Patiently awaiting for the hour to pass, it had finally come at the beginning of lunch. Usually, missing a meal would be a big deal for me, but this was slightly more important. To me, Grim was probably one of ‘those’ ponies, the ones who would sit alone, probably thinking they were better than everypony else.

The walk through the halls and out the school’s doors had been a fairly lonely one, seeing as most ponies were probably in the cafeteria. Unlike that first day, which this almost felt like, there was a bit more chatter echoing throughout the school’s corridors, so it only felt somewhat empty rather than completely deserted.

Can’t say I’m not grateful for the peace and quiet, Joy said, relaxing on top of my mane. Don’t want any unwanted attention, now do we? 

Ha, no thanks, I replied, exiting the school. But, I still want to teach this guy a thing or two. Under the shaded roof supported by rounded pillars, I watched the concrete, square courtyard with its perimeter surrounded by a sea of grass, with only a straight, wide path leading to the school’s gates. All of this, yet nopony in sight.

Ha! He wussed out. Probably scared! Kill laughed by my ears as I grunted, walking to the left sided end of the courtyard. Oh the irony! Hahahaha, a pony as ‘menacing’ as himself is scared of a little fight?

Let’s just wait a couple minutes, Joy suggested. And to that, I agreed. It would have been somewhat rude if we accepted his invitation and didn’t show up, wouldn’t it?

Resting on the concrete surface, I patiently waited for the unicorn as I stared at the school’s blue doors. Seconds growing into minutes, my patience deterred as the unforgiving heat of Celestia’s sun beat down upon my back. And as an added bonus, the floor wasn’t very comfortable either.

Maybe if I just close my eyes and sleep...time will probably move faster...

---

Ping! My ears cocked up at the abrupt tone. Lazily opening my eyes, I squinted through the sheer brightness of the sun to find the pony I’ve been waiting for.

“Sorry I took so long,” Grim apologized, literally talking down to me. “I was merely getting lunch.”

With my usual baffled morning expression, I endured the pain of Celestia’s torture against my irises as I glanced toward the sun to get a sense of the passage of time. “IT TOOK YOU TWO HOURS TO EAT?! WHAT KIND OF STALLION ARE YOU?!”

“The kind who takes his time and savors his food,” Grim retorted. “As well as the kind that... well, that gets to the lunchroom too late and has to wait out a massive line.”

Standing back up on all fours, I rolled my eyes with a bent head before looking directly into the pony’s red shades. “So, how are we actually going to start?” I asked, curiously. “It’s not like we have a referee or a ring.”

Shifting his view between both ends of the courtyard, Grim then watched me and ordered, “You go to the left, and I to the right. I will say ‘go,’ and then we begin. Understood?” I nodded. “Good. Best of luck,” he wished, as we both turned to our respective ends of the field. “You’ll need it.”

Ears twitching at the low whisper, I pivoted on my forelegs, releasing a hard buck from both my hind once reaching the full swing of one hundred and eighty degrees. I had hit...nothing.

WHAT?! Kill shouted, looking at a small cloud of green smoke as it dispersed through the air. WE MISSED!

Over there, Graze! Joy pointed out to the stallion, halfway across the field. Facing front once again and returning to my idle stance, I kept a close eye on Grim, who had a smirk on his face. This isn’t going to be easy. He was prepared for that.

“Looking for somepony?” Grim laughed, never once taking his eyes off me. “C’mon, Graze, there’s a spot right here for you!” he taunted, rubbing his cheek with a hoof.

That mother bucker is mine! Kill shouted, as his unchecked, uncontrolled rage flowed through my body. He was once again in control. Let me handle this, Graze.

A slow trot accelerating to a faster gallop, I dashed forward, spreading my wings over the land as I glided towards Grim, pitching dust and dirt as I flew with a trail red and white behind me. Closing in on him, I bucked my two forehooves together, releasing the first shot mere inches away from Grim’s face.

The last thing I saw was a smile on his face, one of pure smugness, as he teleported once more through that same cloud once again. I’m not letting him go that easily! Kill shouted as his eyes scanned the area. Over there! To your right!

---

In the backgrounds, within the shade of the school’s roof, Mr. Charge watched as the two students went at it, including myself as I repeated the same process over and over again.

“Hello, Mr. Charge, what are you doing?” Vinetion asked, appearing from the school’s doors, as curiosity got the better of her as to why her teacher was outside...and then, she saw the fight. “IS THAT GR-”

“Shhh! Yes, those are Graze and Grim,” Charge hushed the mare, quickly pulling her behind the pillars as he covered her mouth.

“Why are they fighting?” She asked, once Charge released the grip.

“I thought you’d have known since you’re his friend... I guess that’s for me to find out later,” Charge replied, once again taking a peek behind the pillars.

“So, who’s winning?” Vinetion asked, following her teacher’s motion.

“Nopony yet, but Grim is giving Graze one hell of a hard time. He keeps teleporting once Graze is in range, and Graze keeps falling for it.”

“It almost looks like... Grim is making him go around in circles,” the olive pegasus pointed out.

---

Every single one of my attempts to hit the stallion ended in the same result: him teleporting away, only a puff of smoke in his place. It was futile. The process had repeated itself so many times that the entire field was covered in green smog. It couldn’t have been anything dangerous to breathe in, or I’d most likely not still be standing. At worst, it was difficult to see through.

“You’re just a pegasus, Graze,” his voice called out through the thick smoke. “C’mon, flap those wings and muster up a nice gust. Come find me, I beg of you.”

Gritting my teeth, I stomped my forehooves in unison with a mighty flap of my wings, creating a gust big enough to clear the area of smoke. “HA! I... I... crap, I fell for your trap, didn’t I?” I stuttered in realization, surrounded by a small army of Grim’s.

“Of course you have,” one of the many spoke, coming out from the circle. Probably the real one.

Mark that one, Joy, I ordered, staring at the supposedly genuine Grim.

You’ve got it, vessel, he replied, saluting a hoof.

“This is why I’ve said you’ve already lost,” Grim began his speech. Oh yes, one of those infamous speeches where he explains my flaws and why I’m about to lose. “You just head into battle without a plan, and thus, you will always fail.” Knew it. “Do you, a pegasus, really expect to win against me, a unicorn? You’re outmatched by nature itself. All you can do is, what, fly?” Grim laughed as he explained, trotting amongst the many magical clones of him. “As for me, I have an arsenal of spells at my disposal, each more lethal than the last. Who do you really expect to win? The pegasus, or the unicorn?”

From gritted teeth, clenching on each other, I opened my mouth to answer, but was quickly hushed as he threw out his hoof. “No, don’t answer back. Let me show you,” he said, disturbingly smiling, as his horn and the many others glowed brightly of a sickly green. “You lose.”

From the background, Mr. Charge and Vine watched as the beams scattered throughout the battlefield. “GRAZE!” Vinetion shouted, galloping towards the courtyard, but was stopped by the wings of Mr. Charge, obstructing her path. “What are you doing?! He’s getting murdered out there!” She exaggerated, watching the onslaught from behind and over his wings.

“Just watch. This is not your fight,” Mr. Charge calmly said, observing each detail of the battle, especially of those the beams made, pitching clouds of dust and dirt in the air. “You really should have more faith in your friends,” he smiled at the olive mare.

“Wow, that really is creepy,” she mumbled under her breath, bringing her attention back to the fight.

“Enough!”the two heard Grim command, putting a halt to each clone’s attack. Walking through the cloud of dust, he coughed, waving his hoof as he parted the dust from his sight, wanting to see the body in defeat. Nothing. Nothing was there except for the contrasting outline of a pony within the scorched shots marking the concrete floor. “WHAT?!” he shouted in disbelief. “Where is he?!”

“Try looking up, buddy,” I said, relaxing on my back as my wings kept me afloat. “You know, the thing about pegasi is that we can fly, and we can fly fast. I’m sure you knew that already, right?” I mocked the shaded pony.

WOOO! We’re back in the game! Kill shouted, pumping his hoof.

Even though we were never out, we still took a few hits trying to fake our defeat, Joy pointed out. Nevertheless, it’s just a few scrapes and bruises. We can still win this!

“I will not be made to look like some sort of foal, especially not by you,” he snorted, he and his clones taking aim at me.

“A foal, you say? Like this?” I stuck my tongue out, wildly shaking my head as I blurted out some kind of noise one can only do with their mouth open and tongue out. Yes, that’s right, Grim, I’m pissing you off and there’s nothing you can do about it.

“Everpony, fire at will!” Grim shouted, venting his fury at my persistent mocking as he endlessly continued his barrage. Okay, maybe there was something he could’ve done.

All jokes aside... for now, I dashed through the air, quickly taking refuge behind a cloud I firmly placed my back against it as I occasionally snuck a peek at my assaulters. “Maybe you need to aim better, Grim!” I advised, poking my head out. Bzzt! A green projectile singed a tip of my mane. “Yeah, like that,” I said, hiding behind my cloud once more.  

“Clear every cloud in the sky if you have to!” Grim demanded, leading his small army as he continued his rapid fire spells. “Just keep your aim on his!” he exclaimed, pointing specifically to my cloud.

Taking cover behind the white fluff, which surprisingly endured, I felt the slight sting of the offensive spells through the cloud and upon my back. I watched as many others darted through, hitting other clouds as they disappeared with a poof, becoming nothing more.

---

Back on the surface, Vinetion and Charge watched the battle of land versus sky, the clouds slowly parting with each blast, except for one. Mine. “Wait a second, what’s going on?” Vine asked in confusion, looking at Mr. Charge. “How come Graze’s cloud isn’t going poof like the rest of them?”

“Oh, that’s quite simple,” he stated, keeping his eyes on the battle. “As I’ve said before, pegasi have the ability to touch and alter the shape of clouds at their will, and of course, you can’t change shape of what you can’t touch. Understand?”

“No, not really,” she said looking a bit more confused. “That doesn’t quite answer my question.”

“Okay,” Charge sighed, giving the mare his full attention. “A cloud to any other pony but a pegasus is just a mass of water vapor, and they can’t touch it. As for us, it’s treated like a solid. So once we touch it--”

“It becomes solid,” Vinetion said, finishing his sentence. “So basically, Graze is using it like a shield?”

“One that looks like it can hold up for a long time.”

---

“I don’t think it can hold up much longer!” I shouted, gritting my teeth as I endured the stings from Grim.

Hold up, Kill said, observing the environment. The clouds around us are getting DESTROYED, but ours is still fine.

Maybe we can use that to our advantage! Joy realized. If our cloud can take the assault, we can use it as a shield! All we have to do is bide our time until Grim wastes enough energy to have to give up on the clone spell AND the offensive spells!

SCREW THAT! Yeah, the shield thing works, but getting back into the fight should be our focus! The real Grim’s doing a crap job of hiding himself, so we just need to protect ourselves with the cloud, fly right up to him and knock him out!

It was a really difficult choice to make, but ultimately, I wanted to go for the faster approach, so I chose to take the fight back to Grim. Behind my barrier, I silently prayed to the princesses that this would work. “If I make it out of this alive... I am going to do victory laps to Tartarus and back!” I exclaimed to the heavens, ensuring they heard my prayer. “Are you ready, Joy?!”

I’m ready! The pony to my right nodded his head, facing forward at our enemies. Are you ready, Kill?

LET’S DO IT! Kill shouted, hanging over my shoulder and pumping his hoof. Not one of you is going to survive! He laughed, pointing at all the other ponies.

The single cloud Grim had paid so much attention to throughout the entire battle was now mobile. Not only moving, but, moving towards him. Fast. “What does that pegasus think he is doing?” Grim said to himself. “Everypony, hold your fire and wait for my signal for an all out attack,” he ordered with a smile. “He’s going to bring the fight to us.”

The cloud was approximately ten meters away. “Wait for it.”

Eight meters. “Wait.”

Five. “Keep steady.”

Three. “Get ready.”

One. “NOW!” The cloud made an immediate right turn but was quickly shot upon the instant it was within firing range.

Poof! the cloud disappeared with the first spell on contact with no pegasus behind it. Grim scowled at this show of deception. “I can’t believe I fell for that.”

Just as he finished his sentence, his cheek was kissed softly, like a mother would do her child. Unfortunately for him, I wasn’t his mother. I bucked him so hard that not only did he lose concentration of his spell, he was also sent flying a small distance, bouncing upon impact with the ground. “Told ya that cheek was mine,” I gloated, watching the lone, beaten unicorn on the floor. “By the way, I win.”

With a slow trot, I made my way towards the well-needed shade of the school’s outer roof. When I saw Mr. Charge and Vinetion, my slow trot turned into a gallop, as I wanted to over-excitedly ask them if they had seen the entire thing.

Sadly, I didn’t get that far. My left hind leg was caught, being held back by something almost... dead. That’s right, dead. The thing holding my hoof was the bones of another.

“No! I will not be made a foal of,” Grim shouted, trying his best to regain his balance on the other three hooves while kneeling on one of his forelegs. “ESPECIALLY NOT BY A HOTHEADED, GOOD-FOR-NOTHING PEGASUS LIKE YOU!” His red eye glared through a broken lens, filled with anger and hate.

“What is this?!” I demanded to know, tugging at the hoof slowly tightening its grip on mine.

“Oh, haven’t you been paying attention in Mr. Charge’s class? Magic is everywhere!” He laughed on his hindlegs, abruptly stopping with a serious expression. “Not even death can remove it. Remember, Graze? Magic cannot be destroyed, just manifested.”

“He can’t do that!” Vinetion shouted. “He’s not supposed to! No regular unicorn should be allowed to do that! That’s just wrong!”

“Of course I can,” Grim looked back to the two pegasi in the shade, unworried about the one in his trap. “I’m a Grave pony, born and raised in Everfree. It’s our speciality.”

“Hmph.” Charge snorted hot air.

“Is something wrong?” Vinetion asked out of curiosity.

The teacher stared off into blank space, hearing those words as they echoed through his mind. “No, I’m fine, Iv...Vinetion,” Charge said somewhat shakily, focusing on the battle where Grim was continuing his ongoing speech.

“Now, courtesy of the Grave ponies,” Grim said, his horn engulfed in al black flame. “I present you with the Necro-Flare spell. Oh yes, by the way, you lose.” Stomping his two forehooves, Grim released a stream of continuous black flames, widening as it progressed through the courtyard.

Well, guys, it was nice knowing you, Kill said, giving up. Just try not to scream like a wuss.

Immediately, before the flame had reached, I heard a whistle coming from Charge. “Cloud Chaser!” He shouted, looking up.

In a matter of seconds, a pegasus shot through the clouds, landing in the middle of the battlefield, extinguishing the black flame as it dispersed around the mantis-green, brown-jacketed pegasus. “Cloud Chaser, artist and weather pony, reporting for duty!” He stood firm with a smile on his face, as his long, straight black mane settled from the landing.

“Good job, Chaser,” Charge praised, walking out from the shade and patting his back. Chaser slouched in disgust as a response. “You two as well, Grim and Graze. You’ve done an excellent job. At least now I know you two can survive on your own.”

“What do you mean by that?” I asked.

“Well obviously, you guys seem like you can pretty much handle yourself,” Charge said, stomping on the bones, setting my hoof free. ““Let’s just say, that’s going to come in quite handy in a few weeks. I’d prepare myself for basically anything if I were you.”

“That’s never a good thing,” Chaser grabbed my attention, bending his head as he whispered to me. “AAAnd like that, he’s gone.”

“Who is?” Grim, Vine and I asked in unison.

“You don’t notice the Chimera-sized pony missing?” He chuckled, as we all now realized that Charge was gone.

Sneaky bastard. Kill nodded in approval.

“Wait, did you say you were an artist and the weather pony for this school?” Vinetion asked.

“Technically, just the weather pony for now. Art classes are supposed to start next semester, since the Principal and the budget are both pretty tight. But I can give classes during my free time to those willing,” he offered. “If you can bring me a few students, I’d be more than happy to bring this up to Shadow Mark.”

“I’ll try my best!” Vinetion assured the stallion, who smiled in return.

“Thank you, it means a lot. Also, I’m looking for a few pegasi that can help with the weather. Doing it alone will really cut down on my art time,” he announced, looking at me. “I saw you out there, and you weren’t half bad. Know your way around clouds, at least. What do ya say?”

Hmm. We do need to keep up with our studies, Joy contemplated. And I know Kill is a lazy bum, so he might not go for it. As much as we’ll need a job, I don’t know if we can afford to seek one out yet.

“The pay is good.”

Deal, Kill said without hesitation.

“I would be glad to, sir,” I accepted his offer.

“Woah, woah, don’t call me sir. I’m not as old as Charge. Never will be. Just call me Chaser,” he properly introduced himself, lending out his hoof to which I gladly shook.

“Wait, isn’t there already a pegasus named Cloudchaser? You know, Flitter’s twin sister?” Vinetion pointed out.

Chaser sighed. “We are pegasi. We live in clouds. We sometimes chase after clouds. Having “Cloud” and “Chaser” as your name isn’t all that rare. Let me just clear something up: her name is “Cloudchaser,” one word. Mine is “Cloud” and “Chaser,” two words. Plus, I’m older, so if anything, she stole the name from me.” The three of us just shook our heads. “Now that we’ve got that all cleared up, weather control with me starts the day after tomorrow. Cool?”

“Cool.” I nodded in agreement.

“Anything for you, Grim?”

“No thank you,” he kindly rejected. “I’m not exactly the artistic type. Also, I don’t have wings, so I’d be of no use to you on the weather team.”

“Alright, I think you guys should go, don’t want you all getting caught in the rain,” he warned, flapping his wings and hovering in midair. “Try not to catch a cold. Tomorrow, Graze, you and I are going to chat with Principal Shadow Mark.”

“See ya! Can’t wait to get started,” I waved off as he did too, soon disappearing into the clouds as, one after the other, they slowly changed from white to black.

I watched as Grim slowly made his way to the shade, leaving the rest of us behind. Speeding up to meet his pace, I caught up to the side of him. “Hey, uh, good match,” I said, lending out my hoof as he slowly walked passed it.

Wow, what a douche, Kill said, hovering above my shoulders.

We just hoofed him across the face. I don’t think anypony would be too happy with that, Joy pointed out.

And we took several of his shots all over our body! I think it’s fair, I fought back with my conscience, watching as Grim exited the courtyard.

“Wow, what a douche,” Vinetion stated, unknowingly repeating Kill’s statement. She then poked at my sore body.

“Hey! That’s tender!” I recoiled in pain.

“You do know Ditzy will not be the slightest bit pleased about this, right?” Vinetion warned as she slowly trotted off.

An eerie wind blew through my mane, and a bolt of lightning conveniently struck to express how badly screwed I was.

“Sorry! My bad, I accidentally bucked one,” I heard Chaser shout apologetically from the clouds. “Wasn’t too sure if it was ready or not!”

“Oh, buck me.”

Next Chapter: Chapter Five: Budget and Weather Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 32 Minutes