//------------------------------//
// Scene 4 - Canterlot High School 
// Story: Beyond the Bounds of Universes 
// by CTVulpin 
//------------------------------//

	It had been quite some time since Twilight had stepped out on just two legs, but she managed to land the exit from the portal onto the sidewalk in front of Canterlot High with only two gyrations of her arms to regain her balance.  A quick check confirmed she wearing the usual blue blouse, purple skirt with her cutie mark, and knee-high boots that the portal’s magic always gave her.  Looking around, she saw that the sidewalk between the statue she’d just emerged from and the entrance to the school was deserted.  “Good,” she said, “I wouldn’t want to give anyone a fright by popping out of solid rock.  Although,” she added, looking at the position of the sun, “I could have sworn it’s about the time for the students to be arriving.”
“Really?” a familiar but unexpected voice said from behind Twilight, “because I could have sworn today’s Saturday.”
“Yah!” Twilight yelped, whirling around to see a pink-skinned girl with insanely curly dark pink hair standing behind her.  “Pinkie Pie,” Twilight gasped, fright quickly giving way to happiness, “of course.”
“Heya Twilight,” Pinkie said, beaming. “Long time no… wait.”  She narrowed her eyes and leaned in close to Twilight’s face.  “Which one are you?”
“Uh… the-” Pinkie stopped Twilight’s answer by putting a finger on Twilight’s mouth.
“No, no,” Pinkie said, “let me guess.  Hm…” she walked slowly around Twilight, pausing occasionally to poke her shoulder or lift a lock of her hair.  When she came back around to the front, she nodded and declared, “You are Princess Twilight of Equestria.  I can tell because you’re not wearing glasses.  And I saw you come out of the portal just now.”
“Then why…” Twilight stopped herself with a shake of her head.  It’s pointless to question the workings of the Pinkie Pie mind, she thought, no matter which world you’re in.  Instead, she asked, “So, you’re the one Sunset Shimmer asked to keep me company?”
“Huh?’ Pinkie responded, head tilting quizzically.  “No, I haven’t seen her since…” she trailed off as something in her pocket vibrated and giggled.  She reached into the pocket and brought out a cell phone, which she checked.  “Oh wow,” she said, “Sunset just texted me to ask if I could meet you by the statue Canterlot High.”  She typed a quick reply, put the phone away and gave Twilight a searching look.  “Have you learned how to see the future, Twilight?” she asked.
“To be honest,” Twilight said, “sometimes I wish I had.  No, Sunset and I just arranged to meet here.  Well, I’m actually waiting for… the local Twilight, but since Sunset’s the one with the magic journal...”
Pinkie’s eyes went wide and started to sparkle.  “Ooooo.  Both Twilights in the same place?  That hasn’t happened since… after the Friendship Games where she kinda-accidentally stole all our magic.  That means we have to break out the nicknames again to keep you two straight.”
“Oh,” Twilight said, “that hadn’t crossed my mind, but you’re right, Pinkie.”  She rubbed her chin in deep thought.  “I can’t recall what we-”
“You’re ‘Princess Twilight,’ obviously” Pinkie cut in, “and she’s ‘Sci-Twi,’ cuz she’s all science-y while you’re magic-y.”
“Right, ok,” Twilight said.  “So then,” she continued after a moment, “it’s going to be a couple hours, apparently.  Catch me up, Pinkie, what’s been happening since the last time I visited?”
“Oh, soooooo much!” Pinkie exclaimed.  “Where do I start?  I know!  We had a really cool summer camp…”




“… and so I got banned from touching the sprinkles shaker again!  Can you believe it?”
“Wha?” Twilight said, snapping out of a daze.  “Oh, sorry Pinkie.  I must have spaced out at some point.”
“No problem, Twilight,” Pinkie said with nonchalant wave of her hand.  “What’s the last bit you recall?  I can start over from there.”
“Uh…”  Twilight’s eyes darted around in search of something to change the subject with.  While she didn’t see anything, her ears picked up a perfect excuse: the sound of a bus pulling up to the curb on the other side of the statue, and then a persistent beeping noise accompanying the bus driving away.  “What is that?” Twilight asked.  She and Pinkie peeked around the statue’s base to see Sunset Shimmer and the bespectacled Twilight Sparkle standing at the curbside.  Sci-Twi was fiddling furiously with a device in her gloved hands, which was the source of the beeping.
“I thought you had that calibrated not to go off at known magic,” Sunset yelled over the beeping.  “Did you forget the portal?”
“It’s not reacting to the portal,” Sci-Twi responded.  “The reading’s too strong.  I’d bet it’s-”
“Hey Sunset!” Pinkie shouted, waving, “Sci-Twi!  Look who’s here!” She grabbed Princess Twilight by the shoulder and pushed her out into full view of the others.
“Sci-Twi?” the thusly-nicknamed girl said, looking up.  When she saw Princess Twilight, comprehension dawned on her face.  “Ah.  That’s it then.”  She focused back on her magic detector as she and Sunset approached Pinkie and Princess Twilight, and by the time the two pairs met up, Sci-Twi had managed to shut off the incessant beeps.  “Sorry about that,” she said, adjusting her glasses nervously.  “I guess the Princess’s magic and mine are different enough that the detector didn’t recognize hers.  Hi.”  She held out a hand to Princess Twilight with an awkward smile.
“Uh, hi,” the Princess echoed, shaking the offered hand in an awkward, loose grip.  “What’s with the gloves?” she asked.
“Oh,” Sci-Twi held up one hand, “I didn’t want to have anyone on the bus staring at this.” She pulled the glove off in a single motion, revealing the pulsating starburst symbol on the back of her hand.
Princess Twilight’s eyes went wide and she grasped Sci-Twi’s wrist in both hands.  “This is seriously happening!” she said, caught between excitement and confusion.
“What?” Sunset asked, “what’s happening?”
“I…” Princess Twilight began.  “You know what?” She grabbed Sunset’s wrist and pulled both her and Sci-Twi around to the portal side of the statue, saying, “It’ll be easier to just show you.”  Before anyone could protest, she jumped into the portal, pulling both of the girls in behind her.
Pinkie Pie, left alone in front of the school, tapped her chin with a finger as she contemplated the scene.  “I wonder if I should join them,” she said.  “I mean, on the one hand, it’d be really cool to see what Equestria’s really like.  On the other hand, Equestria already has one of me and it is possible to have too much of a good thing.”  Her phone went off, and she kept her thinking face on as she answered it.
“Hello?  … A block party?!  On my block, and I’m only hearing about it now?!  Who’s responsible for this?  …  I should have known.  … Yes, I’ll be right there.”  She hung up and gave the statue an apologetic look.  “Sorry, Equestria,” she said, “maybe next time.”  She put her phone in her pocket, checked the fit of her boots, and then took off running down the street screaming, “Cheese Sandwiiiiich!”