CHAPTER ONE
Vandalism
Thursday night. Ponyville High’s gymnasium.
The punk jerked the spray can up and down and then put the finishing touches on her disasterpiece. It was the middle of the Friday night; the security cameras were off during the weekend. She laughed to herself as she threw the last can of spray paint across the floor. She then had her four other gang members cover their creation with the “Summer Sun Homecoming” sign that the art club had painted.
Their leader put her black hood over her midnight-blue hair and then hoisted herself up the wall with the rope attached to the window followed by the others, her deep voice echoing off the large Ponyville High walls. A giant black stallion was spray-painted across the front wall of the gym, with moons in its eyes and a smaller white horse under it. The words “Celestia’s DOOM” were written in red.
CHAPTER TWO
A Request
Thursday evening. Teresa “Twilight” Sparkle’s room.
“I know you’re sad about transferring,” said Celestia.
Twilight bit her lip. “I don’t see why the office wouldn’t take my scholarship,” Twilight said, stuffing books in her backpack. She adjusted her glasses, and sighed. “I guess I’m not a good enough student….”
“Twilight, we’ve known each other since you were in kindergarten,” she said. “I’ve seen you crying countless times because you got a B on some exam or another. Only real students cry over grades.”
Lest was right: Twilight was the spitting image of a nerd. Her medium-length brown hair was dorked out by her round bangs, and her glasses were rounder than anything. She always wore sweater vests and Mary Janes on the weekends, and spent all her free time studying in her room.
“Ponyville High looks dumb,” she said. “No uniforms, no organization, no order. That’s the way I see it.”
The two girls sat on the bed. Twilight looked down at her pink and purple pajama bottoms; this was their last slumber party where the two friends were going to the same school.
“You know how happy I’d be if Canterlot Academy decided they wouldn’t have uniforms anymore?” Celestia laughed. “Ponyville doesn’t look too bad.”
Twilight shrugged. “I just don’t see why you put me on Homecoming committee so soon. Thanks to you, I have to root around some school I don’t even know the routes to and look for some random girls that I barely even know by the end of the night.”
“They’re a few of the schools’ most trusted students,” she said. “And I’m only going to be touring Ponyville High with my dad for a week. You know how the mayor loves to snoop around the schools and make sure everything’s going okay and the teachers are actually teaching. Besides, Ponyville High has an awesome library, I hear. You can stay there until the dance; I already arranged you to have your Homecoming dress sent to you there.”
“Do I really need a dress?” Twilight asked.
“It’s the Summer Sun Homecoming DANCE. Of course you’ll need a dress; I knew you wouldn’t have one on such short notice, so I got the school’s fashion club president to get you one of their dresses before the dance.”
“Yeah, I guess Homecoming’s kind of a big deal,” Twilight admitted. “I’m just kind of nervous about bumping into your sister…”
“Let’s not talk about Luna,” Celestia muttered.
Ever since Luna had been expelled from Canterlot Academy for breaking numerous important rules and then was transferred to Ponyville High, Celestia and her dad had been extremely strict about not talking about her. Lest felt like it was her fault that her sister was expelled; she was the one who reported her to the office for vandalism. If someone even mentioned Luna’s name to her, Lest would change the subject immediately. Luna never showed up at school, before and after she was transferred to Ponyville. It’s almost like she disappeared off the face of Equestriopolis.
“Sorry, Lest,” Twilight mumbled, feeling awful.
“It’s okay…” Celestia said. “I’m sure you’re going to have a wonderful time at Ponyville.”
“No I won’t! I’m going to be away from you!”
“Twilight, I can’t be your only friend. You have to learn to make some new ones. Spike doesn’t really count.”
The student fell back on her bed. Her little brother Spike would be going to Ponyville with her, and they had the closest bond ever, being only a year apart. “I go to school to study, not to make friends.”
Her platinum-blonde friend burst into uncontrollable laughter.
“What?” Twilight asked, sitting up straight. “It’s true!”
“I just don’t see how you can just isolate yourself from people,” Lest explained.
CHAPTER THREE
First Day
Friday morning. Ponyville High North Building.
Twilight decided to just stick with black pants, a white oxford tucked in, and a purple sweater vest. She wasn’t used to wearing her weekend clothes during the weekday, so she replaced her usual jeans with more professional black pants and wore her eight-sided pink star brooch. Her friends at Canterlot Academy used to make fun of her for wearing “old lady” jewelry, but she could care less. She parked her car in the student parking lot, her purple backpack on her back, her books, notebooks and planner her arms.
She had her planner opened up to the list of girls she was going to have to find by the end of the day to talk about the Homecoming dance:
1) FOOD: Jackie Apple. Goes by Apple Jack. Her family supplies half of the cafeteria’s food supply.
2) DECORATIONS: Rarity Diamond. President of the Ponyville Fashion Club.
3) CHOIR FOR THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF HOMECOMING QUEEN: Fiona Shys. Everyone calls her Fluttershy. Vice President of the Choir Club.
Twilight was happy that it was only three of them. They wouldn’t be too hard to find, she didn’t think. How many girls in the school were named and nicknamed Apple Jack, Rarity, and Fluttershy?
“I’ll have to intercom them,” Twilight said as she helped her brother out of the car. Spike was a sophomore, but liked to act that he was on Twilight’s level, since he was taller than her and helped her out with most of her organization. “I don’t know how else I’ll find them in this town of a school.”
“It’s not much bigger than CA,” said Spike. “It has four buildings, just like Canterlot did.”
The two students entered the school’s north building to find a conundrum of students, scattered in the hallways either laughing or talking. Some of them had footballs and lacrosse sticks; others were holding play scripts and notebooks for drawing and writing. Twilight noted that everyone seemed to have their place; everyone but her.
On the bright side, she figured that her schoolwork was going to be a lot easier in a public school. She studiously shoved her thick-rimmed glasses up the bridge of her nose and walked down the hall, trying to find her locker number. Some students stared at her and waved friendlily, but Twilight ignored them and kept her eyes straight ahead.
Spike sighed. “Come on, Twilight; try to make some friends.”
“I came here to study, Spike,” she said. “Not to socialize.”
“Everyone here’s so friendly though!” he said. “Come on; at least talk to somebody.”
Twilight capitulated. “Fine. One person, and then I’m going straight to class.”
She looked around the hall. She saw a girl with huge blonde curls walking—well, more like bouncing—down the hall, books in hand, humming a little tune to herself through her smiling, pink-glossed lips. Twilight interrupted the party going on inside the girl’s head to talk to her.
“H-Hey,” said Twilight. “I’m new here, do you—HEY!”
The girl took one glance at her and then rushed off, seeming to be in a hurry. The dorky student harrumphed.
“I told you,” Twilight said, defeated.
CHAPTER FOUR
Apple Jack
Noon. Ponyville High cafeteria.
Twilight looked at what the lunch lady was fixing her: a club sandwich with a sliced apple on the side and a milk carton. It was weird to see how nice and healthy this cafeteria was; it was no fancy Canterlot dining hall, but it wasn’t a stereotypical public school lunch of mystery meat and whatever the heck they were serving. Everything at the cafeteria was fresh and delicious, from the crispy apples they gave everyone to the professional-looking cupcakes.
The new student looked around; she was dreading this time of the day. She didn’t have a group, since everyone had made their groups and stuck with them since Freshman year. Just as she was deciding to head towards the library for lunch, a southern accent chirped from behind her.
“Looks like you could use a chair!”
Twilight turned around. A freckled girl with sun-kissed skin and messy blonde hair was sitting with a similar-looking older boy and younger girl at the table, holding out a chair for her. She was wearing a plaid shirt with jeans and cowboy boots, and had a cowboy hat on. An apple charm hung from her neck on a gold chain.
“No, thanks, I was just going to go to the library to—”
“Eat books?”
The three laughed like crazy. The girl with the cowboy hat sat her down at the table.
“My name’s Jackie, but everyone calls me Apple Jack, because my family owns the apple farm on the outskirts of town.”
“Oh!” Twilight sparked. She pulled out her list. “I’m Teresa Sparkle. I’m new here, and my friend put me on the Summer Sun Homecoming committee to confirm all of the plans for tonight. Your family’s in charge of the food being provided, right?”
“Yes ma’am!” the cowgirl declared happily. “My whole family runs the food around here; we provide the cafeterias with all of our produce, but we specialize in apples. Everyone comes up with the funniest nicknames for me and my siblings; that there is Mac, but we call him Big Macintosh.”
Twilight was surprised at the student body’s cleverness. Apple. Macintosh. She laughed a little to herself. The large-framed, muscular senior on the opposite edge of the table waved silently with a smile. He had a red plaid, country shirt on that fit snugly against his large frame.
“And there’s Apple Bloom,” she said. “In 8th grade, we called her Apple Seed.”
“Very funny, Jackie!” Bloom said. The freshman looked a lot like her sister, but paler and with dark red hair pulled back in a huge red bow. She looked a bit different than her brother and sister; instead of wearing a country shirt, she had a white t-shirt on with flowers on the front, and was wearing a red skirt that went to the top of her knee. She was wearing cowboy boots that looked a little too big for her; probably hand-me-downs from her sister.
“In Canterlot we all had funny nicknames as well. Does anyone go by their real names?” Twilight joked.
“A few. Do you have a nickname?”
“Twilight. My best friend calls me that.”
“Twilight it is then!” she said. “That’d make since because of your last name. Ha ha ha! I think you and I are gonna be great pals!”
The bell rang for the next period. Twilight barely got to finish her lunch, so she wrapped her remaining apple slices in a napkin and stuck them in her backpack. The few slices she had were delicious; Apple Jack’s family must be rolling in money from the way their produce tasted.
“Hey, Twilight, catch!” shouted Jackie, and through her a cupcake with green icing and a tiny apple slice on it.
“An apple flavored cupcake?”
“Sweet Apple Acres’ and Sugarcube Corner’s collaboration,” she explained. “Pinkie Pie came up with the recipe. I’m sure you’ll meet her later on.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Rainbow Dash
Afternoon. P.E., Twilight’s least favorite course.
Twilight dressed out into her gym shorts and shirt. The shirt was a neutral green and had the Ponyville High’s colt logo on it with her name scribbled in a white box with a sharpie marker. She hated P.E. at her old school, and with Ponyville having the lead track team in Equestriopolis’s whole high school district, she doubted that she was going to like being measured up alongside pure athletes.
The coach had the students do volleyball drills, slamming volleyballs over the net over and over. Twilight blew air through her teeth, but went along with it as best as she could. At least I got the food confirmed before school let out, Twilight thought as she shot the ball straight under the net. Now all I have to do is decorations and—
Her thoughts were shoved out of her ear when she was forced off her feet and to the ground. All she could see was flashes of red, orange and yellow before she collided with the gym floor. Luckily she didn’t hit her head that hard, but the girl who pushed her was now on top of her, her stomach across hers.
She heard the coach’s shrill whistle. “Dash!” yelled the coach. “Stop fooling around and get back up!”
“Sorry, coach!” the girl yelled. The voice was quirky and high-pitched, but rusty as if it were a little hoarse. She hopped up and helped Twilight up. Twilight scrutinized the girl; she had wild purple eyes and long, obviously dyed hair, with the layers dyed, from top to bottom, red, orange, and yellow. She was wearing the regular P.E. uniform, but her green-blue-purple socks made her look like a human rainbow. She had a distinctive sky-blue sweatband on under her messy red bangs. Twilight looked closer to see that a cloud with a rainbow-colored thunderbolt was stitched into the side of the band.
“Heh, sorry for the spill. I need to tie my shoes more often.”
Twilight looked down as she tied her shoes. Her shoes were sky-blue Nikes with cloud-colored wings painted on the sides.
“You really like colors, don’t you?” Twilight asked.
“Yeah, I like standing out.”
“I can tell. Your hair’s really pretty; did you dye it yourself?”
The rainbow girl put her fiery long hair in a ponytail. “Nah, I have my friend Rarity do it for me every other month or so; just when my roots need to be touched up. I wanted to dye it green, blue, and purple too, but the school administration won’t let me. Shit, they almost didn’t let me dye it the first three colors!”
“Well it’s pretty like it is, I think,” Twilight said, and served a ball straight into the net.
The coach blew his whistle again. The class had free period for the remaining twenty minutes.
“I’m Twilight,” she continued. “I’m kind of new here….”
“Oh, no wonder you look different! Well, I’m Roxy Dashington; everyone calls me Rainbow Dash.”
“You’re kind of boyish for someone who loves rainbows.”
“Well, I like standing out, and…well, I have two gay dads….”
“Oh.”
Twilight didn’t really know what to say. They kind of sat there awkwardly for a few seconds, until Dash said, “Yeah, I mean, I get made fun of a bit, but I don’t really care. I’m a nice person once you get to know me.”
“You seem nice already!”
“Yep! I’m the head girl of the track team, and the fastest one in the school.”
Twilight laughed. “Kind of a big ego you got going on there,” she joked. “The fastest? You know Ponyville High has the best track team in the city….”
A few kids looked at them. They all knew Dash was the fastest; how would someone question her about it?
Dash narrowed her eyes, and her volume grew. She wasn’t really angry; it was all an act of showing confidence. “Of course I’m the fastest! I’m the only one who could run to the end of this gym and back in ten seconds flat!”
“Ten seconds? Are you serious?”
More kids were paying attention. Dash was pretty popular for her track skills, and she loved a challenge.
“Of course.”
“Prove it!”
Twilight playfully held up the stopwatch app on her phone and stepped back, finger hovering over the “Start” button. She usually didn’t pull her phone out during classes, but P.E. didn’t count as a class for her, and this was an opportunity that she couldn’t pass up. A few kids started chanting “Dash! Dash! Dash!” until the whole class was yelling her name. Dash smirked, and made her way to the end of the gym, under the large “Summer Sun Homecoming” sign. She lowered her body to the runner’s position.
Twilight yelled, “THREE, TWO, ONE—GO!”
Dash sped across the gym, and everyone was cheering. Before Twilight could blink, she was halfway across the gym. Within four seconds, she was on the other side, tagging the wall, and shot back to the other side. Twilight couldn’t believe what she was seeing: Dash was almost a blur of color, like a fire bolt softened by the cool colors on her socks and sweatband.
The class hushed their cheering as Twilight stopped the timer and read the results aloud in disbelief.
“9.89 seconds.”
The gym class cheered, and Dash was barely panting.
“What’d I tell you? Ten seconds flat.”
“Technically, it was 9.89 seconds,” Twilight joked.
Dash roared with laughter. “You’re HILARIOUS! We need to hang out sometime—well, if my dads let me borrow the car. Maybe you can come with me next time Rarity re-touches my roots.”
The bell rang before Twilight could reply.
“Gotta go!” Dash said.
“Wait!” Twilight chased after her, which wasn’t an easy task. “You said something about knowing Rarity. Isn’t she the president of the fashion club?”
Dash stopped and turned. “Yeah, we’re friends. She’s the craziest diva I know; she’s good with hair, though!”
“Where could I find her after school? I need to talk with her about the Homecoming decorations.”
“She’s usually in the East Building after school, in the Fashion Room, but she’s in charge of decorations for the Homecoming dance. She’ll be in the gym.”
CHAPTER SIX
Rarity
After school. Gymnasium.
After Twilight rounded up Spike after classes ended, she went to the gym to check on Rarity’s decorations. The large makeshift venue had completely transformed since Twilight’s P.E. class: the gym had a DJ booth on a massive pedestal in the middle, and large, sparkly sapphire ribbons on the walls with the occasional large bow. A few tables with emerald tablecloth were adorned with vases of daisies and food wrapped in plastic so it’d be fresh by the time the dance started. A few girls were finishing up tying the gold balloons to the DJ booth and tables. Two large banners hung on opposite sides of the gym, one with a sun and the other with a moon. All of the colors worked harmoniously together.
“Oh my gosh,” Spike gasped.
“These decorations are amazing!” Twilight exclaimed. “It looks like they’re just finishing up…. Where do you think this Rarity girl is?”
“I don’t know, but that chick over there is hot,” Spike gawked. He pointed to the girl with shiny, gracefully curled black hair. She was wearing a very professional-looking white blouse tucked into a deep violet pencil skirt, with 5-inch high heels to match perfectly. She was holding a clipboard and wore librarian-style glasses on the brim of her pointy but beautifully sculpted nose. By the shape of her figure and the style of her dress, she looked like she could have been a teacher.
“NO! No, not there, Bon Bon; too high up, darling, move it down. Lyra! There needs to be TWO golden balloons and ONE sapphire one.”
The girl with the pixie-cut platinum blonde hair and letterman jacket grumbled. “Bonnie, I can’t believe you got me into this….”
“I told you we can hang out after we finish this, now hush!” the creamy-skinned, curly-haired girl hissed back.
“I’m sorry I’m making you so tense, dears,” the lead girl apologized. She wrapped a curly hair around her finger. “We’re almost done; all we need is the glitter on the floor, and I called Derpy to take care of that. Lyra—on second thought, keep the balloons like you had them before.”
Lyra moaned.
Twilight bit her lip. She didn’t want to disrupt such organization. She tapped the head girl on the shoulder.
“Hi, I’m sorry to interrupt,” Twilight said. “I’m here to check on the decorations for the Summer Sun Homecoming. Do you know where I can find Rarity Diamond?”
She turned around. Her makeup was a little mature for a high school girl: she had glistening blue eye shadow, blush, and a whole tube of lipstick.
“Yes, dear, you’re talking to her!” she said, putting a manicured hand to her chest. Twilight noticed a triple-diamond ring sparkling on her ring finger. “Ah! You must be Twilight. Celestia told me that I’d be expecting you! Do you like the gym? I sure do have an eye for design!”
Lyra rolled her eyes. Bon Bon gave her a punch on the arm.
Spike smiled blissfully as Rarity chuckled to herself. “Now, what can I help you wi—GAH!”
“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked.
“YOUR HAIR! It’s so…so tangly!”
Twilight laughed. “It gets a bit frizzy during the day….”
“A bit?” she moaned. “Aren’t you going to the Homecoming dance?”
“Of course I am….”
“I’m doing your hair. No, no need to thank me! The pleasure is all mine! Besides, I’m providing your dress.”
Oh. Twilight was so busy with trying to organize the Homecoming plans that she completely forgot about the dress. She heaved a sigh and followed Rarity out of the gym. As they left, they ran into a girl with shaggy, yellowish hair. She tripped and the glitter she was carrying went all over the floor.
“Derpy, do be careful with that!” Rarity scolded as she helped her off the ground.
Rarity dragged her to the Fashion Room in the East building, where Rarity had her endless supply of cosmetics, jewelry, and hair things all lined up on the counter in front of the lit-up mirrors. She tried curling Twilight’s hair, but it fell down right when she put the curlers in. She decided just to comb and straighten it. She insisted that Twilight take off her glasses.
“What prescription do you wear?” she asked.
“-4.00” Twilight said. “I used to wear contacts, but…”
“That’s my same prescription!” Rarity chimed. She gave Twilight a pair of contacts, and Twilight reluctantly put them on. Rarity did her make up next; dark eyeliner, mascara, and nude lipstick. She skipped blush, since Twilight’s skin “wasn’t pale enough”. Twilight didn’t know why she was going along with this. Rarity just kept telling her, “Trust me, darling, this is for your own good.”
When she spun Twilight around to look in the mirror, Rarity was right; Twilight looked pretty, so pretty she couldn’t recognize herself. Rarity had freed Twilight’s hair of all frizz, and her eyes were big and beautiful without her glasses.
“You look so gorgeous!” Rarity squealed. “Do you want to try on your dress now?”
“Maybe later,” Twilight said. “The dance isn’t until 8.”
“Right,” Rarity said. She sat in a director’s chair by Twilight; the drama club sometimes put some of their things in the Fashion Room for storage. “Now, dear, you were telling me where you were from?”
“Well, I transferred from Canterlot Academy—”
“You went to school with Celestia at Canterlot?!”
“Well, yeah….”
“I just love Canterlot! The glamour, the high grades, the cute uniforms…. I’d die to go to that school! But, you know, living with a single mother, some things you just have to sacrifice.”
“I understand. Canterlot didn’t accept my scholarship essay this year, so I had to transfer here.”
“Aww. Well, what can you do? I suppose we just have to make the most of what we have. I’m so glad I have someone who understands me! We’re going to be the best of friends!”
Twilight smiled weakly, but when her eyes drifted towards the clock, she flipped.
“Uh oh!” she said. “I have to get to the choir room! Do you know where I can find it? I need to see Fiona Shys.”
“Everyone calls her Fluttershy,” Rarity said. “The choir room is only a floor below this room, actually.”
Twilight and Spike were out of the door with the dress in less than five seconds, Spike being dragged by the hood of his hoodie. He held up a “call me” gesture right before they exited.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Fluttershy
4:15 PM. Hallway leading towards the Choir Room.
“Dude, did you even SEE her figure?” Spike said. “Perfect curve!”
“Spike, you’re insane,” she said. “She looked like she could’ve been 25, and you still can’t grow any facial hair.”
“I got my first chest hair yesterday, actually!”
Twilight rolled her eyes.
As they walked down the hall, the sound of singing was coming closer and closer. It sounded like a choir of angels rather than high school students.
When they finally got to the room, they saw a girl with long, blonde hair conducting a group of about twenty or thirty freshmen and sophomores singing what sounded like Ponyville High’s school anthem.
Suddenly, the conductor’s hands dropped down, and the students were quiet.
“Um, I’m sorry,” the girl said. Her voice was barely above a murmur. “A few quick notes and then we’re dismissed. I’m sorry, but, Swirl, try not to clench your jaw so much while you sing; it wears your voice out, and I wouldn’t want you to lose your voice. And Jay, but your pitch is a teeny tiny bit high. If you could lower it a bit, that’d be nice.”
“Of course, Fluttershy!” the blue-shirted freshman said.
“Thank you. Okay, I’ll see you all at seve—”
“Excuse me!”
The girl screamed, and threw her baton up in the air, hitting the ceiling. She spun around and flailed her arms until she grabbed onto her conductor’s stand for support.
Twilight backed up. The girl looked frightened; her side-swiped bangs drooped into her eyes, and she adjusted the sleeves of her baby-pink turtleneck, embarrassed. Twilight noticed a clip in her hair in the shape of a butterfly. The kids laughed, and then started getting their backpacks and exiting.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Twilight started. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
The conductor nodded, her eyes still pointed to her Uggs. She looked up at Twilight for a bit, and then looked at her hands. Twilight tried a friendly grin, but it came out a little awkward.
“I’m Twilight Sparkle. I was here to check on the music your choir team was preparing for the Summer Sun Homecoming for the announcement of the Homecoming Queen. It sounded beautiful! Are you Fluttershy?”
“Ye—yeah…”
“Sorry, what was that?”
“Um, yes, I’m… Flutter…shy…”
Twilight grinned again. Fluttershy bit her lip, as if she was going to cry.
“Well, uhh…. Sorry about the intrusion. Thank you for getting the music ready; it sounds wonderful! Well, I guess I’m, uh, gonna go…”
She went outside the room to meet Spike. Fluttershy could see Spike behind her bangs.
“OH! Are you a freshman? I LOVE freshmen!”
Spike entered the room. He didn’t normally like being called a freshman, but for a cute girl’s attention, he didn’t mind at all.
“He’s my baby brother,” Twilight laughed. “Come on, Spike—”
“His name’s Spike? That’s sooo cute!” she gushed.
“It’s a nickname I got from my old haircut,” he explained.
“Yeah, well, we’d better get going—” Twilight said. “The party’s in a few hours, and I still need to go to the library to—”
“So, Spike, where did you transfer here from?”
“Twilight and I came from Canterlot Academy.”
Twilight dragged Spike out the door, but Fluttershy followed. “Do you sing well? Maybe you could join the choir. Mostly freshmen and sophomores join, since all the seniors and juniors are busy with other stuff. I don’t mind though; it’s nice to give them a place when all the upperclassmen are so mean to them…..”
Spike continued to make conversation with her on the way to the library. Twilight sighed.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Pinkie Pie
4:45 PM. Outside the library.
It took them a while to reach the opposite building, where the library was, and Fluttershy was a slow walker. Twilight figured that she was sensitive, so she didn’t want to just push the poor thing away. But they seemed to be talking forever!
“Oh, I forgot to even ask you how your first day at Ponyville High was! Moving to a new school is scary; my mom and dad transferred me here when I was a sophomore, and it was sooo scary. How was your first day at school?”
Twilight halted in front of the library. “WELL I guess we better get going! I have a lot of homework to do. And Spike needs his nap before he goes out partying ‘till sunrise….”
“You poor thing!” Fluttershy pouted. “I’m sure there are plenty of tables in there that you can rest your head on….”
“Yep, you’re certainly right!” Twilight said. “See you at the dance, Fluttershy. Good bye!”
She slammed the library door in the poor girl’s face. It was dark in there; the room was closed for the day, but Celestia had told Twilight that they didn’t care if students walked in after hours. The library didn’t have any windows, so it was pitch dark with the lights out.
“Fluttershy seemed fun,” Spike said.
“Because she showered you in compliments,” Twilight scolded.
“Oh, come on, Twilight; you could at least be nice—”
“NICE? Spike, we don’t have time for this; I’m nice enough, being thrown into a school with a bunch of crazy girls who dye their hair weird and obsess over freshmen and have weird accents. Everyone here seems so unfocused; I miss Canterlot already!” She gave a tired sigh. This whole day had exhausted her; all she wanted to do was get her studying done, put that stupid dress on, and get the Homecoming dance over with. “Spike, where’s the light? I can’t see crap in here….”
The lights showered the library to expose balloons, girls, guys, and food. A curly blonde-haired girl bounced up and down and led the others in a hearty, “SURPRISE!!”
Twilight wanted to collapse. Just when she thought everyone was crazy, it had to get crazier….
“Hi!” the blondewad chirped. Twilight noticed her from the beginning of the day, the girl who rushed by her without saying anything. She had on a pink blouse with a yellow skirt and blue leggings. She had an ear-to-ear smile. “Isn’t this exciting? I decided to host my before-Homecoming party in the library! I heard the rumor that you were coming to PonyvilleHighandIreallyreallywantedtowelcomeyouandIheardyouwereabookwormso….”
The perky bimbo followed Twilight down the library until Twilight stopped at the drink table and grabbed herself a soda. Lord knew she needed it. The girl went on blabbering a mile a minute. Twilight noticed on her wrist a silver charm bracelet with a bunch of balloon charms on it, some yellow, a few blue, like her large, round eyes.
“My friends call me Pinkie Pie!” she said. “I’m the head cheerleader!”
“I can tell,” Twilight grumbled, the soda hissing as she popped it open.
“My favorite color is pink, and I throw, like, every single party in this school. I know EVERYONE here, so I was COMPLETELY surprised when I didn’t know you in the hall and I was like ‘OH MY GOD THAT’S HER!!’ so I decided to throw the party in the library so that you could have a bunch of new friends so that you won’t be lonely becausebeinglonelysuckssinceyou’rethenewkidandnowyouhavealltheseamazingfriends so YOU DON’T NEED TO WORRY!!”
Twilight looked up from her soda to see Apple Jack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy. She nodded tiredly.
“Yeah, well, it’s kinda funny, because, I have a lot of work to do, so, you guys have fun,” Twilight muttered, and left after carrying two more cans of caffeinated soda. Spike was nowhere to be seen, but Twilight could care less.
Pinkie Pie looked back at her friends and shrugged. “I kinda understand. Maybe she isn’t the partying type?”
A LITTLE NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR (PLEASE READ):
Thank you, everyone who commented, faved, and subscribed to my story!! You guys are so awesome. I didn’t know that fans would like this story so much, but apparently y’all do. I’ve never had a story loved by so many people (how many, ten? XD) and I hope to get more fans in the future to like my anthro-pony story.
If you guys like this so much, I might write a story based on Episode 26 (The Best Night Ever). Let me know what you think; message me / review / whatevs.
And a very special thanks to my best brony friend and fanfic extraordinaire, Jacob Commander Caffeine, for tweaking up my story and making it better :3
Horseshoes and happiness,
~ Cweecune (Swee-cOOn)
CHAPTER NINE
The Party
5:15 PM. The south wing of the library.
Twilight should have gotten all of her Advanced Pre-Cal done by now, but the partiers were distracting her. She looked at the people; Pinkie was standing on a table with a karaoke machine, singing “Equestrian Girls” as loud as she could. From the way everyone cheered her on, it was like she was Katy Pony herself.
The distracted student turned back to her books, but she was interrupted again by a thump. She spun her head around to see Spike collapsed on the carpeted floor and laughing his tongue off.
“Spike, get up,” Twilight moaned.
Spike laughed, and picked himself up. “Twilight, we’re doing karaoke! Come on, you should join us!”
“I have a lot of work to do.”
“It’s your first day of school; I’m sure you don’t have that much.”
“Well, I do, so go party or whatev—Spike, is that beer?!”
Spike downed the last of the liquid remaining in the brown bottle, and then put it on the table next to Twilight’s book. He hiccupped. “Yep!”
“Oh no. I gotta get you home before the dance; there’s no way I’m letting you go intoxicated….”
Spike laughed again. “You should relax, Twilight; it’s a party!”
Twilight pushed him, and he collided with a bookshelf. He continued his laughter as he stumbled back to the other side of the library. The tired student put a book over her head and shoved her nose into the table, defeated.
“I had to screw up my scholarship paper!” Twilight lamented. “I just had to! Ugh. I’m so stupid. Here I thought I was going to continue my studies as normal, but silly me, these crazy public school kids are driving me to do otherwise!”
A loud, thundering noise came from the other side of the library; the large window. She got out of her chair to look, but it was too dark outside to see anything. All she could hear was laughter, glass breaking, and booming rap music. She gulped; the sound was strangely close to the direction where the gym was. “I have a bad feeling about this,” she muttered to herself.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a perky voice. “COME ON TWILIGHT! Get your dress on; the dance is starting!”
Twilight went to the bathroom, where a lot of girls were changing. Pinkie helped Twilight with her dress.
“I think I might just go home, Pinkie,” Twilight said. “Your friends gave my little brother alcohol.”
“Alcohol?” Pinkie asked. “Come on, Twi! I’d never set a bad example on the freshies; I gave him root beer. My guy friends probably told him it was beer. They love picking on the new kids!”
Twilight chuckled. “Are you serious?”
“Yep! Spike’s drunkenness is all in his head. It’s kind of a mean prank, but we think it’s pretty adorable. We’re all about pranks here, if you haven’t noticed already! Ha ha!”
Twilight giggled again. She looked at her dress in the mirror: it was a deep violet with slightly poofy sleeves, and a pink ribbon belt. Rarity had given her knee-high Converse to match, with pink shoelaces. Twilight had to admit that it looked exactly like something she would wear; Celestia had probably given the fashionista all of her info.
She sighed. Her stomach knotted; either the ribbon belt was too tight, or something was wrong. “Oh God….”
“Come on, Twi!” Pinkie cheered. “Let’s go to the gym!”
Twilight nodded. Her stomach made another twist. “Right,” she said. “On my way!”
CHAPTER TEN
Homecoming
7:00 PM. The gym.
The first thing Twilight noticed was the glitter. The multicolored lights shone off the glitter, making the dance floor illuminate the gym. Girls were laughing by the food table; Twilight noticed that everything was apple-oriented, from the cupcakes to the fruit tray. Guys and girls were bobbing their heads and jumping up and down to the dubstep that was being pumped from the speakers. The DJ booth was being run by a girl with purple sunglasses bobbing her spiky, electric blue bob back and forth. She gave Twilight and Pinkie a grin and a thumbs-up, and seemed to be having the time of her life as she worked the turn tables.
“Do you know her?” Twilight asked.
“Everyone knows her!” Pinkie chirped. “She’s our school DJ, Vinyl Scratch! She doesn’t talk very much during the day, but she’s totally crazy at school dances!”
“I can see that,” Twilight laughed, as Vinyl led the crowd in a series of fist pumps.
Apple Jack walked up to the duo. She was wearing a plaid dress, with cowboy boots and a denim jacket. She seemed a bit uncomfortable wearing it.
Pinkie Pie giggled. “I can’t believe Rarity actually got you to wear a dress!”
“I lost a bet,” AJ muttered. “Come prom time, I’m wearin’ mah overalls.”
Pinkie laughed. “Come on, Apple Jack; lighten up!”
The two strolled off arm-in-arm and Twilight was left to go about the dance by herself. She looked around: Rarity was flirting with a senior and looking like a movie star in her old-fashion white dress with purple elbow-length gloves, with Spike trailing behind her; Apple Jack and Pinkie had gone next to Rainbow Dash who was in a cyan cocktail dress and rainbow sweatbands, dancing uncontrollably; Fluttershy was in a churchy-looking yellow dress off to the corner around the choir kids, next to Big Macintosh looking uncomfortable in a suit that seemed a size too small for him.
She decided just to wait around until Celestia got there.
Twilight leaned against the wall, defeated. She didn’t want to dance, or talk, or anything. Celestia said she’d be at the gym at 7, but it was already 9.
“Maybe she’s running late,” Twilight reasoned. “It’s not like her to be late, especially two hours late. Maybe she got in a car crash? Oh, God, that’d be horrible—I should text her or something, I’m such an awful friend….”
The music stopped all of the sudden. A girl with thick glasses and a business-looking suit came to the top of the wide pedestal, where the DJ booth was, and held up a microphone.
“Who is that?” Twilight asked Pinkie.
“That’s Mare, the school president,” Pinkie explained. “She’s really bookish; more bookish than even you!”
Before Twilight could respond, Mare spoke.
“Hello, everyone!” she said. “Before I continue with the announcements, let’s give a round of applause to DJ-PON-3, otherwise known as Vinyl Scratch, for the crazy-awesome music!”
Everyone cheered and clapped. Vinyl waved and grinned, and then hopped down from the pedestal. The other girl cleared her throat into the mike, and everyone was quiet.
“Now, it’s time to announce the Summer Sun Homecoming Queen!” Mare cheered. “But before I do, I’d like to thank a very special person whose family was able to fund all of the decorations for not only the Homecoming, but also our prom! Her father couldn’t be here, but I’m sure you all know and love this girl very well….”
Twilight heard a humming noise from behind the DJ booth. Her stomach started churning again.
“…. She’s elegant, intelligent, and is actively involved in not just her school, but the whole Equestria school district….”
The humming noise grew. Twilight looked around at all the smiling students, panicking.
Fluttershy readied the student choir.
Apple Jack and Rainbow Dash high-fived.
Spike grinned in earnest.
Was Twilight the only one was hearing the noise?
“Please join me in welcoming, Celestia Equestria!”
The choir sang a few harmonious notes of welcome, and the student body erupted in applause as Rarity and a brown-haired boy opened the double doors of the gym to reveal….
The crowd was silenced, and then gossip and chattering erupted like lightening. Behind the door was an empty hallway.
“Oh God,” Twilight muttered. “Oh my God, oh no….”
“K-Keep it together everyone!” Mare stuttered. “She might just be running late….”
“Running late?” Rarity cried. “The hallway’s completely empty!”
A huge, shrill scream was heard from Pinkie Pie, nearly deafening Twilight, as the whole gym wall behind the DJ booth exploded to reveal a large, black Hummer. Pieces of metallic wall flew everywhere. Lyra grabbed Bon Bon’s arm and protected her from a piece of flying metal, nearly breaking her arm in the process. Big Mac protected a crying Fluttershy in his arms and ran away from the projectiles, rushing the choir students behind him. A piece of wall hit Spike’s head, and knocked him out cold; Twilight caught him just in time. Some ducked, others screamed, many cried.
When the crash was over, Twilight looked up to see the Hummer parked at an angle right behind the DJ booth. Bits of wall and shattered metal were everywhere. Some students were knocked out. Mare was thrown from the pedestal, lying on Derpy, who she had knocked down during the fall, and a girl in a hoodie was standing on top of the DJ booth surrounded by a small gang of guys in black and purple hooded jackets. A grim smile cut the dark-looking girl’s face in half.
“Oh God,” Twilight squeaked.
