Beyond Equestria

by |Scripture|

Chapter 2

Twilight stumbled on the concrete, disoriented and oddly off-balance. It took a moment for the dizziness to subside. “That was weird.”

“Tell me about it. I felt like I was going to barf for a second,” Spike said from behind her.

Twilight turned around and saw a small purple and green dog standing where Spike should be. “Spike, why are you a dog?”

“A dog? Since when was-?” Spike looked at himself, shock creeping across his face. He looked to Twilight for an answer, and only found himself staring at a tall, thin biped with lavender skin and long violet hair. A whimper escaped his mouth.

Twilight cocked her head. “Why are you looking at me like that?” She held up a hoof to investigate and found instead a limb that more resembled a soft, squishy griffon claw, or the hands on monkeys with less hair. She pinched herself, felt the pain, and concluded she wasn't dreaming. She stared at the limbs for a few moments before letting out a yelp and falling down.

“Okay, good, so I'm not the only one weirded out right now.”

Twilight frantically grabbed at her reformed body, feeling the new structure of her legs below her violet pants, her upright torso, a pair of blobs on her chest below her teal shirt, and finally her face, noticing her snout was now a nub on her face, which was taller than before. “Spike, I need a quill and a lot of parchment. Right now.”

“Really? Did you forget why we're here already?”

“No! But do you realize what just happened? I was a pony, you were a dragon, and now we're both completely different species! This... this... If I had time, I could write a whole book on this transformation! Maybe a dozen books! We should have sent somepony through ages ago! Think of everything we can learn while we're here!”

“Are you really talking to your dog?” A familiar voice mocked from behind Twilight. She turned and saw another being like her looking smug, flanked by two more bipeds. The female was also thin, light blue skinned, with hair that was such a light shade of blue that it almost appeared white in some places and violet eyes. She wore a light blue dress shirt with a darker blue vest and matching pants. The two boys were thin and fat, with brown skin and sea foam green hair for the thin one, and powder blue skin and brown hair for the fat one. The fat one wore a black t-shirt with an odd logo on it and blue jeans, and the thin one wore a green polo shirt with white pants. They reminded Twilight strongly of Trixie, Snips, and Snails, respectively. Trixie stuffed something into her pants pocket.

“Trixie? When did you get here?”

“I've always been here. You, I've never seen before, but I already know you're a nerd.”

“Knock it off, Trixie! I thought you were better than this after our last duel!” Twilight stood, glaring.

“Duel? What are you even talking about? Is it some children's card game you play with yourself?”

“That's enough, Trixie! At the very least, you could pick on those students who've been here for a while,” another familiar voice called out, and a second later, another lithe biped with white skin, curled purple hair and sapphire eyes appeared next to Twilight. The new girl wore a purple skirt and light blue shirt. Twilight glanced at Spike, who shrugged as best as a dog could.

“I never expected you to be a nerd sympathizer, Rarity. But I guess losers eventually draw together. Later.” With that, Trixie and her followers walked away, Trixie turning and forming an “L” shape with her fingers as she walked.

“It's a wonder she hasn't been expelled yet,” Rarity huffed, hands on her hips. She turned to Twilight. “Although your spectacle was odd. Are you all right? Also, your hair is a mess.” She pulled out a hairbrush from her purse and started brushing Twilight's hair.

“I'm fine, just a little disoriented,” Twilight said. “Is she always like that?”

“Well, yes, most of the time. There's a few students here she doesn't dare touch, like her theater friends or Sunset. Unfortunately, Sunset's been very busy with some project for the school that she hasn't been around to keep Trixie in line. There!” Rarity stepped back, admiring her work. “Now you don't look like you just got out of bed.”

“Thanks.” Twilight smiled and felt a tug at her pants. Spike nodded at a pile of books and a backpack on the ground that matched her outfit and bore her cutie mark. “I should get my stuff, hang on.” She moved to gather what were apparently her things, attempting to use her magic and failing.

“Oh is this your dog? He's adorable!” Rarity picked up Spike, a huge grin on his face. She started to scratch his belly, causing his tail to wag.

“His name's Spike,” Twilight replied, gathering her books, all of which looked quite advanced. Advanced Calculus, Theoretical Physics, Human Biology, but nothing about magic. And I couldn't use my magic to grab these books. Does it even exist in this world? It must, or that portal wouldn't be here. I really need to get to a library while I look for my crown. And how do I know how to do all these things with this new body? Or did jumping between dimensions alter my brain so that this body would feel as natural as my pony body?

Rarity rubbed Spike's belly for a moment longer before putting him down and holding out her hand. “Oh, where are my manners? I'm Rarity. You must be a new student.”

Okay, this isn't Equestria, and there aren't any ponies like me around that I can see. I should watch what I say until I know more. “Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight shook Rarity's hand. “This may sound odd, but have you seen a crown around here? It'll look simple, but there's a jewel on it in the shape of a star.”

“The crown for the Fall Formal, you mean? Principal Celestia has it in her office.” Rarity brushed Spike's fur off of her skirt. “Why? Were you thinking of running?”

Oh no. “Uh, well, maybe. I don't know yet.”

“Well, if you do, good luck. Sunset has won it every year.”

Spike hopped into Twilight's backpack as she shouldered it. The pair started walking toward the school, a large square structure constructed of red brick half the size of castle in an architectural style Twilight was unfamiliar with. “You keep mentioning this Sunset.”

“Sunset Shimmer runs this school, more or less. She's President of the Student Government, founded five after school groups that are still extremely popular, Director of the Peer Leadership club, reorganized the Peer Mediators, has been a member of just about every other club we have at one point or another, and is working on the most ambitious and secretive senior project anyone's ever heard of, along with being crowned Princess of the Fall Formal every year she's been here, and is the only one Trixie won't touch.” Rarity grimaced as she spoke about the princess.

“Wow. She's quite accomplished.”

“Exactly. Anyone who runs against her loses, and loses badly. I ran against her in freshman year, when it was more even, and she still managed a landslide victory. Though I suppose I should be glad that she won, and not Trixie. Though really, who would vote for a bully?”

Twilight chuckled. “Well, it never hurt anypo-ONE to try.”

Rarity pushed open the door to the school. “Well, if you're serious, sign up, then talk to me. I can help you get out there, at the very least. In the meantime, I have class. You should probably get a schedule, if you don't already have one. They can look it up in the main office.”

“Thanks. I'll take you up on it when I make my decision.”

“See you later!” Rarity waved as she walked away.

Twilight waved back. Once Rarity was out of earshot, she said to Spike, “So, do I have a schedule?”

“No, it doesn't look like it. And I have no idea if these books will be important.”

“Then we need to find this main office. Maybe the Prince-PRINCIPAL will be in there.”

“Good catch. Though what are you going to tell her, that you're a magical pony princess looking for her stolen crown that just so happens to look like the crown they use for that dance Rarity mentioned because it's a magical artifact?”

“That does sound ridiculous when you say it out loud. But we should gather information on this dance, and this world. And I still want something to write on. While we're here, we should take every opportunity to learn what we can about this world and bring it back to Equestria. A school this big has to have a library.”

The hallways were filled with students, a rainbow of colors like ponies in Equestria, making it difficult to navigate, but Twilight eventually found her way to the office. Twilight took a breath, mentally reviewing what she knew so far before knocking on the door, hearing a familiar voice inside. After a moment and a soft click, the voice called out, "Come in!"

Twilight stepped inside and gasped, looking at a human with light pink skin, violet eyes, and long flowing hair colored blue, green, pink, and purple, the spitting image of Celestia herself if she were human. She wore an orange blazer and violet slacks. And not far from her, sitting in a locked case was her crown. She could feel the magic coming off of it, as though it was calling out to her. Twilight composed herself quickly as the principal looked at her. "Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just... You remind me of someone else I know." Twilight cleared her throat. "I was looking for information on the Fall Formal, and I was told to come to you."

"You're a new student, correct?"

"I am."

"Well then, let me first welcome you to Canterlot Academy. I know you're joining us late, but I hope you enjoy your time here." Celestia motioned for Twilight to have a seat. "As for the Fall Formal, it's a dance we have every year. We crown a Princess, determined by the students, who is supposed to exemplify the traits of a true leader: a kind heart, a generous spirit, loyal, honest, and full of laughter. I've heard some of the students say there's a certain magic to the winners as well. Every year so far, that winner has been our best student, Sunset Shimmer." She gestured towards three pictures on her wall, displaying an light orange skinned student dressed in a very conservative white and gold dress with red and yellow hair and cyan eyes. In each picture, Sunset posed herself like she was being painted, exuding a royal presence not unlike the princesses did in Equestria.

"Wow. She's who I'd be running against?"

Celestia nodded. "As I said, she's our best student, and extremely well liked in the student body. I wouldn't be surprised if she became president one day. It's as though she'd been doing this for years."

Twilight looked at the crown. If she had to beat Sunset at the Fall Formal to get her crown back, then so be it. "I see. Do I talk to you about signing up then, or...?”

“No, Pinkie Pie handles those. She'll likely be in the gym preparing if she isn't in class. Although I must warn you, I've met many students who run because it gives them an ego boost, or they just want to wear a pretty crown. You don't seem like one of those two, but masks can and will be seen through by the students. If you truly are worthy of the crown, you stand a good chance of winning."

Twilight stood and bowed out of habit. "Thank you, Princess. I mean Principal!"

Celestia chuckled. "And I thought my husband was the only one to call me that."

Twilight blushed and left. Spike poked out of her backpack. "Good one. At least she thought it was funny.”

“I really need to be more careful. At this rate, poni-PEOPLE are going to think I'm too weird to elect.” Twilight sighed. “Let's go sign up. Then we can meet up with Rarity and research our next-” Twilight was cut off as she bumped into someone. “Oop! Sorry!”

A boy with spiked blue hair and light orange skin wearing a leather jacket, blue jeans, and white t-shirt looked at Twilight. He looked remarkably like Celestia's new guard captain. He smiled. “That's okay. No harm, no foul.”

Twilight swallowed, blushing. “Um, I'll just, uh, go. I have to do... things.”

Flash chuckled and returned to what he was doing. “All right then.”

Twilight took two steps before stepping back to Flash. “Do you, uh, happen to know where the gym is?” she asked timidly.

Flash smiled. “I happen to be going that way, so just follow me. Do you mind?”

“No, not at all! Since it's on your way and everything.”

Flash shut his locker and started walking, motioning for Twilight to follow. “I take it you're new.”

“I've been getting that a lot today.”

“It's okay. We're all new at some point. Next year, we'll all be new at college. In my case, it'll be the police academy.”

“You're going to join the police?”

Flash nodded. “Yup. I always liked the idea of solving crimes and protecting the innocent. We have a law enforcement group here at the school I'm in. What about you?”

“Me? Well, I li-WORK in a library. I just love being around so much knowledge. I spent a lot of time around them when I was little.”

Flash shrugged. “Cool. I'd probably go nuts in a quiet job like that.”

Twilight chuckled. “I have a friend that thought the same way. She liked to call me an egghead until she found a book series she really liked. She went to great lengths to hide it from me, like trying to break into a hospital to get the book I loaned her back, but she learned she wasn't any less cool for liking books.”

Flash laughed. “She broke into a hospital just to hide the fact she liked books? Sounds like wacky cartoon hijinks.” Flash stopped. “We're here, by the way.”

Twilight's shoulders slumped. “Oh. Huh. Well, uh, it was nice talking to you, um-”

“Flash Sentry. And you're...?”

“Twilight Sparkle.”

“Well, Twilight, I'll see you around. Maybe at lunch?”

“Sure.” Flash smiled and waved as he walked off. Twilight stared after him. She heard a snap next to her ear after a moment. “Right. Focus, Twilight.” With that, she pushed open the doors to the gym.

Comments

[Basic Information]

Not a bad story, actually it's very interesting.
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