Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Pony Tsunotori held her lunch tray close to her chest, carefully weaving her way around the scattered crowd of students clogging up the lunch line as she tried to make her way back to her usual table. More than once, an eager student carelessly bumped into her, too caught up in their own devices to even offer up an ‘excuse me’. If it weren’t for her hooves keeping her steady, she probably would’ve been knocked to the ground by now.

Unfortunately, she’d become accustomed to this kind of behavior, with the cafeteria being much livelier than usual lately, no doubt thanks to the threat of exams looming over everyone’s heads. With the endless hours of studying, many students have been given far less time to hang out and chat with their friends, making them cherish the brief moments they could spend together that much more.

Despite that, Pony herself wasn’t in much of a socializing mood. As extroverted as she could be, the ever-present language barrier between her and her classmates made conversations tiring after a while. This was one of the few times of the day that she’d rather be left to her own devices.

Taking her usual seat, she reached behind her shoulder and searched through her backpack’s front pouch, eventually pulling out her favorite manga, which she’d been meaning to catch up on for a while now.

“What do you have there, Tsunotori?” Asked Kendo, taking the seat right beside her.

“I’m telling you, call me Pony,” she corrected, always one to keep things casual. “And this is my new favorite manga right now: My Samurai Academia!” She showed the cover to her friend, never one to pass up the opportunity to gush about her interests. “It got all kinds of cool fights and many weapons!”

“That sounds fun. What is it abou…” She suddenly trailed off, her gaze looking right past Pony as if she wasn’t even there. “Hold on, Pony. Gotta deal with something real quick.”

She got up, and Pony watched her walk over to Class 1-A’s table, where she could immediately see the problem. One chop to the neck later, and Kendo was dragging Monoma back to the 1-B table, placing his limp body on the unoccupied seat to the right of Pony. “Do you always need to antagonize them like that?” She asked him, sounding like she was trying to hold back her annoyance.

“I’m not antagonizing them!” Monoma sprang back to life, startling Pony slightly. “I’m simply reminding them who the real stars of the show are! And we’ll prove that to them when we dominate the upcoming exams!”

“Just because we all plan on acing exams does not mean we’re doing along with your plan,” Kendo reminded him before switching her attention back to Pony. “So what were you saying about your manga?”

“Oh right!” She opened her book up to one of the fight scenes and laid it across the table. “It’s about samurai with magic powers gifted to them by ancient ancestors. But the main character has no powers, so his mentor pass down his own cursed power. But it so powerful that he almost explodes whenever he uses it, so he goes to samurai school to learn how to be better samurai.”

“Huh, neat.” Kendo leaned in, admiring the expertly crafted artwork.

“Now that’s the kind of underdog story I can relate to on a personal level,” Monoma butted in, to which Pony gave him an odd look.

“Personal? Since when does your Quirk hurts you?”

She watched in amusement as Monoma’s mask of bravado slipped for a brief moment. “Well, it could depending on whose Quirk I copy. Like Midoriya’s.” He pointed over to the boy he was just bothering a minute ago. “Of course, I’d have to be insane to borrow a self-destructive power.”

“But if you’re only copying Midoriya’s power, wouldn’t that make him the main character? Not you?” Kendo reasoned, her and Pony noticing the way his eye twitched at that question.

“Of course not!” He snapped, slamming his hands on the table. “Just look at Midoriya. Does he really give off main character energy?”

Pony curiously tilted her head. “Wuzzat?”

”It’s like… you know!” Monoma struggled to put it into words, making odd gestures with his hands. “There are some people you look at, and you’re like ‘wow, they totally look like they’d be the hero of a story!’ Those kinds of vibes!”

“So basically the opposite kind of vibes you give off?” Setsuna’s disembodied head floated up to the group, sensing the opportunity to tease her classmate.

Monoma scoffed as if she’d just insulted his mother. “You take that back!”

While the two proceeded to bicker, Pony continued to think about what Monoma and Kendo had said. She hadn’t paid Izuku much mind before now, but it seemed he had a bit more in common with her manga’s protagonist than she thought. Heck, they even looked somewhat alike, sporting a similar messy hairstyle and soft, innocent baby face.

That got her thinking; she had long since made the comparison between the Quirk-populated world she lived in and the setting of a shonen manga, even more so when she moved to Japan and began UA. Would that mean there was also a main character to go along with it? And could that main character be Izuku?

‘No, of course not,’ she internally dismissed the thought, shaking her head while laughing at her stupidity. If Izuku was the main character, if the world truly revolved around him, that would make her and the rest of her class nothing more than side characters, confirming Monoma’s worst nightmares.

Besides, the protagonist of My Samurai Academia had more than just a cursed power; he had a hotheaded rival, a cheery and supportive love-interest, and a large cast of friends and lesser rivals with varying levels of relevancy depending on the arc. Izuku didn’t have any of that.

“Deku!” She was suddenly pulled from her thoughts by the unmistakable shout of Katsuki Bakugo, whose rants could often be heard across the entire cafeteria. “Don’t think you’re gonna do better than me on exams. I’ll beat you and everyone else in the class! Just like I always do!”

Izuku, for his part, met Katsuki’s anger with confusion. “Okay…? I’ll keep that in mind.”

Pony fought down the panic bubbling up within her. Sure, that might have sounded like textbook ‘hotheaded rival’ behavior, but she doubted it meant much in the grand scheme of things.

That line of thinking became much harder to justify when she saw the girl she recognized as Ochako Uraraka slide up to Izuku, her smile equal parts cheery and determined. “Don’t worry about what he says, Deku. I’m sure you’ll do great on the exams, just like you always do.”

“Oh!” Izuku perked up at her words of encouragement. “Y-yeah! Same to you!” He shared a light fist bump with Ochako, the blush on his face visible to everyone except her.

“That’s the spirit, you two!” 1-A’s class rep came up and patted them both on the shoulder. “We should all strive to improve not only as heroes, but as students!”

“Mm-hm,” Todoroki nodded, more focused on his bowl of soba than anything else going on.

Pony felt her heart plummet into her stomach. In less than a minute, Izuku had proved himself a spitting image of her manga’s protagonist, from his powers, to his friends, to his rival. Not only that, but if the USJ incident and the reports from Hosu were any indication, then trouble seemed to be attracted to him like a bee to honey, as was the case with any shonen protagonist.

Looking away from Izuku, she numbly slumped forward in her seat, resting her chin on the table as she despondently stared off into the distance. If Izuku truly was the hero of the big, overarching story she called life, then what did that mean for her? Was she just some nobody? Another face in the crowd who was destined to live a life of mediocrity?

“I don’t know what you’re so miffed about.” In the midst of her sulking, she picked up on the ongoing argument between Monoma and Setsuna. “So what if you’re not one of the ‘main characters’? That just means less responsibility for us. Have you ever watched a TV show in your life? Some of those main characters live pretty shitty lives.”

“It’s not about responsibility,” Monoma fired back, still displeased with her, “it’s about the title, the prestige! Don’t you want to look at the world and say ‘I am not useless, I am important, and you cannot ignore me’?”

“Do… you have some sort of inferiority complex? Because it sounds like you have an inferiority complex.”

“What? Of course not!”

At her classmate’s words, Pony raised her chin off the table, her mind deep in thought. She had been so focused on the prospect of not being a main character that she never stopped to consider if she even wanted to be one in the first place. As a hero in training, she knew she’d be putting her life on the line more than once. But to be a main character, where dangerous, life-altering events happened on a near-daily basis, all during her first year of high school, sounded both stressful and terrifying. She’d heard horror stories about what went down at the USJ, and she didn’t want to experience anything like that during what were supposed to be her formative years.

With all that in mind, being a side character didn’t sound as bad to her. Sure, she might not amount to as much as her sister class, but at least she didn't have to be traumatized by constant near-death experiences. She preferred slice of life anime over shonen anyways.

Now that she was over what was perhaps the world’s shortest existential crisis, she sat back up and continued reading through her manga. She was glad to be doing so, as the story had been knee-deep in its war arc for a while now, and this latest chapter was something she’d been looking forward to for…

Oh…

Oh no…

Pony’s already large eyes widened to ungodly proportions as she scanned through the panels, growing more and more stressed as she watched the carnage unfold. It was like a car crash she couldn’t look away from, her sense of morbid curiosity compelling her to turn to the next page despite knowing what awaited her there.

“Pony, are you alright?” Kendo spoke up. “You’ve silently flipped through like ten expressions in the past minute alone.”

“WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!” Pony cried out, capturing the attention of the rest of her class.

“Not without a fight, I’m hoping,” Tetsutetsu argued, ready to fight against whatever unseen force was threatening them at the moment.

“What are you talking about?” The class rep continued, more confused than anyone else. “Is this about your manga?”

“LOOK!” Pony shoved her manga in her face. “Izzy’s main character! We’re side characters! You know what that means? We’re expendable! Main villains kills us for shock value! No one cares that we die!”

“Side characters?! How many times do I have to tell you that we’re not-”

“Not now.” Kendo swiftly knocked Monoma out again before looking at Pony like she was some insane conspiracy theorist. “I think you’re getting a bit too into your book there. This is real life, not a manga.”

“Real life is a manga!” She shot up, yelling so that the entire table could hear her.

“No, I’m Manga,” Manga Fukidashi politely raised his hand.

“No! Do you not see?! Our lives are a manga! We have crazy powers! We do crazy fights! There’s the yelling and punching and the tragic backstories!”

“Yeah, that’s real life,” Kendo emphasized, only serving to frustrate Pony further.

“EXACTLY!” She clenched her forehead, feeling like she was going as insane as everyone thought she was. “You not getting it! Our lives follow tropes of shonen manga!”

“I thought it was vice-versa, and shonen manga tropes were based on real life,” Bondo corrected.

Shishida nodded his head in agreement. “My thoughts exactly. Artists often draw from their own life experiences.”

“That not how it works!” Despite, or perhaps because of her outburst, none of Pony’s classmates looked all too convinced.

“Her speech patterns have become unrecognizable,” Ibara observed her with a steady gaze. “Are you feeling under the weather? I can offer you some of my home-grown medicinal herbs.”

“I can offer you my exorcism kit.” Reiko pulled out some chalk and a set of wax candles.

“I’m not possessed! I just… Ah, fuck it…” She swore in English, stuffing her manga in her bag and storming off. She didn’t care if her classmates thought she was crazy. Once she proved herself right, they’d see she wasn’t crazy, then she could help save them from death by irrelevancy. But first, she had to save herself - a task which she already had a foolproof plan on how to accomplish.

It was super simple once she got down to it; main characters always had plot armor that prevented their death at the hands of just about any threat. And in the unlikely chance they did die, it’s only a matter of time until they get brought back by some sort of necromancy Quirk or whatever.

Such plot armor wasn’t just granted to anybody, however. Only the protagonist and their closest friends were granted a ‘get out of death free’ card. If Pony wanted any chance of surviving to her adult years, she had to become a main character herself, which would only occur if she successfully befriended Izuku Midoriya, becoming one of his most trusted allies.

Now with a plan set in stone, Pony steeled herself for what would perhaps be the most high-stakes mission of her entire life. She had made friends before, but never had her quest for companionship carried such a high failure tax. The lives of both herself and her classmates were in her lands, which left one very important question, one that would serve as the basis for her and Izuku’s entire relationship…

“What’s his favorite anime genre? Shonen? Harem? Mecha? He seems like a Mecha guy.”

Chapter Text

“Thank for meeting with me, Monoma.” Pony sat down at one of the tables at the library, her classmate already waiting for her there.

“Not a problem, Pony.” He neatly folded his hands on the table, ready to get down to business. “While I’m not certain about all the ‘side character’ jargon you’ve been spewing, I’ll never pass up a chance to infiltrate Class 1-A and discover all their secret weaknesses.”

Pony could only nod at the devilish grin that stretched across his face. “Sure….” As intense as Monoma was known to be, she knew beggars couldn’t be choosers. Out of all her classmates, he thought she had lost her mind the least. “So, how you think I can get closer to Midoriya?”

“I have several ideas.” He reached into his pocket, pulling out a large, rolled-up sheet of paper that unfurled across the entire length of the table. It was then Pony realized she may have made a mistake. “First of all, if you put his life in mortal danger, then rescue him at the last second, he’ll quickly develop a fondness for you. That’s just human nature.”

“What?” Pony leaned back in her seat. “That doesn’t… How would I even…?”

“I’m getting to that part.” He drew her attention to the other side of the sheet. “Given your Quirk, lifting him out of danger would be the best course of action. If we could somehow lure him into a shark pool, you’d be able to save him, no problem.”

“Where we getting a shark from?!”

“The aquarium, obviously,” he scoffed amusedly at Pony like she said something humorous.

“Any other, not deadly ideas?”

“Of course. Did you honestly think I’d show up to this meeting with just one idea?” He flipped over the large sheet of paper, revealing another plan on the back. “Midoriya seems like the skittish type. If you come onto him quickly and aggressively, he won’t even have the chance to say-”

“No!” Pony slapped her hands against her cheeks, covering up the redness. “I’m trying to befriend him, not fuck him! Next you gonna want me to pin him against the wall!”

“What? Noooo, of course not!” Monoma denied, discreetly converting up a specific part of the sheet. “Okay, you don’t want to ’befriend‘ him in that sense. That’s fine. If you want to start out keeping things platonic, you could wear a skin suit of someone he’s familiar with and-”

Pony stabbed the table with a set of her horns, cutting him off before that idea could even take shape. “Can I please have a sane idea?”

Monoma appeared more offended than intimidated, furrowing his brow at Pony as he rolled up his sheet of convoluted plans. “I’m just following your lead here. You’re not acting very sane, yourself right now.”

Pony opened her mouth to argue, but then she spotted the pair of cracks in the table she just made with her horns. “Okay, maybe I’m a small bit on the edge, but there’s just so much at stake here.”

“Yes, yes, I know we're all going to die or whatever,” Monoma said dismissively, still not entirely believing her. “But if what you’re saying is right and Midoriya really gives off ‘main character energy’, what makes you think you have the energy to match?”

“Are you kidding? I’m having lots of main character energy!” Pony gestured to her entire self, trying to get Monoma to see her vision.

The way he pursed his lips at her made it seem like he wasn’t convinced. “Alright. In that case, why don’t we test that hypothesis?” He reached under his desk and pulled out a smaller piece of paper labeled ‘Main Character Attributes’. “Above all else, a main character must have a tragic and compelling backstory. For example, Bakugo probably received endless praise for his Quirk as a child, facing very few hardships along his path to UA, so there’s no way he could be a main character.”

“That ain’t a problem,” Pony said with confidence. “I’ve been picked on because of my Quirk since I was inside kindergarten, but it just made me want to be more of a hero!”

“Good, good, very inspiring,” he nodded, jotting all that down. “And what of your powers? A main character has to be versatile in their abilities. Unlike, say, Class 1-A’s representative. All he can do is run fast and kick things. His vice representative can do more than him!”

“I can do so much with my Quirk!” A pair of horns popped out of Pony!s head, floating around her and Monoma. “I can fly with them, I can making other people fly, I can do… uh… whatever the Japanese word for ‘reconnaissance’ is, and I can fucking stab people’s eyes out!”

“A very versatile arsenal indeed.” Monoma pointedly glanced away from Pony’s horns, preferring to keep his eyes away from them. “But the most important trait to look out for is personality. The last thing you want to end up as is a comic relief side character whose entire existence is nothing more than a gimmick, just a vehicle for telling unfunny jokes.”

“Oh, that nothing to worry about,” she casually brushed off his concerns. “I is a very well-round person who is having exactly zero of the unfunny gimmicks.”

Just then, Yuga Aoyama from Class 1-A walked up to their table, holding a wide tray of various cheeses. “Ah, bonjour, my friends. Would you perhaps like to sample some fromage? It is très bien! Straight from the heart of Paris, France!”

Neither Pony nor Monoma said anything, and Aoyama gave a nervous laugh at their wide-eyed looks of horror. “Eh… perhaps I will return at a later date. Au revoir!”

It took a few seconds for Pony to break the silence once he left. “Is… is being a foreigner my gimmick?”

Monoma sighed, looking apologetic. “I didn’t want you to find out like this.”

In a sudden flash of panic, Pony jumped up onto the table and grabbed Monoma by the collar, frantically shaking him. “I gotta fix this! I can’t be talking in broken Japanese for rest of life! Otherwise I won’t have a rest of life!”

“Calm down, Pony. We can fix this. We just need to find someone who can help you with your Japanese.”

“You’re right…” Pony took a breath, not letting herself lose control of the situation. “I go talk to President Mic. Maybe he gives me extra lessons.” She hopped off the table and raced out of the library. But in her haste to leave, she didn’t notice the other presence walking through the door until she slammed right into them, knocking them both to the floor.

“Ow…” She rubbed her aching head, hoping she didn’t hurt the other person as badly. She opened her mouth to apologize, only for the words to fail her when she realized who exactly she bumped into.

“Oof…” Izuku muttered to himself as he stood up and offered Pony a hand. “Are you alright, Tsunotori? I didn’t mean to bump into you just now. Should have watched where I was going instead of burying my face in a notebook. Heh heh.”

Pony’s jaw fell to the floor at Izuku’s casual display of near-perfect English. “You… you know…”

“Huh? Oh yeah! I learned English as a kid so I could translate some old All Might interviews. From there, it kinda just became a hobby. I don’t get to use it a lot in day-to-day conversation, but Present Mic seems to enjoy calling on me during class.”

“I - That’s…” Pony didn’t know what to say. She’d never admit it to her classmates, but she always felt like the language barrier stopped her from making deeper connections among her friends. If she had known there was someone she could talk to as herself, she would’ve struck up a conversation with Izuku way sooner. “I can’t believe it!”

“Yes, neither can I.” Monoma sauntered up to the group, putting on that smug look he had whenever a member of 1-A was nearby. “And as it just so happens, Pony is looking for someone to assist her with her Japanese. I wouldn’t normally suggest this, but perhaps I can let your feeble mind bask in the glory of 1-B, just this once.”

Pony’s confused glare only lasted a few seconds before she realized what Monoma was trying to do; if she was going to improve her Japanese, she might as well use it as an excuse to get closer to Izuku, kill two birds with one stone.

“Y-yeah!” She shot up off the ground, startling Izuku slightly. “You can come to my house! It’ll be fun! C’mon, pleeeeeeeease?” If there was one thing her Quirk’s mutations were good for, it was giving wide, irresistible puppy-dog eyes. They’ve manipulated worked on friends and family countless times in the past, and she had no doubt the same would be true for Izuku.

“Okay, sure! I’ve never taught anyone Japanese before, but I‘ll try my best.”

“YAY! Thank you so much, Izzy!”

“Izzy?!” Izuku gawked at the sudden nickname, but Pony was too excited to notice.

“We’re meeting at my place tonight! I see you there!” She trotted out of the library with a wide smile on her face, failing to pick up on the confusion radiating off of Izuku at that moment.

“She didn’t tell me where she lives.” He curiously turned to Monoma. “Do you know-”

“No, I do not.”

“Darn.”

Fortunately, Kendo knew Pony’s address on account of her having visited at some point in the past, so Izuku didn’t have to check every apartment of every building in every nearby prefecture like he did with Ochako when she forgot her homework.

Arriving just a few minutes before 6:00 PM, he lightly knocked on the door to Pony’s apartment, receiving a faint “Coming!” from the other side, followed by the sounds of hurried footsteps. When the door opened, he was met with Pony wielding a large knife, a red substance splattered across her body. “Hi, Izzy!” She cheerfully greeted, playfully twirling the knife between her fingers.

Naturally, Izuku had the reaction one would expect. “AAAHHH! Tsunotori, what are you doing?!”

“Uh… eating dinner?” She showed him steak that was at least twice as large as the plate it was on, dripping with far too much barbecue sauce. “Also, call me Pony.”

“Oh, my bad… Pony.” He really needed to stop confusing condiments for blood. It was starting to become a pattern.

“No needs to worry.” She tossed the knife aside, motioning for Izuku to come in. “You want some? I make extra.”

“Uh, no thanks. I already ate before coming here. Also, you can speak to me in English if you’re more comfortable that way.”

“But I’m needing practice, and that’s why you are here. C’mon, let us go.”

Izuku followed her across the apartment, which he couldn’t help but notice was small, as if it wouldn’t be able to hold more than one person. “Tsun - er - Pony, sorry if this comes off as presumptuous, but are you living alone?”

“Mm-hm,” she answered with a casual shrug. “I moved here to go to UA. My parents are still in America, but they rent this apartment for me to stay.” Izuku noticed her smile start to falter for a second. “It gets a bit lonely sometimes, but it’s nice to have my own space. I can decorate however I want!”

To prove her point, she opened the door to her room, and Izuku was taken aback by how much anime memorabilia lined nearly every square inch. Just about everything, from figures to posters to plushies to pins to keychains to manga, filled up the space - some featuring characters from anime he recognized, while others were less familiar. He had to wonder if this was how people felt when they entered his room. “Wow, I didn’t realize you were such an anime fan! This is a super impressive collection!”

Pony’s smile widened as she allowed herself to soak in Izuku’s adoration. It wasn’t every day she got to show off the fruits of her labors. “Thanks! I worked really hard on it.”

“I can tell. I don’t see many collections this extensive. You pretty much have everything!”

“Heh heh, yup…” She fake-laughed, discreetly stuffing her full-sized body pillow under her bed.
“But we can talk anime later. We should get started with Japanese now.” Pony walked up to her desk, shoving all the anime merch aside to make room for her worksheets, helpfully supplied to her by Present Mic.

“Oh yeah, right.” Izuku took the seat next to her and pulled out a notebook from… somewhere. “I didn’t have much time, but I managed to prepare a few things in advance, just a few tricks to help you remember certain things.”

“Sounds good!” As excited as Pony was to get closer to Izuku, she was just as interested in improving her Japanese. Maybe then she’ll feel less like a side character in her own life.

One Surprisingly In-Depth Study Session Later…

“Wow, that study session was surprisingly in-depth!” Pony felt the inexplicable need to exclaim.

“Oh, come on, there’s no way it was that good. It was only my first lesson, after all.”

Despite Izuku’s attempts to remain humble, he simply couldn’t counteract the positive vibes being directed his way. “I mean it! I understand Japanese so much better now! Look! Look how I’m speaking without making any graham errors.” She paused for a moment, realizing her mistake. “Okay, maybe there’s still a few grammar errors.”

It was almost surreal how quickly she picked up on the language, like a switch was suddenly flipped in her brain. She wondered if this was possibly a result of Izuku’s main character energy rubbing off on her, thereby dulling her comic relief gimmick down to a more reasonable level.

“Well, I’m glad I was able to help you regardless,” said Izuku, turning to leave her room. “I guess I should probably get going-”

“Wait!” Pony lunged in front of the door, where she pathetically flopped onto the ground. “You don’t have to leave yet. We could still hang out.” She had already gotten Izuku into her house - might as well milk the moment for all it’s worth. “You were interested in my collection, right? Maybe watch some anime.”

Pony held her breath as Izuku took a moment to consider, a wave of relief washing over her when he gave a small nod. “I don’t think I'll be busy the rest of the night, so sure. Sounds fun.”

“YES!” Pony cheered, pumping her fist. In a flash, she darted over to the dresser in the corner of her room, opening the bottommost drawer to reveal an extensive collection of anime Blu-ray DVDs. “See anything ya like? Anything interesting?”

“Ooh, this one!” Izuku’s eyes immediately zeroed in on one show in particular, one which Pony would’ve never guessed he was a fan of.

“My Samurai Academia?”

“Yeah! I love this series! Binged the whole manga in like a week. Never had the time to check out the anime, though.“

“Okay then…” She popped the disc in her Blu-ray player, and the two sat down to watch. As the intro played, Piny spared a glance over to Izuku, furrowing her brow at the way his eyes sparkled at the TV. Don’t get her wrong, it was great to finally find someone who was into the same show as her, but something just didn’t sit right with her.

“So… Izzy,” she spoke up, her tone as casual as she could make it.

“Hm?”

“You ever notice anything weird about this series?”

He cocked his head to the side like a confused pigeon. “Weird? What do you mean?”

“Like, have you ever noticed any similarities between you and the protagonist?”

“No… why would I? He’s a fictional character.”

“Forget about that for a second. Think about the setting, the school setting. Doesn’t that sound a little familiar?”

“Well, yeah, we both go to school, but so does everyone. Besides, he’s training to be a samurai, while I’m training to be a hero. That’s like, completely different!”

“Okay, but think about the other parts!” Pony grabbed the remote, fast-forwarding to a later part of the episode where the protagonist uses his cursed sword for the first time, damaging himself in the process. “See? He has a power that hurts him whenever he uses it, but he still tries to help people anyways.”

Izuku narrowed his eyes at the screen as if trying to decipher a puzzle. “Hmmmmmmmm… Nope, don’t see it. I learned how to use my Quirk without hurting myself during internships, so I can’t be similar to him.”

“He learns to do the same thing later in the series!” Pony threw her hands into the air. “C’mon, you said you read the manga!”

“I knew that. But he uses a sword, while I use my fists. It’s fundamentally different.”

“Okay, but what about this?” She switched over to a different episode, showing footage of the protagonist being intimidated by one of his classmates, whom he was about to face off against in a duel. “Hot-headed rival who used to be a childhood friend. Ring any bells?”

“He doesn’t have any explosion powers, so no.”

“Not even this?!” Growing frustrated, she skipped to the part where the protagonist received encouragement from his rosy-cheeked love interest.

Izuku seemed the most surprised by this comparison. “W-what?! Since when do I have a love interest?”

“Since you - since… Ugh! Never mind.” She ran a hand down her face, sinking deeper into her cushiony chair. Either Izuku lacked any form of self-awareness, or the universe itself wanted to prevent him from figuring out the truth.

“Okay, well…” Izuku struggled to find his next words. After such an odd series of comparisons, he suddenly didn’t feel like watching this show anymore. “What other kinds of anime do you like? Because I mostly stick to shonen and hero shows.”

“Ooh, glad you asked.” Pony went over to her dresser and plunged her hand back into her collection of Blu-rays. “Shonen isn’t the only thing I'm interested in. I also watch magical girls…”

“I’ve seen a few of them.” They technically counted as hero shows in Izuku’s eyes.

“Sports…”

“Can technically fall under the ‘shonen’ umbrella depending on the series.”

“Slice of life…”

“Always nice to have an escape from everything that’s been going on.”

“And harem!”

“Wha - huh?” Izuku blinked at the equine girl, a bit taken aback.

“Yeah, harem. It’s like my third or fourth favorite genre.” She panhandled Izuku a small stack of Blu-rays, some of which featured the male protagonist being surrounded by lovestruck girls, while others had the genders reversed.

A subtle shade of red found its way on his cheeks as he looked through the covers. “You… really watch all of these?” He said, trying as hard as he could to mask any presumed rudeness.

“…Yeah? Why wouldn’t I?”

“I mean, if you do, that’s completely fine. You can like what you like. I’m not going to stop you…” He paused for a moment, picking out his next words carefully. “But isn’t it a bit… unrealistic?”

“Well DUH!” She very obviously blurted out. “But that’s true for most anime. You saying teenagers wielding magical samurai swords is realistic?”

“Okay, I guess not,” he very easily relented. “But harem anime just doesn’t sit right with me. I know having multiple people pining after you is supposed to be appealing, but just thinking about it makes me stressed out.”

“Really?” Pony raised a curious eyebrow, leaning in closer.

“Yeah! Because more love interests just means more people you have to reject in the end. And don’t even mention the shows where the protagonist just decides to date them all. I can hardly fathom the idea of having one partner, much less two, three, five, eight, A HUNDRED!” By now, he was pacing back and forth in Pony’s room, hands balled up into fists as he tugged at his hair.

Pony, meanwhile, just looked at him perplexedly. He knew the harem genre had its haters, but never for such a specific reason. She guessed Izuku was the type to project deeply onto the protagonist. “I get that, but not every harem anime is explicitly about romance. What about the comedy ones?”

To her surprise, Izuku audibly groaned at her suggestion. “I’m sorry, but from what I’ve seen, most of the jokes in those anime are just excuses for fan service.”

“Oh, come on. Everyone loves a bit of fan service.”

“Yeah, a bit of fan service.”

“Okay, got me there.” Pony concedingly rolled her eyes. By now, it was clear to her that she wouldn’t be able to change his mind on harem anime, and that was fine. Despite the genre’s abundance, it was still relatively niche at the end of the day. “How ‘bout we just watch some slice of life instead?”

“You know what? Yeah, that sounds good,” Izuku nodded, his prior frustrations dissipating as he sat himself back down in his seat, eager to watch whatever Pony picked out for them.

A Few Episodes Later…

“Thanks for having me over, Pony. I had a good time,” Izuku said as he stepped out of her apartment, into the warm, almost-summer night. As much as he wanted to stick around for another episode, tonight was unfortunately a school night.

“No prob! Thanks for helping me with Japanese! Maybe you come back again and we can watch the rest of the season together.”

“That’d be great!” He grinned from ear to ear, always happy to make another friend (at least he assumed this meant they were friends. He didn’t have much experience on the topic, but he assumed a second invitation to their house implied some level of companionship). “But until then, I’ll see you around.”

“See ya, Izzy!” She cheerfully waved goodbye, only to pause when Izuku suddenly stopped in his tracks, turning back around to face her.

“Wait, before I go, I just gotta ask, what’s with the ‘Izzy’ thing? You called me that before, but I still don’t know what you mean by it.”

“Oh, uh… Y’know, it’s just a fun little nickname.” She lazily shrugged her shoulders. “If you don’t like it, I can-”

“No, I like it! I like it a lot, in fact.” He couldn’t quite pinpoint exactly how he felt, but it was similar to when Ochako first called him Deku. It was nice having a nickname born out of admiration instead of malice.

“Oh, then I’ll keep calling you Izzy from now on.”

“Yeah.” He internally swelled, wearing his new nickname like a badge of honor. “I like that.”

As Pony watched her new friend disappear into the night, the annoying part of her brain decided to undercut the moment by wondering what this meant for her status as a side character. If the nickname was any indication, she and Izuku had undeniably grown closer tonight. Would that make her more prominent in the eyes of the universe? She supposed only time would tell.

The Next Day…

“Alright class, listen up!” Kan barked as he stood at the podium, facing all of Class 1-B. “It has come to both mine and Aizawa’s attention that tensions between classes have been rising as of late.” More than a few looks were directed at Monoma. “While there’s nothing wrong with a little healthy competition, at the end of the day, you’re all expected to be able to work together as heroes. To help mend inter-class relationships, it has been decided that one student from each class will be traded out for another. Do I have any voluntee-”

“I’LL DO IT!” Pony jumped at the opportunity as soon as it presented itself. She could see that this was the universe’s way of offering her a spot in the limelight, and she’d be a fool not to take it.

“Damn, Pony, leaving us behind so soon?” Rin said with mock offense. “I thought what we had was special.”

“Shush, you,” Kendo gently scolded. “She’ll still keep in touch. Won’t you, Pony?”

“Of course! We’ll still hang out and stuff.” This whole plan was for her class’s benefit, after all. Despite her new arrangements, she’d always be a 1-B student at heart.

“Hold on…” Kamakiri lifted his head off his desk. “When the hell did Pony’s Japanese get so-”

“OkayLoveYouAllByeeeeee!” She quickly zipped out of the classroom, her replacement walking through the same doors a few seconds later.

“Bonjour, everyone! So nice to be in your presence! I hope our time together will be très bien.”

“I’m sure it will, Aoyama. Just hold on one sec.” Kendo leaned over to Monoma’s desk, her tone lowering to a deadly whisper. “Monoma, if you try to start anything with him just because he’s from 1-A, I swear to god I will-” She cut herself off, her frustration shifting to concern as she noticed Monoma’s wide-eyed look of disbelief. “Uh… are you okay?”

“She actually did it…” he whispered. “Pony has successfully shifted the tides of fate and changed her role in the story of our lives, just like she said she would.” He looked down at his own trembling hands. “And if I want to do the same, will I have to betray my own values as a person and befriend one of my rivals?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Kendo shook her head, just glad he wasn’t causing any trouble right now.

Chapter Text

Pony’s first full day as a member of Class 1-A was… interesting to say the least.

Starting out, she was immediately greeted with disappointment when she was shown her new seating arrangement, placing her at the front of the class, as close to the doors as possible.

Already, this was far from ideal. Any anime watcher would know that the main characters were often seated close to the windows, usually in the back. Both Izuku and his hotheaded rival were in that row, and so was the vice rep, so she knew that line of thinking held some credence in real life.

Then again, Mineta was in that row too, which kind of threw her whole theory off. Gun to her head, she wouldn’t be able to name a single main character trait that boy possessed.

Putting that aside, there was also the matter of her new teacher. If the horror stories from the second-years were to be believed, then she was in danger of getting expelled at the slightest transgression. Except so far, all she’d seen Aizawa do was sleep on the floor during homeroom, hardly interacting with the class beyond the bare minimum. Maybe he was like a land mine, in that she had to avoid stepping on him so he wouldn’t blow up at her.

If that was the case, she was glad she only had to deal with him during homeroom. And lunch, technically, but she wouldn’t be caught dead eating in the same classroom he took his afternoon naps in. The second the lunch bell rang, she was out the door and at Izuku’s side before anyone could blink.

“Hi Izzy,” she cheerfully greeted, just glad to have a break from all this learning.

He jolted back a bit, startled by her sudden appearance. “Oh, hi Pony. Do you want to come eat lunch with me and my friends? Or, well, you don’t have to if you don’t want. I’m not sure if you still wanna stick with 1-B because you know them better. Then again, lunch with 1-A might help you become more familiar with them, so I guess it’s up to you. I don’t want to force you to do anything or-”

“I’ll sit with you, Izzy!” Pony cut him off, knowing he would have kept mumbling to himself otherwise. “Besides, I wanna get to know your friends.” Not only was she always eager to get to know new people, but integrating herself into the friend group would likely increase her main character status.

“That is a wise decision!” Iida, the class rep, shouted as he caught up to the pair, Todoroki at his side. “The last thing I want is for this class’s newest member to feel unwelcome.” Without warning, he grabbed Pony by the hand, his arm jolting up and down in some robotic imitation of a handshake. “As the face of Class 1-A, I once again welcome you, and hope we get along nicely.”

“I thought Izzy was our mascot, though,” Todoroki cut in, Izuku balking at his casual use of Pony’s nickname. “Also, why are we calling him Izzy?”

“Uh, it’s just a nickname Pony gave to me when I came over to her house… To help her study!” Izuku clarified upon seeing Iida’s suspicious glare, not wanting anyone to get the wrong idea.

“…Can I call you Izzy?”

“Uh, sure. I don’t mind.” He lazily rolled his shoulders at Todoroki. “Just as long as you don’t-”

“Yes, yes, you can talk about that later.” Monoma appeared out of nowhere, inserting himself into the conversation like a round peg in a square hole. “Shoto Todoroki, I request your presence at Class 1-B’s lunch table at once!”

The dual-haired boy looked around for a moment before dumbfoundedly pointing at himself. “Me?”

“Yes, you! Do you see any other Todorokis around?”

“No, but why do you wanna talk to me? Don’t you hate me and everyone else in this class?”

Everyone could see Monoma’s bravado take a hit, his composure crumpling just a little. “Uh… ‘hate’ is a strong word. Think of it as perpetuating the inter-class rivalry to drive us all to become better heroes. Either way, who’s to say I can’t make amends with you, and you alone?”

Pony squinted her massive eyes at Monoma, not the only one to sense some kind of ulterior motive from him. “Hold on for a sec, guys.” She walked up to her former classmate, instantly pulling him into a huddle. “What’s going on here?”

“Could you please pull me out of this huddle? Your horns are dangerously close to my eyes.” He chased, trying to pull himself away, but Pony’s grip proved too strong.

“Quit dodging the question already.”

“Why the aggression? I’m just doing the same thing as you.”

“You… want to befriend Todoroki?” She glanced back at her new classmate, who was staring at the two of them with an impassive look on his face.

“Of course I do! I saw how your efforts paid off. And besides Midoriya, he has the most main character energy out of the entire class.”

Her face scrunched up in confusion. “He does? But he’s not seated close to the windows.”

“Maybe not, but just look at him! His scar indicates some kind of tragic backstory, his fire and ice powers make him an extremely versatile fighter, and he has that cold, bishonen vibe that gives him an air of mystery, just like me!”

“Uh, sure…” She doubted that last claim, but taking another look at Todoroki, she started to see what Monoma was talking about. Even if he wasn’t the main character, she could see him as the focal point of some important subplot. Being the son of the number-two hero certainly helped things in that regard. “But what about Aoyama? Isn’t he from 1-A?”

“He was, but now he’s a member of 1-B, so he doesn’t count. Also, I’m lactose intolerant, and he’s already offered me cheese thrice today.”

Pony found herself unable to argue with his logic. One of her main goals in this endeavor was to save her former classmates from death by irrelevancy, so Monoma taking initiative could only be a good thing (assuming he doesn’t fuck it all up, that is). “Okay, I’ll leave you to it then. Good luck.”

Monoma let out a sigh of relief as she let him go. “Right, of course. Come now, Todoroki. We’ve got much to discuss.” He strutted off down the hallway, beckoning the other boy to follow.

“Uh, sure…” He didn’t bother resisting, simply going with the flow.

“Huh, okay,” Izuku hummed, lacking the full context of this odd series of events. “Do you know what that was all about, Pony?”

“Trust me, you wouldn’t understand,” she sighed.

Ochako Uraraka darted down the halls with a floaty pep in her step, secretly glad Iida wasn’t around to chastise her for running. As much as she appreciated his company, he could be a bit much sometimes.

She wished she didn’t have to be so late for lunch, but with finals right around the corner, this was the only time she had to check up on her costume renovations. Thankfully, as crazy and reckless as Mei could be, she usually got results, and now her costume was just a bit lighter around the arms; much better to show off her new Gunhead Martial Arts.

She couldn’t wait to try it out during hero training today, but for now, she was excited to join her friends for lunch. Turning the corner to the cafeteria, she approached her normal seat between Izuku and Tsuyu, only to find that someone had already beaten her there.

“Keroppi is fine, but Kuromi is much better by like, a mile,” Pony stated, seemingly oblivious to Ochako standing right behind her.

“Ribbit. Kuromi is overrated,” Tsuyu very bluntly refuted, earning a gasp from her classmate.

“What?! How could you say that? Kuromi is the most unique out of all of them!”

“Only because she sticks out like a sore thumb. Her dark, edgy vibe doesn't mesh well with all the cuteness.”

“It’s called a gimmick! It helps her stand out! You telling me that ‘frog’ is a better gimmick?”

“No, because ‘frog’ is more than just a gimmick, it’s a lifestyle, ribbit. Which makes Keroppi the better icon by default.”

“‘Edgy’ is a lifestyle too! Look at Kuroiro, or Tokoyami, or Yanagi! Izzy, back me up here!” She reached over to the seat on her right and shook Izuku by the shoulders, pulling his attention away from his food.

“Uhhh… I don’t know much about all these Hello Kitty characters. Who’s Keroppi again?”

“THE FROG!” They both yelled at him at once.

By now, Ochako was tired of waiting for them to notice her. “Ahem.” She loudly cleared her throat, putting the conversation on pause.

“Oh, hi Uraraka.” Izuku cautiously greeted, only now picking up on the dangerous vibes radiating off her.

“Hi, Deku.” She kept her eyes trained on Pony, who could be seen uncomfortably squirming under the weight of her piercing gaze.

“Uh… This your seat?” She nervously pointed to where she was sitting.

“Yeah, but no worries. You can sit there. It’s fine, it’s fine it’s fine.” She couldn’t help but add a touch of passive aggressiveness to her tone as she sat down at the other side of the table, across from her friends.

“Okay then!” She quickly brushed it off, pulling out her phone and leaning closer to Izuku. “Anyways, I gotta get you caught up on the Hello Kitty lore. This is for your own good, Izzy.”

“If you say so.”

Pony proceeded to guide Izuku through the Hello Kitty Wiki, failing to notice Ochako narrowing her eyes at her from across the table. Normally, she wouldn’t be acting like this to a new transfer of all people, but something about Pony rubbed her the wrong way, like a scratch-off ticket you can tell is fake.

At first, it was mostly inconspicuous. Sure, she might’ve been a little put off when Izuku told her he spent the night at Pony’s apartment, but he was being his normal, helpful self. And among both classes, he was probably the most qualified to teach English anyways.

But then, out of nowhere, Pony straight-up joined Class 1-A, her connection to Izuku only strengthening in the process. Not only that, but it was almost like she was assuming all of Ochako’s roles. She was the ball of bubbliness and positivity who gave Izuku a cute nickname, not Pony! It was her who should be arguing with Tsuyu over Kuromi’s importance to the Hello Kitty brand (even if she was only second to My Melody in her eyes).

What did Pony have that she didn’t, anyways? A cuter face? Long, blonde hair? A Quirk that let her fly without the risk of vomiting? More than three thousand yen in her bank account?

It didn’t matter! Even if all those traits applied to Pony, Ochako had something much greater! She had… uh…

…Wait, what did she have?

“Ochako, are you alright there, ribbit?” Thankfully, Tsuyu was there to pull Ochako out of her mental spiral before she passed the point of no return.

“Yeah, you haven’t even touched your food.” Izuku pointed to the still-full tray right in front of Ochako.

She suddenly snapped back to reality, trying her best to put on a brave face. “Oh, don’t worry about me. I’m doing just fine!” To show how fine she was, she picked up her tray and ate everything in one bite, including the tray. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go now!” She quickly got up from her seat and speedwalked away.

“Where ya going?” She heard Pony yell.

“Uh… to Recovery Girl, because… I just swallowed an entire lunch tray! Gotta get my stomach pumped, or whatever.” That was the excuse she came up with, but as she felt her stomach uncomfortably growl, she suddenly wasn’t lying anymore.

Right as she left, she turned and gave Pony one last glance. She still wasn’t completely sure of her intentions, but whatever they were, Ochako wouldn’t let them come between her and friends, Izuku specifically.

…Because he was her best friend, to clarify. No other reason… Nothing else… Just friends. And even if that wasn’t the case, it’s not like she had the time to pursue anything greater. Her hero career came first.

So yeah, just friends…

A Few Days Later…

“For your final exams, we’ve decided to switch things up this year!” Nezu cheerfully announced, reveling in the Class 1-A’s shocked reactions. “You’ll each be paired up against a member of UA’s teaching staff, who will be roleplaying as a villain. You can pass by either capturing the villain or escaping through the exit gate on the opposite side of each testing area.”

As if things couldn't get any worse, Aizawa stepped forward to read the matchups. “Uraraka and Tsunotori, you’ll both be up against Thirteen.”

The announcement hit Ochako like a punch to the gut. Not only would she have to go up against Thirteen! Her idol! Her inspiration! But her partner was Pony of all people! She got along with almost everyone else in the class - why her? Did Nezu somehow pick up on her suspicions toward the girl and pair them up in hopes that it would resolve their differences?

Actually, that sounded like the exact kind of thing Nezu would do.

Either way, Ochako didn’t have much time to think about it after Nezu announced that all the tests would be taken simultaneously, and she and Pony were promptly carted off to their testing zone.

The bus ride was eerily silent, with only the sound of the wheels rolling through the bumpy, gravelly road to break up the monotony. From across the bus, Ochako spared a quick glance at the only other passenger, noticing that she looked more than a little bit nervous. And honestly, who could blame her?

“We should come up with a strategy,” Ochako spoke up. As suspicious as she still was, she wasn’t going to let that get in the way of their exam - no one would be that petty.

“Huh? Oh yeah.” Pony turned to her partner, shaking vigorously. “I think we should try and capture Thirteen!”

“Really? Why do you think that?” She wasn’t doubting Pony or anything, but there was a clear risk in going up against someone who could summon black holes.

“They’re not gonna kill us… probably. But we can kill them!” With a bloodthirsty grin, she pulled a pair of horns out of her head, brandishing them like a weapon.

“But what if they suck us up by accident?”

“That would only happen if we passed the event horizon, and since the black holes Thirteen makes are super small, they’d probably only suck us up if they wanted to.”

Ochako blinked at her partner, words failing her for a good few seconds. “That’s… right.” How did she not think of that herself? She was the space nerd here. “I didn’t think you’d know so much about black holes.”

“My dad loved astrology - I mean astronomy. He always let me look through his telescope. It was extra fun during our trips to the countryside. You could see so much out there.” She tilted her head upward, a nostalgic glint in her eyes. “By the way, is that planet on your belt based on one of Saturn’s moons? What was it called? Mi - Mimi - Mima…”

“Mimas?”

“Yes, that’s the one!” She snapped her fingers, pointing at Ochako in recognition.

“Yes! Finally! Someone gets it!” Ochako pumped her fist, feeling a special kind of validation she’d never experienced prior. “To be honest, I don’t even think the costume designers understood what that was when I asked them to include it.”

“Tell me about it.” Pony lifted up her foot and planted it on the seat next to her, gesturing to the leather boots covering her hooves. “I asked for horseshoes, but instead they gave me horse shoes.”

“I asked for my suit to be poofy, but instead they made it skintight.”

“They put buckles everywhere! Like people are supposed to ride me like a horse or something!”

“It’s so annoying, right?” Ochako reveled with Pony over their shared frustrations with the costuming department. “How do they expect us to pass the exam when they don’t even follow our designs?”

“Oh yeah, we should get back to that,” Pony hummed, the two suddenly realizing they’d gotten off-track. “How ‘bout I create a distraction, then you go in for the kill? Really fuck ‘em up!”

Ochako let out an unexpected snort at that. “Yeah! Fak ‘em oop!” She said in her own broken English, before they both promptly doubled over with laughter.

“HA HA HA! Is that how I used to sound? That’s hilarious!”

“Ha ha! Kinda, yeah! I didn't talk to you much, but I know it was kinda hard to understand you.”

“Heh, well then…” Pony paused to take a breath, wiping a tear from her eye as the laughter died down. “Glad Izzy helped with my Japanese. He’s a good friend, ain’t he?”

At the mention of Izuku, Ochako suddenly remembered she was supposed to be suspicious of Pony for trying to take over her life or… something. Honestly, she could hardly remember why she was suspicious in the first place. Pony was nice, funny, cheerful, and all-around helpful; someone she wouldn’t mind welcoming into her friend group.

“Yeah, he’s a good friend, but so are you, Tsunotori. And that’s why we’re gonna crush this exam together!” She held out her hand for Pony to slap, which she did.

“YEEEEAAAH!” She yelled, pumped-up to the nth degree. “Also, you can call me Pony. I don’t mind.”

“Sure thing, Pony.”

The moment the exam began, Thirteen activated their Quirk and began sucking up all the rubble around them. Not only did it serve to eliminate any potential hiding spots for the test-takers, but it helped establish the immense power they possessed. They wanted to make it crystal clear that they weren’t the kind of opponent you could face head-on. If Ochako and Pony wanted to pass, they needed to get creative, make use of their surroundings, learn to adapt, and most importantly-

“CHAAAAAAAAAAARGE!”

Thirteen’s train of thought was suddenly cut off by Pony’s battle cry, making her presence known as she soared toward her opponent, riding on a pair of her horns.

Thirteen didn't know what exactly she was planning, but they weren’t going to pull any punches. “I wouldn’t get any closer if I were you!” They pointed their finger to the side and sucked up more rubble, demonstrating their destructive potential for Pony in case she missed it before.

But that didn’t seem to deter her. In fact, she looked downright excited as she launched another pair of horns toward Thirteen, which they casually sucked up.

“That’s not gonna work.” Now done playing around, they pointed their finger directly at Pony, ready to pull the trigger at a moment’s notice. “I suggest you start running,” they threatened, their tone as cold and desolate as the darkest reaches of space.

“Nah, I don’t need to.” Pony shot a challenging glare their way, as if she wanted to get sucked up.

Before Thirteen could figure out what was going on, the ground beneath their feet began to shake, drawing their attention to the floor. Just then, another pair of horns burst from the ground, rapidly spinning around like a drill. As the horns traveled upwards, their tips caught on the fabric of Thirteen’s suit, tearing through it like paper.

“Huh, so that’s what you look like,” Pony remarked to Thirteen, whose costume was now in tatters on the ground.

“Wait! No! I’m indecent!” They immediately moved to cover themselves up. While they still wore a bodysuit under their usual costume, they still felt naked and vulnerable in front of their students. Not helped by the fact that they had trouble controlling their Quirk without it.

Despite their pleas, that didn’t stop Ochako from charging toward her teacher, who was powerless to stop her from grabbing them by the arm and pinning them down with a yell of, “GUNHEAD MARTIAL ARTS!”

Recovery Girl was glad she brought a cup of coffee to the observation room as she oversaw the final exams, because she was not awake enough for this.

Putting aside how Nezu and All Might were taking things way too far (she’d give them each a whack on the head later), she felt a migraine coming on with how Thirteen’s battle had unceremoniously concluded.

That spacesuit was designed to withstand the pull of a black hole, and Pony’s horns somehow managed to tear through it. Either the support department would have to invent a new, stronger material, or Pony’s horns needed to be studied for their sheer cutting ability.

Either way, she’s gonna need a damn drink after all this, and she might as well pour one out for Power Loader for the headache this costume renovation was about to cause him.

Chapter Text

“Also, I lied earlier. You’re all going to the summer training camp, even if you didn’t pass the practical.”

Aizawa’s announcement was met with a variety of reactions; those who failed the practical jumped for joy, the anxiety that’d been building over the past few days melting off of them, while those who passed simply groaned at yet another logical ruse from their teacher.

“Is this normal for him?” Pony asked upon seeing these reactions.

“Somewhat, yeah,” Jiro huffed. Koda, meanwhile, mumbled something about inviting centipedes into his teacher’s sleeping bag.

“Anyways, camp’s in a few days. I suggest you prepare yourselves, because it’ll be anything but easy, especially for those who failed.” On that ominous note, Aizawa trudged out of the classroom, leaving his students to their own devices.

“Speaking of preparations, I still need to go out and get some camping gear,” Kirishima mused out loud.

“Oh yeah, me too,” Kaminari agreed.

“I imagine quite a few of us are in need of supplies for this upcoming trip.” A round of nods from across the classroom went off at Iida’s statement.

“Ooh! Ooh!” Mina excitedly waved her hand in the air, drawing everyone’s attention toward her. “I think Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall has a camping store. Maybe we could all go there together! What do you say?”

The idea was met with enthusiasm from the class, Pony especially. Even if camping was a hobby for her, and she already had everything she needed, she’d never pass up a chance to hang out with her new friends.

Of course, not everyone was on board. “Like hell I’m hanging with any of you extras!” Katsuki stormed out of the room, offended by the very notion of spending time with his classmates.

“I also can’t make it.” Todoroki stood up from his desk. “I visit my mom on days off.”

“What time are you visiting her?” Asked Momo.

“I plan on showing up at five.”

“We could just meet up earlier then.”

“Oh, okay… In that case, I can come.”

The Next Day…

Pony was thankful she didn’t have to waste time looking for her group, as they were all bunched up right outside the entrance. “Hey guys!” She ran up to them, waving to grab their attention.

“Ah, there you are, Tsunitori.” Iida beamed at her arrival. “That makes everyone then.” She internally cursed herself for being the last one to arrive. It wasn’t her fault, she just lost track of time when sharpening her horns. But it was totally worth it, because now they were smoother and pointier than ever, perfect for stabbing (not that she planned on stabbing anyone today… unless they pissed her off).

“Now that we’re all here, we should split off into groups based on what we’re looking for,” Momo instructed, like they were on some kind of school field trip. However, that didn’t stop everyone from doing what she said, and the class began splitting into groups of two or three.

“I’ll be taking Todoroki as my partner.” An unexpected voice cut through the crowd. Though at this point, Pony definitely should have expected it.

“Monoma! You’re here too?”

“That’s correct!“ He said with his arm draped around Todoroki’s neck, who didn’t even flinch at the contact.

Pony was not the only one a little weirded out by the scene. “Weirdly enough, he hasn’t said a single bad thing about our class since he got here,” Tsuyu informed, looking at Monoma like he was some kind of unrecognizable alien creature.

“How did you know we were even gonna be here?” Asked Jiro, suspecting some form of foul play from the 1-B student.

“Oh, that was a coincidence. I just came here to get my nails done.” Monoma stuck out his hand, the tips of his fingers glowing a glittery shade of pink. “But I won’t let such an opportunity pass me by. Let’s go, Todoroki. I still need to finish explaining Phantom of the Opera to you.”

“That sounds fun.” Once again, Todoroki allowed himself to be dragged off elsewhere. “So far, I really relate to the Phantom character.”

“Wait, what?” A bead of sweat dripped down Monoma’s forehead. “I’m not sure that’s a good thing. What’s that supposed to imply?”

Pony decided to leave them to their own devices before she could get wrapped up in their potential drama. “Soooo… Izzy, Ochako, what are you guys lookin’ for?” She slid up to greet her two best friends in 1-A.

“Hm, not much. Just some new training weights. I’m thinking they might be useful at camp. Also sunscreen. If it’s hot here, it’s probably even hotter at camp.” Izuku tugged on his t-shirt's collar, exposing just a peek of his finely toned pecs. “What about you, Urara…” He trailed off when he finally noticed the state of Ochako, her face cherry red as she awkwardly shook in place, doing her best to peel her eyes away from him.

“Uh… bug spray.”

“Bug spray?”

“YUP! Bug spray! Gotta keep all the bugs away!” She blurted out before darting off, leaving Izuku and Pony by themselves.

Izuku’s face dropped as he watched his friend run away from him. “I… Am I the bug?” He depressingly pointed at himself. “Pony, I’m not a bug, am I?”

“Uh, I don’t think so. But is that really the takeaway you got from all that?”

“I mean… yeah? What message was I supposed to take away?”

“Well, it’s just…” Pony took a moment to carefully consider her words. She’d read enough romantic subplots to know where this was going, but that didn’t mean she wanted to out her friend's feelings like that. She decided to take a more subtle approach. “You saw how red her face was, right?”

“I did. She probably needs more sunscreen, too. Maybe we could pick some up from her while we’re here.”

Aaaaaand there it was. Nine times out of ten, the protagonist was completely oblivious to any forms of romance, because god forbid the author try to write a compelling relationship past the ‘crush’ stage, not when it was far easier to just make them an official couple at the very end. “Never mind. Let’s just go get the supplies you need.”

“Sure. That shouldn’t take too long.”

Two Minutes, Twenty-one Seconds, and Thirty Milliseconds Later…

“Wow, that really didn’t take long,” Izuku said to himself, surprised as he and Pony walked out of the store with a bag in hand.

“There anything else you wanted to pick up?”

“Not really. I already got everything I needed.”

That left the pair at a loss for what to do next, causing some stress for Pony. She thought this might have been another chance to get closer to Izuku and his class, but that wouldn’t work if they just stood around in awkward silence.

“Uhhhhh… what if we went there?” She pointed at the first storefront she saw, hoping it would at least spark up some conversation. Which it did, but not in the way she expected.

“P-P-P-P-Pony?” Izuku stuttered, his cheeks burning red. “I - I don’t think I should be going in there.” It was only then that Pony realized she was pointing at a women’s underwear store, its products fully on display in the window.

She was glad she was already facing away from Izuku, or else he would’ve seen her face turn an even brighter shade of red. “I - uh - mean the place next to it.” She shifted her finger ever-so-slightly to the right, pointing at a different store.

“Oh, that makes more sense.” Izuku gave an awkward chuckle, though he was still unable to meet Pony in the eyes. “But why would they put those two stores right next to each other?”

“Who cares? Let’s just… Let’s just go.” She grabbed Izuku by the arm and dragged him through the door.

Once they were inside the store, the awkward tension from earlier was gone in no time, drowned out by the air of nerdiness coating every square inch of the place. “Lots of options here.” Izuku carefully scanned the shelves. “What should we get?”

“I know what I’m gonna get!” Pony raced over to the shelf that displayed the weekly releases. “It’s Monday! That means new issues of Shonen Jump, Shojo Jump, Seinen Jump, Seijin Jump, and Josei Jump.” After operating for so long, the manga publishing company decided to branch out into more demographics, which somehow helped them stay afloat during the society’s total collapse.

“Wow, you’re really thorough with your tastes,” Izuku remarked as he watched Pony carry her stack of weekly manga to the checkout desk. Though, given the state of her room, he wasn’t necessarily surprised.

“Oh, you know me, I just love, love, love all things Japanese. That’s why I moved here. I just can’t stand printed media that reads from left to right.” And she totally wasn’t just saying that to further cement herself as a main character of this Japanese anime.

“Really? just Japanese?” Izuku raised an eyebrow, and Pony prayed he didn’t pick up on the stress in her tone. “Because this store also sells some American comics.” Right as he picked up an issue of the Star & Stripe comic series, Pony ran over and slapped it out of his hand.

“NO!” She yelled, perhaps a bit too forcefully. “We don’t need any of that. Manga’s got everything we could ever want. And besides, have you seen some of these storylines?” She picked up the comic book, acting appalled as she skimmed through its pages. “Star & Stripe is actually the descendant of an ancient chaos god from the future? Where do they come up with this?”

“C’mon, Pony. Is that really any weirder than, say…” he picked a random manga volume off the shelf, “‘I Reincarnated as an Egg and Ended Up With a Harem of Bird Girls’? And yes, that is the full title.”

“W-Whatever. Let’s just go somewhere else.” She threw some money on the checkout desk and bolted out of the manga store, hoping Izuku would drop the issue. But when she glanced over her shoulder, catching a glimpse of his suspicion-filled face, she unfortunately knew it was the only thing on his mind.

“You know, Pony, maybe we could stop and get some lunch.” He stopped at the food court, his voice failing to hide the ulterior motives. “Oh look, they have a Five Guys. I could sure go for a classic, all-American cheeseburger right about now. What about you?”

“Oh no…” Pony had to stop her mouth from watering as they approached the burger stand, the smell of fresh, grill-friend beef reminding her of home. But she had to keep her composure, lest she slip back into her role of a foreign stereotype. “But - uh - have you seen the prices? Is all-American beef really worth that much?”

“Of course it is. I have enough to spend.” He pulled out his red, white, and blue All Might-branded wallet, only for his face to fall upon opening it up. “Oh right, I spent most of my money on this cool, exclusive All Might wallet. Hold on, let me count my change. One-hundred… Two-hundred… Seven-hundred…”

While he was distracted, Pony desperately looked around for anything that could get her out of this, her prayers being answered when she spotted Monoma sitting at a nearby food court table. “Monoma, you gotta help me. Izzy’s trying to get me to embrace my side character tendencies.”

“Not now, Pony.” He carelessly brushed her off without even looking at her. “I’m close to a breakthrough with Todoroki.” He gestured to the other side of the table. “Now, as I was saying, what your father did to you and your family was terrible, completely unforgivable! Why, he deserves to be thrown in jail! And that jail deserves to be thrown in a box! And that box deserves to be thrown in the bottom of the ocean!”

Todoroki nodded, his eyes completely transfixed on Monoma. “I’ve been saying the same thing for years. I’m glad someone else gets it.”

“Ugh, whatever.” Pony rolled her eyes as she turned away from them. She was glad Monoma was making progress; she just wished she could say the same for herself.

“Good news, I had just enough to afford the new Nothing Burger.” Izuku came up to her, holding a set of buns with no patty in between. “But now that I’m looking at it, I’ve kinda lost my appetite.”

“That’s okay, Izzy. Why don’t we do something Japanese instead? Like, uh… go to a festival! Yeah, it’s summer. There’s probably a festival happening somewhere around here.” Pony knew she was just spouting bullshit by this point, and based on the look Izuku was giving her, it was clear he knew too.

“Pony, summer just started. I think we’ll have to wait for any festivals to come around. But until then, why don’t we try something more American instead?” He gestured to the nearby shooting range, something Pony physically struggled to comprehend.

“Wh-Why is that there? I don’t think that should be there.” She wasn’t a law student or anything, but she was pretty sure Japan was super strict with guns, to the point where a recreational shooting range sounded like a terrible decision financially.

“Yeah, that place is probably gonna go out of business.” In fact, right as he said that, someone put a sign in the window that stated the space was up for lease. “But I’m sure there are other places we can go, like that cowboy hat store.”

“No.” Pony instinctively turned away from the nonsensical storefront.

“Or that barbecue supplies store.”

“No.”

“Or that pet store that exclusively sells bald eagles.”

“For the last time, NO!” She snapped, Izuku jolting back as she suddenly raised her voice. “For god’s sake, Izzy, why are you so obsessed with America all of a sudden?”

“Well - Well why are you avoiding it all of a sudden?” Izuku very obviously dodged the question. “I know you’re a fan of Japanese stuff, but avoiding all books that read from left to right? That’s a little overkill, don’t you think?”

“No, of course not.” She couldn’t tell him the real reason why she was doing this, so she let her mind fill in the blanks. “I’m just… trying to fit in here.”

She looked at Izuku, his gaze turning soft. “Do you not feel like you fit in?”

She gave him an unfortunate nod, his assumption hitting a little too close to home. “I just… had trouble connecting to people with the whole ‘language barrier’ thing. That’s part of why I asked you to help me with my Japanese.”

“And look how that turned out, you’ve improved so much with your fluency. That has to have helped at least a little bit, right?”

“It has, yeah.” Her budding friendships with Izuku and Ochako were proof of that.

“Then I don’t think running away from all things American is gonna hurt any of your relationships. I mean, everyone likes Aoyama, and he’s French. Very French. Probably the most French person I know.”

As reassuring as it was to hear that from Izuku, the uncertainty continued to weigh on Pony like a stack of bricks. Even if he liked her the way she was, would the universe think the same way? Would it let the loud ‘n proud American become a main character in this mostly Japanese cast?

“Also, between you and me,” Izuku leaned in closer, his voice lowering to a whisper, “I’m a bit of a westaboo myself.”

And just like that, Pony’s doubts were cast away in the wind, flying off beyond the horizon until they were completely out of sight. This little piece of information changed everything; if Izuku had a penchant for American culture, then someone like her might just be the perfect fit for him.

“Well, why didn’t you say so, Izzy?” She playfully slugged Izuku on the shoulder, her face brightening up like a Christmas tree.

“Honestly, I thought most people knew already. I am an All Might fan. Statistics say his presence alone has boosted interest in American culture by like, eighty percent.”

That certainly explained the cowboy hat shop. “Well, it’s nice to know we’re into the same kinda stuff then.” It helped make her feel a bit less alone, something she’d been secretly struggling with ever since she moved to Japan.

“Same here, Pony. To be honest, I’m still getting used to the whole ‘having friends’ thing, so it’s been really nice, having someone to relate to.”

“Wait, really?” Pony narrowed her normally wide eyes at him. Based on his friend group, she always assumed he was the type of person who was easy to get along with. But apparently that wasn’t the case before UA.

“Yeah… my Quirk didn’t fully come in until I built up the right amount of muscle mass.” Given all the fingers she saw him break at the Sports Festival, it wasn’t hard to see why. “What I’m saying is that I was kind of a late bloomer. And you know, no one wants to be friends with the Quirkless kid…”

“Yeah, those kinds of people fucking suck,” Pony scowled, recalling her own experiences with some of her more shallow middle school classmates. “It’s like, do they think they’re superior just because they refuse to associate with anyone they think is ‘weird’? I call bullshit.”

Izuku appeared shocked at her rather blunt way of putting it, only to break out into laughter a few seconds later. “You know what? Yeah, they do suck. I’m glad I don’t have to deal with them anymore.”

“Yeah, everyone at UA is so much better, both Class 1-A and 1-B.”

“For sure. I’ve got you, Iida, Asu - I mean Tsu, Todoroki, and-”

“Ochako,” Pony interrupted, her head tilted upward.

“Yeah, her too.”

“No, look. There’s Ochako, right there.” She pointed to the floor above them, where Ochako could be seen leaning against the protective railing, not seeming to notice either of them.

“Oh, you’re right, there she is. I was wondering why she ran off earlier. Think we should go and ask her?”

“I’ll go ask her,” Pony offered, figuring there was a chance Ochako would just run off again if he were there. “This is probably a ‘girl’ thing.”

“Oh, okay then. I’ll just wait here.” He took her word for it, letting Pony travel up the escalator and approach Ochako.

She didn’t need to see Ochako’s face to tell that she was moping, her body language doing most of the talking, even from behind. Pony approached as quietly as she could, ready to surprise her friend, but Ochako seemed to be one step ahead of her. “I can tell you’re there, Pony,” she said without even turning around.

“What? How’d you know?”

“You hooves, Pony.”

She glanced down at her hooves with a look of betrayal. “Maybe I should’ve taken the horse shoes.” She stood next to her friend, leaning on the railing alongside her. “Anyways, what are you doing up here, Ochako? Izzy and I have been wondering where you were.”

Her face scrunched up with guilt. “Sorry for abandoning you guys. I just… felt a bit off all of a sudden.”

Try as she might to hide it, Pony knew the real reason why she was ‘feeling off’. The real question was whether she should directly confront her about it or not.

She very quickly decided not to. Their friendship was still new, and she couldn’t be certain if they were at that level yet. “Do you wanna talk about it?” She asked, letting her make the call instead.

“Uh… is there a polite way to say ‘no thanks’?”

“That sounded pretty polite to me.” She chuckled at that, which managed to get a smile out of Ochako. “Maybe next time, just try not to run off all of a sudden. Whatever’s bothering you, we can handle like the civilized adults that we are.”

That managed to get a laugh out of Ochako. “Okay, let’s not go that far. The only one of us who’s even remotely civilized is Yaomomo.”

“Hey, don’t forget about Itsuka. I’m sure she’ll be happy to step in and resolve any conflicts we have.”

“Sure. Whatever you say.” Ochako playfully rolled her eyes at her. “Anyways, we should probably get back to Deku. Don’t want to keep him waiting any longer than I already have.”

“Yeah. He’s probably gettin’ bored by now.” Pony leaned over the railing to figure out where he was. “I told him to wait right about…” It wasn’t long before she spotted a bushy green head of hair sitting at the fountain, but something wasn’t quite right. “Hold on, who’s that other guy sitting next to him?”

“What other guy?” Ochako turned to where Pony was looking, her face growing worried at the hoodie-wearing figure with an arm draped around Izuku’s neck. “Yeah, who is that guy. I don’t think anyone from our class came here in a hoodie. It’s way too hot out for that.”

“He looks kinda sketchy.” It was an offhanded remark, yet it managed to invite a whole host of frightening possibilities into the minds of both girls. Without another word, they both went down to the first floor, moving a bit faster than they probably should have.

When they arrived, they could immediately sense the distress radiating off of Izuku, seemingly amplified by their presence. In contrast, the figure beside him wore a wide, creepy smile, as if he had just won the lottery.

But that wasn’t the part Pony was focused on; that honor went to the hand tightly squeezed around Izuku’s throat, as if the man was trying to choke him.

While Izuku and Ochako both remained frozen with fear, Pony wasted no time leaping into action. “Hey! Get your hands off him!” Before the man could retort, Pony sent a pair of horns flying toward him, stabbing through the pinky finger hovering just above the rest.

“GAH!” He reeled his hand back, now missing a finger. He shot a hateful glare toward Pony as she retracted her horns. “You… You bitch!” He snarled like an enraged animal, about to pounce at any moment. But before he could attack, a purple portal appeared from underneath him, swallowing him up in an instant.

A good few seconds of silence passed, with Izuku and Ochako staring at Pony with their mouths wide open. “Uh… what the hell was that about?” She eventually asked, almost scared to find out.

“Pony…” Izuku sounded like he was barely keeping it together. “Do you know who that was?”

She shrank in place, feeling like she was missing a few key details. “N-No? Was I supposed to?”

Izuku opened his mouth to respond, but then trailed off, putting a hand to his chin. “Now that I think about it, probably not.”

The police were called onto the scene not long after, the incident being a much greater deal than Pony first thought, especially after she had everything explained to her while she was recounting the events to a police officer.

Apparently, the man sitting next to Izuku was none other than Tomura Shigaraki: leader of the League of Villains, the group that attacked Class 1-A as the USJ. He had been holding Izuku hostage with his Quirk, which Pony had unknowingly saved him from when she stabbed his finger off, though such an action also risked him going on a rampage and attacking even more people.

Despite the public Quirk use, it was decided that the incident would remain under wraps, and Pony was only left off with a warning as a result. Despite that, she was still left incredibly shaken by the event. Knowing her friend narrowly escaped becoming dust was a startling revelation, even in hindsight. By the time she met up with Izuku and Ochako after everything had been sorted out, she simply couldn’t keep it in anymore.

“Izuku!” She ran up and tearfully hugged him as tightly as she could. “I didn’t - how did you - it wasn’t supposed to…” she blubbered, unable to get the words out.

“H-Hey, it’s alright, Pony.” Izuku understood regardless, lightly patting her on the head while trying to fight the blush spreading across his cheeks. “I’m fine. I got out unscathed. Nothing bad happened to me.”

“Yeah, but we were still worried about you, Deku,” Ochako chimed in, just as distressed as Pony, though less open about it. “I can’t believe Shigaraki was here of all places.”

“Me neither. I don’t know what his game is, but I hope it doesn’t involve UA again,” he added, but something about the way he said it gave the impression that he knew their next clash was inevitable.

“Well if it does, we just gotta be ready for it, right?” Ochako tried to lift the mood, raising her fists to hype herself up, but anyone with eyes could tell how strained her smile looked at that moment. “Next time, I won’t hesitate to give that guy the beating he deserves.”

Pony unburied her face from Izuku’s chest, sniffling. “I dunno… If he’s as dangerous as the police told me, then I probably shouldn’t have stabbed him like that.” Not when there were so many civilians around that could’ve potentially gotten caught in the crossfire.

“I mean, yeah, that was a little reckless,” Izuku hummed. “But honestly, I’m kind of glad you did it. I was horrified back there, knowing I was so close to dying. But seeing you leap into action made me feel a little better.” He wrapped his arms around Pony’s torso, hugging her back. “So, thanks, Pony. You really are my hero.”

Pony wasn’t sure if it was just the stress of the situation catching up to her, but she could’ve sworn she felt her heart skip a beat at that moment.

Ochako, meanwhile, stood awkwardly in place until a ping went off on her flip phone. “On a lighter note, Yaomomo just texted the 1-A group chat. She said she got everyone tickets for this year’s I-Expo.”

“I-Expo? On I-Island?!” Izuku broke from the hug, his eyes widening to the size of Pony’s. “That’s one of the most exclusive events… EVER! I can’t wait to go! Maybe I’ll even be able to meet David Shield! Isn’t this exciting, Pony?”

“Yeah…” she half-heartedly cheered, secretly not all that thrilled. Something about traveling to a completely isolated island to attend a special event and meet a new friend sounded a lot like the setup to an anime filler movie. She wouldn’t be surprised if villains ended up crashing the event, and they’d spend the next hour and a half fighting them off with impressively animated visuals.

She’d still go to the event, but she was prepared for none of this to matter, and for no one to bring up the events of this trip once they returned.

One Movie Later…

What do you know? She was right. Even if Melissa’s presence threatened to overshadow her as the most prominent American character, that would never come to pass due to her status as a movie-original character. She would never be seen again outside of some off-handed mentions and maybe a brief, non-speaking cameo.

Chapter Text

In hindsight, Pony should’ve known this would have happened.

Setting the summer training camp in a remote location was already suspicious enough, but then they participated in an activity that involved scattering the students across the pitch-black forest. They might as well have invited the villains to show up to try and kill them. Pony just wished she caught onto all this before she was separated from her partner.

But predictable tropes were the last thing on her mind right now. Not only was she already tired from all the training today (who thought having her lift hundred-pound weights with her horns was a good idea?), but she also had to fend off a crazy girl with a seemingly endless supply of knives.

“You’re cute, you know that?” The girl smiled, wildly swinging her blades at Pony, who inched back as she continued to deflect them with her horns. “I wonder what your blood tastes like.”

“Like hell you’re gonna find out!” Pony decided she didn’t want to stay around this girl any longer, so she hopped on a pair of horns and flew off. But before she could part the trees, she saw a knife fly right past her, grazing her ankle along the way. The sudden sharp pain caused her to lose balance, sending her tumbling back down to the ground.

She tried to get back up, only to find that the knife girl was already on top of her. “Don’t think you can escape so easily, not until I’ve gotten a taste.” Pony yelped out in pain as she stuck a syringe-like device into her thigh, sucking her blood through a tube and directly into the girl’s mouth.

“Mmmmmm… tastes like apple pie.” As confused as Pony was to know that she was apparently a pure-blooded American in this girl's eyes (when in reality she was half-Japanese), she couldn’t help but be creeped out by the girl’s expression; a wide, almost drunken grin stretched across her face, accompanied by a dash of red coating her cheeks. “I think I’m in love.”

“W-WHAT?!” Now it was Pony’s turn to flush red. At the very least, she expected dinner and a movie.

“Don’t be like that. I can tell you’re in love too.” Pony’s pupils shrunk at that, confirming the girl’s suspicions. “Who is it? A boy? A girl? Are they cute? Do they taste good? You wouldn’t mind sharing them, would you?”

“Sh-Shut up!” Just because she’d been hanging out with Izuku a lot, and she had fun talking about anime with him, and that he was one of the first people she felt like she could be herself around didn’t mean she liked him or anything. What did this girl think she was, some kind of tsundere? Because she’d stab anyone who made that assumption, thank you very much.

Wait a minute…

“I’M NOT A TSUNDERE!” Pony blurted out, pulling a pair of horns off her head and swinging them at the girl. While the attack managed to sever the tube draining her blood, the knife girl had the foresight to leap back and avoid getting cut.

“I… didn’t say you were.” She tilted her head, confused.

“Good, because I’m not! I’m more of a…” She paused, mentally recounting the list of dere types in her head, “deredere, super caring and affectionate toward my love interest… if I had one.”

“Really?” The girl beamed. “I’m a total deredere too! We have so much in common!”

“Eugh! No way!” Pony reeled back in disgust, not wanting to associate with the person who just tried to stab them. “You’re way more of a yandere.”

The girl scoffed, like she had heard this a million times in the past. “So that’s how it is; just because I have a knife and I’m obsessed with love, you assume I’m a yandere. I literally just asked if you wanted to share. What kind of yandere knows anything about sharing?”

“If you don’t want to be seen as a yandere, then maybe you should ditch the knives!”

“How else am I supposed to drink my lover’s blood?” She opened her mouth, showing off a set of vampire-esque fangs. “You see these? They don’t reach as far as you think.”

They likely could’ve continued going back and forth for hours, but their argument was suddenly cut off when a collection of white, jagged edges shot out of a clearing in the woods, nearly impaling both of them.

“Moonfish! What the hell?! It’s not cute if I’m the one getting stabbed!” The knife girl scolded, prompting the attacker to emerge from the clearing. Immediately, Pony felt a sense of unease at the man; how most of his body was tied up in a straitjacket, save for his teeth, which extended out of his mouth to elevate him off the ground.

Moonfish completely ignored the girl, instead setting his sights directly on Pony, visibly salivating at her appearance. “Horse meat… delicious… gotta eat!” He yelled, his voice somehow even more unhinged than the girl Pony had previously fought.

When he sent a barrage of sharp tendrils his way, embedding into the ground around her, that’s when Pony knew to book it. “Why does everyone wanna eat me today?!” She cried out, running with a slight limp thanks to her injured ankle.

“Horse taste good… Better than chicken… Better than octopus… Just a bite!”

“Wait, chicken? Octopus?” For some reason, Pony was reminded of someone she knew. Sure enough, Tokoyami’s Quirk came barrelling in moments later, now a large, hulking beast that dwarfed his owner in size.

Before she could even question what was going on, Dark Shadow reeled back an enormous claw and slashed at Moonfish, shattering his teeth as he was sent hurdling into a nearby tree.

It was at that moment when Pony started to feel overwhelmed by everything happening all at once. It seemed like everywhere she looked, there was mayhem, destruction, and insane villains out to kill her. She had no idea how Class 1-A dealt with this before, because she was just about at her breaking point. She knew this was what heroes had to deal with every day, but she’d only been doing this for a few months. ‘Stop the world, I wanna get off!’ She internally yelled, clutching the sides of her head in a vain attempt at holding herself together.

“Pony, is that you?” Her head snapped to the side at the sound of Izuku’s voice, where she saw him riding on top of Shoji’s back, while Bakugo, Todoroki, and Monoma all followed from behind.

“Izzy!” Her relief at that moment was unmatched, but it quickly turned to worry as soon as she saw the state of her friend; not only were his arms in worse condition than his fight during the Sports Festival, but the rest of him didn’t look too good either, like he had just walked out of the worst fistfight of his life. The last time she saw him, he was rushing to check on the kid that punched him in the balls. What the hell happened since then?

“Pony, are you okay? Your ankle doesn’t look too good,” he asked.

Pony couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Despite all Izuku went through, he still managed to worry about her first and foremost. “Forget about the damn ankle! Look at yourself! You need to get back to the cabin.”

“That’s not important right now.” Pony would stand to disagree with that. She knew her friend was known to put himself before others, but holy crap! “Dark Shadow is going on a rampage, and the villains are trying to kidnap Kacchan!”

“Thankfully, we can fix one of those problems right now,” said Monoma, his hand on Todoroki’s shoulder as the two made their way toward Dark Shadow. They both worked in tandem, shooting out fire on either side of the sentient Quirk, the light causing him to shrink back down to normal size in no time at all.

“I must say, quite the versatile Quirk you have there, Todoroki,” Monoma complimented, a rare occurrence for any non-1-B student.

“Thanks, but it still needs work. I kind of regret not using all of it until now.” The dual-haired boy stared at his left hand, grimacing slightly.

“Okay, now can we get back to the cabin?” Pony urged, knowing every second Izuku didn’t receive medical treatment was a second wasted.

Thankfully, he nodded at that. “Yeah. We need to get Kacchan to safety. And yes, Kacchan, I know you don’t need to be protected, but it’s still better to…” Izuku trailed off, his expression growing more frantic as he whipped his head around in search of Katsuki, who wasn’t anywhere to be found. “...Where’d he go? And where’s Tokoyami?”

“Now you see them, now you don’t!” An unknown voice drew everyone’s attention to a nearby treetop, where they were met with a magician in an orange jacket, holding a pair of marbles in between his fingers. “You’ve been a wonderful audience, but now I must depart!” He leaped away, bounding from branch to branch as the group of students trailed behind, desperate to catch up.

“I got this.” Todoroki planted his foot on the ground, erecting a large glacier that the magician somehow managed to dodge. “Crap, that usually works.”

“Allow me.” Monoma copied his Quirk once again. He mimicked the technique Todoroki just used, yielding a much smaller glacier that hardly reached up to Shoji’s torso. “Okay, clearly I’m not as experienced with your Quirk as I thought.”

“Pony, your horns!” Izuku shouted at her.

“Oh, right.” As a former secondary character, she sometimes forgot she was actually allowed to do important things now. Ignoring the pain in her ankle, she hopped on her horns and flew up to the magician’s level before ramming into him headfirst, blood spilling onto his jacket as they both tumbled to the ground.

The impact was far from a pleasant one, but it managed to shatter the marble holding Tokoyami, who looked more than a little confused as he was deposited onto the ground.

“Keep him held down!” She heard Izuku yell as the rest of the group rushed over to them. But before they could make it, a wall of blue flames sprouted up between them, similar to the ones surrounding the forest.

Pony audibly groaned at the sight of yet another villain, this one covered in purple burn scars. “You kids are a lot more annoying than I thought you’d be,” he said dismissively, “especially you.”

Todoroki shuffled uncomfortably when the villain focused his gaze on him. Monoma seemed to take notice of that, stepping up to protect him. “What gives you the right to say that about us when you’re the ones invading our summer camp? You villainous scum!”

The villain rolled his eyes at that. “Seriously, Shoto? You chose to hang out with a theater kid of all people? And I thought Natsuo had terrible taste in men.”

Todoroki narrowed his eyes at him. “How do you know who Natsuo is?”

“Uhhhhh…” In place of a response, the villain sent a wave of fire towards the group, forcing them all back.

As Pony watched on in horror, still on top of the magician, she knew she was the only one who could do something. Silently yet swiftly, she detached another pair of horns from her head, ready to stab whatever part of the villain was producing all that fire. That was… until a cold calloused hand grabbed her shoulder in a death-like grip. She didn’t need to turn around to know who was there, because she only felt four fingers.

“Remember me?” Tomura Shigaraki grinned. “Remember the finger you cut off? You better, because that’s the only reason you’re still alive right now.” He laughed under his breath, and Pony froze up in fear, daring not to move an inch. Was this how Izuku felt during the mall incident? “Of course, I could always kill you with my other hand, but I’d rather have some fun with you first.”

Pony was so distracted by his menacing, murderous aura, that she didn’t notice the magician reach up toward her. The moment she felt him tap her side, activating his Quirk, everything suddenly went black.

The first thing Pony noticed when she woke up was that she couldn’t move an inch, her body having been chained to a pedestal. The second thing she noticed was that she was in some kind of run-down bar, surrounded by the villains from the training camp attack; some of whom she recognized, while others looked completely new to her.

“Good, you’re awake,” Shigaraki greeted with an unhinged smile, as if he was barely holding himself back from killing her right then and there.

“Let me out of here!” In a panic, she thrashed around in her bindings to try and break free. When her efforts turned out fruitless, she tried detaching a pair of her horns to stab a few more fingers off of Tomura’s hand. Of course, he’d anticipated that, and had taped Pony’s horns to her head to prevent her from doing that. “Shoot. Tape, my one weakness.”

(Meanwhile, a certain member of Class 1-A felt an inexplicable surge of pride).

“Quit trying to escape already,” Tomura said with a roll of his eyes. “We already have one uncooperative guest, we don’t need another.”

“Wait, other guest?” Pony’s gaze travelled to the other end of the room, where she spotted Katsuki chained up in a similar position, looking just as unenthused about being here as she was. “Really, you kidnapped him of all people?”

“HEY!” The blond seemed visibly offended by that.

“Of course we did. Bakugo’s the newest member of our party.” Tomura casually leaned on Katsuki’s restraints, prompting the boy to thrash around and try to bite him like a feral dog.

“For the millionth time, I’d rather take a swan dive off a roof than join your gang of freaks!”

Pony stood to agree with her classmate. “Yeah, why would you think he’d drop everything and join you guys? He’s in a hero school. That’d be like asking a firefighter to become an arsonist.”

“Because he was mistreated by society, just like the rest of us!” Tomura gestured to the rest of the League, who had idly stood by watching up until now. “Don’t you remember how UA chained you to the podium at the Sports Festival, a million eyes watching you suffer?”

(Pony had no idea what he was talking about. She thought that was supposed to be a lighthearted comedic scene, but now it was being taken seriously?)

“Yeah, and look at what you’re doing right now.” Katsuki looked down at the bindings around his hands, very similar to the ones used on him a few months ago. “Also, why the hell is Horse Face here? Don’t tell me you wanna recruit her too.”

“No, she’s just my latest stress toy.” Pony blanched at Tomura’s agitated tone, letting her know he was about to make good use of her. As he reached out a five-fingered hand toward her face, she flinched back and squeezed her eyes shut, ready to experience the worst pain of her life, until the bar’s TV suddenly turned on, and Tomura dropped everything to give it his full attention. “Sensei?”

“I must remind you, Tomura, that you have a very important role to fill at this time,” a disembodied voice spoke, his calm yet demanding demeanor drawing the attention of everyone in the bar. “Time is of the essence right now, and you must not give into your base, destructive temptations. Understood?”

“WHAT?!” Tomura angrily scratched his face, looking like he wanted to destroy the TV in front of him, but he held himself back. “You can’t be serious, Sensei. She cut off my damn finger!”

“I am aware. And you’re welcome to decay as many of her fingers as you want after you are done here. But for now, you must remain focused on your long-term goal.”

“Ugh, yes, Sensei,” Tomura complied, though he clearly wasn’t happy about it.

As the TV turned off, Pony was left speechless from what had just occurred. There she was, seconds away from being turned to dust, only for a random, unexpected element to appear out of nowhere and save her life. If she were still a side character, Tomura would’ve killed her without a second thought for pure shock value, but by some miracle, he didn’t. This blatant instance of plot armor could only mean one thing: Pony was officially a main character in the eyes of the universe!

“What are you smiling at?!” Tomura yelled at her.

“Uhhhhh… nothing?” Pony didn’t even realize she was smiling in the first place, but she didn’t care all too much. It wasn’t like the villains could hurt her in a way that mattered now.

“Well you better cut it out! Sensei might’ve said that I couldn’t kill you, but he didn’t say anything about sending someone else. Toga, you know what to do.”

Pony’s smile dropped like an anvil when the girl from earlier walked up to her, bearing her pointed fangs. “Finally, we get some time alone.” She licked her lips, twirling a bloodied knife between her fingers. “You know what we’re gonna do first?”

“Wh-What?” Despite being chained up, Pony still managed to tremble. She knew her chances of dying here were next to none, but she preferred keeping all her blood inside her body.

“We’re gonna do something I’ve wanted to do for a long time…” Toga tossed her knife aside, instead pulling out a clicker from her pocket, which she used to turn on the bar’s projector. “I’ve made a detailed presentation explaining why I am not a yandere, and you’re gonna pay attention to every last slide.”

“How many slides are there?”

“How does a hundred and twenty sound?”

It sounded absolutely terrible to Pony. She already had enough trouble sitting through Vlad’s slide presentations. “Can you just stab me instead?”

“I’ll stab you after I’ve proved my point. Speaking of which…” With a click, the projector transitioned to the next slide. “First topic: What does love mean to a yandere? What does it mean to me? How do we compare and contrast?”

“Uuuuuuuuugh…” Pony depressingly hung her head, knowing she’d be in for a rough time.

An Ungodly Amount of Time Later…

“So, in conclusion, yandere’s are defined by their jealousy and possessiveness toward their love interest, both of which are traits that fail to apply to me, meaning I am fundamentally different from any and all yanderes. Thank you for listening.”

A man in a black and gray mask applauded her presentation. “YEAH WOO-HOO! That was amazing! I hated it!”

Pony, on the other hand, simply had her head tilted back, drool dripping out of her open mouth. She was all but dead to the world, her mind having drifted off elsewhere sometime after the fifty-sixth slide. She knew being a main character wouldn’t be easy, the villain attack and kidnapping were proof of that, but this was a lot for her to take in at once. And frankly, she was exhausted beyond all belief. She’d give anything just to have this arc end already.

“Now that I’ve told you how my love is different from a yandere’s love, it’s time for a more hands-on demonstration.” Toga whipped out her knife, snapping Pony back to reality.

“Wait, hold on! You don’t have to do that!”

“Why not? I still think you’re pretty cute.” She let out a manic, bloodthirsty giggle that really didn’t help combat the yandere allegations. “But I think you’d be even cuter if you bled a little more!”

She lunged at Pony, knife pointed directly at her face. For a moment, the equine girl feared that her plot armor had worn off, until a sudden knock at the door caused the psycho to stop in her tracks.

“Pizza delivery!” A voice yelled from the other side. The bar went silent for the next few seconds, the villains trading confused glances between each other.

The very next moment, the wall burst open and a group of heroes flooded inside the bar, with All Might at the front. Before the League could even react, Kamui Woods activated his Quirk, ensnaring all of them in a matter of seconds.

“You’re safe now, Young Bakugo and Tsunotori! Why? Because I AM HERE!” The number one hero beamed, pissing off at least half of the villains in the room.

Despite everything seeming alright on the surface, Pony didn’t allow herself to rest easy just yet. These kinds of conflicts usually don’t get resolved so easily in anime, especially without a big, climactic battle. Any moment now, something would come out of nowhere to tip the scales in the villain’s favor.

Sure enough, as All Might was trying to interrogate Shigaraki, he, Bakugo, and the rest of the League all coughed up a slimy gray substance, which quickly enveloped them all before seemingly warping them away.

Most of the heroes looked perplexed by such an unlikely turn of events, except for All Might, who wore a fear-stricken look that was very unlike the hero, as if he recognized this specific Quirk. He held a pair of fingers to his ear, a message going off in his comms. “They’ve been transported to the other raid location. We need to move, now!” At All Might’s command, the rest of the heroes leaped into action, running off into the van that transported them to the hideout.

“Hey! What about me?!” Pony yelled, still chained up. Thankfully, Kamui Woods heard her pleas and quickly doubled back to free her from her confines.

Pony simply stood by as she watched the heroes rush over to the next big fight, with a police car and ambulance quickly making their way onto the scene to help clean things up. She idly wondered why she hadn’t been transported alongside Bakugo, eventually concluding that the universe had deemed her important enough to participate in this climactic showdown.

Even though she was partially offended by this omission, she ultimately didn’t mind. She had plot armor now, which meant her safety was all but guaranteed. All she had to do now was make it through the rest of the story with as few physical and mental scars as possible.

Though, given what she’d just gone through, that might be easier said than done.

Chapter Text

The mood outside the new Class 1-A dorms was tense, to say the least. A huge shame in Pony’s eyes, because on the surface, this was super exciting. She was moving into a new building with her friends, which meant infinitely more opportunities to hang out and get to know them better.

But of course, Aizawa, the eternal killjoy he was, had to bring the mood down by threatening to expel the entire class for… something. Pony wasn’t quite sure what it was. He was a little vague with his wording, so she could only assume the class did something questionable while she and Bakugo were kidnapped.

“Hey, guys.” She nudged Izuku on the shoulder, Ochako standing right beside him. “What was Aizawa talking about earlier? He seemed kinda pissed.”

“Oh, that?” A touch of guilt could be found on Ochako’s face. “We kinda organized a rescue squad to go save you and Bakugo behind the heroes’ backs.”

“To be fair, we did help rescue him,” Izuku pointed out, displaying notably less guilt. “But, yeah, it was still kind of illegal.”

Despite that, Pony couldn’t help but feel touched by the gesture. “Awwwwww… you two went out of your way for lil’ ol’ me?”

“Of course we did, and so did Iida, Yaororozu, Todoroki, Kirishima, and Monoma for some reason.”

“He won’t leave us alone.” Ochako pursed her lips in clear discomfort. “I kinda liked it better when he hated our class.”

“I think he’s really cool,” Todoroki chimed in, a twinkle of admiration underneath his normally cold exterior. “He’s loud and outspoken, but that’s just because he cares so much.”

“Okayyyyyy…” It might’ve just been her inner fujoshi, but Pony could almost sense a romantic subplot brewing. “Anyways, legality aside, I’m glad you guys cared enough to help me out.” She couldn’t help herself anymore, and pulled Izuku and Ochako in for a tight hug. Part of her almost wished she’d been teleported to Kamino alongside everyone else, just so she could feel the relief upon seeing Izuku heroically swoop in to come save her.

“Of course, Pony.” Izuku was a bit more accustomed to her hugs by now, actually managing to return the gesture without his face burning redder than a strawberry. “You’re one of my best friends, probably even more than Kacchan.”

“Didn’t know that was such a high bar to clear.” She side-eyed the boy in question, unsure what Izuku saw in him. “But I’m just glad that’s all over and done with. I can’t wait to move into the dorms with you guys!”

“Yeah, me too! It’ll be great to have my own space for once!” Ochako cheered, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “It took a ton of convincing to get my parents to agree with this, so it better be worth it!”

“Yeah, mine too.” Izuku nodded in agreement. “What about you, Pony? You were the one who actually got kidnapped. I do not envy Aizawa and All Might for having to convince your parents.”

“Oh, that…” Pony glanced away, chuckling nervously. “They played hardball for sure, but Aizawa and All Might really knew how to run ‘em around those bases. They ended up with a real home run.” The baseball terminology was to hide the fact that she never got her parents to agree to any of this. In fact, they never learned about her kidnapping in the first place. Since she wasn’t at Kamino with All Might, most news outlets glossed over her involvement, especially in America, where her parents were. Pony found it easier just to let them live in ignorance while she signed the agreement forms in their names. Besides, when were parents ever relevant in stories like these? “Let’s change topics. We still have a few weeks of summer left. You guys got any plans?”

Her exuberance died down as Izuku and Ochako leveled her with a pair of confused looks. “Uh, yeah. We’re going to prepare for the Provisional License Exam. Didn’t you hear what Aizawa just said?”

“Uhhhhhh…” Okay, she may have zoned out a bit during her teacher’s speech to the class. She couldn’t help herself. Aizawa sounded bored as hell ninety percent of the time, which meant she was bored too. “It slipped my mind. But can you blame me? Mentally, I’m still in Summer Mode.”

“Yeah, I get it,” said Izuku. “A few days ago, I ended up sleeping in a few extra hours and missed my 6:00 AM morning run. Can you believe that?” Pony did not, forgetting how seriously Izuku took hero training until now. But for the sake of the conversation, she pretended that she did.

“Yeah, sleeping in is always the best part of summer. Shame I’ll have to get back into my old routine already,” Ochako sighed.

“Yeah, it hardly feels like we got to enjoy our summer at all!” Don’t get Pony wrong, she was excited to earn her provisional license ahead of schedule, but she’d thought there’d be at least a few filler episodes in between these big arcs. That’s the thing with these new-age shonen shows; they’re always go-go-going toward the next big fight, never stopping for a friendly chat or a fun, low-stakes romp. Sure, there was that fun afternoon at the pool with her classmates, but Pony wanted more days like that. “I didn’t even get to go to the beach!”

“Now that sounds fun.” Ochako perked up at the suggestion. “Cheap, too.”

“Well, maybe it’s not too late for a beach day,” Izuku shrugged hopefully. “I’m sure everyone else has their schedules set in stone, but I bet we could plan something with just the three of us.”

“REALLY?!” If Pony had any doubt that these were the best friends she’d ever had, it had all been snuffed out at this moment. “Yeah! That sounds awesome! Let’s do it!”
It was just what she needed - a tried and true beach episode; a point where the story can be put on pause to deliver some shameless fan service, fun humor, and chill summer vibes. It was the best type of filler out there, and if you disagree, you’re wrong.

“Sounds like a plan!” Ochako hopped in place alongside Pony, her excitement infectious. “But until then, why don’t we start moving in?”

“I bet Mina and Toru are gonna want to see everyone’s rooms once we're done.” Izuku’s guess was correct, based on the pair of devilish grins the two girls sent each other.

For some, this was a call to action - a piece of motivation to get their rooms into perfect shape for the inevitable judging. For Pony, it was just a reminder to hide her body pillow where no one could see it.

Preparing for the beach day was a task Pony did not take lightly. It may not have been obvious to some, but Pony loved the beach. It was way more fun and less dreary than the lake her parents always took her to when she was growing up. There was just a specific calming, yet energetic vibe the shores gave off that couldn’t be replicated anywhere else, and she was sure to make the most of it during her time there.

Everything one could possibly need for a beach day, Pony remembered to pack. Sunscreen, bug spray, umbrella, towels, chairs, a cooler, drinks, snacks, surfboards, a volleyball, buckets, shovels, and so much more. By the time she arrived at the boardwalk overlooking the sandy shores, her bag appeared at least twice as large as her.

She spotted her friend leaning on the safety railings, a comparatively smaller bag draped over her shoulder. “Ochako, hey! Over here!”

“Huh? Oh, hey!” She turned to wave back, where Pony could fully see the cute, pink, two-piece bikini she had on.

“You really like pink, don’t you?” Pony remarked, recalling Ochako’s hero costume. “Not that I blame you. I think you look cute in it.”

“Thanks.” She smiled, the blush marks on her cheeks becoming a bit more prominent. “To be honest, this is just something I found at the thrift store. Surprised it fits me so well. But you look great in yours, too.”

“Thanks. I try.” Pony gestured to her turquoise one-piece suit decorated with an orange flower pattern. When given the choice, Pony would always go for One Piece. “Do you know if Izzy’s here yet?”

“No. I was hoping you’d know.”

“Hey guys!” Fortunately for them, Izuku could be heard just a few feet away.

“Oh, there you are, Iz-” The words died in Pony’s mouth the moment she laid eyes on him. She expected him to forgo a swim shirt like he did at the pool, wearing only a pair of trunks. And while he did meet her expectations in that regard, his lack of a shirt also exposed the scars he’d gained during the training camp.

“Huh? What’s wrong?” He asked after noticing Pony stare for a bit too long, and not in a good way. “Oh, these?” He ran his hand across his right arm, drawing attention to the large blot right below his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. It’s only skin deep. Nothing serious.”

“R-Right… Sorry.” Realizing that might’ve been a bit rude, she tore her eyes away from his arm, quickly switching back to her peppy, excited demeanor. “Since we’re all here, let’s get started. I’ve got a million fun things we can do!”

“I can tell…” Ochako peered up at Pony’s exceptionally large bag, its shadow completely engulfing her. “Is that a surfboard?”

“Don’t worry, I brought one for you too.” With a confident grin, she strode past the shell-shocked Ochako, taking the lead as she made her way onto the beach. “Ah, feel that sand in between your toes.”

“Uhh… you don’t have toes,” Izuku unfortunately informed her, staring down at her hooves.

“I know. That’s why I’m asking you to do it.” Not wanting to waste any more time, Pony got to work, moving in a blur as she set up all the equipment for her friends. She had meticulously planned out and rehearsed each step the night beforehand, and judging by Izuku and Ochako’s surprised yet impressed looks, it had all paid off.

“I know you really wanted a beach trip, but I had no idea you were this prepared.” Izuku took the seat next to Pony, who reclined in her chair as she took in the scenery around her. The sun was shining down on her at a perfect seventy-three degrees (Fahrenheit), the clouds were small and sparse, and the waves were big and rideable without being completely out of control, with several other beach-goers already waist-deep in the ocean.

“I wanted a fun beach trip - nothing more, nothing less.” She whipped out a pair of shades, uncaring as they did a poor job at covering up her enormous eyes. “By the way, thanks for picking this place out, Izzy. I had no idea there was such a cool beach this close to UA.”

“I think it used to be filled with trash,” Ochako pointed out, digging her toes in the warm sand.

“Uh… I guess someone must’ve cleaned it up,” Izuku shrugged, looking away from the group as if he had something to hide. Pony didn’t press, but she wouldn’t have been surprised if he had somehow single-handedly cleaned up this beach. Seemed like the kind of training that would help make him as ripped as he was.

“You know what? I should’ve brought a metal detector. I bet there’s still some valuable metals a few feet down,” Ochako quietly lamented before her gaze slowly locked onto Pony. “Say… you wouldn’t have happened to bring a-”

“One step ahead of ya!” She dug into her bag to pull out the metal detector. And 'dug' wasn't an exaggeration, because that thing was hidden all the way in the back. It took several minutes of excavating for Pony to even reach it. When she finally emerged to hand it to Ochako, she soon discovered her attention was elsewhere. "Uh, what's up? You still want it?"

In place of a response, Ochako grabbed Pony's head and turned it ninety degrees, facing her toward the ocean. Vaguely, she saw something bubbling beneath the surface, something that looked far too large to be just an average fish.

She wasn't the only one who sensed danger, as several other beach-goers scrambled to shore the moment they felt something begin to emerge. What they saw rise up could only be described as a monster of cinematic proportions; a large, humanoid beast made of rusted scrap metal, its top coated in a blanket of seaweed. Its shadow loomed across the entire beach, making everyone aware of their presence.

"Wh-What the heck is that thing?!" Pony asked the question on everyone's minds.

"If I had to guess, an unexpected Quirk mutation granted one of the fish the ability to fuse with the garbage that gathered at the bottom of the ocean, and it's now made its way to the surface in search of more." Izuku's explanation prompted a pair of looks from the girls. "What? It's just a guess. Either way, we need to deal with this thing ASAP! Look what it's doing!"

When the monster fully stepped out of the ocean, it started swiping at the sand with its jagged metal claws in search of more metal for itself, kicking up waves of sand that blew groups of civilians away.

Izuku didn't hesitate to leap into action, Ochako following not long after. Pony, on the other hand, struggled to comprehend everything going on.

"Wait, we're fighting that thing? Now?! But we don't have licenses yet! We're not allowed to…" It was then she remembered how her friends broke that law just a few days prior to save her and Katsuki. As long as lives were at stake, the law was just a suggestion to them.

"Well, it's not like any of this will matter. It's a beach episode." She wished it was a more chill kind of beach episode, but that wouldn't stop her from helping her friends. By the time she caught up to them, they were already deep into combat with the monster, both struggling in their own way.

"This thing's made of a bunch of tiny parts, so I can't remove all of its gravity!" Ochako grunted, surrounded by floating bits and pieces of the monster. "How are you holding up, Deku?"

Pony's gaze switched to the creature's chest, where Izuku could be seen tearing away at it piece by piece. "This thing's got a lot of layers to it, but there's gotta be something in the center! That's how these kinds of Quirks usually work!"

The monster didn't seem to pay Izuku any mind, still focused on digging through the sand. Pony couldn't help but wonder what they were looking for, so she detached a pair of horns to drill down and find out for herself. It wasn't long before she felt a soft, metal clang, so she did what any reasonable person would do and lifted like her life depended on it. Even so, she didn’t expect to unearth an entire cargo truck filled with sporks, and neither did anyone else on the beach, especially Izuku.

“What the heck?! How did I - I mean, whoever cleaned up this beach - miss that?”

The monster seemed the most interested out of everyone, however, chasing around the cargo truck like a dog chasing a ball. Pony quickly picked up on this and had her horns carry it out to the ocean, where the creature mindlessly chased it off into the horizon.

“Wow! Good thinking, Pony.” Izuku came over and congratulated.

“Yeah! Your horns have gotten super strong lately! I got a lot of catching up to do.” Ochako playfully slugged her on the shoulder.

“Yeah, it was just power creep or whatever.” As accomplished as she felt to get rid of a giant metal monster like that (because trust her, it was very gratifying), she was mostly just ready to return to her beach day now that the obligatory ‘monster of the week’. Hopefully, she did a good enough job to satiate the universe’s desire for conflict.

“Oh, hey, is that an ice cream truck?” Pony’s good mood returned in an instant, her head snapping in the direction Izuku pointed. Sure enough, parked right on the edge of the boardwalk was a white truck covered in faded pictures of ice cream.

“Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!” She wasted no time pulling out her wallet, which she filled with cash for this specific occasion. “Let’s get a bite! It’s on me!”

“Oh… you really don’t have to do that.” Ochako made the foolish mistake of trying to resist, prompting Pony to stop in her tracks and remind her of the reality of the situation.

Grabbing her by the shoulders, she looked the gravity girl straight in the eye, the unflinching smile never quite leaving her face. “I said it’s on me,” she repeated, her voice perfectly calm, yet it carried a dangerous, downright psychotic edge.

“Uh… okay. Thanks, Pony.” Ochako tried not to show fear in the face of the beast, which satisfied her enough to continue as if nothing had happened.

With her friends by her side, she trotted up to the window and slapped a handful of yen bills on the counter. “One All Might Popsicle, one Chipwich, and one Choco Taco, please!”

“Huh?” The disgruntled employee turned around, looking very out of place inside an ice cream truck, what with his brass knuckles and crooked teeth. Just out of view, another man could be heard groaning in pain, as if he was just barely holding onto consciousness. “Go away. We’re closed.”

“Then why is your window open?” Pony asked before the man slammed the window shut on her fingers. “OW! FUCKING SHITBALLS!”

Despite her volume, the man paid no mind to her screams of pain. With a screech of the tires, the ice cream truck took off down the boardwalk, dragging Pony along with it.

“Seriously?! Two bad guys in one day?” She groaned, more annoyed than anything as she dangled off the side of the truck. She removed her horns once again, using them to try and pry open the window holding her fingers hostage, only for it to be locked tight. “As soon as I get a hold of this guy, I am going to stab him so hard!”

“What the-” The man peered out of his window, his jaw dropping when he spotted Pony in the rear-view. “You’re not supposed to be here! Get off!”

“And you’re not supposed to be an ice cream vendor! I bet you beat up the real ice cream guy and stole his truck!”

“Of course I did! He’s owed me five dollars for the last thirty years! With interest, that comes out to, like…” he paused, doing the math in his head, “sixty-two dollars and twelve cents!”

Pony wanted to slam her head on the counter. She really did.

“Don’t worry, Pony! I’m - huff - coming to get you!” To the surprise of no one, Izuku ran to chase after the truck as soon as it took off, his legs moving in a blur as green sparks emanated off his body. “Just - huff - give me a second! I’ll - gasp - be there soon!”

It was clear Izuku was pushing his Quirk to the limit just to keep up with the speeding truck. Electing to help her friend out, Pony used her horns for their God-intended purpose and stabbed them through the tires. The ice cream truck slowed down considerably, and Izuku closed the distance between them in no time at all.

Pony couldn’t fully make out what happened next. All she heard was Izuku kick the back door open, followed by the sound of several heavy punches connecting, maybe even a snapping bone or two. Either way, she was extremely relieved when the window finally opened up, Izuku greeting her on the other side with the unconscious villain slung over his shoulder.

“Are you alright, Pony?” He grimaced at her fingers, which bore a striking shade of purple. “I’ve seen a few broken fingers before, and that looks like something Recovery Girl should look at.”

“What? Nooooo… It’s just a bruise!” She quickly hid her fingers behind her back, staring innocently at Izuku. It wasn’t like she was lying or anything - it really was just a bruise. Granted, eight consecutive bruises still hurt like hell, but it was nothing compared to what Izuku went through. She could tough it out. “We can still have fun! Why don’t we do something that doesn’t involve using our hands?”

Izuku’s face still held a good deal of concern, but he held it in for now. “Okay… what did you have in mind?”

“Frisbee.”

“…You’re kidding, right?”

“GO LONG!” Ochako yelled, her arm wound back as she prepared to throw the Frisbee.

Pony obliged, trotting backwards (a skill that took an impressive amount of training, mind you). “How long we talkin’ about?”

A smirk crossed Ochako’s face as she tapped all five fingers to the disc, removing its gravity. “Long.”

The Frisbee literally went flying, soaring up, up, up into the air with no sign of coming down. Pony didn’t care, continuing to mindlessly run after it, no matter how many sand castles and sun-tanners she nearly stepped on. Just when it was almost out of sight, merely a small blip in the sky, she heard Ochako shout “RELEASE!”, and the frisbee proceeded to drop like a brick.

Pony positioned herself right under the Frisbee, prepared to catch it as soon as it landed, but not with her hands. Instead, she tilted her head up and opened her mouth, her teeth clamping down at just the right moment.

“I GOH IH!” She cheered, holding the frisbee in her mouth like a dog. She wasted no time sending it Izuku’s way, somehow managing to throw it completely straight using just her teeth.

“I got it! I got it!” He stood on the tips of his toes, reaching up as high as he could to catch the incoming disk. But even with his efforts, the Frisbee still barely grazed his middle finger, soaring right over him as if nothing had happened. “Shoot. I’ll get it!” He ran over to where the Frisbee landed: a dark, sketchy area underneath a nearby dock.

When he didn’t immediately return, Pony could tell something was up. And based on how the day had been going so far, she knew it wasn’t going to be pretty. “He probably got into trouble. Let’s go.”

Ochako followed her under the docks, where they were greeted with perhaps the strangest sighs so far; a trio of thuggish individuals, all dressed like Christmas elves, were chasing Izuku in circles as he carried a large, red sack over his shoulder.

“Guys! It’s a group of Christmas-themed drug smugglers!” He yelled upon spotting his friends, as if that wasn’t already obvious.

“This fool thinks he’s Santy Claus!” One of the elves yelled.

“I say we kill him!” Said another one, brandishing a knife with decorative jingle bells attached.

“Uraraka! Heads up!” He tossed the bag of drugs Ochako’s way, who fumbled it in her hands, unsure of what to do.

“I - Don’t give it to me! I’ve never handled drugs before!” Before the elves could reach her, she passed the bag off to Pony, who balanced it on her foot like she was playing hackeysack.

“Nnnnnnnnope!” She swiftly kicked it back to Izuku, and the cycle repeated, the three hero students tossing the bag between each other while the elves chased after whoever had it at that moment, like a high-stakes game of keep-away.

It didn’t take long for everyone to get tired of this game, Ochako especially. When the bag ended up in her hands, she instead activated her Quirk on it, letting it float up to the roof of the boardwalk, out of the elves’ reach.

“Hey! No fair!” They all leaped up, desperately reaching for the bag, which remained out of reach by a wide margin. “Quir teasin’ us and just drop it already.”

“If you say so.” Ochako pressed the tips of her fingers together, and the bag landed right on top of the elves, crushing them under its unexpected weight. “Huh, I guess those really were some hard drugs.”

“Eeeeehhhhh…” Pony just shrugged at her pun, Izuku looking similarly conflicted. “I don’t think those kinds of jokes are really your style.”

“Darn, I was really banking on that.” Before she could further lament her failed experiment, a loud crash could be heard from the other side of the beach. “What was that?”

“Sounds like trouble,” Izuku guessed. As expected, he wasted no time rushing into the perceived danger, as if he was attracted to it. Or maybe it was attracted to him.

“Are you kidding me?!” Pony groaned, reluctantly following her friends. Clearly, it was too much to ask for a simple beach episode, because the universe was making it its mission to cram as much conflict as possible into this day. And since the rule of threes didn’t apply here, she could only assume this onslaught would continue throughout the rest of the day.

Lucky her.

Nighttime at the beach was always a pleasant experience. Even disregarding the often beautiful sunsets, the moon’s soft rays reflecting across the simmering ocean created an ambivalent vibe that was perfect for both relaxation and a wild bonfire party on the sand.

Pony and her friends wouldn’t get to fully enjoy that, however, as they were all exhausted to the point of hardly being able to stand. They had been through hell and back in the span of just a few hours, and by god, it showed.

“I think they’re all gone,” Izuku mumbled tiredly, watching the last of the UFOs disappear into the sky.

“Is your arm okay?” Ochako asked, having been worried for Izuku ever since the aliens brought out their pet to fight him.

“Eh, it’s been through worse.” That didn't mean it looked any better. It might not have been swollen purple, but it still looked mangled beyond belief. “You know, I’m still having trouble taking it all in. Who’d have thought we’d end up fighting off an alien invasion today?”

“And who’d have thought there were no heroes around to help us out?” Pony grumbled frustratedly. Because of course the shonen series would leave everything to the kids. The adults might as well have vanished off the face of the Earth. “Sorry the beach trip didn’t go as planned, guys.”

“I wouldn’t say it was that bad.” Despite everything, Izuku still managed a smile, as he was known to do. “Sure, surfing and sand castles sounded fun, but at the end of the day, I got to be a hero - I saved lives and made people smile, and that’s more than enough for me.”

“Now that’s a nice way to view it.” Ochako smiled alongside him. Pony, meanwhile, wore a wide-eyed, horrified expression, Izuku’s innocuous comment having led her to a realization she never even considered until now.

Izuku was the protagonist of this shonen anime she called life, and what was a protagonist if not the center of the universe? Just about every major event in the past few months revolved around him in some way: the USJ, the fight with Todoroki at the Sports Festival, the attack on Hosu, the training camp attack, and the Kamino incident. All of it was formed around his desire to be a hero, along with whatever was going on with his Quirk.

That didn’t sit right with Pony. While it was fun watching the characters in her manga overcome these obstacles, it wasn’t nearly as entertaining when it started happening to someone she knew and cared about.

Izuku was only sixteen! He didn’t deserve to be thrown into life-or-death situations every other week! He didn’t deserve to have the weight of the world on his shoulders! And he certainly didn’t deserve to break his arms in so many different, yet painful ways!

Sure, Izuku didn’t care about all that, but Pony did! Call her selfish, but she didn’t like it when her friend was given this much crippling responsibility, then forced to smile through it all.

‘I have to stop this,’ she immediately decided. But she wasn’t stupid - she knew this was a shonen anime, and any attempt to avoid conflict would only end in more conflict, today was proof enough of that.

So then… what if it wasn’t a shonen anime? What if it was a different kind of anime altogether?

It was a crazy thought, yet one that refused to leave Pony’s head. Shifting the genre of reality would be like rewriting it to its very core, but it wasn’t like it was impossible. She’d been able to nudge the universe in a different direction before when she convinced it to make her a main character. Who’s to say she couldn’t do it again, just on a much grander scale?

‘I’ll do it,’ she declared, steeling herself despite all she had been through today. ‘For the sake of myself, Izuku, and all my classmates, both new and old, I will rid the world of all its shonen influence!’

‘...Now how the hell am I supposed to do that?’

Chapter Text

As Monoma stepped into the UA dorms, earning several confused glances from his sister class (and one faint smile from Todoroki), he pulled out his phone to double-check the text Pony had sent him.

Pony: Meet me in my room. I’ve made a breakthrough!

This worried Monoma for several reasons, chief among them being that he hadn’t gotten the chance to chat with Pony following her kidnapping at the training camp. He was aware of the often traumatic experiences main characters experienced on a day-to-day basis. And while he totally would’ve been able to handle it if he were in her (horse)shoes, he wanted to make sure the same was true for her.

He approached the door with Pony’s name plate on it, giving it a light knock. A faint “Come in.” could be heard from the other side a few seconds later, and so he obliged. Though that did not prepare him for what he bore witness to upon opening the door.

Standing at the front of the dimly-lit room was Pony, who wore a crazed look in her eyes, the kind that could only be achieved through several sleepless nights. Behind her was a large, brown conspiracy board, featuring pictures of Izuku strung together by red string.

“Aaaaaaand you’ve completely lost it,” Monoma made the obvious conclusion.

“Nice to see you, too,” responded Pony, her eyes still twitching despite the deadpan look she gave him. “And yeah, I know I’ve lost it. Trying to change the genre of reality itself will do that to you.”

“Hold up. Slow down for a bit.” Monoma waved his hands in front of his face. “What exactly are you trying to do?”

“Well, it all started when I tried to have a beach episode with Izzy and Ochako.” She pointed to a picture on her board, depicting the three at the beach, looking noticeably beaten up. “But there’s no room for a low-stakes beach day in a shonen anime like this. The universe demanded conflict, and it gave it to us. That’s when I realized that the only way to stop us from becoming child soldiers was to make everything into a ‘slice of life’ anime instead.”

“Okay…” Monoma proceeded with caution, pretending like he fully understood everything coming out of Pony’s mouth. “And how, pray tell, do you plan to do that? Doesn’t it seem kind of…”

“Impossible? That’s what I thought at first, but that’s when I remembered Izzy!” She pinned his picture to the middle of the board, the red string connecting it to almost every other image. “During the beach trip, he said he didn’t mind breaking his bones as long as he gets to save people, and that got me thinking.”

“About how insane Midoriya appears to be?”

“That, and also how since he’s the protagonist, the very center of the universe, that might mean the universe subconsciously bends to his will. He wants to be a hero, so the genre becomes shonen.”

“That’s… not a terrible theory.” Monoma recalled how Pony only became a main character after Izuku started warming up to her, which would align in favor of her hypothesis. “So what? You plan on subtly influencing Midoriya yet again?”

“That’s the ticket!” She shot an affirmative pair of finger guns in his direction. “If I can convince Izzy that living life as a slice of life comedy is better than a shonen, the rest of the world might follow suit!”

“A slice of life comedy?” Monoma raised an eyebrow, a coy smile tugging at his lips. “Are you sure you’re not forgetting any other genres?”

Pony felt the atmosphere thicken around her, as if the universe could sense she was in danger. “I… no, I don’t think I am. Wh-Why would you think that?”

“Oh, no reason. I just thought you and Midoriya have been spending a lot of time together lately.”

“Of course I have! We’re friends!” Pony failed to keep the defensiveness out of her tone, which Monoma decided to capitalize on.

“Just friends? Nothing more?”

“No! It’s not like I like him or-” She suddenly bit down on her tongue to prevent the words from coming out, but she was too late, and Monoma had all the information he needed to go in for the kill.

“You better watch your words, Pony. You’re starting to sound like a-”

“Don’t say it,” she threatened through gritted teeth.

“Like a…”

“I’m warning you!”

“Tsun-de-re.” He sounded out each individual syllable to drive his point home. And boy, did he drive it home.

“NO!” Pony angrily pulled at her hair, looking like she was about to yank it out. “For the last time, I don’t hate tsunderes, but I ain’t one of them. Read my lips!” She leaned close to Monoma’s face so he’d get the message. “Dere! Dere!”

“If you’re such a deredere, then why don’t you admit your feelings already?”

“Only if you admit your feelings toward Todoroki!”

“Okay. I have romantic feelings toward Shoto Todoroki.”

“FUCK!” She expected him to show at least a little bit of hesitancy, but now she was forced to uphold her end of the bargain. “Fine. I like Izzy. Like, like-like him. You happy now?”

“I don’t know, are you happy?”

“…Kinda.” It felt a little good to finally admit her feelings out loud. Maybe she should start actually playing into her self-appointed archetype more often.

“Just what I wanted to hear,” Monoma beamed at her, clapping his hands together. “Now, tell me again, what genre are you going to change reality to?”

“Slice of life romantic comedy!” She answered with much more gusto than before.

“And how are you going to do that?”

“By exposing Izzy to the best of what the genre can offer.” Grabbing a paper and pencil, she formulated a list of everything she wanted to show him. She thought it was genius, but when Monoma curiously peered over her shoulder, the comically large sweat drop that trailed down his forehead told her otherwise.

“Is… this really the course of action you want to take?”

“Of course it is! Everyone loves these tropes. They’re way better than those boring old shonen tropes. Just you watch!” She ran out of the room, eager to put her plan into motion. All Monoma could do was place a hand on his face and sigh.

“There goes her chance at romance, but not mine…”

“Alright, here we go.” Pony looked over her list as she stood at the bottom of the dorm’s stairwell, knowing Izuku would soon be coming down for dinner. “First up: the classic, the timeless, the beloved, the ‘protagonist trips and lands face-first in the girl’s breasts’ gag!” It was guaranteed to get Izuku’s heart beating and his face flushing. And unlike past iterations of the gag, Pony wouldn’t beat him up for his presumed pervertedness, because again, she was not a tsundere.

When she heard the unmistakable thumping of Izuku’s bulky red shoes stepping down the stairs, she moved her horns into position, ready to trip Izuku up at the third-to-last step.

“Oh, hey Pony!” He waved, unaware of his impending fate. “How’s it go - AHHH!”

The horn unsuspectedly got caught on his leg, leading to him tumbling down the steps and landing right on top of Pony. Thankfully, she was supplied with a decently-sized pair of airbags to break his fall.

“Heh heh, whoops!” She feigned ignorance, unable to stop her own cheeks from heating up. “Sorry ‘bout that, Izzy. Hope you’re not too…”

The words died in her mouth when he lifted his head off her chest, his face a perfectly normal tint, not a shred of red in sight. “Oops. Sorry about that. Are you alright, Pony?” He got up and dusted himself off, offering the girl a hand.

She forgot to take it at first, at a complete loss for words. “I - uh - yeah - but… How did you not…?”

“Oh, that? I’ve been stopping by the support department to make some changes to my costume. Hatsume usually blows things up, and the explosions always send her flying right at me, and her chest usually…”

“Okay, yeah. I get it.” Pony cut him off, not having planned for this. She supposed there was some overlap in terms of what tropes could appear in each genre. That just meant she had to hone in on what made the ‘slice of life romantic comedy’ genre truly unique.

In her room, Pony lay sprawled across her bed, feeling like absolute shit right now; her throat was scratchy, her head was throbbing, and flashes of hot and cold took turns racing through her body.

Despite all that, everything was going according to plan. ‘No shonen anime in this day and age would think of wasting twenty-two minutes on a sick episode! This was so worth standing out in the rain for two hours.’ She laughed, which brought out a small coughing fit.

“Whoa, are you alright?” This prompted Izuku to come into her room, carrying a tray with a bowl of soup and a glass of water.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” She tried to make herself look as un-sick as possible while Izuku laid down the tray next to her bed. “Thanks for looking out for me, Izzy.”

“No problem.” He treated her to a shining, brilliant smile, the kind that made it feel like everything would be okay. He had a knack for making her feel that way. It was one of the things she loved about him. “I just hope you get better by the time the provisional license exam rolls around. Wouldn’t want you missing that.”

“Yeah…” Pony’s smile became a bit more forced, so she tried to get things back on track, forcing herself out of her bed to meet Izuku in the eyes. “But seriously. I mean it. You’re always so kind, and caring, and thoughtful, and… I could probably compliment you a million times, and it still wouldn’t do you justice.”

She took a step closer to Izuku, whose eyes widened with anticipation. “What I’m trying to say is - COUGH COUGH COUGH!” She flew into another coughing fit, accidentally spewing germs into Izuku’s face. “Sorry, sorry. Forgot I was sick for a second.”

“I knew I should’ve worn a face mask.” He tried desperately to wipe the spit off his face, but it was too late. Izuku ended up spending the rest of the day in his room, feeling just as shit as Pony.

To be fair, this outcome wasn’t uncommon in these kinds of episodes, but Pony doubted it did a good job at convincing him that this genre was better.

The next day, when she was feeling all better, Pony elected to try a different strategy. Izuku may have gotten a faceful of breasts in the past (she still didn’t know how Hatsume did that with a completely straight face), but she felt confident that he’d never done the ‘walking in on someone while they’re in a compromising position’ gag. And for Izuku’s sake, she was going to make said position as compromising as it could be, complete with bondage and everything!

(She wasn’t into it herself, but she hoped Izuku found it at least a little appealing.)

There was only one problem with that: Pony was not the best with knots, and her inexperience showed as she struggled to tie herself up.

“No, wait, that doesn’t go there.” She tried correcting her mistake by freeing her arm from the rope. But much like a Chinese finger trap, the more she pulled, the tighter the ropes became, and not in a good way. “Come on. Work with me here. Work with me.” She wiggled her hoof in there, hoping it would loosen everything else around her, but that just caused another limb to succumb to the rope.

“Dammit! Only one thing to do.” She tried cutting the rope with her horns, but somehow, it ended with them getting tangled up as well.

As if things couldn’t get any worse, Izuku came into the room, just in time to see Pony tied up like she was being kidnapped. “I got your text, Pony. What did you want me to-” His body froze the moment he laid eyes on her.

“Uh… hi.” She would’ve waved if she could move her hands right now.

“Pony, what happened to you?!” He ran over, using his Quirk to effortlessly tear the rope apart, as if it were as brittle as spaghetti.

“Uh…” She tried to phrase things in a way that didn’t frame her in an incompetent light. “It was… a ninja. A ninja did this to me.”

“A ninja. Really?”

“Yes, just… forget about it.” She buried her face in her hands as she stepped past Izuku, the situation feeling a lot more emotionally compromising than physically.

“Izzy!” Izuku jolted back as Pony suddenly appeared in the kitchen, a box of snacks in her grasp. “You look bored right now. Let’s play the Pocky game.”

“The what game?” Pony could sense the uncertainty in his voice, so she explained.

“You know, the Pocky game. Like the food!” She pulled a chocolate-covered biscuit out of the box and waved it in front of his face. “Two people share a Pocky stick, eating it from both ends until they meet in the middle.”

A faint glint shone in his eyes, his curiosity getting the better of him. “Can I start from the chocolate-covered end?”

“No. I already called dibs.” She shoved the non-chocolate end in Izuku’s mouth and locked her own lips around the other end. When the game began, they both started nibbling away at the snack, slowly closing the distance between them with every piece they swallowed. It wasn’t long before they both had to lean forward to continue eating, meeting at the center of the table.

The closer their faces became, the more the rest of the world seemed to fade away, the pair soon becoming lost in each other’s eyes. They started to move on instinct, biting away at the Pocky stick to reach what awaited them at the end of their respective journeys.

And then, when they finally reached the end, when there was no more stick to consume, and all that was left were each other's lips, mere millimeters apart…

Izuku bit Pony’s lip.

“OW!” She jerked forward, the resulting collision sending them both reeling back, nursing their bruised foreheads.

“P-Pony! I’m so, SO sorry! I didn’t - I didn’t mean to bite your lip like that!” He profusely apologized, looking a few seconds away from getting on his knees and begging for forgiveness.

“No, it’s fine. I just… ugh.” She pressed a hand to her lips, feeling something warm and wet. “I think I’m bleeding.”

“Shit…” Pony almost forgot about the blood when she heard Izuku swear under his breath. “I’ll go… get some paper towels.”

By now, Pony was sick and tired of failure. So far, every one of her plots had been foiled in a way that would work well for a comedy anime, but left her completely starved of romance.

It was clear she had to bring out her secret technique, one so simple, so ubiquitous, so direct, and so upfront that there was no way she wouldn’t be able to make her feelings for Izuku crystal clear.

She was, of course, talking about the kabedon, AKA the wall slam.

It was perfect. As long as she possessed basic hand-eye coordination, she would have Izuku trapped between her arms, nothing stopping them from becoming closer, both physically and emotionally.

The moment she spotted him turning the corner, she strolled down the hallway in the opposite direction, like it was any other day. And for Izuku, it was. He sent her a friendly wave as he passed by, completely unaware of what was about to happen next.

In the blink of an eye, Pony spun around and shoved him into the wall. Before he could even comprehend his situation, a pair of hands landed on either side of him, leaving him nowhere to look except directly at Pony, who had her head tilted down slightly, unable to fully meet him in the eyes after her last few failed attempts.

“P-P-Pony?” He stuttered, his heart rate rising dangerously quickly.

“Izzy.” She cut him off, leaning just a little closer to him. In reality, this situation was just as nerve-racking for her. “There’s just… something I need to get off my chest.”

“Pony?” He repeated with a bit more urgency in his tone.

“Just - Just let me say this!”

“Pony!”

“What?!” She finally glanced up, her eyes locking onto his. At least… that’s what she wanted.

In reality, the slight height difference between them, plus Pony’s head being angled downward, meant her horns were lodged in the last two places she wanted to see them in.

“My eyes, Pony,” he explained very matter-of-factly. “You’re stabbing them.”

“AAAAAHHHHHHH!” She screamed in horror at what she had done.

“AAAAAHHHHHHH!” Izuku screamed too as the pain settled in.

“I didn’t mean for it to turn out like that!” Pony blubbered, her words barely intelligible to Monoma as he handed her another tissue.

“Pardon me for asking, but how were you expecting it to turn out?”

“I dunno!” She dabbed at her oversized eyes. “I tell him how we feel, we kiss, and then the credits roll! That’s how it goes in anime!”

“Ah, yes, anime.” Monoma pinched the bridge of his nose, making his annoyance known. “You’ve been quite obsessed with that as of late.”

“Well, yeah, of course I am. Did you forget that our entire lives are just one big anime?”

“Yes, but do you always have to treat it that way?” He sent a challenging glare her way, which Pony couldn’t help but shrivel up at.

“What do you mean?”

“Let me ask you this: how would you describe Midoriya?”

“Well, he’s the protagonist, obviously.”

“And there it is.” He exhaustedly ran a hand down his face. “He’s the protagonist, Bakugo’s the rival, Uraraka’s the love interest, you’re the deredere. Why are you boiling everything and everyone down to simple anime tropes?”

“I… I dunno. What do you want me to say?” She frustratedly rolled her shoulders at him. “I know how anime works. I’ve known since I was a kid. It’s just… easier to frame things that way.”

“Easier? Yes. But with the path you’re going down, I doubt you’ll get very far by taking the easy way out.”

Pony huffed, growing defensive at Monoma’s tone. “Well, you should know a thing or two about tropes, Mr ‘class rivalry.’”

“You’re right. I know all too well about that,” he let out a remorseful sigh, which grabbed Pony’s attention. “I’ll admit, I was jealous of Class 1-A. It was easy to see them as simply rivals for Class 1-B to overcome, but then I started talking to Todoroki.” His tone softened at the mere mention of his name. “Yes, I might’ve only gotten closer to him in a vain attempt of gaining relevancy, but then - and I still have no clue why he did this - he told me about his childhood, how he got that scar of his. And that’s when I started to see him as not just a rival, but as a person, a person who didn’t deserve the hand he was dealt in life. You feel the same way, don’t you?”

Pony went quiet for a moment, thinking back to all the scars Izuku had gotten in his short time at UA, and how she’d do anything to prevent him from getting another. “Yeah, I do.”

“Then you’re already on the right track. I trust you’ll make the right decisions from here on out.” Monoma got up and exited the room, leaving Pony to stew in her own thoughts.

As insane as her former classmate could be, he made a few good points sometimes. Izuku may have been the protagonist in the universe’s eyes, but that was never his only trait. If it was, she would’ve never gotten as close to him as she did. Even if his personality aligned with a few shonen clichés, a story was more than just its tropes.

Through that lens, Pony’s plan of expressing her feelings through bland, overused gags sounded a lot stupider than before, to the point where it caused her face to flush red with embarrassment. ‘Slice of life romance comedy’ anime was never about the tropes, it was about the vibes. That’s what she should’ve used to convince Izuku, and she felt like an idiot for not thinking of it before.

“Hopefully it’s not too late.” She muttered to herself as she trotted out of her room.

“Uh… hey, Izzy.” Pony’s greeting was a lot more subdued this time. Even if Izuku’s eyes looked no worse for wear, the guilt of her mistakes still weighed down on her like an entire set of dumbbells. “Sorry about…” She waved her hand in front of her face, “y’know.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. Recovery Girl fixed me up without any issue.” Izuku once again demonstrated that there wasn’t a resentful bone in his body, yet another trait Pony admired about him.

“It’s not just that. I know I’ve been acting weird for the past day or two, and don’t try to tell me I haven’t. I’ve seen the weirded-out looks you’ve given me.”

Izuku bashfully glanced away, as if that wasn’t a perfectly valid response to her behavior. “Okay, maybe you’ve been acting a little off. Are you alright?”

“Of course I am. Just had to deal with some personal stuff. Point is, I want to make it up to you. How about we do something cool and fun tomorrow, just the two of us? I have it all planned out. You won’t have to worry about a thing.”

“Sure! I always like hanging out with you.” His smile was cut short when a stray thought popped into his head. “But wait, I have hero training tomorrow.”

“We have hero training every day.” A fond smile graced her lips as she rolled her eyes. “I’m sure we can make time. We made time for the beach, didn’t we?”

“True, we did,” Izuku complied, much to Pony’s excitement. “Alrught, I’m in. What sort of cool and fun activity did you have in mind?”

“Oh, you’ll see…” She decided to leave Izuku in suspense for just a bit longer, to make the eventual reveal all the better. But unlike before, she was sure this would be a welcome surprise in his eyes.

It had to be, because this was her big moment, her shot at redemption. The very fate of the universe depended on how this activity (which was kind of a date but not officially) turned out, which gave Pony all the more reason to make sure both she and Izuku had the time of their lives.

Chapter Text

“Okay, are you ready?” Pony could barely contain herself as she walked up to the site of her and Izuku’s ‘kind of date’, all while holding her hands over his face.

“I’ve been ready for a while now,” Izuku said with a bit less enthusiasm. “You’ve been covering my eyes ever since we got off the train.” They had to walk a few blocks to get to their destination, and by then, he was just ready to see again. “Is it really that big of a surprise?”

“Trust me, it is.” She removed her hands, and Izuku took in a heavy gasp at the sight before him, just the reaction Pony expected from him.

“You - You brought me to Shiketsu…?” The wonder in his tone quickly fizzled out, confusion taking its place. “Wh-Why are we here? I thought we were trying to get away from school.”

“Take a closer look.” She grabbed his head and turned it to the side, where he caught a glimpse of a sign decorated with colorful balloons reading ‘Shiketsu School Festival’.

“A school festival?” He said in disbelief, which was not entirely unfounded. “Now? In the middle of summer?”

“That’s what I said!” Pony chuckled at his reaction. “Apparently, their schedule is so tight that this is the only time they’re allowed to do this. Also, they know better than to compete with UA’s Culture Festival.”

A smirk crossed Pony’s lips as she saw an electrifying twinkle in her friend’s eyes. “Wow…”

“Yeah, wow.” She gave him a nod. “I looked up a schedule of events online, and there’s so much for us to do!”

“Oh, about that…” His excitement suddenly ground to a halt, as did Pony’s. “I have hero training in a few hours, so I’m not sure if we’ll be able to do everything.”

She made sure he didn’t catch her rolling her eyes. Hopefully, by the time she was done here, Izuku would learn to put all that stuff on the back burner, and then maybe the world wouldn’t follow shonen tropes so closely.

“Well, we’ll just have to get through everything quickly.” Izuku froze in place when Pony unexpectedly grabbed him by the hand, too shocked to fight back against her dragging him through the front gate.

The moment they stepped inside, they were immediately struck by a wave of pure joy and celebration, one that was unexpected from a famously strict establishment such as Shiketsu. The courtyard was littered with tightly packed stalls run by overly excited students, offering all sorts of snacks and activities. It was clear this was the one time a year the students were allowed to kick back and let loose, and they planned to make the most of it.

Izuku was almost overwhelmed by the sheer amount of choices at his disposal. “What should we do first?”

“How ‘bout a snack?” She pointed at a long line of food stalls, some offering treats she’d never even heard of before. “I don’t know what a Snickers Snickerdoodle is, but I want one!”

Izuku silently licked his lips, thinking the same as her. But right as they were about to walk up to the stand, a purple-haired boy in a Shiketsu uniform appeared right in front of them, eyeing them with annoyance.

“Uh… excuse us.” Izuku tried to walk around the boy, but an outstretched arm prevented that from happening.

“Are you authorized to be here?” The student (who went by Shishikura if the name tag was any indication) asked in a very blunt tone that reminded them of a certain class president.

“I don’t… think there was a ticket booth or anything.” Pony would know, having researched this event beforehand.

“Did you not read the rules? The general public is not allowed at this event, only Shiketsu students, staff members, and their families.”

Izuku’s frown notably worsened at the news, knowing what this meant for their hangout, but Pony didn’t feel like giving up so easily. “Yeah, we’re related to one of the students.”

Izuku perked up, eyeing her with confusion for a moment before catching on to her scheme. Shishikura, on the other hand, merely narrowed his eyes at them. “May I ask which students?”

“Oh, you know…” Pony racked her brain for a name that sounded convincing enough. “Joey… Paul…ington…erson?”

She knew she had fucked up when Izuku of all people gave her a disappointed sigh. “Oh, really?” Shishikura didn’t sound very convinced either. “Then why don’t we ask him ourselves?”

“…What?”

Before Pony could figure out what was happening, another boy in a Shiketsu uniform, whose Quirk gave his skin a cantaloupe-like texture, appeared before them. “What do you need?”

“Paulingtonerson,” Shishikura turned toward the boy, giving him his undivided attention, “do you recognize either of these people?”

“What people?”

“Those people! The two standing right-” He turned back to face the intruders, only to be met with nothing. “Huh?! Where’d they go?”

Neither Izuku nor Pony could stop giggling as they bolted down the school’s crowded halls, their shared reflexes keeping them from bumping into anyone. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, one they hadn’t even agreed on beforehand; they just shared one look and immediately knew what to do, as if they both came up with the same idea at once.

“I can’t believe you did that.” Izuku was grinning ear-to-ear as he turned the corner, latching onto the inner wall to swing right around.

“Me? I can’t believe you did that!” Pony took the outer wall instead, parkouring off of it and twisting her body in midair. She knew Izuku tended to ignore the law, but she thought that only applied to hero-related matters.

“Well, you brought me all the way out here; it’d be a waste if we couldn’t even get in.” Once again, Izuku’s thoughtfulness made Pony’s heart throb with delight. How could you turn down someone so eager and willing to please?

They finally came to a stop after it seemed like they lost him, and Izuku wiped a few beads of sweat from his brow. “You think he’ll keep looking for us?”

As much as Pony wanted to say no, to assure him that they were free to enjoy the festival in peace, she knew how dedicated some Shiketsu students could be. Plus, this was still a shonen, so there was no chance they were getting through this without at least some conflict.

“I wouldn’t worry. I’m pretty sure we can outrun him if we see him again,” she half-assured Izuku, which he seemed to appreciate. “Anyways, now that we‘re here, in the thick of it, what should we do?”

“I don’t know.” Izuku scanned the area, taking in the myriad of activities available to him. And even though Shiketsu’s budget was only a fraction of UA’s, they still put together some crazy attractions. “They’ve got an art exhibit, a movie theatre, an arcade, a maid cafe-”

“MAID CAFE!” Pony’s head snapped ninety dredges to the side, practically exploding with excitement when she saw a pair of students standing outside their classroom in maid uniforms. “We gotta go there first!”

Izuku didn’t even bat an eye at her demand suggestion, instead letting out a good-natured chuckle. “Should’ve known you’d be a fan of that too.”

“Heh heh, you got me there.” She was a bit embarrassed, but not enough to dull her excitement. Ever since she arrived in Japan, visiting a maid cafe had been part of her to-do list. Seeing this opportunity staring in the face, it was like the universe finally answered her prayers.

Fortunately, as an upside of the festival not being open to the public, the lines for the attractions weren’t nearly as long as expected, and the pair were seated in no time at all.

“Isn’t this great, Izzy?” Pony admired all the students rushing around in their uniforms, striking cute poses as they handed customers their food. It was just like she dreamed it would be.

“It is. I especially like how inclusive they’re being.” To illustrate his point, a male student with a strikingly shaved head showed up at their table, dressed in a maid outfit, but smiling enthusiastically nonetheless.

“Hey! Thanks for coming by! My name’s Inasa Yoarashi! I’ll be your adorable waiter today!” He handed them a pair of laminated menus. “What would you like to order?”

“Uhhhh…” They looked over their menus, quickly discovering there was only a single item available. “I guess I’ll have the omurice,” Pony said with a shrug.

“Yeah, I’ll have that too,” Izuku agreed.

“Great choice! I’ll have that out for you right away!” The menus were taken away just as quickly as they arrived, leaving the pair with nothing else to do but enjoy each other’s company as they waited for their meals.

“You know, I bet we could take notes from this festival.” Izuku pulled out a pen and notebook from behind his back. Where he kept it would forever remain a mystery to Pony. “After all, we probably want to outdo them when our own festival rolls around.”

“Good idea. I wonder what our class should do.” Her first thought was a maid cafe, but then her thoughts shifted to Mineta, and she decided to put that idea aside. “Maybe a play, or a concert, or a haunted house.”

“Or a hero quiz!” Izuku blurted out, only to shrivel up in embarrassment when Pony gave him a confused stare.

“A hero quiz? Really?”

“Well, yeah. We go to a hero school, after all.”

Try as she might, she couldn’t deny that. But even so, this was a microcosm of an issue that’d been on her mind for quite some time. “You really like heroes, don’t you, Izzy?”

“Of course I do,” he said, figuring Pony should’ve caught on by now. “What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing, it’s just…” She paused, searching for the best way to word this, “is that all you’re into?”

“No, of course not! I mean, you of all people should know how much I’m into American culture.”

“Because of All Might.”

“And I like anime and manga, just like you!”

“You only watch the hero-related ones.”

“What about my drawings? You’ve seen my notebook.”

“When was the last time you’ve drawn something other than heroes?”

“Okay, well… what about you?” He leaned across the table, giving her a look. “You’ve got your whole anime obsession. I’ve seen your room.”

“You’re right,” she casually admitted, causing his stance to falter. “Recently, I’ve been starting to think that maybe there’s more to life than heroes and anime and hero-based anime.“

“Like what?”

“No clue,” she said with a big, stupid grin, which Izuku couldn’t help but facepalm at. “But since we’re in the same boat, maybe we can help each other find out.”

The exasperation on Izuku’s face died down, making way for a knowing smile. “Are you just saying that as an excuse to spend more time with me?”

“Like I need an excuse. I just need to find something for us to do.”

“Well, I trust your ability to do so. I know I never would have thought of going to another school’s festival in the middle of summer.”

“Yeah, I’m still proud of myself for coming up with…” She suddenly went quiet, her vision trailing right past Izuku and onto the purple head of hair that just walked into the room. “Shit…”

Without explanation, she retreated under her tablecloth, pulling Izuku down with her before he could ask any questions.

“P-Pony! What are you-” She pressed a finger to his lips before he could finish his question, his face flushing an embarrassing shade of red.

“This isn’t what you think it is. That Shishikura guy just walked in, and I think he’s still looking for us.”

“O-Oh!” He exclaimed before remembering where he was and lowering his voice to a whisper. “What are we gonna do?”

“We gotta get out of here without him noticing us.” Considering he was currently blocking the only entrance, that was easier said than done.

Before the pair could think up a plan, they both jolted back at the sound of their tablecloth being raised. “Hey, your food’s ready!” Thankfully, it was just Insasa, impressively holding two plates of omurice in one hand. “What are you guys doing under here?”

“Oh, come on. What other reason would a boy and girl be hiding under the tablecloth in the middle of a public restaurant?” Pony let the obvious question hang for a second before providing the answer. “We’re trying to hide from security.”
b
“Huh? You mean Shishikura? He looks pretty distracted already.”

“Wait, really?” Pony peeked out from under the tablecloth, where she was able to catch the boy blushing profusely at the maids, clearly not sure how to handle himself around them.

“I think I have an idea,” she declared before turning back to Inasa. “You wouldn’t happen to have any spare maid outfits, would you?”

“Yoarashi!” Shishikura robotically marched up to his underclassman, very clearly trying to cover up his awkwardness, though the current red tint of his face failed to help much in that regard.

“Hey! You finally showed up!” He tightened his fists at his sides, amped up to the max. “Want me to get you a seat? It’s crowded, but I can always make room for a friend!”

“N-No thank you! I’m not here for that!” He glanced away from Inasa’s frilly dress that showed off far more skin than he was comfortable with.

“You’re not? That’s a shame. Especially since those two are coming to greet you right now.”

“What…? Who?!” He nervously whipped around, his blush intensifying at the sight of Izuku and Pony in maid outfits, having slapped them on over their normal clothes.

“Greetings, master!” Pony struck a cute pose, her hands forming a heart shape over her chest.

Izuku, meanwhile, could barely bring himself to meet Shishikura in the eyes. “H-How may we serve you…?” Even though he mumbled his line, he still committed to the cute pose.

When he tore his vision away from the floor, he found it a little satisfying to see Shishikura somehow even more flustered than him, looking like he was two seconds away from passing out due to the blood rushing to his cheeks. “I - uh - I didn’t - what are you…”

“He wants the omurice,” Pony decided for him. “Izzy, get him to his seat.”

“R-Right!” Without thinking, he scooped up Shishikura in a Princess carry and deposited him into his chair, breaking the boy’s brain even more than he already had.

‘Dang, I wish he’d do that to me… and that I could do that to him.’ Pony quickly cast those thoughts from her mind as she approached the Shiketsu student with a fork in one hand and a plate of omurice in the other. “Here’s your food, now eat up!”

She stuffed the food into his mouth with such force that it caused him to tip over in his chair. He was so shaken by the experience that he didn’t bother getting up, allowing the pair of intruders to dash out of the classroom.

Once they were gone, Inasa casually sauntered up to Shishikura’s unmoving form, a wider-than-usual grin on his face. “Soooo… how would you rate your experience from one to five stars?”

Shishikura remained firmly planted on his spot on the floor, refusing to get up, move, or even blink. Yet through his thousand-yard stare, he managed to recite the first number that came to his mind. “…Five.”

“Can we take the maid outfits off now?” Izuku gripped the hem of his skirt as he ran down the hallway, not wanting to accidentally reveal anything (even though he was still wearing his pants underneath).

“You can, but I’m keeping mine! I’ve never looked better!” She spread out her arms, letting her dress’ frills flow in the wind.

“I mean… yeah, it definitely looks nice on you…” Pony not-so-subtly beamed at the compliment, “but shouldn’t we try to avoid standing out so we don’t get caught?”

“Well, what if we went somewhere dark? That way, the blackness of the outfit would blend in.” Fortunately, she didn’t have to look far for a place that fit her description. “Like that place.” She pointed at a door that read ‘Camie’s Totally Lit House of Fright and Illusions’.

She turned to Izuku to gauge his reaction, her smile faltering when she saw skepticism in his eyes. “I don’t know… I’ve never done haunted houses before. What if it’s scary?”

“Is it scarier than getting caught and kicked off the premises?” Pony glanced down the hall, where Shishikura could be seen angrily inching his way through the crowd, too polite to shove.

“Stop right there, intruders! Your maid-like charms won’t work on me this time!”

“Okay, that’s definitely scarier.” Izuku panicked at the sight of him and shoved his friend through the entrance.

As they made it down the narrow corridor, they were constantly bombarded by horrifying monsters beyond their comprehension, jump scares that quite literally came out of nowhere, and gore that looked too realistic not to have come from a human being. To most, it would be an unspeakably terrifying experience, one that would stick with them long after the festival was over.

To Izuku and Pony, it was nothing they hadn't seen before.

“Oh wow, a knife-wielding murderer. How original.” She rolled her eyes at the pitiful attempt to force a scream out of her.

“You call that body horror? That doesn’t even compare to the ways I’ve mangled my arms in the past.” Not even Izuku was immune to taking potshots at the realistic but ineffective decor. “A lot of this is way less scary when you’ve been in actual life-or-death situations.”

“Yeah, but you can’t say the same for everyone.” Case in point, Shishikura was trailing only a few feet behind them, but he failed to make any headway due to being approached by unspeakable horrors at every turn.

“AAAAHHHHH! GAAAHHH! UAAAAAGH! NOOOOO! UTSUSHIMI, CEASE YOUR ILLUSIONS RIGHT THIS INSTANT!”

“C’mon, Seiji, it’s a haunted house. Gotta like, meet me scream quota or whatevz,” spoke a disembodied voice, sounding shockingly chill considering the vibe of this place.

“Hold on, is this all an illusion Quirk?” Izuku reached out to touch the jaws of a bloodthirsty werewolf, only for his hand to pass right through. “Wow, that’s a really cool Quirk.”

“Thanks, fam. My Quirk totally slays, doesn’t it? I’m high-key excited to go all out with it, no cap finally.”

Pony blinked at the girl’s odd vocabulary, wondering if the illusion Quirk messed with her hearing too. “Izzy, do you have any idea…?”

“Not a clue.” He shook his head.

“Okay, enough of this.” With a wide, sweeping wave of his arm, Shishikura dispelled all the illusions surrounding him, a bright, glittery dust taking their place. “You two are coming with me right now!”

Pony felt a sliver of nervousness at his increased seriousness, like she’d just awakened some fearsome beast. “Shoot. Guess we’re running again.”

The rest of the haunted house passed by in a blur, and everyone found the scares were much less effective when running straight past them. When they reached the end, they found themselves in another dimly-lit room, only this one wasn't covered in fake monsters and gore.

“Quick, in here!” Pony gestured toward the nearest door, where she and Izuku were once again greeted with darkness.

“I’m not sure we’re supposed to be here,” Izuku remarked, struggling to make out his surroundings.

“You mean ‘here’ here, or ‘this entire festival’ here?”

Before he could provide an answer, he found himself shielding his eyes as a large spotlight shone down upon them, followed by the sounds of a curtain rising. As soon as he took in the audience before him, hundreds of eyes staring in his direction, he suddenly realized where he was.

“Pony!” He spoke in a crazed whisper. “I think we stumbled onto the set of the play.”

“Aw fuck…” came her eloquent response. She just hoped the maid outfits they still had on were appropriate to the play’s setting, whatever it was. “Let’s just slowly inch away, and hope they don’t notice anything-”

“You won’t get away with this, fellow maid!” Izuku blurted out in an over-dramatic tone, eyeing Pony like she was his worst enemy.

“What are you doing?!” She hissed, though she was slightly enthralled by this new, unexpected side of Izuku.

“I don’t want to let the audience down. Just play along,” he urged, prompting Pony to roll her eyes at him fondly. She’d almost forgotten how much of a people pleaser he was, the kind that would rather lose an arm than be the source of someone’s disappointment.

Always one to help her friend out, Pony slipped back into character and continued their exchange, saying the first mildly amusing phrase to come to mind. “Oh, but I already have! For you see, I’ve already poisoned the master’s tea! As soon as he drinks it, he’ll be dead within the hour!”

“No…” Izuku took a step back at the news. “NOOOOOOOO!” He fell to his knees and wailed, his performance shockingly convincing.

“Why do you oppose me so?” Pony tried her best to match his energy - go Plus Ultra, as it were, even if that phrase was likely outlawed at Shiketsu. “Our master is a horrible man who cheated on his wife. This is the Victorian Era, and killing men for committing adultery is just part of the aesthetic.”

“I know,” he solemnly admitted, “because I was the one he committed adultery with!”

A gasp overtook the crowd, and Pony couldn’t help but agree. The only thing crazier than this plot twist was how she was going to top it. “That can’t be right, because I was the one he cheated with!”

The audience was once again floored. But their shock paled in comparison to Izuku’s. “But - But then why did you kill him?”

“Because it was a test! A test to see if he would go that far. And he did, which meant he didn’t deserve to live.”

Izuku’s finger trembled with fear as he pointed it at her. “You… You’re a psychopath!"

“A hot psychopath, which makes it okay.” She reached behind her head and flipped her hair to accentuate her point.

“Okay, I guess that does make it okay,” Izuku agreed, his fear vanishing without a trace.

But what didn’t last long, as Pony removed a pair of her horns and approached him with a sinister grin. “You’re right. But now that you’ve found out my plan, I can’t let you live.”

“What?! NOOOOOOO!” He fearfully flinched back, failing to escape from his impending fate. But right as she was about to pretend-stab him with her horns…

“Stop! Stop! Stop!” Shishikura appeared on stage, waving his arms at both them and the audience. “Intruding on our festival is one thing, but now you have the gall to interrupt the improv club’s performance?”

“Oh… that’s what that was?” Pony muttered under her breath. Izuku, meanwhile, refused to break character despite the disturbance.

“Master! You’ve survived the poison! The other maid is about to kill me! I beg for your assistance!”

Shishikura’s flat look refused to falter, making his stance abundantly clear. “I’m not playing along with your games.”

“Aw, c’mon!” Pony begged, giving him the widest doe-eyes she could manage.

“No,” he repeated with increased agitation toward the pair. “If you don’t come with me right now, I’ll use my Quirk on you and turn you into featureless globs of flesh and take you there myself.”

“BOOOOOO!” A voice shouted from the crowd, with the rest of the audience quickly joining in, expressing their disdain for his refusal to commit to the bit.

“H-Hey! Stop that!” He whipped around to yell at the audience. “I’m not the bad guy here! I’m trying to uphold our school’s reputation! They’re the ones who don’t belong here!” He gestured to the obvious intruders, who politely smiled and waved back.

“I dunno. If you’re asking me, I’d say they fit right in.” The president of the Improv Club interjected, poking her head out from behind the curtains.

By this point, Shishikura looked like his head was about to explode from sheer frustration. “Seriously?! You want me to just… let them stay because they’re mildly amusing?”

“Isn’t that the reason you keep Camie around?”

“I… fine,” he relented, though he seemed far from happy about it. “If anyone needs me, I’ll be at the chocolate-covered banana stand.” Everyone watched him storm offstage in awkward silence until Pony broke it by leaning to whisper to Izuku.

“You know, a chocolate-covered banana sounds pretty good right now.”

“I was thinking the same thing.”

And that’s how they ended up sitting side by side on a bench underneath a sprawling oak tree, each enjoying their chocolate-covered bananas while basking in the other’s company. The only thing that would’ve made it better in Pony’s eyes was if they still had their maid outfits on, but they unfortunately had to return them after being told Inasa was never allowed to lend them out in the first place.

Still, any moment spent with Izuku was made instantly better in her book, and today had been nothing but that. As she took in the quiet, calming atmosphere, which felt especially nice after the hijinks they’d just gone through. She wondered if this was the time to finally say what was on her mind, the reason she’d brought him here in the first place.

“You know…” Izuku interrupted her thoughts, wearing a fond smile as he stared off into the distance. “This is probably the most fun I’ve had. Like… ever.”

“Ever?” She gave a soft exhale through her nose. “You serious? I wasn’t sure you’d consider running from security to be fun.”

“It’s a different kind of fun. And honestly, I’m not entirely used to it, so I might still be riding the high of experiencing it for the first time.”

“Really? You didn’t do this kind of stuff with Iida or Ochako or Tsu?”

“Eh, not really.” He took a bite of his banana. “Don’t get me wrong, they’re great friends, amazing friends, but I doubt things would turn out like this if I went to the festival with any of them. You’re special like that.”

“Awwwww, Izzy…” She pulled her friend into a bone-crushing hug. Despite his awkwardness, he always knew just the right thing to say. “You’re tons of fun to hang with, too. I honestly wouldn’t mind if…” she felt her heart rate quicken in her chest, yet she scooched closer to him, their shoulders pressing against each other, “if we became a little closer, maybe more than just friends…”

“Oh, you mean like best friends?” And just like that, the mood was ruined, if there even was one in the first place. “You might have to fight Uraraka for that title.”

“N-No! Not like that!” She blurted out, her face red from both frustration and embarrassment. She knew Izuku was oblivious when it came to this kind of stuff, but it still caught her off guard. “I meant like… ‘boyfriend/girlfriend’ kind of close!”

“W-WHAT?!” Now it was Izuku’s turn to flush red. He probably would’ve fallen right off the bench if Pony wasn’t there to stabilize him. “I’m… sorry, I don’t think I heard you right.” He gave her a nervous chuckle, trying to play it off like a joke.

You could imagine how Pony reacted to having her feelings joked about. “I said boyfriend/girlfriend, you dummy! Love! Romance! Affection! That sort of thing! It’s the whole reason why I wanted to come here with you!”

Was it harsh? Yes. But it also might have been the only way to drill in the message through his thick skull.

And boy, did it get through. So much so that it might’ve drilled a hole through his brain. At least, that was the only way she could explain the absolute dumbstruck look on his face, like he had just been struck with a frying pan. “I - I don’t… Are you serious? This isn’t some part of some long, elaborate joke or anything?”

Pony’s gaze softened at him. Not for the first time, she wondered if this behavior was the result of something that happened to him in the past. “Izuku, do you really think I’d do that to you?”

“I don’t know! I just never thought this would happen to me!” He stressfully ran his hands down his face, probably the last reaction Pony wanted to elicit from him.

“You don’t think anyone would end up liking you this way?” Izuku’s silence spoke volumes, filling Pony with an unparalleled rage aimed at whoever drilled that mindset into his head. “Who hurt you, Izuku?”

Izuku remained silent, a million thoughts flashing through his eyes as he curled up on the bench, very few of them positive. “I didn’t have many friends growing up. My Quirk… came in late, and no one wanted to be around me because of it. UA is the first time I’ve had a real friend since I was four…”

Pony felt her heart break at his words, though that only served to fuel the fire that had been lit within her just moments prior. “So… everyone. Everyone hurt you.” Which meant she had a long list of people to get revenge on, heroism be damned!

“Heh, yeah,” he managed to let out a humorless laugh. “But I’m sorry for making this difficult. It’s just… I’m still getting used to having friends, and then this comes around, and I’m not even sure how to-”

“Hey, hey, I get it.” She placed a calming hand on his shoulder. “I didn’t mean to put all this pressure on you. If you don’t wanna date or anything, we can still be friends. Nothing has to change between-”

“No!” He jolted toward Pony, startling both her and himself. “I - I think you’re amazing, Pony! The time I spent hanging out with you has been one of the best parts of UA, even more than the hero stuff!” Pony’s eyes widened. Now she knew he was serious. “I want to spend more time with you. I want to get closer to you, I just…” He sighed, beyond frustrated at his own stupid brain. “I’m not used to wanting things. Does that make sense?”

Grammatically? No. But Pony understood what he meant. His selflessness had been well documented up to this point, but it came at the cost of his own sense of self.

But now, for possibly the first time in years, he wanted to be selfish, yet he had forgotten how. Thankfully, that was something Pony could help with. “Well, if we were dating, what would you want to do?” She asked, secretly hoping it was something kiss-related.

“I would want us to…” he covered up his blushing face, embarrassed to finish his sentence. “IWOULDWANTUSTOHOLDHANDS!”

“Ah…” She stared blankly at him. It wasn’t what she expected, but she fulfilled his fantasies regardless, laying her hand atop Izuku’s and giving it a light squeeze. “What do you think? Is it everything you wanted it to be?”

Izuku’s eyes practically bulged out of his head as he stared down at their intertwined hands. He was at a loss for words, but that didn’t stop him from intertwining his fingers with Pony’s and squeezing just as tightly, which was all the confirmation she needed.

Though her heart felt close to bursting with joy, Pony managed to stay calm, allowing herself to take in this simple, perfect moment between the two of them, silently hoping it could last forever.

Of course, that was just wishful thinking, something she was reminded of when a blaring alarm went off on Izuku’s phone, completely butchering the moment by startling her out of her seat.

“O-Oh, right…” Izuku took his phone out of his pocket and shut off the alarm, feeling like an idiot for forgetting in the first place. “I, uh, set that alarm so I’d know when to leave for hero training.”

“Right… that.” Pony didn’t even bother hiding her frustration. Even if Izuku had feelings for her, this was a sobering reminder that his heart would always belong to heroism. ‘Guess I better get used to playing second fiddle.’

“But… you know what?” He continued, Pony raising an eyebrow at the look he had in his eye, the same one he wore when he was about to do something crazy. “Who cares about hero training?”

Once again, Izuku never failed to surprise Pony, with this possibly being the last thing she’d ever thought he’d say. “Are you serious?!”

“Y-Yeah!” He hopped off the bench. Though his body still shook with uncertainty, his determined, almost cocky grin radiated enough confidence to completely overshadow it. “Why should I worry about hero training when I could spend more time here with my g-g-g-girlfriend!”

Suddenly, he and Pony grew still, an odd sensation washing over them. Their surroundings may not have changed, but they both got an odd feeling that something else did. This feeling was not unfounded, as little did Izuku know, this singular decision caused a ripple effect that spread across the entire world, altering the very fabric of reality itself.

“Is it me, or did I just feel a sudden chill?” Izuku looked around, unsure of what could’ve caused this.

“Eh, it’s not important.” Pony changed the topic by clinging onto Izuku’s arm and resting her head on his shoulder, which did a great job at clearing the boy’s mind. “Come on. I wanna explore the rest of the festival with my boyfriend~.”

“Y-Yeah, me too…” Izuku grew flustered at the contact, but he had a feeling he’d get used to it very soon. He found himself growing excited at the thought, fueling him to lean into Pony’s touch as they walked off to enjoy the rest of their date.

Pony was just as excited, but not for the same reasons. She had almost forgotten amidst the frantic chaos of their date, but the moment Izuku threw aside his responsibilities as a hero to spend time with her, it all came rushing back to her.

Izuku’s wants and priorities had changed, meaning the universe had shifted accordingly. No longer would Pony have to worry about the shonen influence that had been looming over them since day one. Starting now, it would be nothing but slice of life, romance, and comedy for the rest of their days.

…Or at least until they graduated, but Pony knew she’d be ready by then.

Chapter Text

“This just in, the notorious League of Villains has been captured earlier today, and is currently in police custody. The group’s hideout location had been discovered after Dabi, one of their members, was recognized while ordering at KFC.”

The entirety of Class 1-A went silent at the news, staring blankly at the TV. Even though no one spoke a word, they were all thinking the same thing, “That was anticlimactic,” said Todoroki.

“I mean… did you want them to come and attack us again?” Jiro annoyedly remarked.

“Not really, but after two encounters, I thought this was going to become a common occurrence.”

“Oh well. Guess life just works out like that sometimes.” Pony remained much calmer than the rest of her classmates, as she knew the true reason behind this sudden shift. With the world now being a slice of life anime instead of a shonen one, there was no need for any world-ending conflicts, so they were all done away with. Heck, she wouldn’t be surprised if other villain organizations were disbanded because of this.

“In related news, infamous All Might impersonator, Vlado Goldini, has been arrested in front of Might Tower for identity theft… and nothing else.”

“Good, I hated that guy,” Pony was surprised to hear Izuku say.

“EVERYONE, LISTEN UP!” Tenya grabbed everyone’s attention by stepping in front of the TV. “Just because crime is starting to wane doesn't mean we should slack off on our training. The Provisional License Exam is in a few days, and we cannot disappoint!”

“Speaking of disappointment…” Kaminari muttered at the sight of Aizawa walking into the dorms, where he turned to address the class.

“Good, you’re already together. I’ll make this quick, then,” he drawled, as bored as ever. “The Provisional License Exam has been canceled for all first-year hero students.”

You could hear a pin drip as most of Class 1-A collectively lost their minds, having previously thought they’d just received the most shocking news of the day a mere five seconds ago. Aizawa didn’t pay them any mind and continued. “Apparently, the villain arrested at Kamino was responsible for at least three-fourths of organized crime in Japan. With him in Tartarus, none of his followers knew what to do and ended up getting arrested as well.”

“I’m… not sure that’s how things work,” Momo pointed out.

“Well, that's what happened. Since crime rates are so low, the HPSC doesn’t need an influx of heroes anymore, so you’re free to spend the rest of your summer however you want.”

It took a moment for them to take in all this information, but no one really had any complaints with the new arrangement. For some, it was a much-needed change of pace from their hectic schedule. For others, it simply allowed them more time to train and improve for when the actual exam rolled around.

For some unexplained reason, Pony felt somewhat weirded out at this news. She knew how strange that sounded, considering how this was her goal in the first place, but she just couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d forgotten about something important.

“Oh, also, if you see a little girl with white hair and a yellow horn walking around, that’s just a ward of UA Midnight brought in after rescuing her from the yakuza. Be gentle with her,” Aizawa haphazardly added.

‘Okay, yeah. That was it,’ Pony nodded to herself. She didn’t know who that girl was, but she was sure she would’ve regretted it if she had never been saved.

With his piece said, Aizawa strolled out of the dorm’s common room, with several other members of the class following suit. “Woo! We got time to kill!” Mina cheered, bouncing up and down with excitement. “C’mon, let’s go out!” She dragged some of her closest friends outside, on their way to who-knows-where.

Pony, on the other hand, was perfectly content with staying right here on the couch, lazing around in the company of her new boyfriend. “So, Izzy…” She scooted closer to him, their shoulders touching. “What do you wanna do now that we’re not busy with hero stuff?”

“Y-You’re asking me?” He pointed to himself in disbelief. “Don’t you usually plan our hangouts? Or, I guess they’d be dates now that we’re d-d-dating.” He had to force the word out, still struggling to accept it as reality.

Fortunately, Pony helped with that when she wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him in for a hug, her cheek nuzzling against his. “Yup! We’re dating! You and me! A couple!” It had been a few days since they made it official, and Pony still hadn’t gotten tired of saying it out loud. “But nope! I don’t have any plans, which means we’ll just have to do whatever you want.” She punctuated her statement with a boop to the nose, which spread a blush across his cheeks.

“Whatever I want…?” He echoed, as if the concept were foreign to him.

“Yep! Whatever you want! Just name it, and we can do it!” Izuku had admitted in the past that he wasn’t used to wanting things, so this was her fun little way of letting him be a little selfish.

“In that case, do you think we could maybe… go roller-skating together?” He nervously asked, somehow worried she would shoot his suggestion down.

Pony spared a quick glance at her hooves before giving her boyfriend a reassuring nod. “I’ll ask Momo to make me some custom skates.”

“Y-Yeah!” Pony could see Izuku’s posture loosen as his eyes lit up with excitement. It was a sight she was happy to see, knowing her boyfriend was slowly climbing out of his shell. But her good mood suddenly faltered when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ochako get up and speedwalk out of the common room, uncomfortably biting her lip.

Sadly, she knew all too well what was going on; Ochako made her feelings for Izuku more than obvious to everyone but the man himself. And Pony wouldn’t lie, she felt more than a little guilty for confessing to Izuku before she could.

“Uh, be back in a sec, Izzy. There’s something I gotta do.” She swiftly hopped off the couch to follow Ochako. She wasn’t sure if the gravity girl even wanted to talk to her right now, but that wouldn’t stop her from trying. The last thing she wanted was for there to be any bad blood between friends.

Pony caught up to her on the upper floor, right as Ochako had her hand on her doorknob. “Ochako, wait!” She called out.

“Oh… hi Pony.” The moment she turned to face her, Pony recognized the look on Ochako’s face. It was subtle, but it was clear she was straining herself trying to hold something back. It didn’t take long at all for Pony to guess what.

A beat of awkward silence passed between the pair. Now that Pony was actually here, she wasn’t quite sure what to say. “You, uh, doin’ alright?”

“Uh… yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?” Ochako responded with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Because, well… How do I say this…?” It was then Pony decided to bite the bullet, knowing they weren’t going to make any progress otherwise. “Cuz’ I kinda confessed to the boy you were crushing on.”

A crack formed in Ochako’s already fragile smile, amplifying Pony’s guilt tenfold. “Y-Yeah… you kinda did,” she muttered, looking on the verge of tears.

Pony, meanwhile, had already broken, falling to her knees as large tears streamed down her cheeks. “I’m sorry! I didn’t wanna be a home wrecker or anything! I had no idea I even liked Izzy like that until very recently! Then one thing led to another, and then-”

“Pony.” Ochako cut her off, surprisingly calm given the circumstances. “It’s… It’s fine.”

Pony blinked the tears out of her eyes, eyeing her friend with apprehension. “It’s okay for it not to be fine, Ochako. You know that, right?”

She didn’t say anything, instead sitting down against the wall and hugging her knees, her eyes staring off into some unseen horizon. “It’s kind of funny… I don’t think I realized my own crush on Deku until you started dating him. I guess it’s true what they say, you don’t know what you have until it’s gone.”

Pony joined her in looking dejected, wishing she knew what to say. Truth be told, she was open to some kind of hinge situation where both she and Ochako could be with Izuku. But he made it clear before that the idea of having multiple girlfriends personally stressed him out, and she didn’t want to put that on him. If she did, he’d probably be too nice to say no.

“Are… we still friends?” She asked Ochako, to which she immediately snapped out of her funk, staring at Pony like she was insane.

“What? Of course we are! There was never any question about that.” She stood back up, pulling Pony along with her. “Same with Deku, too. Even if we’re not dating, he’s still great to have around. In fact…” A slightly mischievous smile spread across her face. “Since you two are dating now, that makes me his best friend by default.”

“Wait, what?!” Pony gawked at the girl. “That’s not how it works!”

“Yeah it is. You can’t hold the title of best friend and girlfriend. That’s against the rules.”

“What rules?”

“The rules of… life!”

“Okay, but have you considered the rules of life are different in America?”

“But we’re not in America, are we?”

“Shit…” Pony pretended to be mad for all of two seconds before she and Ochako both burst into laughter. “<>Pffft! Okay, fine. I’ll give you that one.”

To her surprise, Ochako responded by pulling the equine girl into a hug, which she couldn’t help but reciprocate. “Thanks, Pony.” There was still a good deal of sadness in her tone, and Pony could tell Ochako still wasn’t fully over it, but the knowledge that they would all still be friends helped soften things somewhat.

…So long as they never made Ochako the third wheel in their future hangouts, which Pony wouldn’t dream of doing.

Pony returned to the common room to see Izuku still on the couch, remote in his hand as he mindlessly flipped through channels in search of something to watch. “Hey Pony.” He didn’t have to look up to see who was entering the room, mostly due to the sound of the girl’s hooves. “How was… whatever you did?”

“It went well.” She sat on the edge of the couch, spreading her legs out across Izuku’s lap and appreciating the subtle blush that came from it. “But boy, am I drained.” She was so mentally prepared to do nothing today that even the slightest bump felt like an emotional rollercoaster. “I hope nothing else happens toda-”

She realized what she was saying mid-sentence and shut herself up, but she was too late, and the rules of comedy came into effect as something did happen. The ‘something’ in question made itself apparent when Monoma burst into the dorms.

“Oh… hi Monoma,” Izuku greeted him as politely as he could for someone who just kicked their door in. “What - What are you doing here?”

“I’m glad you asked! Since the first cross-class transfer between Pony and Aoyama went so well, they’ve decided to do it again! And can you guess who volunteered to be in Class 1-A?”

“Oh god…” Pony frustratingly shook her head, already knowing the answer.

“That’s right, Manga!”

“Wait, what?”

“BAM! It’s me!” All of a sudden, Manga Fukidashi appeared from behind Monoma and flew into the room. “Wassup Pony? Nice to see you again.”

“Uh, yeah, hi.” She paid him little attention, as she was still focused on Monoma. “In that case, what are you doing here?”

“I just came to help my boyfriend with his stuff, since he’s moving into the 1-B dorms.”

“There you are, Neito.” Everyone suddenly turned to see Todoroki running up to Monoma, whom he greeted with a kiss to the cheek. “I’m so excited to move in with you,” he said in his usual monotone voice.

“Technically, you’re moving in next to me, but I’m sure I could ask Honenuki to soften the barrier between us.”

Todoroki seemed just as pleased by that and rushed back up to his room so he could move in as soon as possible. As Monoma moved to follow him, he stopped at Pony to say one last thing to her.

“Congratulations on the new boyfriend, by the way. Though you really have me to thank for this. If I didn’t ask you to meet in the library, you never would have bumped into him that day.”

“Quit fishing for compliments.” She rolled his eyes at him, only for them to shoot open once she thought about what he said.

‘Hold on, he’s right. This whole romantic, trope-defining adventure started when I accidentally bumped into Izzy. But accidentally bumping into your future love interest is the oldest trope in the book! It’s the textbook definition of anime romance! Does that mean… the universe wanted me to meet and fall in love with Izuku? Did it WANT me to change the genre of reality itself?! WAS ALL OF THIS PREDETERMINED FROM THE START?!’

“Uh, Pony? You okay?” Izuku gently nudged her shoulder.

“I think my brain’s about to explode.”

“What?”

And then her brain exploded… Metaphorically.