Through the Mirror

Chapters

Arrival
Morning
Rarity
Preparation
Monday Morning
The Tour
Monday Afternoon
Monday Night
Another Lesson
Tuesday Morning
Stirring Up Trouble
Tuesday Afternoon
The Date
Conversation
Mending Fences

Arrival

“Good luck, Twilight!”

“I’m sure you’ll do fine, Darling!”

Twilight wished she felt half as confident as her friends did. She took a deep breath and, before she could stop herself, she dashed through the mirror.

It felt like she was being pulled in two different directions, yet it brought her no pain. Twilight was nearly blinded by all the bright and swirling colors as she flew at a top speed. Faster and faster she went, only barely hearing her own screams of terror as she flew.

And then the lights stopped. She was no longer being pulled, but she still flew through the air, coming to a skidding halt on what felt like grass.

She groaned, rubbing her head and barely feeling her mane under her hoof. Her vision was blurry. Where was she?

She sat still for a good half a minute, trying to get her sight back, or at least hoping the numbness would leave her.

“Um... hello?”

She stopped dead. There was a voice. Somepony had seen her.

“Wh-who’s there?”

“You tell me who you are first. I just saw two girls come out of a statue. I think I deserve some answers.”

Twilight was confused. Out of a statue? What did that mean? And what did she mean, two girls? Was she talking about Sunset? But she had hours on her..

“I can’t see,” she said. She immediately kicked herself. Admitting a weakness to an unknown? Still, she might as well roll the dice and hope whoever this is, it was friendly. “My sight’s returning, please come to me.”

After a moment, something touched her shoulder. “Are you okay?”

Twilight was beginning to see. It seemed to be a bipedal figure talking to her. It was beginning to come into focus, and Twilight couldn’t help but feel a twinge of familiarity.

“I... I’m fine. My name is Twilight Sparkle, I’m from another world. Tell me, what are you? Are you the dominant race in this area?”

The figure was silent. “...I’m a human, like you.”

“Whoa, a Human? Really? Like in the Breezy tales... wait a minute, what do you mean, ‘like me’?”

“Well, if you’re not human, you look a lot like one.”

“What?” She held up a hoof. “Do these look... like... fingers...”

There were fingers. Five little, wiggling fingers coming out of her hand.

Her hand.

She brought up her other hoof... no, her other hand.

She gave a shriek. “Hands? What th...”

Her vision was still slightly blurry, but she could clearly see it now. She looked down to see she was now wearing clothes... on her bipedal body. She saw her legs, coming down into feet. In her shoes, she could feel toes wiggle.

“What the? Wha? Huh? Ah! Ahhh!”

“Calm down, please,” the figure said. Twilight turned to her and stopped dead.

It was female, Twilight guessed. It had pink skin and a mane of many colors, many familiar colors. She glanced over her firm and proper looking attire, and then she saw something that removed all doubts.

A badge in the shape of a very familiar cutie mark.

“...Celestia?” she asked.

The human blinked. “Why... yes, that is my name. How’d you know it?”

“I... I’m not sure how to answer that. There’s... a lot about this I don’t get.”

Celestia, for it was indeed a Human version of her teacher, looked at her blankly. “If I hadn’t just seen you fly out of the base of a statue, I’d think you were crazy.”

Twilight processed what had just been said, then turned to the side. There was a statue of a large pony... no, a horse, now that she looked... rearing on its hind legs. It’s base was certainly large enough for her to have passed through.

She turned back to Celestia. “You said another girl... orange coa-er, skin, red and yellow hair?”

The older woman was stunned, but she seemed to be getting used to shock. “Yes, Sunset Shimmer, one of my students. She flew out of the statue, and when she saw me, she ran.”

“Quick, which way did she go? I need to catch her, she stole something from me!”

“I can’t tell you. I was so shocked, and it’s dark out.”

Twilight paused, only now realizing it was indeed night time. She looked around, noticing her surrounding really, truly for the first time. They were in front of a big building, on a grassy lawn.

“I need to find her, quick!” Twilight started to move, then stopped. She couldn’t go on all fours, this body was obviously bipedal.

Seeing her hesitation, Celestia reached and grabbed her arm. “Can you stand?”

“I never have before. I’ve always had four legs.”

To her credit, Celestia was starting to accept the weirdness. She gently pulled Twilight to her back hooves... no, feet, Twilight remembered, and let her lean against her.

“You can’t go after her like this. I’ll tell you what, come with me back to my home. You need someplace to stay and I need explanations.”

“Well... I need a base of operations until the portal re-opens...” she said slowly.

“Great. Are you going to get your backpack and your dog?”

Twilight stopped at that. “What?” She turned back toward the portal.

The first thing she noticed was her saddlebags, though if it wasn’t for her cutie mark emblazed on the back. It was now changed to a single pouch carried by two straps.

Fitted for a human.

That only took up a portion of her interest, though. The majority was on the other thing she saw.

There was indeed a dog. And that dog had a very familiar coloring. And once it started moaning instead of whimpering, all doubt was out of her mind.

“Spike?” she tore herself from Celestia, and managed to get two steps before tumbling to her knees. Undaunted, thanks in part to the grass softening the blow, she walked on fours to him.

“Spike? Are you okay?”

“Uh... Twilight? Is that you? I can’t see!”

“Yes, it’s me, Spike. Your eyesight should come back soon.” She tried reaching for her son, then saw her hands. They were balled into fists, a natural position to a pony used to hooves. Desperately, she recalled seeing Spike use his hands. She remembered talking to Minotaurs and Griffons who visited the palace, learning how hands and claws work so she could teach Spike in case he needed help. Many were telling her it would come naturally, but none minded. Many even found it cute.

Remembering this, she worked her fingers until she could place them under Spike’s forelegs, hoisting him in the air.

“I feel weird,” Spike said.

“...The dog talks. Of course, the dog talks,” Celestia said.

“We’ve transformed, Spike. I’m not a pony, and you’re not a dragon.”

“Wha... I can kind of see you. You’re still purple...”

“I know, but my body’s changed. I’m a Human now.”

“...Really? Like Megan? Like... whoa!” Spike jumped. It was clear his eyesight had returned. “Twilight, you look... weird.”

“I know.”

“But... how’d you get so big?” he asked.

“Um, I didn’t, Spike. You got smaller.”

“Huh...” He looked down at himself.

There was a few seconds of silence.

“I’m a dog... I’m a dog, I’m a dogI’madog...”

“Sh, shh... Spike, we can’t draw any attention to ourselves,” Twilight said. When Spike kept rambling, he clasped her hand over his muzzle. “Spike, please, I need you to keep calm. I met another Human who looks a lot like Princess Celestia, and she’s taking us home, okay?”

“Uh... okay,” Spike said, breathing deeply.

“...Princess?” Celestia asked.

Twilight turned to Celestia with a sheepish grin. “Like I said, I don’t really get it, but there’s another you in my world... look, we should probably get indoors first. Can you help me?”

Celestia only helped Twilight back up.

“Can you hold Spike a moment?”

Celestia looked a little apprehensive, but did as asked. As the pair stared at each other in amazement, Twilight tried walking over to her bags. She ended up on her knees again, but retrieved her things. It only took a moment of contemplation before she figured out how to put it on.

Then Celestia helped her to her feet once more. She let Twilight lean against her as she led her away from the statue.

“What’s this?”

Celestia had led her to a large metal box with wheels. It had windows, allowing her to see the seat inside.

“They don’t have cars in your world?” Celestia asked. When Twilight shook her head, she continued. “They’re machines that transport us places.”

“Really?” She looked at the metal thing with a skeptical look. “How’s it work?”

“It’s complicated,” Celestia said. “But everyone uses one. You can get a lot of business just knowing how to fix one.”

Twilight was a bit apprehensive as Celestia opened the car door. Still, she didn’t complain as she was led into the seat. She held Spike in her lap, placing her backpack at her feet. Celestia closed the door and got around to her side, easing into the seat.

After she closed her door, she pulled a small box out of her pocket and pressed on a blank screen. Suddenly it lit up.

“What’s that?” Twilight asked.

“This is a phone. It lets us talk over long distances.”

Celestia showed her the screen. Twilight and Spike’s eyes nearly popped out of their heads as every touch changed what was displayed. First several foreign icons, then a list of names (the alphabet used by these creatures seemed identical to the Equestrian one, oddly enough), then a screen with a photograph.

“Luna?” Twilight asked.

“...So there’s a counterpart to my sister too?”

“Yes... I don’t get it. Does she live with you?”

“She does. Let me call her real quick.”

Celestia pressed an assortment of numbers, they jammed the phone to her ear. After a few seconds, she began speaking.

“Hello, Luna? Have you started dinner yet? ...Well, we’re going to have a guest... It’s complicated, I’ll explain when I get there. What were you thinking of making?” After a pause, she lowered the phone. “How does chicken sound?”

Twilight backed into the door. “Chicken? Do... do Humans eat meat?”

That was all the answer Celestia needed. She pulled her phone back. “Uh, strike that, she’s a vegetarian. Do we have any...” She lowered the phone. “An eggplant casserole?”

Twilight shuttered. “No meat?”

“Promise.”

“That’s fine.”

“She says that’s fine. We’ll be there soon, then... well, we have a lot to talk to our new friend about.”

After she hung up, she turned back to Twilight. “Whatever you are, you don’t eat meat?”

“No... I assume you eat nothing sentient?” When Celestia nodded, Twilight sighed with relief. “Vegetarian... that means no meat?”

Celestia nodded again. “Either describing a meal with no meat, or someone who doesn’t eat meat. Vegan is another term. There are differences, but I’ve told you what you need to know.”

Twilight nodded, making a mental note to make sure all her meals followed that criteria.

“I have a lot of questions, but I think they can wait until we get to my house,” Celestia said, pulling a strap from her side and placing it around her. Twilight looked to her side and saw a similar strap. Deciding to follow Celestia’s example, she grabbed it and pulled it around herself. She quickly located a strange silver hanging on it, as well as a slot next to the seat. She placed the metal inside, causing it to click shut. She glanced at Celestia once more, then adjusted herself so the strap was around her the same way.

“Very observant,” Celestia said, pulling out a small ring of keys and jamming it into a slot.

Twilight jumped at the sudden noise. She backed into her seat, holding the equally frightened Spike close.

“Relax, it’s just the car starting.” Celestia moved a stick in between the seats, and suddenly the machine was moving forward.

Twilight was stunned for thirty seconds. Eventually, she started watching Celestia. The wheel acted very much like the wheel of a ship, she realized. The movement of her legs suggested the presence of buttons at her feet that made the car stop and go. She then noticed Celestia was glancing in mirrors every few seconds. One between them, hanging from the machine’s ceiling, one outside on Celestia’s side, and one, she realized on her side. For full awareness of surroundings, Twilight realized.

She began looking at her surroundings. The buildings they passed seemed to be made mostly of brick. The roads weren’t the dirt they were in Ponyville, but they weren’t the cobble of Canterlot either. It wa some sort of black stone. There were lines everywhere, and Twilight realized they were guidelines for the car.

Every few feet, Twilight absorbed a new fact about piloting these machines. Stay on the right side of the road. At intersections, red meant stop, green means go, yellow meant it was about to turn red. There was a switch on the car that told those behind you where you were turning.

Eventually, the business tapered off into homes. Twilight found the bering to speak.

“You said Sunset was a student of yours. Are you a teacher?”

“I was. Now I’m a Principal. Luna is my Vice-Principal.”

Twilight only needed a moment. “Does that mean you run the school? Like a headmaster does in my world?”

“Yes indeed.”

“What does your school teach?”

That seemed to confuse Celestia. “Just... general knowledge.”

Twilight looked at her. “Isn’t Sunset a little old for that?”

“She’s just sixteen.”

“...How long does general schooling last for Humans?”

“Until eighteen.”

Twilight’s eyes popped out of her head. “Eighteen? Our education only last until we’re twelve, if we don’t get special schooling.”

Celestia looked at her, but it was only a glance. Eyes on the road, Twilight realized.

“We’ll talk about it soon. We’re here.”

Twilight saw a simple two-story house. It actually wouldn’t look that out of place in Ponyville, even with the brick and the strange roof that didn’t look like thatch. It had a homely look, a well-kept lawn, curtains in the window.

The oddest thing, but not a thing out of place in this world, was a small road leading to a smaller structure. Twilight quickly realized it was for storing the car. Sure enough, Celestia drove up to it, stopping only to click a small button that opened the door. She drove in, parking next to another car that Twilight guessed belonged to Luna.

Celestia switched the car off, unbuckled her belt, and left the car in the time it took Twilight to get unbuckled and open her door. Thus, the older woman was there to help her up and allow her a support to lean on.

Twilight leaned on Celestia, looking at Spike, who was tucked under her arm. “Spike? You okay? You haven’t said much.”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He didn’t sound fine. “I just... I’m kind of freaked out by all this.”

Twilight decided not to press him for now. Celestia led her into the back door. It led into a kitchen, one that looked very similar to an Equestrian kitchen. She didn’t get a good look before a new figure filled her vision.

“You must be Celestia’s guest,” the new Human said. It was as Twilight had predicted. A dark blue skin, light blue hair, and a familiar voice. It was Princess Luna, now a Human.

“Yes. My name is Twilight Sparkle.”

“Well, I don’t know why my sister invited you over last minute, but it is nice to meet you.” She then leaned down to Spike. “And you have a pet? That’s...”

“Hey, watch it! I’m no one’s pet!”

...

There was a thud as Luna hit the ground.

And then there was silence.

“You know, you could have done that with a little more tact,” Twilight said.

Author's Note

Well, here it is. I've been promising this for a long time.

Biggest changes seen so far are the the alternate Celestia and Luna being clued in and Twilight actually having enough common sense to follow the old "When in Rome" saying. (Seriously, that bugged me in the movie)

And if you've been reading Direction, this isn't the same Human World Megan came from.

Morning

“Wow... this oil could be destructive. Is there another energy source? ... Electric? Solar? Whoa, harnessing the Sun, that could work...”

“Wait... breasts? That’s what these are? And they’re just hanging in front of my chest? Ew!”

“...Machines... just to store books... I need to crack this code...”

Twilight awoke in a familiar place. The Keeper’s library was as expansive as ever, likely even more so. Twilight moaned, putting a hoof to her forehead in reaction to being back here again.

She stopped. A hoof... she was a pony again.

She pondered this only a minute before traveling to where she knew the Keeper was by now. It didn’t take long to get there. the haggard Alicorn was as studious as ever, the cyclone of books all being written in at once.

“Welcome back,” she said through a yawn.

“I don’t suppose you’ll tell me why I’m here, will you?”

“For once, yes. I will give you a straight answer.”

Twilight blinked. “Really? Wait, why?”

“Haven’t you ever heard the expression, ‘Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth?’”

“A barbaric expression from the time before the Age of the Three Tribes. Is there a point?”

“Yes. Quite simply, you stepped outside my jurisdiction. Your book is now in the hands of this universe’s Keeper.”

Silence.

“And?”

“Well... here’s the thing about that: we don’t like interdimensional traveling to go on, so I’ve been authorized to help you combat it... a bit.”

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. Then how can you help me?”

“Only three things. First off, I feel the need to tell you: the Human World you’ve arrived in is not the world Megan came from. You cannot count on her now.”

Twilight nodded. “I figured that. Megan would have had to be an important figure in this world.”

The Keeper gave an unreadable expression, as if she wanted to tell Twilight more, but she went on. “Secondly, your deadline is sooner than you think. You’ve likely noticed time flows differently in this world than it does in Equestria.” At Twilight’s nod, she went on. “The portal will open and close again in a week.”

Twilight blinked. “A week!? I can’t... it’s bad enough I left Equestria for a month, if I have to wait a second week, who knows what could happen? The Elements of Harmony have been split up too long as it is.”

“That’s why I’m telling you this now. You need to get the Element of Magic back quickly. And I’m here to give you a final warning: Celestia... your Celestia, the ruler of Equestria, was correct. Sunset is not acting alone. She had allies from your world helping her.”

“What? How?”

“Do you think the Mirror was the only way through? They have their ways.”

“How?”

“...I can’t tell you. I’m forbidden.”

Twilight put a hoof on her forehead. “Seriously? I thought you were desperate to stop this dimensional hopping.”

“Long ago, when time began, the Creator limited how we could interfere with the affairs of mortals. It’s a complicated deal that I can’t tell you now.”

Twilight felt the headache come on. “I think I’m really starting to hate being here. Am I going to get straight answers, ever?”

“When you ascend. Or rather, if you ascend.”

Twilight paused at that. Coming to this world and turning Human had almost made her forget that she was scheduled to become an Alicorn as soon as she got back. The Trials...

“This is all I can tell you.” And with that, the Keeper lit up her horn.

Twilight bolted out of bed, breathing heavily. It took her a few seconds to realize she was back in a Human body.

And she was in a bed. Why was she in a bed?

“Uh... Twilight?” Spike asked, lifting his head up from the pillow next to her and giving a sleepy look. “What’s wrong? Another nightmare?”

“Not so much,” she said. “What happened? The last I remember I was on the computer?”

“You fell asleep. Principal Celestia had to carry you up here. We’re in the guest room.”

Twilight looked around. The first thing she noticed was that it was morning. Sunlight shone in from the window, showing off the bare room with just a bed, an endside table, and a dresser.

She looked at the clock. 8:25am.

“I guess we should get up,” Twilight said, stretching.

A knock at the door interrupted any reply Spike might have had. “Twilight? Are you up?”

“Yes,” Twilight called to Celestia, who opened the door. The older woman was fully dressed, carrying a shopping bag.

“I went to the store and got you a few things,” she said. “First off...” she handed her what appeared to be...

“A cell phone? You didn’t have to get me something so expensive...”

“Don’t worry, it’s pre-paid, and it comes with a GPS so you won’t get lost if you decide to explore. If anyone asks, your smartphone broke and that’s to tide you over until you get a new one. Next, I got you a change of clothes. You can’t wear the same thing all month. I wasn’t sure what to get you, so it’s the closest thing I could find to what you’re wearing now.”

Twilight opened her mouth to reply that she would only be here a week, then stopped. That sounded crazy, even by Equestrian standards. She decided to table that particular issue for right now.

“Come on, shower now, then breakfast.”

Showers worked remarkably the same as they did in Equestria, though how Humans found standing on such a smooth surface with only two feet easy was incredible.

Getting dressed was easy, though the device that protected the chest was a bit difficult. What was the point of it? She needed to look that up on tonight’s research.

She arrived at the table to find Luna was still dressed in pajamas, her hair a mess and a cup of coffee in one hand.

“So... you’re not really a morning pony... uh, person either?” Twilight ventured.

Luna muttered and took a sip of coffee.

“Makes sense,” she said, enjoying the biscuits with syrup and butter she had been served.

As she ate, a strange sound went through the house, causing Twilight to jump. “Huh? What’s that?”

“Relax, it’s just my phone,” Celestia said, picking her phone off the table and checking the screen. “Oh... it’s the school superintendent. I have to take it.”

The Principal answered the phone, and Twilight returned to her meal, only half listening.

“Yes, Mrs. Hope? ...What? Um... no ma'am, I wasn’t aware... yes, I was there late last night, but I was there to pick something up after the meeting, I wasn’t there all night... I saw Sunset Shimmer there, but she ran off before I could question her. Well, I suppose I could pick it up... what?”

Celestia’s sudden vehemence had Twilight, Spike, and Luna looking. The Principal quickly recovered. “I’m sorry, it’s just... a tradition to keep it on display... are you sure? ...But the students... yes ma’am.” The final words were said with resignation.

Celestia hung up, then turned to the table. “We have a problem. Sunset doesn’t have the crown anymore.”

“...What? Twilight said, standing up. “Who does.”

“Superintendent Hope. It was apparently found in the bushes outside the school this morning by a groundskeeper.”

Twilight hit her forehead. Of course, the Element had flown through the mirror ahead of Sunset. This whole time she had been assuming that Sunset had managed to pick it up before running off.

She said as much to the two sisters. “And you didn’t see anything?” she asked Celestia.

“Well, I heard a noise before Sunset came out, but after that I was kind of distracted with the whole ‘two girls and a talking dog coming out of a statue’ thing.”

Twilight gave a sheepish grin. “Well, this is a good thing, right? It means we just have to go wherever it is now and get it.”

Celestia sighed. “It’s not that simple. Since it was stolen, Hope has decided to keep it somewhere under lock and key. She wouldn’t even tell me where. It’s not coming out until the Fall Formal.”

Twilight buried her head in her hands. “When’s that?”

“Friday.”

Twilight winced. “Of course. We have to cut this so close.”

Spike and the two sisters looked at her. “Twilight, what do you mean? You said you have a month...”

Twilight looked at them, wondering if she should really tell them about the Keeper. “You remember me saying time goes by faster in this world? I think... I think giving myself a week would be generous.”

That actually seemed to wake Luna up. Celestia looked ready to kick herself for not considering that sooner.

“So... are we waiting until it comes out on Formal night, then we steal it?” Luna asked.

Celestia looked at her sister, a mixed expression on her face. “It won’t come to that, hopefully. Twilight, did you bring our crown with you? Maybe we could say the whole thing was a mistake.”

Twilight mentally kicked herself. “Uh, no... I didn’t think it would be important.”

“I thought so. Well, I’ll try talking to Hope more on Monday. I’m hoping you won’t have to steal it.”

Twilight nodded. “I’m hoping we can get this done another way... who gets the crown?”

“Whoever is chosen as Princess of the Fall Formal.”

“Okay... how does that happen?”

Luna sighed. “Either you become popular, or you bully and blackmail everyone to vote for you while you delude yourself into thinking you're popular. Sunset’s been bullying any girl that tried to run against her at any formal for the last year and a half, so it’s been pretty one sided.”

“If she’s been bullying so many people, why haven’t you two done anything about her?”

Luna scowled. “Oh, believe me, I’d love to. But she never directly takes credit. An embarrassing video ends up online, an opponent is found with bruises all over her body, too afraid to say who did it, or some mean prank is set up. We all know it’s Sunset, but she cover her tracks just well enough that we don’t have anything to bring before the school board.” She shook her head. “I swear, Cheerilee and Filthy Rich... those two must be blind.”

“Wait... Cheerilee? She’s a member of the school board?” At the nods, she made a mental note to check how well her Cheerilee handled bullying her school. She thought a moment. “So Sunset’s pretty unpopular?”

“That’s the case,” Celestia said.

“Well then, I’ll just run for Princess. It shouldn’t be too hard.”

The two sisters looked at her.

Celestia spoke first. “Twilight, think about this, Sunset’s pretty underhanded, and you’ve never been to High School before...”

“I’ve fought evil queens and chaos gods, a bully isn’t going to intimidate me.”

“There has to be a more practical way of doing this...” Luna muttered.

“There might be, which is why legitimately winning the crown will be plan B. Either way, if Sunset’s going to be at the school, me being there at the same time is a good way to keep an eye on her.”

Celestia nodded. “That makes sense. What are you going to do until then?”

“Well, I’ll need to catch up on all the knowledge I’ll need to know to blend in, but that’ll wait until we get back. I still want to go to Sunset’s home and see if I can catch her.”

Luna arched an eyebrow. “And then what? She doesn’t have the crown, and we can’t exactly hold her prisoner...”

“No... but...” Celestia brightened. “If what Twilight says about her is true, she might be living on her own. That would give us an excuse to put her in the foster care system... away from Canterlot High.”

Twilight grinned. “Problem solved.”

“If you’re that lucky,” Luna said. “Well... I guess I better call Yearling after breakfast.”

Twilight lit up at the familiar name. “Wh... Yearling? A. K. Yearling?”

“Yes. We... used to work in the government before becoming teachers,” Celestia explained. “Yearling is a friend from there. But... oh.”

“Twilight has no records to enroll in Canterlot High with,” Luna reminded, “which is necessary to be crowned Princess. Yearling owes me for that mess a few years back.”

Twilight pondered this. A. K. Yearling was an author, why would her alternate have a government job?

Celestia nodded. “You’re right. And while you’re doing that, I think Twilight and I better do what we need to do.”

The car ride was a quiet affair, mostly consisting of Twilight taking in the surroundings. Spike had been left behind this time, allowed to rest after a rather long night of watching Twilight.

“Are you and the other Celestia close?”

Twilight perked up, turning to Celestia. “I’m sorry?”

“I’m just making conversation. You said you were her personal student.”

Twilight blushed a little. “Princess Celestia... is like a mother to me.”

Celestia blushed a bit. “Really?”

“She raised me half the time. I lived in the Palace with her. I... I could tell she liked teaching more than ruling. I have a feeling if she could, she give all ruling duties to Luna and run her school full time. So... she always made room for me. Tucking me in and reading to me, playing with me...”

There was an awkward silence.

“You seem like you’d be a great student.”

Twilight heat up again. “Oh?”

“Observant, hungry for knowledge... I can see why the other me liked you.”

There was silence again.

“Well, here we are.”

Twilight looked around. They were in a residential area, and she scanned the area. “Which one?”

“That one.”

The house Celestia pointed out was so... normal. Twilight had expected something run down and in disrepair from a girl who wasn’t of any legal age to own one. And yet, it stood there. White with brown trimming, well maintained lawn and garden, nothing at all unusual.

“I’ll go up and talk to her,” Celestia said. “Are you going to try and sneak around?”

Twilight actually stopped. “If it’s an abandoned home she’s in, we can sneak around and see if we can find anything. Princess Celestia said it was likely that Sunset had allies in Equestria, so...”

Before she could finish the house’s front door opened. Out stepped a man with brown skin and black hair. He was dressed in casual wear, and strolling out to get his morning paper.

“Wait here,” Celestia instructed, getting out of the car.

Twilight decided to do as she was told. Sitting in the front seat, she watched the Principal approach the man.

“Excuse me. Is this the home of Sunset Shimmer?”

The man, a bit startled by being approached, spoke. “Yes it is. She’s my niece. And you are?”

“I’m Principal Celestia. I need to ask a few questions, Mr...”

“Caballeron,” the man answered, shaking hands. “What’s wrong? Has Sunset caused you trouble?”

Even from a distance, Twilight could tell Celestia was biting back an acerbic comment. “No, it’s just that I caught her on school grounds late last night. Is everything alright?”

At that, the man’s expression darkened. He leaned over and said something Twilight couldn’t hear.

Celestia was silent for a moment before speaking. “Well, rest assured if your... niece causes trouble, I will take it up with the school board.” She turned and headed back to the car.

Once inside, she wasted no time driving off. Twilight was shocked. “What did he say?”

“He said, ‘It’s none of your concern, now why don’t you take that pony in there and leave?’”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “She’s this entrenched. I should have guessed.”

“Unless you're good at sneaking and stealthing, I’d say searching Sunset’s house is out.”

Twilight thought back to her attempts to sneak into the Starswirl the Bearded Wing and cringed. “Perhaps... now what?” She was used to having the backing of a Princess who could and would authorize her to do anything. Now... now she had to play by the rules.

“Well, you’re entering a popularity contest. Let’s get you some better outfits. Fashion will play a big part.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Of course, I should have guessed. You humans are so obsessed with clothes, you wear them when you sleep. Seriously, I feel so constricted.”

Celestia blushed a bit, but hid it. “Well, I think I know where to go,” she said. “There’s a fashion store I always hear the students talking about. I know one of them works there, and she seems nice.”

Twilight nodded. “Sounds as good a plan as any. Do you think you can talk the superintendent into giving the Element back?”

“Hope can be a bit... paranoid about things running smoothly, but I can talk to her. Or at least figure out where it is.”

“Good. I don’t want to risk Sunset having more help that can get to the Crown.”

“If it helps, I’ve known Hope for two decades, so I doubt she’s in league with her... ah, here we are.”

Celestia pulled into a parking lot, and Twilight’s eyes went wide.

It looked nearly the same. Same shape, same color, same design. The only thing that was different was the sign, the one that wasn’t on the building in her world, written in elegant script.

Carousel Boutique

“No way...”

As soon as Celestia parked, Twilight was outside the car. Walking a little loosely she still wasn’t very graceful on her feet, she made it to the front door.

Taking a deep breath, she went through the door.

The inside was far different, looking more like a retail shop than an exclusive custom hub. But behind the counter was a Human that looked very familiar.

“Well, hello there,” Rarity said. “I don’t believe I’ve seen you around before. My name’s Rarity. Welcome to Carousel Boutique.”

Author's Note

And we get our first taste of the HuMane 5. Hope you like!

Rarity

Twilight couldn’t help but stare shocked for a moment before she found her voice. “Um, hello Rarity. My name is Twilight Sparkle.”

“Yes, I’ve been wondering when you’d come in.”

Twilight blinked. “What?”

“I’ve seen you around before. Walking that adorable little dog of yours. Though I daresay it’s nice to see you’ve let your hair down.”

A chill ran through Twilight’s spine. Running into her counterpart could only cause trouble. ”R-really?”

“Yes, I’m always going to the other side of town, there’s good shops there. But my grandmother’s styles are all the rage, I assured you would have heard of it.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, I have a need of it now. See...”

“Principal Celestia!” Rarity said suddenly, seeing the one who ran her school.

“Hello, Rarity. I seen you’ve met my niece.”

“Y-your niece?” she asked. “Why I had no idea... but if that’s true, why haven’t I seen her attending Canterlot High?”

Before Celestia could open her mouth and blow the story, Twilight jumped in. “My house just burned down.”

Rarity blinked. “Oh dear, really?”

Twilight didn’t look at Celestia, knowing there was an incredulous look on her face. “Yes, I lived across town, but my house burned down. My parents were so desperate for money that they took a job overseas, but left me with my aunt.”

“Oh you poor dear!” Rarity said, suddenly coming around the counter and giving Twilight a hug. “That sounds so difficult! Oh, you seemed so happy whenever I saw you around!”

‘Well, it has been a challenge,” Twilight said.

“...Yes,” Celestia said, having caught on to Twilight’s story. “Well, my niece has lost a lot, so we’re in here to try and get her a new wardrobe. Do you think you can find her something nice to wear to school on Monday?”

“Why of course, Principal! Come on, Darling, I can find you something!”

Twilight, suddenly remembering her first encounter with her Rarity, gulped.

“Yeah, I can get it to you tonight. Well, I can get the digital copies ready. Hard copies will take another day or two.”

“Thank you, Yearling,” Luna said. Sitting in a t-shirt and sweatpants, she looked a far cry from the stern educator she was in school. Spike sat next to her, reading a comic book on her tablet.

“Yeah, well, I’m assuming you have a good reason for this. What’s this girl’s story, anyway?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. In fact, I don’t think I believe it myself. It’s enough to make me want to fall off the wagon.”

“Don’t you dare. I’m not going through that again, and I don’t think you should either.”

“Relax, it’s just a joke,” Luna assured.

“It better be. Now, what on Terra could have you so freaked out? After what we saw back in our prime?”

“It’s got nothing on this,” Luna said, taking a sip of coffee. “Trust me, I think I might like to forget this whole thing once she goes home.”

”Not even a hint?”

“Trust me, you’re better off not knowing. Just trust us. You still owe us for that business in Guatemala.”

“You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?”

“Never.”

A few more minutes of chat and they parted. Luna went to her paper, and was scanning the first article when Spike spoke.

“You’re really going to just forget all about us?”

She looked down at Spike, who was looking at her, not really seeming hurt or offended, but like Luna had said something unbelievable.

“Spike, I don’t think I could forget you two if I tried. But finding out about all this is... a bit jarring. Not something that’s easy to accept. I’m sure you want to forget being a dog after all this is over, don’t you?”

At that, Spike wilted. “Yeah, I do.” He went back to his comic, looking a little saddened.

“Spike... I really do like you and Twilight. Don’t think that has anything to do with it. I’m sure you’re a wonderful dragon back wherever you come from.”

“...You know, I came through this portal to try and help Twilight, but look; I’m a dog! I can’t even go with her to school like this.”

Luna lowered her paper, looking at the pup. Then she sat it down and placed a comforting hand on his back. “Spike, take it from someone who knows through personal experience: sometimes, someone just needs somebody to be there for them.”

Spike looked at her. “You think so?”

Luna smiled. “I bet having you here is going to make this next week that much easier for Twilight,” she said, scratching behind his ears.

Spike batted her hand away. “I’m not really a dog, remember?”

“Oh, um, sorry, I...”

“...But could you do that again? It felt nice.”

Blinking, Luna did as asked. In moments, Spike was wagging his tail happily, to Luna’s amusement.

Celestia watched as Twilight was forced into dress after dress by Rarity. She didn’t interrupt the process much, only to veto an outfit she deemed too revealing for school. It involved a bit of playing the parental figure, as Rarity assumed these outfits would be worn outside of school.

Still, Celestia was keeping her ears on the conversation, helping Twilight direct it away from herself. She found soon that her guest could handle that just fine, but an escape hatch always helped.

“So, you say your grandmother owns this place?” Twilight asked.

“Why yes. I’m next in line to inherit it, as a matter of fact. My parents are nice, but they are woefully tacky in fashion sense. I’ve already designed several outfits. I’m giving you one right now. Yes, it looks divine.”

Twilight glanced at herself in the mirror. Her outfits, both the one she had arrived here on and the one Celestia had bought her, had been simple affairs. This, however, showed Rarity’s eye for detail. A pale blue top with a pink bow tie, a purple skirt that only came down mid-thigh (Celestia sighed at how the school’s dress code had lax), and boots decorated at the top with pink cloth.

“Uh, yeah, it does look pretty,” Twilight said.

“I should hope so. Oh, will you be attending the Fall Formal?” Twilight nodded her head yes. “Then you simply must allow me to design a dress for you.” She held up a hand at Twilight opening her mouth. “Ah, ah, no protests. After what you’ve been through it’s the least I can do.”

“Well, I am planning to run for Princess of the Fall Formal...”

At that Rarity gasped. “What? No, no, you must not!”

Twilight blinked. “What? Why...”

Celestia gave a sigh. “Twilight... Rarity was the last one who tried to run against Sunset.”

Twilight saw Rarity deflate instantly, looking at the floor. “She... I know she was responsible for those rumors...”

“Rumors?” Twilight asked.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Rarity said.

She’s crying... Twilight realized. She placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Twilight, trust me, do not run. Sunset is a monster. She does horrible things to get what she wants. The only one worse than her is that Rainbow Dash!”

That got Twilight to step back. “R-Rainbow Dash?”

Celestia got up. “Now, Rarity, I remember that you two used to be friends...”

“And it was a mistake!” Rarity said, suddenly vehement. “Oh, that arrogant little barbarian, always acting like she’s the greatest thing on two legs! The only thing I can say for her is she’s not as stupid as Applejack!”

Twilight felt her knees go weak. “Applejack?”

“You’d think someone who managed to get into high school could speak properly! Honestly, if my sister wasn’t friends with her sister I’d never even look at her!”

Twilight felt sick. This might be a different Rarity than the one she knew, but hearing her so savagely talk about her friends like that...

“Why, you’re looking absolutely green! Are you okay?”

“Uh... I guess I might have ate something bad,” Twilight said quickly. “This is the fifth outfit, right? I’ll take it! Me and Cel... Aunt Celestia need to go.”

Rarity blinked, her previous animosity nearly forgotten. “But that’s only five! You can’t have a wardrobe that small!”

Celestia stepped in. “We still need to get her a new computer, new books, a new cell phone... just a week’s worth right now.”

“Very well, let’s get you rung up... at a discount, of course. I simply can’t let you pay so much for things you need.”

Twilight had put up a token protest, but was thankful that in any universe, Rarity was still generous. Celestia had pushed harder, promising she could afford it, but Rarity held her ground and won.

As Twilight walked out, Rarity called out. “And watch for two more girls: Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy!”

Twilight felt her heart tie into a knot.

Then Rarity called again. “But if you believe that rumor about Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, don’t you dare bother them about it. They deserve trouble, but not for that.”

Twilight blinked in confusion, but kept walking out to the car.

Once inside, Twilight started crying. Celestia put an arm around her.

“What’s wrong?”

She dried her tears, but only a little. “Those five are supposed to be my friends... my best friends. Seeing them fight like that...”

Celestia pulled her in for a hug. Twilight cried a bit more, but regained her composure. “I need to make this right. Priority three will be getting my friends back together. Do you know anything about them?”

Celestia sighed. “They used to be such good friends. But then one day they started fighting. After Rainbow Dash and Applejack got into a scuffle in the hallways, I pulled them in for questioning. They both gave conflicting stories, saying that the other had done something to upset the other. I tried asking the others, but they all either gave conflicting stories or refused to say anything. Since they hadn’t broken school rules, I couldn’t exactly force them to tell me anything.”

“What did Rarity mean about ‘that rumor’?”

“Well, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy stayed friends. A few days later, a new rumor started that they were... in a relationship.”

Silence.

“And?”

“...And that’s it. People who didn’t like that kind of thing started harassing them.”

“...What sort of thing?”

Celestia looked at her guest. “Same-sex couples.”

“What? Why?”

“Several reasons,” Celestia said. “It’s a conversation we can have once we get home. But the point is, it hurt them. I put a stop to it, but the damage had been done, it drove the two apart.”

Twilight sighed. “I need to make it right.”

“I know. I hope you do better than I did.”

Twilight looked at the principal, who was gripping the steering wheel in anger. It took Twilight a moment to realize that the older woman was directing a lot of that anger at herself.

“Sunset’s been running this school for the last year and a half. Everything I’ve tried to stop her, either the school board got in the way or she just managed to slip away. I...” She was crying. “I suppose I haven’t been a good Principal.”

Twilight put a hand on her arm. “Don’t say that. I’m sure you’ve been a great Principal. You are my mentor’s double.”

“I’m not your Celestia. She sounds like the perfect Princess. I...”

“She’s not perfect. She’s made mistakes, but she’s kept going. She’s told me before, you can only do your best, and keep going despite it. Even after living for thousands of years, she’s made mistakes.”

Celestia looked at her. “Really?”

Twilight smiled. “Let me tell you about my brother’s wedding...”

Author's Note

Wrote this during PonyCon while in the hotel room. Thus, shorter than usual. Blame my roommate if it sucks.

Expanding more on Celestia and Luna, and we're getting our start on the HuMane 5. We should be getting to the actual school in two more chapters, btw.

Preparation

Celestia listened for the drive back home. Once Twilight was finished, Celestia smiled. “You friends are lucky to have you, you know. And if your devotion of them is any indication, you’re lucky to have them.”

“I am,” Twilight smiled.

“Then when Monday comes around, you’ll have to get started on that,” Celestia said, pulling into her driveway. “For now, we need to get you up to speed on what you need to know in the curriculum.”

Twilight nodded as she unbuckled her seat belt. They entered the house. It was Spike who greeted them first, jumping into her arms. Luna sat on the sofa in the main room with a book.

“Any luck?” she asked.

Celestia and Twilight explained everything that had happened that day.

“So... that’s a no?”

“So far,” Celestia said. “I’ll try getting a hold of Hope and convincing her to give up the crown, but you know her.”

Luna nodded. “I got in touch with Yearling. The electronic copies of Twilight’s records are almost ready, and she’s getting into the school’s mainframe to register her. I downloaded a copy of the placement test on the computer. She might already be in, but it will help if she knows everything.”

Twilight smiled. “The math and language in this world seem to be the same as my own, at least.” Then she thought a bit. “What were those rumors Rarity was talking about?”

Luna looked at Twilight. “You ran into her?”

Twilight nodded. “She said she was the last one to run against Sunset. What were these rumors I heard spread?”

“You saw the other Rarity? And I missed it?” Spike pouted. Twilight giggled before picking him up and setting him in her lap. “You’ll see her soon enough.”

The two principals winced. “Well, not two days after Rarity announced her campaign, her parents suddenly came marching down to the school. It seemed they had heard a rumor that Rarity... well, that she got intimate with a few members of our soccer team.”

Twilight felt a shiver run down her spine. “You mean...”

Luna nodded. “It went through the PTA and the school board. The parents were demanding the ‘harlot’ be expelled. Her parents nearly sent her to a reform school. We eventually convinced everyone it was just hearsay, but the damage had been done. Rarity was so humiliated she dropped out.”

Twilight felt the tears come again. “And the students? Did they...”

Celestia shook her head. “No, that was the one grace. Everyone suspected it was Sunset, but Rarity’s reputation of flirting with boys didn’t help. Only a few teased her about it, and we dealt with it. We even managed to finally expel a trio of troublemakers that used up their last chance.”

Twilight breathed deeply. “I... I can’t let Sunset get away with all this. I have to stop her. You need to show me what I need to blend in.”

Celestia smiled. “No problem. Let’s get you back on the computer and to work. We’ll start with a math review, just in case, then move on to science...”

Math had worked pretty much the same, to Twilight’s relief. Science was daunting, but she quickly realized she had a lot of the base elements in magic. Chemistry, physics, and even biology all had similar basics. So... why such advanced technology? Was Equestria just so dependent on magic it couldn’t see what could be accomplished without it?

History ended up being the hardest, at it had to be learned completely from scratch. This was one, fortunately, that Celestia said could be faked if absolutely necessary. Aside from some major figures most teenagers were woefully under-informed on this topic.

English turned out to be similar to Equestrian, in an oddly convenient twist. The basic structure of a story was also something Twilight was familiar with.

Lunch that day had been sandwiches brought to them by Luna, but at one point Celestia excused herself. It was her turn to make dinner.

That night turned out to be a large garden salad with gluten-free pasta. After the meal was dished up, Luna spoke.

“How’s it looking? Do you think you can fool everyone?”

Twilight nodded. “There’s no way I’m learning History in time, but I think I can complete the rest of the placement test.”

“That’s good. I also had Yearling write up some medical records. You have asthma now, which should keep you out of gym.”

Twilight hadn’t even considered that. Still she wanted to kiss Luna’s feet for getting her out of it. The “required workouts” at Princess Celestia’s school had nearly killed her.

“Can you tell me what you heard about what happened between the girls?”

“Anything we tell you would likely be false,” Luna said. “They all said something different. Well, except for Fluttershy, she refused to speak at all.”

Celestia shook her head. “Rainbow said that Applejack called her stupid, Applejack said the same about Rarity. Pinkie claimed that Rarity had wrecked her locker, and Rainbow said Pinkie had played a nasty prank on her. And everyone except Rainbow Dash accused Fluttershy of being Rainbow’s ‘little lapdog’.” She placed a hand on her head. “I think I need an aspirin just thinking about it. The incident was over a year ago, so I can’t tell you all the details off the top of my head, but I have my records of the incident in my personal files. I can pull it up after dinner.”

“And no one thought Sunset was behind it? From what you told me, everyone suspects her of everything.”

“This was before she had gathered her reputation. She was a new student,” Celestia said. “At the time, I didn’t think anything of it, but now... well, maybe it was her, but I’m not entirely sure.”

“Why?”

Luna spoke up. “As awful as Sunset is, she doesn’t just attack at random. She selects her targets for a purpose, like when she spread rumors about Rarity. We haven’t been able to pin a motive on her.”

Twilight nodded. “Were the girls popular? Maybe she saw them as competition.”

“From what I remember, Rarity and Rainbow Dash were. I think the other three were only known as their friends,” Celestia said.

“Have you tried bringing Sunset’s involvement up to them?”

“I have, but Sunset ran a deep wedge. It hasn’t been helped by how passive-aggressive they’ve been to each other since then. If I had more time to sit down with them I would, but they’re five students in a big school.”

Twilight paused a moment. She had to remind herself this wasn’t the same Celestia, the ultimate power in Equestria. This was Celestia, the schoolmaster with limited resources and a boss to answer to.

‘Well, I think I want to have a look at your notes,” Twilight said before taking another bite. “If Sunset is behind this, she must have a reason. If I can find it...”

“Well, I’m hopeful,” Luna said. “Sunset’s had her way for too long.”

”Do you see the stars, Sunset?”

Sunset Shimmer looked up from her spot on the Princess’s back, gazing at the glowing lights above.

“It’s very pretty.”

“In my time, there were even more wonders in the sky. However, ponies foolishly ignored them to focus on what was on the surface.”

“The story of the Mare in the Moon? Is it true?”

The Princess looked away from her faithful student. “Even the most fantastical legend has a kernel of truth,” the Princess said. “It is true that ponies didn’t appreciate beauty that was gifted to them.”

“Are you saying NightMare Moon was right to get angry?”

“She had a right to feel upset, but not to do what she did. Understanding is important, and there are times when a good talk and forgiveness are more effective than punishment, but everypony is responsible for their own actions in the end.”

“What if they’re brainwashed?”

Celestia looked at her student. Sunset caught the smile just before Celestia’s magic tickled her side, causing her to shriek. She rolled off her mentor’s back, carefully caught by the magic before being sat on the grass, the magic still tickling her.

“Don’t sass me,” Celestia said, a smile on her face.

The Princess let up on her assault, and Sunset nuzzled against her side. A large wing covered her, making her feel warm.

“Princess... the Mare in the Moon rebelled against her sister. Did her sister still love her?”

“Yes.” Celestia said it quickly. She equally quickly added, “The Princess loved her sister, I’m sure. Love can’t be destroyed so easily.”

“If I did something bad, would you love me?”

Celestia looked at her with a sad smile. “Of course I will, my Sunshine.” She kissed her forehead. “You’re very special to me. Always remember that.”

Sunset law awake in her bed. That conversation played for her nearly every night.

Lies. It had all been lies. Celestia had cared about her, but only as a pawn, something she could mold and use against NightMare Moon. She was easily replaced by another filly, one too stupid to realize she had been shuffled off to a backwater town once her purpose was fulfilled and Celestia had no more use for her.

It had hurt. Celestia had plucked her out of the orphanage and made her a star pupil. She had been the mare who had let her sleep in her bed after nightmares, who congratulated her on every successful attempt and encouraged her at every failure.

It had been a lie. The whole time she had been holding her back. Celestia saw her as too powerful, somepony who needed to be just powerful enough to serve her purpose. She would have never let her take the Trials. Never allowed her to be her equal.

But she’d show her.

Soon, very soon, she’d have the Element of Magic. She’d have what she deserved. Three years of work, fifteen in Equestria, would not go in vain.

She’d take her rightful place, and anyone who stood in her way would pay the price.

Author's Note

Yeah... shorter than I expected. I probably should have merged this with the last one.

We're finally getting to the school next chapter, and into the main conflict.

Monday Morning

Applejack: Claims that Rainbow Dash insulted her several times, through interviews with Rainbow Dash had her claiming that Applejack insulted her first. It seems to be insults traded at each other over a catalyst I have yet to find. This seems to have been what caused the subsequent fallings-out, as the other three were accused of picking sides.

Rarity: Apparently sided with Applejack over everything. However, another fight broke out between them soon after. They’ve refused to even discuss it, and seeing as it hasn’t effected anything on school grounds, I’m unable to press.

Pinkie: Sided with Rainbow Dash. Soon afterward Rainbow Dash’s gym locker was filled with shaving cream. She accused Pinkie of it, saying she was “too stupid” to know when to stop. Pinkie swears up and down she didn’t do it. She has a reputation as a prankster, but everyone liked her because she never went too far. Soon afterward, Pinkie’s locker was found painted with the word “IDIOT” in nail polish. Pinkie accused Rarity of it. I found no proof either way.

Rainbow Dash: Claims Applejack insulted her first. I suspect there’s a larger catalyst. Will only talk to Fluttershy now.

Fluttershy: refused comment. Everyone accuses her of being Rainbow Dash’s lapdog.

Twilight looked it over again. These shorthand notes of Celestia’s were all she had to go on. She looked up at Celestia, who was on the other side of the desk, placing a pile of books on it.

“Okay... step one is to find the signup sheet and register for the crown. Second step is finding everyone and try to get them together. Third... well, I don’t know. Maybe more research into where the crown is.”

Celestia nodded. “Well, that’s going to require going to class. These are your textbooks,” she said, scooting them forward. “On the top is your locker number and combination. In the northernmost hallway.”

Twilight nodded. “I think I got everything this weekend. Classes shouldn’t be much of a distraction.”

Twilight looked at her schedule and placed the books for her first class inside, making Spike scoot over.

“Yeah, all you have to worry about is boys,” Celestia said with a smile.

Spike laughed. “Yeah right. Twilight?”

Twilight glared at her charge. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“You skipped your school dance to read a book on invisibility magic. I don’t think you even notice boys half the time.”

Celestia smiled. “We’ll see. Anyway, class starts in 45 minutes, you better take the time to get used to the layout of the school. I’ll try and find one of the five to give you a tour later today.”

Twilight nodded, lifting the remaining books in her arms. She gave a quick goodbye to Principal Celestia before walking out.

“You think we can get everything done in a week?” Spike asked.

“I hope so. Don’t talk when we're in the hallways, I don’t want to risk anyone hearing you.”

“Fine,” Spike said.

With her locker number in mind, she headed north, just barely managing to see around the stack of books.

She was almost there when it happened. She suddenly hit someone else and fell to the floor.

“Ow...” she muttered, feeling soreness in her rump where she had landed.

“Oh, geez, I’m sorry,” a boy’s voice said. Twilight saw a hand enter her vision, offering to help her up. “I didn’t see you there.”

“No, no, it’s my fault, it was a little hard to see where...”

And then he saw him.

Blue hair, orange skin, and a friendly smile.

She felt her face heat up. He was really handsome, and the look he was giving her made her both feel at ease and gave her butterflies in her stomach, all at once.

...Why?

“You’re a new face,” he said. He was blushing too. Sweet Celestia...

“Uh, yeah, I just transferred here,” she said quickly. She bent down to pick up her books, and the boy followed suit.

“Let me give you a hand. It’s the least I can do,” he said.

“Um, thank you. My name’s Twilight.”

“Flash Sentry.” The boy, being more dexterous, had picked up more than Twilight had, as well as her locker number. “Looks like you’re not far from here. Why don’t I carry these for you?”

No, it’s okay, I’ve got it.

“That would be nice.”

Why!?

Flash took the rest of the books and the pair walked down the hallway. It was an awkward silence at first, but Flash broke it. “You said you just transferred here?”

“Uh, yes...”

“Figures. I doubt I’d forget you.”

Twilight blinked. Her face was heating up. Why? “Um, well... I had to move in with my Aunt Celestia due to some unpleasantness.”

Flash blinked. “The principal’s your aunt? Hmm... never would have guessed it.”

“Yes, well, it’s a difficult transition,” she said quickly. “Today’s my first day, and... ah, here it is!” She was relieved to be at the locker. She quickly fidgeted with the combination lock.

“So... do you have anyone to show you around?”

Now Twilight was nervous again. “Uh, well... I was going to get a tour from someone later.”

“Ah,” he said, the one syllable response doing nothing to hide his disappointment.

What? No... if he likes me too, it’s going to hurt him when I go back... wait, what do I mean “too”?

With the locker open, Flash placed the books inside.

“Thanks for the help,” Twilight squeaked out.

Flash smiled. “No problem. I’ll catch you around.”

He turned and walked off.

Sweet Celestia, what’s wrong with me? I’m a pony, not a Human! He’s like a big, hairless ape! He has two legs, those hands, no fur, a flat face, those abs and Sweet Luna he has a cute butt.

Twilight clamped her hands to the side of her head, trying to squeeze that thought out of existence.

“Seriously?”

Twilight looked back at her backpack, where Spike had popped up. “You haven’t even looked at a stallion before, and a Human is making you like this?”

“I don’t get it either,” Twilight sighed. “It must be a side effect of this new body. Ugh... well, we better look around.”

Twilight’s look around school earned her a few curious glances from what few students were here this early, muttering about the new girl. Mentally she was mapping out the school, and was thankful she wasn’t being bothered.

That was until she turned another corner and found herself face-to-face with someone she recognized.

Yellow skin and a pink mane. Dressed in soft white and green. Shrinking back to try and disappear before the new girl. This was one of the ones she had been looking for.

Fluttershy backed up, surprised by the new girl, and hid behind her hair.

Twilight hid her giddiness. She needed to approach this cautiously. “Um... hello?”

“Hello.”

“...Um, I’m new here. My name’s Twilight.”

“I’m Fluttershy..."

“I’m sorry?”

She just mumbled and looked away.

Twilight paused, wondering what to say next. She needed to get Fluttershy back with the others, but sadly this one was as shy as hers. It looked like she was going to have to go with her original plan. Once she won over Rainbow Dash...

“Puppy!”

Twilight jumped as Fluttershy sprung forward, grabbing Spike out of her backpack. “Oh, he is so adorable.” She held the dragon-turned-canine right up to her face, their noses touching. “You’re a sweet little puppy!”

Twilight blinked, having the oddest sense of deja vu. After glancing around and once again being grateful that the school was nearly empty at the moment, she smiled. “Yes. His name is Spike.”

“Aww, he’s such a cute puppy dog, yes he is, yes he is,” Fluttershy said, scratching behind his ears.

Spike, annoyed at being treated like a dog, growled.

“Uh, he doesn’t like being touched by someone he doesn’t know.”

Fluttershy giggled. “Well, I know what tough guy pups like this need.” She flipped Spike onto his back and began scratching at his belly. Spike growled for a few seconds before suddenly giving in to the action, happily wagging his tail and kicking his legs.

“That’s right, you're just a big softy, yes you are!” Fluttershy cooed to the placated Spike. She looked up at Twilight with a smile. “I’m glad I’m not the only one who likes animals, but you might want to be careful. They’re not allowed in school.”

“Yes, well, I can’t go anywhere without Spike,” she said.

Fluttershy was used her free hand to rummage through her backpack, eventually pulling out a dog treat. “Want one?”

Spike gulped. He looked at Twilight for encouragement, but Twilight could only say “Go on, boy!” with a nervous grin.

Sighing, Spike took the treat, apprehensively at first. However, after the first bite he attacked the rest with vigor.

“You like animals? Oh, will you sign up with the animal shelter? I’ve been trying to get more people, but...”

“Uh, that sounds like fun, but I’m just getting settled in here. Maybe in a week or two?”

“Oh, that’s okay,” Fluttershy said. She was smiling now, and picking Spike up to place him back in Twilight’s backpack. “I understand. Moving might be hard. Are you going to the Fall Formal? I wasn’t, but if someone nice is going to be there...”

“I’m actually planning on running for Princess...”

“What?” Even though Twilight was half expecting it, Fluttershy’s horror surprising. “Oh my, you can’t. Sunset will.... she’s a girl that...”

“I know who Sunset is and I’m not afraid of her,” Twilight said, hoping she sounded more confident . “I’m just waiting for the one in charge to get here so I can sign up.”

Fluttershy was actually shaking. “Please don’t. I don’t want to think about what Sunset could do to you.”

“I appreciate your concern, but I’m not worried.”

Tears. Fluttershy was actually crying now. “Um, well... I saw Pinkie get here a few minutes ago. She’s in the gym.”

Twilight smiled. Pinkie... “Thank you. Why don’t you come with me? You seem nice...”

“Oh no, I can’t talk to Pinkie. She... she doesn’t like me very much...”

Twilight feigned surprise. “Really? Why?”

“Um... Igottago!”

Fluttershy ran off. Twilight called to her, but she was ignored. So much for her plan to get the five talking to each other.

Sighing, she looked over the school map again. She needed to head toward the gym.

“I don’t get it,” Spike mumbled. “I’m not a dog...”

“Hush Spike. We can talk back in Celestia’s office,” Twilight said as she opened the gym door.

Right away she could tell the gym served multiple functions. The lines of the floor and the baskets at both ends told her that it’s primary focus was sports, specifically basketball, a sport she had looked up during her massive research binge during the weekend.

But with some initial decorations already up, Twilight could see it working at a dance hall. She glanced around at a few banners and streamers already hanging in the uppermost areas. As a result, she didn’t see the pink mass until it was right on top of her.

“Hi!”

Twilight jumped back in surprise as the Human Pinkie Pie bounced in front of her. “Ooh! You must be the new girl!” She grinned. “I’m Pinkie Pie and... say...”

Suddenly Pinkie leaned in, narrowing her eyes. “You seem a little... off...”

Twilight felt herself start to sweat. “Off?”

“Yeah... you’re hiding a dog in your backpack, aren’t you?”

Twilight let go of a breath she was holding. “Yeah, I snuck my pet into school.”

“Neato! Anyway, I’m Pinkie Pie, what’s your name?”

“Twilight.”

“Twilight? That’s a pretty name! Anyway, welcome to Canterlot High. I’m on the committee for the Fall Formal even though Applejack is on it too and I’m in charge of decorating the gym and setting up the vote for the Fall Formal Princess, which is easy because only Sunset ever runs, and I have a lot to get done but I really want to talk to you too so I guess I’m asking are you going too because I’d like your opinion on the decorations so far. Do you think it’s too much because a lot of people are saying it is so if you could take a look at the concept piece I wrote up?”

Pinkie had shoved a picture in her face depicting a crudely drawn gymnasium decorated with crudely drawn decorations.

“It’s just a concept but I was thinking that we add a few more balloons...”

“Pinkie,” Twilight said firmly.

The pink girl stopped. “Yes, Twilight?”

“I hate to interrupt, but I really need the sign-up sheet for the Fall Formal. I’m going to run for Princess.”

Pinkie let out a gasp. “What? No! No! Please, Twilight, Sunset would do something really, really mean and...”

“Pinkie,” Twilight said as sternly as before. Pinkie stopped. “I’ve heard about Sunset. That’s why I’m running. Someone needs to stand up to her.”

“But... but...”

“No buts. Now please, the sign-up sheet?”

Pinkie sighed as she reached into her hair and pulled out a clipboard. There was a single sheet of paper labeled “Princess Sign-Up” with only one signature, “Sunset Shimmer”.

Carefully, Twilight took the offered pencil and signed her name. She had practiced writing with Celestia, so she at least managed to get halfway passable handwriting.

“Are you sure about this?” Pinkie said, almost pleading.

“I’m sure. I’m going to take Sunset down.”

“Well, ain’t you a brave one.”

Twilight jumped and turned around. Standing there was Applejack. The same freckles, ponytail, and hat.

“Uh, well...”

Applejack walked past her and set the cases of some kind of liquid on a nearby table. She briefly looked at Pinkie, but the two looked away in mutual disgust.

“Anywho..... I don’t think ya know what yer gettin’ yerself into. Sunset’s the most ornery snake in the grass that ever slithered into Canterlot High. She’ll spread all these rumors...”

“Cel... Aunt Celestia and Aunt Luna told me all about it,” Twilight said. “She also told me no one believes anything she says, so...”

“Wait... yer the Principal's niece?” Applejack said.

“Ooh! Then she can keep the rumors down out of school!” She flashed an excited smile to Applejack, who returned it... until they both remembered who they were smiling at, and turned away in a huff.

Twilight winced. Still, if they could agree with this...

“So, would you two vote for me if I ran?”

Applejack smiled. “Shoot, you actually make it until the Formal, you got my vote. Anyone’s better than Sunset.”

“I will too... even if I am agreeing with her,” she motioned to Applejack.

Twilight winced again. This time grimace stuck. Hearing such a bitter tone come out of Pinkie was too painful.

“Uh... Twi? You okay?”

“Wha? Uh, yeah, I’m fine Applejack. You two just seem... angry at each other.” This was her chance to at least try.

“Well it’s because Pinkie here... wait, how’d you know my name?”

Twilight froze. Inside, she was mentally kicking herself for her slip up. But then... if she hadn’t been keeping track of the conversation...

“Uh... you mentioned it, remember?” Twilight said, trying to act casual.

“I did?”

“...Yeah!”

“...I guess I must have,” Applejack said, trying to remember the conversation.

Twilight looked relieved, until she noticed Pinkie Pie eyeing her with extra scrutiny.

“Uh, you know, I just remembered I need to see my aunt before class starts so I’llseeyoulaterbye!”

Twilight went out the door as fast as she could without actually running.

The two remaining girls looked at the scene with some confusion.

“Now look what you did.”

Applejack glared at Pinkie. “Me? It was probably all that craziness you...”

And then the door opened again, and in she walked.

The same smile the girls had come to hate, the same ‘I’m better than you’ way of walking, the same leather jacket that said she was trying too hard to be a bad girl.

And behind her walked two of her little minions, leeching off the fear she caused. At least this time, it was just Snips and Snails.

“Sunset...” Applejack said, her anger at Pinkie forgotten.

“Very good, you remembered my name,” Sunset Shimmer said. She grabbed the rim of Applejack’s hat, twisting it around and pulling it over her face. “In a family of hicks, you might be good for something other than being a pig.”

Applejack’s fists tensed in anger. For a moment she was too mad to even readjust her hat.

Pinkie looked equally upset. She opened her mouth to say something, but bit it back. She wasn’t coming to Applejack’s defense, of all people.

“And what’s this?” She picked a bottle out of the case Applejack had brought in. “Ugh, hick cola. Figures Celestia’s too cheap to spring for real drinks. Guess that’ll have to make do. Still, you think a Princess would get better treatment than that. How about you, tell me you’ve actually done a decent job with the decorations?”

Pinkie fumed, but put on a brave smile. “Sure have. I’ve got these plans and...”

“What are you, five? That looks like crap,” Sunset said immediately. “Honestly, how are you in High School? No, don’t answer. If they’ll let the Apples in, they’ll take anyone.”

Applejack’s fists tightened.

Snips and Snails snickered. Applejack moved her hat off her eyes and shot a look that actually froze the pair in their place.

“Ya haven’t won yet, you know,” Applejack said.

“Wow, apparently you won’t be good for anything other than a mud pit. I’m running unopposed.”

Pinkie actually grinned, and this time she didn’t mind sharing an expression with Applejack. “Actually, you’re not. Someone new just signed up,” she said, showing off the clipboard.

“...What?” Sunset said, snatching the clipboard from Pinkie and glaring at it.

Both Pinkie and Applejack looked on in anticipation, waiting for the queen bee of Canterlot High to lose it.

She laughed. She laughed so long and loud that even Snips and Snails looked at her like she had lost her mind.

“Oh... this is going to be fun,” Sunset said.

Pinkie and Applejack shared a worried look. Once again, they didn’t care they were supposed to hate each other.

“Well, I blew it,” Twilight sighed, sitting in a chair in front of Celestia and Luna.

“The week’s still young,” Luna pointed out.

“As long as you stay away from that boy.” Spike muttered.

“Boy?” Celestia and Luna’s amusement made Twilight blush all the more. “What boy?” Celestia asked.

“She meets some guy named Flash and all of a sudden she goes all gooey. I mean, I know everypony has different tastes, but a Human? Really?”

“Spike,” Twilight said in a tense voice.

“Maybe it has something to do with your new body,” Celestia said. “Teenage hormones are powerful.”

“Hmm... maybe,” Twilight suddenly got a grin. “That could explain why Spike now likes being scratched behind the ears... and dog biscuits.”

Now Spike looked embarrassed.

“Well, at least the three of them agreed to vote for me. Maybe if I’m a mutual friend...”

“I’ll ask Rainbow Dash to show you around,” Luna said. “You’ll at least have met all five. I’ve scheduled 5th as a free period.”

Twilight nodded. “I think I can move forward from there. Until then, I need to get to class. It’s starting soon.”

“I’ve told all the teachers the cover story and asked them not to call on you in class, saying you need some time out of the spotlight.”

She nodded. No need to have her common knowledge of the human world tested any more than necessary. After giving Spike a scratch behind the ears, she picked up her backpack and walked out.

It wasn’t long before she was in front of the classroom for first period English. Taking a deep breath, she went in. She immediately felt her old anxieties come back as every set of eyes settled on her.

“You must be the new girl,” a man said that Twilight quickly realized was the Human Cranky Doodle Donkey. “Well, take a seat. I believe there’s one open next to Mr. Sentry.”

Twilight blinked. She turned and saw Flash, who gave a friendly smile.

...Darn.

Author's Note

Yeah... this chapter. We kind of have to go through the motions of the first movie. Still, I hope I made it interesting enough. I promise the next chapter will mix it up a bit.

The Tour

Twilight had trouble concentrating in class. Twilight never had trouble concentrating in class. Then again, in every other class she had been in she had never been pumped full of unfamiliar hormones telling her that the boy sitting next to her was the ideal mating candidate.

She was relieved when the bell rang. Keeping her cool, she walked out calmly. Thankfully, Flash didn’t try to talk to her. The next class, science, was peaceful. Thankfully, she found herself in the same classroom as both Applejack and Rarity. The relief vanished quickly as they both motioned for them to sit next to them, each glaring at the other for trying to take “their” friend.

She ended up sitting next to a boy with lime skin and green, dreadlocked hair.

Finally, third period came around, and Twilight reported to Celestia’s office. When she entered, she found herself feeling relieved.

The last of her friends, Rainbow Dash, was her escort.

“You must be the new girl,” the cyan girl said. “Name’s Rainbow Dash.”

“Yeah, nice to meet you. I’m Twilight.”

“Yes, I thought she might be a good fit,” Celestia said, giving Twilight a knowing look. “Rainbow Dash is the captain of the soccer team, a real champ.”

Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head. “Well, it’s no big deal.”

Twilight nearly fainted from shock. Rainbow Dash brushing off praise? This really wasn’t her home dimension.

“I’m hoping you can show my niece around. It won’t be too much trouble, I hope,” Celestia said.

“I wanted to meet the new girl anyway. Well, come on, we have a full school and only an hour to see it.”

The pair walked out, and as soon as the door closed Rainbow Dash turned to her. “Is it true?”

Twilight blinked. “Is what...”

“Did you really sign up against Sunset for the Fall Formal Princess?”

“...Oh. Yeah, I did.”

“Have you heard...”

“Yeah, yeah, blackmail, pranks, the works. I’m not worried. Pranks are pranks, and Ce... my aunt can keep any rumors down.”

Rainbow Dash looked at her, as if trying to piece the new girl together. “You’re either really brave, or really stupid.”

“Oh? And what would make you decide which I am?”

“If you stick to this after Sunset starts. If you really keep going... well, no one’s ever stood up to her more than once. Putting your money where your mouth is would make you the most awesome girl I’ve met.”

“Does that mean I’d have your vote?”

“If you stick with it, sure.” Then she smiled. “If you get all the way to the Formal, you’ll win no questions asked. No one likes Sunset except for her posse.”

Twilight smiled. “I don’t blame anyone. I heard about the rumors she spread. You don’t believe the one about Rarity, so you?”

“No!”

Twilight jumped at Rainbow Dash’s sudden vehemence. The girl calmed herself. “No, no... don’t go spreading that around. Rarity’s a lot of things, but she’s not that.”

Twilight smiled. There looked to be hope. “Well then, why don’t you show me around?”

The tour with through the predicted stops: the library that seemed way too big for a school library, the gymnasium that Twilight had already seen, the theatre, the music room. But it was outside, on the soccer field, that the truly notable part of the tour started.

“And here’s our outdoor field. We have all kinds of events here, mostly soccer and football.”

Twilight gave a polite smile, looking around. “So this is where your team plays?”

“That’s right, ever since freshman year,” Rainbow Dash said, a look of reminiscence in her eyes.

“Well, you must play great to play captain.”

“I just practice a lot,” she brushed it off.

Twilight blinked. Still so surreal. “Well, you must have practiced nonstop, then. I can’t imagine...”

“Look, can we just drop this?” Rainbow Dash snapped.

Twilight stepped back in surprise. Seeing this, the other girl softened. “Look, I’m sorry, but I learned a long time ago that being good at sports doesn’t mean much. Now come on, we still have a lot of the school to see.”

Twilight wondered how true that could be. The school was big, but outside individual classrooms there seemed to be little for the student to see. Still, she obediently followed her back into the school.

They entered the hallways and ended up in the main entrance, passing by a large trophy case. This time, Twilight stopped a moment to look at them. Remembering the year she had been given by Celestia, she looked for what she hoped to find.

She saw it soon. Large trophies declaring Canterlot High first in soccer, three in a row. And next to them was a plaque declaring Rainbow Dash MVP.

“Wow, impressive.”

Rainbow Dash fumed. “I thought I said to drop it.”

“Sorry. It’s just... why are you so upset about this? Most people at least acknowledge their accomplishments.”

Rainbow Dash was quiet for a moment. Finally, she said, “If I were worth any praise, I’d be standing up to Sunset right now. Now come on.”

Rainbow Dash turned and began walking away without a second thought. After a moment, Twilight followed. This was getting her nowhere.

They entered the cafeteria, which was filled with students on their free period and a few workers getting lunch ready. “And here’s the cafeteria. It’s where food is served, blah, blah, you know this. What I really wanted to show you was... those girls.”

Twilight looked.

She didn’t recognize her right away, but it didn’t take long. The same color, the same mane color, and wearing a dismissive posture. It was Sunset, it had to be.

She wasn’t alone. Her table was full, three girls and two boys. The boys she recognized as the human versions of Snips and Snails. The girls, however, she had never seen before.

If there was one word that could describe all three of them, it would be gaudy. They all wore sparkled clothes that nearly hurt Twilight’s eyes to focus on them, and they all had large manestyles. A large frizzy bush, a long ponytail, and two long pigtails topped the girls of yellow, blue, and purple, respectively. The only accessory they had in common, Twilight realized, were a trio of red gems, one hanging on a black band around each of their necks.

“That’s Sunset with her group. The ones you really got to watch out for are Snips and Snails. They usually do Sunset’s dirty work. If you see them running around, watch your back. The three girls are harmless, mostly. They just hang off Sunset and act like they own the school. Really is a shame, they’re great singers.”

“Singers?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, they’re even named after music: Adagio, Sonata, and Aria. Everyone hates them on a personal level, but they all gather around when they sing.”

Twilight looked at the group. Sunset looked at her.

For a moment, their eyes locked, and Sunset gave an unspoken warning.

I’m going to run you over, pony.

She then went back to chatting with the others.

Rainbow Dash motioned her to sit at a table on the edge of the cafeteria. Once seated, she spoke. “You say your aunt can protect you from the rumors? Maybe... I always said she should be superintendent. She’d get all this garbage taken care of. She’d have done it already if those idiots on the school board ever did anything.”

“Really? You like my aunt?”

“Everyone does. We all know she’s been trying to get Sunset expelled. And she stopped Rarity from getting all that garbage on her. Being her niece might be a plus. But rumors aren’t what you need to worry about, it’s pranks.”

“Pranks?”

“Not the harmless kind either. Something humiliating. She doesn’t do it very often, she prefers things where there’s less of a chance she’ll get caught. But she can roll out some nasty ones.”

“I’ll be careful.”

Rainbow Dash nodded. There was an awkward silence before Twilight spoke up. “Aunt Celestia told me about the rumors... between you and Fluttershy.”

Rainbow Dash looked at her with an angry expression. Twilight added, “I don’t care if it’s true or not.”

Rainbow Dash sighed. “Then you’re better than some people. There was a gang called the Diamond Dudes that ran around this school. They kept harassing us, asking us to make out for them. And some others...” She shuddered.

“So... forgive me for asking, but were you two really...”

“No. Fluttershy was just a friend... that I can’t see anymore...”

Rainbow Dash hugged herself in an unconscious gesture. It was the latest in a line of actions that Twilight found so out of place on Rainbow Dash, even if this wasn’t the one she was used to. But she was beginning to understand.

“And no one helped you?”

There was silence a moment. “Celestia and Luna did, of course... and a few others: Sandalwood, Micro Chips, Lyra and Sweetie Drops... no surprise, I’m pretty sure those two are in the closet...”

Twilight blinked. Sweetie? Not Bon Bon? Another mystery to the list...

“Bulk Biceps, Derpy, and Flash Sentry, of course.”

Twilight felt herself cheer a bit. Flash was a good person. She... needed to stop worrying about that, she had to focus.

“And... well, those three.”

Now Twilight was confused. She was saying the words with contempt. “Those three? Sounds like you hate them.”

“I do. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie. Two are idiots and the other’s a snob.”

Twilight winced. “But... you said they helped you.”

“Yeah... they have a shred of decency, at least. They... I saw them each trip up someone coming to harass us. So they’re not all bad.”

Twilight could hear it in her voice. Longing...

“It sounds like you want to be friends with them.”

That earned her glare that caused Twilight to shrink back. “Look... we were friends once and it ended badly.” Rainbow Dash’s voice cracked. “I couldn’t... I have to go. Hope you make it to the Formal.”

And then she ran out, just as the bell sounded.

Some students started lining up for lunch, but Twilight just set there. Okay... this was progress. Rainbow Dash at least wanted to get the group together, even if she was denying it, and Fluttershy probably did too. That meant...”

“Hey.”

Twilight was brought out of her thoughts by a bespectacled boy. “Um, yes?”

“Is it really true? You’re running against Sunset?”

“Oh. Yes, I signed up this morning.”

“Cool! The name’s Micro Chips, and you’ve got my vote!”

Twilight grinned. “Well, thank you!”

Micro Chips was called away by a friend, so he excused himself, promising that his friends would vote for her if she stuck with it. It seemed almost too easy.

“Um, Twilight?”

Now it was Fluttershy, holding two bag lunches. “Oh, hello Fluttershy.”

“Principal Celestia asked me to bring you your lunch,” she said, offering a bag. Twilight took it. Of course, Celestia likely had planned this all along.

She opened it up to find Luna had prepared her a nice fruit salad. As she started eating, Fluttershy gave a small squeal. “You’re a vegetarian too?”

Twilight nodded. “Have been all my life,” she said. It was technically true.

“Oh, I was hoping to meet another! The only other one who doesn’t eat meat is Sunset, and she’s mean.”

“So I’ve heard,” Twilight noted.

“Are you really running against Sunset?”

Twilight nodded. “Yes. Will you vote for me?”

“Um, well, if you really want to do it... okay. But please don’t, Twilight, Sunset has hurt so many people...”

Twilight was quiet for a moment. “Does that include Rainbow Dash?”

Fluttershy gave a small squeak and looked at Twilight. “Um... maybe?”

“Please tell me.”

“Um, well... I don’t know. You see, a rumor about us spread around...”

“I heard about it,” Twilight said. Then, seeing Fluttershy’s frightened face, she added, “I don’t care if it’s true or not. If you’re that way, it’s fine.”

Fluttershy smiled gratefully, but went on. “Some bullies tried to hurt us. Rainbow Dash protected me. A lot of people helped us, but Dash did the most. Then, suddenly, she told me it was best if we don’t see each other anymore.”

Fluttershy’s tears were coming down. Twilight put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“It’s not fair. Rainbow Dash was my friend since we were in elementary school. She was always so strong. But then... I don’t know.”

Twilight summoned up her best hopeful smile. “Well, maybe if Sunset was taken down a peg...”

Fluttershy looked at her own salad. “Y-you think?”

Twilight smiled. “I know.”

“Oh. Well... maybe you can.”

Twilight smiled. She reached out a hand to touch Fluttershy, but the yellow girl backed away. “Um, I’m sorry, I know you’re being nice, but... I’m afraid of anyone thinking... you know.”

Twilight winced, pulling her hand back. “Okay.”

“Well, well,” a new voice said.

Fluttershy went rigid at the voice. Twilight saw her then. It was Applejack.

Fluttershy immediately grabbed her meal and ran off. It happened so quick that Twilight didn’t even get a chance to call after her. “Why’d you do that?”

“Do what?” Applejack said, taking a seat with her tray... meat, to Twilight’s discomfort. “All I did was walk up here. Fluttershy never did have much of a spine.”

Twilight sighed, burying her face in her hands. “I had just gotten her to agree to vote for me...”

“Ohh! That makes three!” Pinkie said, bouncing up while shooting a glare at Applejack. “Now you only need to convince the other 1576!”

“Or, you know, half that, which people who aren’t idiots could figure out.”

“Hey you...” Pinkie started.

“Girls,” Twilight said firmly, getting them both to stop and look at her. “Can you two at least try...”

“Darling!”

Twilight tensed. This situation was just getting worse.

Rarity walked off. “Allow me to find you more suitable company. You really don’t want to hang around with them.”

“Hey, watch it,” Applejack said. “We happen to be helpin’ Twi with her bid for the Fall Formal...”

“What?” Rarity was in Twilight’s face in an instant. “Twilight please don’t. Didn’t your aunt tell you what she did to me?”

“Yes, but I’m not worried. It’s not like anyone in this school seems to believe any rumors anymore.”

“I can think of a few,” Rarity said turning to glare at the other two.

Applejack immediately put up her hands. “Whoa, whoa, hold on there. I ain’t ever believed that, Rarity. I know you ain’t like that.”

“No one deserved what happened to you,” Pinkie said.

Rarity’s eyes widened a bit in in surprise. After a moment, she opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, but quickly snapped it shut. Then it was like the moment never happened.

“Well, at any rate, I think you’ll be needing my help. I’m sure I can whip you up something...”

“Now hold on, are you sayin’ I can’t be of any help? I figure passin’ out some of the Apple Family’s treats can boost Twilight’s popularity.”

“Not as well as a good Fall Formal dress will!”

Pinkie spoke up. “Oh! But I can make her pins, banners, the works! And I can do it way better than these two!”

“Uh, well, maybe you can all help me?”

“I’m tellin’ ya, the dress won’t matter if Twi ain’t in the runnin’ by Friday.”

“Which is why she should let me design everything!”

“She’s going to be in the limelight, she’s going to need to look good.”

Twilight left the table. The three didn’t notice.

She got outside the cafeteria, head in her hands. This was a disaster. She didn’t even know where to begin fixing this friendship.

“Well, that was interesting.”

Twilight jumped in surprise. When she saw Flash, she felt herself heat up.

“How’d you get between those three?”

“Uh... lucky, I guess?”

“A strange definition of luck,” he smiled. “Those three can barely pass each other in the hallways without snapping at each other. You must be pretty special if they’ll sit at the same table for you... Your face turns red a lot. Is that a condition?”

Twilight tried to hide behind her hair. Even more so when she saw Flash was blushing as well.

“That joke was corny,” Twilight said, trying to play it cool.

“Well... I meant it. Those three fight so much I can’t believe they used to be friends. They even had this article about it in the school paper...”

That got Twilight to perk up. “Really?”

“Yeah, it was kind of a big deal back then...”

“Hey Flash! Hurry up, we only have the music room during lunch!”

Looking annoyed, Flash turned to the boy sticking his head out of a hallway. “Coming!” He turned back to Twilight. “Sorry, I have to go.”

“Um, does the school paper have an archive?”

Flash looked at her a moment, then grinned. “Sure. In the library. If you meet me there after school, I’ll show you.”

I’m sure Aunt Celestia can help me fine.

“Sounds good.”

Why, mouth? Why?

“Cool. I’ll see you then.”

Flash walked away, giving her one last look.

“You’re not going to do anything?” Adagio asked as the group watched Twilight leave.

“No need,” Sunset said, taking a bite of her salad. “Not yet.” She stopped to make sure Snips and Snails weren’t listening. “She might be a big shot back home, but here she’s just another girl. Let her get built up a bit. She’ll go down just as easy.”

“But three of the five are starting to talk,” Aria said. “You said they were top priority to keep apart.”

“By now, they hate each other too much. Relax. They aren’t forgetting everything in a week. Still... if you can stir things up...”

Adagio rolled her eyes. “We pretty much have to. You better win this, we’re tired of fast food.”

“Ruhlee?” Sonata said, her mouth full of burger, while Snips and Snails downed fistfuls of fries.

The other three buried their heads in their hands.

Monday Afternoon

The rest of the day passed by in relative uneventfulness. Classes flew by, Twilight doing her best to learn, which was hard if any class had Flash in it. Not only had she no excuse to avoid his company, but it was often preferable if two of the five friends were present, as he was the safe alternative.

Finally, seventh period ended and students began filing out. Thankfully, Flash was in her last class, which meant sticking by him was a good way to keep the girls, who didn’t want to interrupt a romantic moment, anyway.

“Well, looks like you’re having fun,” Flash said as the two walked together.

“Those girls all want me to spend time with them, and I’m afraid if I pick one it will alienate everyone else.”

Flash nodded. “Is that why you want to see this article so bad? You think it can get them together?”

“I hope so. They all seem so nice, I don’t want to hurt any of them.”

Flash looked at Twilight with an unreadable expression. He then looked away, as if in deep thought.

“Hey, you’re Twilight Sparkle, right?”

Twilight did a little jump at the sudden intrusion. It was the boy that she had sat next to in second period.

“Uh, yeah, that’s me.”

“Are you really going up against Sunset?”

“Yeah. I’m running for Fall Formal Princess.”

“Cool. You’d have my vote. Name’s Sandalwood.”

“It’s very nice to meet you,” Twilight said, putting on her best polite smile, a technique she had perfected on several visiting dignitaries.

Sandalwood smiled back, then turned to Flash. “Congrats on seeing her first, buddy,” he said with a playful punch to the arm.

Flash turned red at that. So did Twilight, hiding behind her mane. Sandalwood didn’t notice, having walked off.

The pair stood there a moment, trying to lower their embarrassment.

“Um, well... I need to go into my aunt’s office to get something, wait here.”

And she dashed into Celestia’s office, closing the door behind her.

Principal Celestia looked up to see her faux niece, standing there beet red and alarmed.

“Let me guess... you couldn’t avoid the boy?”

That only got Twilight to blush harder.

“Seriously?” Spike poked his head out from behind the desk. “Really, Twilight? I don’t want some big hairless ape for a father.”

“Spike it’s not like that,” she said, unzipping her backpack. “Now come on, get in. We have something to do.”

Spike obeyed. “What are we doing?”

“Flash said there was an article in the school newspaper about those five becoming friends. He’s going to take us to the school library to look it up.”

“Okay... wait, Flash is going to...”

Twilight zipped up the backpack before Spike could finish venting his outrage.

Principal Celestia chuckled at the antics. “So, did you manage to make any progress in getting those five talking to each other?”

“Well... they’re all willing to vote for me, at least. And Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie all want to help with my campaign. The problem is, they all want to do it without the others.”

Celestia nodded. “Figured as much. Well, I hope Flash has something for you. I need to do some more wrap up work, so you have an hour and a half until we go home.”

Twilight nodded before walking back out. Flash was standing there, looking at her awkwardly.

“Um, hey.”

Twilight blushed again. “Come on, we better get going.”

As they began to walk together, Flash spoke up. “Listen... if it makes you uncomfortable, I can tell everyone we aren’t... you know.”

“Oh. It... doesn’t bother me,” Twilight said. “But... it sounded like Sandalwood thought I was pretty...”

“That shouldn’t be a surprise,” Flash said.

Twilight turned to look at him. Flash was blushing again. “I mean... you’re beautiful.”

Twilight was flushing again. “Most st... boys don’t think so.”

“Really?”

“Well... none of them ever came up and talked to me at my old school.”

“Well then, they must be crazy,” Flash said as they walked into the library. “You’re pretty, and standing up to Sunset takes something special. Plus you have some cool aunts.”

Twilight looked at Flash. “Do the others like my aunts? Rainbow Dash was saying that Aunt Celestia should be superintendent, but...”

“And she should be. Everyone in school wants her to be. Anyone’s better than Hope. It’s thanks to her that Sunset gets to run free. If Celestia replaced her and Luna became principal, I guarantee the school would be better off.”

Twilight smiled. “So you like her too?”

Flash smiled, although there was sadness in this one. “She helped me out after...” He bit his lip, but at Twilight’s encouraging look he went on. “After I dumped Sunset.”

Twilight’s eyes went wide. “You... and Sunset?”

“I thought she was a different girl,” Flash admitted, looking down. “When we first met, she seemed so... well, depressed. Like she had lost everything before coming here. I offered to show her around, and one thing led to another...”

Twilight swallowed. Why was this upsetting her so much?

Flash had led them to an unattended computer. He worked almost robotically, typing in his student ID. “We dated for quite a bit, and... it was nice. Then people started to accuse her of everything that was going on. I stood up for her. Then she admitted that they were true.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “She admitted it just like that?”

“She thought I’d cover for her, that I’d stay her boyfriend because she was popular. I dumped her on the spot and she went ballistic.” He rubbed the side of his jaw. “I swear, I can still feel where she punched me.”

Twilight winced. She looked at Flash and saw his eyes start to mist over. Twilight put a comforting hand on his shoulder and gave him a small smile. He looked at her and returned it.

Then he blushed. “Um... here, let me find that article for you,” he said quickly, turning back to the computer. Twilight’s cheeks turned pink, but she smiled.

“How did my aunt help you?”

Flash spoke as he brought up the school’s website. “She saw how sad I was and brought me into the office to talk to me. She may not be the school counselor, but she always has time for anyone that needs her. And she looked into everything I told her about. Actually managed to make a case to the school board, but they dismissed it... as usual.”

He clicked a few times until he found the homepage for the school newspaper. He typed in “Applejack Rarity Rainbow Dash” and hit search.

“So she doesn’t give herself enough credit,” Twilight said under breath.

“What?”

Twilight bit her tongue. Celestia might not appreciate having her doubts broadcast. “It’s nothing.”

Flash placed a hand over hers. “Please tell me.”

Twilight looked into his eyes, ready to tell him no. But the look he was giving her was radiating trust.

“My aunt... I guess she’s just sick of Sunset running around. She’s... frustrated that she hasn’t managed to get her expelled.”

“I can’t blame her,” Flash said. “But that’s the school board’s fault, not hers. Every time she manages to get a claim against Sunset, the whole school follows. We know she and Luna are trying their best. ...Hey, I think this is it.”

Twilight looked at the screen. Flash clicked on one of the search results, labeled How We Came Together. The picture was of five younger looking teens standing for a group pose.

“Yeah, this is it. How the five became friends.”

“Well, this might explain it. Look at the author.”

Flash looked, and his eyes widened. “Sunset? ...I forgot, she used to be on the paper. It was only for a few weeks back when she started...”

“So she knew about them... wonder why she broke them up.” There was silence as they started to read.

Well, Wondercolts, Do I have a story for you! I’m still new here, and I’m having trouble making friends, but after hearing this story, I don’t think I’ll have anything to worry about! This is a story about how five girls managed to tell the entire school that they’re friends, and they weren’t going to let anyone tell them they couldn’t be!

“What’s that mean?” Twilight asked.

“This school used to be very clique-based. No one hung out with anyone not part of their designated group. Those five becoming friends changed that.”

“That’s it then.”

Flash looked at her. “What?”

“Don’t you see? Sunset relies on a lot of social manipulation. If these five managed to break through that, Sunset would see them as a threat!” She looked at the screen. “Can we print this out?”

“Sure,” Flash said, obeying Twilight’s unspoken command. “Do you think showing them this will work?”

“Maybe. At least I’ll have something to show them.”

At that point, the zipper on Twilight’s backpack popped open, and Spike stuck his snout out.

“What the?” Flash said, moving to unzip the pack all the way. Spike popped out, sticking his tongue out and panting with a happy look on his face, clearly trying to sell the mindless pet act.

“You have a dog?” he asked.

“Sh! Don’t tell anyone! He was supposed to stay in my backpack,” she said in a strained voice.

“Aw, why? He’s a cute fella.” Flash leaned down and scratched his ear.

Spike growled, causing Flash to jerk away.

“Um, he’s a bit testy to newcomers, but he warms up quickly, don’t you Spike?” Twilight shot him a glare that said everything.

Spike gave a defeated look. Twilight motioned for Flash to try again. He carefully began giving him a scratch behind the ear. In seconds Spike had given in and was accepting the affection happily.

“Aw, what’s his name.”

“Spike.”

“Hmm... not very original, but good enough.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?”

Flash shrugged. “After how smart I saw you being with everything else, I kind of figured he’d be named Star Swirl or something.”

Twilight thought a moment. So Star Swirl existed here too, and he was a historical... wait, he thought she was smart!

Thankfully, she only turned pink this time.

“I always wanted a dog,” Flash said, pulling the article off the printer. Thankfully, their computer was near it.

“Your parents won’t let you have one?”

Flash stopped for a moment. “My mother might have before she...”

Twilight put a hand to her mouth. “Oh, I’m sorry...”

“It's no problem.” Flash gave a smile, but there was sadness behind it. “My father has a strict ‘no pets’ policy.”

“Well, I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Yeah, well... let’s talk about something better.” He handed the article to Twilight, who took it. “Like how you’re going to beat Sunset.”

“Flash, I haven’t won yet,” she said, as she started to read.

“You will. Friday you’ll be tearing up the dance floor, and...”

Twilight tensed up, her eyes widening.

“...what?”

Twilight looked at him. “Dance floor... I don’t know how to dance!”

Flash chuckled a bit. “You signed up for a dance without knowing how?”

“It didn’t occur to me. I just needed to stop Sunset... will I have to dance?”

“To beat Sunset? No... but it’d be nice if you did.”

“But I don’t know how!”

He grinned. “Come on, I can fix that.”

Twilight was led up a flight of stairs and to the roof of the school. Despite the large glass dome there was plenty of room for the two to move around on.

Twilight sat her bag on the roof, allowing Spike to poke his head out. Flash led her to the center. “Okay, it’s easy. Give me your right hand. Okay, now I’m going to put my arm around your waist. Now put your arm on mine.”

Twilight went into learning mode, following instructions, and only after it was done realized how close they were. The blushing was there, for both of them, but Flash kept his cool. “Now, just let me lead you. Move your feet slowly with mine. No, don’t look at them, let it happen naturally.”

Flash did start leading Twilight, slowly as she stumbled on the first few steps. But Flash stayed steady, following the same pattern. Twilight, always a natural at quick learning, quickly mastered the back and forth movement.

“See? Not hard at all.”

She smiled. “You’re right. I think I’m getting the hang of this.”

“Good. Then let’s try leading somewhere else.”

Flash turned, and while Twilight was initially caught off guard, he turned slowly enough that she was able to follow without much trouble. For a few minutes the two danced, simply concentrating on enjoying themselves.

“I think you’ve got it,” Flash said at last, though he didn’t stop.

She smiled. “Is everything just to the beat?”

“No. You dance depending on the rhythm. Maybe I can bring some music tomorrow...”

“You really don’t have do that. You’ve done so much for me.”

Flash gave a mischievous smile. “I’m not doing this for free.”

Twilight nearly stopped. “What?”

“Once you’re crowned Princess, I get the first dance.” He blushed at his own price.

“Well... I guess I can arrange that,” Twilight said, trying and failing to sound smooth.

The pair danced a bit more. Twilight glanced over at Spike, who was sticking a paw down his throat with a gagging sound. She shot him a glare before turning back to her partner. “Why are you doing all this? You’ve been so helpful.”

“Why are you so determined to stop Sunset?”

Twilight blinked. “Well... I don’t like bullies. Do I need another reason?”

“No... but I wouldn’t be surprised if you had one.”

“You don’t think anyone would just stand up to her to do the right thing?”

“Everyone’s tried, but a lot give up. I want to know what’s different about you.”

Twilight was silent for a moment. She tried thinking of a cover story, but she knew she was a bad liar. “Well... I don’t like seeing Aunt Celestia and Luna feel this way,” she blurted out.

Flash tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

“Please don’t tell anyone. But... they’re frustrated that Sunset’s been allowed to get this far.”

“That’s no secret. Celestia can keep her cool, but Luna has a bigger temper. We can see her every time Sunset gets away with it.”

“I... I’d like to help them.”

Flash nodded. “And what makes you so sure winning the crown will get Sunset to stop?”

Because I’m going to arrest her... no, can’t say that.

“Everyone’s afraid of Sunset. They think she’s invincible. If I can win, it will show everyone she’s not unbeatable.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Flash said.

“So... why did you help me?”

“I don’t like Sunset either,” Flash said. “I don’t like bullies, and yes, maybe I want her to get knocked down a peg because I’m feeling vindictive. I know that isn’t exactly noble, but there you go.”

Twilight could only give a small chuckle. “We all have our failings.”

“And... okay, maybe I just wanted to spend some time around a pretty girl.”

A few feet away, Spike placed his head on his paws. “Are these two ever going to stop blushing?”

“Okay, now we stop,” Flash said, halting the dance, to Twilight’s disappointment. “I step back, give you a bow, and say ‘Thank you for the dance’.” He took Twilight’s hand and placed a kiss on it, causing them both to blush and laugh.

“How romantic.”

Both teens jumped half a foot in the air before turning to see who had interrupted them.

“P-Principal Celestia.”

The principal was indeed standing there, a smug look on her face.

“Well, I see you’ve met my niece. Hoping to get in good with the principal?”

“N-no, nothing like that,” the boy said, now looking as flustered as ever.

Celestia chuckled. “Well, at any rate, it’s time to go. Come on, Twilight.”

“Sure thing,” Twilight said, picking up her backpack and ignoring Spike’s sigh of relief. “Um... I’ll see you, Flash.”

“S-sure, later.” He waved them off. He watched them leave, his heart still racing.

He stood there for another half a minute before his cell phone rang, snapping him out of his stupor. He checked the phone and found it was his bandmate.

“Hey Ringo. Yeah, I spent the afternoon with Twilight. It went awesome! She smart, and fun... I think I have a shot with her!” He listened. “Yeah, I think we can write a song for her campaign.” He thought a minute. “And... I think there’s one other thing we need to do.”

Author's Note

Hey, Hasbro, want anyone to like Flash? Let him interact with Twilight for more than a few minutes!

Yeah, the full details of the article will be next chapter. I was going to have it hear, but going from Twilight and Flash, to a long flashback, back to Twilight and Flash, just didn't work.

Monday Night

“So, he seemed like a nice young man,” Celestia said, a smirk growing on her face. “Is he going to be your Fall Formal Prince?”

Twilight blushed, doing her best to sink down in her seat and disappear through the floor. “Can we drop this?”

The older woman looked no less smug. “A little embarrassed? Well, you can’t be blamed for getting sidetracked. He is handsome, isn’t he?”

Twilight sunk further down.

“Can we stop talking about this?” Spike spoke up. “It’s disgusting.”

Twilight looked down at Spike with a disapproving glare. “Why are you so disapproving of me with a human?”

“Twilight... you’re my mom. You with anypony is kind of creepy to me.”

Celestia giggled. “Some things cross dimensional boundaries, I guess.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry, Spike. Flash and I won’t be getting romantically involved.”

“Oh? And what makes you so sure?” Celestia asked.

“I can’t do that to him. It would hurt too much.”

Both of Twilight’s companions looked at her. Well, Spike did. Celestia gave only a glance before returning her eyes to the road.

“What do you mean?” Spike asked.

“We’re going to have to go back to Equestria once this is over,” Twilight said. As the looks of realization crossed the faces of her audience, she continued. “And what then? Flash has a life here, a family, friends, goals of his own. I can’t ask him to follow me back to Equestria and give up all that.”

Spike, despite his earlier reservations, looked at his mother with concern. “Maybe you can find a way to make the portal stay open for good?”

Twilight scoffed. “Spike, don’t you think that if that was possible, Princess Celestia would have done it years ago? It’s not like I can just do a few calculations and figure it out.”

“Well, maybe she just never bothered to try.”

Twilight smiled, petting Spike. “I appreciate you trying to cheer me up, Spike, but I don’t think that’s happening. I like Flash, I really do, but I don’t think things would work out between us.”

Celestia eased the car to a stop at a red light. “So what are you going to do about him?”

Twilight looked down. “Well, we haven’t actually done anything romantic. He was just teaching me to dance. I think he likes me, but I’m not sure. I can’t just blow him off. If we just respect each other’s space, I’m sure we’ll do just fine.”

Twilight couldn’t be sure, but she could swear Celestia was suppressing a laugh.

“Well, onto more important things,” the principal said. “Did you find out anything about your friends?”

“Did I ever,” Twilight said. She told Celestia about the article they had come across, and who had written it.

“That makes far too much sense,” the principal said. “I suspected, I could just never figure out a why.”

“Well, all five of them seem to like me. When they start fighting over my attention tomorrow I’ll try bringing this up.” She thought a moment. “Is there anything else you can tell me about Rainbow Dash after the group split?”

“What do you mean?” Celestia asked, driving off as the light turned green.

“Well, my Rainbow Dash has a huge ego, but this one seems... I don’t know. Not humble, but almost like she’s embarrassed about her success.”

Celestia nodded. “She used to be a real show-off, but she did get quiet after the incidents. I guess the falling-out hurt her badly.”

“It seems to be more than that. Is she still on the soccer team?”

“Oh yes, and the star player. Coach Iron Will says she trains as hard as ever and gives it her best, so if she’s lost her love of winning, I’d be surprised.”

Twilight thought a moment. That certainly sounded like the Rainbow Dash she knew...

Celestia went on. “I suppose she folded a bit suddenly when the accusations against Fluttershy and her came about.”

“Really?”

“Rainbow Dash stood by Fluttershy’s side tooth and nail for a week. Then, suddenly, she broke things off and distanced herself from her. I questioned her, and she said she just thought it was for the best. I sent her to the nurse to double-check for injuries; I was afraid someone had beaten her down. She didn’t have a mark on her.”

“And Fluttershy herself? Did she have any bruises or anything?”

“I sent her down separately soon after. Nothing. Apparently she was just as surprised with Rainbow Dash as everyone else.”

Twilight nodded. “Do you think Rainbow Dash might have been threatened or blackmailed?”

“It did occur to me. I grilled her, but she remained quiet. Anything that would have gotten her to leave Fluttershy would have to be good. You may not think so, but those two were practically attached at the hip before everything started.”

Twilight grinned. “The ones in my world were friends from foalhood. I believe it.”

Celestia pulled into her house. “Well, maybe the article will loosen Rainbow Dash’s lips.”

“I hope so,” Twilight said as they both exited the car.

Sunset took another lap around the track before stopping to take a drink from her water bottle. The Dazzling sat on the bleachers, watching her with a bored expression. Once Sunset sat down for a rest, Adagio spoke up.

“You’re wasting time,” she said. “We should be focusing on getting rid of Celestia’s lapdog.”

“I told you, she’s no threat. A nobody who has no reputation to build off of. The only thing I need to worry about is looking good in my dress. I don’t have that magic metabolism you have.”

The yellow girl massaged her temples. “I can’t believe they put you in charge...”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “I’m in charge because it’s my destiny to be.”

“You think you’ll be running Equestria?” Adagio laughed. “I don’t think the others...”

“It’s my right to rule. You should know that by now.” Sunset looked at the water bottle, considering for a moment splashing the siren with it. She didn’t.

Aria spoke up. “You think the others will really see it that way?”

“It won’t matter if they do or not, and you know it.” Sunset took another drink and swallowed. “Besides, I know you three don’t want them in charge any more than I do.”

“Oh? And we’d want you?” Adagio cut back in. “You treat us like garbage.”

“And they treat you like animals,” Sunset reminded. “Face it, I’m the best choice you’re going to get. Do you honestly think they’ll keep their promises to you?”

The trio looked at each other. “Well...” Sonata started.

Aria cut her off. “And you will?”

Sunset shrugged. “I’d have no reason not to. You’ll be here while I’ll be back in Equestria.”

“You realize we can just tell them what you’re planning, right?” Aria leaned forward. “So how about we go back to Equestria with you?”

Sunset gave the same condescending laugh she had perfected over the years of making people feel small. “Your word against mine. And face it, you’re nothing but attack dogs to them. Even if they win, you’ll be on leashes, barking and scraping for whatever scraps Chrysalis decides to throw your way while they live it up. At least here, you’ll have your own kingdom to rule.”

Aria and Adagio gritted their teeth.

“Yay! Kingdom! Can I be the princess?”

The others looked at Sonata with nonplussed expressions.

“What?”

Sunset blinked. “Well... anyway, that’s why I know you’ll never turn me in. You’ll go along with me, even if it means going behind their backs. Because it’s either me, or licking Chrysalis’s hooves back in Equestria.”

Adagio spoke through gritted teeth. “And how do we know you won’t betray us? How do you know we won’t?”

“I don’t. But you three are easier to deal with than them. And since we’re both needed to go up against them, we won’t try anything until they’re beaten. So you’ll be reliable... for now.”

The trio scowled. Well, Adagio and Aria scowled.

“You know, I just realized: the skin on the elbow is really flappy. Feel that.” Sonata squeezed the flap of skin.

There was really no reaction to that.

Flash Sentry tried to ignore the looks his bandmates were giving him.

“A salad?” Ringo said. “Don’t tell me...”

“Relax, I didn’t go back to Sunset.”

Ringo and Brawly breathed a sigh of relief. Sitting back in their booth, eating their own meals, both looked more relieved than they had been since Flash announced he had dumped Sunset.

“But... Twilight’s a vegetarian, so I figured I better...”

Brawly through up his hands. “And it begins again.”

“What? Come on, I...”

“Flash... did Twilight ask you to do this?”

Flash shook his head. “No, no... she didn’t even mention it. Fluttershy told me when I saw her on the way out.”

His two friends seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Still, Brawly spoke. “Flash, you’re changing too quick. You barely know Twilight. For all you know, she could end up being as bad as Sunset.”

“I don’t think so...”

“Hey, lay off, man,” Ringo said. “After all this time, Flash is finally ready to get back in the game.”

“Yeah, I don’t want it to be with someone who’s going to spend nearly their whole time together insulting him.”

“Come on, I like Twilight already. Anyone who could stand up to Sunset...”

“It’s only day one. Give it time and she’ll fold like Rarity, and Trixie...”

Flash swallowed his bite of salad. “Guys... this is Celestia’s niece we’re talking about.”

Brawly nodded. “Well, there’s that. Anyone related to her can’t be all bad. And take a good look at Celestia, because that’s probably Twilight in thirty years.”

“Not a bad catch then,” Ringo grinned approvingly.

Flash rolled his eyes and took another bite of his salad. “Look, I really hope this works out. You think we can have something ready by tomorrow?”

“Not if we want it to be good,” Brawly said. “And not if you want this other project done. I managed to get Micro Chips and Sandalwood on it, and they’re getting some of the others.”

“Well we need to hurry, Fall Formal is Friday. As soon as we’re out of here, we can head to Brawly’s for practice.”

The other two nodded, returning to their meals. Still, Ringo had to get one last word in.

“So, you really think Twilight can make it? To Friday? Sunset’s bound to try something.”

“We protect her,” Flash said. “I think I saw Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie talking to her. With those three and us, we could have someone guarding her from pranks at all times. We could could probably get more...”

“And the rumors? No amount of bodyguards will stop those.”

“Well, first off Celestia’s rep should keep it down outside school. Inside... well, by this point everyone knows Sunset’s tricks. No one’s going to believe her.”

Ringo nodded. “Sounds as good as any plan.”

“Trust me. Twilight will get the crown, Sunset’s going to lose, and I’ll be taking that first dance.”

“Pretty confident, aren’t you?”

“Well, that was the deal for the dancing lessons,” Flash said. “And she seemed totally into me. I’ll bet right now, she’s thinking of me.”

“I’ve got to think of what to do,” Twilight said, sitting in the living room with Celestia and Luna. Spike had busied himself with a game on the tablet, leaving the girls to talk. “We have a basic outline, but if we’re going to take down Sunset we need a full list. I’m going to need paper and ink...”

“Twilight, while I appreciate someone with good organization skills, it’s probably best if you stick to a vague outline on this.”

Twilight sighed. “I’m sorry, but I can’t just do nothing.”

“So what else is new?” Spike said, looking up from Luna’s tablet. When Twilight glared at him, he went on. “Don’t give me that, you’ve literally worn grooves in the floor from worrying.”

Twilight sighed. “I know. I just wish there was something more I could do.”

“You need to learn to relax,” Luna said.

“Good luck, Celestia’s tried getting her to unwind for years... Princess Celestia, I mean.” Spike turned to his mother. “Remember Cadance’s breathing trick?”

Twilight paused, and remembering her sister-in-law’s response to the stress during Ms. Harshwhinny’s visit, preceded to take a few deep breaths.

“Wait, Cadance?” Luna asked. “Would your Cadance happen to be pink with purple eyes, with striped hair?”

Twilight blinked. “Yes, do you know this world’s Cadance?”

Luna nodded. “She’s the Dean of another school. We’ve met her quite a few times.”

Celestia slapped her forehead. “I thought the name of your sister-in-law sounded familiar. Luna knows her better than I do. I’ve only met her once.”

Twilight smiled, but it faded quickly. “It’s a shame I won’t be able to meet her... The other her is my sister-in-law.”

Luna smiled. “Shining Armor... you’re Shining Armor’s sister? I’ve met him once or twice. I mean, the other him. I could see why Cadance liked him. Quite handsome.”

A blush crept onto Twilight’s face. “Please don’t talk about that.”

Celestia chuckled.

“Still, it sounds like that trick works for you,” Luna said, a thoughtful look in her eye. “Perhaps I can help you a little more.”

Twilight tilted her head. “Really?”

Luna stood up. “Come into the den with me. This requires absolute silence.”

“Now, don’t control your breath, just breathe naturally.”

Twilight tried to do as the vice principal said, but she couldn’t help focusing on that very thing. Being in such an unusual position didn’t help. She had never sat this way before.

“Maybe it would be better if you lay down,” Luna said, apparently noticing Twilight’s discomfort. “The position is secondary to feeling relaxed.”

Hearing this, Twilight uncrossed her legs and quickly got on her back, letting the soft carpet touch her. She closed her eyes once again.

“Okay, now don’t control your breath, but focus on it. Concentrate on how your muscles react to it. Focus on only that.”

Focus was always Twilight’s strong suit. When she got caught up in something, it could be enough to get her to neglect keeping the library sorted. Enough to make her neglect everything except Spike’s well-being.

So she focused. The way her stomach moved up and down, the feeling of her lungs as they filled and emptied...

...

“Twilight?”

Twilight was brought back to reality. She saw Luna smiling. “Feeling better?”

Twilight stopped and thought of it. “...A bit. It seems to have melted away. How long was I out?”

“Just a few minutes. That’s good to start. Try this whenever you feel stressed. Meditation helped me through some rough times.” Luna said.

Twilight looked at her as she rose to her feet. She was shrinking away at her final words, clearly a mark of shame.

“It sounds like you have a few things in common with my Luna.”

Luna looked at her. “Really? But she’s a princess...”

“Who just got back from a thousand-year banishment to the moon.” She sat in a chair opposite of Luna as she finished her sentence.

“...You live in a very strange world.”

Twilight smiled. “I think your world is even stranger.”

“I suppose so.” She was quiet for a moment, as if mulling over her next words carefully. “Are your world’s Celestia and Luna close?”

Twilight gave a reassuring smile. “As thick as thieves. I don’t think I ever saw Princess Celestia as happy as when her sister came back.”

Luna looked relieved. “It’s good to know some things never change.”

“Have you and Celestia been through a lot?”

Luna looked away for a moment. “...I’ve followed Celestia through a lot. We’ve... we haven’t exactly had the easiest life. But even when I had nothing else, I had Tia.”

“I take it that has something to do with your government work?”

Luna’s expression looked conflicted. “We did... a lot of things during that work. Things that I can’t share with you, Twilight. Government secrets.”

“I understand. There are things Princess Celestia had forbidden me from telling, even to my friends.”

Luna nodded. “I was... a bit of a rebel when I was a teenager. Celestia barely kept me in line. When I graduated, she was signing up for her work. I had no plans, so I decided to do the same. I... hit some harder times there, but I don’t regret it. I came out a better person.”

Twilight nodded, her mind comparing the two Lunas. It sounded like they both followed a similar path, at least in a broad sense. There were so many questions she had about this new world.

“When she was ready to retire from the business and become a teacher, I went with her. I’ve spent my whole life at my sister’s side.”

“Do you regret it?”

Luna smiled. “Not a bit. I haven’t given up anything. In fact, I think I gained a lot sticking by my sister.” She was quiet for a moment. “I suppose I do wonder what it would be like if I had taken that Headmaster job at Crystal Prep...”

Twilight looked at her. “Where Cadance works?”

Luna nodded. “I was offered the position after a while as vice-principal, but I turned it down. I could do a lot more good at Canterlot High. Crystal Prep students are already rich enough to get whatever they want. There are people in public school that need the help more.”

“Well, I’m glad you two have stuck together. It seems to have worked out a bit better than it did in my world.”

Luna smiled. “Why exactly was your Luna banished?”

Twilight tensed up. Still, she eventually let out a breath. “Well, it all started a thousand years ago...”

Author's Note

Yeah, this chapter was hard to write. I'm hoping everything else will come out okay.

Another Lesson

That night, Twilight found herself in the Keeper’s realm once more. She had done this enough times to know what to do next. Without wasting time, she made a beeline for where she knew the ancient Alicorn resided.

“In a hurry, are you?” the Keeper asked.

“No, I just don’t want any more surprises,” Twilight said. “I want to know why I’m here. I’m never here unless you have something to say to me.”

“Are you sure? Maybe you’re here because you want to be. Maybe you’re finally skilled enough to bring yourself here.”

“Nice try, but I grew up with Celestia as a mentor. I know riddles when I hear them, and quite frankly I’m not in the mood for it.”

The Keeper smiled. “Very well. We’re here because you seem to be trying to reunite the Human versions of your friends.”

Twilight tilted her head in confusion. “Is that a bad thing?”

“Not necessarily, but it might be a misguided thing. Because you seem to be under the impression that these friends are your friends.”

Twilight was silent. The Keeper realized she was letting her say her piece.

“They might be similar to the versions of your friends you know, but they’re not your friends. They’ve had different lives, different experiences. They haven’t even lived in the same social climate.”

“Maybe, but they were friends before I came along, and they can be friends again.”

“I’m not doubting that,” the Keeper said. “But you need to be aware they they’re not the same. This is a different world.”

Twilight went into thought. “Are there more worlds than just the two?”

“Are you in a hurry to explore more? You should be focusing on the task at hand.”

“Not exploration, just gathering information. Are there more worlds, and what can I learn from it?”

The Keeper looked at her a moment, then nodded. She lit up her horn, and suddenly a screen appeared in front of her.

The first image was rather surreal. It was Celestia and Luna, but they looked like twisted versions of themselves. Celestia in purple, Luna in red, they led an assault on Canterlot while King Sombra defended his ponies against them.

“What the?”

“A universe where Celestia and Luna are evil, while Sombra is good.”

“Huh. What kind of weird comic book logic is that?” She took a deep breath. “Let me guess, this other version of me is some top field commander?”

“Well... not exactly,” the Keeper said, allowing the screen to change. Now Twilight was sitting around a table with the other versions of her friends, counting out from a large pile of bits on the table.

“The other you is the leader of a criminal gang.”

Twilight shivered as she scanned the scene. There were twisted versions of all her friends, except one. There was no Spike. There was no twisted purple dragon sitting to her evil self’s left, assisting her in every way. The fact that there was a version of her that both was not by Celestia’s side and didn’t have a Spike was even worse than the fact that she was evil.

“I... wow...”

“Are you surprised with yourself?” the Keeper asked. “Are you surprised with what unnerves you?”

“...Yes,” Twilight said at last. “I am. What does it say about me?”

The Keeper gave her knowing smile. “Since when have I ever given you a straight answer? Believe me, Twilight, it’s something you have to figure out for yourself.”

Despite the cryptic answer, Twilight couldn’t help but grin. “There has to be blood between you and Celestia.”

The Keeper only shook her head, though her smile didn’t waver. “Let’s see if we can find something a little more closer to your timeline.”

The Keeper changed the screen. Once again it was Celestia and Sombra on the battlefield, but now they seemed more like the ones from her world. She was surprised to see her friends: Rainbow Dash with a steel wing, Pinkie working alongside another grey mare.

And her herself, at Celestia’s side, shouting orders to take out Sombra’s soldiers.

“Spike didn’t make it to the Cadance with the Crystal Heart in this...” Suddenly her eyes widened. “Wait... is Spike...”

In response, the screen zoomed in on this other Twilight. She was wearing a black band on her foreleg, and Spike’s face was on it.

Tears started leaking out of Twilight’s eyes. “...No...”

“This isn’t your world, and that wasn’t your Spike.”

“I don’t care!” Twilight said. Her voice raised and became strained. “I freaked out when it happened in my world, Spike could have died! Actually seeing it happen...”

“I understand that, but you need to keep a level head,” the Keeper said. “You need to remember the difference between the worlds when you’re doing your work.”

The screen changed again. Now NightMare Moon sat on the throne to Equestria. Rarity sat at her side, dressed in formal business wear.

In front of the throne was Rainbow Dash and Applejack, both dressed in armor. They were holding the chains of their prisoner, Twilight Sparkle.

Then the scene changed again. Now the world was back in the chaotic state it had been in under Discord’s thumb. Discord himself was riding a unicycle, dressed in a royal robe and crown. He chased Celestia and Luna in circles, both of them dressed in clown make up.

And once more, the scene changed. Now Chrysalis laughed at Celestia as she was surrounded in green goop. Celestia was broken, there was no resistance from her. Chrysalis then put her hoof through the mane of Twilight Sparkle, who was sitting at her side with wide, green eyes.

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Twilight said, covering her eyes. “There are worlds where I wasn’t strong enough, where I failed Celestia!”

“Or your opponents made better decisions,” the Keeper stated.

Twilight’s head fell to the ground as she covered her ears. “I don’t want to hear it!”

“But you have to,” the Keeper said. Twilight felt herself get lifted back to her hooves by a firm, yet gentle magic. It reminded her so much of Celestia whenever she calmed her that it got Twilight to stop.

Twilight took a deep breath, then looked back at the screen. “I suppose next you’ll tell me Flim and Flam took over Equestria in another world?”

“Well, yes. It’s a funny story that we don’t have time for,” the Keeper said. The screen changed once more. “You’ve seen worlds, but the real lesson here is seeing yourself.”

The Twilight of this new world walked through the halls of Canterlot Castle. Her friends tried to follow.

“Twilight! Twilight, please!” Applejack called. Tears spilled out of her eyes. Twilight ignored her.

A cyan blur finally stopped her. “Twilight, will you quit action like a foal!”

Twilight sneered at Rainbow Dash’s words. “This coming from the mare who acts like an idiot teenager 24/7? Honestly, I’m surprised you’re even allowed to live on your own...”

“Twilight, will you just listen to us!” Rarity pleaded.

“No, I’m done listening to any of you. Especially you, you stupid little whore.”

“How dare you!” Rarity shrieked. “I am an upclass mare...”

“You’re a stupid hick from a backwater town, and the only progress you’ve made has been from whoring yourself out to anypony you can find! Blueblood, Fancypants... me!”

“Twilight, that’s no fair!” Applejack said.

“Oh, not fair? Was it fair that I got disowned for trying to protect my brother? Or that ponies are lying dead in the streets while the ones responsible are allowed to walk around without a scratch on them? Fine, I guess I’m not being fair. Go report me to the fairness police.”

“Stop! Stop!”

The Keeper paused the scene. “Yes... I think that’s for the best. You really don’t want to see where that leads.”

“Please, just tell me I wasn’t that cruel to Spike!”

“Of course you weren’t. That Twilight wasn’t you. That’s the entire point of this.”

Twilight looked at the Keeper. “Then... the other me... was she?”

The Alicorn simply lowered her head. “You know, I think you know the answer to that, and you’re asking because you don’t want to face it.”

“No... no, no!” She fell to the floor, curling up into a ball. “I couldn’t lose him. I couldn’t lose any of them! Not Applejack, or Rainbow, or any of them!”

The Keeper put a wing over her. “There, there. You won’t have to as long as you remember how important they are.”

She stayed under the Keeper’s wing for a few minutes before breaking away. “Okay... you were trying to tell me that other versions of my friends aren’t the same as my friends. I shouldn’t count on our relationships being the same.”

“That’s correct,” the Keeper said.

“But these versions of my friends were already friends,” Twilight said, her confidence returning. “In fact, they were such good friends that Sunset saw them as a threat and did everything she could to get rid of them. And they all like me very well, and I’ve barely talked to them.”

“That is true,” the Keeper said.

“So why tell me this? It seems like a lesson I didn’t need to know.”

“I would think that you, of all ponies, would understand that a friendship lesson is never wasted.” The Keeper gave Twilight a knowing smile of a teacher amused at her student’s antics. It made Twilight feel like a filly again. “As well as the fact that I never give straight answers. Now come on, why do you think I showed you this?”

Twilight thought for a moment. “You did this because I’m forging new friendships, and you don’t want to see me waste them, even if I might never see them again after this mission.”

The Keeper nodded. “That’s a good start. Keep going.”

Twilight thought again. The answers came to her in an avalanche. “I can’t simply treat them as replacements to my old friends,” she said. “I can’t act like these versions of my friends will be exactly the same. There will be similarities, but there will be differences, and they’re important. I need to acknowledge them.”

The Keeper nodded. “You’re on a roll. Go on.”

Twilight thought a bit longer. “I can’t simply treat them as tools to take down Sunset?”

The ancient Alicorn tilted her head at that. “Can’t you? Lives hang in the balance. Are you going to go back to Celestia and tell her you failed, costing several lives, because you put five strangers’ comfort above what you had to do?”

Twilight winced. “That sounds so cold.”

“But does that make it any less correct?”

Twilight looked at the Keeper, analyzing her carefully. “...I... look, what are you trying to tell me? You go on about how important friendship is, and yet now you’re telling me that they’re expendable?”

“Twilight, I’ve said nothing about how important friendship is, you have. You’ve considered it sacred. Even seeing yourself evil was nothing compared to seeing you destroy your friendships, even over something many would tell you you had every right to break things off.”

“I...” Twilight was stuck on what to say.

The Keeper remained silent, allowing Twilight to piece the puzzle together in her own time.

“I’ve never seen friendship used as a tool.”

“Have you?”

Twilight went wide eyed. “What are you saying? Celestia never...”

And then Twilight stopped dead. She knew, at that point, she had let something slip that she had kept inside herself for a long time.

“Celestia... I can’t say she took me in entirely out of my interests, can I? Even since we defeated NightMare Moon, I knew Celestia had been grooming me for it even since I hatched Spike’s egg. She had it planned from the start.”

“So, do you think any of the love she showed you was a lie?”

“Of course not,” Twilight said. There was no hesitation.

“It was all true? Do you really believe Celestia when she says she loves you? Did you believe Luna when she told you Celestia is jealous of your mother because she has the position she wants?”

“Yes.”

“No hesitation. You truly believe that. Then why are you so reluctant to admit Celestia used you as a tool, even if you think she truly loves you?”

“I... but... I can’t imagine Celestia just using me like that.”

“And that’s because she never has ‘just used you,’” the Keeper answered. “You might have been a means to an end for her, but that’s never all you were to her. Even back in those early days, when she tried to keep her distance from you, she had your well-being in mind.”

“Wait... she kept her distance? Wh...” Her question didn’t finish, because the answer came to her with the obvious thought. “Sunset... after she failed Sunset, she tried not to get to attached with me, didn’t she?”

“Yes,” the Keeper said, actually answering a question for once. “She loved Sunset dearly and always treated her like a daughter. Celestia feared that this was what made her blind to Sunset’s troubles. When she took you on, she vowed not to make the same mistake. But it didn’t work.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re a wonderful pony. Despite everything, she grew to love you just as much. Even though it hurt, knowing she could lose you too, knowing you couldn’t return her love fully because you already have a mother, she couldn’t deny it. You became dear to her.”

Twilight smiled.

“And yet, she still went through with her plan. She used you, and she would have used Sunset for the same purpose.”

Twilight frowned. “Yes... she did.”

“And you claim that doesn’t lessen her love for you. So tell me, do you think your love for your friends is lessened by you using them in the same way?”

“...I don’t like it put that way...”

The Keeper didn’t speak, and Twilight realized she wanted her to keep talking. So she kept going.

“It’s not like I asked any of them to help me beat Sunset. Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie all offered, and Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash said they’d vote for me... Really, I’m not doing anything that they haven’t already done.”

“Except trying to get them to be friends again. You really don’t need them to do that to beat Sunset if they’ve already agreed to do so, do you?”

Twilight looked at the Keeper. “You... why do you always need to look for a negative in everything I do? There is no way all of them becoming friends again would be a bad thing. I’m doing something good.”

“But you’re not doing it out of altruism. At least, not entirely.”

“That doesn’t make what I’m doing ane less of a good thing! What does it matter if I have another motivation behind it?”

There was a silence. Then, the Keeper smiled. “It seems you understand...”

“Understand what?”

“Being a leader means making some tough choices. Choices where your loved ones’ well-being is going to have to come secondary to the greater good. How many times has Celestia put you in harm’s way for Equestria’s safety?”

“...Several times. I never held it against her, because it’s what I wanted. If she tried to stop me from helping Equestria, I’d go anyway.” Twilight took a deep breath. “And... my friends would too.” She found herself smiling. “They’d take any sacrifice to do what’s right. Yes, they’re tools, but they’re willing tools, and much then that besides.”

The Keeper nodded. “And these new friends?”

“Well... three of them are willing to stand behind me if I stand up to Sunset, and I’m willing to bet Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash will as well.” He smile became even bigger. “They may not be the same ones I know, but they’re the same in the most important way possible: they’re all heroes, whether they know it or not.”

The Keeper nodded. “Then I think we’re done for tonight.”

Twilight looked at her. “What about the other questions you asked me? I haven’t answered them.”

“Not yet, but you will. Trust me.” She touched her hoof to Twilight’s forehead. “Sweet dreams, Twilight. Luna might not be here, but I can give you a good dream in her place.”

And then, blackness surrounded Twilight.

Twilight sat on the edge of the picnic blanket, calmly eating a hay sandwich. She looked over the crowd she had assembled. So far, the ponies and the humans had hit it off rather well. This was a relief. Her first act as princess has been to successfully make first contact.

She had more friends than ever.

Author's Note

Yeah, this should have been out Tuesday. I'm sorry for that, but this proved a bit trickier than I thought. Still, it's finished and ready for your viewing pleasure. I still plan to get the next one up by Wednesday at the latest.

If I write this write, you should be happier than ever I didn't write a version of Post Nuptials where Twilight stayed mad at her friends. Believe me, I didn't even get into the really hurtful things she could say.

Tuesday Morning

Twilight woke up the next morning feeling strangely relaxed. The Keeper’s dream had helped soothe her.

Breakfast was quick and before she knew it she was at the school. Celestia and Luna went in to start their day, and Twilight began to start hers.

She walked down the school hallway, finding it a little difficult. After today, she was telling Celestia to keep all of her outfits in skirts. Seriously, how did humans walk around in these things, these... pants?

Then she stopped. Fancypants... how’d his parents know about these things?

She shook her head. She needed to focus on the matter at hand.

The first order of business was to find one of her five friends and see if the article would convince them. Failing that, maybe she could find Flash and see if he could help her anymore. Maybe another dancing lesson...

Twilight made a mental note to watch how much time she was spending around Flash. The last thing she could afford right now is to be distracted.

She arrived at her locker and was just opening it when Rarity ran up to her.

“There you are! Darling, I’m so glad I ran into you! I have the sketches for your Fall Formal dress right here!”

“Really? Well let’s see them.”

“Oh, you’ll love it. Some lovely shades that will go great with your purple...”

“Twi! There you are!”

Rarity winced. So did Twilight, for a completely different reason. Applejack was coming up, brandishing a bag of treats in hand.

“I spent all night cooking up this batch fer yer campaign! Go on, have a taste!”

The apple tart, if that’s indeed what it was, was pushed into her mouth. While it tasted good, the act of it being forced into her was definitely taking away some of the enjoyment. Before she could swallow and ask Applejack to calm down, a fourth person entered the conversation.

“Twilight!” Pinkie shouted, popping out of a locker a bit down the row, causing the three others to jump. Twilight nearly spit out the treat in her mouth, but years of being groomed by Princess Celestia had taught her to control herself better.

Pinkie bounced over to them, stopping just long enough to glare at Rarity and Applejack, who returned it in kind. “I’ve got all kinds of flyers made! Vote for Twilight!”

“My treats are gonna get you more votes than some flyers!”

“My dress will make you look fabulous!”

Twilight swallowed the treat finally.

“Is all you care about looks?” Applejack said.

Rarity huffed. “Look, just because you’re fine with looking like a bag lady...”

“Come on, Twilight, we have so much to talk about! After school I’m going to go down and get some buttons made, and I need your approv-”

“Alright, all of you, stop!”

She didn’t shout, but her voice was commanding enough that the three all ceased their arguing and looked at her surprised. Twilight took a deep breath before going on.

“I appreciate that you all want to help me, but there are better ways to do it than by trying to compete for my time. Even if you think your way is more helpful, cutting anyone out is just going to hurt me!”

The three shuffled, muttering apologies.

Twilight sighed. “Look, I have something I want to show the three of you.” She leaned down and unzipped her backpack. Spike, just inside, handed her the article.

She pulled out the article and showed it to them. “Do any of you remember this?”

“‘How We Came Together’,” Applejack read aloud. She looked at Twilight. “You been snoopin’ on us?”

“It’s kind of hard not to when you three want to help me, but can’t last ten seconds without arguing,” Twilight said simply. “And anyway, Flash helped me find it, and...”

“Ooh, Flash!” Rarity said, suddenly interested. “You have to tell me, what are you two...”

“Rarity,” Twilight said. The fashionista quieted herself, feeling a little flushed. Twilight took a deep breath before going on. “I read that you were all friends once, a long time ago.” She stopped momentarily, wondering if she should bring up what Celestia had told her. She decided against it. “What happened?”

“They turned out ta be jerks,” Applejack said simply, glaring at the others.

“Oh, we turned out to be jerks?” Rarity said in a huff. “You and Rainbow Dash were the ones who started this whole mess!”

“Ya sided with me,” Applejack said.

“It was a mistake to side with either of you! You were both hooligans!”

“Hooligans? What are you, thirty? What teenager talks like that?” Pinkie said.

“Girls,” Twilight said once again, calming them down. “I don’t think any of you were responsible for anything that drove you apart. Take a look at who wrote that article.”

All three looked, and their eyes widened at the name. “Sunset Shimmer...” Applejack said in shock.

“The biggest manipulator in the school interviewed the five of you, and you all have a falling-out soon after. That seems to be too convenient to be a coincidence, don’t you think?”

The three shuffled a bit, processing this information. Applejack was the one to speak. “I... guess she could have been behind it all...”

Twilight smiled. This was working! “See? Now why don’t you all just put this behind you and...”

“We can’t.”

Twilight blinked. “What? But... I just showed you...”

“Twi, Sunset might have started all this, but unless she has some freaky mind-control powers, I doubt she’s been forcin’ Rarity to call me a dumb hick all these years,” the cowgirl said.

“And I’m pretty sure she hasn’t been forcing Applejack to tell everyone that have a rod shoved up my... well, a lady doesn’t say that word.”

“Oh, you’re a lady?” Pinkie jumped in. “I’m pretty sure ladies don’t mock other people behind their back.”

As the friends started up their arguing once more, Twilight could only stare in horrified shock. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. They were suppose to forgive and forget. That’s... that’s how this always worked!

She felt like crying, but she pushed it back. She couldn’t let her emotions get to her. She was going to be a princess. She needed to lead. She collected herself before speaking.

“Girls.” Once more, her voice cut through the arguing and got the group to look at her. She took a deep breath before going on. “Maybe you’re right, but you all want to see Sunset go down, don’t you?”

The three nodded.

“Good. Then I think I can expect the three of you to act civil towards each other while you’re helping me, right?”

They all nodded.

“Good. Now, one at a time.” She took a deep breath. “Applejack, your treats were really good. Do you think you can whip up enough for the whole school by tomorrow?”

“Yes indeedy.”

“Good. Pinkie, I’ll take a look at your posters at lunch. Did you say you were going to make pins for me?”

“Oh! Yep, I have the shop ready to press them for me! I just need to think up a design...”

“I have something for you,” she said, reaching into the pocket of her pants. She pulled out a folded up piece of notebook paper and handed it to Pinkie. She opened it up, and the other two girls leaned in close for a look.

On the paper was her cutie mark, sketched carefully by Celestia using one of the photos of Twilight in the album, the colors noted in writing.

“This looks rather nice,” Rarity said.

“Ooh! It would be perfect! I can put it on pins, work it into the poster, oh it will look so good! I need to take this and...”

“Pinkie,” Rarity said.

Instantly Pinkie’s good mood deflated. “Yes?”

“Please hold that sketch still so I can get a picture of it?” Rarity’s voiced strained under the forced politeness as she pulled out her cell phone.

To her credit, Pinkie’s scowl was not as deep as it could have been. She politely held up the paper and let Rarity snap a picture.

“I think I can work this into your dress. It’s such a cute design!”

“And... I suppose if Pinkie’s party place still makes wrappers, they can make ‘em with it, and I can wrap up all them treats with them.”

“They still do. Just like... that last birthday...”

The three became quiet all of a sudden. Twilight felt hope spark in her. Would the three begin talking to one another?

“I take it you’ll come in for a fitting after school?” Rarity asked.

Twilight felt her hopes dash, but did her best to hide it. “Yes, I will,” Twilight said. She turned to Applejack. “I take it you can be finished by tomorrow morning?”

“I can. I should have enough to pass out when I get to school tomorrow.”

“Good. You’ll bring it to the parking lot? Can I meet you there?”

“Sounds good. Me an’ my brother will bring by everythin’.”

“That’s good. And the three of us will be there to help you unload everything.”

“Wait,” Rarity said. “You can’t mean...”

“Yes. All three of us. You all said you were willing to work together if it meant Sunset would lose. If you really mean it, here’s your chance to prove it.”

The three shot unsure glances at each other. Twilight continued on. “Look... Sunset has to be stopped. You know all the horrible things she’s done, and that she’s made others do. You know this has to be done.”

“...Yer right,” Applejack said. “I can work with Rarity and Pinkie, if it means that.”

“So can I,” Rarity said.

“Me too,” Pinkie finished up.

“Okay then, that means no catty remarks to one another, no insults, no anything. If you get mad at each other, just remember what’s at stake here.”

The three nodded.

“Good. Now I have something to do before class. Pinkie, I’ll meet you at lunch, Rarity, after school. Then the three of us will meet tomorrow morning and talk about this, okay?”

“Sounds good,” Applejack said. The other two gave their agreements.

“Good. Now... I need to take of some things. So, please, I need to be alone.”

The three looked at each other, a bit miffed by the quick dismissal. But they all nodded. Muttering a few goodbyes, they departed.

Twilight stood there for a moment, watching them go. Then, she picked up her backpack and turned toward her still closed locket. As Spike stuck his head out, Twilight tried to push back the tears. This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. They were supposed to go back to being friends.

Spike whimpered, nuzzling Twilight to try and calm her down..

“That could have gone better.”

Twilight jumped and turned around. Flash was standing their, guitar case in hand.

“Flash... you saw what happened.”

He nodded. “The article didn’t work, then?”

“No. I don’t understand it. I showed them what went wrong. I thought they’d go back to being friends...”

Flash put a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t feel bad. I’ve heard those five trade some major insults back when they first had their falling-out. I wouldn’t be half as surprised if whatever Sunset did was designed to get them to insult each other, she’s that good.”

“I guess I can’t help them.” Twilight looked at the floor.

“I wouldn’t say that,” Flash said. “You got them thinking. Trust me, I’ve talked to Rainbow Dash and Applejack several times, I can tell they want everything to go back to normal. And you’ve given them a reason to hang out. I’m willing to bet in a week it’ll be just like old times.”

“You think so?”

Flash smiled. “I’m sure.”

There was an awkward moment as neither was sure what to say.

“So... what was it you needed to do this morning?”

Twilight blinked. “Oh, um... nothing, really. I just didn’t want them to see me look so depressed.”

Flash smiled. “Well then, if you’re stuck for something to do, why don’t I show you some of my music? I was thinking I could write a song for your campaign.”

“That sounds great.”

“Seriously?” Spike muttered under his breath, earning a silencing hand from Twilight. She simply zipped Spike back up and closed her locker.

“Let me take you to the music room,” he said.

“Sure,” Twilight said. “Let me just drop off Spike with Aunt Celestia.” She placed the backpack on her back and turned to him. “Where to?”

“Follow me,” Flash said, starting to walk. Twilight followed, and for a few moments, they were walking side by side.

Then Twilight suddenly felt Flash’s hand close around her own. She jumped in surprise, feeling her face heat up as he looked at Flash. He was blushing too.

She smiled, and so did he.

“Sweet Celestia, Twilight, you’re acting like a schoolfilly!” Spike whispered through the backpack. “This is creeping me out!”

“Did you hear something?” Flash said.

“Nope,” Twilight said, and the two kept walking.

Today might not have been as perfect as she had been expecting, but Flash was right. She had at least set her friends on the right path, and there was a good chance they would come around. And, as Flash led her down the halls, she was starting to feel that everything might be okay after all.

Neither Twilight or Flash saw Diamond Tiara. The young freshman’s eyes widened in absolute joy at seeing them holding hands. Quickly pulling out her phone, she took a picture, making sure to get their intertwined hands.

She grinned. The Wondercolt Press was going to have a new front-page scoop. Maybe they could even get an extra out by lunchtime, if they worked fast enough. And if not, well, a few posters around the school would work just as well. The only thing she knew for sure was that she had snapped a priceless photo, one that was sure to put Sunset in her place.

After all, not only was she going to steal the crown, she had already planted her flag on Sunset’s ex. That was going to be quite the campaign push.

Author's Note

What? You thought I was going to make it that easy for Twilight? But don't worry, friendship is magic...

If you're distressed about Spike not doing much, don't worry. Just keep reading.

Stirring Up Trouble

The morning spent with Flash Sentry had been fun. He had tried to teach Twilight how to play the guitar, showing her how to position her fingers. It was awkward, but she was starting to get the hang of it.

“I bet it took a while to learn to play,” Twilight had said.

“Not really,” Flash said. “A while to get really good, yes, but do you know how many songs are three simple chords? It’s easy. Even Sunset picked it up quick, and she had some bad coordination when we started. It was like she had never had fingers before.”

Twilight could only smile, hoping she didn’t look too nervous.

She was grateful for every class that she had had with Flash, it gave her some quiet during the day.

Free period finally rolled around, and Twilight decided to head down to Celestia’s office to visit Spike before she met with Pinkie.

It was on the way there that she ran into Fluttershy again.

“Fluttershy, hi!”

Fluttershy, who had been getting something out of her locker, jumped a bit at actually being addressed. She smiled when she saw Twilight. “Um, hello.”

“I’m glad you’re here. I’m putting together a campaign team. Why don’t you be on it too?”

Fluttershy blushed a little. “Um, who else is on it?”

“Well, there’s Applejack...”

“W-what? I can’t...”

“And Rarity, and Pinkie Pie.”

That caused the yellow girl to stop and look at her in surprise. “Th... they’re working together? Really?”

Twilight smiled. She heard the hope in Fluttershy’s voice. “Come with me,” she said, leading Twilight away.

They went to the music room and found it empty. Grateful for this time out of the eye on anyone else, she unzipped her backpack. “I want to show you something,” she said, pulling out the article and showing it to her. “Do you remember this?”

Fluttershy took it, and almost immediately Twilight could see the longing in her eyes. “Yes,” she said, her voice cracking a bit.

“Look who wrote the article.”

Fluttershy looked, her eyes widening. “Sunset... oh my. You mean...”

“I think she caused your little breakup,” Twilight said. “The others seem to agree with me.”

Fluttershy smiled. “Does this mean that they want to be friends again?”

“Well... no.”

Fluttershy’s face fell so quickly, it took Twilight a moment to register it. “Oh...”

Twilight felt guilt for raising Fluttershy’s hopes only to dash them. Her next words spilled out all at once in an attempt to cheer her up. “But I think that’s just what they’re telling themselves. I can tell they really want everything to go back to normal.”

“R-really?”

Twilight winced. Fluttershy was getting tears in her eyes. “Yeah. If they work together long enough, things will go back to normal for them.”

Much to Twilight’s surprise, Fluttershy responded by hugging her. As Twilight hugged her back, she felt Fluttershy’s tears leak out.

“I... I want it to. I miss them. We were such good friends. I... I want everything to go back to normal! And I miss Rainbow Dash! She was like a sister to me!”

“Shh, shh, I know, I know,” Twilight said. After a few moments, she pulled Fluttershy off of her and looked her in the eyes. “That’s why we need to take Sunset down. If she keeps going, she’s just going to hurt more people. We need to stay strong right now, okay?”

Fluttershy hiccuped a bit, but nodded.

“You can start by meeting the rest of us out in the parking lot tomorrow morning and helping us with the campaign, okay?”

Fluttershy nodded.

“Okay. Now, I need to ask you something important. Will you answer me?”

Fluttershy nodded.

“What caused that fight between Applejack and Rainbow Dash?”

Fluttershy suddenly looked nervous, looking away.

“Come on, Fluttershy. I know it’s hard to talk about, but if things are ever going to get better between them, they need to confront it. Please tell me.”

There was silence for a few moments before the other girl spoke. “It was... it was a little strange. I can’t believe they let it get to them.”

“Yes?”

“Well, it started when Rainbow Dash’s soccer ball went missing from the locker room. The next day Applejack brought it to school, saying someone had kicked it through her window. She believed Rainbow when she said it went missing, but we couldn’t figure out who would want to hurt Applejack.

“But then, more and more stuff seemed to happen. Rainbow Dash would find a bunch of moldy old apples in her locker, or Applejack would trip and fall on some of her equipment left lying in the hall. Everytime, Rainbow said she had nothing to do with it. Things just got worse and worse between them. The only time they were calm was when they were listening to the Dazzlings.”

“The Dazzlings?” Twilight asked.

Fluttershy nodded. “Those three girls that hang out with Sunset. Everyone loves their music.”

The gears in Twilight’s head started turning. Fluttershy went on.

“It was actually right after a performance that they finally blew up at each other. Rarity took Applejack’s side, and everything blew up.” Fluttershy was crying again.

Twilight gave her another hug. “Don’t worry, everything’s going to be okay. Just show up tomorrow morning, alright? I’ll bring Spike.”

At that, Fluttershy brightened up. “That would be fun.”

“Okay. Now, I’ve got to meet Pinkie about something. Just stay strong, okay.”

Fluttershy nodded. The two parted ways a bit awkwardly, but at least it was an improvement.

As she walked down the hallway to Princess Celestia’s office, her mind was racing. She had originally dismissed the girls as just regular high school girls. The fact that Sunset used the human Snips and Snails was enough for her to assume so. But with Fluttershy’s story... could they be magic users themselves? It was a crazy thought, but Sunset had help in Equestria.

When she arrived at Principal Celestia’s office, she knew her next course of action.

Spike almost immediately rant to his mother, happy to be scooped up in her arms. Celestia greeted her warmly, offering her lunch bag. “Any progress?”

“Some.” She relayed what had happened to her. Spike had filled Celestia in on the progress she had made at her locker when Twilight had dropped her off for the early periods, so Twilight only had to tell her what happened with Fluttershy.

Spike grinned. “So that leaves just Rainbow Dash.”

Twilight nodded. “Maybe if I get them all together long enough... well, I’ll try to find Rainbow before we leave today. Any idea where she would be after school?”

“She has soccer practice,” Celestia said, tapping a manilla folder on the side of her desk. “I took the liberty of pulling up all the school’s information on them, and of Sunset and her group, just in case.”

Twilight nodded, then the thought entered her head. “What can you tell me about the Dazzlings?”

Celestia blinked. “Who?”

Twilight realized it must be a nickname that existed among the students. “Aria, Adagio, and Sonata.”

“Ah, those three. Well, there’s not a lot to tell. They came to Canterlot High not long after Sunset did. They started spending time around her almost immediately. They practically hand off of her whenever they’re not singing. I find it odd they haven’t joined choir, they sing very well, and a lot of the students like them.”

“Do you enjoy their music too?”

Celestia nodded. “Oh yes, they sing well, but I’m hardly around to hear it. But what I catch is quite good.”

“Have you met their parents?”

“I haven’t, but I know they must have come in for a parent-teacher night, I have attendance records for it. Why?”

“Sunset had help in Equestria, I’m sure of it. Snips and Snails I’m sure are normal humans, I’m sure, but these three? I don’t know. There’s just something about them. It might be a long shot, but I think it’s worth looking into.”

Celestia nodded as she pulled some folders out of the stack. She opened one. “Adagio Dazzle... it looks like everything’s in order. I’ll look over these tonight when I have some free time.”

“Way ahead of you.”

The two turned to see Luna walk into the room. “I had Yearling do some extra digging on Sunset and her friends. Everything checks out.” She passed a folder to Celestia, who took it and began to look it over. “Report cards dating back to first grade, tax records for the family, it all adds up.”

“I think we’ve proven that records can be forged, and these girls have had a lot longer than Twilight to set everything up.”

Twilight thought for a moment. “I guess we’re just going to have to push forward with the plan. I’m supposed to meet Pinkie in the lunchroom right about now.”

“Can’t I come?” Spike asked.

Twilight smiled and scratched Spike behind the ears. “I’m sorry, Spike, but you’re not even supposed to be here. We’re risking a lot just bringing you around here. Just stay put, I promise you’ll get to meet all the others tomorrow. Okay?”

Spike muttered. “Okay...” Then he brightened up. “Well, maybe I can finish Angry Birds today!” He happily ran to Luna’s tablet, causing Twilight to chuckle.

“I swear, if he keeps that up, he’s going to rival Button in all the games he plays.”

Celestia smiled. “You go meet Pinkie. We’ll keep an eye on Spike.”

Twilight waved them goodbye before leaving.

As she walked down the hallway, she couldn’t help but notice the students seemed extra-happy. They were smiling at her, waving, and even sticking their thumbs in the air, whatever that meant.

“Hey, Twilight, way to go!” Lyra called, with Bon Bon... no, Sweetie Drops, she remembered, nodding.

“Um, thank you?” she asked, still walking.

“Yo, Twilight!” Another girl said. Twilight looked, and was surprised to see it was apparently Applejack’s cousin Babs Seed. Only this version looked the same age as Applejack. “Great goin’. I don’t think most girls would have the guts to do what you did. Ya got my vote!”

Twilight was confused. Was running against Sunset really this big of a deal? “Well... thank you,” she said, waving and continuing her trip to the cafeteria.

“Yeah!” Bulk Biceps yelled at her. “Way to show it to Sunset! Ya got my vote!”

It was like that for the entire trip. Twilight was confused. What exactly had caused all this?

She was relieved when she got to the cafeteria and made it to the table where Pinkie was sitting. She was un-relieved when Pinkie welcomed her with a “Way to go, Twilight! You just really stuck it to Sunset!”

“Alright, what is everyone talking about? I haven’t done anything to Sunset!”

“Oh, don’t try to hide it! Everyone’s seen...”

At that point, they were cut off when Rarity and Applejack ran up to the table. Unlike every other student, they looked like they had seen a ghost.

“Twilight, Twilight, have you seen them?”

Twilight was so stunned by Rarity’s question that it took her a moment to answer. “Did I see what?”

In response, Applejack held up a poster that had her eyes nearly pop out of her head. It was a photo of Flash and herself, their fingers intertwined, with the caption on the bottom: Vote Twilight Sparkle. She’s already planted her flag in Sunset’s best conquest.

“How... what? How... We only just held hands this morning!”

“Ooh! So it’s true! You really did get Sunset’s ex!” Pinkie squeed. “This is so...”

“Pinkie, this is not good!” Rarity said. “Can you imagine how angry Sunset will be when she sees this?”

“Yeah, so?”

“So,” Applejack answered, “you know how really mean Sunset gets when she’s mad. She’s already ornerier than a pitbull with a toothache, when she sees this, she’s going to flip.”

Twilight took a deep breath. “Well, Sunset is the type to only have only dated him because he was a ticket to popularity. Maybe she won’t actually care.”

“You don’t know Sunset, Twi,” Applejack said. “She’ll take this as a personal attack. You need to be careful.”

“I needed to be careful anyway,” Twilight waved it off.

“Still, going after Flash?” Pinkie laughed. “That take some serious bravery!”

“What do you mean?”

“Sunset has harassed any girl that has tried to get close to Flash. Every girl wants him, but no one’s been brave enough to get near him.”

“I wasn’t trying to get back at Sunset, Flash was just being nice. I...” Suddenly Twilight’s eyes went wide. “What if he thinks I’ve only been spending time with him to get back at Sunset! Oh, this is a mess!”

“Well, he gets out of class in fifteen minutes,” Applejack said, checking her watch. “I know ‘cause I usually hear him practicing in the music room during his lunch period. After you look over everythin’ with Pinkie, go talk to him.”

Twilight stopped, then nodded. “Yeah, okay.”

“Great. I’ll go around the school and tear down every poster I see like this,” Applejack promised.

“I’ll take down any I see, but I’m going to try and find who took that photo,” Rarity said. “I have a good feeling who took it too.”

Twilight nodded. “Thank you girls, I really appreciate it.” As they turned to leave, something occurred to Twilight. “One thing: Fluttershy will be joining us tomorrow morning.”

That got everyone’s attention. “What? Really?” Pinkie said.

“Why is she comin’?” Applejack added.

“Well, I ran into her my first day here, and she seems real nice. I read you were friends once...”

“No, I mean why did she agree? That girl has no spine!”

“Look, she wants to help. I’m sure I can count on everypon- everybody to get along, right?”

“Well... I guess,” Applejack said, and Rarity nodded.

Twilight turned and saw that Pinkie was giving her a look, and that made her nervous. So she decided to change the subject as quickly as she could. “Pinkie, why don’t you show me what you came up with?”

At that, Pinkie brightened up. “Sure! Just look!” She unzipped her backpack and poured the contents out on the table.

Sunset’s smartphone snapped in half in her grip, the mass e-mailed photo disappearing as the screen broke. Her five associates had wisely decided to back themselves into a wall.

Sunset breathed heavily, and they were all sure that she was going to explode in rage.

Much to their surprise, she took a long, deep breath and cooled herself. “Snips, Snails?”

The words carried barely restrained fury. Feeling nervous, the two boys stepped forward, Snips being the one to speak. “Y-yes?”

“I want you to start tailing Twilight Sparkle. See if you can get any embarrassing photos of her. Every minute you aren’t in class, you’re following her.”

“S-sure.”

“...Well what are you waiting for? Get going!”

The two dashed off. This was not the day they wanted to be on her bad side.

“And as for you three,” she said. “I’m going to need you to sing your little song a bit very soon.”

Sonata spoke up. “I... I thought you said Twilight wasn’t worth worrying about...”

“She isn’t. But if she really wants to make this personal, then we’ll make this personal.”

“You want us to spread a rumor?” Adagio asked.

“No... we need something much more immediate. Those two idiots might dig up something good, but a good prank will put her in her place so much better. Trust me, by tomorrow she be a bigger laughingstock than Rarity.”

Tuesday Afternoon

Thankfully, the meeting with Pinkie was over quickly, and Twilight was able to rush off and find Flash. Thankfully, she managed to run into him not long after the start of her search. He was with Micro Chips, oddly enough, and having him sign something.

After the bespectacled boy finished signing, he handed the pen back to Flash and walked off. Flash turned and saw Twilight. His immediate reaction was to hide whatever it was that was just signed behind his back.

“Twilight, hey,” he greeted her, actually looking less composed. “What are you doing here?”

For a moment, her hopes rose. Maybe he hadn’t seen the poster...

“Wait... I think I know. This is about the picture of us, isn’t it?” His expression got awkward.

Twilight’s fear rose again. “Flash, please, it’s not what it looks like.”

Flash tilted his head. “Someone didn’t take a picture of us without us knowing and is using it to try and rile Sunset up?”

“...Okay, maybe it is what it looks like,” she said. “I’m sorry, Flash, I just thought you might think that I was only interested in you to get back at Sunset.”

“Why would I think that?” Flash asked looking genuinely confused. “Twilight, you didn’t ask me to do anything for you, I helped you entirely because I wanted to. And you didn’t know I was Sunset’s ex until afterward, unless you were a really good actor.”

Twilight felt herself blushing. “I... guess I was being a little ridiculous.” she admitted.

“Hey, with everything Sunset pulls, I’d say paranoia is the appropriate response to everything.” He smiled. “I was expecting her to try spreading that rumor anyway.”

“Well, then, I’m happy knowing you don’t believe it.” She felt awkward now. “I... suppose I better let you get back to your practice. The girls told me you usually do it around this time.”

“Yes, but why don’t we do something after school? I can show you what I’m working on for your campaign.”

Twilight tensed up. Okay, this was getting too serious. She needed to make her excuses and turn it down. “Well, Rarity asked me to come in after school for a fitting on my prom dress,” she said.

Flash’s smiled faltered. Twilight winced, but she kept it together. Okay, good, you have a completely valid excuse to say no that won’t hurt his feelings. This is the most painless way to do it. Now politely decline.

“But after that, she should have plenty of time!”

Twilight jumped in the air and whirled around to see that Rarity had followed her, and was standing behind her with a smug grin on her face.

“Oh, really?” Flash said.

“Oh yes, I should be done by six. You do remember where Carousel Boutique is, don’t you? I believe we have your tux ready anyway. You can pick it up.”

“That sounds good. Uh, that is, if Twilight is okay with it.”

Twilight, who was still shocked at Rarity’s interference, was too surprised to carefully craft her answer.

“Uh, sure, that sounds great.”

“Cool. I’ll see you then.” Flash went off down the hall, with the two girls waving her goodbye.

There was a moment of silence after he disappeared around the corner. Then Twilight spoke slowly.

“Rarity... why did you do that?”

“I think a better question is, why wouldn’t I? Flash Sentry’s a gentlemen of the utmost caliber, I simply couldn’t allow you to turn down his invitation.”

Twilight glared at Rarity, but ended up giving a sigh. “Shouldn’t you be tracking down who took that photo?”

“Already did. It was a freshman named Diamond Tiara took them. Thought she’d be helping you out. And by the looks of things, she was right.”

“I don’t care. I don’t want to treat Flash like a prize!”

But as those words spilled out, her words to the Keeper came into her mind. Tools, but willing tools.

“Flash doesn’t seem to mind.”

“...I guess not, but... it’s complicated.”

“Whatever you say. I still think you’ll thank me later. So, I’ll give you a ride to my shop and fix you up quickly.”

“Fine... but will it really take an hour and a half to fit my dress?”

Rarity shuffled a bit. “Well, no... but I agreed to make dresses for Applejack and Pinkie as well, and I don’t want to be alone with them.”

Hearing this, Twilight perked up. “Really? Did you agree to make dresses for them?”

Rarity blushed. “Because they’re helping you, obviously.”

Twilight smiled. “Okay then. Well, I hope you told Diamond Tiara not to take any more photos without my permission.”

“I did. I reported it to your aunt. But that girl’s growing up to be another Sunset Shimmer. She’s been bullying my sister throughout middle school. She’ll likely try again before too long.”

Twilight rubbed her head. “Yeah, okay. Thanks, Rarity.”

“No problem. Now I have to get to class, but I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah, okay. I’ll see you later, Rarity.”

With that, Rarity left, leaving Twilight alone in the hallway. It was still somewhat busy, but even with several students having a free period around this time, it was remarkably empty.

Okay, Twilight, no need to panic. Rarity just forced you into a date that you know is just going to make harder when you do break it up with him at the end of the week... wonderful.

“Hey, hey, Twilight!”

Twilight turned at the sound of Rainbow Dash coming up to her. She looked happy, happier than Twilight had seen this version of her.

“I saw that picture. Way to go,” she playfully smacked Twilight on the arm.

Twilight blushed. “If you’re talking about me wanting to rub it in Sunset’s face, don’t. I never approved of that picture.”

“Well, there is that, but you got Flash Sentry on your arm. Not only is he the hottest guy in school, but Sunset practically kills anyone who so much at looks at him.”

“Yeah, well, I’m already putting myself in trouble running against her, aren’t I?” Twilight suddenly smiled. “Why don’t you come by the gym tomorrow morning and help us? We’re all unloading some stuff for my campaign?”

“Sure. Uh, wait, who’s this us you’re talking about?”

“Well, honestly, it’s Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie...”

“Wait, seriously?” Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight with shock. “You actually got them all to work together?”

Twilight nodded. “It seems that they don’t like Sunset enough that they’re willing to work together to take her down. Why don’t you join in?”

There was a moment of silence. Rainbow Dash smiled a bit. “It would be almost like old times. The only one missing is Fluttershy.”

“Oh, Fluttershy is going to be there too.”

It was like flicking a switch. At one moment, Rainbow Dash looked happy. Then her face fell. “What?”

Twilight blinked at the flat reaction, but kept going. “Uh, yeah, I asked her a bit earlier. She agreed to help us. She’s going to...”

Almost instantly she found herself shoved back into the lockers. Rainbow Dash had a hand on her throat, and while she wasn’t truly choking her yet, it was making it a bit harder to breathe.

“Listen to me,” she said. “Keep Fluttershy out of this.”

Twilight was too stunned by the attack to respond right away. But after collecting herself, she managed to get a word out. “Why?”

“You can risk yourself all you want, but you leave Fluttershy out of trouble. I already ga... I don’t want to see her get hurt!”

“Then... then why did you stop talking to her?”

A flash of blue and there was a pain in Twilight’s cheek. She fell to the tile floor. By the time she collected her bearing, Rainbow Dash was gone, and there were two new girls in her place.

“Twilight!” Applejack said, bending down to her level, Pinkie Pie right next to her.

“Uh... Applejack? Pinkie?” Twilight moaned.

The cowgirl examined her, looking worried. “You alright? Nothin’ looks too bruised.”

“Uh... yeah, I’m fine.” She just noticed that Rainbow Dash truly didn’t hit her that hard. In fact, now that she thought about it, her fall to the ground had been more from her pushing her than anything else.

“Oh good. For a second there, I was afraid you had got bruised, and that would not have looked good in any campaign photos.”

Applejack nodded in consent. “Yeah, looks like yer okay... I can’t believe that Rainbow Dash! Why on earth would she hit you like that?”

“I... I mentioned Fluttershy was helping me and she went crazy. She told me to leave Fluttershy out of it.”

Now both girls looked confused, even as she helped Twilight to her feet. “Wha? Why?”

“She said she doesn’t want her getting into trouble.”

Now both girls looked at her like she had grown an extra head. “But... that... if she still cares about Fluttershy, then why the hay did she stop talkin’ to her?”

“Asking her that was what got her to hit me.”

“Whoa, that’s super weird!” Pinkie said.

“Yeah, crazy. Well, at least you can tell yer Aunt about this. I can act like a witness...”

“No.”

Applejack blinked. “No? Whaddya mean no?”

“I mean no, not yet. Don’t tell my aunt about this yet.”

“Why the hay not?”

“I... I can’t explain just yet. Please, I’m asking you two to trust me on this.”

Applejack was silent for a moment. “Yeah... okay Twi. I’ll go along fer now.”

Pinkie was looking at her with that same unreadable expression. But she spoke too. “Okay. If you say so, Twilight.”

“Now, we better get you to the nurse,” Applejack said. “Just in case.”

“...Yeah, okay,” she said at last. Twilight allowed herself to be escorted down the hall, her mind racing at what had just happened. It seemed that Rainbow Dash was still one piece of the puzzle that hadn’t come together. Things just couldn’t seem to ever be easy for her.

Then again, as she walked, she couldn’t help but realize that Applejack and Pinkie weren’t cringing at each other anymore. Oh, they weren’t speaking to each other, but they seemed to be getting more comfortable with each other.

She smiled. Maybe the pieces were coming together better than she thought.

Nurse Golden Cross was a small, pretty woman with blonde hair and white skin. She was a bit surprised when Twilight entered her office.

“Well hello there. You must be Principal Celestia’s niece. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Yes, that’s me. I’m just here to get an injury looked over.”

“Oh? An injury from what?”

“I ran into an open locker door,” Twilight said quickly.

Golden Cross arched an eyebrow. “Ran into a locker?”

Applejack spoke up, apparently having decided to go with it. “My fault, ma’am. I didn’t see her coming when I opened my locker door. We just wanted to make sure there wasn’t going to be any bruising.”

The nurse looked at Twilight for a moment, but eventually nodded. “Yes, yes, okay. Come here and sit down.”

Twilight obeyed, sitting on the examination table. Golden Cross took her head gently and began to inspect it. “So, why have your aunts never mentioned you before?”

“Oh, well... I don’t know. It just never came up before, I guess.” Twilight really hoped she wouldn’t press any further. Unfortunately, she did.

“Come to think of it, they never mentioned having a brother or another sister,” Golden went on. “And they talk about their childhood quite a bit.”

“...Well, I guess they weren’t really close as children,” Twilight said, really hoping she wouldn’t press.

Fortunately, she didn’t. She looked at Twilight’s face. “A little red, but it should go down in a few hours. There should be no swelling or bruise. But if you’re that self-conscious, you might want to apply a little makeup for the rest of the day.”

“I don’t really wear makeup,” Twilight said. “It’s just a few hours, I’ll be fine.”

“Alright then. Now, you’re sure this was just you running into a locker?”

“...Of course.” Please don’t press. Please don’t press... “It was a mistake. Could happen to anyp... body.”

Twilight tensed up, hoping her slip hadn’t been noticed.

“Well, if that’s all you came here for, you don’t have to worry. There should be no bruising.”

Twilight would have breathed a sigh of relief, but she was afraid even that would give her away. “Well, thank you. Class is starting soon, so I better get going.”

“Of course,” the nurse said. “If you get hurt again, you can come straight here.”

Twilight left as quickly as she dared, Pinkie and Applejack following her.

“Guess we better get to class,” Applejack said. “But... what are we gonna do? You still want Fluttershy there after what Rainbow did?”

“Yes,” Twilight said without hesitation.

“Uh, Twi? Why on earth do you care so much?”

“I’m going to need all the help I can get,” Twilight said. “And besides, I think it’s pretty obvious those two stopped talking because of Sunset. She did something, and I’m going to find out what.”

The Date

Twilight stepped out of Carousel Boutique after what was not all that bad of a fitting. Things were still awkward between the three, but things were better than when they started. Things were looking up. She would have her crown back in no time.

Her happiness disappeared into a torrent of emotion when she saw Flash in another car with no roof, grinning at her. “Hey Twilight. Are you finished?”

“Uhh, yes, I am,” she said. Spike, in her arms, just rolled his eyes.

“Cool. But... Spike probably wouldn’t be welcomed at any of the restaurants I could take you. Can one of your friends take him home?”

Spike looked annoyed, and Twilight, figuring that would hurt his feelings, began scratching his ears in an attempt to comfort him. “I suppose I could. Let me go ahead and ask one of the girls to...”

“That won’t be necessary,” Celestia’s voice said. Both teens jumped a bit in surprise and saw Principal Celestia getting out of the car behind Flash’s. “I was on the way home when I realized that you’d have Spike with you. Since most restaurants don’t allow pets, I thought that I’d come by and take him home for you.”

“Oh thank you, Ce... Aunt Celestia,” she said. “Flash, will you wait a moment?”

“Of course.”

At this, Twilight walked toward Celestia, handing off Spike. “I’m sorry about this, Spike. You know pets aren’t allowed in many places for the same reason they aren’t in Equestria. I’ll make it up to you when we get back to Equestria.”

“Yeah, I guess...” Spike muttered. “I really didn’t want to see you make kissyface with some guy anyway.”

Celestia giggled, and Twilight flushed. “It’s nothing like that, we’re just going to have dinner. I’ll tell you what, once we get back to Equestria, I’ll buy you a whole box of new comics.”

This placated the little dragon. “Okay. I’ll see you back at Celestia’s.”

Twilight patted Spike on the head, then said her goodbyes to Principal Celestia. As she turned, she noticed the principal looking at Flash, giving him a look that seemed benign at first glance, but was really saying, “You better not upset her.”

The now slightly nervous Flash opened his car door for Twilight and helped her inside. As soon as she was seated, he closed the door and got in on his side. “I hope you’re hungry. I picked out a nice restaurant that is vegetarian-friendly.”

Twilight was half-hoping that Flash would mess something up to give her an excuse to break things off again. But none came, Flash was a complete gentleman throughout the beginning of the date. He had picked a nice restaurant that served pasta, pulled out her chair for her to sit, and had been all-around polite. And as frustrating as it was that he was not giving her the excuse she needed for the inevitable break-off, it was becoming more frustrating that she was becoming more and more charmed by him, and didn’t want him to mess up.

“I hope you like this place,” Flash said. “There’s another place I considered that serves tacos and quesadillas, but I thought this place had more options for vegetarians.”

“That’s good. I... don’t like quesadillas too much.”

He blinked. “Why not?”

She suddenly blushed. “Oh, it’s...” she debated not saying, but Flash’s look, which was one of genuine curiosity, coupled with genuinely being put at ease. “I... when I was a little f... girl, I went on a picnic with my family. My mom made quesadillas. When I was about to eat mine, I saw a squirrel a few feet away, and I like animals so much I decided to go take a look at it. But while I was looking at it, a bunch of ants crawled into my food. So when I took a bite..."

Flash snorted, but managed to hold in any further sign of amusement. Twilight blushed in spite of herself.

"Hey, cheer up," Flash said. "I've had worse experiences with food."

"Really?"

"Yeah. There was the first time Sunset took me to a vegetarian restaurant..."

Flash trailed off, realizing bringing up his ex on a date wasn't the smartest move.

Twilight noticed the discomfort, but misinterpreted it.

“It must have been hard, losing Sunset.”

Flash was a bit surprised, but he went along with it. “It was, at the time. But l don’t miss it. She wasn’t who she pretended to be. I never had anything with her.”

Despite his words, Twilight could hear a tinge of sadness in his voice. She reached over and placed a hand on his.

“It’s a shame. You didn’t deserve all that.”

“What we deserve isn’t always what we get,” Flash said. “We deserve a Sunset-free school, and we’re not getting that. We deserve to have one of the sisters be superintendent, and we’re not getting that.”

A bitterness was creeping into his voice. Twilight really wanted to change the subject.

“So, what’s your family like?”

By the look on Flash’s face, Twilight could tell she had made a mistake. A flash of pain crossed his face, and Twilight’s mind started racing, trying to find a way to change the subject.

“They’re nice,” Flash said. It was quick, abrupt, and clearly said out of a lack of anything else to say. “I don’t see my mother much since my folks split. My dad is alright, but he has to work a lot. What about your family?”

Twilight could tell that Flash really wanted the subject changed. She thought about pressing the matter, trying to help him. Then she remembered she was looking for an excuse to distance herself from him. She decided to answer his question.

“My father is a... government worker. He helps decide budgets. I’m a little fuzzy on the details.” This was a lie, she understood her father’s job inside and out, but she didn’t know how to translate it into a human government. “My mom is a writer. She writes romance, mostly. And I have an older brother who’s in the military.”

“Really? I thought about joining up myself, after high school.”

That interested Twilight. “Shiny says that it gets you the kind of relationships that you don’t get in civilian life.”

“That’s what I heard,” Flash said. “My grandfather was a general, and he used to tell me all kinds of stories about how things were then. He told me that he could meet another military man and spend half an hour talking about nothing but the army.”

“I believe it. My brother can go on.”

“Is your brother overseas?”

She paused. The answer to that question was yes, but she had to be careful not to answer in a way that revealed her ignorance of what overseas was in this world.

“Yes. He’s not allowed to say where actually.”

Fortunately, Flash didn’t press. “I want to see the world, get out of Canterlot. The military could help with that.”

“You want to leave Canterlot? Why?”

Flash suddenly got quiet again. “Well, there are things in Canterlot I want to leave behind.”

Twilight looked at him. “Do you mean Sunset? Did she hurt you that badly?”

“Not just Sunset,” Flash said, now looking like this conversation was going in a direction that he didn’t want it to. “It... it might be a little heavy for a first date. Why don’t you take over? What do you want to do after high school?”

Principal Celestia had helped her prepare for this. “I was to be a scientist.”

“What kind?”

“Any kind!” she said. “I love to learn. And whenever I don’t understand, I love to find out.”

“Really? Think you can figure out Pinkie Pie?”

“I want to be a scientist, not a miracle-worker.”

The two laughed.

The pasta had come, and the conversation had gone on. Twilight felt herself getting lost in the conversation. That was bad. She needed to watch what she said. Any slip up might reveal more about herself than she could let on.

Still, she enjoyed the meal. Flash was hard to keep talking. His family was clearly a topic he was unwilling to discuss, and she wasn’t about to bring up Sunset. But keeping him talking about his bandmates was something she could do.

He told her about how they had chosen their band name, Flash Drive, which started a coin flip which ended up growing into best three out of five to best five out of nine until finally it was settled through arm wrestling. She laughed again when he told her about how Ringo struck out with two girls when he made the mistake of taking dating advice from Brawly.

He told her some more stories. How he, as a kid, got lost in town one day and managed to find his way home before his dad missed him. How he had once tried to cook a cake and ended up with a loaf of bread. He told her about how his grandfather had died a few years ago, and hearing him say that Flash would go on to great things.

They had walked until they had made it to an ice cream parlor. After confirming that Twilight was a vegetarian and not a vegan, Flash ordered them two chocolate cones. Twilight decided they tasted about as good as the ones on Equestria.

They walked a bit absently as they ate, chatting and talking. Even years later, Twilight wouldn’t remember half of what they talked about, only that she had enjoyed it.

By the time they had finished their cones, the topic had turned to music.

“I got my guitar when I was ten years old,” Flash said. “I absolutely loved it. I started to learn to play, and it was... well, amazing. I had liked listening to music, and once I had my guitar I started playing around with it. I started by copying other songs, but then I started playing around with it and writing my own songs... It was just so amazing, getting to make something out of thin air.”

“I’ve heard you were good, but I haven’t heard you play yet,” Twilight said. “Do you usually bring your guitar to school?”

“Usually. If you’d like, you can come by the music room and hear me play.”

“What about the rest of your band?”

He shook his head. “No, we have a strict ‘no outsiders’ policy during rehearsal. But we are planning to perform a few songs at the Fall Formal.”

“Oh. That would be fun.”

He nodded. “Well, Sunset might run it with an iron fist, but we still try to enjoy the dances. Still, I don’t think we’ll be able to compete with the Dazzlings, but we should get some praise.”

They were nearing Canterlot High. The sky was beginning to dim, and the moon was rising over the building. It was a surreal sight for Twilight, seeing the sun and the moon in the sky at the same time. Even during Discord’s day of chaos, he hadn’t allowed them in the sky at the same time.But she had read about the moon moving through gravity, and the bizarre fact that this planet revolved around its sun, and knew what to expect.

“The moon looks pretty tonight, doesn’t it?” Flash said, pulling Twilight from her thoughts.

Twilight decided to go along with why Flash thought she found the sky so interesting and decided to play along. “Yeah.” She looked at the roof of the school. “I don’t suppose there’s any way for us to get back on the roof, is there?”

“Want another dancing lesson?” Flash asked, unable to keep the smugness out of his voice.

Twilight was grateful that the darkness was hiding her blush. “I think I would.”

“Well, I don’t think we’ll be getting back on the roof,” Flash said. “But I can give you a quick lesson in the parking lot. Who’s going to be driving into it at this time of night?”

Twilight couldn’t answer that question, so Flash led her into the lot. Indeed, the cars were all missing, so there was plenty of space. It wasn’t quite as nice as the rooftop, but it would do.

Af first, it was a repeat of the lesson from yesterday. Flash took her hand, wrapped another around her waist, and led her at the dance. However, there was one difference this time.

This time, there was no talking. There was no conversation on how to defeat Sunset. No discussion about worries or fears, not even any dancing instructions. It was just the two of them in complete silence.

They forgot everything. The threat Sunset posed, the troubles with winning the crown. In that moment, it was just them.

For the rest of her life, no matter how many times she thought back to this moment, Twilight could never remember moving forward to kiss him. She wasn’t even sure she did. Maybe he moved forward to steal the kiss. What she did remember was that, even if he had been the one to initiate it, she had kissed him back.

And it had lasted quite a bit before Twilight realized what she was doing. She pulled apart, looking at Flash. He looked happy.

“Twilight...”

“...I have to go.”

Twilight ran. Flash called after her. She didn’t look back. She didn’t listen. She didn’t want to look back. She just needed to get away.

Celestia and Luna didn’t even have time to register that Twilight had run in before she was up in the guest room. She closed the door behind her, fell onto the bed, and began to cry.

She was starting to feel a regret she hadn’t felt since she decided to move to Ponyville. It was the regret of wasted time, feeling like for all her accomplishments she missed something truly important in her life.

She hadn’t realized how badly she had wanted a partner before now. She hadn’t realized how big a mistake it was, refusing to go to any sort of school dance, and turning down any suitor. Granted, that last one was a good trait to have when you were in a position to be taken advantage of by the social climbers and gold diggers, but she wished she had given them a chance.

But now, she had to become attracted to a boy in a world she couldn’t stay in.

She wasn’t in love with him, she kept telling herself that. And he wasn’t in love with her. They had known each other for a few days, and he was young. It was a foolish infatuation, one that they couldn’t act on.

But it still hurt, knowing that they would never know where this relationship would go. She would never know if they were truly compatible.

She might never get another chance at love. Her connection with Princess Celestia ensured that. Every suitor would come with the worry that they were after her because of her status. She would never have the anonymity that would free her from that.

“Twilight?” Spike’s voice cut through her despair. She looked. Spike was staring at her.

“W-what happened? Was Flash a jerk? I can bite him for you if...”

Twilight pulled her son into a hug, cutting him off. He stayed silent as she hugged him, not knowing what to say.

A knock came at the door. “Twilight?” Celestia’s voice came through. “Is everything alright?”

After a moment, Twilight released Spike, then moved to answer the door. She opened it up and saw the principal’s worried face. “Twilight... did something happen?”

“Yeah,” Twilight said. “...I had a wonderful time.”

Author's Note

Hopefully it won't be three years before the next chapter.

Conversation

Twilight was just getting used to the body as Luna sat, trying to drink tea to suit her nerves. Left foot, right foot, it was starting to get easier. But these humans didn’t even have a tail for balance!

The living room was like the rest of the house that twilight had seen. It was neat and clean, but still had a lived-in feel. A large shelf decorated with books, a sofa and two armchairs with a table, and a strange screen that sat on a stand across from the sofa.

“Okay... so there’s a talking dog, a girl who looks like a human but isn’t, and apparently magic exists?”

“That is the case,” Celestia said.

...

“I don't even know what to say about that.”

Spike, who had been laying on a couch cushion next to the sisters, could only look. “These are the Humans? I kind of expected them to be more... together than this.”

“Spike, be nice,” Twilight said before she fell on the carpet. “Besides, Humans must be great to be able to walk like this.”

Celestia took a deep breath. “Why don’t you tell us the full story? For starters, if you’re not human... what are you?”

“I’m a pony,” Twilight said, reaching for her backpack. She pulled out a photo album and handed it to her. “Here, I brought a few from home in case I ran into a friendly face.”

Celestia took the album and opened it up. Twilight had only brought a select few photos, so she knew she’d be in them.

“You’re the purple one, I take it?”

Twilight nodded. “And Spike’s the dragon.”

“Are you sure I can’t have any whiskey?” Luna asked. The glare Celestia gave her sister caused her to shrink back. She turned back to the album and paused. “What’s this you and Spike are holding?”

Twilight had a feeling what Luna was talking about, and as soon as she saw the photo it was confirmed. It was the two of them, both their eyes still wet from tears, and holding a piece of paper in front of them.

“Spike’s adoption certificate. He’s my son.”

“That’s sweet,” Celestia said.

“So he’s really not your pet,” Luna muttered.

“That’s right I’m not,” Spike said. A growl was actually starting to escape his lips.

“Spike,” Twilight warned. She turned to the sisters. “Sorry, we’ve had... less than pleasant experiences with ponies that don’t treat him very well.”

The principal turned back to Twilight and nodded. “This is all so very strange. What brought you here?”

“You saw, Sunset.” she took a deep breath. “Sunset is like me. She isn’t from this world. She’s from Equestria.”

“Really?” Celestia asked. “But... she has paperwork, a Social Security card, everything!”

“Those can be forged,” Luna muttered. “Why is she here?”

She took a deep breath. “Long ago, Sunset used to be the prized student of my mentor, Princess Celestia.”

“Wait, what?” Luna said.

“I don’t quite get it, but there’s another version of both of you in my world. Princess Celestia rules over the day, while Princess Luna rules over the night.”

“We’re both Princesses? Then who’s the king and queen?” Celestia asked.

“There isn’t one. We used to have them, but after our tribes united, we kept Princess as the highest title after one of our founders.” She held up a hand as the two opened their mouths. “I’ll explain that later, but I think you want to hear why I’m here first.”

The two silenced themselves.

“Sunset used to study under Princess Celestia. However, she eventually grew too power-hungry. She disappeared through a magic mirror, which led her here. She recently came back here to steal the Element of Magic.”

“The what now?” Celestia asked.

In response, Twilight took the album and opened to another picture. It was a photo taken just after the defeat of NightMare Moon. It featured all of her friends, each sporting their Element of Harmony, with Spike and the two princesses in as well.

“Magic is one of the six Elements of Harmony. They are very powerful magical artifacts that my friends and I were chosen to wield.” She pointed to her crown. “This crown is mine.”

“That looks like the crown to our Fall Formal,” Celestia noted.

Twilight looked at her. “Sunset tried to swap it out with a fake... maybe that was it.”

“She actually offered to help design the crown. Then she got a petition together to use her idea.”

“And we couldn’t figure out how many of those signatures were the result of her ‘persuasion’.” Luna’s comment came with a heavy voice of resignation.

“I was sent here to get it back. The portal back home won’t open for another month, so I have until then to track Sunset down and get my Element back.”

There was silence for a moment.

“If it wasn’t for the talking dog, I don’t think I’d believe it,” Luna said.

Celestia took a deep breath. “Sunset’s address should be in the school’s computers. Tomorrow I’ll go down there and get it for you, then we can go track her down.”

Twilight nodded. “Thank you, I owe you a lot... but what’s a computer?”

“I’ll tell you after dinner. Right now I need some questions answered. How old is Sunset?”

Twilight blinked. “She was seventeen when she disappeared through the portal, and twelve years have passed since then.”

That got them both to gasp. “Twenty nine? but... she looks only sixteen!”

Twilight thought a bit. “Didn’t you say that Sunset had just left when I came through?”

“Yes,” Celestia said. “She came through the portal, then she ran towards some bushes and rifled through them. When I called her name, she saw me, got scared, and ran off. Not ten seconds later you came through.”

“That doesn’t add up. I spent half a day preparing to follow her. Time must flow differently between the two worlds.”

“...Sure, why not?” Luna said.

“How long ago did Sunset come to your school?” Twilight asked.

“It was about two years ago,” Celestia said. “She started out as a pretty normal girl, but she developed a bad reputation pretty quickly.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean bullying, blackmail, a whole list of offenses,” Luna said, sounding like she was tired from reaching for something forever just inches from her grip. “We’ve been trying to get her suspended for months, but she’s as slippery as an eel. She always does just enough to keep herself safe.”

A ding sounded from the kitchen, causing Luna to perk up. “That means dinner’s ready. Why don’t we eat while we discuss this further.”

Dinner came with two further complications. The first was Luna nearly setting Spike’s plate on the floor. She quickly realized how offensive he might find it and offered to place it on the table with a few big, thick books acting as a high chair.

The second involved Twilight having to use silverware with hands for the first time. It was awkward, but by observing the sisters a bit she made a decent job of it.

At first, the conversation was dominated by Twilight, who was answering questions about Equestria and the story of Hearth’s Warming Eve. The topic turned to Twilight giving a full account of Sunset’s theft.

“Hopefully we can get this solved tomorrow,” Celestia said. “Until then, if anyone asks, we’ll say you’re our niece from out of town, coming to visit a while.”

“Sounds as good a cover as any,” Twilight said. She had to admit Luna was a good cook. She wondered if her Luna was this good.

“As long as we don’t have to keep things up for long,” Luna pointed out. “You said you were going to be here a whole month.”

Twilight nodded. “I’ll stay out of sight as much as possible,” she said. “I just want to get my Element and get back home to the others.”

“Speaking of those others, they look a lot like some of our other students,” Luna said.

That got Twilight to perk up just before another bite entered her mouth. “Who? What are their names?” Spike also looked up from his meal in curiosity.

Luna swallowed a bite before answering. “Let’s see... Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and...” Luna thought a moment. “...Fluttershy. Yes, she’s so quiet it’s hard to remember.”

Twilight actually squealed at that. “That’s them. My friends have alternates here too! Maybe they can help us...”

“Uh, Twilight? They aren’t the same ones we know back home,” Spike said.

“I know that. But Celestia and Luna seem as friendly as the other versions of them.” She turned back to the sisters. “But maybe we won’t need them anyway, if it’s just a visit to Sunset’s house away.”

“Here’s hoping,” Celestia said.

“Still, maybe it’s a good idea to read up on our cultures,” Luna said. “Maybe you should get on the computer after dinner.”

“What is a computer?” Twilight said.

“The technical definition is that it’s an electronic device that stores data. We use them for all kinds of things, but the Internet is the big one.”

Twilight blinked at Celestia’s explanation. “The Internet.”

“It’s a large network of information that connects computers all over the world together. You can get information on just about anything. It’s like having a large library right in your home. ...Twilight? Twilight? Are... are you drooling?”

Luna reached out in front of Twilight and snapped her fingers twice. No reply.

Spike placed a paw on his head. “Good going. I don’t think you could have broken her any faster.”

Then Twilight stood up. “You have to show me this computer!”

Twilight felt her fingers tremble in anticipation as the screen in front of her lit up. It displayed a picture of Celestia and Luna in their home, with several icons all bunched together to the left. She looked down at the smaller device in front of her.

“So... you put the letters in your alphabet in a different order?”

Celestia blinked. “What?”

“Our alphabet has the same letters, but this keyboard has them in a different order. Ours went a, b, c...”

“That’s how our alphabet goes,” Celestia said. “The keyboard is left over from when we used typewriters. Since typing too fast jammed the things, we made the system as inefficient as possible.”

“And you just kept them after this long?”

Celestia shrugged. “Well, the keys are arranged in a convenient way too. Now, you’re going to take the mouse,” she guided Twilight to a small device, “and as you move it, the pointer on the screen moves as well.”

Twilight watched the demonstration, her eyes widening. “How does this work?”

“You can look it up online. Now, move your cursor over to that icon and right click... that is, click with the right button.”

The screen showed a single screen with a strange word. “Google?”

“That’s the name of the search engine. Now listen, you have to be careful what you read on this thing. Any idiot can post anything on here with no regard to whether or not it’s true. So I’m directing you to an online encyclopedia that actually cites sources.”

It took a bit of maneuvering, but Celestia taught Twilight how to get onto the front page.

“Okay then, now just type what you want to learn about in the search bar.”

Celestia didn’t give any instruction after that, and Twilight thought she knew why. She had noticed her ability to learn quickly, and now she wanted to see Twilight learn by trial and error.

She tried typing. When the words didn’t appear, she brought the pointer to the search bar and clicked. Then she typed “car” and hit the button labeled go.

The search results came up. Twilight only took a moment to click on the first one.

Twilight fell into an unresponsive state quickly, and Celestia thought it best to leave her to it. She sat on the couch, with Spike laying on the cushion next to her and Luna on the dog’s other side.

“Already in study mode. I’ll be lucky if I can get her to sleep tonight.”

Luna actually smirked at that. “Are you sure you’re the child in that relationship?”

Spike shrugged... or at least, tried to. “I love Twilight, and she has taken care of me since I’ve hatched, but she can get... obsessive when it comes to learning. I have to keep her in line when she does that.”

Celestia smiled. “Well then, she’s lucky to have you.”

Spike grinned. “Um... you wouldn’t happen to have anything for me to do, would you? Any comic books or anything?”

She shook her head. “Afraid not.”

Luna perked up. “I have an idea.” She picked up what looked like a small screen on the end table next to her. “I can download some comics and games on my tablet for you.”

Spike tilted his head. “Download?”

“We can buy things on the Internet and store them in these devices electronically,” Celestia explained. “That includes things for you to do.”

Spike brightened. “Cool... uh, are you sure you’re not spending too much money on us? We’re already getting free food...”

“It’s a drop in the bucket,” Luna promised. “Not come on, come over here and tell me what looks interesting to you...”

“...Paper.”

Everyone stopped and looked at Twilight.

“Paper. I need paper. If there’s anything like this oil in Equestria, I can revolutionize technology in a generation! Do you have any paper? And quills?”

“Oh Celestia,” Spike muttered.

“Excuse me?” Celestia said.

Spike blinked. “Oh, right... you’re not all-powerful, are you?”

Celestia blinked and turned back to Twilight. “Why don’t I show you how to save those pages so we can print them out later?”

“...I can just make these in a physical form?”

“...And there goes the last chance she’s sleeping tonight,” Spike sighed.

Author's Note

Edited this from the tablet, since I'm stuck at the office.

Mending Fences

Twilight was silent for the rest of the day, desperately trying to stay out of the limelight. Unfortunately, Diamond Tiara had ensured she'd get nothing but attention all day. Every few minutes was a new congratulation, an assurance that she had a vote, and people wanting to meet her.

She was grateful when, at the end of the day, she was able to leave. Her relief was cut off somewhat by Spike giving her a hard time for the photo with Flash.

“You know, I kind of figured you be doing the opposite of this,” he said, with Celestia trying not to laugh.

“I didn’t mean it. We were just talking. Everyone’s taking the photo out of context.” She explained to Spike and Celestia about her conversation with Flash, Rarity finding out the photographer, and everyone congratulating her.

“Well, does that mean you’ve made it clear that it’s going to be platonic?”

At that point, Twilight shuffled nervously. Later, she would laugh at the irony, looking like she had been caught with a hoof in the cookie jar to her own son. “Not exactly... we’re going on a date tonight.”

There was a long moment of silence.

“What?” Spike shouted. Celestia had to lean against the desk as her body shook with suppressed laughter, trying to stop herself from falling out of her chair.

“It’s not my fault! I was trying to let him down gently, but Rarity came in! She said yes for me!”

Celestia managed to regain control of herself. “Well then, looks like you’re stuck with it. Well, go on the date, hope that you realize there’s no chemistry between you, and break it off with him gently. Maybe you’ll find you really have nothing in common..”

“That’s true.”

“But maybe you should still ask him to escort you to the Fall Formal.”

Twilight looked at the principal, shocked at the suggestion. “But... I need to break things off with... you know it can’t work.”

“I know it can’t. But you told me that getting that crown back is important. And I’ve heard how much the students are talking about this even before you told me. Maybe you should ask him to escort you just as a friend.”

“I... I don’t know...”

“Doesn’t he want to get rid of Sunset just as much?”

“Yeah... but...”

Tools, but willing tools...

“...I’ll think about it,” she sighed. She picked up Spike and placed her in her bookbag. “Come on, we have to meet Rarity for a dress fitting.”

“Now you’re talking!” Spike said, wagging his tail. “Uh, meeting Rarity, not the dress thing.”

She ended up meeting Rarity in front of the school. She was sitting in a nice red car, but it seemed to be damaged.

“Oh my gosh, Rarity... what happened to the roof?”

The fashionista started laughing. “You have quite a sense of humor, Twilight,” she said. “Now let’s get going.”

Pinkie and Applejack were leaning against their own cars. Applejack also started snickering at her, but Pinkie was looking at her as if she was trying to figure out a puzzle.

“Uh, yeah, sense of humor,” she said, quickly climbing in. There must just be roofless cars... but what about when it rained? Maybe there was a temporary roof...

Rarity took off, not bothering waiting for the other two. The ride was rather pleasent with the roof down, she had to admit. Still, an air of awkwardness remained. Twilight wanted to try and convince Rarity to give her friends another chance, but couldn’t think of what to say.

Maybe it was best to let them interact a bit. Once they were at the Boutique, things would get better.

This wasn’t better. This wasn’t better at all.

While it was true that they hadn’t snapped each other, being in the same room was awkward at best, and raising the tension at worst.

Rarity started by showing off some sketches of what she had in mind. Applejack and Pinkie looked them over carefully, as if they were convinced that she was going to dump them in the most horrendous dress she could make.

She then took them into a private fitting room. Applejack was first to be fitted. That was no surprise, Rarity wanted Twilight to be the last one out so there would be a mediator. The conversation between them was almost nonexistent, consisting of curt questions from Rarity and equally curt answers from Applejack.

Twilight sighed, and looked down at her backpack. Spike poked his head through the top, getting a good look at the human Rarity. After a few moments he had the same lovesick expression he always had when looking at the pony Rarity.

“Aw, what a cutie,” Pinkie said, picking Spike out of the bag. The dog yipped a bit and whimpered in surprise, but calmed once Pinkie hugged him close. “What’s his name?”

“Spike.”

Pinkie giggled, scratching Spike behind the ear. The dragon looked annoyed at first, but like always found himself giving in.

“Aww, look at him. He’s just a big softie, yes he is, yes he is,” she cooed.

“Yeah, he’s a good dog.”

Applejack, who was looking for anything to stop the awkwardness, took a look at Spike. “Eh, he’s a little too small,” she said. “But he looks alright. Maybe he would be a good playmate for Winona.”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “That dog would probably tear Spike apart.”

“Hey, Winona’s a good dog,” Applejack protested.

“Until you actually try to give her a bath.”

Twilight grimaced. This was going to turn into a fight again. She needed to step in.

And then Pinkie spoke.

“Oh, are you talking about that time you helped Applejack give Winona a bath, and she kept squirming and biting, until she bit onto your shirt and ripped it off before she jumped out of the tub, and you chased after her without thinking, so Big Mac saw your bra?”

Rarity turned three shades of red. Applejack burst out laughing.

“Oh... oh yeah?” Rarity said, turning to the laughing cowgirl with fury. “And I suppose you're going to laugh after what happened at the Freshman Fair? You got all flirty and touchy with Caramel, then you thought you could show off by doing that stupid rope trick. And what happened? You got your legs tangled, and fell right in the mud! People called you ‘piggy-wiggy’ for months!”

Now Applejack turned red. “How dare ya!”

Twilight winced. She needed to fix this. “Girls now, remember what you prom...”

“Oh!” Pinkie jumped in. “Remember that time at the school talent show when I was supposed to do a handstand, but I ate too much beforehand, and I ended up throwing up all over the stage?”

Everyone stopped and looked at her with wide eyes and slacked jaws, any anger forgotten.

“What? Everyone was telling a story, I wanted in.”

There were a few more seconds of silence.

Then, both Rarity and Applejack started to giggle, and those giggles soon descended into full blown laughter.

Twilight was frozen in shock and the second unexpected development in the last few seconds. A third came up when Pinkie burst out laughing.

Twilight looked around at her three friends laughing. Together. For the first time since she had met them, they were truly enjoying something together.

Twilight felt herself laugh. Not out of humor, but a sense of relief. She couldn’t help it. This was working. It was actually working.

She looked at Spike. He had crawled back into Twilight’s backpack to hide his laughter. Even through her relief, she understood. No need to risk the girls seeing him act sentient.

Eventually the girls calmed down, and they all looked at each other.

Suddenly, the room lost its feeling of goodwill, and instead became very awkward.

“Um... let’s get back to work,” Rarity said, going back to measuring Applejack’s suit. The cowgirl only responded with an “Uh-huh.”

Pinkie turned away from the others, looking a deeper shade of pink than usual.

Twilight, taking advantage of the fact that everyone was becoming more interested in their own affairs, began to think. She pulled Spike out of his hiding place and petted him. As he gave a few noises of approval, she looked at her friends.

This was going to work out after all. She just needed to let it settle.

She thought back to the Keeper. She had said that these were not the same ponies she had befriended in Equestria, but she couldn’t help but see the similarities. She knew her friends had an unbreakable bond, and she was seeing it here. Beyond a shadow of a doubt now, she knew they would patch things up. She just needed to let things settle.

“Finished,” Rarity said, stepping back.

Applejack looked at herself in the mirror, even twirling around to get a good look. “Mighty fine work, Rare. Huggin’ my figure good. You haven’t lost yer touch.” It was some of the most stilted compliments Twilight had ever heard.

“Thank you,” Rarity said. “I make it to what I remembered about your tastes. I’m not quite finished yet. Do you still have multiple copies of that hat?” Applejack nodded. “Good. Leave this one with me. I’ll decorate it to match.”

The cowgirl dutifully handed the hat to Rarity, then started to take off the dress.

“Okay, Applejack’s done. Pinkie, you’re next.”

Pinkie nodded and began to remove her street clothes. “It’s a good thing you’re so quick to design these.”

“Well... truth be told, I had these ideas for a while. Since... since before everything happened...”

Applejack paused from undressing to look at Rarity. For a brief moment she looked like she was going to say something, but in the end she simply finished removing her dress and reached for her clothes.

Pinkie, meanwhile, had finished stripping down and put on the base Rarity had prepared. She stood on the stand while Rarity started her work.

“Still finding it as hard as ever to stand still, aren’t you?”

Pinkie gave a subdued groan. Twilight smiled, remembering the Pinkie from her world having some difficulty standing still for her Gala dress. Some things never changed, even across dimensions.

The awkwardness was back, but not as badly as it had been. Applejack, now fully dressed, sat beside Twilight and placed Spike in her lap, scratching his belly.

Finally, Rarity said what broke the tension.

“Pinkie, will you please hold still? I need to get to Twilight in time for her date with Flash.”

Twilight tensed. Well, maybe they wouldn’t make a bit deal out of...

“Wait, seriously? A real date?”

Well, this is going to be fun.

“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!” Pinkie jumped up and down. “This is so exciting! Are you going steady? Is he taking you to the Formal? Are you going to get married and buy a house and have two children named Nathaniel and Superfly?”

“Pinkie!” Rarity snapped. “None of that is going to happen if I don’t finish the dress in time! Now hold still!”

Pinkie responded by standing up straight, ramrod stiff, with a determined expression on her face.

As Rarity went back to work, Applejack smiled. “Yer really goin’ through with it? You're either really brave, or really naive on what Sunset will do to you.”

“Well, I have Rarity to thank for that,” Twilight said, not able to keep the resentment out of her voice.

“What? Rare, did you think about what Sunset’s going to do to her?” Applejack demanded.

Rarity stopped for a moment. “I did. And the sad fact is Twilight was in Sunset’s sights the minute she decided to run against her. If she’s going to win, she can’t be afraid to go at it head on.”

Applejack opened her mouth to argue, but to everyone’s surprise, she closed it. “...Yeah, you might have a point. Still, every time we think we’ve seen Sunset at her lowest, she finds a new depth to sink to. You sure we’re ready for that?”

“No. No I don’t think we are. But we have to do something, right?”

Twilight looked at Rarity in stunned silence, barely hearing Applejack’s reluctant agreement. She was starting to see more and more of her Rarity in this new human body. She remembered that first day in Ponyville when she had met the fashionista. Her first impressions had not been positive, seeing her as another in the long line of social climbers, obsessed with frivolous fashion and social climbing.

Then Nightmare Moon had arrived, and the trip though Everfree had opened up a lot about the ponies that insisted on accompanying her. A lot of first impressions had been shattered, but the most amazing had been seeing a pony she had dismissed as self-absorbed slice off her tail to help a sea serpent who was horrified at his looks.

He was seeing it in this Rarity. This girl, who wasn’t even an adult by her world’s standards, was ready to take risks and make sacrifices to do what was right, even if the stakes were far higher than she could imagine.

For a moment, she felt herself smile.

Then, a thought, very much unwanted, entered her mind. What are you getting these kids into?

These were children, albeit ones ready to enter into adulthood, and ones that would be adults in her world. Was she going to harm them? Pull them into something they couldn’t handle?

She thought back to her friends. None of them had ever complained about the changes she had brought into their lives, so she had never thought about it. But where would they be if she hadn’t showed up? Would they be happier?

Rainbow Dash likely loved it. She was a thrill seeker, and one who wanted to be in the Wonderbolts, but the others? Rarity loved fame, but she much preferred her designs and art. Pinkie, however energized, like peace above conflict, and was far from a scrapper. Applejack was content on the farm. And Fluttershy actively hated the limelight, to the point where she seemed to have the supernatural ability to avoid reporters.

Where would they all be now? Would Rarity already have a chain of shops without having to leave her business all the time? Would Fluttershy be happier without eyes on her all the time? Would Pinkie...

“Twilight?”

Twilight jumped a bit, turning to Applejack. “What?”

“Uh, I guess you zoned out. I was askin’ ya what you were going to do if Sunset tried anythin’.”

“Take it as it comes, I guess,” Twilight said. “It will depend on what she does exactly. What pranks has she pulled in the past?”

“Water balloons to the face, having Snips and Snails whip up stink bombs, back when the Diamond Dudes were here, I’m pretty sure she was payin’ them to beat some boys up...”

“If that’s the worse, I think I can handle it.”

“Don’t underestimate her,” Rarity said. “She’s always had another trick up her sleeve. Now come on darling, I’m finished with Pinkie... uh, you can move again, I’m finished.”

Pinkie, who had still been standing as stiff as a board, suddenly slid down into her dress base like a snake, her arms disappearing through the sleeves. She then rolled out from under it in a ball and stood up straight while the dress continued to float in the air like someone was in it.

It said something that Rarity didn’t react beyond slipping a hanger on it.

Twilight started to undress, remembering that Applejack and Pinkie had left their underclothes on. She suddenly felt cold, and was beginning to see why humans would wear clothes with the absence of fur.

As Rarity slipped the base on her, she tried to push her doubts out of her mind. There was a lot to figure out, but she needed to focus on now. Whatever Sunset was up to, it could wait.

Sunset sat with Sonata and Aria at the outdoor cafe, trying to look casual. Across the street at the construction site, Adagio was flirting with the watchman. Thankfully, she could pass for an adult, and she technically was, so her seductive skills were working.

Sunset was sipping her coffee when Sonata said, “Look!”

Sunset saw Snips climbing over the fence, then stopping as Snails passed a backpack to him over said. Even with the plastic lining it, that pack might never be fit to take to school again, but they should have what they came for.

Sunset sent a text to Adagio, then left the money to pay the bill under a napkin dispenser on the table to stop the wind from blowing it away. Waving to the waitress to let her know, she left, taking her companions with her.

A few buildings down, in an alleyway, they found Snips and Snails, looking a little ill but otherwise pleased. Adagio soon joined them.

“So, you got it?”

Grinning, they unzipped the bag. Already the smell was overwhelming. Sunset’s eyes watered and she pinched her nose, but grinned in delight.

“And that’s how it smells sealed,” Snails said. “We checked.”

“Whatever those workers are eating, it came out well for us,” Sunset said as Snips sealed the bag again.

“I hope this is worth it,” Adagio said, looking ill herself.

“Oh, it is. Twilight Sparkle made it personal. Now, let’s head down to that hick’s ranch. I think, for once, I’m going to do something nice for her, and clean out a few stables...”