Chapter 2

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Rainbow Dash passed her soccer ball from one hand to the other several times, before she sighed. “I’m starting to think she’s not coming.”

As she spoke, there was a bright flash from the portal as two figures shot out, causing everyone to watch.

The larger of the two was soaring forward, before she stretched her hands out, using the momentum to propel herself up in a flip, spinning forward several times in mid-air, before landing, skidding along the ground for two seconds before stopping.

She had black hair and was wearing some kind of school uniform that consisted of a white shirt under a black top with no shoulders, a black skirt, black socks and black buckle shoes.

Before they could even question it though, she tossed her arm towards the school’s entrance, a white rope of some kind flying from her wrist.

The rope stopped after a second, as if hitting something and she yanked her arm back, causing the rope to flick in her direction and she seemed to catch something in her hands.

“Yeah, sorry, dude. I did warn you it might be the case,” she said to whatever she was holding in her hands.

The girls all looked to each other, confused. Who was this girl and who was she talking to?

“He’s still a spider?” Spike said from by the girl’s feet, a puzzled frown on the purple dog’s face. “Odd. He didn’t even turn into another animal, like I did? That’s weird.”

“Guess we’re just immune to the portal’s transformation magic,” the girl shrugged, before grunting as she looked back to her hands. “Hey, if you ask me, it’s better this way. We’re only at our best when you’re biting me. If you tried doing that as a human when I’m now only fourteen, you’d be carted off to prison for being a pedo. No, I’m not joking around. Stop and actually think about it for a second. It isn’t my fault you’re stuck like this, remember? It’s the asshole that did this to us who’s to blame.”

All their eyes widened at the mention of “pedo”, but that was easily forgotten by the other odd things the girl was saying.

“Hmm?” the girl cocked her head, before turning around and seeming to notice them for the first time. “Oh, right. Guessing you’re wondering why I’m here instead of Twilight, huh?”

Before anyone could answer, however, Fluttershy shot forward, bending down and smiling at what the girl was holding. It was a small spider with blue and red colourings.

“Aw, hi, there, little guy,” the normally shy girl cooed at the arachnid. “I’m Fluttershy. It’s very nice to meet you.”

The spider seemed to look back at the girl holding it, who shrugged. “Yeah, that’s Fluttershy. She likes animals, even spiders. No, she can’t understand you either.”

That seemed to pull the shy girl from her thoughts and she seemed to realize she was standing in front of the stranger.

“Who are you and where’s Princess Twilight?” Sunset asks, the smallest of an edge in her voice.

The girl lifted her hands up to her shoulder, letting the spider crawl onto it, before she looked to the Equestrian in human form. “Yeah, you guys have the worst of luck in timing. Twilight’s off with the others on a Friendship Quest right now to stop the one who used to be nicknamed Pony Hitler.”

That just caused confused looks all around as each girl looked to each other, not quite sure what they’d just heard.

The stranger shook her head. “Okay, let me start over. Twilight is off on a mission and, at best, probably won’t be back til sometime either tomorrow or the day after. Since I was close at hand, I came in her place to try and help.”

“And just who are you?” Dash asked, folding her arms.

The girl mirrored her, but smirking. “My name’s Peni Parker. I was bitten by a radioactive spider, whom I share a psychic link with. This guy,” she indicated to the spider on her shoulder. “This is Scarab.”

The group just blinked, before Dash burst out laughing. “Bitten by a radioactive spider she shares a psychic link with.” She pointed at the girl. “Yeah, right. Magic and talking ponies, I can believe in, but that?”

“Guess you need a demonstration,” this Peni said confidently, before jumping up in a flipping motion and aiming her arm just above the school’s entrance and doing an odd sign with her fingers.

The white rope from before shot out and she zipped along it, grabbing onto the wall and remained there, grinning down at the group.

They all watched, wondering just what that was supposed to achieve, before their eyes widened as it dawned on them.

She was staying on the wall, with only her feet and hands touching it. Not holding onto it, her palms were flat again the bricks and she wasn’t just not dropping, she was sticking.

Peni Parker leapt off the wall, another rope flying from her wrist, it attaching to the top of the Wondercolts statue and she swung along the rope in an arch, before swinging back around, letting go and dropping down in front of them, landing perfectly on her feet.

“Any other questions?” she asked smugly.

They all just stared, open mouthed.

She nodded. “Didn’t think so. Now, while I’m not the best to fight magical beings, the Sirens, I can handle. Lead me to them and this will all be settled. But, first, I recommend we find your Principal and Vice Principal. Sooner we break them out of the spell they’re under, the better.”

That shook them all out of it.

“An’ just how are ya gonna break the spell on them if’n ya ain’t good at fightin’ magic?” Applejack asked skeptically.

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“Right this way, Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna,” Rarity’s voice says as she walks out of the front doors, the two adults following after her.

“You’re sure this is going to work?” Sunset asks, looking to me from my hiding spot behind the Wondercolts statue.

I smile as I stick to the statue’s back and shrug. “Honestly, I’m just guessing here. But, even if it doesn’t work, we should be able to get away without them realizing what’s happened.”

“That doesn’t exactly fill me confidence,” the other girl replies, putting a hand to her forehead.

“So, just what is the problem, Miss Rarity?” Principal Celestia’s voice says from the other side of the statue.

“Indeed. We still have much work to do in order to finalize the Battle of the Bands,” Vice Principal Luna’s voice agrees curtly.

I sigh. “Well, here goes nothing. Get ready, Scarab. Now!”

I leap into the air as Scarab bites down on my neck, the web shooters switching to Taser Webs and I shoot two, one at each adult.

The webs make contact before either can comprehend the situation and I watch for two seconds as they comically get electrocuted, easily reminding me I am in a world based around a cartoon.

I disengage the webbing, Scarab pulling his fangs out of my neck as gravity pulls me downward.

I spin forward in mid-air, grabbing the adults by the head and banging them together, causing them to drop to the ground in a pile, before I land, sighing.

A beeping sound make me look to the holographic screen of my web shooters. “VENOM LEVELS: 0.1% Estimated Recovery Time: 2 Minutes” is visible again.

“Oh, I don’t like this,” Fluttershy says anxiously as the rest of the group come out from behind the statue.

“You literally just assaulted our Principal and Vice Principal and you don’t even go to our school!” Dash says, biting her thumb.

“Wow,” Celestia says, sitting up, rubbing her head. “What just happened?”

“Last thing I remember is three girls stepping into your office while we were finalizing plans for the Musical Showcase,” Luna says, holding her head, a strained expression on her face. “After that… everything’s a bit of a blur. I remember something about a Battle of the Bands and singing, but beyond that…”

“Phew, it worked. That was a fifty/fifty chance there,” I say, sighing.

The two adults open their eyes and look up to see the eight, as far as they can see, of us gathered around them.

“What… just happened?” Luna looks to Sunset, but I answer, deciding to be blunt.

“You both got mind raped by dark magic by three creatures a pony from Equestria’s ancient past banished here, not knowing they’d still have some of their magic.”

There’s a very long pause, everyone just staring at me.

“Um… what?” Celestia looks both concerned and confused.

I hold up a hand. “I’ll explain later. For now, we have three Sirens to catch,” I indicate to our group and we head off.

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“That was way easier than it should’ve been,” Aria’s voice says from the other side of the door as the girls, Spike and I crouch, listening in. “These humans are way too simple minded.”

“Which is going to make getting their magic so much simpler a matter,” Adagio’s voice replies confidently. “And once we find the biggest source of their magic, we’ll be able to regain our full powers and dominate this pathetic little world.”

I nod to the other, pushing the doors open as we walk in.

“Yeah, that isn’t going to happen,” Sunset says firmly.

The Sirens turn in time as I kneel down, firing webs from both wrists It catches them off guard and within seconds they’re tied up and strung upside down.

“Who? What? Huh?” Sonata cries, her eyes spinning from the sudden motion.

“Nice try, Sirens,” Sunset says, arms folded, causing the three’s eyes to widen in shock. “We know everything. You won’t succeed.”

Adagio looks angry, before she gives a sly smile. “We’ll see about that. Girls?”

The other two nod and they start vocalizing, only to be silence by webbing covering each of their mouths quickly.

I smirk at them, folding my arms. “We know all about how your magic works, Sirens. You sing, causing any negative emotions within those who hear your voices to rise up and then you feed on the energy as it magnifies.”

“But, if you can’t sing, your magic won’t work, will it?” Dash grins smugly.

“And ya’ll can ferget about yer Battle o’ the Bands plan,” AJ nods. “We snapped the Principal and Vice Principal outta it. They ain’t gonna go through with it, meanin’ any o’ yer plans are tied up.” She snickers. “No pun intended.”

Aria and Adagio both glare, struggling against their bindings, their screams of fury muffled by the webbing over their mouths.

“All we gotta do now is wait for Twilight,” I say, turning to the others. “If the seven of you sing a song from the heart, while focusing on your friendship, you’ll be able to solve all of this.”

The girls all nod, cheering… which causes me to blink as I notice something off.

“Um, why isn’t Sunset second guessing me? I was under the impression you hadn’t won the school over after Twilight’s last visit.”

They all blink, Sunset cocking an eyebrow. “Was I really giving off that kind of vibe?” she rubs the back of her head. “Sorry. Actually, while it did take a few weeks, everyone seems to have realized I’m not the same Sunset I was before.”

“Well, everyone except Wallflower Blush,” I murmur, rubbing my chin.

They all look confused. “Who?”

I blink, before smirking. Maybe this can work to my advantage.

“I’ll explain later. For now, let’s find some more stable stuff to bind the Sirens before Celestia and Luna have them put under watch. My webbing isn’t permanent. Like regular spider webs, it’ll dissolve in about an hour or so.”

“So, what’ll we do til then?” Applejack asks, looking around at us.

I frown, rubbing my chin. “You can fill me in on a few things. I think things aren’t quite how I think they would be in your world.”

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“Well, I’m pretty sure they’re not gonna cause any problems, now they don’t have their magic,” I say, arms behind my head as we all walk towards the portal, Twilight in toe.

The purple princess was definitely surprised when she arrived the next morning and found me chatting with the others on the steps of the school.

The Sirens have been dealt with, the girls having realized what they’d been doing after I encouraged Sunset to speak up, and sung Fluttershy’s song, using the Rainbow Alicorn Spirit Bomb to destroy the three pendants, leaving the Sirens with no magic.

I secretly then helped them escape while making it look like they’d gotten out on their own without my realizing it.

I know those three aren’t going to reform. I’ve seen Sunset’s Backstage Pass. I do know they’ll at least not be bothering anyone or causing problems.

“So, what is your talent, exactly?” Twilight asks as we reach the portal.

I blink, confused by her question, as are the rest of the girls and Spike.

“Your name,” the princess says, indicating to me. “Normally, a pony’s name is somewhat related to their talent due to some latent magic they let’s mother’s know what their foal’s talent will be, without actually knowing it. But your name leaves me puzzled. Penny Parker. So… you are good at parking carriages for cheap prices?”

I blink, before it clicks and I shake my head. “No, Twilight. I’m not a pony.” I cock an eyebrow. “Didn’t Big Mac tell you that before you came charging through the portal in terror?”

She blushes, before shaking her head. “He just told me Spike went with someone named Penny Parker to this world to stop Sirens Starswirl banished here years ago.”

I shake my head. “When I come back later, you’ll see I’m not a pony and my name, which is Peni, P-E-N-I, by the way, not Penny, has nothing to do with a special talent or anything like that.”

She cocks an eyebrow, though it’s Spike who speaks up. “Wait. You’re not coming back with us?”

“But I’ve so many questions!” Twilight whines, grabbing my arms. “How come you’re immune to the portal’s transformation powers? How come you can talk to that spider? Why does it biting you give you new abilities? I need to know the answers to these!”

“And I’ll answer them as best I can when I get back,” I say, gently making her let go and putting her arms down. “But I’ve my reasons for staying. I’ll be back, don’t worry about that. I know I can’t stay in this world permanently, no matter how much easier it would be to adjust if I did.”

We stop in front of the portal and Twilight looks around at the others.

“Sure wish you could stay longer,” Applejack says.

Twilight nods, cupping her hands over her chest. “Me too. But I have responsibilities in Equestria that I have to get back to. It’s citizens need me.”

You have no idea, Twilight, especially later on.

I glance to behind her to see Pinkie pulling her face out from within the portal, her expression dazed.

“And now, I can go through the portal whenever I need to,” Twilight continues, pulling my attention back to her. “This isn’t goodbye.” She smiles warmly. “It’s just goodbye til next time.”

Which might not be very long from what I know, but, whatever.

She looks to Spike. “Ready?”

“Ready!” he nods.

The two go through the portal, leaving the eight of us alone.

“So… why exactly are you staying?” Dash asks, looking to me as she puts her hands on her hips.

“How long til the Friendship Games?” I ask, folding my arms.

“About three and a half weeks,” Rarity says, thinking. “That’s one of the reasons for the Musical Show Case, to help raise a little extra funds for the games.”

“Mrs. Rich has been doing her best balancing the budget after the repairs needed… after what happened at the Fall Formal,” Sunset says a little hesitantly. “Anything we raise will help.”

I blink, before cocking an eyebrow at her quizzically. “Random question: What’s Diamond Tiara’s home life like?”

They all look to each other, very confused, Scarab also giving me an odd look.

“Well, Apple Bloom says since her parents split up an’ she moved in with her ma, things have been pretty good,” Applejack says, her eyes upwards as she thinks.

Rarity nods. “Indeed. With Filthy Rich seeming barely concerned about being cut out from their lives, Mrs. Rich and Diamond Tiara’s lives seem to be alright.”

Ah. So, this world works on the basis of that theory I had that, since Spoiled in Equestria is a horrible mother, while Filthy is a great father, it’s mirrored in Equestria Girls. Glad to see that won’t be something nagging at my noggin.

I nod. “Okay, then. I wanna see how things go at the games and I’m pretty sure Equestria will be fine without me for at least a few days.”

Or, at least, I hope so. Considering how the timeline seems all muddled up, both there and even a bit here, I’m not entirely sure anymore.

However, I do know I should be able to stop a few bad things here and actually have some characters be better off for it.

Just gotta be patient.

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As the group of girls went off, a man in a black suit lowered his binoculars.

“Reporting in,” he said to a small microphone on his collar. “Target found. Repeat, target found.”

“Seriously?” a voice said from the speaker piece in his ear. “I thought they were just rambling. You actually found someone matching the description?”

“Hmm, not quite,” he replied uncertainly. “For one, this target isn’t a male. It’s a girl of only fourteen and I highly doubt her name is Miles Morales.”

“Either way, about time,” the other voice replied. “I’m sick of this dimension. Keep tabs on her. We can’t lose her before the crew arrive.”

“Roger,” he replied, ending the communication and standing up, moving off, blending into the crowd.

Author's Note

Hmm. the plot thickens. Even EQG isn't quite how Peni remembers it.

What plans does she have for the Friendship Games? Who was the mysterious man and who were he and his partner talking about? Who is it that was looking for someone like her but named Miles? What is their plan?

You'll have to wait to find out.

Didn't quite get as much done as i wanted, but i think what's here is good. originally wanted to blend Rainbow Rocks' events and Friendship Games into the same chapter, but both the realization of it being too crowded if i did and time constraints made me decide to make them seperate chapters.

So, what will Peni's experiences be once she returns to Equestria? After all, this is NOT the Equestria she knows, not by a long shot.

she is in for quite a few surprises.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter and, til next time, later everybody