Stampede ULTRA!

By: Alycorn

 

Now, I have never claimed to be a smart human being.

 

I consider myself to be quite intelligent, and logical, but at the end of the day, I'm still human, and like any human, prone to error. That's what makes us human, after all.

 

Errare humanum est.

 

All this being said. Common sense is my superpower, and I wield it like a Power Sword wielding Space Marine standing in a pack of Orks. With brutal efficiency. Unfortunately, this does mean that I'm even more prone to slipping up and making a blatant mistake, because logical leaps aren't all that fucking logical, and no matter how common your common sense is, that doesn't change the fact that human beings are the height of irrationality.

 

We're chaotic beings at our cores. We have to be. The greatest survivors and adapters on the planet, throw any moderately educated human being out into the middle of nowhere with some basic supplies and they can survive. With a little time and practice they can survive anywhere, and even without all the basic supplies you'd hope to survive with.

 

If I remember, there's actually a show called 'Naked and Afraid' which is a survival competition where you literally start nude and with no gear in a random environment. Sure the film crew is on hand, to pull your carcass out if something goes wrong or if you beg to surrender, but there are people that -thrive- in that shit.

 

It's quite impressive to be honest. I don't think I could go that far, but I was a Eagle Scout. I know how to survive, and as long as I got my basics, I've got no doubt I could do so.

 

Now, surviving in a whole new culture?

 

That's a different story entirely.

 

"*Excuse me sir, are you alright? You fell quite a ways..."

 

I can only stare blankly at the busty blond with cow horns and let my head drop back into the small crater I've formed here upon arrival, and groan softly.

 

"Yep... tooootally peachy lady...."

 

Right, I could probably explain from the beginning about how I ended up falling almost skyscraper-high at speeds fast enough to crack and crater concrete, and also how I survived.

 

I blame the chaos noodle.

 

------------

 

"Finally... It's done!"

 

I groan and stretch, cracking my back in good cheer as I pump a fist, watching the thread update and grinning widely. Alycorn, the writefag! Saving the day with shitty fanfiction! About ponies! Woo!

 

I chuckle warmly, sitting back as I smile at the screen, even if I was cringing on the inside a bit. I'm glad I got the writing liquids moving again, get the gears greased in my head, you know? Still, that last story was bad.

 

Ok, no, it was competently written, but it was way too dark for my tastes.

 

"Who wants to be a villain anyway? Writing about being the bad guy is one thing but I just don't have it in me." I laugh to myself, shaking my head as I contemplate most of the morality systems. Most of these days I only do 'badguy' runs to 100% games if it's needed. Heck, I didn't even do the genocide run in Undertale.

 

I hate it when your [insert character here] can be good or bad. It just makes it really difficult to find them as a compelling character. And yeah, I'm not going to include Commander Shepard in that list, because being a Renegade is more anti-hero than out-and-out villain/bad guy.

 

Not like the Dishonored guy... seriously, the ways you can kill people? Brutal.

 

I hum a bit as I get out of my chair, getting meowed at by my cat for disturbing her from her nap on the back of of my chair as I make my way to the kitchen to get a drink, humming as I walk past the long snake-like body of the Draconequus primping in the mirror.

 

My new diet is going quite well, and I'm pretty proud of myself for that, I dropped my Blood Pressure from well into the 160's back down to normal human range, and cut sugar from my diet almost entiely, eating less than 1500 calories a day. I lost a bunch of weight, and I promised to myself I could have one soda a day. Grabbing the nice cold can of Mountain Dew from the fridge, I hum warmly as I crack the can open and take a nice long sip.

 

Yep, earned.

 

...

 

...

 

...

 

Holdupaminute.

 

I slowly swallow my drink as my mind catches up to me. I have apparently been sitting at my computer for too long because what the fuck was in my bathroom.

 

I slowly walk out from the kitchen, stepping around the island and slowly walking back into the hallway towards the bathroom, where a distinctly female voice is... is... whining?

 

"Ughhhhhhhh, this is the completely wrong shade! He's not gonna take me seriously at all! Stupid Pa, first times are serious business!" She whines as I step up next to the bathroom, noting the tail swishing back and forth in adjuration as the Draconequus continues to complain as she carefully does her makeup.

 

"Gotta hurry, he's gotta be almost done writing and then I can-" I try to step back at this point to avoid her swishing tail till she suddenly whips it and nails me right in the uprights, sending me crashing to the floor cradling the boys.

 

"EEP!"

 

"[Pain_Wheeze.exe]"

 

A sound not unlike a deflating balloon being pinched partially shut leaves me as I lay there, and the Draconequus is clutching her chest staring at me laying on the ground.

 

I do note in my pain that she appears to be anthro? I mean, in the way that only a Draconequus can, because she's got tits.

 

"Of course I have tits! Why is that something you'd notice?!"

 

I don't know, I'm not exactly thinking straight after hours of writing and being HOOFED IN THE FAMILY JEWELS!

 

A wet feeling presses into my arm and I can only hang my head and sigh as I try to pull myself together... my poor mountain dew.

 

"YOU STARTLED ME ASSHOLE!"

 

"YOU'RE IN MY HOUSE, BITCH!"

 

No prizes for guessing who said what as the Draconequus and I break down into a childish screaming match I shakily get off the ground with the assist of the nearby wall.

 

She huffs and stomps a coven-hooved foot down as she points menacingly at me.

 

"YOU WILL PAY FOR RUINING MY FIRST TIME!"

 

Everything stops as we stare at one another before I let out a quiet, pained sigh and lean against the wall, palming face.

 

"This is my life right now. I just got kicked in the balls by a mythical creature that is now swearing at me for ruining her first time, and isn't -that- something."

 

This seems to be a sobering moment both for myself and for the Draconequus, who looks fairly embarrassed before she coughs into a paw. "Yeah... yeah, you're right, I'm sorry, can we... try again?"

 

I shrug. "If it gives me more time to recover feeling in my lower body, sure."

 

"Great. Greetings, Human! I am the almighty ERIS! I have come to bring joy into your drudgery!" The now-named Eris says, curling through the air as she lifts off from the ground, posing.

 

"... Wooo... Such joy..."

 

She huffs, pouting a bit before she settles back to the ground. "Now, I have come to ask-"

 

"No, I don't want to go to Equestria." I say flatly, catching her completely off guard.

 

"What."

 

I savor the baffled look as I finally am able to stand up straight. "Look, you're here to whisk me off to another universe or turn me into something that isn't a human right? And you were about to say 'ask if you want to go to Equestria.' You're a Draconequus, which means you come from the MLP:FiM universe, which means that you're going to either turn me into a pony or drop me in Equestria for your own amusement, because humans are interesting and chaotic."

 

Her jaw drops... literally off of her face, that's weird. She reaches down and grabs it, picking it back up and slapping it into her face. "Jeeze, Uncle D told me you Humans were something else, but that's -literally- something else. How'd you figure that so fast?"

 

"I'm a write-fag. I've written it enough times that I have to have some kind of Genre Savviness at this point in time." I shrug, musing idly before picking a random direction to glare at, hoping it's the equivalent of glaring at the 'narrators camera'.

 

"That being said, whichever one of you fucks is writing this- I hope you get yours, asshole."

 

Multiverse Theory is a -bitch-, me. Good luck.

 

Eris looks a little baffled but also faintly amused, as she finally seems to regain a bit of her equilibrium. "Well, at the very least you're interesting... well, fine, no Equestria then. But I don't want to just let you loose around here as a pony. It's a little overdone at this point."

 

She hums, her lower body idly walking back and forth as she rubs her chin. You know, I wonder what kind of magic just lets you have the Bara-Bara Fruit... or you know, they are kinda lizard-based, maybe she's more like that one girl from My He-"ERO ACADAMIA! That's perfect!"

 

Eris snapped back together again as she snapped her fingers in a lightbulb moment, and I'm only able to blink at her in confusion as she looks at me wildly with a wicked ring.

 

"Hold on to your pants boy, you're about to go for a ride! Mind the drop!"

 

"What dro-"

 

You ever seen one of those cartoon holes before?

 

Yeah, she literally pulled one out of her tits and slapped it down under my feet as I was speaking and there's this single, idle moment of true clarity as I stare at her, hanging in the air.

 

"-op..."

 

"..." She stares back as I hang there, and I slowly take a breath and let it out as I take one last shaky sip of my Mountain Dew.

 

"I hate cartoon physics."

 

Rule #1 of Cartoon Physics, as described by the lovely teachers from Tiny Toons- Gravity doesn't apply till you look down.

 

Which of course, I just did.

 

All I can see is a skyline reaching up at me as Gravity asserts itself and I zip down at terminal velocity, because of course that's how it works in cartoons, even as I bellow in surprise.

 

"YEAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHHOOOOOOOOIIIIIIIIIIIIII"

 

"ENJOY THE FALL! I'll see you later cutie!" Eris calls down the hole before picking it up and stuffing it back into her tits, winking at the audience. "What? He might be rude but he's -very- chaotic. I like that! The clever ones are always more fun! Seeya sweeties, maybe really soon~<3"

 

With that the Dragonequus exits stage left, and our focus on the real world ends.

 

Lets check in on our protagonist, shall we?

 

-----------

 

"Thisisprobablythemostclichedthingthat'severhappenedtomeandyetIcanunderstandwhatI'msayingIthoughtyoucouldn'tdothatwhilefallingatterminalveolicityOHMYGOD I'M GONNA DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE!"

 

Suffice to say, he isn't doing to well folks... Then again, considering we started this story with him yamcha'd into the ground, you can understand why that is.

 

I knew I was panicking, but to be fair, you would be too. At this point in time, the only realization that was keeping me from full on giving up on life was the knowledge that most ROBs, that is to say, Random Omnipotent Being, usually wanted their new chew-toy to survive long enough to actually get to the interesting part of the story. That was basically my only chance at survival at this point minus spontaneously growing wings.

 

Which, I'll admit, I did try outright. But nope, no random transformations here. I pushed for it and prayed, but not a single feather.

 

Shame, being a pegasus would have been neat, but even this sobering moment of clarity meant nothing when the ground suddenly rushed up to meet me with the world-shaking slam that only an Anime can depict properly.

 

Thankfully, it appears that the cartoon physics are still taking hold for the moment, and as mentioned, I'm currently laying in a crater of my own creation, big-horn lady mc cow-tits currently leaning over me and looking to see if I'm ok.

 

"Ya don't sound peachy there sugar." She says, looking concerned but also a little amused.

 

Meanwhile, I'm trying not to flip my shit. I've been fucking universenapped, and I'm currently being stared at by Cow Lady, one of the heroes from that one movie featuring young All Might.

 

Which means I'm in My Hero Academia.

 

I don't know shit about MHA. Well, ok, that's a lie, I know quite a bit. But all that I know about it is from Fanfiction.

 

Never had time to watch the show on it's own, and I read the first ten volumes of the Manga, but damn the MHA community is fucking dedicated.

 

And I'm not just talking about the perverts. Seriously, they're Teenagers people, what the fuck.

 

A few moments later, my mountain dew can bounces off my forehead, as if to add insult to injury as I sigh sadly at the loss of my sugary drink. "Just... just peachy."

 

--------

 

A few minutes later and one minotaur shift later from the horned cowlady and I'm pried out of my crater and sitting on a bench, being carefully looked over by a EMT as Cow Lady (no, really, that's her hero name,) is speaking to some Police Officers.

 

I tried to listen in, or at least focus enough to read lips, but the EMT was defiantly distracting me as she ran me through a battery of concussion checks. I was sitting up fine on my own, and I could even walk a bit, abet shakily, but she was marveling over the fact that beyond the minor concussion I got from impact, I seemed relatively fine.

 

I guess I'll have to thank Eris when I see her next for not outright killing me. "Alright sweetie, looks like you're just a little dazed, we'll take you over to the hospital to make sure you're fine. Can you tell me how to contact your parents?"

 

... Ah fuck, the concussion did screw that up for me. I had gotten to get a good look at myself post-crash landing via a mirrored shop window from one of the many skyscrapers in the city area I landed in, and one thing was made very, very clear to me.

 

I've been de-aged. And something in me had been altered. What it was, I didn't know yet, but I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that it was my Quirk.

 

To explain to the uninitiated, the MHA Earth timeline was completely thrown on it's axis when the first Quirk, yes, capital Q, appeared. A baby in china was born glowing... no, not with life, I mean literally glowing.

 

Humans starting springing up left, right, and center with mythical and fantastic powers, literal, true to life, superpowers.

 

I don't know enough of the details to go in depth, but the short version is this- roughly 80% of all humanity currently alive has a Quirk. They usually develop in a child and are expressed in some form between 4-5 years old, and can vary wildly, though they can express themselves earlier in physical appearance changes. They're classified in three ways- Emitters, quirks that express themselves in some shape or from by being produced from the human body. Superhuman strength, eye lasers, throwing fire from your hands, or performing psychic feats like telepathy, all of these count as Emitter-type Quirks.

 

The next is Transformation-type Quirks- these allow the user to change themselves in some way or form that completely alters how their biology works/add new functions/enhance those functions. This can be anything from being the Bara-Bara fruit, and being able to functionally fall-to-pieces and control those individual pieces, making your hands really big, and more! Seriously, Transformation-type Quirks are weird, because they can have a lot of traits of both of the other types, and are the rarest kind of Quirk.

 

And finally, Mutation-type Quirks. Honestly, these are probably the easiest to explain, but also the most batshit insane. These Quirks are abilities that cause the user a permanent "abnormality" directly related to their power. Mutant-type Quirks create bodily structures that grant the user more complex abilities that Emitter and Transformation Quirks cannot safely provide. Often times they will bestow prehensile appendages that the user can control or add structures to pre-existing limbs to enhance pre-existing abilities. Mutant-type Quirks even have the ability to channel certain aspects of their user through them in a similar manner to Emitter-type Quirks.

 

Confused yet? Good. The biggest thing to remember about Quirks is that they are, without a doubt, quirky.

 

And now that I'm being properly booed, let's talk about mine.

 

Or at least, what I can see of it so far.

 

At a glance, I look to be about 13-14 years old. Middle-school age in Japan, where I'm assuming I am due to the hiragana and katakana I see next to Latin/Roman alphabet. I remember it pretty well from my time stationed in Japan, though I'm apparently fluent in Japanese post-Eris, something else I'll have to thank her for.

 

Learning Japanese is stupid and I'd hate to try to struggle through learning it -again-.

 

Surprisingly, I look decently muscled, though I did note that I'm shorter than I was at 13-ish. I think. I grew up pretty tall, but right now I'm standing at about 5'2", maybe 5'4". I couldn't really get a good look at any colors, but there were three rather distinct features that I picked out very quickly while I was being carefully walked out of the street.

 

Two equine ears sitting promptly on my head, nestled into my hair, a thick tail swinging behind me with every step.

 

And a sharp looking unicorn's horn sitting square center of my forehead, pointing upwards.

 

Hence how I'm pretty sure I have a Quirk, and it's Eris's "fault".

 

Either way, I'm finally able to drag my focus onto the EMT again and slowly shake my head. "N-no ma'am."

 

My voice hasn't changed that much, thankfully, though it's a little... rounded out? I'm not really sure how to describe it. Like someone took my voice and tweaked it enough to make me sound rather fruity.

 

It means deep and strong in a pleasant way. Come on faggots, get your head out of the gutter.

 

Either way, even when I'm speaking softly, you can very clearly hear me, and I'm not gonna lie, I really like this new voice.

 

"Oh, you don't have a phone? Weird in this day and age, but it happens." The EMT says, looking a little surprised as she starts typing into a small computer in the back of the ambulance before I speak up again.

 

"No ma'am, I mean I don't have anyone you could contact. I'm an Orphan."

 

Aaaand the world pauses. Guess there is a downside to my new voice, because I've always been able to fill a room with my voice, or even a theater, but this new voice makes it really hard to not hear me when I'm actually raising my voice, even at normal speaking volume.

 

Clearly Cow Lady and the cops heard me and are now looking my way as the EMT stares at me, blinking in surprise before she frowns and sucks on her lower lip a bit before shaking her head.

 

"I'm sorry for bringing up bad memories young man. Damn villains..." The last part was muttered so quietly I almost didn't hear it and wouldn't be surprised if she hadn't meant to even say it out loud. These equine ears are great for picking up sounds like little satellite dishes on my head.

 

"Ok, um... shoot, how long have you been... on your own?" She says carefully, even as Cow Lady and the police start walking over.

 

"About a month, maybe two." I say, in my head yelling ten years since I moved out of my parents house.

 

"Alright, alright... Oh, Cow Lady-sama! I-" The EMT begins before she's cut off by Cow Lady crouching in front of where I'm sitting so we meet eye to eye. "You're on your own?"

 

Whelp, no point holding back now. "Yes ma'am."

 

She frowns before turning and speaking to the police again as the EMT sighs. "Well, at this point the hero-on-scene is your primary point of contact. Come on sweetie, we'll get you into the bed and sitting up."

 

The lady helps me up into the bed, and gently buckles me in, in case of accidents I assume, and that distraction keeps me from hearing the discussion between Cow Lady and the police again before she gently waves them off and steps into the Ambulance, nodding to the EMT who gently taps the door to the front cabin and closes the doors.

 

The Heroine signs softly as she looks at me, before giving me a sad half-smile. "So, I'm Cow Lady, as you heard. I'm an American Pro Hero! It's nice to meet you suga." She's doing her best to speak very proper Japanese, but she 100% sounds like a country girl, which is honestly pretty relaxing.

 

I give her a shy-ish smile in return. "It's nice to meet you ma'am... circumstances aside."

 

"No kiddin' sugar. How did you end up fallin' all the way anyhow?" She asks softly. She had asked me before, but I was in a bit of shock from -not- dying and I hadn't been able to answer her.

 

"I don't know... I was just trying to enjoy my drink..." I said, the concussion making it hard to focus, but I've had enough time to come up with my story. "I like being up high, it's freeing, but someone knocked me off the roof."

 

My smooth, pleasing, deep-toned voice makes it incredibly easy to sell a lie apparently, not that I need much effort to do so considering Cow Lady and the EMT looked sold on whatever I told them even before we started.

 

She gives me a sad smile, even as her hand clenches into a fist, drawing my eye. "What a horrible thing..." She says, her voice low before she sighs and shakes her head. "Not much we can do about it, but I can promise you're safe now Sugar. Did your Quirk save you from the fall? Yer not in any trouble if it did."

 

I frown. Good question, one I don't have an answer to. "I'm not sure? I don't really know a lot about my Quirk. Outside of my ears, tail and horn, I haven't really expressed a lot of abilities or anything. I just... well-"

 

"Look like a cute lil' unicorn~" Cow Lady coos, stars in her eyes as she looks at me, making me blink and sweat drop. Even realizing that I was doing an anime thing just reminded me of how weird it was that I was in an anime universe, but I mentally shook that particular freakout off to a later date.

 

"If you say so." I say noncommittally.

 

Cow Lady sighs and shakes the stars from her eyes. "Oh, I know young men don't like bein' called cute sugar, but you remind me of my daughter who is just the cyutest young thing. She wants to be a hero herself and she just -insisted- on coming to Japan to apply to UA!"

 

I blink, looking a bit more intently at Cow Lady. "She wants to go to Yūei too?"

 

Yes, I said too.

 

Look, whatever my Quirk is, there's one more thing about them I forgot to mention earlier- there is no such thing as a useless power, only a worthless user.

 

This is a lesson taken from One Piece (yeah yeah I know) that I've really taken to heart. Anyone, and I mean -anyone-, can be ridiculously powerful in some shape or form. It's a question being smart enough and determined enough to apply yourself to reach that powerful state.

 

You could be the strongest man alive and if you're lazy all that strength means shit-all if you fight someone who actually knows how to fight, even if they're significantly weaker than you. Aikido is a still greatly practiced martial art for a reason.

 

Cow Lady blinks at me and grins. "Oh-ho, you don't even know what your Quirk does and you wanna be a Hero?"

 

I scoff and cross my arms a bit, more of my normal self and personality bleeding through. "Of course. I'll figure out what my Quirk does eventually and I'll be a great hero! Even if I'm not the best, or the flashiest, I'll protect other people like..."

 

I deliberately pause and cut off my words before looking away and down with a grimace. Cow Lady's own grin drops off her face as she moves a bit closer and gently puts her hand on my leg in a comforting fashion. "I'm sure you'll make a great hero sugar. Tell ya what, we'll ask the doc once we've got ya in the hospital to run a check and see what they can dredge up. Maybe yer quirk-physicals has some answers."

 

Aaah crap. Now I've got to figure out a way to escape the hospital before people realize that I don't have any medical information.

 

This just isn't my day...

 

--------

 

"Alright son, just have a seat right there and we'll have your results back shortly. At the very least we can get a firm grasp on what your quirk-type." The Quirk Doctor says warmly as he steps out of the room, a nurse following behind with a tray full of small blood samples, some horn shavings which was by and far the most mind jarring thing I've ever experienced, and some 'mane and tail' samples.

 

I've been in the hospital for most of the day now, Cow Lady dutifully coming with me from station to station, looking more and more worried as we've moved on and the doctors keep coming to the realization that there is no medical information on me in the systems at all, much less information about my Quirk. Once Cow Lady had been informed, she had gotten me into a full Physical, which we finally had hit the tail-end of as I do my best not to squirm on the paper covered 'bed' and try to find a comfortable sitting position for me and my tail.

 

Which has been the hardest thing to get used to by far. Let me tell you, having that extra bit of bone and musculature that controls the dock of my tail and the tail itself makes finding ways to sit right an absolute nightmare. A lot of chairs have holes in them specifically for people with quirks that give them tails, but space in a hospital is a premium thing, and when the chairs are all pushed up against a wall, doesn't really matter that there's a hole in it for your tail.

 

Thankfully, if I lift my tail and let it arch upwards I can usually let it rest against the chair and it feels a bit more comfortable and keeps me from sitting on my tail or letting my tail brush against the floor, which sounds really, really disgusting. So yeah, I've been keeping my tail up as much as I can and have mentally promised myself to either look into braiding or at least getting a good trim to keep my tail off the floor when I'm relaxed.

 

Still haven't been able to get the best of looks at myself yet, but from other people's reactions to me so far and little coos and comments from the nurses about how 'I'm going to be such a little heartbreaker' and 'still looking for the pure girl little unicorn?'. Last one really caught me off guard considering I swear Japan doesn't really go for a lot of Eastern Mythology and Unicorns are about as European as you can get.

 

... Maybe she was Chinese...

 

A-anyway, apparently I'm bishi or kawaii or whatever the proper Japanese word is, which I've come to realize I'm auto-translating, which is really, really annoying. Especially because I've been learning some things, and one thing is that the English 'UA' translation is actually really, really accurate.

 

See, the Japanese word for 'Hero' is 'eiyuu', 英雄, which can be equated to 'AU' in English when pronounced. Yūei Highschool is literally just those kanji reversed. So, UA Highschool, which is what I'm going to call it from now on because fucking around with keyboard settings or doing copy-paste is annoying. Sound good? Good.

 

Seriously, there was apparently a major argument over that an- what? Oh, right, focus, focus. This concussion has really been throwing me off, and my mind has been wandering off a lot so far today, which isn't the worst thing as I'm fairly positive I've been able to dredge up enough information about the MHA world to keep myself on the straight and narrow or at least close enough to keep myself from being that weird.

 

Maybe just the weird foreigner. Like I said, I haven't been able to look in a mirror so I can't really tell you what I look like... then again, considering quirks, who really knows what any one nationality looks like anymore? I mean shit, look at All Might. He looks like the All American Male but he's Japanese!

 

Uuugh, damn it, focus, focus! I groan and idly grind a fist into the side of my head to try to center myself only to startle a bit when a hand gently rubs my back. A glance to the side shows Cow Lady shifted her seat over so she can sit next to me and she's giving me a sad smile.

 

"Heya sugar, it shouldn't be too much longer, we're just tryin' ta' make sure yer healthy." She says warmly, doing her best to conceal the little bit of worry she's feeling, but it's really, really obvious. I would swear I'm feeling her worry myself, and all I can do is give her a half smile. "It's... fine. I just know that that isn't all they're doing." I respond, earning a wince from her and a grimace from me.

 

She sighs, gently running a hand through her long blond hair even as she continues to gently rub my back, which I note that I'm leaning into a bit. It's really nice and feels rather comforting. "You're not wrong. We didn't find... well, anything about you." She says quietly after a few moments of deliberating before she decides to give it to me straight. "No records of vaccinations, no quirk information, not even a citizenship. You're a cute lil' unicorn shaped hole in the system sugar."

 

She looks back to me and gives me a sad smile. "We're doing our best but we need to be careful, not only for your sake, but also to make sure that we can get you into a good, safe home, with people that can actually look out for your needs. Having a quirk ya don't know much about is dangerous at the best of times, but-"

 

"- people are probably already weary because it's clear that I'm educated and knowledgeable, but there's zero to no record of me, which means in the most likely scenarios I'm either a dangerous runaway, or the child of a Villain." I finish, crossing my legs and my arms, feeling my head tilt on it's own as I look at Cow Lady, who grimaces and nods at my interruption and clearly accurate dissection of what has been going on in the background.

 

"I might have a bit of a headache from my concussion still ma'am, but I'm not an idiot, nor am I a kid anymore." I say firmly, trying and apparently failing to pout, which gets a giggle and a mussing of my hair and ears from the minotaur lady who stands up and steps in front of me before crouching a bit so she's below me in a comforting fashion and not looming over me.

 

"Lookit me sugar, ain't nobody sayin' yer stupid or treatin' you with kiddy gloves, but that don't change that all these things need to be done, not just for your sake, but for the sake of those around you. You know how dangerous villains can be." She says and then winces, as do I, as we both realize exactly how insensitive and possibly incredibly accurate that last sentence could be if I was the child of a villain.

 

She coughs and I let her move on, not particularly wanting to dive into that topic as she gives me a strong, bright smile. "No matter what happens, I promise we're gonna keep you safe. You told me you want to be a hero, right?"

 

I stare back at her and slowly smile as the idea that was a bit spur of the moment suffuses my very being. A hero... I think everyone wants to be a hero at some point or another. To be celebrated for acting, doing when nobody else can, or nobody else would. The glamor of it all. But being in the military, I've seen the sacrifice required to be a hero. The dedication required to give up your days, hours, minutes, blood, sweat, and tears to master yourself and to train your body to the point that you react without thinking.

 

If I have superpowers, is it not my duty to use them to help others? With Great Power, right? Maybe I don't have the best reasons, but my whole life before this moment was already dedicated to keeping other's safe. This time it's just without a rifle in my hands.

 

"Yes. I am going to be a Hero!" I say firmly with a bright smile on my face, which makes Cow Lady smile back before she stands up and gives me a hug. I was startled for a moment but eventually I hugged her back before she sat back down and let the moment settle, a nice, comfortable silence surrounding us as we waited for the Doctor to return.

 

----------

 

I'm turned around, staring at my tail as it flicks from side to side when the door to the room opens and I jolt a bit, looking back as the Doctor returns with a rather large file in his hands and a smile on his face. "Ah, good, I'm glad you're not sleeping even if you are resting, young man. You should continue to rest for another few hours before you sleep to let your concussion heal."

 

Cow Lady smiles as she puts the book she pulled from -somewhere- away. Seriously, does everyone just have hammerspace available to them or what? "Hello Doc, how's our boy?" She questions, standing up and stretching for a moment which makes me blink and blush because lord bless, I completely forgot that every single woman in this series is just about a 8/10 at -minimum-. I do my best to look away only to look at Doc and get a knowing grin in return, which makes me flush red.

 

Guh. Caught red-handed. Red-hooved. Whatever.

 

I cough and quickly try to get everyone back on track, staring at the Doctor as I try to force the blush away. "So, how are we looking Doctor?" I know it's not the most subtle redirection of the conversation, but the 'adults' in the room humor me as the Doctor opens up the file, and lets out a little hum. "Well, lets see here, Takashi-san..."

 

Ah, right, I should explain that. I panicked a little bit when I was asked about my name, especially with my 'having just cratered into concrete', and all I had to go on was that I looked like a Unicorn, had a horse's tail and ears, and that I wanted to be a hero and would probably need to learn to fight in my new body, which of course just lead me to a single name that I blurted out before I could maybe think it over a bit better. 'Ranma Takashi'.

 

Yeah, I know, terrible. Wild Horse Noble- and the gender-bending martial artist which, I have also discovered, is still very well known and quite popular even in 'weird timeline' MHA Japan. Seriously, I was laughed at which earned a pout before Cow Lady just pointed out how on the nose a name like 'Wild Horse' was considering how I looked. I at least was able to sheepishly admit that yeah, it was pretty on the nose, and a Unicorn is technically the most noble of horses...

 

Either way, the Doctor has been rambling for a moment so I should probably try to pay attention to him. "-and while your blood pressure, resting heart rate, and body temperature is higher than standard, considering the advanced musculature of your body, seeming quite similar to equestrian musculature particularly in your legs, I'm not surprised." He says, holding up some pictures and a chart for me and Cow Lady to see.

 

She is nodding along, as if all of this is normal, which I can very clearly see isn't, or at least, isn't for me, but hey, new body, new rules and all of that. Which, again, is very fitting considering where I took inspiration for my name...

 

"Now, lets talk about your Quirk itself." The Doctor says, pulling out another chart. "As you can see here, you have a very, very strong and noticeable Quirk Factor. One could even say it looks like it's trying to show itself off." He chuckles, gesturing a bit. "From the genetic markers, we can determine that you've got a Hybrid-type Quirk, we're assuming at this point a very prominent emission-style quirk and a transformation-type. Do you know what quirks your parents had?"

 

I frown and shake my head no, earning an understanding nod from the Doctor who points at the charts again, explaining in the simplest terms that according to what they can see of my genetics that my quirk is most likely rather different from what either of my parents, that is, if they could even find my parents who probably don't exist in this universe anyway. "In short, you've got quite the quirk young man, and I recommend that you take Quirk Counseling in order to properly learn how to use it. We're fairly positive that the emitted portion of your quirk is mentally based, some sort of... empathetic link to those around you? It will need some experimentation, and it's somehow linked to the transformative portion of your quirk. Make no mistake, it's all one quirk, but the markers are just -fascinating-."

 

I blink at the deluge of information before Cow Lady gently wraps an arm around my shoulders. "Beyond that, healthy as a colt should be there Doc?" She says as she gives me a little hug, earning a smile from me and a nod from the Doctor. "Yes miss Cow Lady, he's healthy and I have his discard papers right here."

 

"Excellent. I'll take it from here Doc. Could I get a copy of his quirk work to take to the councilors? We'll worry about getting it properly registered once we figure out what it actually does." She comments idly as the Doctor hands over a copy of my paperwork, even as I'm staring at her from the gentle one armed hug. She's saying 'we' a lot.

 

A few minutes later and we're walking out of the Hospital, and Cow Lady has turned fully to our escort, a single police officer who spent some of the time between my physicals and tests to question me about my fall. "Thank you for your help Officer Jūyōde. If you need anything else, please let me know and I'll make sure Takashi will be available." She informs the officer with a bow, who bows back politely and courteously offers Cow Lady another folder. "Of course Cow Lady, here, this is Takashi's paperwork. If you have any other questions, his caseworker should be available to you and his number is in the folder."

 

I'm a bit confused, but Cow Lady just gently herds me with one hand while giving a polite, if dismissive, goodbye to the officer before she walks me into the parking lot, humming to herself as she finally steps up to a car I can only gape at in surprise, mostly because it's a vehicle I absolutely wouldn't expect to see still riding the road, much less the roads of Japan, in the 2140's. A 1991 Dodge Dakota Sport, in the original powder blue, that looks meticulously well maintained. I can only stare before a little nudge and a grin from Cow Lady starts me back into motion as I walk towards the small truck that once was my own. "She's a cutie innit she? I got her from my parents when I started goin' to Highschool from mah Farm in Texas. It was a bit of a drive every day but she's always been the reliable type, even if I had to basically build her from the ground up."

 

The Minotaur hero is puffed up in obvious pride as I admire the hard-working truck. Sure, it wasn't a massive pick up truck, but this was the truck that not only got me from point A to point B in the military many a times, but survived four trips across the entirety of the United States and even hauled literally everything I owned once. This is by and far my favorite car-sized truck, and Cow Lady owns one?!

 

She gets me into the truck, which I note has a few modifications made to it, in particular a hole for my tail which allows me to fully and comfortably sit in the seat to which I sigh in relief as I settle in and buckle up. The Heroine comes around the other side of the truck while talking into a smartphone. "Yes darlin' I'm on my way home. Patrol went fine Sugar, just met someone special today. No, I think you'll like him. Yes I'm bringing work home with me, but he needs our help. Uh-huh. Really. And he was doing that while you were in class?"

 

Cow Lady starts up the truck and starts pulling out of the parking lot even as my ears swivel and focus on her as I listen to the conversation. I can pick up a female voice on the other side of the line that's younger than Cow Lady but not much else, not that I'm really trying to listen in. "Well, if he does it again, just hoof 'em between the legs like I taught ya darlin'.... well, if he's that short then it should launch 'em a good distance." She chuckles, and I can hear giggling on the other side. "Alright mah little Pony, you get some of the fixin's out and we'll get ourselves a dinner on once I get home. Make sure you don't leave nothin' scattered about, we're gonna have company. Ok. I love you sweetie, see you soon."

 

Cow Lady hangs up and puts her phone aside as she pulls up to the road out from the hospital and focuses on the road, even as I look at her curiously. She chuckles, not even looking at me as she says, "My Daughter, Pony. She's a darlin', you'll probably like her."

 

I hum contemplatively before I jolt a little. "Wait, you're taking me to your home?"

 

She laughs, nodding even as she takes off her Orange visor/sunglasses for a moment to let me see green eyes as she winks at me. "Of course! You seem pretty smart and self-sufficient Ranma, but yer' still only 14. You'll need to stay somewhere till they decide if you need to be sent to a foster home or into the system."

 

The grimace on my face earns a nod from Cow Lady as she focuses on the road again. "Yeah, my thought's exactly. Besides, if you're plannin' on going to UA, then I'm sure you can work something out with the school. This way you've got a place to stay that ain't too far away, after all, you're already in Musutafu!" She says warmly. "I'm a certified child minder/foster parent so you're more than welcome to stay anyway. Oh, and before I forget, I'm Tauren, Tsunotori Tauren!"

 

With that introduction, I was finally underway. This was only the beginning of my story, and how I became one of the greatest generation of Heroes.

 

Of course, before that... I had to survive High School.

 

--------------

 

So. Maybe it's just me, or maybe it's just the way that MHA Japan turned out, but wow these roads are super American. Like, it's weird. There's so much space on the roads, and I remember from my time in Japan the roads being very tight and needing a compact vehicle to drive on them properly. Very space-conscious due to Japan being a Island with a loooooooot of people. Considering the amount of skyscrapers around here and the verticality of Musutafu on the whole, I'm guessing the wider roads is an artifact of the early generation of Quirks and when All for One ruled the world, or at least, the underworld. It's actually kinda fascinating, because you see this weird mishmash of American roads and designs, and then distinctly Japanese side roads, alleyways, and neighborhoods. If you ever needed proof positive of someone's having great personal wealth, them having their own house in Japan in a major city is a great indicator.

 

And as we pulled through the auto opening gate into a small yard and driveway before Cow Lady parked, I can confirm- being a pro hero of any kind pays REALLY, REALLY WELL. Like damn. It's a traditional Japanese house with the 'Americanized' addon of a Garage. She pulls inside and parks, and there's plenty of space on either side of the truck to open the doors. I marvel quietly as she leads me into the house, my ears perking up at the sound of hooves on wood even as I take my shoes off.

 

"Mooooooooooommmaaaaaaaa!" Is all the warning that we're given beyond the rushing hooves before a mini-ballistic missile slams into Cow Lady amidrifts, which she catches with well practiced grace as I'm treated to the first sight of a character that I remember quite well from the show simply due to her nature as a living MLP reference and adorable girl all around- Pony Tsunotori, the now-identified daughter of Tauren Tsunotori, Pro Hero Cow Lady. And goodness she's cute in real life.

 

I mean, seriously, she's got a cute little muzzle, big expressive blue eyes, and shiny, well cared for golden hair. And on top of all of that, she's got this spunky energy that just screams 'bubbly'. It's honestly rather invigorating. I'm smiling warmly, and I feel like I could float off. Huh, Tauren and Pony are staring at me now. Wonder what that's about?

 

"Ranma? Ranma sugar, you need to reign in your quirk a tich." Tauren says. My quirk? What in the world is she talking about. "Bwuh?" I murmur, a bit dazed and confused as Pony steps up to me and starts lightly poking my horn. "Momma's right, yer' glowin' brighter than a firefly on the fourth of Jew-laigh." Pony says, a bit of uncertainty and confusion fogging the bright, bubbly feelings I was feeling. Then I notice the bright light shining from my horn and blink a few times.

 

"Ah... I-I guess that's the empathy part of my Quirk?" I say, still a little dazed as Tauren carefully takes me by the shoulders and guides me into the house before sitting me down on a couch. I look around what appears to me to be a living room. "Right, it's probably the concussion as well, you aren't used to controlling it or haven't needed to. Sit down hon, just take deep breaths, you're just feelin' a lot of emotion all at once." Tauren says calmly as she sets her shades aside and looks me straight in the eyes.

 

"Ah'm gonna lead ya through a breathin' exercise, ok sugar? When I breath in, I want you to breath in." She says, taking one of my hands and gently placing it on my chest before covering it with hers before she takes a slow, deep breath, which I follow. "In... and out." We breath out together, and she leads me through that a few more times till the bubbly, excited feeling, and concerned feelings fade away.

 

Tauren smiles at me as I blink away the feelings that I now firmly realize weren't mine, and gently pets my head and ears. "That's a good colt. We'll have to keep n' eye on that and help you while we're training. My darlin' girl wasn't jokin' when she was talkin' about how brightly that horn of yours was glowin'. Somethin' to add to the list." Tauren murmurs to herself before she stands up straight and turns to Pony, who is fretting a bit at the edge of the living room near what I realize now is a kitchenette island that separates the living room from the kitchen/dinner room. "Come on over and meet Ranma honey, it's alright, he's just fixin' to figure out his quirk is all."

 

"Umh! Ok Momma." Pony clip-clops her way closer, the sound muffling as she steps into the carpeted living room before she sits on the other part of the couch, which forms an L in front of a very nice looking TV and coffee table. "I'm Pony! It's very nice to meet you Ranma-kun!" She says with a bright smile, and I can help but smile back even as I softly wave a hand.

 

"It's fine, please, just call me Ranma, I'm American like you, so no need for suffixes with me." I say, Pony letting out a relieved sigh even as Tauren laughs a little bit. "Aw, ya'll should practice with it though, your Japanese is fantastic Ranma and your English is great but I'm sure you'll want to avoid steppin' on any sensibilities while you're at UA!"

 

"So what's your quirk Ranma?" Pony asks, tilting her head. "I got a modified version of Momma's horns. I can't really turn into anything, the doctor said ah had a mutation that gave me mah hooves n' strong body, but mah horns can be launched! I can control three of 'em right now, and it's really neat!"

 

I blink at the information before I rub the back of my head and Taruen pats my back comfortably. "Our cute unicorn here is a Hybrid-Quirk. He's got some kind of Empathetic power and a transformation power, but he don't know his own quirk yet." Tauren frowns softly as she looks at Pony, obviously trying to work out what to tell her.

 

I decide to take that particular bit of information out of her hands and just lay the cards down. I got a gut feeling that Pony can be trusted... after all, her Mom is a pro hero, and I'm apparently going to be living here for a bit. "I'm an orphan, and my... parents, were villain." I finally say flatly, looking away. Pony lets out a little gasp as Tauren sighs softly, gently hanging her head and resting it in a hand. "Thank you Ranma... not particularly a confirmation I was looking for tonight."

 

Tauren's slightly sarcastic tone of voice earns a little snigger out of me even as I look to her. "I mean, I don't really know anything about either of them. Honestly I might as well have been raised by the alleyways and the half-way houses I sometimes was in and out of in America before we came to Japan." I said, crafting my background as I rub the back of my head again. Jeeze, better try to kill that habit as soon as possible. "I mean, sure, they pushed for my education, but outside of that and a bit of combat training, they either weren't around or were trying to get rid of me."

 

Pony's eyes shimmer as she tucks both of her fists under her face as she looks at me, as if she's trying desperately to hold herself back from giving me the hugging of a lifetime even as Tauren just nods to herself, as if confirming that she had it figured out after her bit of theorycrafting in the hospital. Which is where I got the idea, really, and to be fair, I wasn't lying -that- much, considering that my 'mother' in this universe would technically be Eris, and as she universenapped me, she does qualify as a Villain.

 

"So between that, moving around a lot, and trying to keep myself sane and safe, I never really had time to figure out my Quirk." I finish explaining. I don't feel great about lying, but the real answer as to who I am and where I'm from is just way too much to lay down tonight. I'll explain it. Eventually. Maybe. When I know for sure they won't call me insane and kick me to the curb.

 

Pony bows to me, shaking her head a bit. "I'm so sorry Ranma, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable!" I blink at that before frantically waving my hands. "N-no, no! Not at all! It's not your fault Pony, I just wanted to make sure you were both properly informed! It's not like my sperm-and-egg donors are going to come back for me anyway."

 

Pony comes up and gives me a hug as Tauren sighs before standing up and clapping her hands, obviously looking to change the subject. "Alright sugar, I'm sure you haven't had a real meal in a while, so let's get you some grub. I'm thinkin' Steak n' eggs!"

 

I perk up a bit at that, a smile on my face as I feel my tail flick in a bit of excitement, earning a giggle from Pony when the long silky hairs come around and brush her arm. "That sounds great Ms. Tsunotori." Only to blink in surprise when suddenly Tauren is back in front of me, leaning forwards and holding a finger up.

 

"None of that now, you're family right now Ranma, so you either call me Tauren or Momma, ma'am if you don't feel that comfortable yet." Tauren says, making me blink a few times at her finger, which she wagged once for emphasis before I look into her eyes, and nod.

 

Tauren smiles and claps her hands together. "Great! Now ah'm gonna go dress down and get outta this costume, and then we'll get started on dinner." Pony smiles brightly and hugs me a little tighter as Tauren turns and walks away. "I think Momma really likes you Ranma! Welcome home!"

 

Home... it's got a nice ring to it, I hope they'll forgive my lie.

 

---------

 

Several days pass as I start settling into my new life. No sign of Eris yet, but I'm pretty sure it's only a matter of time at this point. Taruen and Pony have been wonderful housemates, and I've learned a lot about them as we've had time to talk and get used to one another. Tauren is a very dedicated Hero, but she's actually gearing up to retire this year in fact, though she'll be part-timing as a Hero. She doesn't look it, nor does she act it, but she's about forty-five, having Pony rather late in her life to a husband who is out of the picture now.

 

Don't know the whole story behind that, nor am I planning on pressing about it anytime soon. Pony seems quite happy with just her Momma, and Tauren obviously feels the same way. There isn't any pictures or keepsakes of her husband/sperm donor for Pony, so I figure the wise move is to just let that particular dog lay.

 

Pony has gone to school a few times, and whole Tauren isn't on patrol, she's been with me at the house, leading me through several standard education tests for the Japanese school system. Understandably, my history knowledge is terrible, which she blames on my 'villain' parents, but everywhere else I'm more than capable of holding my own. The benefits of being a college graduate.

 

Today, we're going on an outing to a special Gym not too far from the Tsunotori household, and the Quirk Councilor. Or rather, the gym is the Councilor's office, and I'm dressed befitting a workout, in knee-length black basketball shorts with a special hole in them for my tail, and a black muscle shirt with a cartoon unicorn on it. A gift from Pony who said, "It's so cute! You have to wear it." So sure enough, here I am with said muscle shirt on, feeling a bit embarrassed even as I look at myself in the mirror.

 

Now that I've had a bit of time to get used to it, I can properly look at myself in the mirror and reconize that it's me. I've changed quite a lot from how I used to look, but Ranma Takashi IS HERE!

 

... Yeah, I'll leave that to All Might and Deku. Gotta figure out my own catchphrase when I start pushing to being a hero. Maybe there's a class on it? I bet there is, it's probably part of the Heroic Art/History course that The R Rated Hero, Midnight teaches at UA. Either way, I carefully run a hand through what I can confidently call my mane now before tying it up into a ponytail. My hair is just too long to put into the Ranma-Standard pigtail. Maybe I'll get a haircut, but in the meantime, the high-ish ponytail will do to make sure I don't get any of my mane in my face.

 

Honestly, I was surprised at the dark colors of my mane and tail when I finally got to look at them properly, almost jet black with bluing highlights, almost like Akane's hair just a shade darker. I inspect myself in the mirror, humming quietly to myself as I watch my tail give a little swish before it settles again, properly braided and tied down with Pony's assistance. Apparently she used to braid her hair all the time, and was excited I wanted to learn to keep my tail from brushing the ground. The leather straps were Tauren's contribution, to keep the braids tied down and to keep my tail weighted a bit to keep it from moving all over the place while I'm walking or running. I think the dark brown leather adds a nice little highlight, and I mentally add it as a possibility for my Hero Costume.

 

Beyond the obvious changes of my ears and tail, which match color to my mane, my horn is rather long and sharply pointed and I have the pricked finger to prove it. It's very sharp, and I'm pretty sure isn't made of keratin like Pony and Tauren's horns. At the moment, I'm dubbing it 'alicorn', much to my personal amusement and the bemusement of Tauren, even after I explained what alicorn meant and having to pull up a online dictionary to prove that yes, it is a real word, and while it refers to a winged unicorn now, it originally meant the horn of a unicorn. Unlike my mane and tail, it's pure white, gleaming almost, and it shines in the dark or even a bit in the light. Honestly, it's like having the 'Bishi sparkle' effect on all the time, though thankfully I'm told that you only really see the sparkles if you're looking at my horn dead on.

 

My horn aside, the other changes were rather embarrassing, even as I look at myself in the mirror. I'm pretty. There's no other word for it. A freakin' Bishōnen. Long, fluttery eyelashes, shining eyes of a rose tint that are big and expressive, though not quite as big and expressive as Pony's, a angled face that is soft and sharp at the same time, slim neck, and a wiry frame that while impressively muscled, it's all tone, no bulk. Honestly, if I picked the right clothes and applied a little make up, I could pretty easily pass for a girl, especially with my shiny, sleek mane and tail.

 

Thankfully below the waist is much less feminine. I was already pushing it a bit when I decided on Ranma as my name, but if I actually started switching genders like our favorite aquasexual, I'd probably flip my shit. I just... well, don't me wrong, I think it's kinda cool that I have an actual horsecock, but it's really, REALLY awkward.

 

Also, for some reason, my legs are really, really muscular. Like, I feel like if I kicked (read: bucked) a brick wall the wall would give before my legs even felt the strain. I remember that the Doctor mentioned it, but Tauren and I are still waiting for the rest of the lab results from the hospital for more information. I still have normal feet, but normal is pushing it a bit, and is really weird to explain, because while I have the normal human configuration of ten toes, my whole foot is ranforced, kind of? I really don't know how else to explain it, like I have hooves under my skin? It's weird, but my feet can withstand a lot of weight and pressure. Frankly I'm trying not to think about it because it's -weird-, but I did discover that I need actual hoof-trimmers to cut my toenails. That wasn't a fun thing to learn.

 

Anyway, I finish looking myself over in the mirror and deem I'm acceptable to step out into the gym proper from the locker room, where I'm waved over by Tauren, who gives me a big smile and a hug when I step over to her, even as I look around the gym.

 

For a indoor facility, it's very large, holding a quarter-mile rubberized track, and a large field settled inside of the track where all kinds of training equipment is set up for people to use, from free weights, to weight-sleighs, ropes, rowing machines, treadmills for some reason, a few bikes here and there, and a infinite ladder, along with much more baffling equipment like what appears to be a arcade punching machine, a series of punching bags, and what looks like an archery target, not that I see any bows.

 

"Alright Darlin', welcome to Cloud City! This is Doctor Shihan, one of the better renounced Quirk Councilors in Musutafu! He's also a physical education teacher at a few of the local Middle Schools." Tauren says, introducing me to a man who just jogged up to us from across the track, a bright smile on his face.

 

"Hello Tauren, good to see you again." He says with a smile, nodding to her and shaking her hand even as he looks at me with curiosity. "It's a pleasure to meet you young man, I was the Councilor who helped Pony understand her Quirk, and I'm very happy to be the one Tauren asked to assist you as well. I understand you have a Hybrid quirk?" He asks. I'm honestly kind of shocked at how... plain he looks. I mean, he looks almost exactly like a normal Japanese man... except that he's very physically fit. Like, damn, he's jacked. His tracksuit obviously fits him, but he also clearly enjoys showing off his hard work, and he's absolutely earned it.

 

"Yes, the Doctors said it's an Emitter and Transformative type, and Mi-" A glare stops me from finishing the 'miss' and I laugh awkwardly as I rub the back of my neck as I start again, "uh, Ma Tauren-" A nod from the Minotaur woman and a chuckle from the man puts a blush on my face as I continue, "-is pretty sure that the Emitter part of my quirk is some kind of telepathic empathy, or at least empathetic in nature. The Docs were pretty sure that it's tied to the transformative part of my quirk."

 

The Doctor hums quietly, walking around me as he rubs his chin, tilting it this way and that as he looks me over and nods a bit. "Alright Ranma, could you give me your hand please?" He asks, holding his hand out.

 

I blink, even as I take his hand in a firm handshake, earning a nod from from him as his eyes shift subtly, no longer looking normal as I feel my arm tingle a bit, as if I was experiencing pins and needles or my arm as a whole just fell asleep. "Not to worry Ranma, it's just my Quirk, Deep Analysis."

 

I can only blink in surprise when the world freezes and a infopanel falls in front of Doctor Shihan, and Present Mic starts talking from... somewhere. "Doctor Shihan Kaiseki, a well known and highly respected Quirk Councilor! Known for his unorthodox methods to push his patients to be as skilled with their quirks as possible, his greatest claim to fame was being the Councilor for the Pro Hero Edgeshot and helped him figure out his rather complex quirk! Much older than he looks. His Quirk, Deep Analysis, allows him to study someone else's quirk on a fundamental level as if he was using it himself. Sadly he can't pass this information on through his Quirk, but he doesn't run a Gym as part of his Counselling business for nothing! His step-brother, Naruzo Machio, taught him how to properly train people."

 

A few moments pass before everything times back and I do my best not to react as he hums before nodding to himself. "Well, you absolutely have a very interesting quirk Ranma. Let's go over the basics." Now that I know that he's apparently Machio's step-brother, suddenly the level of fitness makes even more sense, even as he leads me and Tauren over to a whiteboard, where he starts swiftly jotting down notes and general bulletpoints. I somehow doubt he's as fast as Izuku, but I'm still plenty impressed as he fills up one half of the board before capping the dry-erase marker. "Right! So, to begin with, your quirk in and of itself is absolutely an aberration. This is, of course, a good thing and a bad thing, as it's extraordinarily powerful, but with great amounts of power comes lots of little ways to make big mistakes, especially when it comes to part-mental abilities like yours." He begins, pacing in front of the white board before stepping to the side.

 

I frown at the board, reading the first few bullet points quickly. "... Friendship and positive emotions?" I can't help the little bit of amusement that creeps into my voice as he taps those two points with his capped marker. "Absolutely correct Ranma-kun! On top of that, psyonic energy projection and some kind of telekinesis." The good Doc says as he taps down the points on the board before I sigh and let out a little laugh. "So what you're saying is that my Quirk is powered by Magic and Friendship?"

 

"A little simplified but essentially, yes."

 

Of course at that point Tauren breaks down in giggling laughter as I cross my arms and pout a little bit. "Oh mah gawd sugar, ye'r just like one of them pony sets from when I was a lil' girl! It's what I used to call mah darlin'." I sigh. "My Little Pony?"

 

The continued laughter is my only answer as I sigh in amusement. Of course Tauren grew up playing with My Little Pony dolls. Of course that's a thing in this universe. "Ah-hem. Anyway, what what I can tell what you need to do to get the most out of your power is go out and make friends, or at least close bonds, with others. Even a simple empathetic bond will empower you, and the more and deeper bonds of friendship, rivalry, and companionship you have with others, the more powerful the rest of your abilities become." Doc Shihan explains, tapping the board again. "The dangerous part is more to you than to anyone else, though you can share your emotional states, you can be overwhelmed by too much of any single emotional feeling, which will make you act out of character."

 

"Or make me love-drunk?" I ask, finally having an answer for what knocked me for a loop when I met Pony when Tauren brought me home for the first time. The Doctor blinks and then winces. "Y-yes, that's a possibility. If you feed too far into an emotion, you could 'invert' the emotion, basically coming around to one of the logical extremes. As for actually using this emotional energy, at the moment, I would classify your overall power output based on six primary factors."

 

Wow Eris, way to hit it on the nose. "Hold on Doc, lemmi guess- Loyalty, as in the strength of the bonds formed, Honesty, how true to one another we are, Heroic Spirit, in how giving we're willing to be of ourselves for others, Kindness, straightforward, Laughter, in how much joy we all as a group share, and then the overall state of Friendship." I say, though I mentally replace 'Heroic Spirit' with Generosity and Friendship with Magic.

 

"You're catching on quick, good!" He grins, giving me a big thumbs up as Tauren rubs my head fondly before he taps the chart again. "All emotions feed into the 'magic' of your Quirk, and then each category of friendship will effect the overall strength of your transformation. I think part of the problem was you simply didn't have any bonds strong enough to anyone to actually fuel a transformation, though all the emotions to power whatever the traits you'll develop after transforming were there."

 

I blink a few times before I hold a finger out and point at him. "Hang on, you said 'didn't.' Does that mean I do now?" The man claps in approval. "Good catch! We'll make an analytic mind out of you yet Ramna-kun! Yes, I feel that your bond with Tauren and Pony are enough that you should be able to transform."

 

He moves the whiteboard and gestures me to my feet, before walking over to the start of the track with me and gently patting my shoulder. "Now, it seems like you'll be able to shift while standing still, but from the best I can figure it'll actually work best if you take it at a run and jump before you transform. You're going to be coming down from your jump on all fours but just let instinct rule, ok?" Doc says as I blink in confusion before the muscular man grins wildly at me and gestures for me to start running.

 

His face was a little unnerving, so I start a light jog before I glance over my shoulder at him and yelp in surprise and fright as he and Tauren are now baring down on me, charging me at full speed. I face front and hoof it, taking off at a sprint, but still Doc and Tauren are gaining. "You're gonna have to be faster than that Little Unicorn! RUN RUN RUN! Don't met me catch ya!" Tauren laughs as she shifts into her Minotuar form to charge me even faster, horns down.

 

The emotional panic of being chased down is swiftly tempered by a surging feeling of love, pride, and a little embarrassment coming from Tauren, I can't really get a read on Doc, but that burst of energy slides down my body and I feel my horn start to spark a bit even as Tauren gets closer and closer.

 

"Come on Ranma! CHANGE NOW!"

 

I let out a yelping cry as I leap forwards, and the moment I'm fully in the air... I change.

 

It's almost instantaneous, long forearms and legs compacting, muscles coiling tighter around thicker, stronger bones. I watch a bit in fascination as my hands become hooves without even so much as a thought and my chest broadens slightly, even as my body realigns itself for four-hooved motion. My eyesight shifts as my eyes readjust their positions in my head a bit and my muzzle forms, and a full, thick coat forms as I start to come back down from my leap.

 

Instinct is the only driving factor right now as my hooves hit the ground and I take-off, kicking up a large dust cloud as I sprint at full gallop, my mind and body screaming in tandem in terror, sheer exhilaration, and my heart pounding as if it was finally where it belonged, a sense of contentment and -rightness- filling my entire being now and letting go of the little bit of surprise and fear from the initial chasing as I start galloping just to gallop, wild laughter escaping me as I blast around the track the way only someone who has -real- horsepower can. Tauren is slowly falling behind even after Doc has stepped off the track, and I just want to keep running! THIS IS AMAZING!

 

----Tauren P.O.V----

 

Now I'll tell yah, I've seen a lot of folk use their Quirks for the first time. It's part and parcel not only for being a foster parent but being a Heroine. First time Quirk users can often been a danger to themselves, but almost always no matter what happens that first time is magical.

 

But watching Ranma take off down the track as he used his for the first time? That was almost as special as when my darlin' Pony used hers for the first time. Almost, but not quite. I knew I made the right call coming to Doc, but I'm still surprised Ranma hadn't turned into a pony spontaneously before with how comfortable he seemed switching forms.

 

Doc was cheating a bit spooking Ranma like that with one of the various support gadgets that he has available to him as a councilor, a small bag of powder that works as a fear gas, though heavily diluted. But that bit of stress was just the trick to get mah family's lil' Unicorn off and runnin', and bless can the colt run!

 

He's still zipping around the track even after I got off the track to stand next to Doc and watch 'em go. "Wew, boy has more energy than a cat in a room fulla rockin' chairs." I comment to Doc, who gives me a little half-smile. "Yes, this will be extremely good for him. No one mentioned that his quirk was also a bit of a stockpiling quirk... he's been building up emotions for a very long time."

 

I hiss softly as the Doc nods. "My thoughts exactly. We can explain the stockpiling aspect of his Quirk eventually, but it's better to ease him into the concept, considering how nervous he appears." Doc says, crossing his arms slightly. "Unfortunately, until he slows down, I can't do a physical for his transformed state... I suppose he does this at home as well?"

 

"On occasion, but that's simply enough solved... just need to tickle 'em half to death." I chuckle with a wry smirk as I watch the pony run round 'n round. To be fair to Ranma, he doesn't normally just blast off the walls but the lad is absolutely the energetic type and sometimes he just has too much energy to know what to do with... A round of tickle torture with Pony's help will calm him down in a pinch by getting all the energy out through laughter, though maybe it's just feeding one of the aspects of his Quirk, now that I think about it. Laughter was one of the traits Doc talked about after all.

 

I hum softly. It looks like Ranma's slowin' down. Alrighty, time to get a good look at my other Little Pony.

 

--------

 

----Ranma POV----

 

I finish one more loop around the track, slowing to a canter and then a trot before finally coming to a stop in front of Doc and Tauren, not even breathing heavily even as my grin stretches my face. "That was amazing!" I laugh, giggling a little at the wild run as I shake myself a bit before Tauren comes up and crouches in front of me.

 

In pony form, I am absolutely shorter than I am normally, but I'm also a bit bigger, if that makes any sense, as much of my mass and weight has gone into my longer, thicker legs. At the shoulder I stand about three-and-a-half feet tall, which puts me with my head and neck at a solid 5' tall. I'd imagine rearing up I'd stand about eight feet. This does put me in the proper range of a Pony size, as Ponies are horses smaller than four-foot-eight-inches at the shoulder.

 

I let out a little wicker as Tauren squees a bit and pulls me into a hug, my right foreleg coming up to hug her back. "Aaaah, you're too cute Ranma! Goodness, look at you!" She leans back, looking over my transformed state as Doc approaches as well, making sure to keep himself in my line of sight. Guess he's worked around horses before.

 

"Hmm, that's interesting. Your horn is gone." Doc points out, tapping his chin. "I'm not quite sure what to make of it but I'm going to assume that's important." Both me an Tauren blink as she looks at my head, also humming. Internally I'm aware of the fact that my horn still exists, but it feels like it's... moved?

 

No, it's concentrated in... my hooves. And my legs. Oh. Oh! I turned into a Earth Pony! Now it makes sense. "I think I'm ok Doc. Just something else to hammer out." I comment even as he walks around me, carefully inspecting each part of my body.

 

Tauren lets me go after stroking my mane several times and scratching behind my ears (oh my Eris that felt amazing. Suddenly I understand what the folks into wanting to be the Pet Pony are on about even if it absolutely isn't for me) and Doc starts looking at me a bit more indepth, a clipboard and chart on hand as he carefully lifts my forelegs, watching my muscles work as he moves them, feeling around my ankle, inspecting my hooves and making note of their much more flexible hoof nail, even if it's as durable as normal hooves, and nodding as he notes that they aren't as sensitive as someone's hands but more sensitive than a normal hoof would be for a horse. He makes a note of my overall coat color, a gleaming white that shines a bit in the florescent lighting, and no doubt would glimmer in the sunlight. "Hmm, well, you're not really a horse, so I can't compare with what I knew from the farm, but you're well within normal bodyweight and size of a pony." Doc says, tilting his head a bit before stopping suddenly as his hand brushes through my coat.

 

"What's this? Ranma, did you have a Tattoo before?" Doc asks, looking at my flank with obvious confusion on his face as I turn my head to look back, Tauren leaning around me to look as well. There, square in the middle of my flank, was a gleaming blue shield which stands out proudly against my white coat. My Cutie Mark, my mind tells me, my eyes widening as I gaze at my special talent. No... my soul. My very essence and being, revealed to the world. A shield for all, a bringer of harmony. The shield is emblazoned with five crystals and a six-pointed crystalline star. At the sharp tip of the kite shield, Twilight's- I mean, the Element of Magic, sits, Generosity, Loyalty, Honesty, and Kindness each slotting into another corner of the shield, while Laughter, the pink gem, sitting squarely in the center of the shield.

 

My mind races a bit as I contemplate what that could possibly mean. I don't remember seeing a cutie mark on myself before I changed. Am I laughter? Is that it? That doesn't feel right, I don't think I'm the Element of Laughter, but it's the most prominent gem on the shield. Then again, all the elements are represented. Magic being on the tip of the shield makes sense, it's prominant and up front, I can feel it's energy coursing through my hooves even as a bit of the urge to keep running slips down my spine and makes me flick my tail. Generosity sits to the side, Loyalty to the top left, Honesty to the top right, and Kindness opposite of Generosity.

 

I frown a bit, before letting out a little groan. Another mystery to unravel I suppose. The gems themselves light up, earning a wondering hum from Doc and a little gasp from Tauren even as my mind fills in that little flash as an apologetic shrug.

 

Weird. Looks like my cutie mark is alive and can talk to me. Kinda. I shake my head again before looking at Doc even as Tauren comments about it. "You really are a My Little Pony pony Ranma. That's so cute!" Tauren giggles as I nod. "Looks like I found my special talent then. Aren't I just Quirky?" I pun, earning another giggle and a laugh from me and Doc as the element of laughter shines in agreement.

 

"Well, it doesn't appear to be hurting you, and from what you and Tauren are saying these 'cutie marks' are fairly standard for Ponies from this... is a toy or a story?" He asks, looking at Tauren, who gives him another wry grin. "A little of both. They're a child's toy that is notable for having brush-able manes. Their show is from a long time ago, one of the original big commercial cartoons like Transformers or GI Joe." Tauren explains. "I had a few when I was a kid. I think they're on to the 10th generation of the show, though from what I understand there was a huge spike in popularity for the show after the first few generations, something about the 4th one being special. I've never been able to find any of the tapes or much information about it though."

 

This world lost Gen4? Oh these poor souls, no wonder they don't know about the wonders of Friendship is Magic! "In any case, Ranma looks just like he's a pony from the show. Specifically he looks like a Earth Pony." She finishes, earning a nod from Doc. "Alright, then we've got a starting place. Ready to start testing again Ranma?"

 

I smile at him. Time to put this transformation through it's paces. "You know it Doc, time to saddle up!"

 

A sigh from Doc and a bark of laughter from Tauren makes Laughter sparkle and a big stupid grin split my face before we get to work.

 

----------

 

I'm exhausted as I finally drop my transformation, laying on the faux-grass inside of the running track and letting out a pleased groan from not moving anymore. Doc really knows how to put someone through their paces. Funnily enough, he put me through Aizawa's Quirk Assessment test. 40 Meter Dash (3.10 seconds, I can book it!), grip strength (I can somehow grab things with my hooves. Fuckin' magic man. 84 kg), Cleared the sandpit on the long jump from standing still, which surprised the heck out of me, tripped over myself sidestepping because it wasn't really natural movements for a pony, though I could do it much better than an actual pony would have for sure, did just fine on the situps and pull-ups, though I'm sure I'd do better in my normal form, and obviously could run for hours if they'd let me. The big one, the ball toss, was interesting.

 

"Alright Ranma, stay in the circle but do whatever you want to throw the Ball." Doc says as I stare at the ball, biting my lower lip in thought before nodding to myself and carefully spacing myself out. There was really only one way I was gonna launch this thing, even though we've proven that my legs are much more flexible, again, like the show ponies, and I could absolutely throw it normally, if I wanted this thing to go and go BEYOND, I was gonna need to buck it.

 

I mentally reviewed the steps to apple-bucking a tree, and took a slow, deep breath. Once I finish filling my lungs, I toss the ball up into the air, and pivot on my hooves, twisting and coiling to build power before I -buck-. Both hooves make solid contact with the ball even as I flop to the ground, and Tauren and Doc gape as a sound not unlike a homerun bat swing from Super Smash Brothers sounds out as the ball rockets away from me, slapping into the wall of Doc's facility and denting it slightly. He glances down at the reader and notes that it errored out.

 

"... We'll need to work on moderating your strength, but that was absolutely fantastic." He says with a bit of awe as he marks down the results and nods.

 

As I said, I'm currently laying on the 'grass' as Tauren and Doc discuss the results, glancing up a bit to look at the tip of my horn, which did return after I changed back.

 

After a few moments contemplation (and verifying that Tauren and Doc were still talking) I quickly pull down one side of my gymshorts to verify that my cutie mark is still there, and unsurprisingly it is indeed right there, though I note that the Shield changed. Or rather, the position of the Elements changed.

 

Magic is still in it's spot at the tip of the shield, but the rest of the elements have all moved, mostly changing spots with one another. Laughter is now on the right side, Kindness in the top right, Laughter dead center, straight up from Magic, Honesty in the top left, and Generosity on the left side. The center is now empty. I hum thoughtfully before putting my shorts back in place and going back to staring at the ceiling and the tip of my horn.

 

I'm not quite sure what that means yet, but I'd bet a sizeable amount of money that my... I'm not sure what to call it. Ponied Up? Ponified? Pone Henshin? My transformed form, for now till I come up with a better name, will change depending on which Element I'm focusing on to bring about the transformation. Laughter is the counter state to Fear, which is why I think it lead my first transformation.

 

This is going to take some experimentation.

 

"Alright Ranma, good job today. Tomorrow we'll work on your base form and start an exercise plan, and throughout the rest of the week we'll get you settled into using your Quirk and then I think you'll be safe to go to school without any issues." Doc says with a nod as Tauren gives me a big grin and thumbs up.

 

Ah, right. The other reason why I had to see Doc. Tauren wants me to take at least a few classes at the local Middle School so that I can socialize, which she assumed correctly would be important to my quirk, but before we could do that we had to figure out what exactly my Quirk was and if it could be a danger to my classmates or not. "Yep! You're smarter than I was at your age Sugar, but that don't mean you don't need some brushin' up on your history, especially if you wanna pass the UA exam!" Tauren cheers, reminding me very much of a Pony who's been told that she can have a extra share of ice cream.

 

I give Tauren a sad face as I sit myself up. "Nooooooo, not history..." I moan, earning another laugh from Doc and Tauren. "Ahh, one of the few things that will never change." Doc says with a shake of his head in amusement as I push myself to my feet and brush myself off before he steps over and offers his hand.

 

I smile, taking it firmly as we shake, Tauren coming up and giving me a hug. "Good work today Ranma. You've got about eleven months before the UA exams, we'll squeeze every moment we can to get you ready." Doc says with a smile. "Tauren, feel free to bring Pony along too, I'm sure she'll benefit from more training. Oh, and Ranma, please think about your Quirk and come up with a name for it, we'll get you registered tomorrow."

 

A smirk from Tauren and a jaunty wave is his answer as we leave, Tauren keeping one arm wrapped around my shoulders as we make our way out of Doc's gym.

 

Today was a good day.

 

----------

 

Ranma Takashi

Quirk: Harmony Drive

Type: Aberration (Emitter/Transformation/Stockpile Hybrid)

Abilities: (Harmonic Resonance)-Empath based 'mana' generation: using emotions from himself and others, Ranma fuels the rest of his abilities. Emotion 'harvesting' causes no damage nor does it remove those emotions from others. Positive and Negative emotions both can be used as 'mana'. He's capable of stockpiling a very large amount of emotion. Greater amounts of emotions can be collected at once if he has a Bond with whoever he's getting emotions from. This ability has a Kickback(1).

 

Pony Form (Harmony Drive)- Utilizing the collected Mana (as Ranma calls it) he can transform into pony form, gaining increased strength, speed, and extra abilities depending on which one of six elements of Friendship are being used to form the transformation. This Pony Form is capable of using 'magic', which drains Mana. If Ranma runs out of the initial emotional mana type (joy, for example), he can switch to another. Hybrids of emotional mana (Joy and Love, or Pride and Determination) can have wildly varying amounts of power boost, and different burn times.

 

Normal Form (Harmony Recovery)- While normal, Ranma's horn is capable of casting low grade 'spells'. Thus far he's capable of casting three spells: Telekinesis of objects up to 23kg, a minor illusion spell, and summoning a glowing orb of emotion that works as a small lantern. Horn is noted to be exceptionally strong and sharp, having damaged a steel file used to collect shavings for testing. Horn material dubbed 'alicorn' at Ranma's insistence. His horn also allows him to collect emotions from those around him at a much greater rate than when he is in Harmony Drive and increase his stockpiled storage.

 

(1) Too much of any emotion can lead to a flipped state of being, having gone to an extreme. Extreme Negative emotions have the usual issues with being in an extremely negative state, but extreme positive emotions can lead to sporadic actions and magic usage.

 

-----------

 

"There we go, that should do for your registry. We'll cut out a lot of this information, but at least we'll have your basic profile done." Doc informs me a few days later as he taps the sheet of paper I'm currently holding. "This is the version that UA will be able to see when you apply, as they'll need to know more of the specifics of how your powers work, though I'm told the only person who ever gets to see your profile like this is the Principle."

 

I nod along. Even stripped down to just that much, I know that Harmony Drive is much more complex than anything that I would ever directly tell someone that wasn't me, Doc, Tauren, or Pony. It's a damn powerful quirk, and being able to change into multiple types of Pony was a pretty exciting, if startling, discovery.

 

Let me tell you, being able to fly under your own power? Pretty fuckin' sweet. Being able to make Spell Matrixes and cast spells from your own horn? Even fucking cooler, though I got a really long lecture from Tauren about the Fireball Spell.

 

It's a DnD classic! How am I supposed to be wizard if I can't cast my own damn Fireballs?!

 

Well, what Tauren doesn't know won't hurt her, and I already memorized the matrix so I'll be able to whip them up when I need them. Pony's just excited that she's got a galloping buddy now. I'm amazed that she's able to keep up with me when I'm in Harmony Drive: Earth Pony. Being able to choose between the increased strength and almost earth-bending like power of the Earth Pony, the Magical Abilities and Spellcasting of a Unicorn, and the Flight and Weather Manipulating powers of a Pegasus are just way too damn cool.

 

I've got a great Quirk, and even this first week of working out and pushing myself and my quirk to the limit has shown me how much room to grow I still have.

 

"Thanks Doc, really. You've done so much for me-" I start, only to get booped on the nose, in my human form nonetheless, by my Quirk Councilor. "Don't thank me yet. You're cleared to go to school." I whine softly as Tauren and Pony laugh at my hangdog expression even as Doc gives me a half-hearted grin. "Noooooo Princess Celestia, I don't wanna make friends." I whine in my head as I realize there's no escaping it. I have to return to one of my most dreaded times of life.

 

Middle School.

 

------------

 

School is as boring and dull as it has ever been, so I'm not even going to bother talking about it at all. There's just... well, one little aside that actually makes talking about school worthwhile.

 

It's fucking Aldera. Because it was a Public School and would 'give me the best chance to socialize.' Personally I think it's because Pony went to an All Girls School and Tauren couldn't figure out a way to sneak me in.

 

Yeah, we're going to the protagonist torture department. Seriously, if you know anything at all about MHA, then you know this one simple fact- this school is trash in the hardest way possible. There's been plenty of fanfics and rewrites about just trashing up Aldera Jr. High, or pointing out all the ways that the teachers break a lot of very serious laws in Japan about how schools are supposed to work. Honestly, it's more like a school from an Altus game than an actual Japanese Middle School. It's that bad.

 

And after having been there for a month? It's worse than they let on in the Anime. Bullies are rampant in the school, and the teachers are obviously simping for anyone with even a hint of potential so they can try to ride off the coattails of them. Now, normally you'd think that with such a wildly powerful quirk like mine, they'd be simping for me as well, but thankfully, my orphan status has thrown them off enough that the teachers don't pay attention to me, and the bullies are simple enough to deal with.

 

My personal favorite was 'accidently' ripping a dude's shirt open when I ducked a punch, just quietly smiling and reminding them all that my horn is -quite- sharp. On top of that, their insults suck. I don't know if there isn't any imageboards in this timeline, the internet is a bit of a mess because of everything that happened at the start of the quirked era, but these idiots either have skin so thin that you could puncture it by passing gas, or they are all willfully ignorant of what a real insult is.

 

Especially Bakago. Excuse me, Bakugo. So far I've heard him call people Extras, Nerds, Idiot, and tell people to die.

 

That's it.

 

Oh, of course, there was also today. The day I met Izuku Midoriya, main protagonist of this little tale from anyone's perception but my own, and future inheritor of One For All... also a absolute crybaby and in desperate need of a spine replacement.

 

It was the end of the day, and while I'm not sure about the specific date just yet, I haven't yet heard Bakago tell the poor green-haired cinnamon roll to jump off a building yet, so I'm guessing it's not -yet- the day where Izuku proves who he really is. I'm idly drinking the last of my water from a water bottle, and generally just ignoring every single club and afterschool activity possible because there is no way in hell you could voluntarily make me spend an extra minute at this school then I absolutely have to spend. I don't like Bakugo, but I can agree with him on this much- this school is 100% full of Extras.

 

I am almost certain I'll never interact with any of these people, and I use that term loosely, ever again. This school is a nightmare for a Empath, as it's just boiling over with negative emotions. Speaking of, here comes a bundle of those negative emotions now. I can see the exploding Pomeranian stalking towards me right now.

 

I sigh and finish my water, mentally prepping myself for the harrowing encounter with an intelligence far lesser than my own. For all of Izuku's praise of the kid, I'm pretty sure he's only particularly smart when it comes to combat and is just good everywhere else. Don't get me wrong, he's absolutely up there on the education listing, high ranks and all that, but I'm very positive he isn't going to impressive up.

 

"Oi, Fag Face, the fuck you think you're doing?" The premature explosion growls at me, staring me down with two lackies flanking him. Uh... I'm not even sure how to describe them honestly. They're just that forgettable.

 

I just continue walking, shouldering past him like he isn't even there. A little smirk on my face as I continue to walk, though I hide it as soon as possible. Taunting without even saying a word? Oh please, try something, I really want you to. I want the whole world to see you get your ass whipped by a pony.

 

"THE FUCK YOU FAGGOT, TURN AROUND!" Bakugo yells, even as some of the other 'extras' in this school watch on as I continue to walk. "I'm sorry, I have places to be, and you were occupying my space." I comment, not even looking back before a few fingers hook into my shoulders in an attempt to slow me down.

 

I allow myself to stop, mostly because I don't want these things touching me for much longer, and boy I'm feeling really angry right now. A quick glance upwards at my horn reveals it sparking as I growl under my breath. Fucking hell Bakago, are you really that pissed off all the time? Seriously, the only other person that's held that much emotion at once that it's set me to bleeding off excess was Pony, and at least that was understandable, being Love.

 

How the fuck does one kid get this angry?

 

"Haa? The fuck you say extra? Do you have any fucking idea who you're talking to?" Bakugo says as I sigh and let myself turn around, even as I slap off long fingers fingers, which makes the lacky yelp and rub his hands in surprise.

 

"Am I supposed to, you wastrel excuse for a poorly groomed and trained Pomeranian?" I reply flatly, doing my best to get my emotions wrestled back under my control. Seriously, the hell is with this guy? I'm genuinely going to have to figure out another spell to bleed off emotions faster if I had to deal with him every day.

 

"The fuck you call me?!" Bakugo growls, even as the extras in the hallways look at me in shock.

 

"Hard of hearing." I quip, tilting my head. "Are we done now? I've got better things to do than outwitting an unarmed opponent."

 

Bakugo blinks for a moment before his hands spark, a chain of popping noises not unlike a Chinese firecracker going off as he growls at me. "Oh, so the faggot thinks he's cute, ha?" Which makes me blink before I point at myself, my horn sparking a bit more as I push out more of the anger he's feeding into the air around him.

 

Fuck, this was not part of the plan- honestly, I didn't want to interact with Midoriya or Bakugo if I could help it. I'm going to UA, that's the plan, but I didn't want to get involved too early mostly for my own safety.

 

When you aren't the protagonist and don't have plot armor, survival comes first. And having a mostly-figured out Quirk that still has a lot of secrets left does NOT survival make. So encountering Bakugo right now, when he's apparently been looking for me, is not particularly fantastic.

 

"Well, when I last looked in a mirror, my reflection simped for me, so yeah, pretty sure I'm damn cute." I say with a smirk before it falls flat again, crossing my arms in annoyance. "Look, I've got shit to do... whatever your name is, yappy puppy. What the fuck do you want?"

 

Bakugo's growl has only gotten louder as more explosions pop in his hands. "Word around is that you're riding up the academic ranks and that you put in paperwork for UA. I'm here to tell you to back the fuck off, extra, before I take your stepping-stone ass out behind the shed and put you down."

 

Well! There's me told I suppose. "Last I checked, both my legs are still here and I'm not lame, but you're most likely just a flash in the pan there sparky. So why don't you be a good little boy and go find a fuse to suck off?" I respond flippantly as I turn to walk away again.

 

I hear footsteps as he charges forwards, and I prep to turn and lash out at the charging idiot when a third voice finally chimes in, even if it really wasn't one I wanted to hear. "Kaachan, stop!"

 

"HAAA? Stay the fuck out of this Deku, this extra is asking for it!" And the hero has arrived ladies and gentlemen, lets give it up for Shonen protagonist extraordinaire, Izuku Midoriya!

 

I turn again, eyeing the greatest-hero-to-be in all of his green haired broccoli glory. Honestly, the first thing I notice is that I'm taller than him (YES MY HORN COUNTS, SHUT UP) but the second thing I notice is that he's quaking in his red sneakers like he's gonna collapse at any moment just from the attention on him. I hum contemplatively as I stare at him, even though he's completely focused on Bakugo.

 

Well, I'm sure this is going to turn out poorly.

 

------------

 

It ended poorly.

 

Bakugo and 'Deku' argued for quite a while, until the teachers came and broke it up because we were disturbing the after school clubs. Honestly, outside of a stare-down from Bakugo, I wasn't really expecting anything else to come of this little moment, until Midoriya walks up to me.

 

Jeeze, he really is all about the green. The manga and anime didn't really catch just how earnest this kids eyes are.

 

"A-are y-you ok?" And yep, there he goes, straight into stuttering like he hadn't just stood up to his main antagonist at this point in his life. I quirk an eyebrow at him even at I finally feel the last vestiges of Bakugo's anger bleed off from my horn, the sparks fading off and my horn dimming from the bright shine it had before.

 

Deku was somehow able to deescalate the situation, mostly by virtue of drawing the teachers attention and Bakugo's desire to not getting his perfect pre-UA record marred by any possible black marks. "I'm fine, no worries. I've handled far worse than him." I comment, making him flinch a bit before he rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "O-oh, r-right, sorry."

 

Well, so much for keeping a low profile. My plan absolutely didn't survive first contact with 'the enemy' and now that it's in shambles I've got to come up with a new one, the real question is if I'm willing to completely screw over canon or not.

 

-----

 

'm screwed. Straight up, no bullshit, I've got absolutely nothing. No plan, no backup plan, no real thought put into how to properly handle the ongoing situation, and I'm pretty sure that there isn't any kind of book that could possibly help me through this current situation. Hell, I bet Twilight would be stumped on this one.

 

I'm now friends with Main Protagonist and Future Greatest Hero to ever live Izuku Midoriya. HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY NOT BE? HE IS THE SWEETEST CINNAMON ROLL AND I SWEAR TO EPONA THAT I WILL KILL EVERYONE IN A TEN BLOCK RADIUS AND THEN MYSELF IF ANYTHING EVER HAPPENS TO HIM. Which unfortunately is a likely scenario considering some of the bullshit he is going to go through in the future. Maybe I can beat some sense into him? That's something friends do right?

 

To clarify, one of the key moments of the series is when he realizes THAT HE HAS FUCKING LEGS. I mean, that he can use them for combat, but still, look it up on the internet, there's memes a-plenty of this sweet summer child basically declaring "I HAVE LEGS." Like, yes child, we understand, but come on, seriously? Why are all Shonen protagonists so... oblivious?

 

... Wait, male teenager. Belay my last, carry on.

 

Right, where was I? Oh, yes, the murders. Or planned murders. I'm currently sitting with Izuku on a bench in a small park not so far away from his eventual training grounds, Takoba Municipal Beach Park. We've been sitting here talking idly for a little while because I couldn't just leave him after I accidently sassed him when he was just trying to help.

 

Seriously, this kid is too sweet for his own good. Like, my Unicorn instincts are screaming 'Pure Maiden' to me and I'm pretty sure I don't even -have- Unicorn instincts. Wait. Oh god, am I the Last Unicorn? A chill runs up my spine at the thought as a mental image of the Red Bull pops into my head, or Tirek. Come to think of it, Tirek -is- the Red Bull...

 

"U-um, Takashi-san?" Izuku snaps me out of my mental horrorshow before flinching as I shake my head back and forth, sending my ponytail all over the place before I focus back on him, giving him a half-smile. "Sorry Midoriya-san, I was a bit... ah... at a unfortunate mental place." I apologize, rubbing the back of my head with a very fake laugh that he clearly can see through and even gives me a sassy deadpanned look for. Whoof, being stared down by the Cinnamon Roll, obviously I need to work on my lying a bit.

 

"R-right. I-I w-wanted t-t-to ask... u-uhm... c-could you tell me about your Quirk?" He's still stuttering as all get out, and I mentally bump that up my priority list to try to fix or at least help him with. "Eh? Sure, what do you want to know?" I ask, giving him my full attention even as my ears swivel towards him as I prepare for the oncoming onslaught of questions and talking that I have no doubt that I'm about to reciwhat the fuck.

 

I can't help but to blink again and rub my eyes as I look at the notebook and pen in his hands. Where the hell did he get that?! His backpack is still under the bench and a quick look shows that it's completely zipped up. I reiterate- DOES EVERYONE IN THIS UNIVERSE HAVE ACCESS TO HAMMERSPACE?! And if so, why haven't I figured out how to use it yet?! This is completely unfair to those of us who's Quirks don't let them have opposable thumbs! No I don't care that I can use Telekinesis, shut up.

 

"So I can clearly see your horn, ears, and tail. Do you carry over more traits from a horse? Do you call it Unicorn? Do you have any more traits or abilities attributed to unicorns from mythology? Doesthisincludemagicanddoesitmakeyouamutanttypeoranemitterorareyoubothandifitisbothcanyouenhanceyourgeneralabilitiesorcastspellsandmuttermuttermuttermuttermuttermuttermuttermuttermuttermuttermuttermuttermutter-" I am instantly overwhelmed by a wall of sound as my ears flatten as the infamous Midoriya Mutter completely flattens any attempt I could have possibly made to discuss my Quirk with him as his hand flies over his notebook, leaving me flabbergasted as I can only watch on as a full sketch of me quickly forms. Holy shit this kid can draw! I... wait a minute, are my hips really that rounded? I glance down at myself and hum. Huh, I didn't really notice that before. Hey look at that high-waisted man he's got feminine hips! Thicc legs from the horse-musculature definitely has some weird side effects on the rest of my body.

 

Gah, distracted again! "Midoryia!" I call, making him flinch after he finished the sketch and before he can start writing more than my name into his book. I give him a small smile as he stares at me. "Relax dude, you were muttering. How about I explain what my quirk is first and then you can ask me questions? From what I did understand... Yes, I have more horse-like traits, my feet are a little hard to explain-"

 

We ended up talking for a few hours as we sat on that bench, Izuku asking a lot of rather insightful questions as I did my best to answer each and every one, and I'll be perfectly honest? It was probably the most relaxing thing I've done since I've came here, because he's just that easy to talk to. "-and that allows you to cast spells? That's amazing! Your Quirk is just amazing Takashi-san!"

 

"Please, just call me Ranma, Midoriya... I'm not used to all this super-polite stuff, I'm an American after all." I say, even as I carefully brush my tail. What? It gets dusty and having basically a freakin' featherduster attached to my butt at all times is not something I'm particularly a fan of, so I do my best to keep it clean. "A-ah, r-right, R-ranma-san." Sigh, well, better, but the sooner I can get rid of him saying 'san' anytime he wants to talk to me the better. "A-anyway, your Quirk really is wonderful, how many spells do you know so far?"

 

"Not too many. Spells are fairly complicated because it requires intent and practice, and I'm slowly figuring out the 'language' that my spells require." I comment, even as my horn lights up, the pure curiosity from Midoriya being a perfect fuel as I pick up a single rock and float it around us. "The simplest spell is telepathy. I'm not really sure how to describe the... I guess you could call it a spell 'matrix'? It's..." I frown, dropping the rock in my hand and tossing it up and down as my tail brushes to the side and off my lap. "I really don't have words to describe it. It's like trying to properly describe color to someone who can't see color or can't see at all."

 

"I see, fascinating." Deku murmurs, writing into his notebook. "Maybe you should consider a..." He stops for a moment, tapping his chin with his pencil's eraser, "... mmm, well, no better term for it, a Spell Book." "What, like a Wizard in DnD?" I ask, tilting my head at him as he nods. "Yeah! If you can draw the... whatever it is that makes up the 'spell matrix' maybe it'll give you a better idea of where you could modify them to do more things or figure out new spells, maybe even write out a full alphabet?"

 

I nod, blinking at him and resisting the urge to gape a bit. Holy shit, he really is that good at analysis. I had the thought but I never really conceptualized it and considering that the matrixes are really, really hard to explain or even draw, I get the feeling I'm going to need some practice in the future. "Right..."

 

Our conversation continued as I explained what I've learned with the quirk councilor, and Deku continue to point out a whole bunch of things that I hadn't quite realized, or knew and just hadn't focused on as points. I'd give you all the highlights, but they're literally not important enough to really discuss because many of the points really don't affect how my quirk works till later in my hero career...

 

"This is amazing! You've got such a fantastic quirk, I'm honestly shocked that you've had so little time to practice with it Ranma-san!" Deku says, his eyes sparkling as he finishes writing down my entry to his notebook, he even had time to finish the sketch of me and had no less than six(!) costume ideas drawn down, and a good reminder that I could harvest hair from my mane and tail to make a costume that would shape shift with me. "Still, powered by friendship... what a incredible thing."

 

"Doesn't mean much when I've got a total of three friends." I joke at myself, shaking my head a bit at his enthusiasm, only to earn a pout from the cinnamon roll. "Ranma-san!" "What, it's true Midoriya, I've got three friends- Tauren, Pony, and Doc." I say, laying down a bit of the bait. I can't help it, at this point I might as well be he friend. Deku freezes up and a tingle goes up my spine as I feel a major spike of anxiety. Ah, fuck, tripped over the 'Quirckless Deku' landmind. Maybe I should s-

 

"I'm your friend too Ranma-san."

 

Woah, where did that spine come from?

 

"I... b-before you say anything." Deku starts, even as I feel a swell of D E T E R M I N A T I O N that freezes me in place, pushing the anxiety I felt only moments prior out of the way. "I'm quirkless. I have been my whole life. But I've always wanted to help people. I want to be a hero! And if being your friend will help you be a great hero, then I will be your friend, Ranma-san!"

 

... I'm not sure how to respond. How do you respond to someone basically growing a spine just because they believe that you're going to be a hero? Who the fuck does that? This freakin' cinnamon roll that's who!

 

"... Izuku, don't take this the wrong way, but I'm going to hug the stuffing out of you." "H-huh?!" And at that point I swept the stupid, selfless, incredibly brave kid who didn't deserve a single bit of the shit he's dealt with growing up into the biggest hug I can muster, and eventually I feel him hug back before I finally let him go. "Thank you. For being my friend." He smiles brightly at me as I speak up, only for him to rub the back of his head and laugh.

 

"You're welcome! Please, you can continue to call me Izuku if you want."

 

"And you already know to call me Ranma."

 

---------

 

We spent the last dregs of daylight discussing heroics and Izuku's favorite heroes (All Might, All Might, a bunny girl, and All Might), and the family I've found myself stuck with. (He's incredibly excited for the possibility of meeting Cow Lady, seeing as she met All Might in his prime) Soon enough, however, all good things come to a end as we have to go our separate ways. Just as we're about to leave, he calls out my name, as we had to go separate ways to get back to our houses. I stopped to turn, and could feel another surge of anxiety and worry. "R-ranma-san, i-i-if you don't want to admit to being my friend at s-sc-school I'd understa-" I let out a loud, horsy snort that completely interrupts him and cuts him off. "Nope." "Wha-" "Nope, you're my friend, and all those extras at school can't do anything about it."

 

Izuku blinks before letting out a laugh of surprise, and part of a sob as the anxiety and worry is replaced with a bit of pure joy. "R-ranma! You can't go around calling everyone extras!" I snort again as he laughs a bit more. "That's Kacchan's thing!"

 

I tisk, earning another laugh from Izuku from me acting like Bakugo, before I wave and he waves back, and I start making my way home, looking at my phone.

 

In it are four saved contacts. (My Little) Pony, Momma Tauren, The Doc, and now, 'TheGreatestToBe'.

 

Shut up, I like giving my contacts nicknames.

 

------

 

Soon enough it came to be that me and Izuku were hanging out almost every day after school. His first encounter with Tauren was hilarious, and I have the video evidence to prove it. The Hero Fanboy knew a ton about her career and was super stoked to meet her, even commenting about her first encounter with All Might and how she saw him debut in America, and dropping the fact that she was (still!) the number 4 hero in America and California's favorite hero.

 

Guess it goes to show that Happy Cows really do come from California. Go figure. Mind you that comment earned me a smack upside the head and a laughing Pony while Izuku freaked out a bit, I was more than content with it because the snark stops for nobody. Pony also quickly became good friends with Izuku, who speaks English almost as well as the rest of us, though his stutter and anxiety throws him off sometimes. He's been helping me teach Pony Japanese, and while she'll slip into English when she's excited or angry, she's really making leaps and bounds in her vocal skill.

 

No Monoma making my sweet innocent lass say horrible things in Japanese because he knows she's too ignorant to actually understand what he's making her say. Not if I have anything to say about it and I do.

 

I also met Mommadoriya, and boy, the anime was -not- lying. That woman can cry. I chuckle a bit at the memory even as I watch Izuku scribble into his thankfully not burnt this time notebook after I snagged it away from Bakugo after school. He's looking a bit down and I'm trying to think of a good way to cheer him up as we walk, even as I think back to meeting his Mom for the first time...

 

-------

 

"MY BABY MADE A FRIEEEEEEEEEND!"

 

"M-mom!"

 

I carefully adjust my umbrella to keep myself from getting soaked, even as Izuku starts to cry too. Seriously. How is that not a quirk?

 

--------

 

She's such a sweet lady, even if I can understand Izuku's stance on his Mom- loves her to death, cares for her deeply, but very much hurt that she doesn't believe in him. He gets that she's just doing the Mom thing, she's worried about him because she loves him, but he also feels it's a little bit like she's overcompensating because he's crippled.

 

Ah. Right, that's the other conversation we had. Boy that was rough. It happened at lunch a few weeks ago, but I finally got him comfortable enough for him to actually discuss being Quirkless with me instead of blurting it out, which lead to a rather in-depth discussion about what quirklessness in this day and age meant. Especially considering in our generation it's less than 2% of the total population.

 

Yeah, that 20% figure? It's bullshit. That's mostly the older generations. Quirklessness is a rapidly vanishing figure in humanity, and the 'baseline' human is starting to vanish off the face of the Earth. Which makes my earlier comparison to the Last Unicorn all the more potent, in my opinion.

 

It was... rather emotionally charged.

 

--------

 

"... Izuku?"

 

"*sniff* W-what, R-r-ranma-san?"

 

"I'm going to need you to grit your teeth."

 

"W-wha-"

 

I knew I was gonna feel bad for it later, but even as I hauled off and punched Izuku I also was fully aware that my Harmonic Resonance was going into overdrive. He was filled with anxiety, his doubt overwhelming, and this crushing, almost unbearable sorrow that was spiking every emotion in me before I punched the ever loving heck out of his jaw, knocking him flat.

 

Even as I did so, my horn sparked and my eyes flashed as I pushed back, trying to consciously do something that I've been doing unconsciously, but in reverse. See, Harmonic Resonance is named 'Resonance' not just because I can 'feed' my quirk on other peoples emotions, but because I can push those emotions back, or adjust other people's emotions to settle. Which really helped making friends with the incredibly antsy and flighty Izuku considering I was able to settle his emotions down to match to mine.

 

In this moment however, I wanted him mad. I wanted him to hit me back, and get mad. I wanted him to rant and rave about how unfair the world was, and fight back. I wanted him to push up to his feet and come at me. And I was pushing that anger with everything I had. Righteous indignation at a world that didn't care and kicked him around like he was a piece of trash.

 

"W-wa-WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" Izuku cries, anger tinting his voice as he pops up to his feet, now glaring at me a bit.

 

"THE FUCK YOU THINK THAT WAS FOR?! YOU'RE BADMOUTHING MY BEST FRIEND!"

 

"I THOUGHT I WAS YOUR BEST FRIEND!" Izuku yells, even as he lashes out with a fairly solid right hook into my stomach. Sure, it's very much untrained, but it's got some force behind it and he didn't tuck his thumb in his fist or clench his fists too tightly and break something on me, so I'm going with a that being a win even as I punch back, hitting him in the shoulder this time.

 

"YOU ARE, WHICH IS WHY I HIT YOU! STOP BADMOUTHING MY BEST FRIEND!"

 

All in all, it was really, really stupid of me to do that. About six minutes later we're both laying on the rooftop, bruised, panting, and emotionally worn out. I bled off all of the excess emotion he had built up and both of us vented our anger the MANLY way.

 

Even as I'm nursing a pretty quality black eye (seriously, for all of his not actually focusing on training to be a hero prior to All Might accepting him as his successor, he at least keeps himself physically fit.) and he massages his sore ribs and stomach with a groan, I stare at the clouds passing by before I speak up. "Quirkless doesn't mean useless. Quirkless doesn't mean you can't fight and stand up for yourself. I'm mad, furious, on your behalf. I can take the hits, which is why I used my quirk like this. Sorry, not sorry."

 

"It's... ow... ok, I think." Izuku groans before he turns his head to look at me, his green mop bouncing a bit in the corner of my vision. "... Ranma?" I turn my head away from the clouds to focus on him, even as he stares at me with a slightly sad, but determined gaze.

 

"Do you think I can be a Hero?"

 

Woof, again Harmonic Resonance lets me understand almost exactly how he's feeling, but after a moment I cut it off, not wanting to be influenced by his emotions. It hurts a little bit to turn off, and it makes my horn... crackle? Not really sure how to describe it, it makes little static bolts run up and down and around it, making it really obvious when I'm not letting my horn do it's normal thing.

 

Izuku glanced at my horn as it started to crackle, his eyes widening for a moment before returning his focus to me as I finish catching my breath before I push myself up to my feet, and hold my hand out to him to pull him up. "You shouldn't have to ask that question you freakin' Hero Otaku. I think you can be the best damn hero who ever lived."

 

-------

 

Yeah, suffice to say, friendship secured. He cried, I did a bit simply from the emotional overbalance, we hugged it out, and finished lunch, and I got yelled at by Tauren when I came home with a black eye after I lied at school about tripping into a doorknob (impossible because our school has all sliding doors...)

 

"So what's on training for today?" Izuku asks, looking up from his notebook. I'm feeling a little nervous, if only because I'm aware of what a significant day it is, and I knew from the moment my teacher came in and informed us all it was time for the Career whatchamacallits that are indicating what Highschool you want to go too.

 

Not being in Izuku and Bakugo's class, I was the only one in my classroom that had UA marked down as my primary, though I did have a few other hero schools marked down just in case. No one really looked at me in awe or commented about it, mostly because most of them don't know much about me, and the ones that know enough have seen me get picked up at school by Tauren before we went to a Quirk Counselling session, so they know enough to know that I'm at minimum being taught by a Pro Hero.

 

But the moment the bell rang (thank Epona I didn't have cleaning duty today) I was out the door and beelining for Izuku. The scene played out almost exactly like it did in the original story, Izuku being taunted, Bakugo stealing his notebook, and so on. The only difference was I snagged the notebook out of Bakugo's hand with some quick TK, and he scoffed at me before walking away and delivering the line that genuinely makes me wonder if he even can really consider himself as a hero.

 

No hero is going to tell someone to go kill themselves.

 

"I think we should go for another run. Your stamina is really improving and we don't have much in the way of weight equipment so anything we can do to increase how long you can go is going to matter a lot. Fights require a ton of stamina after all. We can figure out skill later, or maybe find a weapon you'll like..." I ponder out loud, tapping my chin even as I subtly look around the alleyway.

 

It's time. I'm very nervous, because I don't want to screw this up for Izuku. It would be horrible for him to lose out on his opportunity, not only for him, but for the fate of the world. I mean, what would happen if the world lost it's greatest hero to be?

 

Even as I ponder that, now distracted even as Izuku is furiously scratching through a different notebook (Training for Heroics, Volume 2, his workout log on recommendation from Doc and Tauren for both me and him), my ears twitch in surprise as I hear something 'glorp' right behind us, and a slightly panicked whinny escapes me as I jump to the side, tackling Izuku with me as a tentacle of slime lashes out where we just were.

 

"Aaaah, a medium-sized invisibility cloak! Just what I was looking for."

 

Oh. Oh god. I'm gonna puke. The Sludge Villain is even grosser in person than he was in any description I've ever read. The smell alone made me cough and sputter in disgust. Not that I could puke anymore. Thank you horse-traits, that's one that I really didn't need. At least my old gag reflex is gone, makes eating healthy foods a lot easier.

 

... Perverts.

 

Either way, I need to keep -well- away from this guy unless I want to swallow a bunch of him and not get it back out.

 

HEAD OUT OF THE GUTTER ASSHOLES!

 

Even as I jump to my feet to start running, another tentacle lashes out and strikes me across the back, sending me tumbling as another whips out and wraps itself around Izuku's leg. "Izuku!" I cry, turning around only to be struck by the horrific sight of my friend being stuck inside the slime-beings body.

 

"Don't worry kid. I'm just hijacking your body. Calm down. It'll only hurt for about 45 seconds... then it'll be all over." The -thing- laughs maliciously even as he sends a few more tendrils spearing my way, making me dodge and incapable of approaching.

 

"IZUKU! Hang on Izuku!" I cry out, yelping as a spear catches my uniform and rips it a bit.

 

At this moment, I'm terrified. I was so confident that we'd be fine, that we'd be able to handle this. But this. This is my first encounter with a actual villain. And I'm at a loss. I don't know what to do. I'm absolutely terrified.

 

Then Izuku looks at me with wide, pleading eyes.

 

And everything changes.

 

-----Izuku POV-----

 

Ranma is a very strange person.

 

He's such a weird bundle of contradictions, from his attitude to his amazing quirk and how he seems to hate people giving him attention for it, and how he wanted to make friends with me. I just don't get it. He's explained his power and I get the feeling that there's a lot that neither of us really understand about how his quirk works yet. Call it a gut instinct, he's just so fascinating, and aberration quirks are really rare!

 

Even as I'm stuck here, doing my best to force slime out of my mouth and I can feel him trying to push down my throat, I can't help but stare at Ranma as he tries to get closer, his eyes wide and wild, almost like a horses when they're scared of something. He looks so worried.

 

I don't know why he's fighting so hard to save me, even though I really want to be saved, he could have just run and saved himself.

 

But that's not Ranma. I don't know what I did to deserve such a loyal friend, even as my vision starts to fade, but I'm glad I met him.

 

The bright flash of white blurs my darkening vision even as he cries out my name.

 

Well... I tried... I'm sorry Ranma.

 

--------

 

Even as Izuku starts to slump, I can -feel- the desperation and determination take over and my horn flare as I dodge another slime spike before I start charging forwards, watching as Izuku starts to slump.

 

No! Not today! Izuku doesn't die today! He can't be the greatest who ever lived if he dies today, and I AM NOT GOING TO LET THAT HAPPEN!

 

The change is almost instantiations, and I don't even need to consider my cutie mark to know that Loyalty is currently sitting prominently and dead center of my shield as I go from dashing forwards on feet, to hooves, before my wings catch the air and I rocket forwards in a massive burst of acceleration.

 

One of the things I've learned about Harmony Drive is that my pony forms don't correlate to the Elements of Harmony that I know. Or any Element for that matter. I can use Earth, Pegasus, and Unicorn with any Element, though each Element themselves causes some drastic differences with what my pony forms can do. Which is... weird, sometimes. I think it's about how magic works and is influenced by your Emotions.

 

Uh... think of it like Starfire, from the Teen Titans cartoon (not GO, that's shit, the real one). Every emotion feeds into the aspects of friendship, and from there, those emotions become 'mana' that fuel spells, but not all mana is made equal. Starfire can't fly if she isn't experiencing the joy that comes with being free in the open air, and she can't fire her bolts unless she's feeling outrage and anger.

 

When I'm in pony form, in particular when I'm a Pegasus or a Earth Pony, a lot of my natural ability changes depending on what emotion mana is fueling my transformed state.

 

Right now? Pure, unbridled, unrestrained fury and determination is fueling me. And that makes me the fastest thing alive.

 

A white and blue blur vanishes in a flash of feathers on prismatic wings as I go from 0-100 with the swiftness and tackle Izuku through the villain, making him cry out in surprise and pain even as my wings are wrenched from the collision and we crash to the ground, sent sprawling from my momentum as we slide across the ground till we stop a good fifteen feet away from the slime villain.

 

I wince as I look at Izuku, who's coughing up slime and groaning in pain even as I roll back to my hooves, only to yelp in pain as I glance back and see one wing hanging limply by my side. Ooooh, yeah, that's definitely dislocated. It sways as I move and I wince at the pain and tugging sensation as I post myself in front of Izuku, who is slowly coming around.

 

"You little shit! You're not even a good hiding spot from -Him-! I'm going to kill you and digest your remains you stupid fu-" The villain rants before he's cut off by the most bombastic voice I've ever heard, and my eyes widen even as Izuku finally stands up, his eyes as wide as mine and a excited grin on his face.

 

"YOU SHALL DO NO SUCH THING VILLAIN! WHY? BECAUSE I-"

 

The manhole cover for the sewers is blown off as the towering, muscular mass of the Symbol of Peace, the World's Greatest Hero, the man who rescues others with a smile on his face, and the 8th barer of One for All slams into the ground from his jump, standing up straight with a bright smile in place. "-AM HERE!"

 

"SHIT, ALL MIGHT!" The villain cries. "ALL MIGHT!" Me and Deku cry. The Villain attempt to attack the towering mass of man who simply rears back his hand and cries, "DETROIT SMASH!" I have a bare moment to brace myself and try to tuck my wing beside me as I crouch low as the air pressure from the massive punch whips past Izuku and myself as the Sludge Villain is splattered around the alleyway.

 

"HAHA, I'M TERRIBLY SORRY CITIZENS, I LET YOU GET CAUGHT UP IN MY HEROICS BECAUSE I WAS TOO SLOW! NAVIGATING THE SEWERS NEVER WAS MY STRONG POINT! SHAME THAT THE VILLAINS ALWAYS TRY TO ESCAPE DOWN THERE..." All Might comments as he looks around the alleyway and hums before letting out a pleased huff. "AHA, TIME TO CLEAN UP HIS ACT!"

 

A blur surrounds me and Izuku for a moment as All Might zips around the alleyway, scooping up the villain into two two-liter bottles that he found and capped, nodding with that incredible smile as he looks at the bottles. "THERE WE GO, ALL DONE!"

 

Finally, All Might turns to us, and blanches a bit when he looks at me. "AH! I'M SO SORRY MY... PONY? I DIDN'T REALIZE THAT I HAD INJURED YOU!"

 

Eh? Oh, right, my wing. Wait.... OH FUCK, MY WING. I hiss in pain as I glance at the limp appendage. "N-no worries All Might sir, n-not your fault. My fault, I think I dislocated it when I speared through that guy..."

 

Izuku blinks a few times and prepares to gush at All Might before he looks at my wing and looks around, before grabbing his backback off and offering the strap to my mouth. "W-w-we're g-going to h-ah-have to relocate i-it again Ranma. Yo-you saved me!" Izuku babbles, even as I lean against the Alleyway Wall as All Might marches closer.

 

"Yeah, yeah, just... gimmi a moment." I whine. This is not the first time I've dislocated something while practicing for heroics. Large Quantities of Emotion really increase my power, and even some emotions can increase my durability by a lot, but sometimes those emotions really are a double-edged sword.

 

"No time to wait Ranma, bite down please." Izuku says even as I groan and bite down on the strap.

 

"DID YOU HURT YOURSELF YOUNG MA-" All Might is cut off by a loud cracking noise and me groaning around the backpack strap, thankful that Izuku's bag has a leather strap for his shoulder as he pops my wing back into it's socket.

 

I tremble for a moment even as All Might stares at us in shock as Izuku gently pets down my spine, feeling around the wing joint and verifying that he got it reinserted right and didn't accidently pinch a nerve. "Ok Ranma, can you move your wing?" He asks, and I lift the wing up and then fold it into my side in the resting position, earning a sigh of relief from Izuku.

 

"Ranma what where you thinking? That was a real villain, you could have gotten seriously hurt!" Izuku scolds in worry, even as he hugs me tightly. "S-sorry Izuku, I couldn't just let you die. I just got so mad that I couldn't stop myself." I reply, even as Izuku finally lets go of the hug and gently bops me between my ears.

 

"B-baka."

 

Both All Might and myself stare at Izuku for a moment before he starts to fidget, and All Might thankfully breaks the now Awkward Silence that can only be created by a innocent Cinnamon Roll calling someone an idiot. "YOUNG MAN, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?"

 

"A-ah, yes. Thank you for asking All Might. I dislocated my wing getting Izuku out. A bit of food and dropping my transformation and I'll be fine." I reply, stepping away from Izuku and taking a deep breath before I let go of my transformation and stand up to two legs again.

 

"See? Good as new!" I say with a bright grin, flexing a bit and earning a chuckle from the hero of heroes. "INDEED! WELL YOUNG MEN, I NEED BOTH OF YOUR NAMES! THOUGH I MUST COMMEND YOU-" He pointed at me at this point, "FOR ACTING QUICKLY TO SAVE YOUR FRIEND! REALLY I SHOULD HOPE YOU WOULDN'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING HEROIC OR HURT YOURSELF WHILE I AM HERE, YOU TRUELY ACTED WITH THE HEART OF A HERO!"

 

I gently rub the back of my head in embarrassment even as Izuku starts gushing and entering full fanboy mode. At this point I do my best to stay back as Izuku leads the conversation, asking All Might for his signature (the ham signed two whole pages and signed it to both of us after he asked our names, and Izuku freaked out about how it would be 'a family heirloom') and preparing to ask The Question before I notice a wisp of smoke coming off of the slowly fading Symbol of Peace before he laughs and says his farewells before preparing to leap off.

 

And of course Izuku does the stupidest thing ever and grabs onto his leg as All Might jumps off.

 

Leaving me alone.

 

"... Oh Epona damn it." I moan, facepalming with a sigh.

 

Here we go, into the actual plot and story of My Hero Academia now "I guess it's time..." I sigh, finishing wiping my hand down my face before staring down the alleyway with firm eyes. "The warmup is done. Time to go Plus Ultra."

 

I didn't see Izuku the rest of the day. Not till I watched the news with Tauren and Pony later that evening and got shaken like a martini by Pony. "It's Izuku-kun! Oh my GOD he just ran in!" Pony had gasped, even as I resisted the urge to jump up and cheer at Deku proving how much of a hero he is.

 

Now I -did- cheer when I saw him blast that sludge motherfucker in the face with his backpack and catch both of his eyes before he pulls a me and tackles Bakugo -through- the sludge villain just like I did to him and tries to get Bakugo on his shoulders... before utterly failing when a tentacle lashes out and snags his leg.

 

My heart starts for a moment as a spear comes down towards his head before All Might appears and punches the slime away, making me let out a sigh of relief even as I pick up my phone. "I swear to Epona Izuku if you don't fucking respond to my text-" "AH! LANGUAGE!" "I'll add a dollar to the swear jar later, Pony!"

 

-------

 

Right, so he didn't answer any of my texts or my call, which means either he's ignoring me because of being completely shooketh over everything that went down yesterday, or his phone got wrecked in the chaos. I'm assuming probably the former because he would have at least tried to call me with Mammadoriya's phone or the house phone.

 

So I decided the best thing to do was to get up for my run at the normal time... which just so happened to be the same time that Izuku was going to meet up with All Might at the beach. Funny that. And oh look, my route takes me past Takoba Municipal Beach Park. How about that?

 

Suffice to say, I arrived just after All Might finished crushing the fridge to give his motivational speech. Seriously. How the fuck did they keep this secret and connection hidden for as long as they did in the series... "Izuku!! Holy crap, you're alive! Great! It's time to grit your teeeeeeeeewait a minute." I jog onto the scene as All Might spits up blood and deflates, and Izuku immedately begins panicking at my presence. I glance between the two before sighing and giving skinny-might the staredown.

 

"... I swear to Epona if you're trying to trick my boy with that All Might impression I'm going to kick you so hard your spine ejects from your skull." I growl, getting into a combat stance. "N-no! Ranma, it's ok! I-I k-k-know this looks weird, b-but it's, I-I, j-just w-wait!" Awww, Izuku is doing his best to step in as the skinny form of All Might coughs up some more blood, and my ears swivel a bit as I catch him talking to himself. "Maybe it's just something about Young Midoriya? Two more people knowing my secret in as many days..."

 

He coughs into his fist, wiping away the blood before he turns his stare on me, and even as firm as my combat stance is, I feel my tail flick behind me as a chill runs down my spine. He might not be as strong as he used to be and seriously injured, but that stare has -power- behind it. "Young... Ranma, was it? You were the one who was a Pegasus yesterday." He asks.

 

I can only stare down the 'strange man' as I do my best to hold my stance even as he stares me down as solidly as possible before he hums and then flexes, popping up into his muscled state. "HAVE NO FEAR, MY LITTLE PONY, FOR I AM HERE! IT'S TRUE, THE SKINNY MAN BEFORE YOU IS STILL ME!" He declares before deflating.

 

"... Oh you've got to be fucking kidding me." I say drily before skinny-might and Izuku start to explain what's going on.

 

----- One Explanation Later -----

 

"Alright... I think I got it figured out, but...." I frown, staring at All Might/Skinny-Might. "... Yeah, no. I can't just call you All Might sir, not when you're like this, it would blow your cover even harder than me just happening to be running by does."

 

"O-oh, right, Ranma, why were you running by Takoba anyway? No one comes out here-" "-Because this beach is a heap? Yeah, you're not wrong... and that's why I run this way. I've got a lot of space to go and if I need to burn off some extra energy I can buck garbage or practice spells." I tell Izuku, rubbing the back of my neck.

 

"Still, that doesn't change the fact that if you're not careful, your secret is gonna be blown wide open there... I still don't know what to call you sir." I say to Skinny-might, who sighs and puts his shirt down from showing me the wound from his fight with AFO. "Call me Toshinori, Yagi Toshinori." He says, before gently laying a hand on my shoulder. "Young Takashi, I must ask you to keep this a secret, especially now that Young Midoriya is training to be my successor, the consequences of this knowledge getting out would be catastrophic."

 

I sigh softly and nod. "There's no need to ask Toshinori-san, I'll keep your secret." I say before I stare at Izuku. "I told you that starting out training if we're going to be heroes was important. Didn't realize it was this important." I say flatly, making Izuku laugh nervously as I glance at the sand. Sure enough, Izuku's improved physical state from working out over the last month with me is actually proved very effective so far, as he did indeed move the fridge with All Might sitting on top of it... two inches more than in canon.

 

"You know, training partners are very beneficial, and you've already been training with Young Midoriya, My Little Pony! As thanks for promising to keep my secret, why don't I train you for UA as well?" Yagi says with a bloody grin, making me and Izuku double-take.

 

"Excuse me, Skinny-Might says what?" I say, caught off guard. This was... not part of my plan, but potentially seriously beneficial.

 

Yagi practically face faults at my off-guard statement, making him cough up some more blood and of course causing Izuku to panic a bit, which makes me panic a bit and the cycle continues before I'm able to stabilize everyone a little later with Harmony Resonance.

 

"Quite the power you have, Young Takashi. Empaths aren't very common but make for fantastic heroes in a rescue situation and terrifying villains." Yagi says calmly as I keep all of us leveled and calm. "It's a important part of my Quirk, but just part of it. Emotions fuel my transformation and work as a power stockpile, which I refer to as Mana." I explain as we sit on the now toppled fridge. "Oh, and please call me Ranma, Toshinori-san. I'm American so this 'everyone's last name' thing is kinda weird to me."

 

Yagi chuckles. "Very well young Ranma. Truthfully I shouldn't have accepted you so quickly but I can see how much Young Midoriya appreciates your presence and quite frankly, I find it very difficult to see you as a threat simply because of my familiarity with your... source material, lets say. But perhaps you could tell me more about your quirk?"

 

Izuku perks up. "OH! I actually just finished your entry Ranma! Here All Might." Izuku says, again pulling one of his notebooks, this one labeled 'Analytics for Future Heroics #1' which put a smile on my face even as I mentally growled at my lack of hammerspace and his access to hammerspace.

 

"Ah, thank you Young Midoriya... hmm." He hums, and I look to Izuku. "Alright bud, back to work for you while All Might reads." Which makes my timid friend freeze up like Fluttershy before moaning in disappointment as he grabs the straps to start pulling the fridge again.

 

At least this time it's lighter with only skinny-might and me sitting on it.

 

-----

 

"I SEE! WHAT A FANTASTIC QUIRK YOUNG RANMA! TRUELY YOU HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BE A FANTASTIC HERO!" All Might booms as he stands next to me as Izuku works into the next part of the Aim to Pass: All American Dream Plan. "Thank you All Might, I've come to really like it as well as much as some times it gives me a bit of a headache." I comment back as he closes Izuku's book and deflates. Yagi hums and rubs his chin. "Your equestrian traits makes most of the muscle training that I am using for young Izuku not quite as useful, but fear not! What you really need right now is to enhance your powers! My dear Twilight-"

 

I cough, giving him a 'look' that lets the man of ham know that I get the reference that makes him give me a embarrassed grin even as the living embodiment of eating the scenery continues, "You need to make some Friends!"

 

"... Yagi, I swear to Epona if you make me write you a Friendship Lesson I -will- gore you on my horn."

 

"DULY NOTED MY LITTLE PONY! HAHAHA!"

 

------

 

Sure enough Yagi-sensei got me into a local gym and martial arts class. In particular, Capoeira. He had three reasons for this particular martial art, and honestly, I couldn't refute it. Being a Martial Art based on conservation of motion, I could potentially come up with a style that would have me shifting in and out of pony forms while mid fight to add even more motion, or to carry over motion from a movement in my pony form to my normal form to extend my reach for an attack. As well, being that my pony forms most basic attack function was the standard double-hoofed buck, learning more ways to launch that buck in my four-legged form or to use the fact that my forms have some cartoon physics working for them, I could even possibly replicate a lot of the same moves that I would be learning to do in my human(ish) form in my pony forms!

 

Suddenly Rainbow Dash being a Black Belt in Karate makes a lot more sense...

 

Tauren, of course, thought it was a fantastic idea after I forced All Might to introduce himself to Mamma Tauren and Mommadoriya in his shrunken state. Inko of course was terrified, but cautiously excited after Izuku and I talked her into it, using the 'standard cover' that Yagi was one of All Might's talent scouts and secretaries looking for up and coming young Heroes to Be. Of course no one had heard of it before, they had to be sworn to secrecy after all! Tauren just laughed and said, "That sounds like the big lunk!" before she signed off on it.

 

So now between basic heroics training with Pony under the supervision of Tauren and Doc, going to the gym basically every day, and my new martial arts classes, I was absolutely pressed for recovery time as I pushed my body, quirk, and mind to it's absolute limits. And to think that Izuku was getting this times two, AND was still cleaning that beach, which All Might insisted that had to be Izuku's task and his alone.

 

Honestly, I feel it. Still, these two new 'classes' of mine came with something interesting. Two new friends in fact. Horn buddies, in fact. And one of them is someone that I don't think I'll ever be able to forget. Just... wow. I blame Eris, there's no other explanation for changing a main character's gender.

 

-----

 

"WOW! That's some manly work there dude!"

 

A bubbly, excited voice calls out as I finish my set on the leg press, and I force myself to carefully put the weight down so I don't break the machine or accidently hurt myself before I turn to look at the source of the voice, because there's exactly one character I know that uses 'Manly' as an adjective for everything, and they sure as hell aren't female. But sure enough, a black-haired, widely grinning and rather muscular amazon of a girl is standing not too far from me, sharp teeth bared in a massive smile as she stares at me, and honest to Epona I feel my throat dry out as I can only stare at her. Sure, her hair is long, but it's still spikey like Eijiro Kirishima's hair, and if I remember correctly he only started dyeing it red after he discovered Red Riot and took inspiration from the classic Hero to become one himself.

 

This girl is so much like him and yet absolutely not. Both Kirishimas are -ripped-, this girl is muscle on muscle with a figure that would kill most men on sight if they were of weak fortitude or anemic from blood loss. The yoga pants and crop-top muscleshirt she's wearing does absolutely nothing to hide any of her musculature, and honestly? She should show it off. It's impressive. She's got abs you could grind meat on. Or sharpen knives. Hell, if this is Ejiro, that might be literal if she turns her quirk on.

 

The excited voice calls out to me yet again even as I try to stop staring at her, and I note that she's got a lovely alto voice that has a lovely little vibrato in it that just makes my ears twitch and swivel towards her. "Woah! Didn't notice your horn before man, that's so cool! You're like a Unicorn!" She says in excitement as she walks up closer. "I don't usually see anyone else my age using the equipment around here! That's so Manly!"

 

I carefully sit up, and give her a smile. "Well, it's part of my quirk anyway, but yeah. I'm working out here to prep for going to UA." I say, earning a gasp and a starry-eyed, shark-toothed grin from the hardening girl. "Hell yeah, that's Manly! I'm also prepping for UA! We should be workout buddies! Oh my gosh I gotta text Mina, she's gonna be pumped to have another Horn Buddy!"

 

-----

 

Yeah, Eijiro is a perfect personality match to the show. Just female. Again, I blame Eris, who I still haven't encountered, even months later now. Ah, Eijira, actually, is her name, which makes NO FUCKING SENSE because it doesn't translate to anything! It's like it's lazy freakin' writing! At least her last name still makes sense, but the kanji for her given name doesn't. All they did was lop the 'son' part off.

 

Whatever, I'm not going to look too deeply into it. Sure enough, meeting Eijira got me introduced to Mina Ashido, who is just exhausting to keep up with, especially after she declared me and Pony her new best friends because we're all Horn Buddies with her and Eijira. Thankfully I can rope Pony into having girl-time/talk with the rest of the 'Horn Squad' as Mina recently has been testing calling our little group, which gets me a break.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to be friends with Mina, but that girl talks a mile a minute, and she is -not- shy about anything. She and Eijira also apparently were really into Unicorns when they were little, and now they have a real life one to poke and prod and ask questions of.

 

One of the first comments she made to me when we were talking one-on-one was about how she wasn't surprised that I'd made good friends with so many young, pure maidens like herself, Eijira and Pony. Said moment was properly ruined when Pony and Eijira had a belching contest. Mamma Tauren decided it was pizza night and Pony had invited Mina and Eijira to sleep over.

 

Mina also takes Capoeira classes with me, her natural athleticism and ability to turn the world into her own personal slip-and-slide with her quirk making her top-tier at the motion-converting martial art, and she's proven to be an excellent sparring partner. She even convinced me to learn how to breakdance to further increase our momentum conservation and athleticism.

 

Honestly, if I get proficient at it, I'm planning on getting her, Eijira, Pony, and Izuku to learn how to parkour, as I have zero doubt that it will be incredibly useful doing heroics.

 

I'd write about the Capoeira classes, but if I'm perfectly honest, they're rather boring to describe. The most interesting thing are the spars, but I spend most of my time there performing Martial Arts 101- learning how to get your ass beat and get back up, and how to fall properly.

 

Ok, that's not true, I've won a few spars and have gotten very elegant in the six months since Yagi got me into this, and the effort I'm outputting is clearly gaining results. I might be impressed with Eijira's physique, but I'm not exactly hard on the eyes either. Any baby fat I possibly could have had is gone. If I put on a shirt a size too small for me and flexed, I'm pretty sure I'd rip it to shreds. I look -good-, and I'm really enjoying the confidence boost that provides.

 

Izuku is really starting to show results as well. I convinced All Might to give him the 'Plus Ultra' treatment from the start by explaining Izuku's determinator status, and that he would overwork himself if All Might didn't work him into unconsciousness every day to just force Izuku to rest. Sure enough, that worked quite well, and I'm not the only one who's noticed, even if Bakugo is leaving him alone for now, he's absolutely noticed that Izuku is getting stronger.

 

All Might also started teaching Izuku boxing, which I quickly shifted into convincing the hero of heroes to getting Izuku to learn Kick Boxing as well in preparation for the revelation that- Izuku has Legs! Seriously, I love my little broccoli cinnamon roll, but for Epona's sake for such a smart guy he's very stupid. How do you forget the strongest muscles in the human body? Of course your legs can stand more force than your arms can! Sheesh.

 

That being said, Eijira and Mina both have met Yagi as well, and both of them fawn over Izuku, Eijira for his 'Manliness' and Mina for 'the sweet sugary cinnamon roll who I will -kill- for!'

 

Her words, not mine.

 

I reflect on all of this as I stare at myself in the mirror on one of the rare off-days that no only concedes with a day off from school, but matches Izuku's schedule. We all have a day off today, and All Might has tasked me with keeping Izuku from doing anything strenuous and to properly take the next twenty-four hours to rest and recover.

 

Which of course means we're having another sleepover at Tauren's house, and of course because I'm having Izuku over, Pony has determined that Eijira and Mina have to be there too.

 

It's gonna be a long day... that is now starting when the doorbell rings, drawing me away from the mirror and too the front door. “Hey Izuku.” I sigh in relief, glad that he made it to Tauren's house first. Don't get me wrong, I really like Mina and Eijira so far, but they're still girls and pretty-boy or not, there's only so much girl-time I can handle before I need to pull the egress handle and get the fuck outta there. At least with Izuku here I'll be able to hold on longer.

 

The green-maned cinnamon roll gives me a shaky smile even as his body trembles from his extended Plus Ultra workouts. He's sweating a bit from a glance, which tells me that he absolutely ignored All Might's request that he rest and ran here from his apartment, which was a good two or three miles. Not particularly taxing, not after everything he's been doing in the last seven months, including the month of workouts I pushed him through after he became my friend, but considering today was supposed to be a -rest- day, that distance was two or three miles too many for him to be running.

 

I sigh at him even as he grins awkwardly at me and laughs nervously, rubbing the back of his head as my eyes narrow. “... I won't tell All Might that you were overworking yourself if you actually rest for the rest of the day and all of tonight. That means no air chairs, no hand-grips, and no stealthy-workouts.” I warn him flatly, plowing over his attempt at a response with, “And you stretch now. I'm not going to let you end up cramping because you didn't stretch properly.”

 

Izuku groans sadly as I take his backpack from him and he immediately sets into stretching on the porch while I stare him down. He's well aware that my threat is genuine and that if he doesn't comply then All Might will make him comply... with duct tape.

 

Good ol' duct tape, even in the Quirky future, it's still super versatile and good for everything from patch-repairs, quick handcuffs, and the classic gag when you just absolutely need to shut someone up. Remember kids, Silence is Golden, Duct Tape is Silver, what you get is your choice.

 

I remember when I visited one rest-day when Izuku had gotten caught trying to overwork himself and All Might had actually duct taped his hands and legs together and put him in front of the TV. His Mother approved wholeheartedly, which lead to much laughter... from me, and a very pouty Izuku. Poor lad couldn't even take notes on Heroes that he saw on Hero Watch.

 

As he stretches out, I glance him over to observe his form and make sure he's stretching right. It's the one thing he hates doing the most of all the workouts, and honestly, I totally get it. Stretching sucks, but the more you do it the more flexible you are, and quite frankly, I am so thankful that I am naturally flexible, because let me tell you when freedom and conservation of motion is your primary form of attacking people you really, really need that flexibility in order to actually launch and land attacks. Izuku isn't falling too far behind, he's honestly quite flexible himself, but it's hard to convince him to keep up on his exercises sometimes because unlike the rest of his body, the progress on his flexibility is not quite as readily available for anyone to see.

 

Mind you, the dense broccoli boy can't even really tell that he's starting to seriously develop his heroic build and the musculature that will be able to handle the full force of the most powerful quirk in the world eventually. Seriously, this dude is -muscles-. If I wasn't as fit as I am, I'd be hella jelly. He's got the same abs that Eijira does, and toned doesn't even start to properly describe his musculature. If he has any fat left, it's all sitting in his face to keep that shonen protagonist look, but otherwise I'm expecting at some point he's going to end up pulling a Machio and pulling off his track-suit one day, and instead of being this little string-bean of a person that you'd expect from the guy wearing the track suit he'll be this mass of musculature with a face that doesn't fit the body it's attached to.

 

SIDO CHESTO!

 

… Ahem, where the hell did that come from? Hell, I even felt the urge to flex...

 

Right, anyway, as Izuku finishes up his stretches, I hear a loud wolf-whistle from the gate as Mina opens it up, a brightly grinning Eijira right behind her. “Aww yeah Midori, get some! Look at that! Eiji, not only do we get to hang out with our horn buddies but we get a -show- too! Oooh, oooh, Ranma, take your shirt off too!”

 

I blink and glance down at Izuku and note that he did indeed lift his shirt up to pad away the sweat around his face, though he's now steaming red as he covers up and stammers in embarrassment. I simply stare Mina down, blank-faced even as Eijira giggles along with the pink acid dripping alien queen.

 

“Hello Mina, I see you're in rare form today. Not even a minute and you've already broken Izuku.” I sigh at her, making her pull a eyelid down and stick her tongue out at me with a giggle. “Of course! I have to see my adorable cinnamon bun blush or it's not a good day!” Mina coos, Izuku now covering his face with both hands and whimpering a bit before I reach down and pull him up to his feet.

 

“Alright, alright, leave off of him. There will be plenty of time for embarrassing everyone later. You'll get your tea eventually.” I sigh, making the gossip-happy girl grin brightly even as Eijira comes up to me, letting out a big laugh as she wraps an arm around my shoulders in a half-hug in greetings.

 

“Yo dude, you're looking totally manly! I love the shirt!” She coos, looking at my black muscle-shirt. Apparently Pony has decided that my mascot should be the cute unicorn that she got for my gym clothing, and now I have a bunch of different shirts that have the same unicorn on them, in different poses and motions, though this one is the same as my gym shirt.

 

“Thanks, you're looking great too.” I compliment her, doing my best to keep a hold of my metal state as I gaze at her. She's still everything that I saw the first time I met her at the gym, which was absolutely jaw dropping then, but now she's wearing a light dusting of makeup which just makes all of those little traits that already made her drop-dead gorgeous and highlights them, making her a real femme fatality, because if she fluttered those pretty eyelashes at me too hard then she'd knock me down. I bite back the urge to blush at her even as I berate myself in my head a bit. Teenager, she's a teenager, I'm not in her age bracket, damn it, physical age aside.

 

Gosh those eyes are enticing.

 

And her silky... red... hair?

 

“You dyed your hair?” I ask, my hand already half up to brush through her hair even as she startles a bit, blushing a little as my hand drifts next to her face. “O-oh, yeah, yeah! I-I-I...” She stutters, making me pause in confusion even as Mina squeaks, bouncing a bit from foot to foot as she stares at us, Izuku also staring in confusion before the moment is broken up by Pony crashing through the front door. “RANMA, why didn't you let me know that Mina and Eijira are here?! Mimi, Eiji!” She squeals, completely breaking the sudden tension with two big hugs. Eijira looks a little relieved about something, even as I'm standing there a bit dazed and confused, hand still in the air, and Mina looks disappointed about something?

 

“Ooooh Pony, hon... Your timing is incredible and horrible at the same time.” Mina whines, even as she hugs Pony back. “What, did I miss something?”

 

-----

 

“So, red hair?”

 

We've moved inside at this point, and are sitting on the L-shaped couch... well, ok, kinda. The girls are on the couch, me and Izuku are sprawled on the floor. Eijira sighs, running a hand through silky red locks that are absolutely a shade darker then her... his... hair was in the anime. “Yeah? Is there something wrong? Did I miss a spot?” She asks, sounding a little nervous even as Mina rapidly whispers something in Pony's ear, making her bounce in her seat a bit as she shifts her gaze from me to Eijira and back again.

 

“N-no, I mean, it's just... I wasn't expecting it. It looks good on you.” I say, unaware that Izuku seems to be staring me down as well.

 

“Y-yeah, I uh... h-have you ever heard of the Crimson Riot?”

 

Izuku immediately perks up. "OH! I know him! He's one of the classic great Heroes of his time!" He says excitedly, pulling out another hero notebook. "He was well known as a fearless protector of all, a hero's hero!"

 

“Heck yeah, he's Super Manly! He made such a good point that I decided that I'm going to use him as my idol and homage when I become a hero!” She says, flexing and grinning widely which makes me smile as I gaze at her.

 

“That sounds awesome Eijira, and he sounds pretty Manly.” I agree, earning a warm smile from the hardening girl before Izuku chimes in again, "He was once quoted about how he took inspiration from his own fear to encourage him to act. Since the Crimson Riot, the two Heroes with the least hesitation in jumping into dangerous situations and gaining the 'fearless' names are All Might and Mirko!"

 

"Mirko? The rabbit hero? Oooh, is that your type then Izuku?" Mina teases with a low coo, Izuku blinking and flushing red even as Pony grins and leans in. "That's a lot of woman there Izuku, I mean, she's not that much older than us, I could see what is interesting about her for you..."

 

Izuku stammers some denials even as Mina powers on. “Oooh, so you got a soft spot for her Midori? Makes sense, she's got some -killer- legs.” Mina croons even as I lean back and cross my arms behind my head and fake a wistful sigh. “Killer nothin', I want her to crush my head between her thighs like a walnut in a nut-cracker.” I groan, making Izuku blush and stammer harder even as Mina and Pony cackle. Eijira flushes bright red and sips at her water even as I look at her in a bit of confusion. I honestly thought she was gonna start laughing at that as well.

 

Izuku gulps and shakes his head before speaking up. “A-a-aanyway, I-I dd-did some digging a-and you won't believe what I found, a-and seeing as this is a sleep over I figured it would be a perfect thing for us to watch.” He says, gaining confidence as he pulls his backpack over and gives me a warm smile, unzipping the backpack. “I don't have all of it, but my Mom was so excited when she met you and realized that this was among some of her old things from her childhood.”

 

My ears perk up a bit as I sit up, letting my tail swish a bit as I stare at the backpack, Mina, Eijira, and Pony all leaning in as we wait for the big reveal as Izuku reaches into his back and pulls a DVD case out of his bag. “We have to be very careful with these, they're relics but Mom made sure to put them all onto a hard drive, which is what we'll actually be watching them from.” Izuku says softly, even as he gently passes the case over to me, making my jaw drop a bit and my eyes to water a little.

 

My hand shakily comes up and brushes over the cutesy, pink-and-purple lettering and around the small cluster of mares sitting on the front of the DVD case, boldly declaring itself “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Seasons 1-4”. Twilight herself is standing prominently between her friends, staring out at me with a smile on her face as the girls all gather around me to stare at the case.

 

“Oh my gosh Ranma, they look just like you when you're in pony form!” Pony declares, earning a poke in the shoulder from Mina who giggles. “They look like you too Pony, you've got the same kind of big, expressive eyes and little muzzle!”

 

The horn-shooting ponygirl hums for a moment before nodding in agreement before I pop open the case, staring at the Element of Harmony marked disks, which makes Eijira speak up. “Hey hey, I recognize those! Ain't those your Cutie Mark Ranma?”

 

Multiple sounds and vocalized agreements pass among the five of us as I stare at the disks before I carefully close the case up again. “We need to watch this. From the beginning. You said you've got all of these on a hard drive Izuku?” I say softly, my voice a little faint. Izuku nods firmly, giving me a gentle nudgle with his shoulder before he takes the DVD case from me and returns it to his backpack before pulling out a hard drive and connecting it to Tauren's TV, and we all settle down a bit as he sets up the first episode before joining us. I'm still on the floor, but I'm sitting between Pony and Eijira's legs, and Izuku, after a bit of flustered glancing about, sits down rather stiffly between Eijira and Mina's legs. Mina immediately takes advantage of this situation to start teasing her fingers through Izuku's hair, earning a little whine though he doesn't complain about it or try to duck away as he hits the play button and the first episode come on.

 

I can't help it. I never could. My voice melds smoothly into Celestia's narration as the music plays...

 

“Once Upon a Time, in the Magical Land of Equestria...”

 

-----

 

Izuku starts to chuckle and then starts laughing fully as Twilight grumbles over being told to make some friends, earning a hard elbow to his arm from me which just makes him laugh harder as he pauses to make sure we don't miss anything. “What'cha cracking up for Midori?” Mina asks, even as Izuku's laughter breaks down into giggles. “A-Al-All Might's tr-rainer, he's a My Little Pony fan too,” Izuku breaths out, earning a sharp glance from me from almost dropping a pretty important secret from his joke, which is why I was elbowing him. “He had seen all of these and when he met Ranma and decided he was going to train him, he commented that 'Twilight' needed to make some friends!” Izuku breaks down in laughter again, this time dragging Mina and Pony into his amusement, a light giggle coming from Eijira as I sit there and take it with a blushing pout.

 

A moment later I snatch the remote away from Izuku, grumbling as I start the episode again, well aware that I was matching Twilight's mood and attitude towards all of this as it starts back up with Twilight grumbling at Spike about being sent to Ponyville.

 

-----

 

“Well, we've found Mina's surrogate character.” I comment blandly as Pinkie Pie cheers brightly and chatters a mile-a-minute at Twilight who pours herself a nice tall glass of Sauce. Mina pouts a bit, “Nuh-uh! You're just saying that because we're both pink!” She says, trying to reach past Eijira to poke me, resting one hand in Izuku's hair as she leans down and over to try to do so, making him blush and Eijira and Pony laugh. I snort at her even as I barely lean out of range of her prodding. “Overly Energetic, doesn't take no for an answer, and so extroverted that it's actually physically painful to a introvert to meet you for the first time.” I say flatly, pointing at example A in the form of the still flushing Izuku even as Twilight starts drinking her hot-sauce.

 

Mina goes to respond but freezes, considering my points before leaning back and crossing her arms with a huff even as I smirk at her. “Eeeyup. If I'm Twilight, you're Pinkie, deal with it.” I say with a pleased chuckle, the others laughing as Pony pokes my shoulder with her foot. “Hey, hey, if Mina's Pinkie, then who am I? Who is Eiji? And who is Izuku?”

 

Izuku sighs dispondantly and gestures to himself. “Obviously I'm Spike. I'm just here for the ride.” He says, before being poked firmly by me. “Nope, you're Fluttershy.” I say, making the girls frown. “But our Midori is no scaredy cat!” Mina says, and I shrug my arms. “He can be really Shy if you don't know him, but if you get him on about Heroes or Quirks he's the most expressive person I know... much like Fluttershy and Animals.” I say. “Case in Point, Izuku is Fluttershy. Pony is either Rarity or Rainbow Dash, honestly it kinda depends on her mood, which really points towards her being more like Rarity, and Eijira is Applejack, one-hundred-percent.”

 

The girls all try to get me to extrapolate on my choices, but I hold up a finger, even as I focus back on the TV. “I'll explain later. Sssssh, watch ponies.”

 

-----

 

As the Mane 6 go through their first adventure, I slowly start revealing my pony knowledge and explain my reasoning as to whom is who. Pony is so energetic and like her Momma, can be a bit of a show-off if she wants to be, but you won't find anyone who cares more of those who are hers, and is fiercely Loyal to anyone who's willing to show that loyalty back. And Generosity? Don't even need to mention it, this is a girl who's treating a perfect stranger, who could have easily been a serious danger to her and her mother, like a brother and someone she's known and loved her entire life within minutes of meeting him.

 

Yeah, it depends a bit more on the particular day, but I could see the argument for either element being Pony, though some of the more... distasteful traits of both Rainbow Dash and Rarity can be visible in Pony too, not that I'm going to say any of that out loud.

 

Eijira? Well shoot, it's super simple, much like the mare herself- Honest, blunt even, tough as nails, and the most reliable person you'll even meet. I'm pleased to say that saying that out loud even as Applejack promises Twilight that it'll all be ok if she lets go of Applejack's hooves makes Eijira blush brightly as Mina and Pony giggle and gently shoulder the muscular hardening woman.

 

Pinkie's song came and went, which was quite a joy, and eventually I've started brushing my tail out again, a little tisk sipping from my lips as I note that I picked up a bit more dust than normal. Guess the ol' feather duster going to need a trim soon.

 

Even as I'm brushing my tail and idly watching the TV, I can only hum in confusion as I feel hands running through my mane and undoing my high-ponytail. I don't bother to really react to it as the ribbon holding my mane up is taken out and soft fingers brush through it. Pony likes to play with my mane while we're watching TV together, so this isn't unusual behavior from her, even as I let out a pleasant hum as those fingers brush through my mane a bit more before the gentle rasp of a brush running through it makes my ears perk up a bit as I sink deeper into the couch cushion and relax, almost boneless.

 

Ponies and a brushing? Yes, this is a good day.

 

-----

 

Izuku can only watch in awe and a little bit of surprise as he watches his... well, his best friend, gently settle into possibly the most relaxed state he had ever seen the unicorn-boy be in as Eijira nervously brushes out his mane following Pony's quite instructions.

 

The tough, hardening quirked girl (and what a fantastic quirk she has too! He's still working on her entry, the sketch he did just didn't do her justice honestly, he needs a new pose and to think of some costume ideas) looks extremely nervous as she slowly runs the brush through his mane, freezing up as Ranma lets out a soft whinny before he settles again. The horse-like noises that he makes sometimes catch Izuku off guard too, though Izuku is pretty sure he doesn't even realize he's making them as Eijira slowly returns to brushing.

 

“Oh. My. God. Midori, Please tell me you can see this too.” Mina whispers harshly down to Izuku who is also staring as Pony gestures at them to watch the show again. “They're totes into each other, look at how relaxed he is. I don't think I've ever seen him like this.”

 

“Y-yes, he seems to really be enjoying that.” Izuku says calmly, even as he does his best to tamp down on his second-hand embarrassment, knowing that Ranma would pick up on the emotion if he was paying attention at all, glancing at the softly glowing and glittering horn of the unicorn-boy.

 

“Enjoying nothing! If she pets him any more firmly he's going to stretch out across her lap.” Mina muses in amusement. “This is a match-makers dream! I ship it. We've gotta make it sail!”

 

“W-wh-what?!”

 

“Well, who else is going to help me? You're his best friend, you're his wingman, and I'm my first horn buddy's number one wing-girl! We gotta hook them up!” Mina says with a big grin.

 

Izuku can only gulp and mentally groan as he knows this probably won't turn out well for him, even as he glances at the blissfully unaware Ranma and sighs.

 

Yeah, this can only end poorly.

 

-----

 

The rest of the episode (and yes, the two-parters are one episode damn it, I don't care who you are, you don't watch one half without watching the other) passes by in a warm blur, though that is partially because I know the first episode/hour of the show like the back of my hand. It's my favorite episode after all.

 

My ears flick a bit as I sit back with a pleased sigh. “... It's just like I remember it.” I say softly, a pleased smile on my face.

 

“Oh, you've seen this before Ranma?” Izuku asks, looking surprised. “My Mom said these are really, really rare, it was part of why she was so pleased that she found them again.”

 

I freeze up a bit. Crap, I can't explain how I've seen the episodes before, and quickly try to wing out a lie. “Y-yeah, when I was really little, the TV was my 'babysitter' when my sperm donors went out to commit their crimes.” I say, leaning on the 'my parents are villains' explanation. “I've seen the first season several times, though I didn't know it was only the first season for a long time, I thought it was the only bit of the show that was ever made.”

 

Izuku lets out a 'ah' of acknowledgment as we all settle back in to continue watching the show. Even if it was mostly for the benefit of learning more about my Quirk, Izuku and the Girls were quickly converting to believers and obviously were enjoying the show itself, laughing along with the jokes, cooing over Apple Bloom and the CMC, even singing along with Winter Wrap Up as a group.

 

Izuku has a fantastic singing voice and I am going to figure out how to cultivate that, straight up.

 

-----

 

Eventually the day must come to an end, and by that I mean the girls decided to split off for girl time after we finished the first season of MLP, thirteen hours post starting watching, and me and Izuku split off to my room.

 

My room isn't particularly impressive, it's very spartan outside of a All Might poster, a Cow Lady poster, a Mirko poster (I wasn't lying about those thighs man...), and some scattered My Little Pony merch that Cow Lady found and gave to me. Considering I had nothing but the clothes on my back when I was 'found', all of these things and my silky silk sheets were just way too much generosity from my foster mother.

 

Izuku blushes at the Mirko poster (It's not even saucy, just her snap-kicking with a snappy one-liner below her) as I settle onto my bed, the air mattress, sheets, and pillow already set up for Izuku. “So, we know that the girls are going to be up for... too damn long, and Pony tends to squeal during girl time, so we probably aren't going to be able to go to bed right away.” I comment, staring up at my ceiling as Izuku lets out a thoughtful hum.

 

“I-I guess. I'm glad Mom found the show... that was really nice.” Izuku comments, making me smile at the ceiling. “Yeah, it was awesome to get to see those again... really puts me in my happy place.” I muse warmly in response as Izuku hums again.

 

Izuku and I fall silent, staring at the walls of my room and my ceiling respectively, before Izuku speaks up quietly. “Do you really think I'm Fluttershy, Ranma?”

 

I startle from the half-doze I was in and shift, rolling to my stomach and hanging my arms off the side of my bed to stare at Izuku's back as I speak up. “I can see the comparisons, yes, why? Is there something wrong?”

 

Izuku freezes a bit for a moment, as if he's indecisively determining if he actually wants to talk or not before he turns around and makes his way over to the air mattress and sits down gingerly to make sure it's fully inflated before fully sitting down. The downside of a more Americanized house is the floors really aren't great for a futon.

 

“No, not really, but... I didn't want to bring it up in front of the girls because I know most of them haven't seen your Cutie Mark, but... do you think you really might be Twilight? Or like Twilight.” Izuku says slowly and thoughtfully. “I mean, you kind of have had a similar line since you were pushed off of that building, Ranma- you came from the sky or from 'high above' everyone else, and were cared for by a skilled, wise, and beloved 'ruler' who watched after you and taught you before sending you out to 'make some friends', and you listed it off yourself.”

 

Izuku leans back and settles his back against the wall as he ticks off his fingers. “Your list made sense to me, even if we've only known Eijira and Mina for a few weeks, you made very fast friends with them and they made fast friends with me and Pony-chan in return, which is very, -very- weird for me. I know All Might is doing his best to help me regain my confidence and spine, but Pony, Eijira, and Mina are the first female friends I've ever had, period.”

 

He then leans forwards a bit, “And the fact that we all slot in to one of the various elements very nicely. Honestly Ranma, if you weren't Magic/Friendship, I'd say you were the candidate for Loyalty, frankly I have to accept your analysis for myself as Kindness-” “Saving People Thing.” I interrupt though Izuku just steadily continues onwards, “-Mina is a solid case for Laughter, Eijira is absolutely Honest in every way from her Quirk to her motivation to be a Heroine, and I agree with you that Pony is most likely Generosity, which just leaves us with the last Element, and I bet you'll find it sooner or later.”

 

I blink and lean up a bit. “Woah, hold on, Izuku you can't be serious- the Elements of Harmony are just from the show. My quirk is really weird, even as most quirks go, but I don't think I'm actually the Element of Magic. Or any of the Elements for that matter. Remember? It's a shield. I'm probably -protecting- the Elements, or rather, I'm protecting those values so that others can continue to enjoy them, just like a true Hero.”

 

“Or maybe you're gearing up for something more. Like you said, it's a strange quirk Ranma.” Izuku says, making me sigh and slump down again. “I doubt it Izuku but sure, lets say we find Loyalty then. It's not like the Elements are in this world. What then?”

 

“I don't know, but I think it could push your Quirk to the next level... all I know is that I really want to watch the rest of the show now.” He says, grinning. “I think the next season is just as long as this one so we know what we're doing on our next rest day.”

 

“For sure. Lets get some sleep man. Good Night.”

 

“Good Night Ranma.”

 

But as I turned off the lights with a gentle spark of magic and turns around to settle into my pilllows, I would completely miss the contemplative expression on Izuku's face as he studied me from his seated position before he too laid down and settled in to sleep.

 

“... I don't know what you're not telling everyone Ranma, but I know for sure that you want to be, and will be, a great hero. I just hope you can trust us as much as we're coming to trust you soon...”

 

----

 

“Alright girls, you know what time it is! Let's dish!”

 

“Mina noooo-”

 

“Mina YES!”

 

“Heheheh, you're always so energetic Mina-chan!”

 

“How can't I be? Look at the lovely tea we've got set up! Eijira , how soft was Ranma's mane?”

 

“E-eh?!”

 

“Ooooh, right? He uses the same shampoo that me and Momma use to keep the keratin in his mane strong so it's soooooooooo soft and silky.”

 

“W-w-wah!”

 

“Mmmm, I bet our Red Riot wants to get her hands all over that unicorn and show him what a real virtuous maiden is like~”

 

“MINA!”

 

“Just saying, he's a real unicorn, a literal unicorn! We're not surprised you want to put a bridle on him and ride~”

 

“MIIIIIIINAAAAA!”

 

“Kya!”

 

The scenes in this bedroom are, unfortunately, not meant for our eyes, but we can only close them and imagine as shrieks of feminine embarrassment and laughter born of tickles ensue. Somewhere in the dark, a grape-haired pervert weeps, and he isn't sure why.

 

-----

 

Time passes as it always does, and eventually we were coming up on the end times. About three weeks out to the big exam was when it happened, the most important moment in the life of one Izuku Midoriya.

 

When I ran by Takoba the morning Izuku finished cleaning up the beach, I honestly wasn't expecting him to be done. He surprised the hell out of me, and out of Yagi, whom I met at the stairs down to the beach just before we heard Izuku screaming out towards the rising sun as we both ran down the stairs and a bit of a ways onto the beach to observe Izuku standing triumphantly on the last pile of trash, all picked up and put together in his designated 'dumping zone' to be loaded into the back of Yagi's pickup truck to be dumped off for sorting and disposal.

 

“Oh...”

 

“My.”

 

“GOODNESS!”

 

All Might and I exclaim together as the World's Strongest Hero buffs out in pride and shock as Izuku finishes his victory cry and sways a bit. He takes off and I follow after at a swift pace across the sand as he snags Izuku as he topples over and brings him down to the beach.

 

“NOT EVEN A SPECK OF DUST LEFT, SERIOUSLY?!” All Might exclaims in English, acting like a ridiculously proud dad as he looks over the sparkling clean beach literally glinting in the morning light as the sun kisses the sand off the water. “TEENAGERS ARE AMAZING! AND LOOK AT YOU!”

 

He sets Izuku to his feet where he wobbles for a moment before he finally holds himself firmly, tears running down his face as he stares at his accomplishments, All Might pulling out his phone and showing Izuku a picture of himself at the start of the training “LOOK AT HOW FAR YOU HAVE COME, YOUNG MIDOYRIA! IT'S THERE IN A WAY THAT REALLY SHOWS, YOU TRUELY HAVE BECOME A VESSEL CAPABLE OF HANDLING ONE FOR ALL!”

 

“I-I don't deserve this, I'm so lucky... I'm so blessed! You did all of this for me!” Izuku sobs before I snort and butt into the moment between mentor and mentee. “Lucky? Izuku, there is no such thing as luck!”

 

“OUR LITTLE PONY IS CORRECT YOUNG MIDORIYA!” “Oi!” “THERE IS NO LUCK INVOLVED! EVERYTHING YOU'VE EARNED HERE IS OFF THE BACK OF YOUR OWN HARD WORK! AND NOW, FOR THE REWARD!”

 

All Might stands up fully, even as I step out of the way. This isn't my moment. “YOUNG MIDORIYA, NO, IZUKU, YOU'VE DEDICATED YOUR ENTIRE BEING TO COMPLETING THIS TASK, GOING WELL ABOVE AND BEYOND MY EXPECTATIONS! YOU EARNED THIS WITH YOUR BLOOD, SWEAT, AND TEARS. MY POWER, -YOUR- POWER, ONE FOR ALL, IS YOURS TO INHERIT!”

 

I swear I could hear 'You Say Run' swelling in the background before the world's most powerful ham breaks the whole moment by holding out a single hair. “EAT THIS!”

 

Dead silence, and a few awkward pauses pass before I facepalm with an audible slap. “Damn it All Might...”

 

He looks at us in confusion as I pinch the bridge of my nose and Izuku laughs awkwardly. “WHAT? YOU NEED TO INGEST SOME OF MY DNA IN ORDER TO INHERIT ONE FOR ALL, AND IT NEEDS TO BE GIVEN FROM ME WILLINGLY! I FIGURED THIS WAS THE LEAST-GROSS WAY TO DO IT!”

 

I sigh, hanging my head. “I get that, but that seriously killed the mood...” I shake my head, making my mane bob before I stand up straight. “Sorry, it's not even my quirk or ceremony! Now I'm just interfering. Izuku, this is your moment, step up dude.”

 

Izuku blinks before yelping as I slap him on the back and gently push him closer to All Might, who offers Izuku the hair again. He contemplates it for a moment before taking the hair and swallowing it, gagging a bit before I hand him my water-bottle, which he chugs to help get the hair down.

 

A few moments later, he has finished my water and sighs. “It's done.” He frowns, patting at himself for a moment. “I don't feel any different...”

 

“WELL OF COURSE NOT YOUNG IZUKU! YOU HAVEN'T DIGESTED IT YET! WE'VE GOT SOME TIME, IT WOULD BE WISE OF US TO RUN YOU THROUGH A WARM UP EXPERCISE OR TWO AND GET YOU STRETCHED OUT BEFORE WE TEST YOUR NEW POWER!” All Might booms before deflating in a poof of smoke and a cough of blood. “And I need to bring the truck around so we can actually load up the rest of the trash...”

 

-----

 

Izuku hums and pushes himself up to his feet. “I-I think I can feel it!” He calls out, startling me from my peaceful doze in the sand, even though I know it'll be a bitch to get all that sand out of my mane and tail later, and I pop myself up to my feet as Yagi stands up from the cab of his truck, leaving the driver's side door open.

 

“Excellent! Young Midoriya, reach down inside of you and feel your power, and bring it forth!” Yagi calls out, inflating into the scenery chewing All Might with a mighty laugh, blurring away with a small kick of sand before returning with a refrigerator which he sets up pointing out into the ocean. “THIS SHALL SERVE AS A FINE TARGET! TO USE ONE FOR ALL, CLENCH YOUR BUTT AND SCREAM 'SMASH'!”

 

Both me and Izuku face-fault as we contemplate what All Might just said, and I can't help but groan from where I'm laying. “Really All Might?” I sigh as I get back to my feet, Izuku following me up moments later before he contemplates what he needs to do before nodding to himself. “Ok... h-here we go.” He says, closing his eyes.

 

I carefully step back, All Might doing the same slightly as we watch Izuku concentrate, taking a deep breath as green lighting starts to lick off of his body, and I can't help but look on in shock and a bit of awe as that power goes from a little to -a lot- in a moment, Izuku crying out with his new found power. “SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!”

 

All Might's training shows clearly as Izuku's form is perfect as he darts forwards with a jolt haymaker to end whole buildings as his fist lashes out almost too quickly to be seen as he connects with the fridge... and it fucking -vanishes-.

 

The fridge is an ex-fridge. It is no longer in this plane of existance. It's particles were fucking obliterated in a way that you would be incapable to assuming it was a fridge if you were somehow able to collect all the particles. There's a massive trench in the beach and the FUCKING OCEAN behind where Izuku punched, and two smaller ones on either side of him from the kick-back of his punch.

 

I've seen main battle tanks fired before. They got nothing on Izuku.

 

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

 

Oooh, no, that isn't a cry of triumph. That is pain. “Izuku!” “YOUNG MIDORIYA!”

 

All Might and I are already moving and it isn't a pretty sight. Izuku is badly hurt, his arm looking like pulped meat, his skin deeply bruised and bleeding here and there. His hand is broken, straight-up. “Holy fuck Izuku!” I cry out, my horn lighting up as I immobilize his arm and inspect it closer. Damn it, I was expecting this but it still caught me off guard from the sheer power involved. All Might is a bit dumbfounded at the moment as he stares at Izuku's hand, even as I quickly determine two things. One- He's absolutely already stronger than he was in canon just from having that extra month of training, which makes him absolutely terrifying when you're talking about his overall potential. Two? Actually using your body properly when you're fighting actually lessens the recoil you experience and increases the overall force. The boxing lessons really, really helped because he hit properly.

 

“Calm down buddy, it's gonna be ok, shit shit shit.” I mutter, flicking out my Cell Phone even as Izuku whimpers, grasping his wrist as All Might snaps out of his daze. “Young Ranma, who are you calling?” He asks, looking a bit worried.

 

“Doc Shihan and Mom... Uh, Tauren.” I say, shaking my head a bit before I look All Might dead on. “Izuku just had his first quirk activation Toshinori-Sensei, and he's seriously hurt. A quirk councilor that will help him for free and is in good with several different healing quirk users would be a major boon.”

 

All Might blinks for a moment before shrinking back into Yagi Toshinori, and nods firmly at me. “Right, I better call Young Midoriya's Mother and inform her that her son has a quirk, and then contact All Might, I'm sure he'll be interested in a prospective Hero in his program suddenly developing a Quirk, especially one as powerful as this! And on his last day of the initial training program too!”

 

He gives me a hammy wink even as Izuku's sobs lighten up and I give him a soft hug, carefully avoiding his magic-cradled hand. “Don't move your hand Izuku, I know it hurts. We're gonna get you to Doc and we'll figure this out ok?”

 

“I-I thought I was ready, b-but it hurts, it hurts so much.” Izuku sobs, gritting his teeth as I gently rub his back. “I know, it's gonna be ok.”

 

I've never felt more like I was lying in my life, even as I feel the Elements light up on my flanks, flashing in sequence. I really hope I'm not lying.

 

-----

 

“NOT TO WORRY YOUNG MAN! WHY? BECAUSE I, AM HERE! AND I HAVE BROUGHT REENFORCEMENTS!” All Might booms as he enters Cloud City Quirk Counseling and Gymnasium in full stride alongside a small, Grandmotherly looking woman with a large syringe as a walking cane in a hero uniform.

 

Recovery Girl, and not a moment too soon. I let out a sigh of relief as I continue to gently massage Izuku's non-injured shoulder even as his mother gently pets his hair and sniffles.

 

Thankfully All Might caught on pretty quickly to what I wanted to do not only to protect Izuku's new secret, but his own, and to get some documented proof that this was a very sudden bit of quirk activation and that Izuku was just a late bloomer, don't you know?

 

Seriously for being such a meathead sometimes All Might is actually pretty damn smart, even if I'm sure he wasn't really pleased with me pushing to have more people close to the knowledge of One for All so soon. Having other people in a orbit lop around being 'in the loop' was really useful at times, because Tauren, currently in uniform as Cow Lady, and Pony were both here, helping Izuku stay calm even as he struggled through the pain.

 

“Let me see the lad. Shihan, haven't seen you since the last class reunion.” Recovery Girl says in greeting, making me blink and look at Doctor Shihan even as I think back to his Present Mic introduction. Older than he looks indeed. “Good to see you too Recovery Girl, we could use your talents. The poor lad is a late-bloomer and injured himself during his last training exercise. I haven't inspected his quirk yet, but from what I could gather from Ranma-kun and Toshinori-san before he left to get All Might and write up a report, Midoriya-san had finished cleaning the beach...”

 

Doc went into a abbreviated explanation of the training plan, including giving Recovery Girl a copy the Aim To Pass: All American Dream Plan script which she inspected quickly, humming here and there and nodding to herself before she put it aside. “Very well, and I'm assuming you-” She gently pokes me in the leg with her 'waking stick', “Are Ranma-kun? Describe what you saw when he hurt himself, including what he was doing just before and just after. Doctor Shihan, if you could take a small blood draw, I want to get a look at his Quirk Factor.”

 

Doc starts carefully adjusting Izuku and gently draws some blood as I start my explanation. “Right, I was doing my morning run which takes me by Takoba Beach, which is where Izuku works out with Toshinori-Sensei. A major focus of his workouts were muscle building, because Izuku is-” I pause, frowning for a moment before powering on, “Was. Quirkless. But he desperately wants to be a Hero, and honestly, I fully believe that he could have done it without a quirk, but I digress.”

 

At this point Doc Shihan has left the room with the drawn blood, unsurprising me that he would have the facilities on-hand to test Izuku's DNA and Blood for Quirk Factor as Recovery Girl steps up to Izuku's side and starts properly inspecting his right arm and hand before humming in surprise. “Before you continue, are you the one holding his hand right now young man?” She asks, gesturing to his still frozen hand and my glowing horn. “Uh... Oh, right, I forgot I was still doing that.” I say, blinking as she puts a hand up. “Keep holding it son, you've kept him from getting hurt more and the longer you hold it the better I'll be able to heal his hand without causing more damage. Just let me know if me manipulating his hand starts to break your hold.”

 

“Yes Ma'am.” I respond as she starts moving his hand about very slowly, carefully inspecting each knuckle, joint, and finger, and outside of a bit of extra pressure when she moves him about, I don't feel any extra strain so I carry on with my explanation of how Izuku got hurt, building on his cover story. “Izuku has finished clearing the entire beach, and we were celebrating a bit when his body started sparking, like lighting was curling off of his body. It was honestly a little scary but he reacted quickly and shifted away from me and Toshinori-Sensei before throwing a punch into the last large piece of garbage we were going to take off the beach to try to discharge it, because he said he felt like he was... corked up? Like someone pumped him full of power and it was trying to come out all at once. Honestly, it was kinda like All Might himself threw a punch! The fridge was obliterated and he cut a massive trench in the beach and ocean... and then he started screaming, and when I saw his hand I immobilized it.”

 

As I wrap up my story, All Might nods his head. “That matches up with what Yagi-san told me, Recovery Girl. I believe this Young Man might have a quirk similar to mine.” He says, stroking his chin heroically as he contemplates Izuku.

 

“Like ya'lls, All Might?” Cow Lady says, blinking in shock before startling a bit further. “Wait, are yew gonna actually tell us what yer quirk is?”

 

All Might laughs a bit. “Well, maybe not all the details, but I can confirm that much like Young Takashi-” “Please, just call me Ranma All Might, I'm American...” I grumble, leading to a chuckle from the hero before he continues, “Very well, Young Ranma, I am fairly positive from what Yagi-san has explained to me that Young Midoriya has a Stockpiling Quirk, and much like Ranma, he finally hit a point where he could actually use it, much like myself.”

 

“Oh! Were you a late-bloomer as well All Might?” Pony asks, bouncing from hoof to hoof in excitement as All Might nods. Recovery Girl is giving him the stink-eye, but I'm guessing that's because she actually knows the real story here and is aware that she can't say shit without blowing All Might and Izuku's cover story. “Indeed I was young lady! I didn't come into my power till my teenage years as well! Though don't tell any newspapers that, I'm sure the paparazzi would have a field day!”

 

A few moments later Doc walks back up, holding a small ream of paper. “I have the results here Recovery Girl. His quirk factor is impressive and showing fully, and from what I can see there's multiple emission markers and a stockpile marker. I could learn more using my Quirk, but at the moment I'd say that you can heal him without interfering with his Quirk development.”

 

Recovery Girl nods before her lips stretch towards Izuku and she gives him a big smooooooch right on the forehead, and Pony and I gasp in surprise, startling me out of using my magic to hold his hand in place as his arm and hand heals in seconds. Izuku blinks at his hand dumbly before he clenches and unclenches it several times. “It's healed!” He cries out, sitting up with a bright smile before almost immediately sinking back down. “Jeeze I'm tired...”

 

“My quirk uses your bodies own stamina to heal you, so of course you're going to feel a little tired.” Recovery Girl says before the world freezes again and I'm treated to yet another personal view-over of someone and their Quirk, ala Present Mic.

 

'Recovery Girl! Her Quirk allows her to amplify and speed up the human body's natural healing process by planting a kiss on the injured person. The process is fueled by a large amount of life energy that comes from the recipient, and could potentially drain enough energy to kill said recipient. She also is capable of stretching her lips to an abnormal length.

With this Quirk, she is able to quickly heal broken bones in several limbs in a matter of seconds. She can control how much a person's healing factor is boosted, and not heal the recipient completely, leaving them with more remaining stamina than they would have had otherwise! It's not a cure-all but it ain't no quick fix!'

 

As the world times back in I'm suddenly jabbed by the old heroine who gives me a flat glare, her brow furrowed as she stares me down. “You are -not- a trained medic boy, don't do that again. You did a good job, but get some training first before you use your quirk in a way you haven't tried before, you could have seriously hurt your friend, or even accidentally stopped his blood from moving and killed off the entire arm.” She warns sternly, making me nod firmly as she relaxes her brow. “That being said, that was quick thinking, I assume you're planning on going to UA like most of the hero hopefuls around here?”

 

“Yes Ma'am, that's my intent.” I respond, nodding. “Yagi-san has been helping me prep for UA's Entrance exam as well, and I do quirk counseling here with Doc and Cow Lady.” The old woman hums and nods. “Fine enough, when you pass the Exam-” My heart skipped a beat and my eyes widened a bit. UA Nurse say what now? “-You come by my office with your Homeroom Teacher on the first day and we'll sort out when your medical course will be.”

 

Before I can utter a word or even stammer in shock, she half-turns to Doc and says firmly, “Keep up the good work Shi, give me a call and we'll go out for drinks sometime. Midoriya-san, congratulations on awakening your quirk, train hard and don't you dare make it a habit to have to get me or another medic to come and fix you up. You want to be a Hero, that means doing everything in your power to keep yourself healthy and safe first- can't save anyone if you're hurt worse than they are.”

 

She then gives All Might a sharp glare and says simply. “I'll see you later, All Might.”

 

And with that she sweeps out the door, somehow quite agile on those old legs. Somehow I get a feeling she doesn't need her 'cane' at all to get around, and she's mostly using it to catch people off guard. Cow Lady lets out a braying laugh at the dumbfounded looks on my, Pony, Mommadoriya, and Izuku's faces. “That's Recovery Girl all right! Even years and years on, she's a force to be reckoned with!”

 

-----

 

I won't get into the nitty gritty of the rest of that day and meeting with Doc, mostly because me, Mom... uh, Tauren, and Pony all got kicked out pretty quickly as All Might declared himself to be Izuku's Sponsor due to the 'similarity' of their quirks, and Mrs Midoriya was more than happy to have another adult in the room, I think, but even then Izuku gave me the highlights later.

 

He was officially declared a late-bloomer, and Doc made some inquiries into Izuku's old doctor, who not only turned out to be missing, but to have seriously mishandled Izuku's case. No record of any type of blood tests or DNA testing to determine if Izuku had a quirk or not, just the X-Ray of his double-jointed pinkie toe.

 

That's it.

 

Remember all that bullshit I sat through at the hospital? Yeah, that's -standard- for kids 2-4 in this world, especially in Japan.

 

The fact that Izuku got none of that was serious medical malpractice, and Izuku needed some serious hugs afterwords when it finally caught up to him, and I was bleeding depression from my horn for -hours- afterwords, before the rage kicked in and I had to restrain him from blowing a wall out with just his voice.

 

I suppose we'll start first with the most important detail of all of this, his Quirk. Here, we'll even read it directly out of Izuku's private notebook, One-For-All Traits and Heroic Planning (Those-in-the-know eyes only!)

 

Subject: Izuku Midoriya (I HAVE A QUIRK!)

Quirk: One For All [Quirk Database Name: Superpower]

Type: Emission/Stockpile Aberration [DNA Transferable]

Description: One For All (9th Generation)[ABV: OFA] is a power-stockpiling quirk. The actual Emissions from OFA do not actually weaken OFA or draw from the greater Stockpile from having 9(!!!) generations of users, as each individual user greatly added to and increased the overall power of OFA. Much like a torch, OFA is transferable from one User to a new one by DNA transfer. The current User must desire that the new user receives OFA before it can be transferred, making it impossible to accidentally transfer OFA or steal OFA from a current User, which is made even more difficult due to the overwhelming increase to general strength the holder of OFA experiences.

 

9th Gen: Doctor Shihan [see Quirk Analysis for Heroics Volume III] inspected OFA using his quirk and did not notice anything out of the ordinary about OFA or that it was transferable. Both myself and the 8th Generation User are unsure as to why that is, but we consider it a lucky break as we hadn't considered that when Ranma took me to see the Doctor. Current noted traits- Extreme Physical Strength Enhancement with Kickback. The recoil from my own strikes are enough to shatter my own bones and tear muscle and skin. Proper form helps manage the kickback, and Doctor Shihan has helped me modulate the amount of OFA I'm currently using down to a manageable level where I won't damage myself with the kickback... a whopping 3% of OFA.

 

Considering that I can still punch through steel with just that much of a increase, I'm not at all crushed by how little of it I can utilize so far.

 

OFA when applied to the entire body, instead of concentrated in a single limb, creates a consistent, easy to manage physical boost. I've dubbed this state 'Full Cowling' and I can currently utilize it at 1%- it puts incredible strain on my entire body to do so, but the Full Cowl state also greatly increases my endurance and physical toughness, capable of withstanding blows that probably would have knocked me off my feet even if I was blocking properly.

 

I've got a lot to learn still, and Doctor Shihan has hinted that there's much more to my Quirk than he can explain to me right now simply because my body isn't ready for me to use it. He's almost doubled my workout schedule and requested that I start working out with weight loads designed around OFA, something that I can do at Cloud City or in All Might's personal gym.

 

The entry then ends with a pretty nice sketch of Izuku himself, wearing just his silk boxer-briefs (I got another convert to them, and he agrees that they are a worthwhile investment for personal comfort) as he flexes at himself in the mirror. Dude is -ripped-. Seriously, the Cinnamon Roll has a spicy center, ya'll gotta watch yourselves or you're gonna get burnt.

 

He also put a few costume ideas in there and... boy, I really need to have a planning session with him were we sit down and talk about this kinda stuff. Or at least, make sure that one of -these- ends up in Mommadoriya's hands instead of the older bunny-eared design. Seriously, he's such a fanboy sometimes...

 

Whatever, Izuku wouldn't be Izuku if he wasn't a Hero Otaku.

 

I'm currently at the Midoryia household on a Sunday the week after Izuku received OFA, setting up streamers with careful application of my telekinesis, even as I feel Generosity idly humming in approval on my flank. Part of me is amused because I'm pretty sure Rarity would do the same thing, but I know that Generosity isn't humming because I'm making everything pretty, but because I'm actively helping with something I didn't need to help with.

 

Actually, this whole party (yes, Laughter light up the brightest but all the Elements highly approved) is being set up in honor of Izuku getting his quirk, more of a 'Congratulations' and a stealthy 'Your hard work paid off' party more than anything else, don't want to remind him of his past quirklessness. I've invited all of Izuku's friends, including scheduling a special appearance from All Might though Yagi will be around for most of the party as well, and even got Doc to make an apartment call not only to give his congratulations but to remind Izuku that he can have a cheat day today and to eat some damn cake (Cinnamon Roll 'cake', I made it myself, I find the cannibalism ironic).

 

Mommadoriya is singing along with the radio and dancing a little, and I'm pleased to report that she's losing weight again, which frankly, good for her! I know how hard it is to lose weight, not that it's a problem for me any more considering how many calories I need to eat to keep my Equestrian traits fueled, and that's not even getting into the energy costs of magic... yeah, feeding your quirk is a big deal for a reason, especially for heroics... uh, but anyway, she's been working out with Mitzuki Bakugo, the mother of Bakago, who apparently is one of her best friends, go figure, inspired by Izuku's workout schedule and calmed by Yagi and All Might being Izuku's trainer.

 

“If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends~” She coos along with the radio, the anxious woman looking much more relaxed even as I hum along, my tail swishing a bit as I finish getting the streamers set up and push the last tack into a large banner hanging from the ceiling.

 

'YOU EARNED IT IZUKU!'

 

No one but me, All Might, and Izuku really would get it, but I know Izuku would be touched. “Oh! The decorations look lovely Ranma-kun, you're such a good helper. Honestly it's like having someone who can use my quirk on multiple things at the same time in the house.” Mommadoriya says, giving me a warm smile as my ears flick a bit. Today my mane and tail are both braided to keep them up and out of the way so I don't accidentally trip someone on my tail or whack someone with my mane by turning too quickly, and because Pony was the one who did the braiding, of course I've got ribbons running through them too, a shiny red that contrasts well with my black-blue color.

 

“I'm happy to help Mommadoryia.” I say with a little salute, making her giggle. I was the one who started the 'Mommadoriya' trend, and it was very quickly latched onto by Pony, Mina, and Eijira, who all love her almost as much as I do. Seriously, she's like another Izuku, you can't help but like her.

 

She smiles warmly and gently rests a hand on her cheek as she stares at the banner. “I'm so happy for my Izuku... I was so worried for so long...” Her gaze goes distant as she goes down memory lane and I busy myself with finishing up preparations for the party. There's a conversation that she and Izuku need to have about their collective past but frankly I don't need to be involved in that. Nor do I want to be.

 

A knock comes to the door and I quickly volunteer to get it.

 

“Hell... oh. Bakago.” My smile is immediately turned into a hard frown as I stare down the explosive Pomeranian... Hmm, bomberanian? Yes, we'll go with that. Bomberanian. “Oh great, the fairy.” He growls, staring me down as I cross my arms. “What do you want Bakago? Last I checked you sure as shit weren't on the guest list.”

 

It's pretty obvious we're setting up for a party, and Bakugo is staring me down as hard as I'm staring him down, his hands clenched tightly as his eyes narrow and his face twists into a snarl. “I don't fucking care what you think fairy-extra, I'm here to talk to the nerd.” “Well, maybe we don't want you talking to him, Bakago.” I fire back, using my extra height over him to lean in. “The fuck you going to to do to stop me? I can talk to the damn nerd if I fucking want to!” Bakugo snaps at me, which just makes me grit my teeth in annoyance.

 

“First off, he isn't even here, because he's training WITH HIS QUIRK.” I snort at the explosive quirk boy, uncrossing my arms. “Second, in case you forgot, NOBODY HERE LIKES YOU BAKAGO. You attacked Izuku for years, you've been a menace, and I bet you're here to pick a fight like the asshole you are. Fuck off and out of here, no one gives a damn about your side show.”

 

My flank zaps me a bit as the Elements comment their displeasure for my reaction to the bomberanian, and I have no doubt it's because they're trying to remind me that everyone deserves someone to be friendly to them but at this moment I'm ignoring them as I keep from flinching and continue to stare him down, making him gnash his teeth for a second. Oh yeah, he didn't like that at all. “Fuck you you fucking fairy faggot! I'm going to show that fucking pebble quirk or no quirk he's still fucking Deku!”

 

My hand snaps to the doorframe as I literally hold myself back from hauling off and trying to put my fist through his face, and he seems to realize it too as we stare down, my eyes narrowing as I instinctively paw the ground with one foot, the only warning Bakugo is going to get before we fight. “He. Is NOT. Worthless.”

 

The stareoff continues for a moment before Ms. Midoriya ends our staredown. “Oh! Katsuki-kun! Are you looking for Izuku?” She asks, giving him a warm smile as both me and Bakugo freeze up, dopping our aggression.

 

I really have no idea how any person could be as kind and understanding as Izuku or Mommadoriya, because she still seems to hold onto the idea that Izuku and Bakugo are friends. The Bomberanian and I hold our staredown for a moment longer before he breaks it off to focus his attention to Ms. Midoriya. “Hello, my mom made me bring this over.” He says, offering a small wrapped box to Ms. Midoriya. “I've got things to do so I'm not staying.”

 

“Oh, how kind of you Katsuki-kun, I'm sure Izuku will be thrilled. Do you want some cake or a small snack for the road?” She asks, giving him a warm smile as she accepts the box. Bakugo shakes his head and, in a move that almost drops my jaw, gives Mommadoriya a polite bow before he slouch-walks off, hands stuffed in his pocket even as he snarls at me before he goes.

 

Damn it, fucker got in the last word. Oh well, whatever.

 

“Well that was nice. I'm so glad that Katsuki-kun and Izuku are getting along again.” Mommadoriya says with a warm smile as she turns back inside. “Come on Ranma-kun, we need to finish setting up before anyone else arrives.” She comments as I grip the door frame before forcing myself to let go and gently close the door to the apartment, still feeling the Elements sparking and tingling on my flank.

 

“Of course Mommadoriya.”

 

-----/

 

“To Izuku!”

 

“IZUKU!”

 

We all cheer as the cinnamon roll himself blushes and curls in on himself a bit from the volume, though he's got a massive smile on his face at the same time as we celebrate. All of his friends are here, that is to say, myself, Pony, Eiji, and Mina. Mommadoryia insisted on including is the entirety of our parentage... that is to say, Mina's mom, Eiji's mom, and Mom... TAUREN, are all here, All Might already made his appearance and announced Izuku's 'Apprenticeship' and his sponsorship, though now Yagi is currently hanging out and telling a joke that is making Mommadoriya laugh... hmmmmm.

 

Doc is here as well, and Recovery Girl even stopped by to take a quick glance at Izuku to make sure he was healing right and snag a piece of cake, which has gone to rave reviews at this point, and Eiji and Mina's moms asked me for the recipe. Guess I picked up a few things after all! I resist the urge to toss my head to fan out my mane and to prance around a bit to show off. Where that instinct comes from? Hell if I know, but it's there.

 

As the night quickly moves on and winds down, Izuku has opened the small set of presents brought to him by myself, Pony, Eiji, and Mina. His gifts include a gift card to the local cards and comic shop (which also happens to be the biggest rare/collectible hero merchandise dealer outlet in town, go figure) from Tauren and Pony, new boxing hand-wraps from me, Eiji got him a Crimson Riot poster that Izuku didn't have, and Mina got him a novelty Teeshirt with a Cinnamon Roll on it, much to my and everyone else's amusement.

 

Mitsuki, or rather, Ms. Bakugo's gift was also quite thoughtful- a small book reading 'The Stockpiler's Guide to Energy'. I vowed to snag a copy of it for myself after just a short bit of reading. It was all about carb loading and how to maximize feeding your body on top of feeding your quirk, which both myself and Izuku proved to be a necessary thing to learn.

 

One For All burns bodyfat like nobody's business. Seriously, just turning it on and off burns two-hundred some calories, according to Doc, where as transforming like I do burns a lot off as well. Funny enough, much like an actual Equestrian Pony, my diet does include a large amount of sugar and sweets, and it's mostly because my transformation burns up the empty calories to use as the energy for swapping between forms.

 

Somewhere, a cake-loving Alicorn Princess who happens to be the avatar of the Sun is smiling on me. I literally can eat all the cake I want and I'll never get fat because my lifestyle just burns it away before it can even approach my fat reserves.

 

Izuku can do the same, and then some. It's nuts, we're consuming top-level professional athlete levels of food and calories every day and our bodies occasionally ask for -more-. I know Yagi is helping Izuku and Mommadoriya with meal plans and actually affording the amount of food he eats, and Tauren told me, quote, “I'm well off brat, and the government stipend for fostering you goes directly into your stomach, you're not gonna eat me and Pony out of house and home yet!”

 

-----/

 

Nothing in particular happened during the party, and eventually I found myself standing on the roof of my home, staring up at the stars that I could see. It's kind of fascinating really, how many you can see still even with the light pollution.

 

I stand there, contemplating the stars, when I notice someone sit next to me. I continue to look up. “... Hello Eris.”

 

“Hiya cutie, no hug? I figured you were pretty excited about everything you've done so far.”

 

Sure enough, the draconequuis is next to me, staring up at the stars, humming warmly as I cross my arms. “I haven't even done anything yet...”

 

“No? You made friends with four major characters, including the big hero himself, discovered your own power and trained it to the best of your abilities and then got a trainer and took it even further, and now you're on the eve of battle. A week left now, right?” She prods, literally, with a lion's paw finger to my flank.

 

“I guess. But... I dunno, call it a hunch, but things just seem to easy so far. And if I know anything about super heroes and comics, it's that things never stay easy for long.” I sigh, my tail flicking and smacking her hand gently. Eris giggles, and honks my rear with a full paw, making me yelp and scamper to the side a bit as she laughs.

 

“Oi! Sexual Harassment!”

 

“Maybe a little bit. That Hardening girl is lucky, you've got a nice butt.” Eris giggles, smirking at me a bit before she stands up and looks at me. “Relax ponyboy, you're doing great so far. And frankly, no duh it's gonna get harder! Come on, you've read about this series, even if you haven't read or watched the whole way through yourself. You know how hard it gets.”

 

She turns to me, giving me a teasing grin. “The point is that you... are Here!” She says, pointing at me.

 

I sigh, incapable of stopping the chuckle that escapes me as she laughs warmly. “Yes! You are Here, which means a lot! Things change, Ranma, that's what Chaos is all about! Things have changed so much already, and things will get harder, but you're a smart guy, and you're best friends with someone who is not only incredibly smart but is finally coming out of their shell and -showing- that intelligence.”

 

The Chaos Being gently jumps into the air, coiling about as she takes off. “I'll see ya later Ranma. Stick to your principles and remember one thing for me, yeah?”

 

I uncross my arms as I look at her, before I blink as she boops my nose. “Save -everyone-. Not just the beautiful people, but the ugly, unwashed masses too. Everyone deserves a hero.”

 

With that, she's gone, as if she was never here, and I'm left a bit startled.

 

“... Not the message I was expecting from a Chaos Goddess, not gonna lie.” I murmur to myself as I contemplate her words, and think on what being a Hero really means.

 

-----/

 

For fucks sake I'm LATE.

 

I skid around two kids that aren't walking nearly fast enough before taking off in a full gallop as I dash towards UA.

 

It's the big day, the Entrance Exam, and of course the girls, Izuku, and I all agreed to meet up before hand and somehow, SOMEHOW, I'm the only one that's late!

 

Actually, I know how. See, Pony and Tauren left early together, to have some mother-daughter time and a long talk before the Entrance Exam, leaving me on my own to go to UA. By the power of Anime, I of course slept through my normal wakeup time, which is ENGRANED INTO MY FUCKING SOUL AT THIS POINT IN TIME, and destroyed my alarm clock with a burst of magic, so I woke up to my phone alarm, which I set for fifteen minutes before we were all supposed to meet up at UA.

 

What? I was planning on getting breakfast out in town and when I eat I -eat-. Sometimes I need something to knock me into focus again so I remember to finish up the meal. Good food is something worth giving all your attention to, and when you eat it in the quantities that me and Izuku do...

 

Either way, we're close enough that I'm able to make it to UA at a run, after snagging several muffins and eating them on the run after throwing my gym clothing into a bag and throwing on my Aldera school uniform as quickly as possible. My mane and tail banner in the wind as I run, thankfully I've got extra hair-ties and scrunchies so it should be pretty simple for me to quickly put them up for combat but at the moment I'm full on pretty-boy with my long mane dripping off to one side.

 

I skid to a halt at the entrance for the exam, and see a laughing group of girls surrounding one floating Izuku.

 

I trot up fairly quickly, Pony spotting me first and gasping happily. “There he is! Raaaaaanmaaaaa! Over here!” She calls, bouncing from hoof to hoof and waving excitedly at me. I wave back with a wry look on my face as Mina bounces from foot to foot.

 

Eiji turns to greet me only to stop dead and blush brightly as I brush my mane out of my face. “Yeah, it was a pretty unfortunate morning for me. Apparently my body forgot what 'wake up before Celestia does' means.” I sigh. Eiji just continues to blush as Pony and Mina giggle and pull Izuku back to the ground.

 

“Release!”

 

I'm drawn to the new voice and the next member of our little group as the girl turns to look at me and gasps. “Oh my gosh he's so pretty!”

 

Et tu, Uraraka?

 

“Yeah he is! Hi big brother!” Pony glomps me, and I laugh a bit as I hug her back before fishing out the hair ties and giving myself a quick-and-dirty ponytail to keep my hair up and out of the way. “There we go, that'll do for now.” I murmur before focusing in on Uraraka who claps her hands together as Izuku pulls himself together.

 

“I just caught your friend from falling! It's bad luck to trip on the first day, don't you think?” She chatters warmly. “Yeah, I'm with you on that.” I nod in agreement even as I glance at the path. Sure enough, there is a single brick that is sticking up just slightly... only it suddenly dips back to flat like it wasn't up before. What the fu-

 

“GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY EXTRAS BEFORE I LIGHT YOU ON FIRE!”

 

Ah, yes, Bakago. The ray of sunshine shoulders past me, growling and glaring as he walks by, obviously intent on making his way into the exam. “Oh! We should get going! Tripping is bad but being late is worse! Good luck all of you!” Uraraka says as she waves goodbye.

 

We all stand together for a moment before I look over at Izuku, who looks a little dazed. “Uh... you good buddy?”

 

“... I talked to a girl that you didn't introduce me to.” He says, sounding in awe of himself as we all sweatdrop as I lean over to Mina and whisper quietly, “He didn't say anything, did he?”

 

“Nooooope.”

 

“... Tease him about it later?”

 

“Later.”

 

I gesture with my hands and Mina takes Izuku and Eiji's arms as she guides the two slightly stunned members of our group inside as I finish doing up my ponytail and give Pony another hug before we follow after.

 

Time to debut, we're going to be heroes!

 

-----/

 

By. Epona's. Grace.

 

Fuck written exams. Just... no.

 

I don't care that I speak and read fluent Japanese now. That exam was -brutal-. And I went through college!

 

Finally we're all gathered into a large auditorium. Seating is by your test seat, so I'm split away from the girls but right next to Izuku and Bakago as we wait for Present Mic to start the briefing for the practical portion of the exam.

 

“AAAAAAAAAALRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!” Mic booms, his voice blasting across the auditorium as he cries out, leaping onto stage, how else, heroically! The man poses in front of us all, one hand out as he looks out at all of us. “HEELLLLLOOOO LITTLE LISTENERS! IT IS I, YOUR SCHOOL DJ, PRESENT MIC! MAKE SOME NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOISE!”

 

“YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! *SNORT*!” I cry out in perfect imitation of Snowflake, flexing strongly and actually making my school uniform top rip off.

 

No one else said a god damn thing. Not even Izuku was muttering yet, but there I am, standing up and proud, wearing my uniform pants and my unicorn-printed muscle shirt.

 

As I'm stared down by the rest of the UA hopefuls, I stare directly at Present Mic, a big grin on my face as I wait for him to respond. He looks dumbfounded as he stares back at me, hand hanging limply from his wrist as he stares at me before his fist clenches and he trembles in some kind of suppressed emotion, drawing everyone's attention again as he moves...

 

And pumps both fists in the air in a cry of joy. “YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!” He snaps and points at me with a gleeful grin on his face. “YOU ARE MY NEW FAVORITE EXAMINEE #2169!”

 

I sit back down with a savage smirk on my face, continuing to sparkle as normal, and enjoy the envious looks. I hope Mic appreciates that, I know that no one responded to him at all in the Anime and I bet they don't normally respond to him during the examination days. Probably too intimidated. Izuku is flushed and hiding his head even as he hits up a mutter storm, excited about Present Mic and talking about his radio show even as he squeaks in embarrassment over his best friend doing that -in public-.

 

Bakago snorts and elbows Izuku hard. “Shut the fuck up nerd.”

 

The last thing I hear before everyone gives Mic their full attention is a 'Mon deu! I will not be out-sparkled!', which almost sets me off howling in laughter as I regain my poise and continue to sparkle, mostly to forcefully bleed out the emotions I'm picking up.

 

When you cram several hundred anxious and extremely nervous teenagers into a single room it doesn't really matter how good your filter is if you're a magical, emotion-into-magic-making unicorn-boy. The emotions are going to overwhelm you unless you do something, hence my little show-offy routine which I used to disguise myself discharging a bunch of excess mana.

 

After all, most of the people in this room aren't my classmates. No free hints for what I'm going to do during the exam!

 

Mic is most of the way through his animated presentation, which is honestly so much cooler than I remember it being considering I'm seeing it in person, and... yep, there goes Iida. The script follows, Iida asking about the fourth robot in the booklet we were given, and then he goes off scrip. “And -you-! How dare you make a mockery of this institution and all of us here! Are you taking this seriously? If you aren't, please leave!” He says, pointing at me directly.

 

I snort, leaning forwards a bit to stare Iida down. I love the guy to bits, honestly. He's a great meme, but more importantly, he really is going to be a great hero... if someone can pull the stick out of his ass without him deciding to remove it himself and trying to use it to beat Stain to death. But right now, he's just another kid in the crowd. “I'm not taking this seriously? Present Mic is clearly not done with his presentation and you've interrupted him to ask a question about something he hasn't covered yet. If he had moved on without talking about the fourth bot, WHICH IS CLEARLY MARKED IN THE BOOKLET AS ZERO POINTS, then it would have been fine to ask a question!” I say firmly. “Further, he -asked- for us to give him some noise! It's not my fault that ya'll can't follow instructions!”

 

Iida looks stricken but we're all interrupted by Mic, who lets out a whistle. “EEEEEEEEASY DOES IT BOYS! NO NEED TO FIGHT HERE, REMEMBER? UA DOESN'T JELL WITH HERO HOPEFULS WHO ATTACK THEIR OWN!” He chastises, making Iida face forwards again. “THANK YOU FOR YOUR CALL IN EXAMINEE #7111, AND TO CLARIFY, THE FOURTH ROBOT IS WORTH, AS #2169 SAID, ABSOLUTELY NOTHIN'! THINK OF IT AS A OBSTICAL YOU HAVE TO FACE IN EVERY EXAMINATION SITE, AND WHILE YOU COULD DESTROY IT, IT'S NOT REALLY WORTH YOUR TIME BECAUSE IT'S WORTH, NOTHING! SO FOCUS ON THE CHART-TOPPERS SO YOU CAN COME OUT OF THIS EXAM ON TOP!”

 

Mic gives us all a big, excited grin, pumping both fists in the air before bringing them down and gripping the podium, leaning forwards. “NOW, BEFORE WE BEGIN, I'M GONNA HIT YOU WITH A TASTE OF OUR SCHOOL MOTTO! AS THE GREAT HERO GENERAL NAPOLION BONAVARD ONCE SAID- 'A TRUE HERO IS ONE WHO OVERCOMES LIFE'S MISFORTUNES!'”

 

The tension in the room skyrockets as Izuku clenches his fists and I lean forwards in excitement as the mood in the room swings immediately towards excited tension and determination. Oh yeah, this is my jam right here!

 

“SAY IT WITH ME #2169, AND ALL OF YOU LISTENERS! IT'S TIME TO GO BEYOND!”

 

I jump to my feet, Izuku right behind me, and I see Mina, Pony, Eiji, and many others follow us to our feet as I pump my fist forwards to Mic and we roar in unison. “PLUS ULTRA!”

 

“AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I HOPE YOU'VE PRACTICED HITTING MORE THAN JUST BOOKS LITTLE LISTENERS! GOOD LUCK!”

 

-----/

 

Me, Izuku, Pony, Mina, and Eiji all meet up outside of the auditorium, Eiji staring at me a bit and blushing, Mina and Pony are jumping from foot to foot in excitement, and Izuku is clenching his fists in anxiety.

 

“Good luck guys.” I say warmly, giving everyone a hug even as Pony leaps in and hugs me around the waist, looking very excited that I'm wearing the muscle-shirt she gave me. “We've got this. We've trained, we've prepped, and we're going to -destroy- this test!”

 

“Heck yeah! Gimmi five horn-buddy!” Mina crows as we slap high-fives.

 

Izuku sighs. “We're all in separate testing centers, which is... a good thing, if I'm honest with myself. It'll let us all show off our individual talents to the best of our abilities without having to team up and it -is- a competition and mutter mutter mutter mutter-” As Izuku dazes off into his mutters, I finish stripping off my now ruined school uniform and idly toss it in the trash, where it belongs.

 

I've got a spare at home, but if you think I give a damn about Aldera, you've got another thing coming.

 

“Alright guys and girls, this is where we part ways. Remember, everyone meet up at the front gate. Last one to the front gate buys!” I say, giving them all a warm grin before we all hug again, Eiji gently squeezing my shoulders a bit as she pushes her head against mine for a moment before breaking away with a big smirking grin, flexing a bit. “We've got this!”

 

We all cheer again and split off to our separate buses, and soon we're underway.

 

-----/

 

My ride to testing center D doesn't take very long, and as we stand in front of the gate, I take my time to start warming up, doing jumping jacks and running in place as I stretch and prep myself. I note a lot of the other examinees are staring at me, and several are muttering to one another.

 

“It's the weirdo who yelled out at the briefing.” “Piff, what a show off, I bet he doesn't have any real power.” “See how he sparkles? I bet he couldn't beat up a teddy bear!”

 

“Oh well, one less opponent.” Was the collective thought from the extras... and boy doesn't -that- make me sound like Bakago.

 

Good, let them underestimate me. The real contenders aren't even looking my way, or paying attention to the rest of the group. That's how you know they're the real deal. Kendo is part of my group, the hand-size changing martial artist warming up just like me even as I finish my jumping jacks and running in place and start stretching to get nice and limber. I also spy a few other UA hopefuls and... is that the grape pervert?

 

Sure enough, it is, Mineta is doing his best to hype himself up while looking extremely nervous, and even while he's doing -that- he's perving on every girl in the general view. Then I notice he's staring at me for a few moments before turning away, slapping himself and suddenly looking really depressed.

 

… Ewwwwwwwwww. I do -not- want to know what that's about.

 

I try to regain my mental focus before I suddenly hear a shout. “BEGIN!”

 

I go from zero-to-pegasus in ten seconds flat as I blast through the pack of people standing at the gate looking confused, bursting between them at full sprint before I leap forwards, a flare of light envelops me, and my wings take over as I rocket forwards, magic flaring from my wings as I leave a blue-and-white trail behind me.

 

“WELL, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! 2169 GOT THE RIGHT IDEA, THERE IS NO COUNT DOWNS IN REAL LIFE WANNABES, LETS GO!”

 

And with that, I know the rest of the crowd is following. But I don't even see them as my wings pump and my speed increases as I roar through the air like a small air-to-ground missile, streaking through the city streets till I see my first group of villain-bots.

 

I flip over mid air, my transformation flash enveloping me as I shift from pegasus to earth pony in a flash, whipping one muscled leg around in a screaming axe kick. “YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-HAWWWWWW!”

 

Impact! I bring my hoof down and -through- a two pointer, and the street craters as I unleash the magical surge through the robot, obliterating it and scattering the pieces I just made and sending the other two pointers, one pointers, and three pointer bouncing into the air before I bounce from one to another in rapid succession, bucking through them all in a free-flowing combo of spinning across the ground before jumping into my human form and out of the crater before I take off running, a wild grin on my face.

 

Mom absolutely was right, it really is a blast to get to let loose!

 

-----/

 

“Who is that?”

 

“Examinee #2169, Takashi Ranma.”

 

“My new favorite, YE-OOF”

 

“Hiashi if you yell in here I swear-”

“Settle down, settle down. My word, what a remarkable quirk.”

 

“Complicated stockpiler with aberrations. Fascinating. Quite the switch-hitter when it comes to combat styles. Speedster, Bruiser, Striker, Master, and-”

 

“Oh my God he can teleport.”

 

“Mover. At minimum.”

 

The teachers all murmur to one another as they stare at Ranma through the screens, contemplating what is being presented to them all.

 

“And that's not all. There's a little listener that looked to be my favorite's friend and classmate considering they were one-after-another for the registry who's a Speedster and a Bruiser who is crushing it right now!”

 

The teachers watch the green-haired boy who looked so nervous and timid at the start of the exam smash his way through a group of one-pointers, even ripping off the arm of one and using it as a projectile to take out a two-pointer that was threatening another student.

 

“Good tactical brain as well, look at how well he's looking after his fellow examinees!”

 

“And then there's the kid in site A- what a combat monster, his quirk is perfectly suited towards this.”

 

“The potential on display is fantastic! Shame we have to narrow it down so much, but this is probably the best bumper-crop of hopefuls we've had in years.”

 

All Might leans forwards, and the other teachers shift to look at him as he idly flips up a glass cover over the big red button labeled 'YUKARI SWITCH'. “Perhaps... but it's time to see who our hopefuls REALLY are!”

 

His finger depresses the button, and all at once, each exam center is thrown into Chaos.

 

-----/

 

“Holy shit...”

 

I'm awestruck at the -size- of the damned thing as I look up at the monsterous Zero-Pointer.

 

I don't think I can properly describe the scale of this thing. It's massive, truly, absolutely -massive-. It towers over the skyscrapers in the testing area, and I have to keep myself focused on taking out the group of villain-bots I dropped into as a blast of fear hits me from all sides and almost makes me stumble.

 

Ok, note to self, work with the teachers and explain the shit out of my quirk, because if this much fear from just a group of students taking a test can almost make me stumble when I'm juiced up on determination, then what about a whole city block worth of civilians?

 

What about people crying in loss, in fear, in pain, in anguish? If it catches me off guard in a crucial moment during a fight, it could take me out!

 

The realization is sobering, even as I finish my full rotation of the flip I threw myself into as a Earth Pony, snapping into my human form for the extra reach as I finish my moonsault and slam yet another axe-kick down through another one-pointer's head and bury the bot into the concrete. Unsurprisingly, gravity-assisted kicks with a muscle-enhanced start-up and finish have proven to be the most effective way to destroy the villain-bots, and my hardened 'hoof like' feet mean I'm not taking any real damage, even when I'm not in a pony form.

 

I honestly lost count of how many bots I've destroyed at this point, and we've been running around for quite a while. I'm dripping with sweat and I can actually feel my mana slowly starting to run out. I just haven't had time to recharge my emotional stockpile and there hasn't been any positive emotions to stockpile near by. Ten plus minutes of fighting is no joke!

 

Even then, I take the time to slow my breathing and stare at the massive villain bot as it punches through a building for a moment before a spike of fear that increases greatly runs up my spine, and my ears flick towards the building the bot punched as two screams rend the sky, one laced with pain.

 

Someone is in danger. Serious danger!

 

I'm running before I can even consider my actions as I leap into the air again my wings snap open, catching the sky as I zip through the air at high speed and try to hone-in on where the fear spike came from. And moments later I find Mineta and... are those floating gloves? Oh, it's the invisible girl! Um... shoot, I don't remember her name!

 

Either way, Mineta is trying his best to keep a few villain bots away from the two of them. They're hemmed in, and it appears that a piece of building the zero-pointer knocked down hit the invisible girl as her gloves tug and pull on a piece of concrete. “It's got my leg! It's got my leeeeeeeeeg!” She cries out, one hand smacking the concrete in a futile attempt to get it move, her fear spiking to greater heights as she starts to be become hysterical.

 

Mineta is crying vicious tears as he throws grape-ball after grape-ball at several of the bots, finally immobilizing several that shut down even as a three pointer he didn't see rumbles closer. Unfortunately, so is the Zero-Pointer, it's treads rolling ever closer to the hero-hopefuls.

 

“I didn't even get to touch any cute girls! It's over!” Mineta cries out, blood starting to trail from his head. Guess he overdid it. The three pointer aims, and the invisible girl cries out a warning to Mineta, even as they turn. It's too late... Until it's not, as I drop out of the sky and goomba-stomp the three-pointer in Earth Pony form in a repeat of my earlier feat at the start of the exam, this time without cratering the surrounding area.

Just the area directly under me and the now flattened three-pointer.

 

“W-wha... a p-pony? A earth pony?” Mineta stumbles in confusion, the last grape he grabbed from his head dropping out of his head as my ears flick towards him. He knows what a Earth Pony is? … Right, questions for later.

 

I leap off the hoof-imprinted and flattened robot, flipping over and transforming back to human form as I run over to him and the invisible girl. “Good job, you kept them off of her. Help me lift this up!” I call out, Mineta looking at me in confusion. “You're the really hot... wait...” He looks super dazed, and I sigh before I reach out and gently smack him, getting his attention on me. “Hey, we're not done yet! She still needs help!”

 

Mineta refocuses as I lift the concrete with a grunt, and the grape-haired boy reaches and takes the gloved hands of the invisible girl. “Aaa-ah! Ow-ow-owies, it huuuuurts.” She cries.

 

“Don't worry, help is coming. Can you help her get out of here?” I ask Mineta, looking him dead in the eye. “Y-yes!” He squeaks, looking surprised that a girl is touching him, even if he can't see her. Heck, she's actively putting most of her weight on him because she can't walk. “Awesome, take her that way-” I point down an alley way off to the side. “As quickly as you can, that way you're out of the zero-pointer's path. I'm going to try to knock it down or at least keep it distracted.”

 

“What?! B-but it's worth nothing!” Mineta cries out in surprise. I scoff at that and shake my head. “It doesn't matter how much it's worth, we're all in danger while that thing is moving around unimpeded! Besides...”

 

I leap into the air again, my wings snapping open as I return to pegasus form, even as I feel my mana levels flag. Whoof, I'm really on my last legs here. “I refuse to let that big piece of scrap metal hurt anyone else! We're lucky it just hurt her leg, and we can't see how bad it is! Stop arguing and GET MOVING!”

 

With that, I'm gone, not looking back to see if Mineta listened to me as I streak towards the Zero Pointer, which immediately focuses on me as I start blitzing around it's head. I'm no where near as fast as I was at the start of the exam, but I'm still fast enough to avoid this thing. Just like in a fighting game, the big bastard has a major tell every time it tries to hit me, which makes it really easy to dodge.

 

Just got to keep one step ahead and be consistently aware of the fact that even it's lightest swings got a hitbox the size of a building, and I don't need to get bitch-slapped out of the air by a fucking wall if I can help it.

 

If I had conserved more mana, I'm pretty sure I could take it down honestly. I'm not Izuku levels of strong, but a full-speed Pegasus charge into a momentum-boosted Earth Pony Buck would be enough to knock this bastard down.

 

As it is, I'm pulling every aerial maneuver I can think of out of it's box and bouncing off the bot's head like a manic moth against a laamp, bucking and battering it's many camera eyes to keep it distracted. “COME ON, FOCUS ON ME BIG GUY!”

 

The bot lets out a roar that shakes me, similar to the deep growl of a Reaper from Mass Effect, and it's big hand once again swings towards me. The shake threw me a bit and I lost some of the air but I think I have enough mana left to-

 

BLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT A massive airhorn blast fills the air and the bot freezes in place entirely. “AND THAT'S IT! THE EXAMINATION IS OVER!” Present Mic's voice booms across the testing zone even as the hand freezes and I mentally note that unless I burnt the last of my mana and dropped my transformation, I wasn't going to be able to dodge the last swing. Sobering moment indeed.

 

I let out a relieved sigh even as I turn a victory loop-de-loop in the air, pumping a hoof up and letting out a tired cheer as I turn around and streak back towards the ground, keeping an eye out for Mineta and the invisible girl. Thankfully purple-hair is pretty easy to spot and I soon find myself back-flapping in front of them to show off just a little bit.

 

The invisible girl lets out a little squeal of excitement as she sees me. She's sitting on a stable-looking raised platform made out of a torn sheet on top of Mineta's hairballs, which actually appears to be pretty cushy. She's wearing just her gloves still, and I hear a pained huff escape her as she shifts. “Oh my gosh I wasn't just imagining it you're so cuuuuuuuuute!” She coos, and Mineta gently rubs his eyes.

 

“Nope, I wasn't imagining things. But you were a Earth Pony before?” He says, looking confused before I flap one more time to bring myself up a bit higher before transforming back to 'human' and landing on my two feet, letting out a relieved sigh as I stretch. “I was. I'm Ranma... wait, uh, I'm Takashi Ranma. I keep forgetting how to introduce myself in Japanese.” I grumble to myself for a moment before I give them both a smile.

 

“Ah, Mineta Minoru.” The grape-haired hero-hopeful says, and the gloved hand waves, “Hagakure Toru, Takashi-kun, but you can call me Toru!”

 

I blink at the immediate familiarity, even as she turns and pokes Mineta. “You too, you helped save me, thank you!” Mineta looks shocked, and can only blink blankly even as Toru returns her attention to me. “I hope we'll be good friends! I feel like I did really well on the test after I found the off-switches on the robots! Muuu, even if the building kinda slowed me down...”

 

She lets out a little pained whimper as I kneel down next to where I see the depression of her legs in the hairball mattress. “Mineta, did you make this?” I ask rhetorically. Eris had a point after all, and this was the first time I even met the kid... even if he -did- stare at me and the girls earlier, just... give him a chance Ranma, give him a chance...

 

“Oh, yeah! My grape-balls are really springy and sticky, so if you got a sheet of some kind you can make a decent pad out of them for someone to sit on!” He says, standing tall for the moment. “Good call, I'm sure this is much more comfortable for Toru than sitting on the ground.” I comment, noting that he's still looking at me kinda weird.

 

“... Ok, no offense meant, but are you a guy or a girl? Because you are way too pretty and turn into ponies-”

 

I can only palm my face as Toru starts laughing.

 

-----/

 

Not too much longer, and Recovery Girl appears, and sighs as she looks at me. “Hmmph. I hope you haven't attempted anything without training yet boy.” She growls, poking me with the end of her syringe cane as she inspects the cushion Mineta made. “No ma'am, practical first-aid only, no quirk use. I promised.” I say firmly. “Toru had part of a building land on her. She's invisible so it's hard to get a direct look, but I was able to gently touch the area and from what I can tell she's just badly bruised.”

 

“I've gotten pretty good at self-inspection as well, comes with being invisible. No broken anything here Miss Recovery Girl!” Toru says, sounding much calmer now that she's had time to sit and recover. Mineta, sporting a bump from where I smacked him for his question, chimes up as well, “We've kept her leg suspended and off the ground, and we only moved her from the area she was injured because the Z-z-zero pointer was rolling our way.”

 

She nods firmly, and glances at Mineta's head, and the bit of blood dried there from his overuse of his quirk. She hums, and then her lips stretch out as she kisses Toru's forehead, somehow, and kisses Mineta's too, and the two slump a bit in exhaustion. “W-wow, I feel great! But so tired...” Toru whines. Mineta isn't nearly as exhausted but he does need to shake his head a bit. “My quirk heals you with your own stamina, but you both should be just fine. Have some gummies.” She hands all of us some vitamin/stamina boosting gummies, and makes her rounds.

 

I offer my hand to Toru, who takes it as I help her up to her feet, blushing in realization that she ISN'T WEARNING ANYTHING BUT GLOVES but soon enough she's picked up a tracksuit that floats for a moment before it's put onto a invisible body. “Hehe, thank you kindly good sir~” She coos. The tracksuit leans towards me before a pair of lips 'smooch' off my cheek, and then the tracksuit moves towards Mineta and does the same, making the grape-headed pervert freeze and mumble in embarrassed shock. “It was nice to meet you two! I hope to see you in class, even if you don't -see- me! Hehehe!”

 

With that, the invisible girl is walking off back to the bus, leaving me and Mineta standing there. He can only blink wildly a few times before he looks up to me. “... If we got in she's gonna be in our class, right?”

 

I can only snort in amusement as I grin at the short boy. “Wouldn't surprise me at all.”

 

“Ok, I got to ask...” He starts, flinching as my fist comes up. “No-no-no not a insensitive question this time, you just caught me off guard at first!” He says, waving his hands. “No, serious question, is your quirk that you turn in My Little Ponies?”

 

I can only stare at him as he crosses his arms defiantly. “What? I'm a collector, and it's one of the few -good- girly American Anime.” He says. “I used to do babysitting jobs around my neighborhood for extra cash, and if I didn't want to watch girly anime or at least watch something tolerable My Little Pony was always a good pick.”

 

“Honestly, I'm more surprised you have any of it.” I say, rubbing the back of my head. “My quirk is related to the gen4 ponies? As far as I can tell anyway. It's complicated.”

 

“Dude, you transformed from a unicorn-pretty-boy into a pegasus, into a earth pony, and I bet you're able to be a unicorn as well, and I saw you casting magic. Complicated is the simplest way to start describing your quirk.” He says flatly.

 

I laugh, leading the way out of the examination site and back towards the bus, slowing my walk a bit so Mineta doesn't have to scramble to keep up. “Tell you what, I'll trade ya. You explain yours and I'll explain mine, but lets get back to the gate first, because you got to meet my best bud, he's a bit of a Quirk Otaku...”

 

And that was how I made friends with Mineta Minoru. Yeah. I didn't expect it either.

 

-----/

 

“Wonderful! Wonderful! Oh, the potential is palpable!”

 

“Of course Sir, I'm pleased that you agree.”

 

“All Might, I'll need your assistance for this. Perhaps we could have you recording for the results messages this year...”

 

“Why of course! It would be my pleasure to let these zygotes know their results!”

 

“Especially your protege I assume?”

 

“-URK-”

 

“You picked a good one Yagi. He went so far for someone he just met...”

 

“... Yes I did, sir. I can't wait to see how far he and his friends go.”

 

The small principle of the school gently pats Yagi's hand before he walks out of the viewing center, leaving the skinny man staring at the two blown up images of Izuku and Ranma, the symbol of peace smiling as he considers the young men on screen.

 

Oh yes, the future was looking bright indeed.

-----/

 

As we stepped out of the bus that took us back to the main campus and the entry gate of UA, I finished wrapping up a quick-and-dirty explanation of Harmony Drive to Mineta, who was looking at me with a bit of awe and a small bit of fear.

 

"S-so all emotions, huh?" He says with a nervous laugh, the grape-haired pervert sweating a bit as I give him a flat stare.

 

"Yes, even perverted ones." I say, tapping the tip of my horn gently with one finger as to not cut myself by accident, making a gently ringing sound as my horn sparkles. "They aren't really great fuel, as a lot of 'Lust' tends towards negative emotion, but lust can be positive, sometimes."

 

"I-I see. Ha-aha..." Mineta laughs, looking away from me and making me sigh. Hopefully I'd be able to help him tap down on his perverted tendencies a bit if only to keep too much Lust from flooding my empathetic senses. Seriously, I have no idea what it would do and I don't particularly want to find out. I went through puberty once already damn it, I don't need a -worse- version because I can pick up on other people's lust/crushes!

 

As we approach the gates, I glance down at the short boy. "You gotta promise me to keep your cool man, don't weird out my friends too much and you'll make some great ones yourself. Izuku is probably gonna flip over your quirk and give you a better explanation for mine. He's really good with them."

 

"If you say so..."

 

The two of us walk through the front gate, and I smile as I quickly see the bright, spiky red mane of Kiri, the pink of Mina, and the green curls of Izuku, though I have a small pang of worry when I don't see Pony anywhere as I walk up to the trio. "Hey girls, Izuku."

 

"Raaaaaaanmaaaaaa!" Mina cries out, whipping out of the coversation that Izuku and Kiri were having to tackle me, making me stumble a bit as she hugs me. "Oh my gosh we were just talking about our exams and Izuku CRUSHED IT!" She squeals, bouncing excitedly after letting me go and I feel a surge of Lust coming from beside me, making my hand snap out reflectively and dopesmack Mineta.

 

"OW."

 

"Eh? Who's this?" Mina asks, blinking as she looks down at the source of the cry of pain as Mineta nurses his goosebump from my smack. "Kiri, Mina, Izuku, I'd like to introduce you to Minoru Mineta. He was in my area for the Entrance Exam and has a quirk I think Izuku is gonna love, and helped me save a girl that got caught by a building by our Zero Pointer."

 

Kiri gasps and grins widely. "Oh my gosh! You too?"

 

I blink, stumbling on that response for a moment before remembering what happens during Izuku's entrance exam as he looks at me with a shaky but still bright smile. "... Izuku, did you do something stupid?" I ask flatly as I pick up on his nervous embarrassment.

 

"Haha... I uh... might have gone all out of the Zero Pointer? That nice girl from the entrance who I talked to-"

 

I snort. Izuku most definitely didn't talk to Ochako Uraraka, the girl he saved from the Zero Pointer and who saved him from smashing his face into the ground before the exam started when he tripped.

 

He gives me a dirty look at the snort. Nice to see the spine transplant and confidence booster we've been forcing into him, and gaining more control over One for All has started to help with his nervousness and anxiety a bit. "WHO I TALKED TO, was trapped by a building that fell on her as well. I'm fairly sure that the buildings are all made by Cementoss, whoiscapableofmakingcementthatismuchlighterthannormalconcreteforbuildingpurposeswhichwouldmakesenseforamuttermuttermuttermutter-" As Izuku degrades into the famous Midoryia mutter, Mina and Kiri sigh fondly and Mineta just stares at the muscular green bean as he rubs his chin and continues spouting about why he thinks the buildings were made safer for the exams. I snap my fingers a few times to knock Izuku out of his mutter, and he blinks before coughing into his fist and continuing on with his story.

 

"A-anyway, she was going to get attacked by the Zero Pointer and... I moved without thinking again." He admits, rubbing the back of his neck. "I ended up straining my legs pretty badly and broke my arm going all out with Full Cowling, and-"

 

"HE FREAKIN' VAPORIZED THE ZERO POINTER'S HEAD! IT WAS SO MANLY!" Kiri cries out, pumping a fist in the air as I blink and look at the hardening girl. "Sounds awesome, but how do you know?"

 

"One of the other test takers got it on video! Kinda stupid of them to bring their phones into the exam, but they sent it out for everyone to see! I think it's on Herotube too!" Kiri says excitedly as she pulls up her phone, a very pink-and-red sparkled case with a poptab being visible for me as she swipes through it and pulls the video up before flipping her hand over for us to see.

 

The video itself isn't particularly great, but the camera quality is sure better than what I was expecting from someone taking a cellphone video. It's a wide-shot, getting the whole of the Zero Pointer. The sound isn't working, but that still captures the full majesty of Izuku blasting through the air, green lighting crackling around his form as he rears back and his tracksuit -explodes-, showing off his muscular physique as he channels One for All to it's peak and hauls off that jolt haymaker to end BUILDINGS directly into the head of the Zero Pointer's head.

 

The head of the massive robot rocks back and then detonates, vaporizing as it's upper body and treads go skidding back and toppling over, slamming into the ground even as Izuku hangs there for a moment, the recoil of his own punch holding him in the air as the Zero Pointer collapses.

 

That breaks physics in so many ways, but I'm here for it, and I idly wonder if Izuku is already using Float, the Quirk of the 7th One for All holder and All Might's mentor, but the moment passes as Izuku starts to fall and the person taking the video hastily puts their camera away.

 

I whistle softly. "Hell of a punch, but how did you get down?"

 

Izuku blushes and rubs the back of his neck. "I uh, I ended up getting saved by the nice girl, she was able to use her quirk on me. Some kind of gravity negation."

 

Oooh, someone is crushing a bit. I give him a grin before I wave to Mineta. "Well, to tell my own story, this is Mineta as I said. When our Zero Pointer spawned, it knocked a building onto a invisible girl, Toru." I explain, Mineta rubbing the back of his head. "This guy was protecting her, as it had pinned down her leg and was preventing her from escaping a small hoard of bots. I heard her crying for help and dropped in from the sky."

 

"Ooh! Have you decided on a name for that yet?" Izuku asks with sparkling eyes, his hero notebook out as I laugh and rub the back of my head. "No? We'll figure out supermoves later Izuku, lemmi finish... anyway, after removing the last bot that was flanking Mineta and Toru, I lifted the concrete while Mineta pulled her out, and then Mineta escorted Toru to safety while I distracted the Zero Pointer."

 

At this the girls look confused. "Wait, you didn't knock yours down Ranma?" Mina asks, "But you're super tough! I've seen your kick scores, you could have easily knocked it down!"

 

I let out a nervous laugh and look to the side. "I uh... might have been running on dregs? I kinda let myself go a bit and went full force forwards on the whole 'crush kill destroy SWAG' thing, and the Zero Pointer spawning also made me drop a bunch of the Determination I was using for emotional fuel and hit me with a blast of fear from the rest of the examinees."

 

Izuku immediately picks up what I'm putting down and jots something down in his notebook, giving me a serious nod afterwords. Good, someone besides me will remember for the next time I see Doc.

 

"I had enough power to maintain Pegasus form for a while, but not enough juice to maintain Pegasus form, fly fast enough to dodge the Zero Pointer's attacks, and take a Counter Attack Opportunity by shifting into a Earth Pony at full speed and use a EPM enhanced buck or stomp." I finish explaining, sighing.

 

"In retrospect, I should have conserved my energy a bit more, or spent more time stockpiling mana before the exam. Unfortunately, I can only produce so much so quickly, and stockpile so much as well. As it was I was having to bleed off excess negative emotions during the entire written and the practical exam briefing. Just something else to work on, and hey, mistakes are expected. We're only Human or Equine afterall, can't expect perfection right out of the box." I nod firmly, getting a smile from the rest.

 

The girls turn their attention to Mineta to introduce themselves and while those three are distracted, I turn to Izuku and raise an eyebrow, silently asking him a question about his note that he took. He frowns, tapping his chin and shrugging before gesturing to the notebook turning it for me to see "Talk to Doc ASAP" written in, before turning it again and closing it as the introductions wind down.

 

Mineta looks a little overwhelmed at having two pretty girls not only talking to him but a total of -three- pretty girls talking to him without belting him one for more than a few minutes, and is able to reign in enough to properly introduce himself and his quirk, which Izuku immediately goes into full researcher mode as the five of us make our way to the train station.

 

-------

 

"-uch a great quirk! You should try more with ways your quirk can react with other acids, bases, chemicals and elements!"

 

Izuku's research continued on the train, and we found mild acid will melt the hairballs into a sticky, tar like goo that is almost impossible for anyone to escape except for Mineta himself, who could remove it from people and surfaces just by touching the goo himself. It also could be repelled from him rather violently, and was very, very flammable. Something with Mineta looked absolutely terrified of, but also quietly excited about.

 

"Y-yeah. Guess I have something to do today after all!"

 

Mineta was doing his best to be excited, though he was also finally calming down a bit around the girls, muttering something about 'already taken' under his breath when I quietly asked him about it before shrugging if off and going back to discussing movies with Kiri, who was blushing a lot while we were talking.

 

Must be flushed from the excitement from the Entrance exam.

 

Eventually, everyone split off, Kiri and Mina getting off and me, Izuku, and Mineta making our way through the lines to this point, where Izuku and Mineta would be getting off before I make my way back... home. Yeah, Home.

 

"Alright, I'll send you a invite to the group chat later Mineta. Get home safe Izuku, no more broken bones or I'll tell Ma Tauren." I warn with a finger wag which makes Izuku laugh nervously even as Mineta looks at me questioningly before the door to the train closes and I'm whisked off again.

 

-----

 

 

As my train carries on back to my stop, I quietly contemplate what I've accomplished today and let myself feel a small bit of satisfaction as I review everything I remember about the canon of My Hero Academia.

 

So far, I feel like the changes I've made are all positive, and we'll have a solid chance at maybe avoiding some of the worse things to come. Or at least, improving the outcome of some of those events.

 

I frown. Ugh, the worst part of any story when your main character actually knows what's going to happen- butterfly effect. What changes removes all of your future knowledge? At what point do you stop leaning on what knowledge you may or may not have about a world and just treat it as you did your life prior, except with a bit more motivation and less 'let the day come'?

 

I groan, rubbing my eyes for a moment before sitting up straight as I hear my stop announced, grabbing the strap of my bag and hauling myself up to my feet.

 

Introspective isn't really a good look on me. I'm terrible at it honestly. But I do know this much.

 

A small burst of determination flares inside of me like a match lit in a dark room and I let it illuminate my whole being, taking solace in the knowledge that no matter what happens I'll have my friends right beside me to face the unknown.

 

Poor unknown enemies we may face. Those bastards have no idea what's coming.

-----

 

"Tadaima..." I call out as I open the door to... well, home. I take off my shoes and tuck them into my shoe cubby, and step into the home, noting idly that the lights are off.

 

I hum softly to myself, my ears flicking as I hear gentle shuffling sounds deeper in the house and start making my way in towards the living room. "Pony? Ma Tauren? You there?" I ask as I walk inside, idly prepping for just in case it wasn't them.

 

To be fair, very few people are stupid enough to break into a pro heroes home. But also to be fair, those few people would be Villains.

 

I set my bag down as I walk into the living room only to startle a bit as the lights flick on and Tauren and Pony blow party horns at me. "SURPRISE! CONGRADULATIONS RANMA!" They cheer together, making me blink in surprise at them.

 

I... am not sure why I'm getting a party and being celebrated right now, but all the Elements are shining on my rump as I'm momentarily overwhelmed with a rush of love and... nervousness? Determination, worry... This mix of emotions is weird.

 

My confusion must show as Tauren smiles brightly as she walks up and pulls me into what is for the Bovine Heroine a very gentle hug, softly petting my mane as I lean into her a bit. "I heard ya'll had quite the adventure durin' your exam sugar. Pony was so excited and wanted to make sure you got some'in special fer your hard work."

 

I let her guide me over to the couch where she sits down with me and Pony sits down moments later, hugging into my side and giggling happy as we all sit together on the couch, and I hum contently.

 

I'm a little surprised that no one speaks as we all sit there, Tauren gently rubbing my back as Pony hugs me tightly and I hug each of them back, all settled together. Tauren sighs softly as she looks out into the middle-distance, staring through the wall at things we can't see before drawing her attention back. "You know, I figured this little party would be all excitement and happy congratulations." She comments as she looks down at me, shifting her hand up to pet my mane again as she considers me and Pony. "It's a great moment. You've come so far, both of you. You've put in the work, you've put in the time, and have overcome so many obstacles to get where you are now."

 

The pro heroine's smile is a little watery, but I can -feel- every bit of pride and love surging from her as she looks at us. "Ranma might be able to tell, but I'm not sure I can ever truly say how -proud- I am of both of you."

 

This earns Tauren a big hug from me and from Pony, who shifts over my lap to hug her Momma. She hugs both of us back firmly, and we slowly disengage again as she gently wipes one eye free of tears.

 

"Now, Ranma... you've not even been a member of our family for a year yet, but I have no doubt when I say that me and Pony love you as if you were mine from the start. I know you're going to do amazing things sugar, but I want to ask anyway- do you want to permanently be part of our family?"

 

At this point I am completely shocked, and practically swelling with familial love. And nervousness, and joy, and worry, and so many, many emotions that come with asking someone to become part of your family. Adoption wasn't ever something I really thought of, but I can tell you right now... I'm a little tired of trying to lie to myself.

 

Bah, I can call myself out if I want to. I've spent a lot of time here trying to lie about how much I'm starting to look at Tauren like she is my Mother, and even if I wasn't, she's still family. The awesome aunt or big sister maybe. Either way, I hug her with all of my strength as I nod and our family devolves into a happy tears hug pile.

 

And eat Cake. All the best celebrations have Cake or Pie at the end.

 

-------

 

Emotional Rollercoaster aside, that night I finished setting up the Group Chat. Unfortunately Toru had slipped out before I could get her Phone Number so it was currently just me, the girls, Izuku, and Mineta. We all spent some time discussing how we felt our tests went, and all agreed to stop talking about it before we hit a panic spiral for about an hour or so.

 

This Group Chat would become a critical emotional core for us for the week, because waiting for the exam results? AGONIZING. I thought waiting for a College Application Letter was bad, this was a thousand times worse. Especially because I could -feel- Pony's anxiety.

 

I cast many, MANY fireballs that week, just to burn off as much emotion as possible.

 

I also almost got into a fistfight with Bakago but that's neither here nor there and we didn't actually have a verbal confrontation about it either. So yeah, almost.

 

Either way, the week finally ended, and I found myself, Momma Tauren (I didn't tell you but she cried when I called her Mom for the first time. Almost broke my spine hugging me too.), and Pony at the Midoriya household for dinner. Izuku was staring blankly into the eye of the fish on his plate and I was resisting the urge to poke him with a stick. Pony was eyeing him up and I think considering the same thing as Inko and Tauren talked.

 

"Izuku? Zukuuuu?" Pony chirps, finally getting fed up with Izuku's blankness and poking him out of his dazed state. "Hu?" He blinks, snapping back to reality and looking at us. "Something wrong with the fish dude?" I ask, and he looks down at the plate before robotically starting to eat.

 

"Sorry, I'm a little out of it. I haven't heard from All Might all week and I'm nervous." Izuku says with a sigh and slumping shoulders. "I know I did good on the test but... I-I don't know if I did enough."

 

I sigh and flick a grain of rice at Izuku's face, making him flinch and look up at me with a frown as I shake my head. "None of that bro. You were acting like a Hero. You did great, I just know it."

 

"Oh! It sounds like that was the mailman. Just a moment dears." Mommadoriya says with a smile as she stands up and walks to the door. Izuku gaining confidence and his quirk, and meeting Tauren has been a great boon to the single mother who has been working out again, and reconnecting with Mitsuki, Bakugo's mother. The plump woman has slimmed down a lot, and even commented to Tauren that she's starting to fit into some of her older dresses again.

 

Good for her. Frankly that's one Butterfly Effect I'm glad we've had. The poor woman has enough stress in her life, stress over her own body shouldn't be one of them.

 

"IZUKU!"

 

We all startle as Mommadoriya scuttles back into the room, almost tripping over herself as she slaps a small thing of mail down on the table, one particular letter in her hand, the seal of UA clearly visible on the back. "It's Here!"

 

-----

 

We all quickly finished dinner before taking our leave, me and Pony giving Izuku a hug each and whispered words of confidence and support, and a firm reminder to message the group chat once he's looked at his letter before we rush back to our home, checking the mail to find two more envelopes awaiting, UA seals intact.

 

Tauren hugs each of us before letting us go to separate parts of the house alone. "Some things are special and you need to see it yourself first." She states when I ask why she doesn't want me and Pony opening them with her in the Kitchen, and I soon find myself cross legged in my bedroom, gently brushing my mane and tail as I stare at the envelope in my lap.

 

It's such an innocuous thing. I think that's part of what makes it so intimating. It's plain. There's not any indication of pass or failure, and you don't know till you open it. I can't help but contemplate it as the coral brush gently rasps through my mane, before I tuck it behind me and return it to my ponytail and sweep my tail into my lap for it's own brushing. I know I'm stalling, but it's important to look your best in case something is up, right?

 

... Right...

 

I finish brushing myself to a glossy sheen and finally take the letter in hand and break the seal, opening it up.

 

"... A little metal disk?"

 

I blink at the disk that dropped into my lap, picking it up and staring at it in confusion before remembering the show. This little thing is actually a hologram projector. I place it down on my desk and stare at it when it lights up brightly and projects-

 

"All Might?!"

 

I knew he was going to be teaching at the school, but I didn't realize I would get him as my score presenter!

 

"HAHAHA! NO WORRIES MY LITTLE PONY, FOR I, AM HERE! TO PRESENT YOUR SCORES AND TO INFORM YOU THAT I AM GOING TO BE ONE OF YOUR TEACHERS!"

 

I feel my heart swell and excitement tingle up my spine, my eyes shining and my horn sparking a bit as I register the words he said.

 

"NO DOUBT YOU PICKED UP ON IT, YES! WITH A EXAM SCORE OF THE TOP 10% YOU PASSED YOUR WRITTEN EXAM WITH FLYING COLORS, WELL DONE!" All Might praises, pacing a bit in the hologram. "AS WELL, YOU SCORED A TOTAL OF SIXTY-NINE COMBAT POINTS DURING YOUR EXAM!"

 

"Nice."

 

I blink as I speak out at the same time as the projector does. I've never heard that voice before? Whatever, they know their numbers!

 

"INDEED! A QUALITY SCORE YOUNG MAN!" Oh All Might, stay oblivious please. "HOWEVER, IF YOU THINK COMBAT PROWESS IS ALL WE TEST ON, THEN YOU'VE GOT ANOTHER THING COMING! THIS IS A SCHOOL FOR HEROES. IF WE AREN'T LOOKING FOR HEROIC ACTIONS, HEROIC POTENTIAL, THEN AREN'T WE JUST ALL TALK!?"

 

All Might gestures to the score board. "THAT'S WHY WE HAVE RESCUE POINTS! SCORED BY A PANEL OF JUDGES! AND YOU, YOUNG RANMA, HAVE PERFORMED MARVELOUSLY!"

 

I can feel the tears welling up as All Might praises me, a bright grin on my face and my fists clenched at I look at the scoreboard even as images flash by of me helping other examinees but more importantly, of me rescuing Mineta and Toru.

 

"WITH A TOTAL OF THIRTY RESCUE POINTS, YOU HAVE SCORED A TOTAL OF 99 POINTS, PUTTING YOU IN SECOND PLACE!"

 

Second?

 

I look at the scoreboard again as All Might gestures to it and gasp in shock.

 

Izuku!

 

What the heck?!

 

A HUNDRED AND TWENTY POINTS?

 

"CONGRADULATIONS YOUNG RANMA! THIS-"

 

All Might gestures to me, drawing my attention back as I see the pride radiating from his smile. "THIS IS YOUR HERO ACADEMIA!"

 

The projector turns off and I quietly contemplate it for a moment before taking a breath and letting a big grin come to my face before bolting towards the kitchen. Think later, celebrate now.

 

"I GOT IN!"

 

--------

 

The First Day.

 

Never really thought it would happen but here we are. UA. A school for HEROES.

 

Canon is legitimately kicking off and I'm terrified. I never really considered that it would actually happen.

 

The last few weeks of 'school' and the short vacation between the end of our middle school lifestyles and prepping to move to our higher educations here in Japan have been rather bland and quiet, outside of a singular incident of myself, Izuku and Bakago all getting called up to the Principles office so they can 'congratulate' us, or in other words, try to butter us up to give them a good word.

 

Just... gag me.

 

Either way, Izuku and I outscored Bakugo and he's been steaming about it ever since, and trying to challenge both of us to fights, which have been resoundly turned down and turned away, and I've spent a majority of this time with Pony and Mom, getting used to the family dynamic and kind of quietly reminding myself that this is my life now, no matter what happens. That means I have something to fight for. I have a -reason- to be doing this, outside of just 'oh, lets be a superhero'.

 

I have a family to come back to. To protect. And I know what is coming.

 

That flare of Determination sparks up in me again, and I feel the Elements all spark as I pick up the pace of my little march, walking towards the gates of UA.

 

I'm currently walking alone, Izuku of course doing the Protagonist thing and he's gonna be one of the last people in the classroom, Pony and Tauren are spending a little more Mother-Daughter time, understandable considering that a lot of the time we've spent recently have been about me, and I haven't run into Kiri or Mina yet, so-

 

"It's the cute pony-boy! Hiya agaaaaaain!"

 

My train of thought is completely thrown off as I'm suddenly accosted by a bright, cheery voice, and a UA uniform hanging in mid-air, one sleeve waving frantically, drawing my eyes to a charm hanging off of a invisible arm and hand. "Uh-, hello again... Hagakure-chan was it?"

 

The clothing stomps a foot and crosses it's arms under the bust of the uniform in a pouting like fashion, which is pretty impressive considering that she is invisible. Then again, I'm sure she's had a lot of practice. I will admit, I stopped thinking about Toru considering that she had slipped away before I could have gotten her number to add her to the group chat or introduce her to the others.

 

"Muuuuuu! I said to call me Toru-chan, Takashi-kun!" The excited girl pouts at me, making me sigh and cross my arms. "Right, right, Toru."

 

"What, did you forget about me?" She leans towards me, holding her bangled arm in my face as if she's pointing a finger at me, a glance at her sleeve letting me confirm that it's her right arm and hand.

 

"Kind of hard to forget someone you've saved, though to be fair you kinda dipped out on us." I say, resisting the urge to snag my tail and brush it. "Come on, walk and talk with me." I say as I start walking again, the invisible girl falling in beside me, swinging one arm happily as a bag floats off the ground and is tossed over her shoulder.

 

"Well, at least you could have remembered what to call me!" Toru insists, making me sigh and shake my head in amusement. "I'd love to, but again, you dipped! We have a group chat and were talking over the last month." I tease, making the invisible girl pout again as we walk into UA's front gates and I whistle at the sheer -scale- of the UA campus.

 

"Seriously, this place is basically a city in and of itself. Perks of being the Best Hero Academy I suppose." I mutter to myself as I stare upwards, Toru bouncing a bit at my side. "No kidding! This place is huuuuuuuuuuge!~"

 

----------

 

We quickly make our away to our classroom, idly chatting about some of the hero events that have occurred recently... mostly because that's just what people talk about. It's kind of annoying really, pop-culture is awash with Hero talk instead of just pop-culture and entertainment, and as a bit of a media fiend, that really took me at the heart when I came to this world.

 

"-just saying that Edgeshot would have a lot of issues in a stand-up fight with Best Jeanist. I mean, if he counts as thread or fiber when he's using his quirk-"

 

"Nope, nope, I don't want to think about it Ranma! Oh hey, we're here!"

 

As we walk into 1A, we are immediately greeted with the sight of quite a variety of interesting characters that make up the Greatest Generation of Heroes, if our source material is to be believed anyway.

 

I won't get into them all right away, but I'm sure Eris will probably throw a list up or something to let you all know the class roster. My attention is stolen away by a pink blur in a uniform anyway as I'm tackle-hugged by Mina, who immediately starts chattering away with Toru like they've known each other forever and drag me over to Kiri who gives me a massive grin and an excited arm-pump in greetings before I can really even try to introduce myself to anyone.

 

Time blurs as I'm lost in the girl-chatter, my desk sandwiched between Mina and Kiri with Toru sitting behind Mina, which makes my desk the gathering spot of the three, naturally. Time passes in a blur before I can refocus as all the chatter stops, girl-or-otherwise as a yellow sleepingbag shifts to the front of the room.

 

"... It took you all fifteen seconds to quite down. You are all irrational." A tired, annoyed voice drawls out at us as the sleeping bag unzips to reveal a tired, annoyed, and disheveled looking man that makes me swallow nervously.

 

Our homeroom teacher, the Pro-Hero Eraserhead, Shota Aizawa, decides if we even get to continue on this past, and at this point I can trust nothing from my prior-knowledge. Who knows what the simple butterfly effect of Izuku actually having some control over OFA will cause?

 

"I am Shota Aizawa, your homeroom teacher." He states in introduction as he reaches into the sleeping bag and pulls out... a drinkable jelly packet and a UA gym uniform. Yep, it's time for...

 

---

 

"A QUIRK ASSESSMENT?!"

 

"Loud..."

 

A purple-haired girl with jacks for earlobes and I both whine as my ears lay flat and she keeps her hands clapped over her ears. We look at one another with a solidarity and understanding built in mutual pain as Aizawa starts explaining.

 

"In order to ensure that you're being trained properly, we need a baseline understanding of your capabilities. Think of it as your physical assessments from middle school... Takashi, get up here."

 

I blink in surprise at being called out instead of Bakugo or Izuku, my friend looking at me in surprise and our mutual antagonist scoffing as I trot up to the front of the class and come to a stop next to Aizawa. "Yes Sensei?"

 

The gaunt, tired looking pro-hero turns to me and hands me a baseball before turning to the rest of the class. "The Fifty-meter dash, Grip Strength, Standing Long Jump, Repeated Side Steps, Ball Throw, Distance Run, Seated Toe-Touch, and Sit Ups. These make up the standard tests for physical fitness here in Japan... but they are a waste outside of Hero schools. Takashi, what's your best throw?"

 

I blink and frown, thinking about it for a moment. "Roughly 69 meters, Sensei, give or take a meter." I answer, which is surprisingly true. I could absolutely kick it far, far further than I could throw it, and without any kind of enhancements, I could still whip the ball pretty well. That being said...

 

"Do so using your quirk instead. You are not allowed to leave the circle, but anything else is fair game."

 

Now we're talking. This is just like doing it at Cloud City, just with far, far more space to play with. A wicked smirk rips across my face as I step into the circle, feeling the Elements spark as Determination from my friends and myself burns for fuel, my horn sparking and sparkling as I heft the ball straight upwards, even as I start building up momentum in a spin.

 

"HERE."

 

I shift into Pegasus form, making many class members gasp in surprise as my wings spread, dancing near the circle but staying contained as I use them to pull my spin tighter even as I switch back to normal. The ball hits the top of it's throw.

 

"WE!"

 

The ball drops down as I spin faster and adjust for where it'll land, shifting to Earth Pony form in proper bucking form.

 

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

 

Both hooves make full contact as I blast the ball away with a roaring crack of displaced air and shift back to human, landing on my feet with my heels just touching the circle even as I scramble to turn and try to cast on the ball to keep it up further and longer. Unfortunately the ball is out of range but it was worth a try, even as I do my best to ignore the betrayed look from my hearing sensitivity buddy from a moment earlier.

 

Breaking the sound-barrier with a kick probably hurts the ears.

 

"It's important for anyone to know their limits, and more important for -us- to know what your limits are. This is the first rational step for figuring out what kind of heroes you will be." Aizawa says as he flips his phone around, which appears to have a tracking app on it as the class boggles at my score.

 

"OH MY GOSH RANMA YOU KICKED IT OVER A MILE!" Pony cries out in English, bouncing excitedly as I'm taken aback by my own score.

 

"For Real?! This is insane!"

"That looks so fun!"

"I can't believe that power!"

"He looks like a cinnamon roll but he can produce that kind of output?! What a monster!"

"Damn you fucking fairy faggot!"

"H-he's a horse?"

 

The last one brings me up short as I look over at Yuga Aoyama, one of the easy to remember characters for a bunch of reasons... including him crying out about me out-sparkling him.

 

He's scare of horses? That's... well, ok, interesting information for later.

 

I hide the darker thoughts of the future. Maybe things changed. Maybe they didn't. The UA Traitor is a concern, but as I'm sure someone important said once, we'll burn that bridge when we get to it.

 

"Fun, is it?"

 

The class falls silent at Aizawa's voice and unnerving grin, making several people practically swallow their tongue as his grin takes on a menacing edge.

 

"Alright. The one wit the lowest score across all boards will be judged hopeless and with no potential... and be expelled from UA."

 

The class cries out in surprise as he spreads his arms.

 

"Your fate is in your hands. Welcome to The Hero Course of UA High!"

 

----