "Woah!" he shouted. "This is Air Patrol 93, unidentified flying object just buzzed me!" "What?" the air control replied. "Describe the UFO!" "UFO is trailing separated rainbow pattern..." the pegasus activated a speaker system. "Rainbow Dash, is that you?!" "No..." Flandre replied, stopping before the pegasus. "My name is Flandre...do you want to play...just for a while?" The stallion was unprepared for Flandre's sudden advance. A blood-curdling cry filled the sky, followed by a child's innocent laughter. "Air Patrol 93! Respond!" "Hey, Marisa?" Reimu whispered, sitting up in her bed. "You asleep?" "Yeah..." Marisa muttered in reply, resting her head on Mobius' torso, her hat covering her own torso. "How come you replied?" "...Shut up," Marisa snapped back. She looked up at Reimu on the bed. "What?" "I can't sleep...Thinking about home." "Well, the solution there, Hakurei..." Marisa moaned. "Is to close your eyes, lie down, and don't talk to people who were already sleeping." "Well..." "Because," Marisa interrupted. "It might piss off a witch and when a witch gets annoyed, she likes to shoot people!" "Seriously-" Marisa fired a single small star at Reimu. The shrine maiden quickly dodged it, before staring daggers at the other girl. "You realize we're guests, right!?" "Whatever. Yukari's coming soon..." "That's the point. What if she doesn't?" Reimu wondered, lying back down and covering herself more with the blanket and sighing. "We're already in a Class Zero Incident." "Oh yeah..." Marisa mumbled half-awake. "That stupid grading system you made up." "You realise that Class Zero is the most serious?" "Educate my sleeping body." Marisa grumbled. "And take that statement how you will." "Marisa, no." Reimu said, pinching her nose. "Just...no." Reimu turned towards the wall and sighed, before closing her eyes again. Mobius continued to stare at the ceiling. There's trouble in the skies...another pilot is in trouble... Mobius waited until Marisa was snoring again, before putting a pile of books beneath her head. He opened the door slowly, and walked out. Looking up and down the corridor, he marched towards the front door. I have to save him... Opening the door quickly, he took off on a full sprint. He looked to the skies, and saw a line of red danmaku. There. He saw an impact. He began sprinting as hard as possible down the streets of Ponyville. He eventually saw what he was looking for. A wounded pegasus stallion, throwing his helmet off his head. "Uhh...who are you?" the stricken patrolpony moaned. Mobius said nothing as he picked him up, and began walking back towards Rarity's house. He continued his stride towards the boutique. The pegasus became more concerned. "Where are you taking me!?" Mobius looked down at his fellow flier, and he nodded. Finally arriving at Rarity's home once more, Mobius One set the pegasus down on the sofa, and turned the lights on. The pegasus was a mess. There were several wounds on his body, which while not dangerous, were noticeably bleeding. His eyes were bruised and his lip was bloodied. Mobius shook his head, and looked at the flier. What is your name? Huh?" the pegasus replied. "How did you-" Not important. Name. "Thunderlane..." he replied. Mobius One. "What are you?!" Thunderlane cried, retreating from Mobius. Not important. You have been shot down. "Yeah...you noticed, huh?" Who did this? "I didn't see her...she called herself Flandre though..." Flandre. Flandre...the witch will know. "What witch?" Thunderlane asked. Mobius turned around and headed for the guest bedroom. "No wait...don't leave me alone!" Mobius opened the door again. He knelt by Marisa and roughly shook her awake. "What?!" Marisa growled. "Mobius, what do you want!?" Mobius beckoned for her to follow him. "Why?" Mobius stared. "Oh, alright then..." Marisa said, standing up, using her hat to cover herself. She rooted around on the floor for her shirt. "Could you turn around, Mobius?" Mobius did as asked. Marisa dropped the hat, and hurridly put the shirt over herself. "Alright, where's the fire?" Mobius led Marisa to the living room, where Thunderlane lay on the couch, blood starting to stain the cream cushions. Marisa ran to his side. Ask her about Flandre. "Are you the witch he was talkin' about?" Thunderlane groaned. "Wait, talking?" Marisa questioned, turning to Mobius. He shook his head. "Yeah...he wants to know if you know anything about a 'Flandre.'" Marisa's expression dropped. "Flandre?" she stuttered. Reimu was right. It was a true Class Zero Incident. Tell her. "Some...thing called Flandre took me down...about five minutes ago...your buddy here saved my life." "Really?" Marisa replied. "That's why I woke up on a pile of books..." "Yeah...he found me, and carried me here...Listen, you got any bandages for these? I'd hate to get blood all over the place." Do not worry about that. There is a new threat to the skies. "Wait..." Marisa realized. "I heard you then..." It is a long story, Marisa. "I've got time," Marisa answered. ...Radio failure. "Ugh..." Marisa pouted. "Mobius, get Rarity, now!" Mobius turned around and began walking towards the master bedroom. Marisa turned her attention to the fallen flier. "So, Flandre...did you get a good look at her?" "No...all I saw was red everywhere, and some rainbow patterns." "You're lucky to be alive right now." Marisa stated. "She normally kills who she faces. I was an exception." "You fought that beast?" Thunderlane asked. He could swear he heard another voice earlier...but he could not remember. "Beat her at her own game." Marisa said proudly. "So...she's here too..." Marisa walked calmly away from the room, passing by Mobius and Rarity. "Hey..." Thunderlane coughed. "Real sorry about the blood. I'll clean it." "Never mind that, dear..." Rarity replied. "Wait, Thunderlane?" "Rarity?" "It..." Rarity thought back to the time at the academy where the stallion before her rescued her from a terrible death. "Looks like it's my turn to save you now." "Heh. Swings and roundabouts." Thunderlane laughed weakly. "And I couldn't have asked for a better nurse." Marisa appeared again, with her clothes in total disarray, and Rarity's mop in her hand. "I gotta go stop Flandre!" Marisa excused herself, only to be stopped by Mobius' hand on her shoulder. "What?!" Take me with you. "Huh!?" Marisa gasped. Thunderlane gave her an odd look. I want revenge for a fellow pilot. "Can you shoot?" Marisa asked. "Because I won't let you just try and attack that girl with your bare hands." No. I fly. You shoot. "What? How?" Marisa asked, ignoring Thunderlane's stare. You are the engine. I am the pilot. "How can you do that?" Marisa wondered. "Wait...levitate the broom, but you use your own...magic, I guess, to channel the flight energy through the broom. So I keep you in the air, but you then take over..." ...Affirmative. "You can fly, then?" Affirmative. Give permission for take-off. Outside, Marisa held the mop to her side, and waited for Mobius to mount the mop. She focused her magic, and felt Mobius' body weight disappear. She then hopped up behind the pilot, and wrapped her legs around the mop. She focused her energy again, and the mop lifted into the night sky. Mobius looked around at the lights of the town below him. Just like San Salvacion... "What?" Marisa asked. Radio failure. "So, Rarity..." Thunderlane coughed as Rarity opened her first aid box. "Didn't expect me to literally drop in, huh?" "I did not, Thunderlane..." Rarity replied, applying a roll of bandage to Thunderlane's foreleg with her magic. "If only it had been under better circumstances than 'Almost murdered by an alien...'" "I know, right?" Thunderlane laughed again. "Life really has a way of rewarding my screw ups though." "How so?" "I get shot down...and I get you by my side." Rarity blushed. "Flattery will get you nowhere, Thunderlane..." "What's going on?" Reimu asked sleepily, walking into the room wearing her blanket like a robe, and rubbing her eyes. "From what I gathered from Marisa and Mobius One's furious gesturing, somepony called 'Flandre' has come here. They've set off to fight her." Reimu stared at Rarity. "You're kidding me," Reimu groaned, pinching her nose and sighing. "Out of all the...Give me a minute..." "I'm handing control over to you!" Marisa shouted against the sound of the wind. "Don't fly us into a building or something." Bandit confirmed at vector one-twenty, on the nose. "Huh?" Marisa replied. She summoned her spell circle. "I wish I dressed up a bit here. It's real cold." Bandit at twelve o'clock. Mobius One began accelerating towards the rainbow pattern in front of him. He could see the target clearly - Red dress and stick-like wings... Flandre zoomed past them. Mobius One and Marisa turned around to meet the vampire. "Flandre Scarlet!" Marisa yelled. Flandre turned around. "Hey! It's you! The black-white! Marisa!" Flandre replied. "How'd you end up here?" "I don't know," Marisa said, holding her mini-Hakkero. "But you've already made yourself a threat." "What?" Flandre replied. "You almost killed a guy!" Marisa scolded. "And it's not like we can make ourselves known around here, Flandre..." "We were playing! And he lost!" Flandre explained. "I actually hurt him?" "Yes, you did!" Marisa barked. "He's getting medical aid right now!" "...But we were only playing..." Flandre sniffled. "Well, it's way past your bedtime, little girl," Marisa shouted. "Mobius, go!" Cleared to engage.