“AUNTY HAMMER FALL!” The mare heard a voice cry out and a pink blur jump at her. While normally she would go into a defensive stance to deliver a nice smackdown to a would be attacker. But she knew this pink blur was no attacker...sort of. Instead she sat back on her haunches and opened her forelegs before catching the filly in a hug.

“Well look who it is. If it isn’t my favorite niece, Doppler!” she said as she gave the filly a strong squeeze which made the filly laugh. Most of the ponies in the room just watched the scene too shocked to move while some others turned to look at the group the filly had been with for some kind of explanation. When they noticed that they were being looked to for answers the everyone in the group gave a shrug that told anyone looking that there were also out of the loop.

After giving her niece a long hug she set the filly down and got to her feet. Doppler was the first of the two to start talking. “So what brings you to Canterlot High, Aunty? I’m here with my friends waiting for the new gym teacher. You remember them right?” she gave the tiniest of pauses to motion to where the group was standing.

“Doppler,” her aunt tried to cut in.

“Do you know who the new gym teacher is? I’ve been hearing nothing but hearsay all day. Some say it’s a mare, other’s aren't sure. It’s all very confusing when people can’t get their facts straight,” Doppler kept going to the annoyance and slight amusement of her aunt.

“Doppler..” Hammer Fall tried again to no avail.

“I mean I heard she’s strong. What if she’s like super buff, like a giant mass of rippling muscles who only wants us to do nothing but lift weights all day? That could totally ruin my girlish figure and you know what my mom said about that. But I don’t want to go against a teacher because that would be unfriendly and I want to be friends with all my teachers and classmates and not being friends with one teacher could spark a whole Domino effect and-”

“DOPPLER!” before Doppler could go any further her aunt stopped her by putting both of her hooves on the side of her head to stop her while making her look straight at her.

“Doppler… I’m the new gym teacher,” She watched Doppler’s face as she processed the different emotions. First shock then a bit of fear and uneasiness then realization and happiness. She let the filly go and took a step back before her niece came to her senses.

“THAT’S AWESOME!!!” She exclaimed before wheeling around on her hooves to face the crowd, making everybody go from shocked to nervous “ALRIGHT EVERYPONY LISTEN UP THIS IS-” she started to yell but was cut off by her aunt’s hoof closing her mouth.

“Doppler I think I got this part sweetie, you go run back to your friends and let me do all the yelling, ok?” she asked her niece not letting her open her mouth as she stared at her eye to eye. When she nodded she let go of her muzzle and let her quickly zip off back to her friends catching Gaia’s eyes quickly and noticing him. Gaia was afraid she would say something but to his surprise she gave him a quick wink before sizing up the rest of the room.

“WELL GOOD MORNING EVERYONE AND WELCOME TO YOUR FIRST GYM CLASS OF THE SEMESTER,” her voice was way louder than Doppler’s and almost everyone in the room reached to cover their ears.”IF YOU DON’T LIKE THE VOLUME THEN EVERYBODY BETTER MOVE IN CLOSER,” many complied with her and once everyone one in the gym was in a compact enough circle she started to talk again with less volume. “Alright that’s better. Now as you may have heard my niece and pieced it together yourself. My name is Hammer Fall and I am going to be your new Physical Education teacher. Oh and by the way it may be Aunty Hammer Fall for her...but for the rest of you it’s Coach Hammer Fall or Ma'am, got it?” Anyone who had still been laughing at the earlier antic quickly stopped as her glare hardened. “Good any questions?” she paused to see if anyone actually had a question or was deciding to be a smart ass.

“Okay if there are none we can finally begin, now normally most coaches would spend the first day making you do some mediocre exercises to determine who’s in shape and who’s not but I got a better idea,” she said as her horn lit up and her amber magic reached out through the doorway she came in. and with a flick of her head she began to pull something into the room. And with the long shadow it started casting as it came closer some students started to back away again just like before when their new teacher was trying to get in. After a few seconds whatever Hammer Fall had in her magical grip finally came into view. It was a pretty large machine, but it fit through the opening well enough. Many of the students watched as she floated it a few feet off from the group all of them trying to guess what it was.

Hammer Fall walked over to it as she set it down with a small thud before her magic dissipated. “While most of you are thinking that this is some high tech scanner or something of the like, I’m afraid you’re kind of right but mostly wrong. To put it into my terms this thing is basically more akin to a glorified punching bag. Let me just switch it on and I’ll show you. She walked around one corner and a switch could be heard being flipped. It took a few second of silence before the machine started to give out a steady magical hum, And within a few more seconds a few moving parts moved away from the whole of the machine and several displays lit up. “The function of this machine is simple,” Hammer had the students attention as she walked around to what most determined was the front. “it’s meant to get hit,” she demonstrated by quickly bucking a drum looking thing on the front. Her back hooves made contact with a resounding “thwack” as she struck her target. “And then once you hit it will calculate the power you used in your hit into a number. The more powerful the hit the bigger the number and for any jocks in this group the bigger the bragging rights I guess,” she said as the machine pinged and the displays showed the number three hundred and forty seven. “See it’s simple enough, the counter goes all the way up to nine nine nine nine but i’ve never seen anybody max it before, although this machine has only been used by the guards and not by any royals so who knows?” she shrugged. “Oh and by the way this machine can take quite a beating so feel free to cut loose and not hold back,” she told the students.

“Says a mare who couldn’t get past 350," a shout came from the back of the group. Hammer smirked as she watched the crowd part and a somewhat muscular colt stepped forward taking time to flex trying to show off to the fillies behind him.

“Oh calling out a teacher on day one huh? so you think you’re pretty strong huh?” Hammer kept her smirk up and she circled the colt.

“I know I can get higher than three hundred forty seven,” the colt responded. Hammer just responded and looked to where her niece and her friends were standing and gave them all a wink.

“Ok then big guy if you think you can do it, how about a little challenge then? I’ll let you go first and take your hit and then I’ll get one more. And if you get higher than me then I’ll pass you for the class for the year, you won’t even have to show up to class,” Hammer Fall watched the emotions on the colt’s face change in thought, and she knew that it wouldn’t take much time before he would answer.

“I’ll do it, this is going to be a breeze,” he said as he walked up to where Hammer had stood when she struck the machine. “So we can hit this thing anyway we want right?” he asked his smirk growing a bit wider as Hammer Fall gave him confirmation with a nod. “Alright then this-” he paused to lift up his right foreleg, flex it and give his muscle a kiss, “is gonna be a piece of CAKE” he shouted the last word as he threw a punch, making a hard impact on the pad.

Meanwhile, Gaia sat with his friends taking in the situation. “He doesn’t stand a chance at all does he?” he asked trying to be slightly rhetorical.

“I’m gonna say no on this one, while he does have a bit of muscle definition, none of it really lends to throwing a punch,” Apple Core said as he stretched, getting ready for his turn.

“Yeah and that wasn’t even a good punch,” Ember also spoke up as she checked her hoof until she heard the machine give of a ping.

Everyone looked at the screens lit up and the display showed five hundred and twenty six. “huh not bad there not bad,” she said as the colt smugly walked away and she stepped towards the machine. “But your stance was off, your strike was poor and you didn’t put any kind of energy into it or use your earth pony magic,” she stopped a couple steps away from where she made her original strike and closed her eyes in concentration.

“Like I’m going to take an advice...from...you?’ the colt turned around and saw the teacher standing there her magic aura around her horn flaring wildly like a flame. The glow from her horn was joined by another as the symbols on the ring of metal she wore on her tail started to light up. The glow got brighter and brighter until the ring started to emit a low hum. Hammer Fall let out an exhale before spinning on her hooves and hit the pad with the ring on her tail, the glow of it leaving a trail through the air. The impact created a loud crash and some ponies thought that the machine moved back slightly.

Most of the students jaws dropped and everyone remained silent as they waited for the machine. The seconds ticked by tensely and when the machine beeped all eyes went to the screen. The colt watched in shock as the display lit up and and read two thousand five hundred. Cheers went out as Hammer Fall raised her hoof in triumph and let her new students cheer for her. “Alright everybody quiet down, quiet down. Now that the little demonstration is over everybody how bout we start getting some readings she said before using her magic to grab a clipboard that was attached to the side of the machine.

“Now does anyone in particular want to be the first to set a good example?” Hammer asked quickly looking over her list of names. “Oh wait a minute… Do we have a member of the legendary Apple Family here in my class?” ponies looked around at each other when they heard their teacher’s question some mystified and some who didn’t know their Equestrian agricultural history.

Apple Core gave a sigh before smiling “Well i guess I’m the first to go….how do we want to do this?” he asked his friends knowing that in a situation like this they could easily make themselves more noticeable.

“Well Teach did say that we shouldn’t hold back,” Chroma said as she did some wing-ups to get ready.

“And you should always listen to the teacher…and only correct them on factual matter,” Hope blushed slightly when she added on to the end of her statement. Everyone turned to Gaia and G who were both deep in thought about what to do.

“I say if she says not to hold back...then don’t,” Gaia gave a smirk that immediately told his friends the game plan and all of them simply nodded.

“APPLE CORE! Where are ya,” Hammer Fall’s yelling broke up their conversation. Core briskly made his way through the group of students.

“I believe you’re looking for me?” he said as Hammer gave him a look over, her eyebrow raising in suspicion before she shrugged. “They say never judge a book by it’s cover. How about I give you a demonstration so you can decide,” he said stepping up to the machine. He rolled his front shoulders and his neck letting everyone in the room hear the faint cracks before he reached up and put his hoof against the pad. He closed his eye while taking in a deep breath as he pulled his hoof back only a few inches away from the pad.

While he stood there motionless everyone else in the gym watched him with anticipation. Everyone except for his friends each smirking at the show being put on their friend. They knew he could do this without all the showmanship, but in a situation like this it was more fun.

“Three,Two,One” Ember counted out loud and just after she finished Core struck.

“HuuuWAH!” the pitch of his scream was loud as his hoof shot impacting the pad so hard that the sound it made was like a firework went off. he quickly brought his hoof back after the impact and turned around to find most ponies with their jaws dropped for the second time that day.

“Well I’ll be a monkey’s aunt. You really are an Apple. I bet your parents must work you hard,”Hammer Fall walked forward giving Apple Core a pat on the back for the splendid show he put on.

“No harder than I work myself,” he said before the machine pinged and the displays lit up showing a reading of three thousand on the screen. “Yeah that’s what I was aiming for” was all Core got to say before their was a roar of applause.

“Alright everybody settle down,” Hammer Fall let them cheer for a bit before she calmed everyone down. “now that you’ve seen that how about we start to get the rest of you?” she said and there was an immediate reaction as fillies and colts rushed to get in line.

Apple Core received a good amount of cheers and hoof bumps as he walked back to his friends who hadn’t gotten into the line yet. “So how did I do guys?”

“As always your strikes are like artwork Core,” Flair complimented him.

“It was nice to know that we won’t have to be as showy as you when we get up there...but did you have to set the bar so high?” Chroma asked.

“Says the competitive one,” Ember shot Chroma a snarky remark which made her blush slightly.

“Now now everybody Core is just doing what comes natural for him and i’m sure we all will on our turns. I just hope no one has to go to the nurse for jaw pains,” Hope said but was taken aback a little as everyone stared at her with wide eyes before breaking out into laughter.

“Oh my Celestia, Hope made a joke!” G was holding his sides while rocking back in forth and next to him her brother was laying face down his hoof repeatedly hitting the floor as he laughed. “What? I wasn’t...you don’t have to be so….I’m going to get in line” Hope said with a huff before walking off leaving her friends and brother to finish their laughing and wipe the tears from their eyes before they joined her in line

____________________________________________________________________________

The group managed to be patient enough to wait in line till it was their turn. Hope was the first to go. Up until they got there no one had been able to beat or tie Apple Core’s score of Three Thousand.Doppler and Chroma were the first of the rest of the group to try their hands Doppler managing to get a nice two thousand five hundred to become the second place while Chroma managed to speed her way two hundred points higher.

Ember and Flair were next, Flair earning two thousand eight hundred and fifty while Ember’s attack was boosted by the fact that several colt were cat calling her before she struck. But when the screen flashed showing and even three thousand most of them stopped while Ember gave them a dangerous wink showing that she wasn’t one to mess with.

Hope, Gaia, and G were the last students to go and many other ponies were probably interested in two of them more than anything else. Hope came up first and her buck attempt was good if a little bit girlish. Most thought it was disappointing since it didn’t look like her power was anywhere near the strikes of Apple Core and Ember. But when the reading coming up as six thousands the whole room was silent. Many were in disbelief at how a strike like that could be rated so high but many just accepted that since she was an Alicorn her strength was just different from other ponies and applauded just the same as they had done the others.

While Hope stood near the crowd, blushing and taking small bows every and again Gaia walked up the machine and without any pomp and circumstance, threw a punch and deafened the applause with the cannon like sound his hit made. he didn’t bother to look at the crowd, he could already tell what their faces were like, he’d seen it many times before. he went and sat next to hope as she turned around to wait for his score. When the machine pinged and the and the counter came up reading nine thousand and one.

“IT’S OVER NINE THOUSAND!!!” Came a shout from somewhere in the room.

“WHAT NINE THOUSAND!?” came another form a different place.

Gaia smiled at his attempt, he thought about going higher but didn’t want to entertain the possibility of breaking the machine. That was up until he started to hear some ponies booing him.

“That’s not possible he must have cheated!” another shout rang out before more started to join in. Gaia smile started to fade and his sister notice this and quick stood and turned to face the crowd

“Ok just who is accusing my brother of cheating,” she said and everything stopped. in the Alicorn’s presence for the second time in about ten minutes but before anything else could progress G stepped in.

“Alright you two out of the way,” Hope and Gaia moved out of the dragons way as he took his place. He took several deep breath before letting out a loud yell throwing his whole weight behind his right arm. Unlike previous big hits before him his didn’t make an explosion like sound. this sounded more like Metal being crushed and broken. Many ponies wondered what happened and when they moved around the side of the machine the found out that in not holding back from his punch, G had sunk his arm about three quarters of the way into the machine.

“Uh oh….I didn’t think he would do that,” Hammer Fall said dumbfounded as she walked up to G. “You alright there big boy?” she asked as her magic enveloped his arm and she started to pull him out.

“Yeah I’m good...didn’t expect it to break that easily though,” he said as his arm came out with some little broken pieces falling off as it did

“Did you mean to break it?” She asked him again wondering if he was trying to protect his friend with what happened literally moment before.

“Well you did say not to hold back...so I didn’t” he told her in a matter of fact tone which made her grin.

“HA! you youngsters are great. I’ll say it is a good thing I got two of these though. Although i wasn't hoping to have to use it till later in the year...how am i going to explain this to the Principal?” She said before a loud ringing filled the gym signaling the end of the period. “Oh well I’ll figure it out. THAT’S IT FOR GYM TODAY EVERYBODY I’LL COMPILE THE DATA AND GIVE THE RESULTS TOMORROW! HAVE A FUN REST OF THE DAY!” she shouted as everyone filled back into the locker rooms and onto next task. As she turned around and looked at the machine a final thought came to her mind before she left to get her spare. “Aw poop i’m gonna have to clean this up at some point…”

____________________________________________________________________________

After everyone got their things from the locker they all headed to the cafeteria, needless to say that when they entered, or more specifically when G entered all eyes were on them again. Although this time the stares felt different and they all wondered if what happened in the gym had already spread throughout the school.

“Ooh I found a spot!” Hope broke their concentration as she pointed to a large enough empty table. The group decided to let her pick because of her objectivity and how she always considered giving G enough space for him to sit comfortably. It didn’t take them long to make their way over seeing as how anyone who was in their way either moved way before they were close or saw them as they got close enough and darted out of the way.

“So anything interesting happen to anybody during their first few classes?” Gaia asked as everybody pulled out their lunches, it turned out that their parents had coordinated on making them all prepared lunches for the first day.

“No,” Ember shook her head as she slowly opened the box lunch her mom prepared for her with the utmost care.

“Nuh uh,” Chroma said before she started to down a protein shake she pulled out of her brown bag.

“Nope,” Apple Core chimed in as he turned his bag upside down and watched as three apples and an apple fritter fell out.

“FO! FO! FID!” Doppler hooves waved back and forth as her lunch bag was stuck over her muzzle and by its movements it was apparent she was munching on something.

“Doppler, do you remember our talk about table manners?” Flair said as she levitated a napkin to wipe her mouth after having a few bites of a salad her mother packed for her. Slowly Doppler let the bag slide off her muzzle revealing she was munching on two different pastries at once. She chewed both of them quickly and swallowing before she spoke again.

“Yeah me and Hope had a great time in our first class, we got in,, had our seats...although many people are still surprised by Hopey here because of the you know what’s,” Doppler made a couple gestures to imitate Hope’s horn and wings. “But anyways we got settled down and then the teacher came in and the whole thing started over again. And then Hope got a little huffy-”

“I did not!” Hope spoke up blushing as she tried to keep her wings form flaring.

“Yeah you’re right you weren’t a little huffy...you were very huffy!” Dopple said and watched as her friends chose then to burst into laughter as Hope’s face started to become as red as the stripe in her brother’s hair. “She got huffy at the teacher because with all the weird stuff going on they were off schedule for the syllabus he gave us and she demanded that we get back to...how did you put it? Oh yeah ‘our scheduled listening and learning time’,” Doppler flexed her hooves when she quoted Hope making her friends laugh harder. Hope meanwhile simply decided to ignore the laughter and took a bite out of the daisy sandwich her mother made with the crusts cut off just the way she likes. She happily enjoyed her meal in relative silence until G spoke up.

“Oh so we met that filly that Gaia bumped into,” everyone stopped and looked down the table to Gaia, who froze with his mouth open and he was about to dig into his sandwich. “Turns out she’s a sophomore named Erin Lulamoon. She seems humble, charitable, very willing to help out others,”

“Lulamoon...that sounds very familiar,” Hope said knowing she had heard of that name somewhere.

“Huh besides being humble she’s kinda like you Gaia. You know what they say, Birds of a feather, right?” Ember nudged the colt in his ribs.

“And what is that supposed to-” he started to ask before he felt something poke him in the shoulder.

“Um...Excuse me,” he heard and turned around in his seat to come face to face with air, that was until he looked down and standing before him was a filly, one who looked slightly nervous as she was being towered over by a colt. “Can I help you?” Gaia asked one eyebrow raised, not knowing who the filly was or what she could want with him, he also felt a little worried about her as she looked like she was breaking out in a cold sweat.

“A...um...I-,” The more eye contact the filly had with Gaia the redder her face became and the harder it was for her to speak. So instead of saying anything she broke eye contact with Gaia and pointed her hoof. Gaia followed the direction she was pointing in and found she was pointing at Erina who was standing just a few feet away with a lunch tray floating in her magic grip and another filly who resembled the one standing before him. As he made eye contact with Erina she walked towards him and he couldn’t think of a proper reason why she would, considering he didn’t think he was on good terms with her.

“Please don’t tell me this is your lunch table as well?” He asked when she got within a better range.

“Ah, no I would never do something like that. And to be honest I didn’t want the seat in the theatre but it’s been a standing tradition that the best student in the music class gets their own seat. And if you wouldn’t mind would you stop traumatizing a member of my fan club her sister doesn’t like it,” she said

Gaia raised an eyebrow before looking at the filly below him again before she gave an “EEP!” and quickly moved and hugged the other filly standing next to Erina. “Traumatize? Fanclub?” were the only words Gaia could muster as he tried to comprehend the situation.

“Yes traumatize, something about seeing a new freshman brute completely bowling over a young noble mare in the front courtyard of our institution… or something like that was said I believe. I might be paraphrasing a little bit. And as for the fan club, again it wasn’t something I asked for,” Erina responded before most of the table burst into laughter, except for Gaia who just kinda stared off into space his mouth open. In her head Erina thought that she rather liked him this way, she didn’t know too much about this freshman besides the rumors that had started floating around after the last period, but he seemed headstrong so seeing him stupefied like this was amusing to her.

“Um excuse me miss Lulamoon,” Erina heard someone call to her as she watched the freshman stare into the abyss. When she turned to answer she found herself startled by the fact that she was talking to an alicorn. She remembered seeing her in the group earlier that morning but when your face to face with one it was quite different.

“Um, just Erina is fine, especially for you your-” she started using an honorific but faster than she could see the filly in front of her had a hoof in front of her mouth shushing her.

“Oh no no, none of that please. Right now I’m an underclassmen and I respectfully ask that you treat me like one, no honorifics, not polite etiquette, and definitely no bowing, just call me Hope. Besides I’m sure you're just like that with your family hmm?” Hope gave Erina a look and the quick nod see saw confirmed her suspicions, she was starting to like this filly. “Oh but before anything else is it okay if I ask you a question?”

“Um sure….Hope?” Erina did her best to shake away her nervousness.

“Well we haven’t gotten the exact details of what happened after you figuratively ran into my brother again. I was just wondering if he managed to apologize?”

“Um well yes he did but-”

“OH! Did he make himself look like an idiot while doing it?” Ember shouted cutting of Erina.

“Well….yes he did but that’s not what I wanted to say. What I was trying to say was….ummm,” She stopped trying to find the right way to explain.

“ERINA THERE YOU ARE!” a shout grabbed her attention along with the attention of everyone else at the table. she looked to find a red unicorn colt walking towards her, one she knew and was trying to avoid

“Oh Vice how nice to see you. I thought you were going to be on vacation and come back a little later in the semester?” Erina said smiling and holding out a hoof for a handshake, noticing that everyone at the table went back to their lunches giving small sideways glances at the pony approaching, and that the two fillies from her fanclub had joined them on the far side of the table.

“Eh, I had a last minute change of heart, decided to come back and check out all the new...prospects,” he said before taking Erina hoof and instead of shaking it he lowered his head to kiss it in some kind of romantic gesture. Meanwhile Gaia was sitting there eating and watching the scene out of the corner of his eye and noticed the slight cringe Erina gave when she felt the colt give her hoof a kiss. “It’s been way too long since we last saw each other though, has it been long enough for you to reconsider my proposals though?” he asked and the reaction was immediate as her smile switched to a frown.

“I’ve told you before Vice Grip that I will not support any kind of plan you have especially with the ‘methods’ you choose to employ. I’m not that kind of pony and I never will be,” She quickly pulled her hoof out of his grip and glared at him hoping he would get the hint but unfortunately all he did was keep staring with the same smug grin he walked up with.

“Man you really stick to that whole ‘pony of the people’ thing don’t you? The power is right there in front of you and you stubbornly refuse to-”

“Vice I’ve heard your whole spiel before and honestly I’m sick of hearing it. Just be lucky I don’t have anything to show the student council,” she watched as her words had an effect on Vice who smile turned into a small frown before he opened his mouth to retort.

“Excuse me,” Gaia decided not to give him the time to say something and stepped in. “The lady has already said no to whatever plans you seem to have. You also seem to be oblivious to the affect your presence is having on her. But besides all that you’re blocking my way and I got trash to throw out,” Gaia stood there sunglasses on staring eye to eye with the colt. He could see some other colt watching from a little bit away slowly start to get up from their seats.

“Sorry, but I’m going to have to go with my brother on this one,” Hope stepped up next to her brother, letting Vice know that he was clearly outmatched.

“Ok ok I can see I’m not wanted here,” Vice went back to his calm and slick attitude, as he slowly walked away only to pause and turn to look at Gaia. “Huh one kids an Alicorn and the other a regular Earth pony, looks like someone sure failed at the genetic lottery huh?” he said chuckling as he then walked out of the cafeteria a few colts following him.

“As the door swung shut Erina turned to Gaia. “Well I’m sorry for what Vice said. he can be a little abrasive when things don’t go his way,” she said to them even though Gaia was still staring at the door, his face like stone.

“Well let me go throw this out finally,” Gaia breaking his stare. And as he moved away from Hope and Erina , Erina watched him and that’s when she swore she saw something like a magical aura surround Gaia and it looked huge, large enough to swallow the whole school.

“But...how...he’s just an Earth pony?” she quickly shook her head before taking another look and this time everything seemed normal but she still continued to stare till a poke in her shoulder broke her concentration.

“Um Erina you’ve been standing here for a long time, and lunch is about half over and you haven’t touched your food, would you like to have a seat with us so you can eat? I’m sure if that Vice guy saw G it would have been a much shorter conversation,” Hope said before pointing to the large dragon. Erina had noticed when she was getting her food that many ponies were giving the table a wide berth, so Hope was probably right.

“That would be nice,” she said chuckling as they turned and walked back to the table.

____________________________________________________________________________

The final bell of the school day rang and unfortunately for all the parents that thought that the front doors would fly open and a tidal wave of young ponies woung come out, the reality was much different. In a somewhat timely manner ponies started to make their way out of the school. Some walked, some ran, other flew, and for the smart unicorns who could do it, they teleported.

Gaia and his group moved with the crowd which thinned around them a bit, they guessed it might be because of G but they wouldn’t hold that against him or anybody. But as soon as they were clear of the doors that moved aside to lighten the traffic.

“Well that’s the first day done and in the books!” Gaia threw his hooves up in the air in joy before falling onto his back. “Oh it feels so good,” he smiled knowing that him and his friends mostly kept to their goal of keeping a low-ish profile for at least one day.

“Yeah that turned into kind of a close one a couple times for you, Hope, Doppler, G,” Chroma laughed a bit while she stretched out her wings before getting a bit of air, and then perching on G’s shoulder.

“Whatchutalkinbout Chroma?” Doppler was the first to reply, and she did in her usual manner of weird catchphrases.

“Well Gaia bowled over that Erina girl right before the bell and managed to create some weird standoff during lunch. And Hope got ‘huffy’ at one of her teacher for not sticking to the class syllabus. As for you Doppler you literally in all senses of the word, glomped our gym teacher,” Chroma pointed out each of her friends and what they did leaving each with a bit of a blush and inability to argue back. “Oh and don’t think you’re getting off any easier big guy,” she gave G a slight prod to his head from where she was perched.

“Yes how could we forget when my dear brother broke school property hmm?” Flair watched as her brother refused to make eye contact and started to stare at the clouds. “Yes besides at least half of us doing something a little bit unnecessary i’d say that our first day of highschool was a success. How about you Gaia?” Flair turned from her brother to gaia and found him staring out into the school courtyard. She walked over to him and followed his line of sight and saw Erina slowly making her way off school grounds. “You know Gaia, I know that you know each other now but it is just a little creepy to stare at someone from across the school yard,”

“Yeah but I’d think you’d agree that it’s even worse to be stalking someone just out of their range of noticing you,” he said and pointed just to the left of Erina. Flair followed his hoof and saw the pony that insulted Gaia during lunch following Erina, staying just far enough behind her to not be noticed and stopping every once and awhile to make sure no one was following him.

“Hm that is strange. Do you think-” Flair never got to ask her question before Gaia started to walk, his gaze still fixed on both of them and wherever they were going. “Of course you do. Oh guys!” Flair took the initiative to call back to the rest the group.

Gaia followed the two as the walked through the streets of Canterlot, he wasn’t sure where he was exactly but he had a general idea. He knew that his friends were only a minute or two behind him, but he knew in a situation like this. He made it through the whole school day without losing his cool especially with what Vice said during lunch. Now it was after school and he could afford to let loose, just a little though. He followed Erina and Vice for awhile and watched as both of them rounded a corner. He stopped the when he got to the corner and started to hear talking.

“You know it isn’t very nice to stalk a filly and try to get her to agree to your ridiculously stupid proposals,” he heard Erina speak, he didn’t know if she knew Vice had been following her or not.

“Well, I figured it would be easy for me to talk to you alone and make you come to your senses,” He heard Vice soon after and decided to peek around the corner. Erina had her back to a store front with Vice facing her just a few feet away and there was nopony else out on the street.

“There’s no need for that, I’ve always disliked how you’ve been, acted, and treated other ponies,” Erina told him, she had been fed up with him for the longest time and just wished that he would leave her alone.

“Erina Erina Erina,...why do you have to be so difficult about this. This is just survival of the fittest high school style. The ponies with the power, you and me for example, have the right to make things go the way we want. You know your father was like this years ago,” Vice smiled trying to get Erina on his side.

“While it’s true that my father did some regrettable things in his past...He is not that kind of stallion anymore. And if you bring that up again you’ll regret it,"Erina growled and her horn lit up as a warning to Vice who backed up a few steps. “But what you said brings up a question Vice. You said something about ‘getting what we want’. What if what I want is proof that I could hand over to somepony, say the student council president?” she said and smiled at reaction on Vice’s face.

Vice’s face went from smiling to shock and then slowly turned into a scowl. “Well the I’d say we have a problem. And I’d think that right now I’m in a better position to deal with it,” he said slowly walking towards Erina as his horn lit up. “You know Erina, this could have gone a lot differently, but you had to take you ‘precious moral high road’ and-” Vice’s little rant went interrupted as a trash can flew at them, hitting the ground right between them and bouncing a few feet further.

“What? But...how?” Were the only words Erina could sputter as she looked away from the trashcan to where it was thrown from.

“Well well, what’s up Vice?” Gaia walked towards the two, his face a combination of happiness and anger. “Didn’t I tell you earlier that the lady has already said no to your plans? You remember that, don’t you Vice?” Both Vice and Erina were thrown off a bit at how Gaia was acting but Vice pulled himself together before he spoke.

“Oh look who’s decided to show a bit of bravado! It’s the colt who missed out on the genetic lottery,” Vice called out trying to find a chink in the colt’s armor to exploit. Even though he was outnumbered he believed he could win.

“OK, I’m going to go ahead and tell you now that you should never call me that again. My name is Gaia’s Fury try to get it right,” Gaia practically roared back, his attitude

“Gaia’s Fury? Where have I heard that name before?” Erina thought to herself as the two colts stared each other down.

“Well then Gaia was it? So I made fun of your family and such. Who’d knew you’d get so mad about it?”

“Oh I’m not mad. I just wanna beat the shit out of you,” Gaia didn’t give Vice any room for retort and watched as the colt in front of him struggled to find a comeback. But before Vice could retort the rest of Gaia’s group found them and Vice knew it was time to try something else.

“Don’t think i’ll let this go,” Vice eyes narrowed on Gaia before his horn lit up and he teleported out of the area.

“Erina! are you okay?” Hope asked as she flew over to the Erina, landing beside her and instinctively hugged her.

“What? Oh yeah I’m fine, I’m just surprised by your brother is all,” Erina pointed to Gaia who still had the same angry look on his face but wasn’t glancing an anything in general.

“Yeah he can get like that sometimes,” Hope said as she let Erina go and watched as she walked over to Gaia.

“I could of handled him you know,” she said.

“I know, but I thought it would be better if the first school day of the year didn’t end with the star of the music program putting a pretentious colt in the hospital,”

“I don’t think I would have gone that far,”

“Yeah well you’re welcome,” he said casually not looking even as the smile she had turned into a frown.

“Excuse me?” she asked.

“Should have stopped while you are head Gaia!” Chroma called from a few feet back where the group was standing.

“Ah man he was close to having it all wrapped up and then he goes and puts his hoof in his mouth,” Ember face hoofed as she watched the two argue a few feet away.

“Well you know Gaia when he gets like this, he can be more stubborn than anything.”

“Yeah speaking of stubborn,” G sniffed at the air a bit before moving he walked towards the two bickering at each other. “You might have some business to finish,” he told Gaia. “And you,” he said as he picked Erina up and walked back to the group.

“Hey what are you doing put me down!” she said as she struggled, trying to loosen herself from G’s grasp. But a few seconds later she stopped as he put her down only for her to smack him in the arm.

“THERE THAT’S THE GUY!” a shout came from the corner and from around it came Vice and 17 other colts of varying race and size rushed into the area surrounding Gaia. Some holding pieces of wood and pipes for makeshift weapons

“You done it now! No punk ass bitch gets to make a fool outta boss Vice!” one of the earth ponies shouted at Gaia.

“Yeah you don't go playing around with us!” another one joined in afterwards.

“Hey what’s with the bartender get up?” Another one shouted, but Gaia had not even paid attention to any one of them , form what Erina could see he was somewhat staring into space.

“Wait...bartender get up?” suddenly a smaller pegasus spoke up, the members of his group looking to him to find his face plastered with fear. “I’ve heard of a pony like that. Isn’t he...the stone terror of Ponyville? Prince Gaia’s Fury?” some of the group acknowledged the name while others looked puzzled.

“What the hell do you want,” it wasn’t until Gaia slightly turned to look at whomever spoke his name that everyone of the colts surrounding him took a step back in fear. They could feel some kind of power radiating from his stare that made them uneasy even after he turned away to stare where he was originally starring.

“Watch closely Erina,” G bent down a little so he could talk to her and not speak too loudly. “In the face of fear your average male will lose his ability to think rationally,” he pointed out to the ponies surrounding them, finding a few who were physically shaking.

“mmmMMMAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!” suddenly one of the colts holding a piece of wood shouted. Rushing forward he swung, the wood connecting with the back of Gaia head and breaking in two.

Gaia stumbled forward a few steps his one hoof holding the back of his head in pain. The colts surrounding him only spoke in hushed whispers, but smiles appeared on their faces when Gaia dipped a little lower.

“uuuUUUURRURRRRGH!” something like a roar came from Gaia as he rose, and the smiles dropped and the colts took another step back, all except for the one who attacked who was frozen in place with fear. Gaia stood back to his full height, and a few large drops of blood hit the ground before he spoke again.

“You aimed for my head…” he spoke to the one who struck him, not bothering to turn around. The atmosphere around Gaia changing slightly and becoming hotter.

“You have to know a blow like that could kill a guy right?” Gaia asked staring out into the distance, not caring as the blood ran down his face in several small streams. The colt still standing there face breaking out into an uneasy smirk. While none of his friends noticed that they did notice that on each of Gaia’s shoulders and haunches was a glowing magic circle.

“And this means you were intentionally trying to kill me right?” he said before a flash went off. And once all the colts were able to focus on him they took another step back. the colts were looking at Gaia who moments before only had two forelimbs and two back limbs. But they were staring at a colt who instead of having four legs, now had eight.

“So that means whatever happens next...is what you DESERVE RIGHT?!” Gaia finally turned to face his attacker, the rise in his voice matching the rise in his anger. The colt’s face was one of pure horror as he saw the blood running down Gai’s face and the anger in his eyes.

The colt barely had time to suck in a breath before gaia took one step forward, curled his two right hooves back and brought them forward with an alarming amount of power as the collided with the colts face. The force of the blow sent the earth pony skyward as he tumbled through the air. His body flipped a few times before he came crashing down with a bit of a sickening “crunch” and “thud”.

Most of the other colts had watched their compatriots flight, their jaws loosening and falling open with each second he remained airborne. After he landed they looked back still jaws dropped and eyes widened at Gaia who stood in a charging pose with his eyes closed taking some deep breaths.

“Those with overwhelming power instinctively strike fear into the hearts of others,” G finally broke the silence of the group as he spoke to Erina who staring like the colts were with eyes wide and jaw dropped. “When he gets like this he’s violence personified. It’s what he lives and breaths. Simply put...he’s the very definition of violence,” was the last thing Erina heard before Gaia charged in, his eyes blazing with anger.

One colt turned around and started to flee before Gaia grabbed him by his mane and tail and flung him at another colt. He dodged a punch from someone trying to sneak attack him after the throw and punched him in the muzzle, sending him to the ground. He tripped up one before punching another in the stomach. One of the colts who appeared to have been stupefied by the whole thing simply walked up to Gaia declaring “We’re Vice’s gang-” but never got to finish before Gaia headbutted him then lifted him and punched him hard enough to make him fly a few feet.

Meanwhile the one who had originally started shouting minutes ago stood back as he watched his fellow gang member get beaten by what appeared to be a force of nature. He took notice when two members that were standing near him suddenly gave very filly like shrieks and ran, he turned to them yelling “Hey why you running? We outnumber this UGH!” his shout was stopped when Gaia had jumped and brought one of his hooves to the back of the guys head in a stunning flying kick.

Vice kind of like the guy before had been staying out of the fight watching the idiots he had cobbled together for the muscle for his gang wiped out by some freak. He may have wanted some kind of revenge but he was a pony who knew when to cut his loses.

“Well have fun!” He said before breaking into a gallop.

Gaia immediately saw this and in a rush noticed a vending machine nearby. Rushing over to it he grabbed with four of his front hooves and lifted. Everyone around watched and listened as they saw the machine move slightly upward and heard the creaking of the bolts securing it into the ground to their best to keep it anchored. But with a loud snap the machine came free and gaia hoisted it up over his head, four hooves holding onto each corner and his other four legs keeping him upright.

“WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING!” He said as he threw it. The vending machine sailed straight like a baseball at Vice who looked over his shoulder to see and tripped over his own hoof. His gaze still on the vending machine coming closer as he hit the cobblestone.

“WHOA!” Suddenly a shadow dropped out of the sky just behind Vice. In a blur two hooves shot out grabbing the vending machine. A large earth pony stallion stood over Vice holding the vending machine like it weighed nothing.

“Alright nopony move!” Gaia, Erina , and the rest of the group looked to the corner as another shout rang out as guards suddenly poured into the area from all angles, most trying to keep their demeanor as they saw the sight before them. After a minute a more official looking pony walked in shouting once again. “Alright Canterlot Royal GUard, what seems...to be the...problem?” this volume died down quick as he finally got a look at what laid before him. Almost twenty different colts lay about the area, some bleeding slightly, some unconscious, and those that were conscious groaning in pain. A few feet away lay a unicorn colt who was curled into a ball and crying as guard stood next to him with one eyebrow raised as he set down a vending machine that looked liked it had been ripped from the ground. Another group of kids which included two unicorns, one pegasus, three earth ponies,an alicorn, and a dragon. And in the middle of all this mess there stood a colt in a bartender’s outfit who had eight legs and had blood running down his face. Unsure about anything at the moment he just stood there as the eight legged colt spoke up.

“Well....better late than never,” Gaia said as his anger faded and he looked back to his friends, the only one with a shocked expression still being Erina.

Author's Notes:

IT'S HER THE CHAPTER I"ve BEEN ITCHING TO WROTE SINCE I STARTED THIS SEQUEL IS HERE...it's not the only one i'm excited for....BUT MAN THE TWO CHAPTER SET UP WAS KILLING ME!!!!!

I've been hiding the secret of one of my character sfor awhile now, only my editors knew...and one of them is still kinda against it BUT FUCK IT I'M DOING IT LIVE!!!

ANyways I hope you enjoyed this one. chapter 4 porobably won't be as long but i proimise it will still be as fun to read. i got a blog to show and tell you guys some other good news so check that out, but i'll give you a sneak peek ...I'M GETTING FANART OF THE KIDS IN THIS STORY!!!!

As always thank to my editors: Flintlock Spark, Baron Charles, Swift Gale, And Trixie Show. you guys keep my sanity in check, you're the best