Author's Note

The second part is Minty's POV and the third is StarSong's.

The third square number: Master Race

"You have a sister?" choked Scootaloo.

"Errr," muttered StarSong. "Yeah- she lived in Butterfly Island before, but- err- something happened there and she had to run-"

"Why did she take my hat?" demanded Rainbow Dash.

"She- err- doesn't like introducing herself to new ponies, so she- err- took your hat so I would follow her and take her here. But then she had to leave because- err- there was a.....err.....flying.....wolf?"

"A flying wolf?" asked Pinkie Pie, raising an eyebrow. "I don't think that maketh thenthe...."

"Cool beans!" yelled Scootaloo. "Now I can find a new pet!"

"No! No flying wolf pets!" snapped Cheerilee.

"Aww man!"

She stomped off and sat down next to her friend Sweetie Belle, who was using her magic to levitate random objects she had found in the area. She smiled, raising one of the rocks higher in the sky. Half a second later the same rock flew away from her, as if it had been violently pulled away by an invisible hoof.

They all turned and stared, noticing a pink Unicorn trotting into view. She had multicoloured hair and stubby legs, with a horn smaller than Sweetie Belle's, as though she was still a foal, just one that had magically been grown. Rainbow Dash recognized her and gasped in shock. "Rarity!"

"My name," she snapped. "is Princess Platinum!"

She trotted towards them, a purple crown atop her head. "I am a princess and I shall be treated as such. Come along, Sweetie Belle, and bring your mudpony friends too, if you please."

Instantly there was an uproar. Rainbow Dash, Cheerilee, Minty and Toola-Roola all yelled their hearts out. Pinkie Pie instead grinned. "Can Unicorns do this?" she gloated as she tail-spin-helicoptered upwards. StarSong stared. "Should I get angry now or wait until she says featherduster?"

"What's a mudpony?" asked Scootaloo.

They awkwardly stopped yelling. "Err," began Cheerilee. "It's another word for an Earthpony. And you shouldn't say it."

"Why not?" asked Scootaloo. "What's wrong with being a mudpony?"

"It's a bad word. It's more polite to say Earthpony."

"Alright then," continued Rarity. "You are all going to come with me to the palace. I do need some new servants."

"You're not going anywhere near my friendth!" snapped Pinkie Pie. "Or Minty!"

"Is that a challange?"

"It ith, and one you won't be able to overcome!"

"It's good to challange yourself. GUARDS!"

A bunch of Unicorn stallions appeared out of nowhere. Scootaloo screamed and hid behind her sister. Sweetie Belle rushed out in front of Pinkie Pie, her horn glowing brightly. She raised a hoof and stomped, making a blueish see-through dome appear around them. The stallions shot random spells at it until it vanished.

"No...." breathed Pinkie Pie.

A flash of light.....

Uggh......Where am I?

Black room. Bars, wall made of bars. StarSong talking to a purple Unicorn. Scootaloo sleeping next to me. Pinkie Pie's nowhere to be seen. The others, nowhere to be seen.

I stumbled to my hooves. The Unicorn talking to StarSong trotted in through the gaps in the bars. "Oh, Minty, you're awake. My name is Clover the Clever-"

"No it isn't!" snapped StarSong. "I'm not an idiot, StarShine!"

"StarShine? Who's StarShne?"

"You look just like her except you're a Unicorn and she's a Pegasus!"

"Well, we can't be the same pony, then, can we? Anyway," she continued, turning back to me. "welcome to the Unicornia palace, where hopes and dreams come true for the master race!"

Her face seemed bored, as though she was saying things from a script and didn't really care if they ended up being true or not, and also a little apologetic. I bit my lip. "What about......other races?"

"The mudponies are to cater to the master race's needs. You are wanted with your mudpony friends downstairs. Would you like me to escort you?"

I nodded weakly, hearing her mumble under her breath. "Thank Celestia Applejack isn't here...."

"Who's Celestia?" I asked.

She jumped. "She's- she's a pony I care about very, very much." She turned to StarSong. "Princess Platinum said the pixie-featherduster is wanted downstairs. May I escort you after the mudpony?"

"Not until you admit that you're StarShine!"

"Not gonna happen, then," answered Clover, and she lead me out of the cell.

Clover the Clever? Yeah, right. I'm not an idiot.

If they're not the same pony, then they're related. Which seems pretty unlikely, since that would mean they would have to be half Unicorn and half Pegasus, and I'm pretty sure I was the first example of cross-species breeding. And even sisters is a bit of a stretch- the only thing that Scootaloo and Cheerilee have in common is that they have the same eye colour. Sometimes they do, anyway. Cheerilee keeps changing hers. Twins, maybe? Genetics makes that seem unlikely.

"Is Celestia a Unicorn like you?" I asked the second she got back, wondering if I could meet her and straigten this out.

"Well- err- she has a horn, so yes."

"So you definitely don't know anypony called StarShine?"

"No!"

I stared. She blushed a little. She's lying. I'm not stupid, I know a liar when I see one, and this is one big lie. "What the hell is wrong with you, you freaking liar?" I demanded, not caring anymore that my yelling was half a second away from waking Scootaloo up.

"I'm not lying!"

"Yes you freaking are, you stupid little freaking-"

"What does freaking mean?"

I groaned as I saw Scootaloo behind me getting up. "Ask your sister."

"I don't know anypony called StarShine, and I'm not a liar!"

"Why you little-"

I finally lost control and (literally) flew at her, tackling her down. I heard a scream of pain. Wow, did I just actually hurt her? Cool! Maybe I broke something, that would explain these lumps in her back....

I fly back up. "Tell me the truth!"

"Please....."

I flew down again. This time she screamed even louder as I threw myself against her. "I'm not an idiot-"

"And what do you think you're doing?"

I turned and saw Princess Platinum, hurriedly flying off of 'Clover'. "Err- I can explain- it's not what it looks like-"

"GUARDS!"