Shattered Souls

Bonus 1: A Game Most Foul

The school was recovering from the Anon-A-Miss incident and the Friendship games were tomorrow. Winter Break started the day after the Games ended. Given the start of Winter Break was also the Winter Solstice, Sunset was naturally worried that some sort of magic was afoot when Rainbow sent out an emergency text.

There was a mix of relief and frustration when she and the others found out the ‘emergency’ was just a broken guitar string. Sunset parted with her last spare guitar string and the others slipped inside to amuse themselves with Rainbow’s musical performance. Taking a moment to herself, Sunset penned a quick note asking how Duskfall was doing. Maybe Sunset was being paranoid, but when a response wasn’t forthcoming, she got worried.

Sunset knew there was every possibility that Duskfall was out, or studying, or experimenting, or even taking a nap. Still, she couldn’t shake a foreboding feeling in her gut. Just as she was debating if she should pop into Equestria to check up on things, she spotted what looked to be a young woman dressed in a non-descript hoodie and jeans with the hood up poking around the portal with some kind of device.

“Hey!” Sunset called out, the figure turning, but all that got Sunset was seeing a pair of black glasses, “What are you doing?!”

In hindsight, Sunset probably should’ve approached the girl before calling out, because upon realizing she had been discovered, the mysterious girl fled like a bat out of hell. She even recklessly crossed a busy street to avoid letting Sunset catch her. Regardless of Rainbow’s false alarm, something was afoot after all.

All of Twilight Sparkle’s life, she had been hailed as a prodigy. Not of art or of sports, but of the hard sciences. Mathematics came to her as easily as most breathed. Astronomy was a passion inherited from her father. Biology seemed as simple to her as riding a bike. But her true love, the subject that set her academic heart aflame was physics.

It was this love of physics that had led her to an almost heretical theory. Voicing her suspicious could very well seen her laughed out of just about any scholarly circle, never mind her school of Crystal Prep Academy. Twilight Sparkle believed in the existence of Magic.

Not Magic as the source of some author’s plot convenience, but as an observable, measurable, force in the universe. A force with rules and laws that might seem alien at first glance, but upon sufficient inspection makes perfect sense in the context of the greater whole. After all, any sufficiently analyzed magic was indistinguishable from science.

Thus Twilight had dressed up in such a way to conceal her identity, caught a bus to Canterlot High, and turned her latest invention, a device to measure the theoretical EM frequency of Magic, on the school that had had quite an interesting history these past few months. If Magic was going to be found anywhere near Twilight, it was going to be at CHS.

Sure enough, upon reaching the school, her scanner had almost instantly reacted. Twilight could almost taste the magic in the air. With this discovery, her name would go down in history alongside names like Newton and Einstein! Her existence would be worth something…

She got so caught up in her excitement that she didn’t even notice a student sitting on the steps of CHS as she examined the statue that was pouring out quite a hefty amount of magic. Her heart nearly stopped when she heard the voice call out to her. Twilight ran as if her life depended on it. She knew the silly rivalry between the two schools meant her snooping around would not be treated lightly if she were caught. She couldn’t afford to have her scanner destroyed with its precious data!

Desperation fueled an unusual burst of both athleticism and recklessness as she bolted across a busy street and caught a bus that had luckily just rolled up to its stop. Even the greatest of minds should never dismiss the contribution of sheer, dumb luck. Flopping onto the backmost seat of the bus, Twilight lowered her hood, breathing heavily.

Twilight resisted the urge to cradle her scanner like a baby. It might have soothed her shot nerves, but outside of her padded bag, the chances of it being damaged were exponentially higher. So Twilight settled for the next best thing in holding her backpack close to her chest the whole bus ride.

20 minutes and one transfer later and Twilight was back in the safety of her lab. She fed the data into her computer and quickly got to work cannibalizing the parts of the scanner for her magnum opus: a device that could collect magic. If she had done her math right, that is. Twilight really hoped she had done her math right.

“She was definitely doing something to the statue, or was going to,” Sunset relayed to her friends and a trio of troublemakers as she paced back and forth in the library.

“Can’t have been for the portal. You people are too dumb to even know magic exists on this side of the mirror,” Aria said dismissively as she leaned back dangerously far in her chair with her arms behind her head.

“Maybe she came from the portal? Or at least was from Equestria originally,” Fluttershy suggested.

“If she came from the other side, it wasn’t recently. She was holding some kind of device I couldn’t recognize and I doubt it came from Equuis,” Sunset shook her head.

“It’s entirely possible whoever or whatever they are has been here awhile. Us Sirens have been here for a couple thousand years and we certainly didn’t have smartphones when we came over back then,” Sonata said blithely.

“I think I might know who our mystery gal is. Or at least, where she came from,” Rainbow announced as she reappeared from behind a shelf with a book in hand.

“Well, don’t leave us in suspense,” Adagio entreated, a look of an adult humoring a child on her face as she looked up from doing her nails.

“Oh, was it a nighttime statue cleaner?! A magical portal maintenance maintainer?! A gardener?!” Pinkie threw out her suggestions with her usual high energy as she presented books that were disturbingly relevant to her words.

“Seeing how they got off a bus from the city and then got back on a bus to the city, I’ll bet they go to-”

“Crystal Prep Academy,” The human girls said with disgust.

“Even if she does go to school, that doesn’t mean she can’t also be from Equuis. Unfortunately, we’re proof of that,” Aria grumbled sourly as she dared gravity to make her chair fall backwards.

“But it would give us a place to start looking regardless,” Rarity pointed out reasonably as she pulled a reference book from the library shelves.

“With the Friendship Games starting tomorrow, they’d totally try and prank us by defacing the Wondercolts statue!” Rainbow insisted as she clutched her own book.

“Assuming this girl is another exile from Equuis, I’d make a quip about ‘how the mighty have fallen’, but I don’t suppose we’re in much of a position to talk,” Adagio hummed as she inspected her nails, “Pink or blue?”

“Blue!” Sonata instantly replied.

“Hot pink,” Aria countered. Whether she actually thought pink would be better or just wanted to be contrary was anyone’s guess. The others ignored them.

“Assuming she is a normal high school girl, why would anyone take a bus all the way from the city just to deface a statue?” Sunset asked with a look of confusion on her face.

“Because the Crystal Prep Shadowbolts are our biggest rivals,” AJ replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“Because that’s just what the students of Crystal Prep would do,” Rarity huffed with folded arms.

“Those jerks beat us in every event and they still feel the need to rub it in by vandalizing our school!” Rainbow sneered as she displayed the photo evidence of both Crystal Prep’s victories and their past destruction of public property.

“Don’t you humans have anything better to do with your short, miserable lives?” Adagio asked as she painted her nails black.

“I’m sorry our conduct isn’t up to your standards, m’lady,” Rainbow rolled her eyes, sarcasm dripping from her words.

“But isn’t this sort of thing what we feed on Dagi?” Sonata asked with all the innocence of a 7 year old asking what game mommy and daddy were playing in their bedroom, “Why would we want them to stop?”

“Because we’re suppose to be playing, eugh, nice,” Aria curled her lips at the word as if it left a bitter aftertaste in her mouth.

“So that wasn’t y’all who’ve been feedin’ some o’ tha local strays?” AJ asked with an arched eyebrow and a teasing grin.

“Sh-Shut up!” Aria barked, her face flush with embarrassment. This elicited a round of chuckling from the group.

“In any event, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. I’m sure we’ll all feel pretty silly if we go bug Duskfall and the others and it turns out to be nothing more than a schoolgirl bent on a prank,” Sunset said brightly, hiding the fact that her paranoia wanted nothing more than for her to rush through the portal right that very instant.

“If Crystal Prep thinks they can get away with trashing our statue this time, they’ve got another thing coming!” Rainbow exclaimed, a wicked, scheming grin on her face, “I have a plan!”

“Will wonders never cease?” Adagio snarked as she blew on her nails to dry them. Rainbow’s face scrunched adorably at the insult, but refused to divulge her plot.

Fortunately, they didn’t have to wait long to find out what Rainbow was cooking up. At a school assembly reminding them all what they already knew about the Friendship Games, Rainbow and the school band preformed an inspiring little Heartsong to get everyone pumped for the Games. The real highlight came when Rainbow Ponied Up to finish the song in the air.

“Rainbow Dash, that was amazing!” Fluttershy complimented as the group met backstage.

"I'd give it an eight for music, six for lyrics, five for choreography, and a zero for those flash cards. Was that supposed to be us?" Adagio asked with a deeply unamused glare.

“I thought it was super accurate,” Sonata opined, her usual happy smile in place as she rocked on the balls of her feet. If her fellow Sirens were currently shooting daggers with their eyes, well, what else was new?

“Is anybody else wonderin’ how Dash Ponied Up without playin’ her guitar?” AJ questioned.

“We always knew the magic was going to grow and evolve. It makes sense that eventually the transformations wouldn’t need all of you to do it at the same time,” Sunset said as she put a hand to her chin, “But that doesn’t answer how it was triggered. Maybe just her singing a Heartsong with the band was enough?”

“Well, it would be nice if you girls could get a handle on it,” Luna spoke up from behind them, “We’d like to keep magic as far away from the Friendship Games as possible. No reason to give them an excuse to accuse us of cheating.”

“Magic is a talent, no different than someone being born with a quick wit or gifted a winning smile with good genetics,” Adagio argued, garnering some surprise from the group, “Magic may be exceptionally uncommon on this side of the mirror, but using the gifts you were provided is not cheating in the same way the use of performance enhancing drugs are and I refuse to hear the two lumped together.”

“You make a good case, Ms. Dazzle, but not everyone will be as high-minded about this as you are. As you said, magic is almost a complete unknown on this world. Unless all parties are aware and agree upon its inclusion, it would still be cheating. Further, the widespread knowledge of magic would likely disrupt the student’s lives in ways that, as someone responsible for their education, I am loathe to permit,” Luna countered.

“I…suppose I can see your point,” Adagio replied, looking as though she had just swallowed a particularly sour lemon.

“Anyway, we don’t need magic to beat those hoity-toity Crystal Prep students,” Rarity scoffed with bravado, her hands waving dismissively.

“Be that as it may, I would still feel better if Sunset and perhaps our extra-dimensional friends can examine Rainbow and the others to make sure this new surge of magic will not disrupt the Games,” Luna requested, her face stern and impassive.

“I’ll take care of it,” Sunset promised, “I’ll ask Duskfall if she’s free to come over too.”

“Thank you, Ms. Shimmer,” Luna responded primly before walking off to attend to her other duties.

Sunset decided she’d best get to work and left as well. Friendship Magic, and by extension Harmony Magic, were sometimes tricky to follow. While not the ever-changing quagmire of Chaos Magic, Friendship Magic was prone to staying the same for a long time and then experiencing sudden bursts of growth and change. These changes could be almost as random as Chaos Magic, but always beneficial in some way.

The crux of the issue was that, until the trigger and extent of this ‘power up’ were determined, the Friendship Magic could fire off at any time and until properly tamed, have all kinds of effects. Given the girls had gotten their magic via the Elements; it was also extremely likely that the others would start showing signs of this power up in the very near future.

Sunset penned a quick note to Duskfall, letting her know the state of affairs. Her heart sank as she went to bed with no response that night.

Twilight sighed in exhaustion as she walked down the halls of Crystal Prep, jostled about by her so called classmates. Twilight was used to it. Why should people go out of their way to avoid a nobody like her? She’d just have to get better at maneuvering around others…even when they expressly targeted her.

It didn’t matter. Soon Twilight was back in the safety of her lab. Her own private Fortress of Solitude. She even had her own Krypto, her loyal dog Spike. As always, he was just as happy to see her as she was happy to see him.

“I’m so close, Spike. All our hard work will soon be worth it!” Twilight told him as she scratched him under the chin. Twilight smiled fondly at his happy dog noises. Not only was she on the edge of proving magic existed, but also of being accepted into the Everton Independent Study Program.

“Tomorrow I’ll go back to confirm my findings,” Twilight decided, eliciting a growl from Spike, “I know you don’t like me going over there, but it’s my best chance of escape- I mean, of furthering science,” Twilight corrected herself. Speaking candidly to Spike might cause her to slip in front of others.

The other students already thought she was haughty, lording her intelligence over them. No need to add fuel to the fire, especially not if she ended up being denied entry to the Everton Program. As horrifying as it was to think of, Twilight was a realist. She knew there was always a chance of failure, no matter how unpleasant that thought might be.

A knock on the door to her lab rang out and was the only warning Twilight got before Cadence opened the door.

“Twilight, you know you’re not supposed to have pets in school,” Cadence rebuked tiredly. This was an old argument between the pair. Cadence was sympathetic to the young scientist and Cadence knew Spike was Twilight’s emotional support animal in all but documentation, but as dean, she had to uphold the rules. As the years had gone by, Twilight’s excuses had gotten thinner and thinner.

“He’s not here as my pet, he’s here as the latest subject in my research!” Twilight blatantly lied. Cadence was tempted to call her out on it, but decided she’d rather hear Cinch complain about the dog for the umpteenth time than cause Twilight any more problems. Sometimes Cadence really hated her job. It seemed all she was able to do was make the lives of the few good students harder and have no effect on the bullies who torment those students.

“Well, Principal Cinch wants to see you and we both know how she gets when her dog allergies flare up,” Cadence sighed as she plucked one of Spike’s shed hairs from Twilight’s blazer.

“I’ll, uh, slip into a clean shirt,” Twilight said sheepishly, an awkward smile on her lips, “Maybe she wants to talk about my application to Everton?”

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that, actually. Are you sure that’s what you really want?” Cadence asked with concern. Cadence knew Twilight had her issues dealing with others, but she didn’t think retreating was the right thing to do. Of course, Cadence was equally aware that Twilight didn’t have a lot of other options. She had been denied the chance to go to college early amidst concerns that, due to her age, she wouldn’t have the ‘emotional maturity’ to deal with college. Cadence thought that was a bunch of baloney, but at the end of the day, she was just a dean.

“Cadence… this is my chance to be free a whole year earlier than I could have hoped. No more nasty whispers. No more disdainful glares. No more getting jostled in the hallways. No more getting my head dunked in a toilet after having my glasses stolen by Fleur and her gang. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It won’t break me to spend another year here, but knowing I had a chance and threw it away would be quite painful, I think,” Twilight answered quietly, looking more tired than any 17 year old girl should look.

“You’re right. I’m sorry for asking,” Cadence apologized, looking away and forcing herself not to clench her fists. Crystal Prep prided itself on its excellent reputation. That was the problem. ‘Ask not what Crystal Prep can do for you, but what you can do for Crystal Prep’. Twilight was destined for so much more than these halls could offer and everyone knew it. For that crime, she was ostracized, demonized. It was all Cinch could do in her attempt to tame Twilight, turning the student body against her all the while claiming that she alone had Twilight’s best interests at heart.

Cadence awkwardly exited the lab and closed the door behind her to give Twilight the privacy to change her shirt. Once that was taken care of, the pair made their way silently to Cinch’s office. Cadence was just grateful Twilight could see through Cinch’s attempts at gaslighting her.

All that said, Twilight was surprised by the presence of Shining Armor in Cinch’s office, dressed in one of his old Crystal Prep uniforms.

“Shining Armor, what are you doing here?” Twilight asked in confusion.

“Principal Cinch thought that, as an alumnus, Shining could provide some unique perspective,” The words were ash in Cadence’s mouth. As much as she loved Shining and as much as she knew he cared about Twilight, there were certain things in which he was woefully blind.

“Perspective on what?” Twilight asked, naturally confused, her eyebrows scrunched behind her glasses.

“Perspective on the Friendship Games, of course,” Principal Abacus Cinch said as she turned her chair to face the room like some stereotypical Bond villain, “You competed in the Games, did you not, Shining Armor?”

“I did,” Shining confirmed with a proud smile.

“And you happen to recall who won?” Cinch pressed. Shining chuckled, completely unable to read the room.

“Crystal Prep did, of course!” He replied eagerly, “We always win.”

“‘We always win’,” Cinch repeated as she stepped out from behind her desk.

“Why did you ask to see me?” Twilight already had a fair idea, but held onto a faint, foolish hope she was wrong.

“I’ll be honest. It doesn’t matter whether Crystal Prep wins or loses,” Cinch began as she plucked a trophy from her shelf, “The important thing is that we are expected to win because Crystal Prep has a reputation. It is that reputation… my reputation that is responsible for everything we have here. It is responsible for all the books in the library and all the…equipment that we use.”

Twilight’s mouth went dry. Twilight had bought as much of her own equipment as she could for this very reason, yet a teenage girl not yet out of high school could only afford so much, prodigy or no. Yet the question remained as to why Cinch was choosing to play her hand straight over something as trivial as the Friendship Games?

“Why did you ask to see me, Principal Cinch?” Twilight asked hesitantly. Something definitely wasn’t right here and it was putting her on edge.

“You are the brightest student this school has ever seen, Twilight,” Cinch began, “What I can’t understand is why my best student wouldn’t want to compete.”

“Why would I want to participate in the Friendship Games?” Twilight asked.

“Look, Twily, I know it’s not your thing, but representing the school is kinda a big deal,” Shining intruded on the conversation, “Plus they really need your help.”

Twilight didn’t hold this against Shining. She knew he was loyal to a fault and that loyalty stretched to Crystal Prep. A word here about the school’s team needing a bit of a boost, a mention there of helping break Twilight out of her shell and Shining would’ve been putty in Cinch’s hands. That didn’t make the emotional blackmail hurt any less.

“It would seem Canterlot High is undergoing something of a renaissance. Their scores in every field have been up: Test scores, athletics, general grades, etc. You see, they are developing something of a reputation. I felt it only reasonable we bring our own renaissance woman to the Games. After all, reputations must be maintained,” Cinch remarked, something in her eyes that made Twilight very uncomfortable.

“With all due respect, Principal Cinch, I’m far too busy to be participating in the Friendship Games, I have to prepare for-”

“For the Everton Independent Studies Course?” Cinch asked, her fingers interlaced and a predatory look on her face. Twilight’s blood froze in her veins. So this was her game, was it? “Shining, Cadence, could you find my contact sheet for the Everton Course?”

“Of course,” Cadence said promptly. She could see the writing on the wall as clearly as Twilight. Staying here and causing a fuss now wouldn’t do either of them any good.

“It would seem you’ve applied to the Everton Course without my input…” Cinch trailed off as she pulled out the folder she had just asked Cadence and Shining to fetch, “But I am not an unreasonable woman. The perks of having a reputation such as mine are that I hear things and in turn the things I say are heard. So let me make you a deal, Twilight. In return for contributing your agile mind to the Games, I will use my influence to guarantee your application is approved. Though I suppose I could also have it…denied. What do you think I should do?”

Twilight knew she was trapped. Cinch had always held all the cards and now she was playing her hand to devastating effect. After all, if Twilight tried to accuse Cinch of blackmail, well, Cinch’s precious reputation would protect her. Thus there was only one answer Twilight could give: She would participate in the Games.

The next day, Twilight, along with Spike hidden away in her backpack, joined the other students to ride the school’s buses to Canterlot High. It was off to a swimming start when Twilight somehow ended up at the front of the line. You’d think high school students would be mature enough to not get upset over who got on the bus first, yet here they were. Twilight was sitting in the back of the bus while the others made no attempts to hide their glares and hurtful words.

It wasn’t all bad. She ended up sitting next to Lemon Zest, probably the only girl in school who was more hated than she was, for the exact opposite reason. Lemon Zest was a laid back party girl in a school of uptight overachievers. Twilight wouldn’t say they were friends exactly, but they were fellow outcasts and Lemon had come through for her more than once.

“Hey Twi Pie, whassup?” Lemon greeted, pulling her headphones off and hanging them around her neck, tunes still blaring, “I thought you said you weren’t gonna compete?”

“I didn’t know I was going to compete until yesterday afternoon myself,” Twilight replied as she slumped into the seat beside her.

“Ah, the Cinch decided the team couldn’t do without your big brain?” Lemon asked in understanding.

“Unfortunately, yes,” Twilight sighed as she unzipped her bag to give Spike a bit of air.

“Yo, Spike my dude, long time no see!” Lemon happily scratched Spike behind his ears, the dog lapping up the attention.

“Well, it may not be ideal, but I look forward to having you as my teammate, Lemon,” Twilight held out a hand. Lemon smiled and took it.

“Likewise, Twi, likewise,” Lemon replied.

Between her failures to figure out what had triggered Rainbow’s spontaneous transformation and the continued silence from Duskfall, Sunset was really starting to feel the pressure. It would have been one thing if Sunset had had a week at the very least, but the Friendship Games were today.

It was almost a pity the Sirens only ate the magical resonance created by negative emotions instead of the emotions themselves. Sunset could have done with a little less frustration in her system. This feeling only became stronger when Rainbow rushed into the band room with a panicked look on her face.

“I can’t find them!” Rainbow shouted.

“Can’t find who?” Sunset asked, but her heart was already plummeting to her stomach.

“The Equestrians, not even Harmonia or Discord! I flew all around Ponyville and even hit top speed to Canterlot! They’re all MIA!” Rainbow was in full panic, her eyes wide and Sunset could almost hear the athlete’s heart pounding away in her chest. It was infectious. Sunset forcefully clamped down on her own rising panic. She was an adult, for whatever that was worth. If there was ever a time to act like it for once in her life, now was it.

“Rainbow, we all know Equestria faces crisis from time to time. We all knew it was likely only a matter of time before our troubles overlapped. We can work through this. Do you trust me, Rainbow?” Sunset asked as she took a firm grasp on Rainbow’s shoulder. Rainbow took a deep breath.

“I trust you, Sunset,” Rainbow decided and like that the icy grip of fear and panic was loosed. It wasn’t gone completely, but it was manageable now.

“In the end, what does this really change? We know the Equestrians can take care of themselves. Sure, it sucks that we can’t ask them for advice on exactly how the magic is evolving, but I don’t doubt we can figure this out, Games or no Games,” Sunset said with a lot more confidence than she actually felt, looking Rainbow directly in the eyes.

“Yeah, you’re right. Hopefully it’s just the dumb Games and nothing else to worry about. Even if it isn’t we’re still awesome enough to handle a solo mission,” Rainbow smiled.

“You all keep telling yourselves that, sweetie,” Adagio smirked, casually leaning against the piano.

“Thank you, I will,” Rainbow replied primly, not about to let the Siren get under her skin.

“Well, nothing helps inspire new confidence like a new wardrobe!” Rarity exclaimed and suddenly the band room was full of a whole rack of new outfits for all of them, even the Sirens.

“Rarity, where on earth did you find the time to make these?” Sunset asked in bewilderment.

“I’ve been working on and off for months, darling. The Friendship Games are a big deal and I wanted all of us to look our best,” Rarity demurred, “Since we didn’t know what events there were going to be, I just had to make an outfit for every conceivable situation.”

“Rarity, you are scary sometimes. Brilliant, but scary,” Rainbow said honestly as she plucked one of the outfits of her rack. Rarity tittered with pleasure at the remark.

Twilight’s heart was filled with anticipatory jitters as she made to exit the bus once they had arrived at Canterlot High. Those jitters were soon replaced by a sudden, extremely brief feeling of vertigo as someone placed their hands on her back and shoved her out the door. She was airborne for only a moment before she crashed into Sunny Flare, sending both of them to the ground.

“Seriously?!” Sunny growled at Twilight as she picked herself up.

“Sorry,” Was the only right answer Twilight could give, even if it hadn’t been her fault. Sunny glared at her before walking away. Twilight then stood up, but ended up directly in front of Sour Sweet. Twilight apologized again.

“You’re such a sweetie!” Sweet exclaimed, “I am watching you!” Sour declared before stalking off. Last off the bus were Lemon and Sugarcoat. Lemon had likely been too wrapped up in her music to notice they’d arrived until Sugarcoat had pointed it out to her.

Sugarcoat was another odd one. Twilight was baffled how someone with such an inability to be tactful had ended up hanging around with Sunny Flare’s group. Stranger yet, Sugarcoat had seemingly made it her life’s mission to make sure Lemon Zest made it through high school with nothing lower than a C+. Lemon herself had been strangely tight lipped when the subject had come up on the relationship between her and Sugarcoat.

“You’re being kinda a doormat right now,” Sugarcoat informed her, as if Twilight didn’t already know of her own passivity. Before Twilight could get too down, her scanner started to pick up readings! Her lust for knowledge overrode her desire to not get in trouble, so she slipped away from her classmates to investigate.

Her first stop was the statue, the readings seemingly of the charts. She popped open her scanner and sure enough, a trail of energy exited the statue and entered her scanner. She then popped the clamshell design shut and headed into the school proper.

“Hi, Twilight,” One of the girls coming down the steps greeted, but the words barely registered to her, hyper focused as she was on her scanner. However, as she walked down the halls and seemingly everyone knew her name…even Twilight couldn’t ignore something utterly bizarre was going on. Had magic given the entire school some kind of precognition? Then things somehow got worse when she plowed into a young man with electric blue hair and carrying a guitar.

“Duskfall? I almost didn’t recognize you,” He remarked as he helped her up, “When did you start wearing glasses?”

Duskfall? Who was Duskfall? That sounded like a name she might pick for herself if she ever went through an emo phase… had magic created a dark doppelganger of her?! Would the Friendship Games culminate in a climatic duel to the death with her evil twin?! Or, well, at least a scholastic duel with the fate of the world at stake.

“Where might I find this ‘Duskfall’?” Twilight asked as she blindly looked around for her glasses.

Flash, for his part, almost thought Duskfall was playing some sort of prank. But once he put her glasses on, looking directly into her eyes, Flash knew the truth. Duskfall would never turn her green eye purple. Either this was pony Twilight somehow back from the dead or, more likely; this was their world’s version of Twilight.

“Duskfall? Who’s Duskfall? I don’t know any Duskfall,” Never let it be said that Flash was a good liar. Twilight pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose while giving him a skeptical look. Twilight decided to channel her inner Sugarcoat.

“You are remarkably bad at lying,” Twilight didn’t like it when people withheld information from her. Especially with information that might be as critical as a dark doppelganger. Flash flinched at the accusation.

“I’m just going to…go now!” He tried to escape, but the school was only so big and despite not liking physical education, Crystal Prep’s curriculum was exacting and absolute. Twilight managed to just barely keep up with Flash.

“You…are going…to tell me…everything!” Twilight panted, her hands on her knees to try and keep herself upright.

“Flash, Duskfall, what’s going on? The whole schools been talking about how you two have been running across the whole building,” Twilight turned to the new source of possible information, unaware of the predatory gleam in her eyes.

“earth'syay ilighttway!” Flash exclaimed, as if Twilight wouldn’t know Pig Latin. But what did he mean, ‘Earth’s Twilight’?

“Flash, if that’s true; do you really think she wouldn’t at least be familiar with Pig Latin?” The new girl asked, putting a hand over her face.

“…Sorry Sunset…” Flash said, looking appropriately embarrassed for his blunder.

“What is going on here?! Magic, evil twins, Pig Latin! Did I suddenly end up at Hogwarts instead of Canterlot High?” Twilight asked, her arms flailing around with renewed energy. Unfortunately, before any of her questions could be answered, Principals Celestia and Cinch appeared.

“Duskfall, Flash, don’t you both know better than to run in the halls except in emergency?” Celestia asked, a mildly bemused expression on her face.

“Duskfall? This is my student, Twilight,” Cinch said, confusion evident on her face. Fortunately for all, Celestia was quick on the uptake.

“Oh, of course, my mistake. We have a drama student named Duskfall who likes to do costumes. I thought this was her,” Celestia replied smoothly.

“I see…well, come along, Twilight. You need to be check in with the rest of your classmates,” Cinch then ushered Twilight away, her burning curiosity unfulfilled.

“Principal Cinch, you have to let me go back, I need answers!” Twilight pleaded, clutching her scanner like a lifeline.

“Twilight, I don’t care what personal projects you get up to, but while you’re here and the Games are going on, I, and indeed all of Crystal Prep, need you to be absolutely focuses. After all, those who are not focused tend to let things…slip away,” Cinch warned.

Twilight gulped, Cinch’s message received. As much as it might torment her, she would have to push her curiosity aside for now. Something made practically impossible by the curious looks and friendly waves she was receiving from the Canterlot High students.

“How on earth are you so popular with these Canterlot kids?” Lemon asked in bewilderment as the Shadowbolts started signing in.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Twilight sighed listlessly. The answers were right there, begging to be uncovered. Yet she was being denied, her mind forced to spin its metaphorical wheels coming up with wild theories just to keep occupied.

“Try me,” Lemon encouraged.

“A girl, who goes here, Duskfall, apparently looks enough like me that we’re being confused for each other. I further have reason to believe this Duskfall is not of this world, going off some of the comments I’ve heard and have been directed at me,” Twilight replied, bracing herself for Lemon’s inevitable disbelief and dismissal.

“Duuude! Are you saying some alien chick is wearing your face?! That’s wild!” Lemon’s face was the picture of child-like wonderment. Twilight blinked owlishly.

“You…you believe me?” Twilight was stunned.

“Twi, you’re smarter than the rest of us put together. If you think aliens and junk exist, I’d at least give you the benefit of the doubt. The fact that this whole school seems to know your name is enough evidence for me that something is up,” Lemon replied firmly. This response made Twilight feel odd, but before she could parse her feelings, her scanner started floating and snapped open. A smoky trail of energy started flowing into the scanner before coalescing into a white, pearl sized orb in the heart of her scanner. The scanner then snapped shut.

“Why did it activate on its own like that?” Twilight asked worriedly. She had had experiments go rogue before, but she prayed this wasn’t one of them.

“What was that?!” Lemon exclaimed, after she had picked her jaw up off the floor.

“Abnormal electromagnetic frequencies I’ve tentatively dubbed ‘magic’,” Twilight admitted quietly. She played with her hair, a bad habit she had picked up when nervous.

“I get the feeling I’m gonna need to reexamine a lot of things by the time these Games are over,” Lemon eventually said, shocking Twilight.

“You…you believe me?” Twilight’s voice was filled with fragile hope, “You don’t think I’m crazy?”

“Twi, we go to school with Sour Sweet. If you’re crazy, it’s the good kind,” Lemon smiled at her and it made Twilight feel odd again.

“Thank you, Lemon Zest,” Twilight said, her voice thick with emotion.

“Besides, aren’t genius and madness two sides of the same coin or something?” Lemon asked, her smile turning into a teasing grin.

“The difference between genius and madness is measured only by success and failure,” Twilight agreed with a slight chuckle as they made it to the gym. Already the atmosphere was tense. It was supposed to be a welcome party, but it looked more like party lines had been drawn and war was about to break out.

“This party is kinda lame,” Lemon complained as she looked around. The students who weren’t actively glaring at each other were limply eating snacks or aimlessly wandering around.

“I know, right? Something is definitely missing,” It was there, in the gym, that the pair met the oncoming party hurricane, Pinkie Pie. Life would never be the same again, “Private Zest, Captain Twilight, I’m going to need your help!”

Without so much as a ‘by your leave’, Pinkie grabbed both their arms and snatched them away. Together, they pushed two boxes wrapped like presents into the gym. Lemon and Twilight were struggling to push one while Pinkie pushed the other.

“What is in these things?” Lemon wondered as she shoved.

“Party Canons, of course!” Pinkie exclaimed as if that were the most normal response in the world.

“How do you know our names?” Twilight asked as they finally got their box into position.

“Because you looked just like my friend Twilight and my other friend Duskfall,” Pinkie Pie replied, causing Twilight to be shocked. There was a third entity with her name and face? “As for Lemon Zest…the Universe has noticed her.”

“Well that’s not going to cause me existential nightmares at all, no sir,” Lemon laughed nervously. Without replying, Pinkie vanished in a blur of speed. Suddenly she was everywhere, laying out better snacks on the tables, giving the DJ real music, hitting the lights for a disco ball, and then back at the Party Canons.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Twilight asked with worry as Pinkie grabbed the firing strings for both canons.

“Absolutely!” Pinkie exclaimed as she pulled. The force of the canons going off knocked Lemon and Twilight away and a moment later it was raining confetti and streamers.

“I think that girl might actually be part Looney Tune,” Lemon said with a mix of awe and dread in her voice. Then Pinkie began to glow before floating into the air, growing pony ears, and her hair suddenly growing longer.

Twilight’s scanner went nuts, pulling at her neck before opening and absorbing what must have been some kind of transformation magic right out of Pinkie. The party girl looked exhausted, but otherwise unharmed, much to both Twilight and Lemon’s relief.

The magic within Twilight’s scanner then sparked, causing some kind of portal to open under the bleachers. It only stayed open for a moment, but it was enough for Lemon and Twilight to see some kind of forest on the other side. Twilight forced the scanner shut and turned it off, hopefully to keep it from happening again.

“Magic, aliens, and now portals to other worlds…Twi, do you think curses are a thing? I think we might’ve gotten hit by that old Chinese curse ‘May you live in interesting times’,” Lemon asked shakily.

“I am not prepared to dismiss anything at this time,” Twilight answered, but before she could elaborate, Cinch brought the party to a screeching halt, accompanied by the screeching of microphone feedback. With but a few words, the students who had been enjoying themselves and even starting to get along were back at each other’s throats.

A few minutes later and the Friendship Games were officially set to begin. The first event would be an academic decathlon. Twilight wished she could be as laid back about this as Lemon. If Twilight messed up here, she’d be…subpar for any athletics events in the future. Lemon, at least, both didn’t care about the Games and was such a superb athlete that any failings in the academic challenges could almost certainly be made up for in the athletic events.

The rules were simple. Across the decathlon, students would be awarded points for their performance. The decathlon started with both schools having twelve students each, but only the top six from both schools would move on to the next event. The first test was, fortunately, chemistry. It was a nice, easy way for Twilight to relax into the competition.

The next leg of the decathlon was home economics and required baking a cake. Twilight was capable of cooking, it was just following instructions after all, but she had never grasped the subtle art of cooking her father had. Of course, neither of them would likely ever be able to bake a cake with a perfect replica of the Mona Lisa in the middle! Twilight was starting to wonder if Pinkie Pie was an alien as well.

For some insane reason, Cinch was ‘displeased’ with her students for being unable to copy a literally impossible feat. It was emotional abuse at its finest. It made Twilight sick to her stomach.

The next leg happened to be woodshop. This event was fairly simple for the ‘by-the-numbers’ Crystal Prep students. Indigo Zap and Sugarcoat had even managed to add some impressive flare to their birdhouse.

Afterward was a spelling bee. Ultimately both teams were eliminated down to just Twilight and Sunset. As a reward for passing the spelling bee, Sunset and Twilight went head to head in mathematics.

Twilight felt her heart pounding in her chest. Even something as normally calming as trigonometry failed to ease her tension. But even at her worse, Twilight wasn’t about to lose in anything related to math. Problem after problem were solved correctly by both girls until eventually Sunset slipped up.

With that, Crystal Prep had won the decathlon. It was a testament to how much the school hated her that, even when she brought them victory, their applause was lukewarm at best and mocking at worse. Lemon excluded, of course.

Twilight watched as Sunset was congratulated even in failure. Earnest smiles and friendly teasing…watching them made Twilight’s heart hurt.

In any event, the six students from both schools who would be going on were announced. From Crystal Prep: Twilight, Lemon, Sugarcoat, Sour Sweet, Indigo Zap, and Sunny Flare. From Canterlot High: Pinkie Pie, Sunset Shimmer, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack Apple, and Rarity Belle.

The two schools then disperse for the rest of the day so they could be well rested for tomorrow’s events. Twilight and Lemon decided to see if they couldn’t glean anything from watching the six girls who were their competition and seemingly the most heavily involved in the magic around the school.

Twilight’s eyes lit up when she spotted one of them break away from the rest and revealed a cat in her bag. Pets were an easy, fairly safe topic. So Twilight approached.

“Hello, would you like to give her a treat?” Fluttershy asked the approaching Twilight and Lemon.

“Guess I’m not the only one to smuggle a pet to school,” Twilight admitted as she and Lemon sat down. Fluttershy giggled.

“Not just one,” She opened her bag to reveal a bird, a rabbit, and a hamster in addition to the cat.

“Oh wow, all I have is Spike,” Twilight replied as she freed her canine companion. Fluttershy picked him up.

“It really is uncanny…” Fluttershy murmured to herself, “Does he talk?” Twilight and Lemon shared a look.

“Not that I know of..?” Twilight hesitantly said as she adjusted her glasses.

“So what planet are you from where dogs talk?” Lemon asked bluntly, fixing Fluttershy with a look between interrogating and curious.

“Oh, um, oops…” Fluttershy flush with embarrassment, “I’m from Earth, but I suppose it’s a little late to claim nothing odd is going on.”

“A little, yes,” Twilight agreed, eager to finally get some answers.

“I’m not sure how much I’m allowed to tell you,” Fluttershy confessed as she started petting her cat, “Would you like to cuddle with Angel Bunny?”

“Um, sure?” Twilight hesitantly accepted as Fluttershy presented the lagomorph. His fur was soft and he was admittedly adorable.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” Twilight asked, “I just beat your school in the decathlon,” Twilight pointed out.

“Aside from your friend, the rest of your school didn’t look too thrilled with your winning. It wouldn’t be very kind of me to leave someone who’s upset in their misery if there’s something I can do about it,” Fluttershy answered. She then began to glow yellow before floating up like Pinkie Pie had. She too grew pony ears and her hair grew longer, but unlike Pinkie, she also grew wings.

Inexplicably, Twilight’s scanner activated again, even though it should have been powered off! It also started opening up portals around them. Through one of the portals came a jackalope of all things. Spike growled at it and it retreated, but Spike gave chase. This chase ended when Spike got caught directly in the stream of magic.

“Spike!” Twilight cried with worry. Using all her strength, she forced the scanner shut, ending the drain. She rushed forward to pick up her beloved dog.

“Are you sure you aren’t an alien?” Lemon asked of Fluttershy while Twilight held Spike close.

“I’m so, so sorry Spike. Are you alright?” Twilight asked as she cuddled him protectively.

“Um, I think so,” Everyone froze. That voice had come from Spike.

“AHHHHHH!” Spike, Twilight, and Lemon screamed in panic. Fluttershy may have tried to calm them down, but between her exhaustion after the drain and the trio’s panic, she went unheeded. They all bolted into the school before their panic calmed and they tried to figure out what exactly had happened.

Unfortunately, Twilight and Lemon’s investigation of Spike was cut short when Cinch appeared and Twilight had to shove her dog into a locker. Lemon was then treated to a front row seat of Cinch’s attempts at manipulating Twilight. It was honestly one of the most revolting things the young woman had ever seen in her life. Cinch wanted Twilight to ‘befriend’ the competition to learn their secrets. If Twilight didn’t comply, she’d be punished via the rejection of her application. A teacher, a principal no less, directly blackmailing a student? That was just all kinds of wrong.

“Man, she’s just the worse!” Spike exclaimed as he exited the locker, “What are you going to do, Twilight?”

“I don’t know,” Twilight said weakly as she leaned against the lockers and slid to the floor. Lemon sat down next to her.

“Damn girl, I knew Cinch was a bad egg, but seeing it first hand is something else. Has she always been like this with you?” Lemon asked.

“She used to be a lot more subtle, but yes. From my first day at Crystal Prep, Principal Cinch has been trying to control me. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say she tries to control everyone and I’m something of a ‘special project’,” Twilight sighed before burying her head into her arms.

“That’s fucked up,” Lemon replied, shaking her head. Suddenly her Crystal Prep uniform felt dirty.

“That’s why I’ve been trying so hard to get into the Everton Independent Studies Program. I’d finally be free of Cinch, of Fleur’s gang, of Crystal Prep…” Twilight sounded on the edge of tears. Lemon wrapped an arm around her.

“You’re gonna get that application accepted one way or another! I’ll make sure of it! And after you’re free, don’t forget to keep in touch, yeah? We’re friends, after all,” Lemon told her. Twilight’s head popped up.

“Friends?” She asked as she looked at Lemon.

“Uh, yeah?” Lemon replied and suddenly she had a crying Twilight on her hands. Lemon did the only thing that made sense. She hugged Twilight close and let her cry herself out.

The next day came the athletics events. For this, the six students would form pairs. Two for the motocross, two for the shot track on rollerblades, and two for archery. As much as Twilight wished otherwise, she was terrified of riding a dirt bike and terrible on skates. That meant that while Lemon was teamed up with Sunny Flare for the shot track, Twilight got stuck with archery with Sour Sweet.

It was perhaps both a blessing and a curse they were matched against Fluttershy and Applejack. Fluttershy, for her part, had never so much as held a bow before in her life. If Twilight had been privy to such information, she might have appreciated the irony of someone who had chosen the name Artemis not knowing how to wield a bow and arrow.

In any case, Fluttershy’s grappling with the bow gave the Shadowbolts a huge early lead. A lead Twilight quickly squandered with her struggles against the obstacle course that came directly before shooting the arrow. By the time she reached the platform with the bow and arrow, Sour Sweet looked capable of murder. Feeling her glare boring into her back threw Twilight off her game. Archery was the one sport she actually didn’t hate, but Twilight was cracking under the pressure Sour Sweet was putting on her.

As the pressure grew from just Sour Sweet’s glares to the glares of the whole school, Twilight felt herself breaking down as images of her denied application floated in her mind. Then, like an angel, Applejack appeared. The other girl managed to calm Twilight down and with a few instructions; Twilight was finally able to land a bull’s-eye.

“That’s my girl!” Spike appeared to shout, completely freaking out Sour Sweet. While Sour Sweet fled, Twilight hugged AJ.

“See? I was telling you the truth,” AJ said and then she started to glow and transform. Her scanner reacted with a hereto unknown strength, almost physically dragging her along. She tried to fight back and eventually managed to close it, but the sudden lack of force pulling at her caused her to stumble backwards, trip over Spike, and send the scanner flying. It then popped open and a shockwave of magical force emanated from it.

Portals began opening and worse, vines came through those portals. One of the vines wrapped around Twilight’s leg and began to drag her away while other vines started invading the motocross track. Was this her fate? To never amount to anything more than plant food? To go down as the girl who brought botanical ruin upon the great family of man?

Thankfully, such was not her fate. Rainbow Dash became empowered with the transforming magic, growing wings. While Rainbow fought the vines, Lemon and Spike rushed to Twilight’s side, freeing her of its grasp and allowing her to force shut the locket, banishing the vines from whence they came.

In the chaos, Canterlot High had secured victory in the event. Twilight’s conscience forced her into apologizing to the girls for what she had inadvertently done, even as her scanner acted up again and drained Rainbow.

“I’m sorry! I don’t know why I can’t stop it! I tried turning it off, but it just won’t stop!” Twilight shouted

“What do you mean you don’t know?!” Sunset shouted angrily, marching towards Twilight.

“Hey, back off! It’s not like this thing came with an instruction manual!” Lemon got in Sunset’s face. Before it could devolve into a full fight, another errant streak of magic escaped the scanner and opened a huge portal above them, displaying a night sky.

“It’s also been doing that, making random portals, I’m not sure how,” Twilight said, a tone of panic in her voice as she tried and failed to force the scanner shut.

“Aren’t you the one who built it?! Is there anything you do know, like how to fix the portal to Equestria?!” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Sunset slammed her hands over her mouth.

“Equestria?” Lemon, Spike, and Twilight asked.

“Sunset, ya’ll need to simmer down a mite. Twi here is just as lost as we are,” AJ told her as she put a hand on Sunset’s shoulder. All the fury drained out of Sunset, leaving her feeling hollow. Seeing Sunset was calming down, AJ moved to use her superior strength to force the scanner shut, incidentally closing the portal.

“I’m sorry…” Twilight said morosely, looking downtrodden.

“I may not know what’s going on, but you girls have answers, don’t you?” Lemon asked as she took position by Twilight’s side.

“Yeah, we do. Sorry for snapping at you, Twilight. It’s not a good excuse, but I’ve had a lot on my plate recently,” Sunset apologized, looking extremely disappointed with herself.

“No, it’s my fault. I’ve been trying to figure out this magic stuff by poking it with a stick like some dumb child. I could’ve gotten people hurt or killed,” Twilight started playing with her hair again.

“Sometimes tha only way you can learn is by burnin’ yer hand on the stovetop,” Applejack said wisely, “Ya’ll just gotta try and be more careful in the future and Ah don’t see any reason why we can’t help.”

“Mostly Sunset though, and the other Equestrians when we can get ahold of them,” Rainbow noted as she literally tried to shake off the effects of the drain.

“So what is Equestria?” Twilight asked curiously.

“My home country in another dimension,” Sunset answered, “There magic is a lot more commonplace than on Earth.”

“I miss being able to eat all the magic we wanted,” Sonata sighed wistfully, looking in the direction of the portal.

“Wait, you eat magic?!” Lemon exclaimed.

“Only the Sirens eat magic, silly,” Pinkie giggled.

“Sirens? Like the Greek mythological creatures that lured sailors away with their looks and voices?” Twilight blinked owlishly.

“You’re looking at the source of those myths,” Adagio informed her with an amused smile.

“But that would make you…” Twilight’s eyes widened in shock.

“About 3,000 years old? Older than that, actually, we’ve just lived on Earth for about 3,000 years. If you want an exact age, well…don’t you know it’s rude to ask a lady her age?” Adagio giggled, her eyes seemingly those of a predator and Twilight suddenly felt very much like prey.

“Don’t mind her, she’s all bark and no bite,” Rainbow said as she smirked at the Siren.

“Talk to me on your 18th birthday and then we’ll see who has no bite,” Adagio gave a grin that was remarkably shark-like and Rainbow’s bravado seemed to waver.

“So you’re, like, a billion years old in doggy years!” Spike exclaimed, having been trying to figure out how old the Sirens were himself and not even noticing the tension around him.

An hour later and the two schools were gathered for the tie-breaker event. Two pendants would be hidden in the school and the first to find them would be the winners. Cinch, given what had happened at the last event, was now certain that Canterlot High was cheating with magic. She also somehow knew that Twilight’s scanner was containing a hefty amount of magic in it.

The gray, overcast skies seemed to reflect Twilight’s troubled heart and Cinch bore down on her. Upon discovering Twilight had magic, the other students also began to pressure her to use it. If she didn’t she’d never get into Everton. If she did, she risked…Twilight wasn’t sure exactly what might happen, but it certainly wouldn’t be good and almost as certainly be life threatening.

Cinch and the students caged her in, forcing her back against the wall as they demanded she unleash the caged magic. Twilight could only catch a glimpse of Lemon, Suri Polomare and Fleur holding her back. Seeing Lemon in trouble, something in Twilight crumbled.

Sensing victory, the students parted, allowing Twilight to walk to the center of the courtyard. She began activating the purging sequence. By the time Sunset realized what she was doing, it was too late.

The pent up magic exploded outward before reforming into an orb. It and Twilight then began to steadily rise. Twilight tried to escape, but it was no use. The orb grew larger and larger.

“HELP ME!” Twilight begged. Lemon, bless her, tried to jump up to reach Twilight, but by that point, she was already too high up. The orb consumed Twilight and for a brief moment, it just hung there, swirling with mystical power. Then it flashed white and collapsed, blinding everyone for a moment.

When everyone could see again, they saw Twilight flying in the air. But she was different. Huge, black feathered wings like some sort of fallen angel adorned her back. A huge, sharp horn protruded from her forehead. Her eyes and mask-like apparitions around her eyes were a whitish-blue. Her hair was done up in some sort of wild mockery of her usual tight, orderly bun. Her clothes had even changed to some sort of tight fitting dress that brought out the best in Twilight’s figure.

Lemon couldn’t help but think there was something darkly seductive about her friend’s transformation. Of course she was worried for her safety and well being, especially after she started talking, but in the back of her head, a thought wouldn’t go away: ‘damn, Twilight’s hot’.

“Oh, I didn’t understand magic at all before, BUT I DO NOW!” Twilight crowed as she blasted the horse statue of Canterlot High to rubble. Where it stood, a gap in the fabric of spacetime opened up to reveal Equestria on the other side. It showed Ponyville, to be more exact.

The portal spawned a fissure of damaged spacetime and another blast from Twilight opened up another portal, this one to Rainbow Falls. More blasts, more portals, more damage to reality. Soon portals began to open even without Twilight’s direct intervention.

Cinch fled the scene of her crime yet her students, for the most part, stayed. They had helped push Twilight to this point. It was only fitting if they could try and find a way to help.

“Twilight, stop! You can’t do this!” Sunset shouted to Twilight.

“Why not?! There’s a whole other world right there and it’s filled with MAGIC!” Twilight exclaimed before blasting open another portal.

“But you’re destroying this world to get it!” Sunset protested.

“Why should I care about this miserable world?! I’ve known nothing but pain and suffering here! I couldn’t even do anything about it! I was trapped, caged, and powerless! But now I can be free and have absolute power! If this world burns as the pyre for my ascension, then I say it can’t burn fast enough! There is nothing in this world for me!” With those words, Twilight fired another blast, creating the largest portal yet in the ground, under the feet of several students.

“Nothing? Not even me?” Lemon called out to Twilight.

“Or me?” Spike asked from Lemon’s arms. All around them, students were helping keep each other safe from falling into the portals. Sunset was getting together a plan using Twilight’s scanner. All she needed was for Lemon and Spike to buy just a few seconds.

“Lemon…Spike…I…I can’t…I won’t! I can’t let Cinch control me anymore! But I don’t want to hurt you! PLEASE DON’T MAKE ME CHOOSE!” Twilight screamed in agony as she clutched her head. Then she stopped, her arms falling limply to her sides, “Why do I have to choose? I’m powerful enough to have you all!”

“Twilight, this isn’t the way!” Sunset shouted, “I know you feel unstoppable right now, like you can do anything! I’ve been where you are! I’ve made the same mistake your making! Yes, it was for different reasons, but the end results would have been the same! I stole a crown and just like you, I was overwhelmed with magic! I thought it could get me everything I wanted!”

“You’re wrong! Unlike you, I can have everything I want! Power, Freedom, Knowledge, Spike, and Lemon! Nothing else matters!” Twilight declared.

“Well, you’re almost better than I was,” Sunset gave a mirthless bark of laughter, “At least you still want people by your side, even if it’s been corrupted by possessiveness. Twilight, if you still care about Spike and Lemon at all, you’ll listen to them!”

“Twi, you know this is all way above me, but I don’t want you to destroy the world! My friends, my family, and everything I have are in this world! If you destroyed it, then they’ll be gone too!” Lemon called out.

“What about Shining and your folks, Twilight?! Are you gonna destroy them too?!” Spike demanded.

“I…but I…I can’t…I CAN’T!” Twilight screamed again, “Don’t make me go back!”

“Twilight, we can help you, but you have to let us,” Sunset entreated, “With the values of Honesty, Loyalty, Laughter, Generosity, and Kindness, we can heal you,” As Sunset listed off the Elements, their power gathered into the scanner once more. Sunset then was lifted up much as Twilight had been before throwing the scanner to the ground, smashing it and releasing the magic.

Sunset didn’t fight or fear the magic. She embraced it as it poured through every fiber of her being. A long, flowing dress, wings of pure light, and her own horn appeared on her.

“You’ve already started down the path; all you need is a little push, some healing, and a guiding hand. Let us show you the Magic of Friendship,” Sunset request and with little more than an expression of her will, she sealed the portals with ease.

In a fit of rage, Twilight attacked, but her Heart was no longer in it. Sunset easily overwhelmed her and the next thing Twilight was aware of, she and Sunset were alone in a blue and white void.

“Take my hand, Twilight. We can show you there’s a better way. Just as someone once did for me,” What little resistance Twilight still had in her crumpled instantly. She slowly reached out her hand and felt Sunset’s magic purify her. Suddenly, both Twilight and Sunset were back at Canterlot High, both human again.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean for any of this to happen…” Twilight said, unable to look Sunset in the face.

“I know, and going by my own experience, they’ll forgive you,” Sunset said with assurance before taking Twilight’s hands and pulling her into a hug. A hug that was joined a moment later by Spike and Lemon.

“Twilight Sparkle don’t you ever worry me like that again!” Lemon shouted while clutching her friend for dear life.

“What she said!” Spike agreed as he jumped on Twilight’s head.

With the danger passed, Cinch decided to try once again to stir up trouble.

“Principal Celestia, on behalf of Crystal Prep, I demand that you forfeit the Friendship Games!” Cinch shouted, looking furious, “Clearly CHS has had unfair advantage for quite some time and it’s certainly obvious that your students have been using magic for their own benefit!” If Cinch noticed the disapproving glares from everyone who had stuck around, she didn’t react to them.

“I’d like to think that saving the world benefits us all,” Celestia replied cheekily, earning more than a few chuckles from the gathered.

“At least they didn’t manipulate and emotionally abuse Twilight into releasing all the stolen magic and turning into a power crazed magical creature that tried to tear the world apart just to win a game,” Sugarcoat said with her usual bluntness, “Nor did they have two other students physically restrain Lemon Zest to keep her from supporting her friend.”

“Wow, that’s a lot to take in when you say it all at once,” Pinkie observed.

“That’s ridiculous!” Cinch denied, earning her scornful glares all around.

“Nope, that’s pretty much how it happened,” Spike spoke up from his spot in Twilight’s arms.

“Actually, we’re all to blame,” Sweet said sadly, feeling guilty for their actions, “Mostly it was her,” Sour growled.

“Obviously my students have been infected with your magic! But I plan on taking all of this up with the SCHOOL BOARD!” Cinch shrieked.

“Good. I’m sure they’ll be very interested to hear all about the magical students with wings,” Celestia looked entirely too bemused for her own good.

“Oh, and the portals to different dimensions,” Luna decided to join her sister.

“And don’t forget to tell them about the talking dog,” Cadence helpfully suggested.

“Because that would never ruin your reputation,” Spike hit Cinch right where it hurt. Cinch looked like she was about to snap and do something stupid, but incredibly she managed to restrain herself and marched off, joined by a few of the students who also lacked a soul.

When all was said and done, it was decided that this year’s Friendship Games were a wash. Called on account of world-ending cataclysm, but no one seemed to mind overmuch. Twilight was sitting on the steps of the school, Spike on her lap and Lemon beside her. Cadence then came to sit next to them.

“Well, Twilight, looks like you’ll be getting into Everton soon. I doubt Cinch will want you around after everything that happened,” Cadence noted lightly as she smoothed out her skirt.

“Actually, Cadence, I’ve been thinking about that. I don’t think I want to apply to Everton anymore,” Twilight revealed while adjusting her glasses.

“Really? Why not?” Cadence asked. She had thought Twilight would be chomping at the bit more now than ever to get into Everton.

“It’s recently come to my attention that, while I am proficient in the hard sciences, I need to round out my knowledge on the soft sciences,” Twilight replied, “And I feel the best way to do that is to transfer to Canterlot High School for my remaining high school education.”

“You want to make more friends?” Cadence asked in surprise. This was great news!

“Yeah, if Lemon and Spike hadn’t been there to cause me to hesitate…things could have gotten messy. I figure finding a few more friends can’t hurt,” Twilight said, favoring Cadence with a wan smile.

“I’d like to transfer to Canterlot too, Dean Cadence,” Lemon suddenly spoke up and judging from Twilight’s reaction, this was a surprise to her too, “I can’t very well let Twi deal with all this magic and friendship nonsense on her own, now can I?”

“I will be transferring to Canterlot as well,” Sugarcoat appeared out of seemingly nowhere to announce.

“Sugar, you don’t have to-” Lemon started to protest.

“If you think I’m going to stop looking out for you just because you’re transferring schools, you have another thing coming. Or perhaps you were hoping to get away from me?” Sugarcoat asked with an arched eyebrow.

“Sugar, you know that’s not true!” Lemon exclaimed.

“Then there shouldn’t be a problem. Dean Cadence, I trust you will handle the paperwork?” Sugarcoat inquired.

“The three of you will be missed at Crystal Prep, by me if no one else, but I understand. I’ll talk to Principal Celestia right away,” Cadence promised and went to do just that.

The sun was preparing to set and the Rainbooms, alongside the Sirens, were lounging near the destroyed statue.

“So, I feel rather silly,” Sunset announced from her position leaning up against the base of the statue.

“And why’s that, bacon hair?” Aria asked, seated on the ground.

“The girls were ponying up when they displayed the qualities of their Elements. Really obvious, in hindsight…” Sunset sighed.

“Took you long enough!” Aria barked, “Seriously, it took you this long to figure it out?!”

“Isn’t one of those vaunted Friendship Reports you had us read on asking for help when you need it?” Adagio asked teasingly. Sunset suddenly felt a very strong urge to crawl into a hole and hibernate for the winter.

“Speaking of, any word from Duskfall?” Fluttershy asked, standing next to Sunset.

“Unfortunately not, but that might not mean all that much. With the portal down, it’s quite likely time has desynchronized between dimensions again. That’s also assuming the journal still works with the portal completely shut down. In any event, Duskfall is sure to notice the portal’s broken sooner or later and fix it. For now, it’s nice to know we can solve our own problems. We can’t expect them to always be around to help us,” Sunset replied as the group noticed Celestia walking towards them with Twilight, Lemon, and Sugarcoat.

“But maybe we can help?” Twilight hesitantly offered.

“It seems we have three new Wondercolts here at Canterlot High!” Celestia exclaimed happily.

“I’m not sure how much help we’ll be, but I for one would like to try,” Twilight offered.

“I may not be as book smart as Twi, but you can count me in too!” Lemon said eagerly.

“Someone must keep these two overexcited, reckless teens in check. I suppose the burden will fall on me,” Sugarcoat sighed, but if one looked close, they might see the faintest ghost of a smile playing on her lips.

“Then welcome to the club!” Sunset said warmly and the Rainbooms hugged their new friends.

“Oh, group hug!” Sonata cheered and joined them.

“Oh look, Aria, new playmates,” Adagio snarked.

“As if we needed another annoying purple girl in our lives,” Aria grumbled, but her sour attitude was ineffectual.

For Twilight Sparkle, the past few days had been quite strange. Magic was real, there was a portal to an alternate dimension in easy travel distance, and she had made new friends. To add a cherry on top of this sundae of weirdness, Sunset had offered to let her meet the version of herself from that alternate dimension…kinda? Twilight still wasn’t clear on the details. Something about a Soul Fusion, but that Twilight, apparently named Duskfall, would soon be here and Twilight could ask her questions.

As promised, a few minutes later the portal rippled and out came someone that looked intensely familiar to Twilight, save for her clothes. Twilight thought she was mentally prepared, but she quickly discovered she was not prepared for a version of herself dressed like a punk rocker.

Apparently, Twilight wasn’t the only one surprised by the wardrobe choices, as the doppelganger looked herself over with a mildly confused look before the portal rippled again and expelled another Twilight. This Twilight crashed into punk rock Twilight and the two fell to the ground in a tangle.

This new Twilight was dressed much more similarly to how Twilight expected her counterpart might dress. It was similar to her own clothes, but with mild variations. A pure blue blouse instead of one with lines, a pleated skirt with no pockets, and tall boots were this version’s attire. Something odd Twilight noticed was that neither of her counterparts was wearing glasses.

Before either of the Twilights could get off the ground, the portal rippled a third time and out came yet another Twilight Sparkle. Now the trio was stuck in a tangle of limbs that made it hard to discern the newcomer’s attire, which consisted of a beret, baggy turtleneck sweater, and plain blue jeans.

Twilight turned to the Rainbooms, looking for some kind of support, maybe a vain hope that this was somehow normal to them. Judging by the range of shocked, confused, an oddly hopeful looks on their faces, this was indeed not normal for them.

Then, as if determine to break any and all sense for the strange and bizarre Twilight might still posses, a shower of sparkles appeared next to the fumbling trio before resolving into yet another Twilight, this one wearing a sailor fuku that looked painfully similar to a certain magical girl anime Twilight had watched as a little girl.

“I am the Pretty Guardian who fights for love and justice! I am Sailor Twilight! In the name of the Stars, I will parody you!” She even did the pose and somehow kept a completely straight face!

“Are you for real right now?” Punk Rock asked from on the ground, looking at Sailor Senshi. Senshi looked down at her attire.

“I mean, I could’ve used my Ranger Morpher. It’s been a good century or so since I’ve used that. But, well, the joke was already baked in with the Senshi transformation and I’ve never been one to let low hanging fruit deter me from making a joke,” Sailor Senshi demurred.

“That’s not what I meant and you know it!” Punk Rock groused as she struggled to get free of the other two Twilights.

“Weren’t you in Canterlot with Celestia and Luna?” Costume Swap Twilight asked as she wiggled free.

“Yes, Celestia just sent out word to gather all the diplomats. She has some rather nice lavender tea,” Sailor Senshi noted mildly.

“Then I suppose you can be in multiple at the same time?” Theater Nerd asked as she stood up and brushed herself off.

“You know, Discord never give a straight answer on how he’s able to do that, though I suspect some form of quantum entanglement. Maybe I can ask you?” Costume Swap asked. That was the most Twilight thing Twilight had heard any of them say thus far.

“I’m always happy to feed inquiring minds,” Sailor Senshi replied. Her expression, like that of an amused cat, might be off putting to some, but to a Twilight hungry for knowledge, it would take more than that to discourage her.

“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!” Sunset finally exploded, “Duskfall doesn’t answer the journal, we find out the principal of Crystal Prep is emotionally manipulative and abusive, this world’s Twilight got pressured to the point of breaking by her classmates and principal, she was corrupted by our magic to nearly destroy reality, and now YOU’RE DOING A COMEDY SKETCH?!”

“Um, wow, I didn’t even think to check the journal. As you can see, a lot has been going on,” Punk Rock admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck with embarrassment.

“I thought it was cute,” Adagio opined, a smirk on her face and her arms crossed under her chest, likely just trying to be contrary.

“So I can make a wild guess and say a miracle happened, but that should mean there were three of you. So who’s the extra?” Rainbow asked, nodding towards Sailor Senshi.

“I’m a shapeshifter. It’s a bit of a story, which I’ll let these three tell you, but when I’m female, please call me Natsuki, male name’s David, but whatever you do, please don’t call me late for dinner,” Sailor Senshi cracked. She seemed disgustingly pleased with herself for that joke too. A few treacherous giggles escaped Twilight while AJ was just straight out laughing alongside Pinkie Pie and Sonata. Theater Nerd buried her face in her hands, Costume Swap was valiantly struggling against her own snickers, and Punk Rock was laughing like a madwoman. Everyone else was groaning as if the joke had physically hurt them.

“That joke was awful, you should consider never attempting humor again,” Sugarcoat suggested.

“Why, Sugarcoat, you wound me!” She smiled as she became a he and lost the Senshi outfit, “But I am actually here for reasons other than making bad jokes of the dad variety and otherwise. One of those reasons is congratulating Sunset on her ascension.”

“ASCENSION?!” Several people exclaimed in shock. Sunset fell onto her butt from sheer shock.

“Yep, goddess of Hope and Healing, I just got the notification. I know you’ve wanted this for a long time, so I’ll just get out of your way and uphold the second reason I’m here: to tell the nations of this world to expect visitors,” David replied.

“What? Why?!” Came many shocked exclamations.

“You mean besides the fact that Canada has been playing host to foreign dignitaries on and off for the past few months without the proper diplomatic channels being notified?” Punk Rock snarked, “Yes, there is another reason and it’s totally my fault.”

“What did you do, Duskfall? I presume it has something to do with how you got Tom and Twilight back?” Adagio asked with curiosity as Sunset suffered a full meltdown, “What forbidden Black Magic have you delved into?”

“It wasn’t Black Magic, just a homebrew summoning spell that had some…unintended side effects,” Duskfall replied, folding her arms petulantly. David wandered off to do whatever it was he needed to do.

“She caught the attention of Death, forged a contract with him, and in the process alerted all reality to Equuis’ location. Since our two dimensions are so closely bound, I don’t find it hard to imagine at least a few people who are looking for Equuis ending up on this version of Earth instead,” Costume Swap informed them.

“Thanks for ratting me out, Twilight,” Duskfall pouted, “I could have broken the news so much more gently.” This got Theater Nerd to start laughing.

“I don’t think you and gentle go anywhere in the same sentence unless there’s a bed involved,” Theater Nerd ribbed Duskfall. The former Shadowbolts and Fluttershy flushed at the raunchy insinuation.

“You’re just jealous because you haven’t gotten any, Tommy boy,” Duskfall shot back. Tom did the mature thing and stuck out his tongue.

“I ascended?” Sunset finally spoke, still sounding dazed.

“Yes, Sunset, we’ve covered this. Tom and Twilight are back from the dead, I’m being babysat by Death’s right hand, and you are now an Alicorn goddess of Hope and Healing, apparently,” Duskfall told her friend with all that gentle tact she had just been talking about.

“I…I…I gotta tell Mom!” Sunset then dove through the portal without another word.

“I hope someone remembers to take pictures,” Duskfall noted idly, looking at the now still portal.

“I will be deeply surprised if Raven doesn’t have a camera on her at all times,” Twilight’s most direct counterpart opined.

“How long do you think she’ll spend freaking out over her new wings?” Tom wondered, “I’m betting five minutes.”

“Care to put something on that wager?” Duskfall inquired with the grin of a card shark.

“So uh, not to interrupt, but who are you people? Like, I get you’re all supposed to be Twilights from another dimension or something, but one of you is a punk rocker,” Lemon spoke up.

“I’m not a Twilight,” Tom corrected.

“Like hell you’re not!” Duskfall shouted vehemently, “Twilight’s a Twilight, I’m a Twilight, you’ve been stuck with both of us long enough that you’re a Twilight, got it?!”

“Duskfall…” Tom was surprised, taken aback really, by how adamant Duskfall was in her protests, “Alright, if you say I’m a Twilight, then I’m a Twilight.”

“Are you recruiting?” Adagio asked sarcastically with a sardonic smile.

“Sorry, but Tom’s only getting in through extenuating circumstances. Better luck next time, Dagi,” Duskfall replied airily. She then skipped forward towards Twilight herself, “So, you’re our new recruit?”

“Duskfall Sparkle, don’t you even think about it!” The Other Twilight barked.

“Mom! Really? She’s underage! I’m not a total degenerate!” Duskfall turned to Other Twilight and sulked with her best pout. Duskfall’s words brought up some very important questions in Twilight’s mind, so she decided to focus on the one with less potential to scar her forever.

“’Mom’?” Twilight asked of the trio. Duskfall returned her attention to Twilight and grinned wickedly.

“Gather ‘round, children, and let Auntie Duskfall tell you a tale! A tale of Misery and Woe! A tale of Madness most pure! It all began when Mama Twilight fucked up a spell…”

Author's Note

Lots of things to say, lots of things to announce, let's get down to brass tacks.

First, I had no intention of doing anything more than a dumb scene with that 'Twilight meets Twilight' moment at the very end of the movie. Then I realized I was being dumber than usual and did the whole movie. During the writing of this chapter, a certain side side character caught my attention and my imagination and got the Lightning Dust treatment.

Then when Lemon Zest got tapped for a bigger role, she insisted on dragging Sugarcoat along with her. So I guess we'll just have to see how those two pan out in the future, but I have high hopes.

Second, as much as I hate to admit it, I absolutely can not continue the 'once a week' schedule going into Standing United. I want it to be as perfect as it possibly can be and that sort of thing takes time.

Speaking of schedules, I had intended to get this chapter out in November, but then Thanksgiving happened and I decided to try and take some time off until my birthday, January 9th. Since you're reading this author's note, you know how well that plan went. I still would've had this out earlier, but I've been binge watching Supernatural. Curse you Flutershyfan3030, you've entrapped me in another fandom.

With this chapter, I think everything mission critical to Shattered Souls has been posted. It's been requested I do the R-rated scene between Duskfall, Nightmare Moon, and that dimension's Twilight. I might do that, might not, still undecided. Other than that, I'll be thinking about silly scenes, mayhap one or two involving a certain Flutterbat~

I don't know when exactly Standing United will be posted. It'll likely be sometime after my birthday. I have the cover art for it, I have the general outline in my head for what I want to happen during the first chapter, I just want to make sure everything's settled in my head before starting to put word to document.

I figured since A Human, a Pony Princess, and a Mistake and Shattered Souls both had different artists do the cover art, I might as well make that a thing and hired someone else to make the cover art for Standing United.