Graduation, and the subsequent consequences
Chapter 1: Friendship is Magic- Part 1

Twilight Sparkle, the prized pupil of Crystal Prep sat under a tree in the park near to the academy complex. Despite being of the belief that being inside the school during school hours was of the utmost necessity, her tutors had shooed her out during the lunch period. Twilight had scoffed at the notion of going outside; she had questions she could be asking the teachers, knowledge she was missing out on. She looked down, fortunate she had managed to grab at least on book for her precarious stack in the library.

The book was in perfect condition, as was to be expected of any item from Crystal Prep, with not a tear or stain on any page held within. The title, "Famous prisoners of the last decade," told Twilight of exactly she was getting into. Twilight skimmed through the book, stopping at the second to last page. A full page picture of the criminal was visible, and regular prison mugshot. The man, in his early thirties it seemed, had shoulder length white hair, with an underlayer of grey hair. his cold grey eyes sent a small shiver down Twilight's Spine, but also had a hint of petty mischief in them, if his toothy grin was anything to go by.

Twilight made to turn the page, when she heard the bell ring, signifying the end of lunch and to proceed to the end of the week assembly. Twilight's eyes widened a fraction, hastily packed away her book, and sprinted to the academy. However, her lifestyle meant that she masn't in peak physical condition, and so slowed to a quick walk after a few minutes of full sprinting. Twilight noticed some other girls, Twinkleshine and Moon Dancer if she recalled, leisurely walking to the hall, giggling about something not related to studies. Twilight snorted at this, but before she could pass them, they called her name.

"Hey, Twilight!" Twinkleshine called. At this point, Twilight took a deep breath and turned around, a forced smile on her face.

"Hey girls, are you guys headed to the assembly too? We don't wanna be late!" Twilight was getting herself worked up at this point. She had never, NEVER been late to an assembly, and she wouldn't start so soon. Gathering energy she didn't know she had, she sprinted to the assembly hall, ignoring her body's protest.

It was not until she neared the front door, and slipped in with some excuse to the teacher on the door, she began to hear what Principal Celestia was speaking about this assembly.

"Our Federation of Academies has many fine schools, and as such we will be performing a student exchange scheme with the furthest, Canterlot High School. Despite their lower academic achievements," Many students chuckled at this. Crystal Prep had the highest academic achievements in the country, let alone the federation. "Now, now, be respectful. Their athletic successes far outperform our own." Celestia let that sink in. "Now, they will be sending one of their best athletes here, so we will send one of our brightest students. Any volunteers?" The students looked around, seeing if anyone would want to go through that torture. Unfortunately for her, Twilight was still standing.

"Oh, you have got to be ki-" Twilight was cut off by the Principal.

"Ah, very good Twilight. Truly an inspiration to your classmates. You will travel over the weekend. I will arrange it with your parents. They did sign the contract after all," Celestia smiled.

After the assembly, Twilight found herself in the Principal's office. Celestia shuffled some papers, and looked up at Twilight, her long hair being pushed behind her ear.

"Twilight, I want you to focus in your studies, but I also want you to make some friends. Relax. You won't be under any pressure there. From what I know, they only have end-of-year examinations. You will do fine." Celestia had only succeeded in making Twilight more nervous, but she didn't say anything.

"Of course, Principal Celestia. I won't let you down," Twilight spoke softly.

"I know you won't. Now, I have pre purchased some train tickets for you and Spike to travel to Canterlot." Twilight smiled at the thought of Spike, her adopted brother. They had adopted him when they found him inside the orphanage. Twilight had almost developed a bond with him, through the window of Dragon Orphanage. Ever since her brother Shiny had left to go to military boot camp, Twilight had very few relations her age. Despite that, he was almost at a level of worship towards Twilight's prodigal intelligence. While most of the time it unnerved her, on some dark nights, she enjoyed it slightly.

The goodbyes were surprisingly easy, for Twilight had few true friends at Crystal Prep. Sure, she liked Moon Dancer and Minuette, but most of the others were just faces in the background. No, the hard pat was saying goodbye to her parents, Night Light and Twilight Velvet. Many tears were shed, and hugs were given all round. As Twilight and Spike sat on their seats in an empty carriage, Twilight began pondering why she was being sent.

"I don't get it, why me? Why did she say to make friends? I know I'm not in the best shape, but still." Twilight looked down at herself. She was by no means fat, but she wasn't athletically built. Her dark purple hair hung to the small of her back, and she was quite tall for her age. Spike only came up to her shoulders if they were both stood up tall. Twilight sat back in the seat, loudly.

"I'll just study, and say that there was, there was no good friend material there! That's it! None of them seemed good enough for the Principal." Twilight exclaimed. Twilight sat back in the seat, far calmer than she was not two minutes prior.

The train pulled into the small station, the sun still low in the sky. Twilight and Spike simultaneously yawned, having both fell asleep on the ride here. Twilight's eyes scanned the town. It seemed nice, not as built up as Trottingham. Twilight could taste the difference; the air was far fresher here. Twilight noticed a girl around her age near the station.

The girl's hair was a vibrant pink, and was frizzy and springy.

'Likely due to hairspray,' thought Twilight cynically. She also took the time to look over the rest of the girl. She had light blue eyes that shone with happiness, and they were getting bigger. Twilight blinked, then screamed as the girl seemed to teleport next to her.

"Ohmygoshit'ssonicetomeetyoumynames'Pinkiewhoareyouandyourfriend?" Astonishingly, she said this all with one breath and without seeming breathless.

"Well, I'm Twilight, and this is Spi-" Pinkie cut her off with a massive prolonged gasp, that seemed to last for hours, when in actuality, it was around five seconds. Before Twilight could begin to reprimand her on speech etiquette, she had started sprinting down the road towards the High School.

"See Spike, clearly not good friend material." Twilight said smugly. Spike just shook his head and picked up his suitcase.

"C'mon Twilight, let's drop these bags off and then look around town. That sound good to you?" Spike had already stepped towards the hotel, waiting for Twilight.

" Seems you are already halfway there," Twilight said playfully, "Come on then, let's go meet the neighbours."

After dropping off their bags, they found themselves hungry. Grabbing some notes from the small wallet of money their parents had given them, they set out to find a restaurant.

"Sweet Apple Acres, run by the Apple Family since 1886. Seems they definitely have a good pedigree, right Twilight?" Spike was hopping on the spot while Twilight was focused on the text.

"That's not the correct use of that word, Spike. A good word to use would be they are renowned or respectable. Also, stay away from my thesaurus' please!" Twilight semi-ranted at the end.

"Yes, Twilight," Spike morosely said, as another girl around Twilight's age stepped out to greet them.

"Well, forgive me fo' askin', but d'you guys wanna come in and check out the produce? All fresh from the Apple Farm." The girl held open the door for the two to walk in. Inside felt like a renovated barn, with wooden supports in place equidistant apart. Tables sat around the establishment, with a few filled with couples and older folk.

"We normally are busier, but it's the weekend, so most kids go t' Sugarcube Corner. Oh shoot, where're mah manners? Name's Applejack, what's yours?" Applejack grabbed them both a glass of apple juice from behind the counter as they took a seat around a smaller table.

"Well, I'm Twilight Sparkle, and this is my brother, Spike. I'm been sent here as part of a student exchange with Crystal Prep." Applejack turned down the money Twilight offered, as she finished her glass.

"So you're the transfer student, huh? Well, I go to Canterlot High, so at least y'all will know someone right?" Twilight pondered this as she finished the last remaining dregs of her drink.

"That will be good yes. I'll be sending Spike to the Schoolhouse during the day. He still needs his education, after all," Twilight laughed.

"Don't I know it, mah sister goes to the Schoolhouse. Li'l Applebloom needs to buckle down and get that learning into her head!"
Twilight laughed lightly at this, and slowly rose to her feet, both Applejack and Spike following suit.

"As nice as this was, Applejack, I have to look around the rest of town as well. I'll see you at school tomorrow, right?" Applejack nodded,

"That's right sugarcube, there'll probably be an assembly announcin' your arrival in the mornin'," Applejack stated as she waved the two of them off. As she moved to collect the glasses, she noticed a note hidden under Twilight's glass. Applejack smiled, she really liked this Twilight girl.

Twilight and Spike passed by the entrance to the park. Remembering the last day before she left for here, she decided to have a look, see if it compared to the serenity of Trottingham Park. She looked around, seeing all the opportunities for places to hide in seclusion to read in peace. Looking back forward, she ducked quickly as a football sped over her head and into the back of a net behind her.

"Hey, what are you doing? I'm trying to practice my free kicks here!" The girl angrily stomped towards Twilight. In response, Twilight took a step back involuntarily.

"I'm sorry, I'm new here I didn't know you were practicing. I'm Twilight Sparkle and I'm part of the student exchange pro-" The girl took a step back from her and scoffed lightly.

"So, you are from Crystal Prep, right? Names Rainbow Dash. I'm the captain of the football team, the Wondercolts! I have a perfect record against the Shadowbolts, y'know? You're all eggheads anyway, no biggie. So, you just looking round?" Rainbow had calmed down apparently, and now leaned against the pole of the net with a carefree smile on her face.

"Yes I am, and we aren't all eggheads," Twilight ground out, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go now." Spike seemed confused by this sudden about-face and lightly questioned,

"But Twilight, we don#t have anywhere to be, right?" Twilight's eyes widened, and she hastily thought up an excuse.

"Silly Spike, we have to go to the, err, hairdressers! That's right!" Rainbow raised an eyebrow at this. Grabbing her football from the net, she grabbed Twilight's arm and started pulling her out the park.

"What are you doing! Let go of me!" Rainbow chuckled and shook her head,
"Not a chance, egghead. We're gonna go see Rarity at the Hairdressers. I figured since you're new, I'll introduce you. How does that sound?" Twilight swallowed a lump, while Spike just grinned.

"Sounds great Rainbow, lead the way," Spike said mirthfully. Twilight glared at Spike in betrayal.

While being frogmarched down the street, Twilight noticed an old mansion on a hill, surrounded by a thick wood. Twilight notified Rainbow with a nudge on her shoulder, who visibly paled when she saw the location of Twilight's interest. Rainbow gulped, then began talking.
"That's Miss Moon's mansion. She's from an old noble line, some supremacist. She's been trying to take the school for years. Keeps trying underhanded tactics and stuff. Hey, I'm just a student, ask the Principal if you wanna know more. All I know is she's a right nightmare. Angry all the time, grumpy, heck, she once tried to arrest a student for a medical condition with her eyes! I dunno what went wrong with her." Rainbow puffed out her cheeks in anger, as if reliving the incident in question. Twilight wisely shut up after that, even Spike had tuned down the grin.

A small bell on the door led to a tinkling in the back of the hairdressers, and a shout of 'Coming!' and footsteps, Twilight nervously shifted on one foot to the other. When this 'Rarity' emerged from a back door, she heard a small thump. Turning her head, she saw that Spike had collapsed into a chair reserved for customers waiting for their turn. Looking back, she saw that this Rarity was rather pretty. Curled purple hair, lighter than hers, well manicured nails, and a hint of makeup. Twilight looked down, feeling slightly self-conscious until she felt a dainty hand on her chin, pushing her up to eyesight of Rarity.

"Are you alright, darling? Rainbow tells me you wanted to see me?" Rarity spoke with a posh accent, very different from the other ponies she had met so far. Perhaps Manehattan? Regardless, she had begun looking around Twilight, examining her hairstyle for what she may have been called for.

"I don't particularly understand what you need me for, but I suppose I could trim your ends and tidy up a bit." Twilight didn't trust her voice, so she just nodded, and sat in a chair as Rainbow waved her goodbyes to Rarity and Twilight.

"See ya, Rarity, Twi. See you at school!"

An hour later, Twilight had become good friends with Rarity, bonding over a good cup of tea and what little knowledge Twilight had of the social circles of Crystal Prep. Twilight finished the last of her cup and made to rise.

"I'm so sorry to leave like this, but we have to get back to our hotel room, well, me and Mister Lovey-Bum here." Rarity laughed her pretty little socialite laugh and roose as well.

"Certainly darling, we wouldn't want you locked out of your room now, would we?" Twilight laughed, while Spike shuddered. As they left the Hairdresser's the sun began to set in the sky, giving a burnt orange hue to the cloudless sky. Twilight sighed, causing Spike to look at her in curiosity.

"I think there might be some good friendship material here after all, Spike" Spike could only nod in agreement.

Author's Note

While I'm aware that this isn't all of Episode 1, Episode 2 would be far shorter with no magic, so I'm shimmying around with the order and some details. I'm aware Rarity is a dressmaker, but she is now a hairdresser, for some reasons involving later episodes. Next episode will be Fluttershy, the first day at school and the secret of Miss Moon.

As a side note, who do you think the Principal is?
~Bakuraa