> Starlight's Return > by Erina Tail Yellow > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1- Come with me now > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Starlight’s Return Chapter 1 Vinyl Scratch The world in front of my purple shades ebbed and flowed with every beat I input into my mixing station. The room was lost to me, my friends spoke but I didn’t hear any of it. I held one headphone tight against my head as I worked my newest track. There was something missing, I even asked my older brother, Long Play, for advice and he had only told me to add instrumental diversity, and that was something the rules of Vinyl did not approve of. I saw two tinted grey hands reach in front of my glasses and pull them off my face. I slipped my headphones down around my neck and saved my progress on the piece. “Tavi what do you want?” I asked a smile on my face. “Tell Bon Bon that it was her fault that I was late to class yesterday.” She demanded. The scowl on her face faded as she talked to me and her tone softened. “She didn’t do anything wrong, even her technical knowhow is stretched sometimes.” Lyra said aggressively. “Calm down, calm down.” a cerise haired girl said as she stepped out of the makeshift kitchen we had. ”Bon Bon finally has the intercom and bell system hooked up out here so we don’t miss class again.” She said handing out a Root Beer to each of us. “Thanks, Berry, but Vinyl is partial to ‘Tavi’s’ opinion as Lyra is to mine.” Bon Bon said looking at Lyra and me, a certain amount of emphasis when she said my nickname for Octavia. She froze as what Berry said sank in and she snapped “BERRY PUNCH that was my surprise!” “Woah woah, what is going on out here!?” A girl wearing a leather jacket said as she walked into our little hangout. The light coming in was bright and lit up the room more than the one *dirty* window we had. I saw a pile of Lyra’s mangas off in the corner each one probably being read for the millionth time. Octavia’s cello case was open but the only thing that was out was the bow. Lyra started pulling Bon Bon off of Berry and calming her down. They were both laughing it off and walking over towards our visitor. Between a guest bursting in and Bon Bon’s unexpected anger, Octavia had passed out in my arms. I half pushed – half carried her over to the couch and walked to our guest. “Well well well, if it isn’t the reformed Sunset Shimmer. Let me guess, you need my help.” I said walking over to her. “Hello Vinyl.” She said with a sneer. “Yes we need a track to send me and The Rainbooms off to Equestria. We’re going as foreign dignitaries I was requested by Celestia herself.” She said flippantly. “Who is Celestia and why is she important” I replied. “CELESTIA IS THE PRINCESS!” She screamed. “Then who is the queen?” “There is no queen.” I put on my best impression of Octavia. “Well that is errant dodge of responsibly.” “How do you know what that means?!” “I don’t, Tavi just says that pretty frequently about teachers.” ”Nevermind that we’re having a going away party, and you are invited- well you are the entertainment,” she had air quotes around that. My mood lightened, now she was talking. I hadn’t had a gig in months. Then again, The Rainbooms had stolen most of those. Even Lyra and Bon Bon don’t get piano requests in waiting rooms any more. Even if it was Sunset I couldn’t refuse a gig that would put me back in the public eye. ”Hell Yeah I’ll put on some music.” I said enthusiastically already putting together a track list in my head. I could hear the choir of angels. “On one condition I get a D.J. PON-3 exclusive song. Wouldn’t wanna seem like I hired a one trick pony.” She said with her usual tact. I heard a classic record scratch stop the choir only to turn around and see pink hair at my turntables scratching an Angel Choir track she must’ve brought herself. “Neato!” She turned around and I saw a massive smile splayed across her face. She took the record off the platter and threw it in her hair. “Ayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyoooooooooooooo Pinkie Pie what’s up?” I said giving her a fist bump and a high five. “Long time no see Vinyl. So you’re handling our going away gig at the party tonight. That’s like… the absoposolutely best news I’ve heard today.” She took a deep breath and I knew I was in trouble.”MaybeI’llevenscratchonthetableswithyouforthefirsttimesincethefreshmanfairandwe’llhavethebesttimeeverandw” Lyra was quick to put a hand over her mouth and quick to remove it. “Ugh, you LICKED my hand.” Lyra screamed quickly wipingher hands off on her shirt. Pinkie giggled and skipped off over to Sunset. “Tonight will actually be bearable with you there tonight.” I said. She pulled a cupcake out of nowhere and ate as they walked off to the Statue in front of the school. Sunset’s words sank in after the door closed.”She said I need a new piece by tonight!!!!!!” I screamed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I sat at home in front of my computer inputting beats at random. Nothing sounded good with the solid base rhythm I had set up. I couldn’t find anything that resonated with me. “ Vinyl is this all you do to make a new piece. I’d like to help but I need to practice my Cello.” Octavia said as she proceeded and get up to leave for her room. “Why doesn’t you’re girlfriend ever go home?” My brother said as he entered the room. “I’ve told you this before.” I said quickly. I put on my best impression of Octavia’s Mom “Her mother does not approve of this behavior.” "Oh yeah you should probably just put that on a note. Ya know how forgetful you’re bi-“ I cut him off before he got emotional. My ears caught an interesting chord coming from down the hall. “Hey I wa-“ “Shutup… listen to that melody.” I said holding up a finger his face. I slippedmy purple shades over my eyes and headed down the hallway to Octavia’s room. The melody was definitely originating from there. “ Octi what is that piece called? I think I know what to do with my new track.” We pulled up to the school in my custom built white convertible. Octavia sat next to me one hand on my shoulder. Long sat in back reading over lyrics that I had put together last minute. “ Are you sure you want me to sing? I haven’t sung in ages and even then it wasn’t good.” Long Play said unsure of himself. “And this piece you want me to play is unfinished how do you expect me to play it.” Octavia said holding up her sheet music concerned. I took the piece from her and drew a repeat sign at the end of the set of notes I liked. Octavia’s mouth dropped “Vinyl I didn’t know you could read music?!” “I can I just don’t like to all the notes run together and I get frustrated. I used to play Piano but after I broke a few keys my band director threw me out of class.” I replied. “Oh, I never imagined you actually playing an instrument.” “Ok, ok enough backstory. Get your cello out of the trunk I’m about to transform this into a D.J’s dream.” She went and got her cello case out of the back and walked around to the side and began unpacking. I pressed a button on the dash and in an instant my car transformed into a mixing station not even the best D.J.’s can afford. My monogrammed deck shined the electric blue picking up the last hints of sunlight. “Wowee you really know how to make an entrance don’t ya.” Pinkie pie said hanging off my hanging off my speakers above my head. “Yeah, it’s pretty sweet. I try not to brag but I got new subwoofers put in and they sound deafening when I get em’ crankin’.” I said enthusiastically. I cracked out a vinyl record of the bass sounds I needed in order to get the sound I need. I heard a tapping on a microphone. “Before we go I’ve a got a special surprise worked up. Welcome D.J. PON-3.” Sunset said dramatically. I cued Octavia to start playing her music. She put her bow up to the Cello. My stage lights glinted off her charcoal black hair. She started playing her music but was interrupted by a disgruntled Twilight being thrown through the Portal. Her hair was disheveled and before she could say anything she jumped back in and was thrown right back through. “Ya’ okay sugarcube?” Applejack said as she walked over to Twilight hand extended gesturing to pull her up. Twilight refused and tried to go back into the portal. “Twilight, darling you can’t just go back in.” Rarity begged as she pulled Twilight back from the portal. All anyone heard was a mumble about stars and glitter or something like that. The Crystal Prep students that had been invited just stood there mouths gaping. I guess they had never seen the portal ripple or spit someone out before. Octavia dropped her bow on the ground and I, out of pure reflex, did a scratch gag. Sunset looked away from Twilight for a moment and glared at me. I assumed it was for the scratch but it could also be for stopping the music. > Chapter 2- Born perfect I'm not like you/ Born clever Born knowledgeable I'm not like you > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 2 Pinkie Pie We huddled around Twilight. She looked beaten and generally not happy at all. “What happened!?” I asked, surprised. “We trusted her with too much at once. We didn’t have enough power to stop her.” “Her who?” Sunset asked a sense of desperation in her voice. “Starlight Glimmer. I shouldn’t’ve trusted her as soon as I did but…” she said trailing off into ramblings. “Wait you said more power right? You needed more power to take down this villain; we could just go back with you and take her down. Sounds like a piece of cake.” Rainbow said. “Woah, woah, woah, woah! Back up, did I hear cake? The heavenly being of Cake! This has to be a good plan! I mean, if it involves cake we can’t lose! Nothing can go wrong!” I said enthusiastically my smile returned and soon I was beaming. “If Pinkie’s in then...umm… I guess I’m in too.” Fluttershy said sheepishly. “This may work but where is the other me? She is what connects you in this world. I can no longer bridge the gap between our dimensions.” Twilight said nervously. I’m pretty sure she was just worried about what was happening in… I think Sunset called it Equestria. I don’t know anyways, our worlds Twilight (for the purpose of the story I guess we could call her Twilight 2 no no that wouldn’t work, maybe Glasses Twilight nope I’ve got it she’s into science and not magic so we can call her Sci-Twi. Okay take two, ACTION!). Sci-Twi stood over by the punch talking to a blue haired guy with a guitar strapped to his back. “Ummmm Twilight you may want to look over there.” I said pointing towards Sci-Twi and the guitarist. “WHAT!!! He… Ugh… I am going to have a talk with him!” She said as she stormed over to (oh that’s who it was) Flash. (I can’t believe I didn’t recognize him). She marched over and pulled Sci-Twi to us. “Ok now we have all eight of us and we can head through the portal.” She started shoving us through the portal before we could do anything. I couldn’t really comprehend what happened next. It was an incomprehensible tunnel of light. Once on the other side I fell flat on what were now my forelegs. The others had less well thought through reactions. “Ok so we can do what we need to without one since Rarity fainted.” Twilight said as she walked over to our equestrian counterparts. “Rainbow what happened to Starlight?” “She ran out.” Rainbows counterpart said pointing towards the door. “AND YOU DIDN’T FOLLOW HER!” Twilight screamed I just kept smiling, something was pushing me to and I loved it. On second thought it kind of felt like another set of hooves. I glanced down it was another set of hooves. “Oh look it’s the other me.” I shouted. Turning around and removing the hooves from my face retaining a smile a mile wide. (Ooh I need to save that one for later). “No we didn’t. She seemed power hungry and uh you should really have come back sooner.” Rainbow said giving her other self what I can only assume is the pony equivalent to maybe a high five or fist bump. “Well now it’s our job to go after her.” She said her voice filled something I could only assume was worry. (Wow sorry I got a little a deep there, oh well.) My alternate self held up a hoof and I planted my hoof against it firmly. She whispered a plan in my ear and I nodded in agreement. Twilight opened the door and directed us outward in the search for Starlight. Pinkie and I reared up on our back hooves kicking our forelegs in the air as we shouted “For Equestriaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!” We ran out the door into the night in search of Starlight. I halted in the middle of the street causing the other me to yield several feet down the road. “What does she even look like?” I asked “Oh ya know just like anypony else except a little more sinister and she has The Aurora Borealis and The North Star on her flank.” She said. “A bit of pony anatomy real quick me?” “Flank the area connecting your back legs to your body.” She replied pointing at her flank. “Oh so anything that looks umm… less awkward. Like what color is her hair?” I asked poking at the dirt with my hoof. “It’s called a mane.” She said poking at her mane. ”Hers is purple with a light streak and an aqua streak.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After a few minutes of walking around we spotted her. Her pink coat separating her from no one I guess. There weren’t any other ponies on the street so I guess it separated her from the buildings maybe. I don’t know bad analogy. Skip over it. “I have a plan but we need a distraction.” Pinkie said. “I’m right here and ready.” I walked over to the offending pony and gave a small salute to the other Pinkie. She was on the roof now getting everyone else’s attention. I looked up at Pinkie and mouthed the words I have no ideas for a distraction you try. She looked around her eyes widened and she took a deep breath. “HUMAN!!” She shouted waving a hoof in my direction. A mint green mare shot out of her window. “Where? Bonnie get up get up they’re real!” She shouted. The villainous mare in front of me shot her a glance and the rest of us tackled her while she was distracted. We pinned her down and both Twilights enveloped her in a magic bubble. In the background I heard an argument between the mint green mare and her roommate. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We dragged Starlight back to the castle and put her in a room chaining the bubble to the wall. It all seemed a little cruel. I spoke up first “Twilight's isn’t this a little excessive.” “I’m sure she’ll be fine until Celestia gets here. The thing that would be excessive would be ya’ know turning her into a statue. Which is always an option.” Rainbow said glancing at Starlight in her prison. “No Celestia will decide her punishment. We will assign guards to the room and they will monitor activity coming from this room.” Twilight said pulling a few guards over. “Twilight we should really get back to our world. Despite the fun we’ve had.” Sunset glared at the door that led into the containment room of Starlight. Our world’s Rarity moved a little closer to Sunset. She whispered something to her we couldn’t and Sunset blushed. She pushed Rarity away a small bit though they were both smiling incessantly. ( I know smiles and were the smiles of people or ponies who had plans for later.) “Actually we’ll stay an extra day. I need to catch up anyways. We’ll set off for Canterlot in the morning.” Sunset announced. “Umm sunset the princesses will be here in the morning.” Twilight said matter of factly. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I woke up in the middle night. I felt kinda hungry so I ate the donut that was just in my hooves for some reason. (How does a hoof grip work anyways? Oh well.) I walked out into the hallway, the first thing that caught my attention was a how would I put it? Um… a squeaking sound. Like when you have those rickety beds that squeak whenever you move on it. Well this sound was repeating over and over again in like a really fast like sound order thingy. Like a machine gun of squeak I guess you could say. So over this squeaky soundy stuff I heard—Rarity?—maybe it was her muttering in her sleep, probably.She was shouting something it had to do with the sun I think, yeah. Probably shouldn’t wake her. I decided to ignore it. Upon further wandering I found Twilight pacing in front of the castle door. “Is everything okay Twilight?” I asked groggily. She looked like she had had another Lesson Zero (Is that what the other Pinkie had called it) Incident. I had seen pictures but this seemed crazy. Her pupils were dilated and her mane was frayed. “Why hasn’t Princess Celestia arrived?” Twilight twitched. “I don’t know why she hasn’t arrived, what I am really concerned about is how we are to contain—uh—dammit—Starlight, freaking, what do we do with her? We need to contain and we need a policy-” Twilight’s head spazzed. “We need to neutralize her! We need to end her life! We need to-” “No you prove that we are related to primates! We cannot harm her for fear of retaliatio-” Her eye’s closed for a few seconds and she shook “Who cares of retaliation and we are of pony heritage not primate! We need to destroy her! Eliminate her for fear of her breaking out! If Celestia doesn’t show we are so—fuckin’ hell what was the word—ugh! Goddammit! Freaking-” A massive tremor went through her body, “We are going to be killed ourselves! We cannot risk that! We have to kill-” I walked into room and saw Twilight having a mental breakdown. With a frown Sci-Twi (who coincidentally walked in with me) walked over to Twilight and placed a hoof on her shoulder. Still freaking out, Twilight looked at her counterpart. Without a word Sci-Twi slapped her viciously. Twilight went flying back a few feet landing semi-conscious on the floor. “That should hopefully calm her down,” Sci-Twi frowned looking at the wreck that was the other Twilight. “Yeah! Totally, yo!” I said. As Twilight was just standing up in front of the door Luna shoved the door open throwing Twilight halfway across the room. Sci-Twi went over to help Twilight up and I took the liberty of waking everyone up “THE PRINCESSES ARE HERE!!!!” I shouted. The first to walk out into the main hall were a very disgruntled Rarity and Sunset. Rarity had a sheet wrapped around her as she nuzzled Sunset on the cheek. She noticed Sci-Twi and I standing and jumped immediately pulling herself away from Sunset and blushing. Sunset had a smug look on her face but it was quickly removed when she saw the princesses. Luna paid us no attention as she walked in holding a handheld game device with her magic just a few inches from her face. “Twilight I thought you didn’t have those here?” I asked pointing a hoof in Luna’s general direction. “Actually last time I was in your world I brought one back for her. Celestia needed something to keep her occupied. So I uhhhh… borrowed one without permission.” She stuttered on that last part. Celestia walked in behind Luna with all the grace of her Principal counterpart I had met a thousand times before. She towered over me, somehow still casting a shadow in this dark room. “Luna you are to stay in here while Twilight and I check on the fugitive.” She said. “Sister we shan’t be here long, correct. I have a requirement for an energy device. My portable gaming device needs power to continue operation.” Luna said she had obviously learned some new words due to her newfound gaming craze. “Dost thou have an electrical outlet?” She asked desperately. “What’s an electri-” I cut Twilight off. “Oh there should be one against the walls.” I searched along the crystalline walls for an outlet. “You guys must not have electric ports in the walls like where we’re from.” I tried to facepalm but hit myself in the muzzle with a hoof and it hurt way more than expected. “Shouldn’t I go with you two?” Sci-Twi said attempting to adjust her glasses with one hoof. “I suppose if you wish. The rest of you should stay and keep her busy.” She said shaking her head in Luna’s direction. Not long after they left I heard a scream. Both Twilights and Celestia ran into the room holding three guards with their magic. The guards were knocked out and as soon as they were released I dumped a bucket of ice cold water on them. They didn’t wake up. Celestia picked them up and put her ear to their chest. “I’m afraid they’re not…” She took looked down. “They’re not alive.” Everyone looked around and both Fluttershys did an anime style gasp. Both Raritys fainted although one was caught by sunset and was moved onto a pillow on the floor. I however just tried to keep my smile though I couldn’t help but dip into a frown. Although grief was stopped abruptly by the sound of hooves against crystal stairs. A cyan pony wearing a star covered cape appeared on the other side of the hall. “Twi, babe is everything ok? Trixie heard you scream and got worried that you may not be well.” The unicorn said groggily, walking over to Twilight and putting a hoof around her nuzzling her and then pulling away. “So are we gonna get any explanations? Twi” Rainbow said in a teasing tone. “Maybe in the morning. Princesses you are welcome to stay the night to figure for how to find Starlight.” Twilight said blushing a little. > Chapter 3- We must stay resiliant > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 3 Pinkie Pie We slept the rest of the night and late into the afternoon. When woke up I went to the room where they kept the portal. I think it was in the library just off of the throne room. I slowly made my way upstairs reviewing the events of last night in my mind. I stopped for a second the look of the guards as Celestia laid them down on the floor. It was enough send a tingle down my spine either or it was my lucky day. That thought made me chuckle and it couldn’t have happened soon enough. I wouldn’t want my friends to see me unhappy. I could hear Twilight from outside the door “Starlight is desperate she’ll be easy to capture!” she protested loudly. “Starlight is dangerous and in a wo-” Celestia stopped talking as she saw me walking through the door. I could see what was going on this worlds Twilight and her friends were gathered around the table and my friends were against the wall just listening. The only thing out of place was a cyan unicorn sitting to the right of Twilight patting her on the back calmly with one hoof. “Oh pardon me princess but I believe Twilight to have a story for us. Now that all of us are here you’ve promised an explanation for her.” This world’s Rarity said glancing at Trixie from her, it was probably a throne. It just looked more like a giant fancy chair made of crystals. “Twilight are you going to tell them of how you and Trixie became better acquainted, as to say, The Great And Powerful Trixie gave Twilight the honor of becoming, an indentured servant of sorts, how would you put it, my ball and chain! Because if you ask me I’d more than willing to tell you because Trixie is the mare of her dreams of course.” Trixie a smug grin on her face. “Spill it Trixie we don’t got all day.” Rainbow dash said in sync with her alternate self. “Well one day not to long after our duel of magical strength proved Twilight the true winner and friendship and blah blah blah. Trixie didn’t listen to much of it then but now she would happily listen to Trixie drone on for hours about anything. That aside I came to her into her library and one thing led-” She was cut off by Twilight. “I ended up asking her out myself because she wasn’t the great and confident Trixie. And after a while we got married in secret. Trixie’s been living with me for months and can’t believe she hasn’t revealed herself sooner out of excitement. We were planning to tell you at one of Pinkie’s next parties but I guess sooner rather than later. Now I can be completely open with friends again.”Twilight said. I think the only one pony in the room without their jaw dropped was Luna. For the most part she just sat there eyes glued to the small screen in front of her. (I wonder if her human counterpart enjoyed gaming as much.) On occasion she would shout and insult at the screen leaving me to wonder what feat she had just accomplished. “Thou scrub hath been REKT by thine very own princess of the night.” Luna shouted gaining a concerned glance from her sister and myself. That was loud she was practically using her royal canterlot voice again. Her eyes stopped glowing as she calmed down. “I should probably get her home she tends to get loud when she gets in ‘the zone’ as she calls it. We’ll be leaving, remember Twilight no rash decisions. As I have said there people in the human realm capable of doing this just fine.” Celestia said standing upright and dragging her sister out of the door with magic. “Twilight I reckon we take a look see at the damage downstairs she was in a small library. I know how ya’ are about books.” Applejack said calmly. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Trixie believes this to be the worst condition a room of her’s to ever have been in. Twilight are sure that the wretched felon you stored in here didn’t steal anything of ours?” Trixie asked as she stepped into the library behind us. “Firstly your library is up stairs. Secondly I’m looking for a specific book something I specifically was charged with keeping here for the princess. Very similarly as Cadence was originally charged with the mirror I now have.” Twilight said digging through stacks of books thrown everywhere by Starlight’s apparent struggle. “You’re a unicorn don’t you have like a search spell or a sorting spell of some kind?” I asked, feeling as though just pointed out an obvious solution we should’ve already been using. “I’ve been so good at organization myself I never needed one myself it was a natural talent to sort things.” She said in response. “REALLY the one pony here with OCD and she doesn’t even know a spell to help with the disorder.” The other Pinkie shouted before I had the chance. (I didn’t realise she was worked up though if I was it probably means she was were technically the same person or pony or oh you get my point.) “Trixie will take them into the other room if you require honey. Though I’d be far more useful in here with you as I know a spell that may be of use to you at the current moment.” Trixie said self-assuredly. “Trixie stop with the pet names while my friends are around they’re for when we’re alone or when we’re out together not for just around the house, castle thing.” Twilight said, “I have a feeling you wouldn’t want me talking about how loudly you scream… should I go on?” Twilight said in a sultry voice. “No no need Trixie is fine if you stop talking about the topic at hoof in fact if you do Trixie teach you the spell that she knows real quick so that you may be able to find this book.” She said mumbling something under her breath. A few moments later Trixie had taught Twilight the spell for searching for specific items in this… mess and was currently applying it to look for the book she needed. “Um… well I hate to interrupt sugarcube but what book are ya’ lookin’ for exactly? It seems real important but as far as I’ve been told or know you were never charged with holding an important book for the princess.” Applejack said, her southern accent making her seem more relaxed than we knew she was. “I’m looking for Luna’s journal. It had the unfinished version of Star Swirl the Bearded’s spell from before I ascended,” Twilight mumbled, concerned. Poor Twilight, looked as though she was about to panic, frantically tossing books out of piles, looking on shelves and tossing books willy nilly, with no concern for those around her or her workspace. “It’s not here, oh Celestia, it’s not here. She didn’t take it did she? She couldn’t’ve she didn’t now it was important.” She said. It was clear she was panicked by how quickly she spoke. “Twilight did you keep it in that shattered glass case over there? The one that you once kept the elements in.” Rainbow said flatly. “Why yes I did.” Twilight reciprocated. “Then by process elimination she would’ve known it’s important it was the only book under glass casing almost as if it were on display.” Sci-twi said.”And if Starlight is as as smart as you say she is then that means she can use process of elimination. What did this book have in it anyways that was so precious?” “Two extremely powerful spells. One I’m not too worried about as if she went to the human realm it would have no effect. The other being the extremely dark spell Princess Luna used to turn into Nightmare Moon one thousand years ago.” Twilight said. “Oh that big huh Twilight I guess when we get back to the human world we can put some major effort into looking for her.” Sunset said. “We really should be getting back anyway.” > Chapter 4- It has begun > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 4 Vinyl Scratch I awoke the next morning in the comfort of my own bed. A replay of last night’s events rolled through my mind and I think the biggest thing I could remember was everyone's reaction to the honored guests stepped through the portal into the alternate dimension. I could hear a light snoring and as I turned to my side I saw Octavia right next to me. She rarely ever did this and when she did it was a welcome change of pace. I tapped her on the shoulder lightly and she pulled me in. I guess she had just assumed that I was still asleep. “Tavi wake up we need to get ready for school. We’ll be late if we keep this up.” I said calmly. “Isn’t today Saturday.” She said sleepily. “No the party threw you off. But today is Friday so it’s our last day.” I said. I heard footsteps coming down the hallway. Long Play must’ve been on his way to wake me up. “Octavia you should hide. No time for explanations just get under the covers you need stay there until I give you the signal.” I whispered. We’d been through this before and immediately covered herself with the comforter. I quickly threw some clothes for the day on and chunked my pajamas onto the bed. I hoped I hadn’t hit Octavia with my clothes. Although I’m sure she wouldn’t mind. Long Play didn’t even knock on the door before entering. “Vinyl it’s time to get-” I cut him off. He had his eyes covered in a cheap attempt to not see anything had he entered at an inopportune time. “I’m awake and dressed no need to cover your eyes.” I said pulling his hands off his face and shoving him out the door. “Now give me a minute I need to get my jacket. Go make breakfast or something.” I watched as he walked down the hall and went downstairs. I actually hoped he would make some breakfast, despite Octavia being the better cook, he made some killer cereal. I gave Octavia the signal and she got out of the covers. “Vinyl do you really think your brother would have such a poor reaction that you need to hide me? I live here.” She said as she got up from the bed and walked over to the closet. She pulled a spare set of clothes and my white leather jacket. She put on her clothes and signature bowtie. We walked out of the room and downstairs to the kitchen. No breakfast. He had made no breakfast. “LONG PLAY!! Get in here and make me some damn breakfast this instant!!!!!!” I yelled. “Oh and Octavia make her breakfast too.” “No do it yourself or eat at school I was out late last night so I’m going back to bed.” Long Play yelled from his room upstairs. “Vinyl it’s not worth a fight I think Berry has a hangover stash at our rendezvous.” Octavia said as she put a hand on my shoulder. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As we approached our makeshift home something seemed odd. Berry was standing outside wearing dark shades and holding a thermos of what I could only assume coffee. She had obviously partied a little late last night. Derpy was standing next to her not wearing her usual outfit. It was a spare from the hangout. “Morning guys. How are you guys doing? Oh and Berry isn’t feeling very well so don’t get near that was my first mistake.” She said . Her eyes were less crossed than usual but her strabismus was still noticeable. “Yeah we noticed. Sorry Derpy.” I said. “By the way what’s with the hangout why aren’t you inside?” “Someone locked it.” She answered. “So who can unlock it?” Octavia asked. “Vice Principal Luna can.” Berry said slowly. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As we walked to Luna’s office I thought about Berry. We had decided to leave her behind. I hoped she was okay by herself, though she partied and drank way too much for her age she did not handle the next morning very well. Luna’s office was at the far end of the school and it always like she wasn’t there. She just liked the dark so, many of the lights on this end of the school were off. The blinds on her office door window were closed. Octavia gently knocked on the door and soon after a statuesque pale blue woman opened the door. “What do you require?” She said “Vice Principal Luna someone locked our hangout. We need it unlocked so we can get in.” Derpy said in whining tone. “That is no longer in my control as that is the in the new counselor’s domain. She required that we gave her those keys for a new office.” Luna said with a sadness in her voice as she had just lost power as the vice-principal. “SHE TOOK OUR HOME AWAY FROM HOME FOR OWN PERSONAL OFFICE!!!!!!!!” I shouted. I was outraged. That was our special little hideaway. I marched down to the hangout and kicked down the door knowing that we could fix it later. A woman with purple hair and light pink skin tone sat with her legs crossed on top of my mixing station. “Afternoon.” She said smoothly. “WHAT IN THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?! THOSE OUR MY TURNTABLES! GET YOUR FEET OFF OF THEM AND GIVE ME AND MY FRIENDS THE KEYS BACK AND GET OUT!” I dug into her. She just sat and smiled back at me only fueling my anger. Lyra and Bon Bon had followed me out to the hangout when they saw me marching all the way across the school. “Too loud,” Berry Punch whined, clutching her head. The room was in terrible condition. Lyra’s mangas were scattered across the room, Bon Bon’s intercom system was torn into for one reason or another, and Octavia’s cello case was open and one of the strings was broken. I looked to my side to see my grounding force, Octavia, break. She calmly walked over to the mystery woman and bitch slapped her so hard she fell out of the chair. “Young lady, I am your new counselor and am to be treated as such.” The pink skinned woman said standing up. “Hand me the keys and you won’t be on your ass again. Oh and expect to be coming in and cleaning my records some time soon.” I said. “Oh and you’ll be receiving an estimate for cello repairs.” Octavia said. “And estimates for replacements of some of my rare mangas you ruined.” Lyra stated. “I’ll fix this mess on my own. Get out.” Bon Bon said loudly pointing her towards the door. She tossed me the keys as she walked out slowly. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Later that day we were all called to an assembly. Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna stood on stage in front of a podium with a microphone on it. The velvet curtain behind them was closed for some reason. They rarely ever went through the effort of putting up the curtain, this was important. “Welcome wondercolts!” Celestia said brightly as she waved a hand to gesture at all of us. Sunset and her friends had arrived and were standing to the right of the stage. I could tell they weren’t wearing their usual outfits. Though I also didn’t know what they were actually wearing so I didn’t say anything. Berry took off her sunglasses as they darkened the gym. She was out of coffee though so she was barely awake. Within minutes she was asleep. “We would like introduce your new counselor.” Luna said, albeit far less enthusiastically. She seemed far more upset than when we had talked to her earlier. A pink skinned woman stepped onto stage. A massive red mark on her cheek from when Octavia slapped her. Her eyes were red, presumably from crying. “Hello I’m Ms. Lumière des étoiles Lueur. Or Ms.lueur for short.” “She has brought with her an amazing new idea that will further our education.” Principal Celestia beamed. As if on cue Sunset and her friends walked out wearing, uniforms. They were composed of a black blazer with a white equals sign on the breast. A white button up underneath it and a black skirt. Rarity clearly hadn’t designed them. “These will be our new school uniforms!” Principal Celestia said. “I just got out of a school with uniforms! Now this place is doing it too!!” Sunny flare shouted. What Sunny Flare had said had obviously been just loud enough to get through Lemon Zest’s music. She stood and removed her headphones “ I will never wear uniforms again!” She shouted, partially due to how loud her music had been and partially because of how pissed she was. “I will be taking questions in my office after the assembly if you have any questions or complaints.” Ms.Lueur responded calmly. I could see that the for the next few days the line out of wherever her new office was would stretch on for miles. > Chapter 5- They're gonna clean up your looks With all the lies in the books > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 5 Vinyl Scratch Uniforms were handed out during lunch. That was a welcoming change from complex musical numbers even if it was uniforms. We sat on the far end of the cafeteria with our trays. I never understood this school, they gave out complete vegan meals even though most of us aren’t even vegan. I enjoyed the fruit anyways, even if it wasn’t filling enough. “So where did they end up putting her new office?” I asked. It wasn’t really directed at anyone but I received an answer nonetheless. “They put her back in one of the private study rooms in the library.” Aria said as she passed our table. “I stood outside her office waiting for about half an hour before lunch.That line was bullshit.” She moved on without another word. “I still can’t believe they actually went through with transferring here. After all they did to us they still came here.” Bon Bon said. On the other end of the cafeteria a girl with a propeller cap on got up on a table and pulled a modified T-shirt cannon out from behind her. She fired it at a girl with icy blue hair and the contents of the cannon hit her in the back of the head. “Hey what the hell is wrong with you?! She’s blind!” I shouted, defending the freshman who I’d never even talked to. The propellor capped girl shrugged and loaded the cannon again. I picked up the thing that had been shot from the cannon. It was a uniform. She was firing uniforms at people. “Hey, are you okay?” Octavia asked the freshman gently. “I… uh… I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.” The girl said. “What’s your name?” Lyra asked. “Snowdrop, I do ice sculpture work for a party planner.” Snowdrop said joyfully. “Cool well nice meeting you. We’re gonna stop that crazed lunatic now, before she injures anyone else.” I said smiling at the kind girl. A freshman with a full time job for a party planner. I’d assume that party planner would be Pinkie as she’s the only person who hires freshmen. As we got closer I noticed that this girl’s eyes were strange. I really shouldn’t be one to say much seeing as my eyes are red but this was weird. She had purple eyes but instead of pupils she had a white swirl through the purple. She had a light purple skin tone and a pink button up shirt with a pin of a screw and ball on it. As well she wore khaki cargo shorts. Overall she looked out of place. Almost like she had gotten dressed in the dark with a blindfold on. Although I don’t want to judge her, it was so easy. I got up on the table grabbed the offending weaponry in my hands and unloaded the uniform currently packed inside. I chucked the cannon over to Pinkie, she caught and put it on her table. “You injured a blind freshman.” I muttered slightly upset. “Now please go ahead and hand out uniforms like a normal person.” I said as I patted her on the back. “Um… just, who the hell are you exactly?” Berry Punch said gesturing at all of her in an annoyed fashion. “Screwball’s the name. I don’t exactly have a game. Ms.Lueur told me to hand out these uniforms to the students. I saw it fit to hand out uniforms like this because it would be fun.” The swirly-eyed girl said. “That was not fun by any means.” Rarity said. It looked like Sunset was trying to calm her down with a massage. Everyone at their table looked confused and immediately stopped all productivity. “Extra hands are always helpful. That’s how I get most of my work done at the bakery.” Bon Bon said. She seemed upset but willing to help if it got this over faster. Octavia gave out a set of uniforms to each of us. We had them out to everyone in no time and no one was hurt in the process. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The rest of day went normally. Other than all of our free time being spent assessing the damage to our hangout. The door was going to be extremely expensive. Ms. Lueur had offered to pay for Octavia’s cello to be fixed. Though she hadn’t offered to clean my records or replace any of Lyra’s Mangas. Only two of my records were ruined, not to a point where I couldn’t use them, but to a point where they needed to be retired. When Octavia and I got home that day I retold the day’s events to Long Play over a dinner he had prepared himself. He had made grilled cheese sandwiches and put out potato chips for us to have with them. “Sounds like a lot for just one day, sis.” Long Play said after I had finished my story. “Long Play… Don’t call me sis. I know who I am.” I said tersely. “Oh right. I don’t know why I felt the need to say that.” He said, slightly embarrassed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was around seven o’clock when we got done eating. We had agreed to meet up with Lyra and Bon Bon at the mall. The mall was crowded, that was to be expected for a friday evening. Octavia and walked in with the rest of the crowd only to be surprised that there were very few people actually here, compared to what it looked like in the parking lot. Lyra was sitting on a bench by the escalator playing her lyre. Its case was sitting next to her and had a considerable amount of cash in it. “So I assume you’re buying us dessert at The Sweet Shoppe tonight.” I said as I walked over eyeing the cash and change in the lyre case closely. “I know you make twice that much from one club gig by itself.” Lyra said. “Fair enough. I see you’re doin’ much better than you once were.” “Ok so what’s the plan for tonight?” Octavia asked more casually than she usually speaks. Bon Bon walked out from behind the escalator. “You may wonder why I’ve called you all here today.” She said slowly. “Bon you didn’t call them here. We meet here every Friday.” Lyra deadpanned. “No seriously what’s the plan?” Octavia asked impatiently. “We aren’t doing anything here.” “Well we need to do research on our new counselor. That name seems familiar.” Lyra said. “It sounds like a writer’s pseudonym.” A few moments later we were in the fantasy section of the bookstore. I didn’t recognize a single title or name there. “Vinyl remind me again why we don’t like Ms. Lueur?” Octavia asked skeptically. “There’s something I just don’t like about her.” I said frowning. “Lyra you found anything yet!” I shouted over at her. Lyra holding her dad’s most recent book in his longest running series. “Uhhh… Nothing yet.” She replied slowly. She put the book down and began looking at other titles. She picked up another a book with a sour expression on her face. “This Bob Hitchens person is trying to run my dad into the ground. Everything he writes just a rip off of someone else’s much better work.” She threw the book back down on the shelf. “Thomas Michelakos’s work is selling better than ever. Why are you so worried?” Bon Bon asked. “Why did you say his full name?” She replied. “Felt like it. Vinyl do you see anything?” Bon Bon said. “Nothing more than these books being way out of place.” I said moving a stack of bibles to the historical fiction section an aisle over. “Hey why are author psudo whatever’s so weird.” “Vinyl it’s a pseudonym. And why did you just move that stack of bibles?” Octavia said confused. “They were in the wrong section. And you didn’t answer my question.” “Vinyl they’re made up names they don’t have to make sense.” Lyra answered for Octavia unexpectedly. “My dad just so happened to like the name he chose. Oh wait her name sounded French. Do we know anyone that speaks French?” “That was a quick realization Lyra. How did you get there?” Bon Bon said. Lyra simply shrugged in response. I looked at Octavia and she smiled at me. “At least you’re not going about other things.” She sounded disgusted. “Okay so we’ll save that for later. So I’ll take that as a no on French speaking friends Lyra.” I said putting an abrupt end to Bon Bon and Lyra’s argument. “Actually, Rarity speaks French. At least the fashion aspects of it. She’ll be of partial help at the least.” Octavia said. “Good idea. I totally forgot that she would know quite a bit of French. We’ll talk to her on Monday.” Lyra stated. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Hey do you think I can wear my jacket over the uniform?” I asked, pulling on the equal sign emblazoned blazer. “Vinyl the point of the uniforms is to show unity. So that’s probably a no on your jacket.” Octavia replied. “That’s bullshit! At least I can still wear my glasses.” I said, slipping on my shades. The world went from vibrant and bright to purple. Octavia walked into my room wearing her uniform. She looked virtually the same as me. Black skirt, white button-up shirt, equal sign emblazoned blazer, and her signature pink bowtie. She leaned forward and pulled my shades off. “You’re eyes are so beautiful. I wish you wouldn’t hide them behind these.” She put her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes. I for the first time took my shades off and set them on my bedside table. “Are you happy now?” I said jokingly. To my surprise I received a kiss. My eyes widened in shock before returning the favor. We pulled away just as my brother walked up to my room. “Well I was about to say you two should get goin’ but I’m just gonna walk myself out.” Long Play said as he slowly backed away from my door. “He’s right.” Octavia said unhappily. “About walking himself out or getting to school?” “School, Vy.” “You don’t make nicknames work, Tavi” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Once we were at school I noticed that everyone wore their uniforms with a signature. Everyone other than me. My face felt bare. Good thing I had a spare pair of shades in our hangout I thought. Berry Punch sat against the front wall of the school ready to greet us. Once again she had her black shades on and a stainless steel coffee mug in one hand. “g’mor’ng.” She slurred. “I take it you had a good night.” I said. “wher’ yu,” she groaned and clutched her head, “th’ sha- the glas’s? Wher’ dey?” “Okay so I think you asked about my shades. They’re at home.” “Oh, okay. I-ye’ dat goo’ I like purple. Wher’ my coffee?” “Hey gu- Vinyl you don’t have your glasses on!!” Derpy said as she walked over. Octavia was helping Berry to look for her coffee mug, that was in her hand. “Woah! Your eyes are red. Like, Vinyl that’s crazy.” “Just calm down. Don’t tell everyone. I only did this for Octavia.” I whispered. “Don’t tell me what?” “No. You misheard that Vinyl doesn’t want me to be loud about her not wearing her shades.” Derpy responded cheerfully. “Vinyl. How many times have you come to school without your glasses?” “Not once. The only time anyone has briefly seen my eyes was when Twilight and her friends did that elaborate musical number in the cafeteria and Applejack pulled them off for no reason.” I frowned remembering that. “No need to be upset. I love you and that’s what matters.” She gave me a peck on the cheek and blushed not something I was familiar with doing outside of home. I coughed and smiled. “Keep it at home Tavi.” She smiled as my blush subsided. Lyra was walking towards our small gathering. Berry finally took a drink of her coffee and immediately snapping back into reality very briefly. Only to eek out part of a sentence before being crushed once again. “Hey look Lyra’s her-” Berry stopped and clutched head. “Oh another bad hangover Berry?” Lyra asked sympathetically. “And why is nobody looking for Rarity?” “Oh right we’ll look.” I said grabbing Octavia by the hand and pulling her with me. > Chapter 6- Welcome to a new kind of tension > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 6 Pinkie Pie I had heard in the distance a voice. It was slightly recognizable. God I hated being by the lockers without anyone else. (You know what that’s like right boring and boring and more boring until something even somewhat interesting gets your attention.) The voice was loud and pleading (I think) “If anyone knows where she is it’s her.” (Oh I bet it’s Sunset she’s always asks me to find people for her.) Looking around the corner instead seeing the bacon I’d begun to appreciate, I saw a pair of dark red eyes and blue hair. “Oh hey Vinyl. You don’t usually go lookin’ for me. What’s up?” I said casually. “Not much. We really should hang more often, anyways I need you to find Rarity. We need a little bit of her help.” Vinyl said quickly. “Okie dokie loki. I’d be more than happy to.” As I skipped away I heard Vinyl tell me to tell Rarity to meet in their hangout out behind the school. (They really fixed that place up. I liked it.) Okay so Rarity was probably in the fashion club room. I headed that way and before long was standing in front of the door. Without even so much as making the door creak a little I made my way inside. There I saw something completely, unbelievably, totally, crazily, unexpected. Rarity and Sunset stood in a tight embrace kissing. I let out a loud gasp. They immediately separated and looked at me. Sunset tried to suck her head into her jacket like a turtle but couldn’t and Rarity was furious. “No privacy even in my own club room. Pinkie what do you want?!” Rarity shouted. “Well you see Vinyl needed to talk to you so I came looking for you. And when I saw what was going I was shocked and did a dramatic gasp and then you stopped Smooching it up. And then you yelled at me and here we are now.” “So you didn’t want to interrupt us. Wait why would a DJ need an audience with me?” Rarity questioned. “Yeah it seemed urgent but she didn’t tell me what they needed you for.” “Sunny I’ve got to go and talk to them.” She said quickly and then her tone changed. “You know I am not one to disappoint.” She winked and quickly walked out the door. “Go to their hangout!” I yelled as Rarity slammed the door and walked out in a huff flipping her hair once she was outside. (Why’d she do that outside? Maybe you know but that’s just weird to me.) “Sunny?” I said to Sunset trying keep myself from falling into a fit of giggles. Though it didn’t last long I couldn’t help it I fell on the floor laughing. “So wait you two are.. a… an… item now?” I said looking at Sunset and then looking at the door and then back at Sunset and then back at the door and so on. “No one can know yet. I want to keep between me and Rarity for a little while longer.” Sunset said. She was looking away but I could tell she was blushing. “Wait a minute. Everything makes sense now. You guys should be way more subtle like two times more subtle. If I had been thinking hard enough and not brushing it off I would’ve known sooner.” “Okay. Pinkie don’t tell anyone.” Sunset said sternly as I walked out of the room.