//------------------------------// // New Students: Tempest Flare and Sunset Shimmer // Story: Aspects of Harmony // by kwr2k13 //------------------------------// New Students: Welcome, Sunset Shimmer and Tempest Flare! A few weeks passed since the anthrofied Mane 6 (Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash) had dealt with another attack from Chessmaster at the school.  Fortunately, they were assisted by Maestro Star and his sisters, Janice and Servo.  They used the Elements of Harmony on a human who had become possessed by the Nightmare Force that turned them into an anthropomorphic version of Nightmare Moon.  There were rumors about some new students arriving at the school. One of them was known to Rina, or Pinkie Pie, as she preferred to be called.  Her pen pal from Russia would be staying at her home during the semester while she attended school. Ayumi's POV: As I head up to the front door I see a girl standing about 5 feet 10 inches wearing a brown Stetson hat with a white t-shirt with a brown jacket over it.  She was also wearing a blue denim skirt.  The odd thing was this girl had a blonde tail and hair with orange fur and ears; though not as odd as it once was due to my own changed form.         The blonde girl was looking at her cell phone, texting her friends about the new arrival in the foyer when the new student showed up. “Howdy!  You must be Pinkie Pie’s pen pal!  Ah’m AJ.  Pleased to meet ya!”  She headed over to shake hands.  But I backed away due to her overly friendly manner to a complete stranger.  “I tend to let off heat from my hands when nervous and I don't want to burn you by accident.”         AJ watches as the new girl explained why she backed off, “Oh, that’s okay, sugarcube! Ya got a name?  Ah’m one of Rina, er, Pinkie Pie’s friends.  Ya remember Rina, don’tcha?”   “Yeah, but I never met her personally.  We used to be pen pals back when snail mail was used more. Now we use email and IM but I always wanted to meet her for real,” I said as a burst of flame popped out my mouth. “Sorry, still getting used to being able to breath different elements.”         AJ smiled, “Ah hear ya.  Mah best friends can fly and use magic.  Me, Ah got super strength and endurance.  Comes in handy f’r workin’ on mah farm.”         “I got all that and more. I think I’m a hybrid of an alicorn and a dragon.” I say as I stretch my wings out.” I was a pegasister before my change, so I know about the show but I liked the basis it gave for fan fictions. Seems I became my favorite OC, Tempest Flare.”         AJ smiles, “So, Ye’r Tempest Flare, huh?  Why don’t we meet some o’ mah friends.  Ya probably know about Twilight and the others, right?”         “Is she Twilicorn or just unicorn Twilight?” I ask. “Twilicorn means alicorn Twilight by the way.”         AJ chuckles, “Twilight is the Princess of Friendship, so she’s an alicorn all right.  She’s got her magic, wings, the Element of Magic, the intelligence, and she’s a great friend t’ talk with.  She even forgave Trixie when she was under control of some dark amulet.” “Good! I hoped she was; I kinda need her help with my magic. I somehow have the burning hands as I  told you, and I want to turn that off if I can. Though, can we get some food? I’m craving gems.” AJ shakes her head, “Uh, sorry to break it t’ ya, Tempest, but this ain’t Equestria.  Ya can eat normal pony food, right?” “I know, but when I crave gems for some reason, candy does the trick if only for a bit. And I got some cash so if we can find a vending machine I’d be very grateful.” AJ nods, “Ah saw a vendin’ machine down the hall by the cafeteria and the lockers.  Ah think they have some candy.  Ah prefer apples mahself.” “Hey can I ask something well something besides this?” I changed the subject as we talked along the way. AJ nods as she takes Tempest to the vending machines, “Sure, sugarcube.  What’s on y’r mind?” “Who were you before the change?” I asked the anthro farm girl. After hearing the question Tempest proposed, AJ thought about how to answer, “Ah was known as “Kurt Smith” before Ah ended up as the Element o’ Honesty.  It felt really weird bein’ in this here body, but Twilight showed me Ah’m a part o’ this.  The gals depend on mah honesty and bein’ there f’r them and others.  Ya okay with this, right, Tempest?” “Call me Ayumi. I always kept my first name in my fanfics and even before the change I had changed my middle names to fit. My old name was Ayumi Alexia Selene Dno’oove. I just switched them. Funnly, I had to change them anyway to actually sign up for the exchange program as another girl had both of my old middle names as her first and last. “ AJ nods as Ayumi explained her story while they approached the vending machines, “Rina, er, Pinkie Pie told us all about ya comin’.  She will probably throw ya a 'Welcome to the School Party.;” “About that; the reason I came here was actually to meet Luna as well as Rina. She was my favorite character in the show and after changing, I hoped that someone had become her. Do you know if somepony has already?  Or, am I reaching for the stars?” I chuckled at my joke. AJ shook her head, “Not sure if anypony became Luna, but Twilight’s been in contact with some folks called the “My Little Pony Analysts.”  They’re behind all the strange emails that turned me and mah friends int’ the Mane Six.  Another group turned one o’ the local bullies int’ Trixie.  Even mah little sis became Apple Bloom!” “As long as Chrissy isn’t the one behind it, I’m fine. I hate how most think she’s just evil; most of her worst moments are when she’s drunk on power. As most know, power corrupts, so I like to think she just let it go to her head. Hell, I bet in the show Cadance was only so ragged during the wedding due to the overuse of her love magic to feed the other changelings. she looked the same during the crystal empire episodes minus her wedding dress of course.” AJ chuckles, “Ah hear yah, Ayumi.”  The girls approach the vending machine, “Okay, here’s the candy.  What would ya like?” I look at the selection and see a bag of hard candy. ‘Thank the Goddesses they do sell hard candy here!’ I said to myself.  I then pointed at the bag of candy I wanted,  “Can you pay for me? I still don’t know how to use Aussie money, sorry.” AJ chuckles, “Sure, Ayumi.  This one’s on me today.”  She pulls out her change purse and selects some coins.  After depositing the coins into the machine.  “Okay, push the button for the hard candy ya want.” “Thanks, AJ! Scientifically speaking hard candy is a type of gem, so it’s the best for my cravings!” I say as I press the button and grab the bag. I popped a piece in my mouth and start gnawing on it with my fangs. AJ watches as her new friend munches on her candy, “Reminds me o’ a certain dragon from the show who likes gems as much as you do.”  She then selects some apple slices from the vending machine.  “These aren’t like the ones at mah farm, but they’ll do.” “Thing is, most dragons eat metals and gems to reinforce their scales and in some fiction this also makes them more magic resistant,” I say as we eat our snacks. “So, what’s next?” AJ thinks, “Well, we could go find Twilight and the girls.  Rainbow Dash would be probably flyin’ around here.”  She looked around for the cyan Pegasus. “Oh Well then, guess I’ll take to the air myself.” I say as I leap up as start flapping my own pair of wings. “I practiced back home and flew to the airport that took me here. So I’ll be right back with Rainbow! If you want to see her spotting me flying near you. I bet yah 10 she’ll rocket toward us to try and tackle me.” AJ nods, “Ya makin’ a friendly wager, sugarcube?  Yer on!”  She watches as Rainbow Dash was resting on a cloud.  The rainbow maned girl spotted Ayumi flying near her area. “Huh, who is this?” Rainbow Dash asked herself.  She took off towards the newcomer.  “Hey, you there!  What’s up, besides the sky, that is…” She laughs at her own joke. I ignore the polychromatic pegasi and smile, “Give her a bit.”  I tell AJ. Applejack continues to watch the two flyers from the ground as she munches on her snack. Seeing Rainbow still just hovering there, I decided to taunt the Mare. “Oh nothing!  I just told AJ here that I could beat your flank from here to Canada and back in ten seconds flat.” Rainbow glared at Ayumi. “You did NOT just challenge  me to a race! You’re crazy if you think that you can beat me!” A chuckle could be heard, drawing the attention of the mares to the new arrival. “Do you really think that it’s even possible to get from Australia to Canada and back in that amount of time? I mean, you may have supersonic speed, but there are limitations for everyone.” The anthro before them surprised them, but not unpleasantly. Ashley spoke first. “Twi’s got a point, RD. It’s quite the distance.”         Rainbow huffed. “Of course I can! I’m the fastest flier, after all.”         Ashley watches Ayumi and Rainbow Dash get ready for their race, “Twi, while yer here and all, that other gal is Ayumi.  She’s the new “exchange student” Pinkie told us ‘bout.  She and her used ta be pen pals.  Turns out she’s some sorta dragon hybrid thing.  Ah didn’t think that was possible.”         Twilight chuckled nervously. “You’d be surprised at what’s possible, AJ. Maybe you should talk to Maestro- he seems to know a whole bunch about the Equestria we’re connected to.”         Ashley quirked an eyebrow. “Really? Since when?”         Twilight shrugged. “He said something about a talk with somepony on the night his friends flew in from America. That’s all he said about it.” “I meant it more as a challenge to her martial arts skills if she's anything like the Rainbow Dash the show still have the black belt level karate skill. Also, I won, so AJ, pay up.” I said as I landed next to my fellow alicorn. “Hi Twilight, my name is Ayumi Tempest Flare Dno'oove. I'm an Alicorn and Dragonoid hybrid. Like you I have a special ability but most don't know about. I can see the weave. Basically it's a way to predict the future using probability and some magical foresight. It allows you to see the connections between everyone and where they are going to go. It's not completely accurate I can see the most likely outcome that happens in the next few minutes. Though this ability only works if I concentrate on it.”         Ashley regretfully paid up on the bet, muttering about something. Twilight seemed curious about the future sight thing, but she knew it wouldn’t do much, seeing as it was only into a few minutes. She got her thoughts off of it, and smiled. “It’s good to meet you. Pinkie told us a bit about you.” She shook Ayumi’s outstretched hand, glad to have a new friend. “Say, we can take you over to her house if you like! She’s probably waiting over there with a small party for you.” “Yeah a ‘small’ party.” I said with air quotes. “Knowing Rina/Pinkie she'll have invited half the town. Especially now that she has Pinkie's unique magic.”         Ashley looked over at Ayumi, “So, you got a place t’ stay while yer attendin’ school?”   “Not really no. And before any of you offer I can literally carve out a cave if I have to but I was hoping to ask Rina’s mother if until I figure out how to use Aussie money then I’ll rent a penthouse apartment for the year.” I said with a chuckle. “Ever since my uncle died I’ve been a multi-millionaire; so yeah, I’m as loaded as Fluttershy more actually as I have full access to my money.”         Ashley thought about the options her friends and her could offer.  “Well, Ah live on mah family’s farm, and Twilight’s got a place.  There’s also Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie.  What do ya think, Twi?” Thinking back to earlier I realized something. “Hey Twilight, sorry to correct you but Rainbow Dash can actually achieve Hypersonic speeds of up to Mach 10. This is due to her pegasi magic allowing her to bypass the normal sound barrier. It’s only at Mach 5 when her magic goes into hyperdrive causing a massive speed boost and that iconic rainbow ring of energy.”         Ashley nods, “Yeah, that’s her Sonic Rainboom maneuver.  Ah’m sure Rainbow Dash would find that information ‘awesome’!” Twilight sighed. “While that may be true, she might be unable to maintain it for long periods of time. After all, in the show, it’s only ever shown her do it for minutes at a time.”         Rainbow scoffed. “Hey, that doesn’t mean anything! I’ll just have to see how long I can maintain top speed! Later!” She then speeds off into the sky.         Ashley chuckled as Rainbow took off towards the sky.  “Looks like Rainbow’s gonna try to test out her new Pegasi abilities.  Ah feel mighty strong mahself.  Must be the Earth pony traits in me.”  She flexed her arm to test out her strength.         A certain mare could be heard, huffing. “Trixie thinks she could do better, if she had wings! How many anthros have those, anyway!? And why doesn’t Trixie have them!?” Ashley looked over at Trixie, “Howdy, Trixie.  Ah’m Applejack, or AJ fer short. Why are ya so upset ‘bout?” Trixie scowled. “Trixie already knows you, sort of. Remember when you and your friends dragged her to Twilight’s? Trixie still remembers the meal you gave her was overabundant in apple products, with not enough variety! And she’s upset because she knows that she doesn’t have wings! It would make her look so regal!”          Twilight sighed. “You never change, do you? Always had a bit of a jealous side to you even before you became Trixie.” Ashley shook her head, “Sorry about the meal, Trixie.  All the food and drinks we served came from mah farm’s apple orchards.  If ya want variety, p’rhaps we can figure out what other foods ya like.” Trixie grinned. “Do you have… pears?” If she knew anything from reading way too much fanfiction, it was that in any universe, Applejack seemed to have an aversion to pears. Applejack’s face made a frown, “Sorry, no can do, sugarcube.  Ah have three red apples as mah Cutie Mark, not pears.  But, p’rhaps if we go t’ the local markets, there may be some.  Then again, you like peanut butter crackers, right?” Trixie was appalled. “Only with the crunchiest of peanut butter! Never one of those disgusting ones they sell that only come with creamy!” Ashley smiled at Trixie, “Ah’m glad yer feelin’ better, Trixie.  How ya holdin’ up with bein’, well, you?” Trixie shrugged. “Trixie doesn’t mind that she is her. Sure, the third-person speech took awhile to get used to, but she’s used to it now.” Ashley looked over to Ayumi and then to Twilight, “Well, we have a new student.  Ayumi, this is Trixie.  Trixie, this is Ayumi.  She’ll be hangin’ out with us after school and learnin’ about our unique talents.” Trixie looked at her, and raised an eyebrow. “Half-dragon, huh? Maestro said such things were possible, even going so far as to say that he’d seen one himself. But he never said one looked quite like… her. Oh well. Trixie’s just going to roll with it.” She then turned her thoughts to the other portion of Ayumi’s reason to be here: to study the talents of the anthros. Perhaps Trixie could dazzle her with her illusions? That would be wonderful! Ashley thought about the current situation with Twilight and the others, ‘So, this lil’ group’s starting to feel more like Equestria.  We have Trixie, as well as the rest of the Mane 6.  Ah wonder who else we’ll run into?’ Ashley broke out of her thoughts, “So, Twilight, what did you think of our deep-sea divin’ adventure?   Ah knew Rarity didn’t want to get her mane all wet, so she stayed in the boat while we went in and found that artifact yer supposed t’ find.” Twilight sighed. “Honestly, it feels so far away, like it happened ages ago. I was a bit nervous at the time, but I’m glad we went. Even though I’ve honestly felt a little… strange ever since.” Trixie usually didn’t show much concern for others, but she was curious. “Strange how?” Twilight shook her head, flapping her wings absent-mindedly. “I can’t quite put it into words, honestly. I feel stronger, sure, but I also feel… How do I put it, exactly? More… alive, I suppose.” Ashley nods, “Ah hear ya, Twilight.  Ah feel the same way.  It was if we were meant to be...us.  Ah mean, yer the ‘Princess of Friendship’, Trixie’s a great illusionist, and Ah’m just a simple apple farmer.  Rainbow’s a great flyer and loyal friend, Fluttershy enjoys her time at the local animal shelter, Rarity’s designed most of our outfits f’r school and casual wear, and Pinkie’s into bakin’ and throwin’ parties.” Trixie blinked. Had she felt like that ever since she’d found the dynamo? In fact she did, but she just hadn’t noticed it up until that point. “Weird. You would think that Trixie would have noticed sooner…” Ashley looked over at Twilight, “What d’ ya think, Twi?  ‘Bout the Elements and these artifacts we’ve found so far?”  Ashley was indeed wearing the Element of Honesty around her neck.  The orange gem representing an apple reflected the sunlight that gleamed off it. Twilight hummed in thought. “I don’t know. I mean, we’ve already dealt with somebody being forcibly anthrofied into Nightmare Moon. Perhaps the reason we have them is just in case we have to deal with a situation like that? Though, I wonder sometimes if there’s more to it…” Ashley looks over at Trixie, “What d’ you think, Trixie?” To say the least, Trixie was surprised. They wanted her input? She seemed to think on it for awhile. She finally decided that she would voice what she thought. “Trixie may not have been there when you found the artifacts, But for some reason she feels almost… necessary to this whole ordeal. Don’t ask her why though, because she has no clue.” Ashley chuckled and extends her hand to Trixie in friendship, “Ah know we didn’t  see eye-to-eye when ya first challenged Twilight, but ya weren’t yerself then, no offense.  But, you’ve changed, Trixie, f’r the better.  And if ya want us t’ help ya out, we’ll be there f’r ya. Right, Twilight?” Twilight nodded. “Of course. That’s what friends are for!” Trixie seemed a bit hesitant, however. She’d never really had friends before. Sure, she was willing to work with them, but friends? Was that the best way to approach this? She then remembered a bit of advice Maestro gave her: If you distance yourself from others and don’t accept friendship, you’ll only end up cold, sad, and alone. True, people may use you sometimes- but not everyone’s like that. If you make friends, look for those that already seem to be good friends with others. They’re the most trust-worthy. Trixie then shook Ashley’s hand. “Thank you.” Her smug grin then returned. “But don’t expect Trixie to say that often, mon amie.” Ashley accepted Trixie’s handshake in friendship, “Well, Trixie, let me be the first t’ say, ‘Welcome aboard.’  Ah just hope the other gals will accept ya as easily as Twilight and I did.” Trixie then seemed to recall something. “Oh yeah! Trixie looked at the registry for new students, and it seems there’s one more that’ll show up soon. The name they go by is Sunset Shimmer.” Ashley looked over at Twilight, “Ya know anythin’ ‘bout this ‘Sunset Shimmer’ we need ta know, Twilight?” Twilight recovered a little from the shock of it all. “Yes, actually. She’s from the Equestria Girls movies- you could go so far as to say that she’s the main character of them. But, seeing as it’s going to be an anthro version of her, expect to see her horn. After all, she’s a unicorn.” Ashley nods, “So, we have Rarity, Trixie, and Sunset Shimmer as unicorns, me and Pinkie as Earth ponies, Rainbow and Fluttershy as Pegasi, and one Alicorn Princess of Friendship, as well as Ayumi, an alicorn/dragon hybrid, and whatever Maestro and his family are?” Twilight seemed confused. “Why did you say ‘whatever they are?’ They’re just unicorns!” However, underneath, Twilight was sweating bullets. Had one of the others that knew told her? After all, she hadn’t said a word. She looked over to Trixie. I doubt she’d tell anyone about it, knowing that it’d be a misuse of Maestro’s trust. Ashley looked over at Twilight, “You okay, Twi?  Yer as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full o’ rockin’ chairs.”  She then sighed, “Take it easy, Twilight, o’ course that Maestro fella’s an unicorn, as are his half-sisters.”  She nervously rubbed the back of her head with her hand. Twilight cursed inwardly. Sometimes she hated the fact that she was so bad at disguising her emotions. She tried to calm down, but only worked to a certain degree. “I’m fine, really.” She then took a deep breath. “I was just a little jumpy about you accusing our mutual friend and his family. I know his half-brother’s against us, but that’s no reason to go and accuse them of lying without much proof!” She told herself to try and keep calm. She knew that AJ meant nothing by it, but her paranoia sometimes got the better of her. “I’m sorry for snapping at you. I just hope you can put a little faith in him. If he feels you are trustworthy enough, he might share a few secrets. That’s all that I’ll say on the matter.” the best of her. Ashley gave Twilight a side hug, “Feelin’ better?  Good t’ hear.  Ah didn’t mean to go accusin’ Maestro of wrong-doin’.  He’s been mighty friendly since he showed up to save ya from that half-brother o’ his..  It’s just that...ah forget it.  We got a new student arrivin’ soon” Then Ashley changed the subject concerning the new student, “Now, once Sunset Shimmer shows up at school, we shouldn’t overwhelm her too much.  Judgin’ by what happened t’ us, she could be someone who got transformed by them Analysts.” Twilight nodded. “I’ll inform everyone to treat her with the utmost respect.” After texting all of her friends that weren’t there at the moment, Twilight smiled “Thanks for understanding. Now, how about we go see if Sunset’s...” Twilight then shook her head. “No, she’s probably not here yet…” “Any idea where she would be stayin’ at?”  Ashley asked the group. “Trixie saw a hotel listed, seeing as she’s probably a long way from home. Now, which one was it again…?” She put a finger on her chin, trying to recall where it was. She then noticed something. “Hey, is it just Trixie, or did Ayumi leave?” Ashley nodded, “She said she was goin’ to find Pinkie Pie and ask to stay at her place.  Shoot, if she needed a place to stay f’r the school year, she coulda asked Twilight or me.” Trixie shook her head. “Trixie thinks Ayumi wanted to be around somebody a little more familiar, even if it is only through letters and e-mail that they know each other.” Trixie then tried to get her thoughts back on track. “Now which hotel did it say Sunset was staying at again...?” Trixie muttered for awhile, but then snapped her fingers. “Trixie may not recall what its name was, but she can remember what it looked like! And there’s only one hotel that she can think of that looks quite like that.” She rustled her cape dramatically, and grinned. “Trixie’ll just find it, and come back here with Sunset! Piece of cake!” She then disappeared in a flash of pink light. Ashley watched as Trixie teleported out, then asked Twilight, “Did Trixie just learn t’ teleport herself?” Twilight sighed. “Knowing that she was anthrofied by somebody outside the Analysts that gave her full control and knowledge of her magic from the get-go, I’m presuming that she always knew the spell- but only recently has she ever used it.” Ashley nodded, “Well, I hope we can solve the case of who anthrofied Trixie in due time.  What ‘bout yer contacts, Miss Excalibur and Maestro?  They had some theories…” Twilight had a contemplative look. “Well, Maestro is even more convinced than before that it’s Starlight Glimmer that we’re dealing with, ever since Excalibur revealed to him that the Equestria we’re connected to hasn’t yet experienced the events of the Season 5 finale. He highly doubts it could be anyone else at this point. He says that even with this hunch, there is a slight possibility that he’s wrong on this. He just doesn’t expect it to be the case.” Ashley nodded, “Well, we need t’ be ready fer whoever’s behind this.”  She then smiles at Twilight, “Ah can’t thank ya enough fer bein’ there fer all of us when we...changed like you.  It took some adjustin’ to these here new bodies, but we got through it.” Twilight shook her head. “Just doing what any friend would. If we are there for each other, our bond will never falter.”