//------------------------------// // Chapter 19 // Story: Welcome To Ponyville High // by xxGamer101xx //------------------------------// Twilight walked into the gym and was amazed. Even though she knew all this was only an illusion, it was beautiful beyond words. It looked like every student from the school was there, and they were all clad in nothing but the finest attire. As she surveyed the room, she saw Comet, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash setting the dance floor ablaze. Well, the "ablaze" part was mostly Pinkie, but still. She had no clue Comet Tail had moves like that! She was absolutely gobsmacked by his groove. Her jaw hung agape. The shock seemed almost like it sent her to another world. Meanwhile, Comet stopped dancing. He noticed her and froze in place. Now it was his turn to have his gob smacked! Comet stared in her direction for several minutes before he finally gathered the courage to approach Twilight. His voice snapped her out of her other-worldly trance.“Wow, Twilight. You look beautiful! I know you're a bookworm, but you clean up better than any worm I've ever seen!” Comet laughed a friendly laugh. He wore a stylish purple suit with a faint crescent design on his chest. He wore a tremendous smile on his face. Twilight blushed. She didn't know what to say, so she resorted to her classic fall-back. “T-thanks. You don’t look half bad yourself." But she didn't want that conversational genius to be the end. "A– and uhm, you look, uh, you look … nice too …." As hard as she tried to come up with something clever, that was all she had. Comet laughed again. “Horse catch your tongue, sweetheart?” Knowing that actions speak louder than words, he held out his hand invitingly. “Would you honor me with a dance, Beautiful?" “S– su-” A hand grabbed Twilight's shoulder and dragged her off toward the opposite corner of the gym feet before she even realized what happened. Having not even seen the kidnapper, Comet stood befuddled. It all happened so fast that he was lost. Saddened, he started dancing all by his lonesome again. When Twilight came to her senses, she realized it was Pinkie, wearing an uncharacteristically frilly white dress. She was briefly irritated that her friend ruined her romantic moment, but it's hard to stay mad at her wide-eyed, naive friend. Completely oblivious to her previous conversation with Comet, Pinkie smiled and pulled her friend in a tight hug. After releasing her friend, Pinkie started gushing.“Wow, Twilight! You look super pretty. Like, not just peppermint patty pretty, like triple chocolate cheesecake covered in pumpkin pudding and topped with wonderful whipped cream and– " Twilight giggled. She figured she should stop her friend before this got out of hand. “Thanks, Pinkie.” “Come on.” Pinkie smirked as she grabbed Twilight’s hand, “You're going to miss it.” Twilight was confused. She stopped walking and raised an eyebrow at her friend. “Miss what? What about Comet Tail? We were just about to start dancing before you yanked me out of there.” “Don’t be a silly willy.” Pinkie laughed. “If you just stand there, you’re going to miss the crowning of the Spring King and Queen.” “Oh,” Twilight responded, in a deadpan tone. Twilight honestly couldn't care less about the crowning. She looked around and carefully scanned the gym, but she was crushed to find that she couldn't locate Comet Tail anywhere. Moreover, she noticed something strange. Everyone was dancing and smiling, but there was an uncanny, uncomfortable feeling dominating the room. She didn't have much time to think about this before Pinkie began to drag her off again, this time toward the crowning ceremony. Twilight stopped her this time. “Wait, Pinkie, I just got here.” Pinkie began to laugh as Twilight said this. “That’s what you get for arriving late, you silly willy.” Twilight sighed. Her dance was already ruined, so she figured she may as well go along. “Okay, lead the way Pinkie.” “That’s the spirit, Twilight. Come on and follow me!” Pinkie cheered as she grabbed her friend's hand and resumed walking. And so the pair reached a stage at one side of the gymnasium.Principal Mayor was standing on top of the stage. The chatter of the other students was soon halted as the principal tapped on her microphone. “Now is the time we've been waiting for, everyone!” Principal Mayor announced with a huge smile on her face. She pulled an envelope out of her hat and walked towards the podium in the center of the stage. “I am as eager as all of you to find out who the next Spring King and Queen are going to be." "And we're certainly all eager to hear," muttered Twilight under her breath. “I wonder who the will couple be,” chirped Pinkie. “It looks like this year’s Spring King and Queen are ….” Principal Mayor paused as she was opening the envelope. She then exclaimed, “Shining Armor and Cadence!” The pair walked onto the stage as the other students clapped and cheered for them. They both smiled at each other as the plastic crowns were put on their heads. Just then the lights were cut off, shocking everyone. When the lights were back on, the crowd of students shrieked in horror as they saw that two stone statues stood on the stage. Twilight couldn't believe was her eyes were seeing. Her brother was now a stone statue! Cadence was too! Her brother and Cadence were now transformed into the statues she saw in her dreams. Discord was choosing this time to strike. Sinister laughter came from above the room. "Now I have another Princess for my statue collection,” smirked a shady figure as he emerged from the shadows. Twilight gasped when she saw that it was Discord. She was filled with anger and spitefulness. She was sick of all the chaos. This time it hurt her brother! Discord smiled and laughed, “To think I got a Princess and her knight in shining armor too.” Twilight looked at the stone statues again. Cold and lifeless. They looked just like the statues she saw in her dreams. The statues looked like the frozen statues that Celestia and Luna became in the other world. This Equestria was starting to turn into the one that Celestia had shown her. Was this what he wanted to show her through that door? Discord grabbed the plastic crown that sat on the head of Shining Armor. He then placed the crown on his head and smiled a huge, crooked grin. “Now then. Let’s all have some fun!” Twilight muttered to herself, “Not again ….” “Twilight, did you say something?” asked Pinkie as she gave her friend a concerned look. “No, Pinkie.I didn't say a word.” Twilight's muttering was hushed and bitter. "You sure?" Twilight glared at her friend and coldly stated, "Yes. I am quite sure." The lights turned off again and everyone in the gym began to panic. Twilight felt Pinkie grab her hands and begin to pull her forward . Not knowing what else to do, she followed along as she was guided through the darkness that now filled the room. They ran through the crowd of panicking students toward the hallway. Twilight looked around and saw she was standing in front of her friends. “Twilight.” greeted Applejack with a warm smile. She noticed the frown on her face and tried to draw her attention “Ah think he just turned your brother into a rock.” Twilight grimaced and responded sarcastically, “Yeah. I know. Thanks for pointing that out, Applejack.” Twilight felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned and saw that it was Rarity, who tried to smile. “Ignore Applejack, dear. We are so sorry for what happened to your brother. We want to help end all this madness.” “Discord is attacking us, so what do we do now?” asked Rainbow Dash. “Twilight,” mumbled Fluttershy in a soft tone as her eyes were glued to the floor. "What should we do now? There has to be some way we can free Shining and Cadence." "There has to be," said Rainbow authoritatively. "We WILL free them! “Eeyup,” nodded Applejack in agreement. Rarity was determined as well, but she wasn't sure what course of action to take now. “Well then Rainbow dear, what do you suppose we do?” Rainbow couldn’t think of a response and turned to Twilight. “Come on, Egghead. You DO have an idea, right?” Twilight thought for a minute. If they had the Elements of Harmony, this problem would be easy to solve. She tried to retrace her steps to figure out where the Elements were. She had them when she arrived at school, …. She put them in her locker! They have to be there! “My locker!” Twilight was filled with hope at this revelation. “They have to be there.” “So that’s where we go.” smirked Rainbow. “Time to get rid of Discord once and for all.” “Alright girls,” smiled Twilight as she nodded in agreement to Rainbow’s words. “Let’s do this, once for all.” So the girls ran outside to the hallway, where all the lockers were.Twilight hurriedly opened her locker. She gave a sigh of relief when she saw her tote bag. As she opened the bag, she smiled broadly when she found that the Elements were still there. She handed each Element to her friends. “Well Ah’ll be.” remarked Applejack as she took the tiara from Twilight. “You really are prepared for this ain't ya, sugarcube?” “Of course,” bluffed Twilight, blushing. “Why wouldn’t I be?” “Less talking more doing.” said Rainbow as she snatched the tiara from Twilight's hands. “Alright, girls.” said Twilight. “Are you all ready for what is about to happen?” Fluttershy gulped and mumbled to herself, “As ready as I’ll ever be.” “You know it!” remarked Rainbow and Pinkie in unison. Rainbow cringed at this, while Pinkie giggled. Pinkie giggled and stuck her tongue out at Rainbow. “Jinx! You owe me a soda!” “Yeah,” muttered Rainbow, “You on soda is the last thing I want to see.” “We will be with you the end of time, Twilight,” smiled Rarity. “That’s what friends are for.” “Let’s go then.” declared Twilight. The others all nodded in unison. So the six ran back to the gym as fast as their bodies could carry them. When they arrived, the greeting party was less than stellar. Fluttershy was the first to notice. She gasped when she saw all her friends in the gym. Discord had been busy while they were gone. All of the other students stood paralyzed and lifeless. They were colder than stone and harder than ice, just like the King and Queen of the dance. "Oh no! All our friends have been … um… what would the word be for it?” “Statue-fied!?” inquired Rarity as she arched her eyebrow. “Yeah. What you said.” muttered Fluttershy as she nodded in agreement. “Wow,” remarked Rainbow Dash as she too was modified as Fluttershy, “Frozen solid, just like– .” “Like my brother and Cadence.” finished Twilight, bitterly. “Right,” muttered Rainbow as she facepalmed and added, “Sorry about that.” Twilight was filled with anger when she saw this. "We have to stop this! We can't let Discord get away! Let's go, girls!" She led the group charging into the gym. "We won't fail you, Brother," screamed Twilight, "We WILL put an end to Discord's chaos!" *** Discord was sitting in the plastic throne meant for the King of the dance. He smirked to himself when he heard Twilight and the others charging. "Oh, at last," he announced to no-one in particular, "The fun is finally beginning!" “No, actually, the fun's about to end, Discord,” said a booming voice. Cackling, Discord stood from his throne and smiled as he looked toward Twilight and her friends. “Color me impressed Twilight. You found the Elements.” Twilight bluffed bravely. “I always knew where the Elements were, Discord.” “That may be true, but can you use them to stop me at the end of the day?” Discord cackled. "The tables have turned, Twilight! All of your friends and your precious brother are mere decorations now." Twilight ignored his worlds and spoke confidently, “Your chaos stops here once and for all.” “Oh?” questioned Discord as he raised an eyebrow at Twilight’s words. “Is that so?” He laughed. “I’ll be the judge of that.” “What do you mean?” Discord cleared his throat and cackled as he walked toward the girls. “Say, Twilight, have you had a chance to tell your friends the truth?” “The truth?” asked Applejack as color started to fade from her body. She frowned and glared at Twilight. “What does he mean by the truth.” “Oh? So you haven’t told them after all.” Applejack was befuddled."Twilight, what's he talking about?" Suddenly, color started fading from her body. Her features were dimming by the second. Panicking, she grabbed Twilight’s shoulders and glared at her. “Twilight. Have you been lying to us?” Discord’s smile grew. “Indeed it is so. She has made fools of you all. All of you are from another world, completely different from this wretched cesspool!" “AJ," cried Twilight, "It's not s– um, well, … maybe it kind of is?” Twilight shrunk back ashamedly. “The truth has a funny way of catching up with you,” remarked Discord. Completely devoid of her original courage and gusto by now, Twilight painfully squeaked, “.... H– he's right …. I lied to you, all of you. I'm so sorry. All of this is a lie. I just didn't know how to tell you guys." mumbled Twilight as she looked down at the ground defeated and at a lost for words. “Ah can’t believe ya Twilight,” glared Applejack, “How could ya?” “So what?" Rainbow said, shrugging. “I mean yeah she lied, but we have bigger things to deal with right now. Twilight fibbed a little– well, okay a lot, but we're kind of in the middle of a battle here!” “Don’t you get it Rainbow?” remarked Discord twistedly. “She lied to all of you. She could have told us all about this other world, but no. Here we are just now finding out about your home. Isn’t this lying very unloyal of Twilight?” Rainbow’s eye began to twitch. “W– well, … when you put it that way, I guess you're right.” Rainbow's voice was monotone by now as well. Twilight was at a loss of words for what was happening. She didn't know what to say. Everything Discord said was true. She just stood there, motionless just like all the frozen students, while still more words flew out of Discord’s mouth. "Twilight's course of action was terribly unkind," Discord said, smirking in Fluttershy's direction. “It was incredibly selfish to hide something this important from you," he smirked, glancing at Rarity. "Friends should never talk about friends behind their backs," he said while laughing, looking at Pinkie Pie. When Disord spoke these words, silence filled the room. Twilight collapsed in a shameful, shivering heap, while the other girls glared grudgingly at her and each other.. Surprisingly, Fluttershy was the first to break the silence. “I don’t want to be friends with any of you girls anymore,” shouted Fluttershy, her voice filled with anger. “Finally something that we can agree on,” nodded Rarity. “I– I, i, …” Pinkie babbled, sniffling. Finally, she wiped the tears away from her face. “I don’t need you girls anyway,” she declared grimacingly. Discord crackled at he ate from a popcorn bag he stole from one of the frozen students. He stopped eating and smiled at Twilight. “What a show. I wonder how the great Twilight will get herself out of this one.” Twilight stood and begged the group. “Girls, just please let me talk! I can– " “Listen here," warned Applejack as she waved a finger at Twilight’s direction: "ya better explain all this to us, Twilight, and fast.” Discord smirked again, “No need Applejack, I can do this better then your so-called friend ever could. She lied to you about this world. This isn’t the world that you belong in, yet she let you believe that it was.” Discord's smirk was growing wider and wider. “Ah can’t believe this. Here Ah thought you were mah friend.” “Applejack please, just listen to me. I can explain,” begged Twilight as tears were streaming down her face. Applejack crossed her arms and glared at Twilight. “Ya had yer chance well before all of this went down, Twilight!” “I can’t believe that you lied to all of us,” muttered Rainbow Dash. The bright colors of her hair began to fade. “That’s so unloyal.” “I can’t believe that I was friends with you,” shouted harshly a now grayed-out Fluttershy. “I never want to talk to any of you anymore.” cried Pinkie as her once-brilliant, bright, beautiful hair was now gray and straight. “I have never felt more disgusted in my whole life,” scoffed Rarity as she stuck her nose up high. Her violet hair was now dull and void. “Girls!” shouted Twilight. “Don’t let Discord mess with your heads like that. Just listen to me for a second. Please.” “I’m sick of all this!” shouted Rainbow Dash as she stormed off. “Rainbow’s right,” remarked Fluttershy in a harsh tone and followed after Rainbow Dash, “Smell you later.” The remaining girls ignored Twilight’s pleas and began to argue amongst themselves. The arguing stopped as Rarity shouted, “Well, fine! Let’s all agree to never to talk to each other ever again.” “Agreed,” said the fuming girls in unison as each went her separate way. Discord applauded loudly and bowed. “Encore! Encore!” “No …,” cried Twilight. "No‼" Tears began to flow down her face like rivers down a mountain. She fell to her knees and felt her heart ache in pain. “I …. I failed everyone.” Friendless and alone on her knees in the gym, the color of Twilight's brilliant purple hair drained. She gazed miserably at the backs of the girls she onced called her friends as they all stormed off. Her heart ached as she rose to her feet sniffling. She used the sleeve of her shirt to wipe her tears and she started to walk toward the doors out of the gym. Shoulders in a slump, she looked at the ground and gave a sigh of defeat. “Why the long face, Twilight?” Discord said teasingly as he appeared in front of her. “You know why.” “Oh Twilight,” said Discord. “Don’t beat yourself up. I have had a lot of time to make sure this plan is foolproof.” She was bawling openly. “Why did you do this, Discord?” Discord could only smile at those words, “You honestly thought that the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony could be reformed?” Discord cackled. “You were wrong, Twilight! The fun just began, and I’m loving it.” Twilight didn't respond as she walked out of the doors. Standing in the hallway, she mumbled, “Princess Celestia, wherever you are, please hear me …. I have failed you miserably. I am not worthy to be your student. I am so sorry." *** Twilight exited the school and walked toward her home, with her head drooped pitifully toward the ground. As she sulked her way down the path, rain started to pour. "Typical," she muttered, as she kept walking. 45 minutes later, she reached her house. She walked inside, slunk up the stairs, and collapsed onto her bed. Disgusted at herself, she threw her Element to the ground. Spike, asleep in the next room over, awoke. He barked excitedly when he realized Twilight had returned. Twilight sat up to inspect the sound. When she had noticed it was Spike she shooed the dog the with her hand muttering, “Spike, go away.” Worried about her, Spike ignored the command. He lept onto the bed in Twilight’s lap. "Twilight, what happened? Why are you so pale? Where is everyone else?" He rubbed against her and whimpered. Twilight’s eyes widened in shock after Spike spoke those words. She gasped and stood up from her bed.”You can talk? Spike, when did this happen‽” Spike gave her a confused look and blinked. ”You taught me, remember?” “What?” she shouted. “You don’t remember?” “Remember what?” Spike suddenly sneezed, and puff of green smoke appeared. A letter manifested out of the smoke. He sneezed again, and another letter appeared. Again and again, and more and more letters began to fill the room. Twilight looked around the room in amazement. She had no idea what just happened. “What are these, Spike? Something wild is happening ….” “Aw man. Twi. What happened to you?” Ignoring his comment, Twilight drew her eyes to the large pile of letters on her bedroom floor. Curiosity got the better of her and she opened one of the letters and began to read. The letter that she was reading said that Rainbow Dash injured herself in a crash. It went on to say she was admitted to the hospital in the middle of Canterlot. During that time it appeared that Rainbow had mocked reading but during her time in the hospital, she had learned to love it. The letter ended by saying that she learned a lesson about not knocking something until she tried it. When she finished reading the letter, she placed it on her bed. She looked down at Spike with a look of confusion, “Spike, ….” Spike whimpered, “Come on Twi, please tell me you remember.” Twilight didn't say anything as she read more letters. As she was reading each letter she noticed that most of them started with the phrase; “Dear Princess Celestia,” and some ending with the phrase; “Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle”. Slowly but surely, everything was starting to make sense; the dots were being connected. Twilight looked down and noticed Spike wagging his tail.. Twilight was starting to understand. “So what you're saying is that In this other world, a Princess Celestia sent me to 'Ponyville' learn the magic of friendship, and I wrote her all these letters about the lessons I learned?” “Yeah. You're on the right track,” howled Spike. Twilight sat down back on her bed and began to read the other letters from the pile. One letter was about Rarity spending time with her sister, Sweetie Belle, another about Applejack learning that no man's an island. The next, Fluttershy learning to stand up for herself. Another one about Pinkie learning that friends need space, …. The last letter was about her learning about not freaking out and overexerting herself. “Please …. Please work,” muttered Spike as he jumped onto Twilight’s bed. Twilight’s eyes grew wider and wider, She realized why the contents of the letters were so familiar. She wrote these! She remembered sending them to Princess Celestia. Now they were all being sent back to her as if the Princess herself was trying to help her. Twilight was overjoyed by her revelation. She joyfully shouted, "I remember these! I remember everything!" “Okay good,” yelped Spike. “I was beginning to think you finally snapped.” Ignoring his comment, Twilight bent down to retrieve her Element. She stood and made her ways towards her door. “Come on, Spike.” “Where to?” Twilight smirked as she put her hand on the door handle, “We are going to save our friends from Discord’s magic."