Ever since I returned to the table with my breakfast sandwich, the two women just stared at me with an uncomfortable look about them. Like, I could sense that they wanted to say something, but weren't sure how to say it. Maybe something cultural? Yeah, that's probably the problem.

"You know that contains meat, right?" V.P. Luna finally asked after I'd scarfed down half my sandwich in just a few seconds. "I thought ponies were vegetarians."

Unable to help myself, I moaned slightly. Yeah, it probably made them uncomfortable given that it almost sounded sexual, but this sandwich was good. The bacon was crisp, but not crumbly, the sausage patty was juicy, and the fried egg was just right. English muffin tastes homemade, too. "Mmmfuchyesh," I mumbled through a mouthful of food as a bit of yolk spilt down my chin. I quickly grabbed a napkin and dabbed it up before shrugging. "Most ponies are either vegetarian or pescatarian, if you can believe it. The Omega-3 fatty acids and proteins are really good for pegasi, but it's a common protein option in a lot of coastal areas where you can't get good beans, mushrooms, and tofu as easily." I fought the temptation to dangle the fact that Twilight won't let me cook fish in the castle, even though I read in a magazine that it's really good for our coats.

Instead, I tilted my head slightly and smiled, taking another sip of my coffee. "It helps that I didn't used to be a pony," I said after polishing off the rest of my sandwich. I held up my hand, fingers curled inwards as I examined my cuticles, before turning my hand, fingers outstretched. "If not for the different proportions, vibrant colours, and the like, I'd almost be willing to call this form human." That statement got a dark look from them, as if I'd just insulted them. I suppose I technically did. "I mean, it's what I was before I was a pony, but this isn't quite the same. Anyway, maybe that's why the Cutie Map thought I was the best filly for the job."

To be honest, I half expected one or the other to ask about the 'magic table' or Cutie Map that I keep mentioning. Either they didn't care enough to ask, or Twilight explained what it was in the introductory letter. Instead, Celestia just silently rubbed her eyes, as though she were already nursing a headache, and Luna gave me this questioning look as I nibbled away at my plain sugar doughnut.

After a few moments, she finally asked, "So do you have some sort of plan?" She interlaced her fingers, and rested her chin on the backs of her raised hands. "Much of Twilight's first foray into this world seemed to be rather... uncoordinated as if she were merely going with the flow—despite her rather tight time limit."

That got a nod from Celestia. "You won't be able to slip by without notice in the school like Twilight did, so you would likely need to shadow a class," she added. "At the very least, we'd need to assign you a 'guide'."

"That's mostly in line with what I intended to do anyways," I agreed, standing up and going over to the chair I'd sat my bag on. "Sunset seemed pretty damn confident—and I'm inclined to believe her—that she's not the culprit behind Anon-a-Miss, so for my first day I just plan on sussing things out and maybe get a rumour set about me. If I can do that, I can at the least prove that Sunset isn't behind it."

From my bag, I withdrew Sunset's phone, and the wafer of gold wrapped in a non-abrasive cloth. "She gave me this before I sent her home," I said, placing the phone down in front of Celestia, "and although she wanted to wait until after this is resolved to go over the contents, it's best I leave this in your care." With a steely-faced look, I glanced between the two of them. "If anyone were to see any notifications on the lock screen, however, well... that'd be out of my hands."

Celestia seemed to take the hint, because a dark look crossed her face. "I see," she murmured, slipping the phone into her pocket. "It saddens me that she still doesn't trust me enough to reach out for help."

I nodded. "As for this... I considered keeping this to barter for a place to stay," I said, sitting the wrapped gold down upon the table before Luna. "That said, I'd be content crashing in the library, as Aunt Twilight did—" I gestured to the bottom of my backpack, where the sleeping bag Strongwind had fetched me was strapped. "—and having access to the school's facilities, so I am more than happy to treat this as a donation to Canterlot High."

Luna pulled over the small packet and lifted up the cloth. Her eyes widened, and then she turned it so that Celestia could see. Once her sister's eyes had widened to an equal degree, the vice principal pulled the cloth back over, and then pocketed it. The pair exchanged looks before nodding. Right then, I realised that I probably could've asked to crash with them for the value of the bribe I just gave them.

"If you are going to shadow some classes in order to get a better feel for the disposition of the school," Celestia said, "You're going to encounter a phys-ed class eventually, and I somehow don't believe you have any other clothes." She gave her sister a smile I really didn't like. "I can hold down the fort if you're willing to take her to pick up something she can exercise in."

Fuck.

~ 21 ~

It was a weird experience, shopping with Vice Principal Luna. The entire car trip was full of awkward silence. I got the impression that she couldn't tell if I was younger or older than I appeared. To be fair, I didn't really do much better; I couldn't think of a way to break the silence. I mean it would have been an opportunity to talk about my old world, but I just... didn't feel like bringing up my former home. But hey, at least I didn't have to be told about wearing seat-belts in her surprisingly nice coupe.

The ride to the big box store was relatively short, and it took a lot of effort for me to not blurt out 'Fucking Walmart' when we entered. Despite being called Wallget—"Come shop wall to wall, and get what you need!"—it was quite literally a carbon copy of America's favourite haunt for weirdos, only in green rather than blue. Even the clustering was similar to a few of the stores I'd shopped at over the years. Off to one end of the store, you had everything from lawn-and-garden to sports, while the other end had men's, women's and kids all centred around the changing rooms. There was even a section in the middle of the store that centre.

I was a bit hesitant to leave my cloak and wallet with my backpack in the car, but Luna was very convincing. "Do you realise how suspicious that cloak of yours looks?" was her exact phrasing. Apparently, by her estimate, even if they only got half the value of that gold wafer, getting me some clothes wouldn't even put a dent in it. They also apparently had a charity fund with which to give students clothes in the event of an emergency, and though I doubted I counted as a student or an emergency, she was willing to make an exception as a preemptive thank-you for coming to deal with this Anon-a-Miss mess.

So it was that she helped me find some pyjamas—a black-and-white tee and yellow pyjama bottoms—a track jacket that matched the colour scheme of my blouse, and a nice pair of black jersey shorts. Actually, I found myself wondering how she even found just the right colours, since it didn't look like they had any sort of future-tech clothing printers here. A pair of nice runners was probably the easiest bit to find. It was even easy to get a few pairs of underwear, since we knew my size from the shorts.

The awkward part definitely had to be finding a sports bra. Given that I only planned to be here a few short days, I questioned why I even needed one, but Luna pointed out that the sort of bra I'd been given by the portal—she had me pass it to her while I was trying on plain tee so she could check for sizes—wasn't suited for exercise, and I'd probably find myself regretting not having some support; even if I were here only a short time, my small chest would still get uncomfortable after a while. I of course hadn't ever had the need for bras in my old life, and none of my 'dates' had ever cared about them, so I knew next to nothing.

Since my portal-given clothing had no tags, and there were no employees around to help, we had to go through an awkward experience. They apparently kept measuring tapes at the till outside the dressing room, so Luna borrowed that, and walked me through taking measurements before finding me something suitable. Honestly, every moment I spent without a top on felt like I was intruding on someone else's privacy, and there was this strange feeling in the back of my mind that I should at least feel something at the sight of myself. Instead, all I thought was a detached, Yep. That's non-pony me alright.

Regardless, I was thankful to get back into my clothes and get moving again; despite being a pony for several human months now, nudity as a biped still felt wrong. It took next to no time for the V.P. to pay, and we were out in her car shortly after. I took a little bit to pack away my new clothes and put my cloak on, but we were on the road once more. All said and done, it was quarter to eight when we pulled out. God, shopping takes up a surprising amount of time.

At least it wasn't a long trip from the Wallget to Canterlot High School. "Until we make the announcement over the public address system explaining your presence to the student body, you may wish to keep your hood low," she said as we pulled into the school's parking lot. "Many of the students attending still remember Emerald Flicker, and without proper warning, some may grow... confused."

I nodded, preemptively pulling my hood up. "I've been meaning to ask about that," I murmured, casting a sidelong glance out at students walking about the parking lot. My wearing a dead girl's face—Was it also a dead filly's?—had seemed like a blessing, but if it was something traumatic, would my appearance really sow such confusion and despondency? "How did my counterpart...?"

As the car came to a stop, Miss Luna put her hand on my shoulder. "It's better that you not ask," she said in a soft voice. I couldn't see her eyes, but I imagine from the sorrow surrounding her, they were teary. "For your sake, and for those around you. It is not a happy memory."

Once she threw the car into park and cut the power, she stepped out. I quickly followed, pulling my backpack—although really it was more of a travel rucksack—out of the back seat and shutting the door. I didn't have time to throw it over my shoulders, so I just carried it in front of me, holding it by the carry strap across the top. I still found myself having to run to keep up with her, and even then, I could only just barely keep her butt in sight.

She does have a nice ass, I thought, feeling my cheeks warm up. For some reason, the thought reminded me of that painting of Celestia that Shining Armour's friend had done. It left me confused because it still wasn't something I understood.

She led me into the building, and upon stepping through the door, that confusion was quickly replaced by nausea. It was as if I had been physically punched in the gut. Just under the surface of confusion and curiosity that every student radiated as we passed them by, there was this overbearing miasma of malice bearing down on me. I think even without my preternaturally enhanced sense of empathy, I would've felt it. Everybody here is probably subconsciously feeding it, and feeding off it like some sort of recursive hate spiral.

"Jesus, the atmosphere is so thick you could cut it with a knife," I muttered as we entered the school's administrative offices. A secretary, one who struck me as rather familiar, gave me a strange look. More loudly, I asked, "How long has it been like this?"

"Two weeks," Celestia said through an open office door, which Luna quickly entered. When I entered, Luna shut the door behind me and puled up a chair for me. "Today's Monday the ninteenth, and school's out until the new year as of Friday, so we'd ideally like this resolved before then."

I nodded as I sat my bag down at my feet. I then straightened out my skirt, and took a seat across from Celestia. The blue-haired sister merely stood by her side. There wasn't much to do until the start of classes, so I simply started reorganising my backpack, putting Sunset's journal at the very bottom, my towel, toiletries, and new clothes in the middle, and my notebook and pencils on top. Content with the state of my bag, I closed it up and shut my eyes.

Turning my attention inward, I focused on trying to shut out the atmosphere of the school. Although the miasma of negativity was somewhat muted in this office, even here it sat in the back of my throat like the taste of rot on the wind. It's a shame that this happened before the changeling leader, Thorax, was scheduled to visit Ponyville. Although Twilight couldn't scientifically explain the how or why of it, Spike had suggested talking to the reformed changeling about it. Finding out how to either control this ability or block it out would've been really swell, especially now, but he wasn't due for another week, and I'd probably miss his visit at this rate.

Maybe if I focus my attention on one emotion? Although my eyes were still shut, I flicked them from where I knew the two women to be. Let's see, Ms. Luna is curious, and hopeful, but apprehensive if I'm reading her right. Those weren't bad feelings to focus on—well, maybe the apprehension wouldn't be the best. Ms. Celestia on the other hand, seems frustrated, stressed, but also a bit playful.

The corner of my mouth perked up as I focused on that emotion. The more I pulled on that emotion, tugging it to the forefront of my mind, the more I felt submersed in it. Despite myself, a giggle escaped me as the weight of the whole negative vibe in the school stopped pushing down on my shoulders. Unfortunately, it was quite literally dragging me under and carrying me away. I was almost howling with laughter as I tried to rein myself in. Wow. Is this how Pinkie always feels?

"Sorry," I said as I pulled myself back to the surface of my mind and opened my eyes. Even though I was no longer immersed in Celestia's playfulness, it wasn't as hard to stomach anymore. Still, they were looking at me like I was a bit on the daft side. "Was trying to block out all this smothering negativity in the air, and I felt a twinge of playfulness from you. Apparently I shouldn't be playing with powers I still don't understand without the instruction of an empath."

The two shared a look, and I thought someone was about to say something, but then a bell chimed. Sighing, Celestia withdrew what looked to be the desk microphone of a ham radio, and set it in front of her. She pressed a button, and began reading from a paper that seemed to be the day's announcements. Beneath that paper looked to be Twilight's letter. It all seemed pretty mundane. Christmas volunteering on Friday for extra credit, a winter dance on Thursday, and a friendly reminder to take extra care as it was icy out. "... and finally, I have a special announcement," she said with a positive up-swing to her voice. "You all no doubt remember Twilight Sparkle, our friend from the mirror world. She's sent someone important to her to spend some time in our world, and has entrusted her safety to us."

Ms. Luna leaned down next to her sister's face and spoke up. "Now, to many of you, this girl will look very familiar, and she may even elicit some sad memories. That being said, I would remind you that she is not the person you knew." Again, there was a wave of sorrow washing over me as she said this. "While she is with us, I hope that you will give our new Equestrian friend a proper Canterlot High greeting."

Shutting off the P.A. mic, Principal Celestia stood and walked over to the door. Cracking it open, she called out, "Raven, could you page Mr. Noteworthy's room and have Fluttershy come down to my office?"

I winced, something I doubted they missed, at her mention. I was hoping not to involve myself with that group so soon out of the gate. After all, they'd turned on Sunset so easily. Then again, with the way Luna announced my presence, they'd probably find me before too long. So maybe this wouldn't be totally bad... But it also meant I'd probably end up having to lie around AJ's counterpart. I wonder if she has the same preternatural honesty detection?

"Is there a problem, Emerald?" Celestia asked when she took her seat once more. "She's a part of the group that Twilight befriended during her travels here, and they are some of the most trustworthy students I know."

"Nah," I lied, waving my hand dismissively. She really doesn't know, then? About the fact that Rainbow and AJ attacked Sunset? Or the bullying she's been subjected to since Anon-a-Miss began? "It's just, in Equestria, Fluttershy is what one would generously describe as squeamish. Aren't you worried she's gonna drop like a myotonic goat?"

The pair just smiled knowingly, leaving me to simply sit there and wait for my guide. I couldn't just sit idle, though, so I fished out the note-pad from my cloak, alongside the stubby pencil. No, I should start by writing down what I know. At the top of the first page, I wrote Anonymous using the moon-glyphs for without and name. It was an active decision as, from what I'd seen and from what Twilight had told me, they only used the base sun-glyph system. If someone did go rooting through my stuff, at best, they might find Sunset's journal and a notepad full of indecipherable notes. Following up, I wrote Me, the compounding rune denoting ownership, and the moon-glyph for knowledge.

My knowledge:

• First post suspected to be made the fifth—could be earlier.
• Can't rule out something precipitated this. Find out if anything special happened in the days leading up to start.
• Suggested that friends and/or family of peer group may be at centre of conspiracy.
• Investigate tactics employed versus historical.

I paused my writing to glance at Celestia from beneath my hood. "Does CHS have a yearbook committee?" I asked, "Or is there anyone who might have an in-depth knowledge of how you-know-who operated before Aunt Twilight's first visit?"

"I can't think of anyone outside of Snips and Snails who might be able to answer as to her specific methods, although they're both on suspension following a fight brought on by an Anon-a-Miss post," she said, shaking her head. "As for the yearbook committee, I think the only student remaining following the last graduation is Wallflower Blush."

I nodded, appending 'Consult Wallflower Blush,' to the most recent note. From my limited understanding, people who worked on yearbooks were supposed to have a finger on the pulse of the school. The way I figured it, she might be able to shine some insight on who Sunset might have bullied in the past, and how she did so. I can easily prove if she's not Anon-a-Miss simply by getting the blog to post something about me. More than that, I wanna find out if this is a lazy frame-job, or if they knew their stuff.

Before I could ask if they had any sort of printout of the posts, the door creaked open. I snapped my notepad shut, slid it back into the inner pocket over my left breast, and leaned forward so that my hood obscured. I'll admit that I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't just solve this before even starting my first day, but I wasn't exactly expecting things to be easy.Still, I wonder if I couldn't convince Twilight to allow me some day trips to this world?

"Um, excuse me, Ms. Celestia?" came a familiar voice from the doorway. It sounded just like the pony I knew, but the pitch was somewhat higher, as she was clearly much younger. A feeling of unease began to permeate the room, and it wouldn't have surprised me if she thought she was in trouble. "I was told you wanted to see me?"

"Be at ease, Fluttershy," Luna responded, ushering the girl in and shutting the door behind her. "You're not in trouble." She gestured at me. "Rather, we wanted to introduce you to somebody."

Taking that as my queue, I rose from my seat and shed my hood. "Hello, Fluttershy," I said with a smile that felt a bit forced. Despite the fact that I was wearing the cloak, I still went through the motions of a curtsy. "Aunt Twilight has told me so much about you, and you're every bit as pretty as your Equestrian counterpart."

Even as the shock and embarrassment poured off the girl. "This, as you might have already deduced, is Emerald Flicker," Principal Celestia explained, as I offered the girl my seat. If I were in her shoes, I'd probably also want to sit down, so it wasn't really all that surprising when she sank into it with a grateful look. "Following a nasty situation in the other world, it would seem that Twilight deemed it safer for her ward to stay in our world for the time being. As such, we'd like for you to be her guide while she's here, and she'll attend the same classes as you." She turned her attention to me. "The situation's already been explained to the faculty, and although you're not going to be required to participate, you are encouraged to."

"Yes'm," I replied with a quick salute. From there, I quickly removed my cloak and stuffed it into a side-pocket of my bag. By this point, Flutters seemed a bit less dazed. "Shall we go?"

With a quiet nod, she rose to her feet and led me out of the administrative offices. Although I imagined her teacher would probably want her back sooner, rather than later, she didn't seem to be in any sort of hurry. Rather, she seemed to be in shock, or was otherwise wrestling with something that she couldn't put into words. So we just walked quietly through the halls.

Crossing through the foyer, I noticed a poster for something apparently set a few months ago, celebrating the conclusion of the 'Battle of the Bands.' I paused to look at it, biting the inside of my lip. It showed Twilight, and several girls who resembled ponies I knew. There was a seventh girl in the group, but it looked as though someone had purposely took a box cutter to the picture, slashing up her face until it was just a bunch of paper shreds. It looked like someone had written Demon Bitch over her head in permanent marker.

Further on, we passed into a hallway of lockers. All of them were pristine, but for one. The metal panel was dented inward, and it was covered in so much graffiti that you couldn't tell that it was the same colour green beneath it all like the rest. It looked as though someone had attempted to cover it up, but gave up at some point, giving way to several vulgar messages. 'I hope you kill yourself,' was probably one of the least colourful messages there.

Are there no security cameras in this hallway? I mused, looking around. There appeared to be one, but it looked like someone had covered it with spitballs and nobody had ever got around to clearing it. Surely this sort of thing can't really be tolerated.

"Um, do you mind if I ask you a question?" Fluttershy asked, coming to a stop once that locker was out of sight. She was fidgeting with her hands slightly. When I shook my head, she continued. "You called Twilight your aunt... um... but when she was here, she only looked a little older than you."

That brought a smile to my face. As an aftershock of playfulness rushed through me, I leaned up against a random locker. "She's... not really or officially family," I answered, "but she is the closest thing I have to a mother there. Also, you wouldn't believe the age difference between us on the other side. She's easily in her late twenties, whereas—at least by Equestrian reckoning—I'm only almost nine."

She looked as though she'd just been fed a lemon, which only made me laugh more. "That portal is crazy, I tell you," I continued, giggling at her expression. "A year in Equestria is exactly one thousand days, and I'm about... hmm, eighty-five twenty-something days old. How long's a year here? Standard three-sixty-five with leap years?" When she gave me an almost scared nod, I smiled. "Tell you what, I'll stop breaking your brain, at least until lunch."

Quietly, I heard her mumble something that sounded an awful lot like, "You're nothing like the Emerald I knew..." The bitter taste of her sadness and anger filled the back of my throat as she looked away. "You're more like her than anything else."

Without a word, she hurried along and led me into a classroom. Mr. Noteworthy, a blueish man with hair not unlike mine, welcomed me to his history class. Although I introduced myself to the class and took a seat at an empty—and suspiciously tagged with Anon-a-Bitch in permanent marker—desk, my mind was elsewhere. Oh, I was perfectly capable of taking notes, and I was doing exactly that, but I wasn't really paying attention for a bit.

What did she mean that I was more like her?

Author's Note

Credit to my sounding board, Rehquis for Wallget and the slogan "Come shop wall to wall and get what you need!"

The outfit that Anon was granted by the portal—sans her cloak, as Koikatsu has no real equivalent—is as follows:

(Yes, her hairstyle is somewhat modeled after Saya's avatar from Saya no Uta, although the 'wings' do sort of provide a sort of animal-eared look.)

The exercise outfit purchased is as follows:

Note the tied back hair for safe exercise.

It's pajama time, and my god, Anon is sleepy!

Hair is still tied back because I had to do two separate characters to allow for the differing hairstyle, and ended up compiling her 'official' pajamas on the second iteration, alongside her gym clothes.

And yes, Anon is fully cognisant of the irony of sitting in a desk tagged with Anon-a-Bitch. Who knows, maybe she's gonna kick back and kick off the kiddy gloves, since she doesn't need to rein herself in around children that she sees as significantly younger than her.

Next chapter in a week (tentatively), although I might get a bit distracted because someone got me interested in Terraria again. Expect a little world-building for the new world, gym class, and more!