The next morning, Twilight was ready with a plan. She mulled it over in her head throughout the night.

“Fauna said I’ll need to win over all of the different student groups if I want to win votes,” Twilight said. “So, I’ve compiled a list of talking points. First, I introduce myself.”

“Good so far,” Spike admitted.

“Then,” Twilight continued on. “I’ll sprinkle in some of the things I’ve learned about in casual conversation. Maybe something about computers?”

“Maybe,” Spike nodded.

“After that,” Twilight finished. “They decide that I’m really nice and vote for me.”

“Great ideas,” Spike said.

“Come on, Spike,” Twilight said with confidence. “Time to make a good first impression. This world and Equestria sort of depends on it.”

Spike climbed into Twilight’s backpack. Twilight took a deep breath and exited the library into the school hallways. Students were going about their day, but, when they saw Twilight, there were murmurs of stifling laughter. This left her a bit confused.

“Why is everyone acting like this?” Twilight whispered aloud.

But, as she walked on, she was suddenly pulled into a classroom. She and Spike yelped in surprise at the sudden situation. They saw a glimpse of who was responsible. It was a girl with alabaster skin, long purple hair in luxurious curls, wearing an ice blue off the shoulder blouse, gold bracelets on her wrists, a purple skirt with blue diamonds, fastened by a darker purple belt, and long dark purple high-heeled boots. Twilight recognized her from the yearbook picture.

“Rachael?” Twilight asked. I would have said Rarity, but, that would likely be a nickname to her, Twilight thought to herself.

Rachael pulled out a wig and slapped it on Twilight’s head. “Too poufy,” Rachael winced. She pulled out another. “Too shiny!” she exclaimed.

Where have I seen this before? Twilight thought to herself as Rachael worked. “What are you doing?” she asked aloud.

“Quiet please, darling,” Rachael said. “I’m busy working my magic on you. I need something that says, ‘I am totally new here and you have never seen me before.’ Well, more so than you already did on your own yesterday.”

“Wait, what are you-?” Twilight started before Rachael put Twilight in a key lime green dress and Rachael put a blond Farrah-style wig on Twilight’s head.

“Perfect!” Rachael exclaimed happily. “Now no one will recognize you.”

“Why wouldn’t I want to be–?” Twilight said, her voice muffled by the green fabric.

“I’ll also have to figure out a disguise for your dog,” Rachael said, looking at Spike peeking out of Twilight’s backpack. “It would be a shame considering how absolutely adorable he is. But, with some hard work, I think I can make him look like something just as adorable, like a rabbit.”

Spike appreciated the attention, but, kept mentally reminding himself that this wasn’t the same Rarity he developed feelings for in Equestria. Just then, entering the classroom were Asheligh, Fauna, and Pinkie.

“There ya are, Twilight!” Ashleigh said, relieved.

“So much for the disguise,” Rachael huffed.

“Ah’ve been lookin’ all over fer ya,” Ashleigh explained.

“So was I,” Fauna said.

“And me too,” Pinkie squeaked. “I like your new look.”

“Yes, I do have an eye for these things,” Rachael smiled, but, her expression quickly dropped to a scowl. “Not that you seem to care.”

The comment struck a chord in Twilight. As much as she tried not to care that these versions of her best friends weren’t getting along, it really bothered her. She wanted to say something about it, but, she held her tongue. A subject change was better. “So, why were you all looking for me? What’s going on?”

“Uh, oh,” Fauna said. “She hasn’t seen the video yet.”

“What video?” Twilight asked.

Pinkie pulled a pink laptop out of her backpack and opened it up. She then loaded up the aforementioned video. What Twilight saw was shocking as it was footage of her looking and acting ridiculous in the library with Susan narrating about how incompetent Twilight was. Twilight gasped in shock.

“Yeah…” Pinkie said with worry. “It’s really bad.”

“Some of those happened in the library yesterday!” Twilight exclaimed. “How did this happen?!”

“I have an awful feeling,” Rachael explained. “That Skip and Sheldon, two of Susan’s lackeys, were recording you and Susan compiled the video to slander you. Something similar happened to me when I was running against her during the Spring Fling last school year.”

“Has everyone in the school seen this?” Twilight asked. “This could have been why all of the students were stifling their laughter when they saw me.”

“It may not help much,” Fauna said kindly. “But, I’ll still vote for you. You were so kind to help me when Susan was picking on me in the hallway yesterday, so the least I could do is vote for you.”

Pinkie walked over to Twilight and leaned on a desk. “If you still want to run, maybe there’s something I can do to help.”

“Word of advice,” Fauna whispered. “Don’t take her advice. She’s not one to take anything seriously.”

“Why do you have to be so awful to me?!” Pinkie whined.

“Oh, please,” Rachael said, rolling her eyes. “You’re no better than she is!”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?!” Pinkie snapped.

“Simmer down, y’all!” Ashleigh said, trying to stop the arguing. “Yer all just carryin’ on n’ dumpin’ yer own problems onta Twi. Get over it n’ move on.”

“That’s rich coming from you,” Rachael scoffed. “You haven’t let go of what happened between you and Roxy.”

“She said she was goin’ ta come ta the bake sale with her softball team,” Ashleigh argued. “Ah tell everybody they’re comin’, but, then, not one o’ ‘em shows up. She made a liar outta me! That’s different!”

“Is not!” The other girls, minus Twilight, shouted.

“Is too!” Ashleigh retorted back.

Twilight couldn’t handle the arguing any longer. “STOP! All of you!” She then pulled the yearbook out of her backpack. “I want to show you something. You were all friends once.” She opened the yearbook to show the picture of them at the Freshman Fair. Ashleigh was the first to crack.

“The Freshman Fair,” Ashleigh sighed in a nostalgic tone. “That takes me back. Y’all ‘member that?”

“Indeed,” Rachael admitted. “It was where we met Sally for the first time.”

“Think about Sally,” Twilight said. “She was a close friend to all of you. If she were here right now, do you think she’d like seeing her friends arguing like this?”

The four arguing girls were suddenly quieted. They had a lot to think about. They thought about how they were acting and how much they missed Sally.

“If Sally hadn’t disappeared,” Twilight asked. “What would she suggest you all do in arguments like this?”

“Talk through our problems?” Rachael suggested.

“And have any of you actually tried doing that?” Twilight asked.

“No,” they said sadly.

“So, who wants to go first?” Twilight inquired.

“I guess I could,” Fauna said. “The reason I was so upset with Pinkie was because she brought fireworks and noise makers to the animal shelter when we were supposed to have a silent auction.”

“What are you talking about?” Pinkie asked in confusion. “I got a text from you saying that you didn't want a silent auction. You wanted a big party!” She showed her the text on her phone. “See? Right there.”

Fauna was surprised with what she both heard and saw. “I never sent you any of these texts,” Fauna said truthfully. She pulled her own phone out of her pocket and presented her text messages that were to Pinkie. “Wait a minute… How did this message get on my phone? I don’t remember typing that.”

“How did that happen?” Pinkie inquired in clear bewilderment.

“I suspect Susan used Fauna’s phone to send you those texts,” Twilight speculated.*

Fauna and Pinkie were sheepish. “Hey, Fauna,” Pinkie spoke up. “I’m sorry I ruined your silent auction.”

“I’m sorry, too,” Fauna apologized.

“Could Susan have been behind those emails I’ve been receiving?” Rachael pondered.

“What emails?” Pinkie asked.

“Every time I offer to help with decorating for a school function,” Rachael explained. “I would receive an email from Pinkie saying that she has all of the volunteers they need. After each event, I find out Pinkie does all of the decorating herself.”

“I never sent you any emails,” Pinkie explained honestly. “That must be why I never get any volunteers to help me.”

“The emails all say that they’re sent from your phone,” Rachael said.

“I don’t use my phone to send emails,” Pinkie said. She opened her laptop again to show her email address. “I use my computer.”

“Wait a minute…” Rachael said, looking closer. “That email address doesn’t match the email address from the emails I get!”** She then had a remorseful look on her face. “I’m so sorry that I accused you of not being appreciative of my efforts.”

“I’m sorry too, Rachael,” Pinkie apologized.

“Maybe Susan’s the reason Roxy didn’t show up ta mah bake sale,” Ashleigh theorized.

“Had you asked her the reason why?” Twilight asked.

Ashleigh thought about the question and held her hat over her chest as she answered. “Ah guess ah stopped talkin’ ta her at all after that.”

Twilight took a deep breath. “So, let me get this straight,” she said. “All of you have ways to talk to each other from far away without yelling and ways to send messages across great distances in the blink of an eye, but, you still lack basic communication skills?”***

Fauna couldn’t help but sniffle. “That really makes me miss Sally. She would set us straight like you did.”

“I don’t even know how to use those phone things and can barely operate a computer,” Twilight said. “But, I’m still able to communicate with others just fine.”

“I think we could all take a cue from your book, Twilight,” Rachael said.

“Guess there’s one other thing that needs ta be done now,” Applejack said, taking a deep breath. “Ah need ta straighten things out with Roxy. Ah imagine ah’m in fer an earful.”

Author's Note

Here's the next chapter.

*How else would you explain Pinkie receiving texts from Fauna that Fauna herself was unaware of?

**Something Rachael really should've noticed.

***She's not wrong.

Comments? Questions? Thoughts? You know where to leave them.