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Magic & Steel: An Odd School Love Story

by CrypticMetaphor

Chapter 1: I

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Author's Notes:

Well here it is! If the pacing seems off, I apologize. If it's not, tell me otherwise.

Several Days Ago

Baen sat on the train to Manehattan, the locomotive chugged along quite fast, but the barbarian wished it would move faster. He was controlled on the outside, but inside he was happy, he had received a letter from Coco inviting him over for some form of talk. He didn’t know why she couldn’t come to him, but he figured whatever she wanted to say was of the upmost importance, so he dropped what he was doing and departed immediately. He could already see the city in the distance, which brought a smile to his face. Soon the train arrived and Baen disembarked with his destination clear in his mind. As Baen trotted along, ponies occasionally gave him nods of respect or asked for pictures to which he obliged. Eventually, he reached Coco’s apartment and took the elevator to the floor of the one he loved. Smiling, he trotted to the door with a spring in his step and knocked four times.

The door opened to reveal Coco Pommel who gave a small smiled, “Hello Baen.”

“How’re you doing this day,” Baen nuzzled her, but her nuzzle in return lacked it’s…feel.

Baen looked at her in concern as he walked into the house, “Coco, is something troubling you?”

Coco shuffled uneasily as she gestured to the living room, “Baen….could you sit down for a moment please.”

Baen nodded as she slowly took a seat. She inhaled to calm her nerves then looked Baen straight in the eyes as her front hooves found his.

“Baen you know I love you right?”

Baen nodded, “Of course, and I love you!”

Coco nodded sadly, “Baen…., I really do love you. And when somepony loves another, they want to see the one they love happy,” she smiled warmly at Baen.

Baen blinked in confusion, “What are you saying?”

Tears welled up in Coco’s eyes, "I....I think we should see other ponies.... I mean I love you Baen, I really do. But I just don't think I might be the mare for you. You understand right?"

Baen blinked. Baen couldn’t explain what he was feeling, he felt angry, sad, and….something else. The best way to describe it, it felt as though his very heart had just got a hole ripped in it, his face was unreadable as Coco gently stroked his face.

“I’m sure there’s someone out there for you,” Coco’s smile slowly shrank as she saw Baen’s face was an unreadable mask, “You understand….right?”

Baen’s voice was quiet, "I...understand....."


*

A few days later

After Baen had left without another word aside from short answers and returned to Ponyville, Coco became greatly worried and sent a letter to Twilight. Twilight, being Baen’s Blood Sister, became increasingly worried. It wasn’t just the fact that it was because Baen had been dumped and was most likely feeling things he had never felt before, and she didn’t want him to be alone in this time. So it was only natural that when she found Baen outside of his house staring into space, that her worry increased.

She approached her friend slowly, “Baen….are you alright?”

Baen remained silent.

“Baen….,” she placed a hoof on his shoulder, “please talk to me.”

Baen stared at her, his look still blank, “What’s there to talk about?”

Twilight tilted her head with a sad look, “Baen, you shouldn’t keep these things bottled up.”

Baen smacked her hoof away much to her shock, “I said there’s nothing to talk about!”

His voice raised several octaves for a moment but went back to its even tone, “I’m going for a walk….,” he then silently said, “maybe another vacation…..”

The pony stood and started to wander. For the next few days, that’s all he did. He barely talked to anypony in days after; he just bought groceries, trained, and then locked himself away in his home. This cycle repeated, until one night. Baen left his home when night fell, inhaling the cool night air, before walking. The scenery melded together as he walked, streets became one, and buildings seemed connected. But he cared little. He only shook his head. Eventually however, he smacked into something which snapped him out of his stupor. He looked around and noticed that he had somehow wondered into Twilight’s library. His eyes lingered on the objects around him; eventually his gaze fell upon one thing.

“If you truly are a portal,” he approached the Crystal Mirror, “then do me a favour and work….”

He placed his hoof upon the glass. When he did, a small bolt of his Old Magic surged through the machinery and it whirred to life.

*

The next morning when Twilight paid Baen a visit, she found that he wasn’t home.

“Maybe…he did go on that vacation,” she smiled sadly, “might do him some good to get away from it all.”

*

Present Day, One Week Later.

Canterlot High. The building itself had made a few headlines in the past. A few successful fundraisers here, a few otherworldly occurrences there, it was particularly famous. However, one girl had missed a majority of it due to being out of town for a month. That would be the Student Council President, Hecate. The girl stood outside the building, her skin was a light mulberry with soft blue eyes. Her hair was a dark indigo with lighter streaks of violet in it. The style was long but a nice wavy pattern to it. On her face was a pair of horn rimmed glasses with deep plum frames. On her torso she wore a white tank top with an indigo and white plaid skirt. Her boots were black with indigo laces that reached just below her knees. Covering her arms were a pair of plum and white striped arm warmers. She hugged herself as several students smiled her way. She gave a half wave as she was greeted by all. Hiding behind her hair as she went into the building, inside the building, many students were either conversing or in one case finishing a punishment.

“This is disgusting,” Adagio Dazzle complained as she pulled a gum wad from her mess of hair, “scrape the bottom of every desk in the school, this is degrading!”

Sonata Dusk tapped her chin as she placed her bucket beside the janitor room, “But I thought you said it was disgusting?”

Aria Blaze stood nearby and groaned in both annoyance and mild anger.

*

Nearby, two girls were walking down the hall toward the gym of the school with smiles. The girls in question who were happily talking to each other were known as Flitter and Cloudchaser. Both girls were dressed identically, grey t-shirts and blue pants with matching darker shaded boots. As they chatted, they turned the corner and froze. Before them was a student that for a better word…stood quite imposingly before them. He was about six foot four and was a tad lean, not much muscle could be seen but that didn’t mean he wasn’t fit in the slightest. The boy wore faded black jeans with black trainers. On his torso he wore a grey muscle shirt and dangling from his neck was a red tear shaped gem stone attached to a silver chain. Over his shirt he wore a red and white sports jacket, slung over one shoulder was a white book bag. Atop his head was a head wild looking rose red hair. But what caused them to stop was the fact he had a scar on one of his eyes, and the fact that his green eyes stared at them with mild disinterest.

“Uh…..,” Flitter tried to speak.

The Boy raised an eyebrow as they quickly walked the other way.

The Boy shook his head as he walked into the gym and sat on one of the bleachers.

*

A little ways away from the gym, Sunset Shimmer was happily carrying a box of supplies in her arms to the gym. She and her friends had volunteered to set up for a parent teacher conference at the school and were given specific jobs. Sunset and Rarity’s job merely involved the two of them climbing two ladders to hang a banner. Sunset had been sent to grab some extra hooks and nails for said banner and had successfully retrieved them. Though a bottle of cleaner had almost clocked her on the head for her efforts, but she had shrugged that off a long time ago. Opening the doors, she stood for a moment and smiled at all the students lending their assistance, though she also took note of the few who had either finished or were just around to chat.

“Sunset,” a familiar voice chimed, “there you are darling! Did you get the hooks?”

Sunset glanced over to Rarity and smiled as she casually approached, “Yeah, took a bit of digging, but I managed to find them.”

Rarity nodded with appreciation and took the box while sniffing the air, “Why does it smell like bleach?”

Sunset sniffed her hand and sighed, “Guess I didn’t avoid all of it…”

Rarity walked to the ladder as she started climbing, “What exactly happened dear?”

“Nothing to write home about,” Sunset started her own climb, “I was just digging around for a bit and I just knocked a bottle of cleaner loose. It was no problem.”

Rarity reached the top and reached down to her end of the banner while she fished around in the box, “Well it could have been a disaster,” she pulled out the hook she needed, “quite frankly I don’t believe you’d be able to pull off the bleached look.”

Sunset chuckled, “Hey, I can pull off this jacket. What’s stopping me from bleaching my hair?”

Rarity feigned a dramatic tone, “The scorn! The drama! The laughter!”

“Oh no,” Sunset mock trembled, “how will I survive?”

Both girls shared a hearty laugh as they placed their hooks. Pausing as Rarity hung her side of the banner, Sunset took in the high view. When one is high up, it really puts things into perspective, and Sunset quite enjoyed it. She’d be lying if she hadn’t wished when she was a filly to have wings. But then a jostle knocked her both from her mild daze…and her perch. Rarity screamed her name as she started falling, a churning sensation in her stomach and the rush of wind told her of her fate. Inhaling to scream, her breath caught in her throat when she felt herself hit something and abruptly stop. Blinking a few times, she noticed that she was still staring at the roof, but the area around her wasn’t moving. Looking around she saw that she was floor level again, but she felt something else. Someone was holding her. She turned her head…and stared straight into a pair of green eyes.

The male student stared right back at her in silence. Many students were staring at the pair as both remained as still as statues.

Sunset still shocked, tried to speak, but nothing came out.

The Boy just continued to stare at her in silence.

Rarity started to scramble down the ladder. At the noise, The Boy looked up then back at Sunset.

“Sorry….,” The Boy then let Sunset drop and bolted from the gym. The doors slamming shut behind him.

Sunset rubbed her lower back as she stood up. Rarity reached her and was in the biggest tizzy as she hugged her friend.

“Oh Sunset I was so worried!”

“What happened?”

Rarity looked to the side, “Well…,when I was raising my side of the banner, your side got caught and pulled your ladder a tad.”

“Oh,” Sunset looked to the doors as Rarity followed her gaze and scowled.

“The nerve of him to just drop you like that,” Rarity crossed her arms, “If I were you, I’d give him a piece of my mind the next time I see him.”

Sunset just stared at the door, almost like she was expecting him to come back inside. But the gaze didn’t hold just curiosity; it held focus, and the look of one whose mind was kicking into overdrive.

Next Chapter: II Estimated time remaining: 38 Minutes
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