//------------------------------//
// Chapter 03: Pancake's Labyrinth 
// Story: The Angels have Landed 
// by Tarri 
//------------------------------//

	“Muurrrrr…” Dreamstar mumbled, as he staggered down the hallway.
“Muurrrrr…” Starwishes replied, as she staggered past her brother, in the opposite direction.
Cue a pause, followed by the noise of a toilet flushing.
“Murr…” Dreamstar murmured to his sister, as they passed each other in the hallway again.
“Murr…” Starwishes replied. They swapped destinations.
Cue a pause, followed by the noise of a toilet flushing. Again.
Next, bring in a third figure, dressed in a light aqua short-sleeved shirt, large collar opening, and light blue shorts. 35 years old, yet a face one would mistake for being fresh out of high school. Her hair was of similar style to the two zombie clones wandering the hallway, currently looking for their brains.
She halted, and watched with growing anticipation as her twin offspring headed towards each other again. Both siblings smacked their heads together, followed by a syncronised duo collapse to the floor.
“Ooow…” Both twins moaned, rubbing their heads.
“And a good morning to the two of you, too!” Their mother said to them, with an amused satisfaction.
Dreamstar and Starwishes looked at each other, with an almost blank expression, before helping each other up. Now they were awake.
“Breakfast’s on the table,” their mother announced. At that, both of her children had a rumbly tummy… their stomachs had also awoken, and it was time for a food offering to be made.
“Thanks Mum!!” Both twins called in unison, as they dashed down the hallway, down the stairs, and burst into the dining room. Their mother could only shake her head. How she ever was able to raise those two without going insane was a mystery. Or perhaps she was already insane, but didn’t know it.
She wasn’t quite like her children in her youth, despite the fact she and her spawn had many similarities - her hair, though the same colour, had wisps of white, although reached past her shoulders, whereas her kids hair was a bit shorter. Her eyes were the same as the twins, although save for the pink tinge, which was more of a mystery of genetics. They certainly hadn’t gotten it from their father, Lunartome… in fact, a lot of things they had not inherited from their father… although he was a little cheeky. Which is probably where their kids had gotten it from. Following her children’s path of starvation, she made her way downstairs, and joined her contribution to future generations.
“Ravenous things,” Lunartome observed, as Dreamstar and Starwishes, parked at the table, were downing down pancakes. He was a light-blue-haired fellow himself, but short in length (the hair) and less wavy as his wife or children. At the same age as his wife, he looked older, perhaps in his late twenties. He wore a white short-sleeve dress shirt, jeans, and some semi-casual black shoes.
“Pass the syrup?” Starwishes asked her brother. Dreamstar passed it to her.
“Thanks!”
“Are you sure it’s wise to give them anything with sugar in it today, Celes?” Lunartome asked his wife, as Starwishes finished pouring syrup on her next stack of pancakes.
“Syrup, please!” Dreamstar rang. Starwishes passed the syrup back to her brother, who then proceeded to pour it on his new pancake stack. “Thank you!”
“No, of course not,” Celestialstar answered her husband. She began to hug him. “First day all around…”
“At least I can be consoled by the fact that they will be at school when the sugar kicks in,” Lunartome told Celestialstar. “And that you will be here, and I will be at work…”
“Those poor, poor teachers…” Celestialstar shook her head. Lunartome then pulled out of the hug suddenly, grabbing the half-cup of coffee sitting on the bench, and downing it quickly.
“I better go,” Lunartome told her, realising the urgency of the time. He kissed her, twice in succession, before rounding the table, ruffling his kid’s hair a little, and disappearing towards the front door.
“Bye Dad!” The twins both called out. Celestialstar seated herself at the table for breakfast with her children.
“Thanks for the pancakes!” Dreamstar chimed, starting conversation.
        “Yes, thank you!” Starwishes added.
“It’s your first day at a new school, I thought it would be a nice treat, seeing as you two are obsessed with pancakes,” Celestialstar said. She helped herself to some of the pancakes… before they were gone. “You better pick up the pace, though… I can take care of the dishes.”
        “But… we want more pancakes…” Starwishes pouted.
“Moooorre....” Dreamstar emphasised the necessities of life.
“And have you two sick on the first day? I don’t think so!” Celestialstar smirked.
“We don’t mind!” Dreamstar sang.
“We can have more pancakes, then!” Starwishes joined the performance.
“I don’t think so,” Celestialstar told them. “I will not make you any more pancakes!”
“Awww…” Dreamstar and Starwishes uttered, with much sadness. Their number had come to an end. Also, so had their pancakes. All gone.
“Gone…” Dreamstar began.
“But not forgotten,” Starwishes completed the sentence, patting her tummy.
“Now, are you two almost ready for school?” Celestialstar asked them both.
“We’re totally ready!” Starwishes assured her mother.
        “We packed all our things last night before bed and put our schoolbags in the living room, see?” Dreamstar added, pointing to two identical purple bags, sitting next to the couch.
“Are you two sure?” Celestialstar asked them. “You’re not forgetting anything else important?”
“Our teeth,” Dreamstar told his sister.
        “Awww, but I wanted to blast people with our breakfast breath!” Starwishes moaned.
“Anything other than that..?” Celestialstar interrupted her hatchlings. The two youths looked at their mother, before looking at each other. They looked back to their mother for a clue. She pinched her shirt near the shoulders and tugged at it lightly, twice.
“We’re not dressed yet,” Starwishes turned to her brother.
“We are not,” Dreamstar agreed with his sister. Celestialstar shook her head in her hands.
After the two had emerged from upstairs again, this time fully dressed. They both wore a white t-shirt with a sleepy, smiling star on the front, however where Dreamstar wore black shorts, his sister wore a short black skirt. They then proceeded to carry on from where they left off.
“You two would have probably gone right off to school if I hadn’t said anything,” their mother told them.
“At least they would know which one of us is which!” Starwishes saw the brighter side.
“Plus the ultimate in all-body air conditioning!” Dreamstar added.
“Please don’t be any trouble, today…” Celestialstar pleaded with her kids. She knew they loved to play pranks here and there, and in an entirely new setting, they were easy.
“We promise…” Dreamstar told her.
“Thank you,” their mother said.
        “...to do our best,” Starwishes completed the sentence.
“Okay, school, now!” Celestialstar began to chase them, with a playful growl. The twins laughed as she did so, grabbing their bags. Their mother stood at the front door. Dreamstar and Starwishes gathered, put on their sandals, and proceeded to leave the house.
“Have a nice first day,” Celestialstar kissed them both.
“Thanks, Mum,” they kissed back. They hugged their mother goodbye, before leaving through the front door.
There were exchanges of waves as the twins reached the sidewalk, and after a short while, they were out of sight.
“That poor, poor school…” Celestialstar sighed, smiling, thinking about all of the students who would come into contact with her brood.

“We have to go in there?” Starwishes asked. The building before them stood about three storeys tall, and was wide enough as it was. “It looks humongous!”
“At least it has a horse…” Dreamstar said, pointing to a white horse statue, standing tall and proud. “Maybe we can ride it into battle!”
The school itself was reddish primarily in colour, and had a cross-style of both what you might expect a school to look like, and a castle. There was a dome on the roof, complete with a castle tower sticking out of the top.
“Do you think a king lives in there?” Starwishes asked. “And a group of knights, sworn to defend the school from outside forces? And wizards? Do you think there are wizards?”
“And the sports! Do you think they do jousting?” Dreamstar added. Starwishes nudged him slightly. “Well… I guess we should go inside, then..?”
“We probably should…” Starwishes replied. The two of them were feeling a tad nervous, now. She took her brother’s hand. “Together?”
“Together!” Dreamstar agreed.
The foyer of the school was larger than the twins had expected, and again, it looked like a half-castle hybrid. There were corridors and stairs leading in different directions, and those stairs led to an upper level which also had corridors. Banners hung from the second level, blue, depicting a golden horse. The twins guessed that this school might have a thing for horses.
Students were moving about, mostly chatting with others. Dreamstar and Starwishes considered asking one of them for directions, but weren’t sure how to go about it. In truth, the twins were usually shy in a new situation… the more new people, the newer the place, the more quiet and reserved they usually would be. And this school was not only huge, but had so many students. And not only that, but even the students were big!
“So… now what?” Dreamstar asked his sister.
“Um… we could try that way?” Starwishes suggested, pointing down the hallway which led dead ahead of them.
“I guess that’s a start…” Dreamstar agreed. Still holding his sister’s hand, he led her down the hallway. It was not busy per say, but Dreamstar kept thinking that they would be bowled over at any moment. They reached a fork in the road, which Dreamstar studied. “This way..?”
It took a few turns and a flight of stairs before they realised they were lost. They had never been in a school this big, so it was at least a little daunting. They found a window, which they decided to use to get their bearings… except, the view was not of any landmarks of familiarity, but a sports field with a track.
“Uh-oh, I think we’re lost…” Dreamstar realised.
“We’re supposed to go to the assembly hall first though today, right?” Starwishes inquired.
“Yeah, but you could probably hide a hundred assembly halls in this place!” Dreamstar reasoned. “We could be wandering these corridors…”
“...forever…” Starwishes joined in her brother’s resignation.
“You two look a little lost.”
Dreamstar and Starwishes turned their attentions to a girl with dark-blue hair, with purple and pink, tied in a bun, and wearing a school uniform. Given everyone else wore more casual clothing, she felt a little out of place. That said, the twins didn’t feel completely locked-in and set with the school, either.
The girl paused at the realisation she was facing two identical kids. After all, it was not every day you met twins. She pushed up the black-rimmed glasses she wore with her fists, and rubbed her eyes, just to be sure she wasn’t seeing double. But she was.
“You’re… twins,” The girl observed, after she had taken a moment.
“She’s good,” Dreamstar whispered to his sister, as the girl seemed to observe them more. Starwishes giggled.
“Oh… my, sorry for the stare,” the girl apologised. “I didn’t really mean to come off as a little… er, y’know, weird…”
“That’s okay, we’re weird, too!” Starwishes assured her. “I’m Starwishes, this is my brother, Dreamstar!”
“Twilight Sparkle, nice to meet you… You’re not from around here, are you?” Twilight asked, noting the accent.
“Greetings from across the great sea!” Dreamstar saluted.
“Oh…” Twilight paused for a moment. “Which sea?”
“The big one,” Dreamstar replied.
“Dreamstar…” Starwishes nudged her brother, with a little urgency.
“Oh, um… could you please tell us where the assembly hall is..?” Dreamstar asked, switching to serious-mode.
“Downstairs, main corridor… if you actually wait for the school bell, you can just follow everyone,” Twilight suggested. She noted their heights and appearance. “Wait. Why do you need to go to the assembly hall? Aren’t you like… I don’t know, kinda small to be at this school?”
“Are you sure this is the right school?” Dreamstar whispered to her sister, although not inaudibly.
“Yeah, the one with the horse statue outside, right?” Starwishes whispered back.
“Um… guys?” Twilight drew the attention back to her. She gave a slightly awkward grin and wave once she had it.
“Yes?” Both twins replied, in unison.
“I think the elementary school is that way,” she told them, pointing in a random direction. Well, it wasn’t really a random direction, however given that the twins had no sense of direction in this labyrinth, it might as well have been.
“Elementary?” Starwishes asked. Both twins were confused by the word.
“My dear Watson?” Dreamstar asked his sister.
“Oh, unless you called it something else where you’re from,” Twilight reasoned. The school bell rang through the hallway.
“The bell! Dreamstar, we have to follow the others!” Starwishes told him.
“Yeah, otherwise we’ll never find it!” Dreamstar agreed, taking his sister’s hand, both running off. They suddenly paused momentarily. “Oh!”
“Thanks for your help!” Starwishes called back to Twilight.
“It was nice meeting you!” Dreamstar added, before they resumed their hunt.
“No, wait!” Twilight cried out, in a failed attempt to explain that they were in the wrong school. “Well… this is certainly going to be awkward…”

The twins eventually found the main corridor again, however given that they actually had to find the corridor again meant they missed the stampede. Now they weren’t sure which way to go.
“We should have stayed with that Twilight girl,” Dreamstar realised. “She would have probably gone to the hall… but she’s probably gone, now.”
“Now what do we do?” Starwishes asked him.
Before he could think of an answer, they both spotted another student who had obviously lagged behind the rest. They looked at each other, then both ran after the student. To their relief, he led them to where they had searching for their entire lives. Finally, their long journey was over. They entered into the hall, which was now full of students.
“What now..?” Dreamstar asked, not sure where to go. Obviously, to find those in the same year as them, but that was going to be tricky, since everyone else was kind of blocking their view.
“Find the smallest students, and cling on tight,” Starwishes advised him. They then clung on to each other. Problem solved.
They spotted a couple of empty seats right along the back, at the end, next to the entrance, so they decided they might as well take them. The student next to them looked at them strangely, but said nothing.
“Good morning, students,” a woman at the front of the hall greeted the assembly. “First of all, Principal Celestia would like to mention a few things.”
A woman with green, blue, and pink hair got up to speak.
“Do you think she is the king?” Dreamstar whispered to his sister.
“I don’t know, she doesn’t have a mustache,” Starwishes whispered back.
“Good morning, everyone,” the principal greeted. “First of all, I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Friendship Games Magazine Committee for their outstanding work in putting together a wonderful memorabilia of the Friendship Games which took place a few weeks ago… minus the obvious, of course… and that everyone can get their own copy from your teachers when you attend homeroom tomorrow morning. I am proud of the work put into this addition, and given that this was our most… memorable Friendship Games in the history of this school, I am sure that none of you will want to miss out on getting a copy.”
The hall responded with applause, which then died down to make way for other announcements. One was about the cafeteria menu. Another talked about a first club meeting and its roaring success. Then came something about randomly spontaneously apparating cupcakes.
“So… what do we do afterwards?” Dreamstar asked his sister, as other school staff took to the stand, making their announcements.
“I have no idea,” Starwishes confessed. “We were supposed to find the hall, and apparently we’d be fine?”
“...and finally, can our new students please remain behind after assembly,” a woman with dark blue hair hair announced, who had been introduced as Principal Luna. The twins seemed confused by what appeared to be implied as the school having two principals. “Everyone else, please proceed to your first class.”
The twins realised that meant them. After all, they were new students, and it was now painfully obvious as to why they had been told that they only needed to worry about finding the assembly hall.
The sea of students began to drain through the doors, slowly emptying the hall, like a bathtub. Only instead of leaving the twins sparkly and clean, this tub left them feeling a little intimidated, seeing the big, tall students passing by, as they sat, small and unsure, as if they might get sucked down the plughole. Also, this bath had no bubbles. The twins loved bubbles.
Within a few minutes, the hall had emptied, save for the twins, and a couple others, one being that Principal Luna character who had instructed them to remain behind. Luna began approaching the two, who remained seated
Dreamstar and Starwishes supposed that since Principal Celestia might be the king, then perhaps this Principal Luna was the queen. However, it was impossible to know for sure, since she did not have a mustache.
“You are our new students?” Luna asked the twins, with a look of surprise on her face.
Dreamstar and Starwishes nodded. Principal Luna raised her eyebrow a little.
“You certainly don’t look very much like high school students,” Luna observed. “You are both quite small for the role…”
“Mum says our small size is made up for by our unique personalities!” Dreamstar told her.
“Yes, your mother did warn me about your unique personalities when she signed you both up for this school,” Luna replied. “Rest assured, I can see right through your shenanigans.”
“Aww…” The twins pouted. It seemed like they would have to be on their best behaviour with this one. That, or perhaps… a challenge?
“No challenge,” Luna told them, after she seemed to read their minds. “Now if you will both follow me, I will take you to your first class.”