When Alya and Marinette came out with Sunset Shimmer minutes after they had spoken to Chloe, they had expressions of awkwardness on their faces. Apparently, they had been chewed out by Sunset Shimmer about their treatment of Chloe, and she apparently agreed with Discord that had she not intervened and helped Chloe, something ugly would have happened to her.
“And I don’t care what she did to you in the past,” she said to them as they walked out of the store. “You girls were shaping up to be no different than she is. I should know, I’ve been there before.”
“She’s not coming with us?” Alya asked, noticing the fact that Chloe wasn’t with them.
“Her driver will be picking her up to drop her off at her therapy,” Sunset answered curtly.
“I wasn’t aware she had therapy,” Marinette noted in surprise.
“Well, what did you expect?” Sunset bluntly asked her. “You and your friends at school put her in a lot of emotional distress. She had to find some outlet for all this.”
The three girls didn’t say another word as they exited the store together. As they entered Adrien’s limo, Marinette and Alya looked at each other. It was clear that they were going to have to start living up to their promise, lest she came out to a sticky end and their reputations be ruined.
On Sunday, the nine girls, with help from Adrien, Nino, Tikki, and eventually Plagg, came together at Marinette’s place to help bake all the goods that were needed. Marinette, Alya, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy were in charge of baking cupcakes; Adrien, Nino, Twilight, and Rarity covered the cookies; and Tikki, Plagg, Applejack, and Rainbow decided to bake some apple fritters. Surprisingly, the process, even though it was long, was oddly satisfying, and it was probably helped by the fact that Pinkie Pie managed to keep everyone entertained with her songs.
Pinkie Pie:
All you have to do is take a cup of flour!
Add it to the mix!
Now just take a little something sweet, not sour!
A bit of salt, just a pinch!
Baking these treats is such a cinch!
Add a teaspoon of vanilla!
Add a little more, and you count to four,
And you never get your fill of...
Cupcakes! So sweet and tasty!
Cupcakes! Don't be too hasty!
Cupcakes! Cupcakes, cupcakes, CUPCAKES!
“Thank you, Pinkie, for that… interesting song,” Alya commented once the song was over.
The oven dinged, signaling that the cookies were ready to be taken out. Marinette opened the oven door, motioning over for someone to take them out. Twilight put on some oven mitts and took them out of the oven with her help, setting them on a nearby table.
“I wish Discord would help us,” Rainbow Dash said. “He could get all this ready just by blinking if he wanted to.” Behind her, Plagg got an amused grin on his face, and he disappeared into Adrien’s pocket.
“Now where would be the fun in that?” Applejack asked. “There’s nothing better than earning something by the sweat of your own brow.”
“You got that right,” Marinette added, smiling. “In fact, if we didn’t need these for the dance, I’d say we would have done my parents a favor by getting these ready.”
Just then, Marinette’s parents came up and smiled at the cookies their daughter had made, admiring her handiwork.
“Great job, you guys,” Mrs. Cheng smiled at them. “I’d say that you might even give us a run for our money.”
“Don’t be silly,” Marinette waved her hand dismissively. “We couldn’t possibly hold a candle to whatever you make on a daily basis.”
“Well, whatever the case,” Mr. Dupain said, “I have a feeling that the kids at the dance are going to love these treats that you’ve supplied. I have a feeling that they will be a hit.”
“Thanks, papa,” Marinette beamed.
The next day, after school, Marinette and her friends decided to stay behind after school to help set up the dance decorations. And they were not the only ones, either. Apparently, the end of year dance mattered so much to everyone that they all stayed behind to help. The only one who didn’t stay behind to help decorate was Chloe, as she had to go to her therapy session, but this was to be expected, given how almost nobody wanted anything to do with her anymore.
The four friends sat on the steps to the school, waiting for Twilight and the girls to show up. At last they spotted them walking up the front steps, obviously back from another trip around the city.
“There you girls are,” Tikki started. “Ready to help set us set everything up?”
“Are we ever!” Pinkie Pie squealed in excitement. “I even got my party cannon ready in the event of a party emergency!” She flashed a huge grin.
The four friends exchanged bewildered looks, then turned to Twilight and her friends, who shrugged as if to say, “Just roll with it. She’s just being Pinkie Pie.”
“Okay, then,” Marinette shrugged back. “Wait here. I need to see if they will allow you in.” She went inside and approached Mrs. Bustier.
“Mrs. Bustier,” she asked, “you wouldn’t mind if we brought in some . . . outside help, would you?” She motioned to
Twilight and her friends.
“Of course I wouldn’t!” Mrs. Bustier smiled. “The more, the merrier!”
“One other thing,” Alya added, “you wouldn’t if they came to the end-of-year dance, do you?”
Mrs. Bustier shook her head. “Your friends are welcome to come to the dance. I just hope they have their outfits ready.”
She turned and walked away. Twilight smiled, because she knew that she and her friends already had that problem covered.
“It’s all right, girls, you’re free to come,” Marinette beamed at them as soon as they walked over. All of them smiled at this; indeed, Pinkie Pie looked positively excited.
“Ooooh! I’m so nervicited!” she squealed gleefully.
Marinette looked at her in confusion. “Nervicited?”
“Nervous and excited at the same time!” Pinkie squeaked, flashing her a huge grin.
Alya blinked. “You are aware that isn’t a real word, right?”
“Thank heavens to Betsy,” Applejack said in a tone that indicated that she was glad that someone else didn’t understand Pinkie Pie’s vocabulary. “Come on, y’all. We got a party to help set up.”
While their friends were helping to set up the party, Fluttershy and Sunset Shimmer went around asking random kids about what they thought about Chloe. And they got the exact same response from all of them: that she was a spoiled, malicious, puerile bully who only thought about herself.
“She locked me in the bathroom during class photo day all because she didn’t like where she was standing in the photo,” said a tall, dark-haired girl with vermilion eyes and purple highlights.
“She made fun of my drawings and mocked a crush that I once had on a girl I liked,” said a boy with tomato-red hair in a bang.
“She made fun of my perfume and ripped up a letter I wanted to send to a visiting prince,” added a cute blonde girl with hair in a pixie cut and wearing a pink dress. “And you know how much I am in love with him.”
“Um, no, not really,” Sunset replied uncertainly.
“I couldn’t care less about what she did to me,” said a girl with pink hair in a bobcut. “Why do you care so much?”
“Um, never mind,” Fluttershy said meekly, before heading off with Sunset. The girl shrugged as she saw them leave.
“Wow,” Spike said, “I never knew so many people hated her.”
“I know,” Sunset said, vaguely reminded of when the same thing happened to her in CHS. “I think a few days with Twilight ought to do her some good.”
“Why would you say that?” Fluttershy asked.
“I’m thinking that someone ought to teach her how to be a good friend,” Sunset explained. “And who better than the Princess of Friendship herself?”
“Excuse me,” interrupted a new voice. The two girls and Spike turned to see that a large boy wearing a black t-shirt with a white design of two crossing bones printed on the front along with black slacks with large belt loops and large pockets and white socks with boots was staring back at them, a stern, almost forbidding expression on his face. Accompanying him was a short, chubby girl with golden brown eyes and blonde hair tied back by a pink bandana, a few strands of which were dyed green, blue, and magenta.
“Um . . . can we help you?” Sunset asked, a bit nervously.
“Dogs aren’t allowed in here,” the large boy said in a monotone. Fluttershy whimpered, obviously intimidated by his appearance.
“Don’t worry,” the girl said to Fluttershy. “He doesn’t bite. In fact, he’s a real sweetie.” She offered her hand out for her to shake. “My name’s Mylene. And this guy”-she patted the boy beside her-“is Ivan. Nice to meet you two.”
Fluttershy took Mylene’s hand, now feeling a lot better about Ivan.
“As I was saying,” Ivan repeated, a more gentle expression on his face, “dogs aren’t allowed on school property.” He pointed a finger at Spike.
“That stinks,” Spike groaned in disappointment. Mylene and Ivan looked at him in surprise.
“Y-You can t-talk?” Mylene asked, mildly surprised by this revelation.
“Oh yes,” Fluttershy smiled softly at her. “And if you want, I’m sure I could tell you all about him.” And so she started to explain to Ivan and Mylene about where they really came from.
Marinette and Tikki went around the tables, checking to make sure that everything was in order. So far, so good. Nothing was set up improperly. They stopped a table that had a tray of delicious-smelling biscuits.
“Looks good, doesn’t it?” a voice interrupted. Marinette and Tikki turned to see that Nathanael had joined them. As always, his tomato-red hair covered his left eye, and he smiled a little at them.
“Scrumptious,” Marinette smiled. Tikki bobbed her head up and down in agreement.
“Thanks, girls,” Nathanael said softly. “They’re an old Kurtzberg family recipe that goes back at least three generations.”
“I’m sure everyone will enjoy them, Nathanael,” she said sweetly, putting an assuring arm on her shoulder.
“So,” Nathanael said awkwardly, “how’s Adrien? What’s it like being both a beloved superhero and the girlfriend of the most popular boy in Paris?”
“It’s great, I will not lie,” Marinette said. “Though I’m sorry that I . . . ahem, never reciprocated your feelings properly. I hope you can forgive me.”
“It’s cool,” Nathanael dismissed. “Besides, I know who I’m taking to the dance: Jackie Lynn-Thomas. We’ve been getting along just fine since we saved your friend Star.”
“I’m glad that’s so,” Mari said. She may not have cared much about his feelings for her, but she was glad that there was someone out there who loved having him around. “But how will she come here? Star’s Dimensional Scissors?”
“Well, I guess so,” Nathanael said. “It’s the fastest way to travel here, after all. Want to help me design the banners and signs for the dance?”
“Of course,” Marinette smiled. “Let’s go, shall we?”
And so, the two of them passed the trays of food to get construction paper. Just then, a weird, pungent smell reached Marinette’s nose. That’s odd, she thought to herself. It’s coming from the cookie tray I helped make. She motioned to Nathanael to go on without her, then uncovered the tray where the smell was coming from to find that it was not the cookies she baked with her friends, but rather slices of camembert.
“WHO REPLACED THE COOKIES WITH WEDGES OF CAMAMBERT?!” she shrieked. Was this some sort of sick joke? Her parents were already busy as it was with their bakery, and they would not have time to get another batch ready. In the corner, Plagg and Discord were silently giggling to themselves, clearly enjoying themselves. This did not go unnoticed by Adrien, who grabbed both his kwami and the draconequus and forced both of them into a private classroom.
Plagg started, “We’re going to spare you the story, it’s a long, boring-”
“Oh yes you will explain, and fast!” Adrien interrupted, not amused in the slightest. “Do you realize we have a big problem here?”
“If by big, you mean my rock-hard abs, why thanks for noticing!” Discord answered, gesturing toward the nonexistent musculature on his chest.
Adrien let out an irritated groan. If this was their idea of a prank, they needed to work on their act big-time.
“Can you at least change the camembert slices back to the cookies?” he asked the pair of them, somewhat imploringly. “I’m sure that no one out there is gonna touch it, seeing how they don’t share your . . . ahem, dietary needs.”
“You’re such a party pooper,” Plagg groaned. Discord, who apparently shared the same sentiment, reluctantly snapped his fingers.
“You happy now?” he asked, annoyed. “I changed the camembert slices back to the cookies you baked yesterday. But I think it’s a shame that you don’t share the same sense of humor we do.”
“That I can live with,” Adrien remarked. “Now go on and behave yourselves.”
Rainbow Dash went around the tables, taking inventory of all the treats that the other students had supplied for the dance. She was so busy taking note of what stock they had that she walked right into someone.
“Sorry!” she quickly said. The kid was olive-skinned, had dark brown eyes, and wearing a red, short-sleeved hoodie with a white logo on it, along with sweatpants. His hair was in a sharp quiff, with the ends dyed gold.
“No problem,” he smirked at her, then registered her appearance. “You’re not from around here, are you?”
Rainbow Dash chuckled. “How’d ya guess?”
“How ‘bout we start with the blue skin and rainbow hair?” the kid smirked.
“Oh, that,” Rainbow said. “Yeah, we’re from another dimension.”
“Let me guess. You’re from Mewni, right?” the kid said.
Rainbow looked at him in confusion. “No,” she said at last. “No we’re not. We’re from Equestria.”
“Never heard of it,” the kid said. “Perhaps you can explain it to me later?”
“Sure thing,” the pegasus-turned-human replied. “I’m Rainbow Dash. What about you?”
“My name’s Kim,” the kid said, shaking her hand. “Welcome to our school.”
“So tell me, Kim, do you like to compete?” Rainbow Dash asked Kim. “Because I sure do! Back where I’m from, I was the fastest flier in all of Cloudsdale!”
“Really,” Kim said. “Well, I’ll have you know that I’m the fastest runner at this school. In fact, recently I competed in the school championship and achieved a fast speed of 20 miles an hour, record time!”
“20 miles an hour? Is that all?” Rainbow Dash snorted, clearly unimpressed with his feat. “I thought you humans moved a lot faster than that! I bet I could beat you in a race!” She looked up at Kim, her dark eyes glittering with pride.
“Is that so?” Kim looked at Rainbow Dash with an amused look on his face. “What place did you come in at the County Athletics Tournament? I came in first place!”
“You can’t possibly compare yourself to me!” Rainbow Dash retorted.
“No need to,” Kim remarked smugly. “I’m obviously the better-looking one.”
Rainbow Dash growled. “Oh, it . . . is . . . ON!” She pointed a finger at Kim. “I officially challenge you to a race!”
Kim flashed Rainbow Dash a cocky smirk. “My pleasure,” he accepted. “Tomorrow at the waterfront, 5 p.m. sharp. But there’s no way you can beat me. My neck is bigger than your thigh.”
Rainbow stifled laughter. “You make it sound like it’s a good thing,” she giggled. “But okay, whatever you say.”
Kim nodded in acknowledgement, and headed off to help Marinette put up the banners. Just as he walked off, another girl walked up to Rainbow Dash. She had pink hair in a bob cut, and wore a black cap with a black letter S on it, along with a gray shirt with green-scaled long black sleeves and underneath a dark brown tank top, and a pair of black jean shorts with pink stitching and black lace at the cuff, complete with long black-and-pink socks and black shoes with pink lacing.
“So, you’re challenging Kim, huh? Well, good for you,” she smirked. “I hope you win. Hopefully that’ll put him in his place,” she added in a playful, teasing manner.
“Yeah, me too,” Rainbow chuckled. “I don’t believe we’ve met. Who are you?”
“Alix,” the pink-haired girl offered her hand to shake. “Alix Kubdel. Who are you?”
“Rainbow,” the pegasus said in return. “Rainbow Dash.”
Alix registered the newcomer’s name, then shrugged and shook Rainbow Dash’s hand. “Welcome to CFD, Rainbow Dash. I think you and your friends are gonna love the dance here.”
Meanwhile, in another part of the gym, Pinkie was helping Nino set up all of his DJ’ing equipment. He had given her specific instructions about where it was supposed to go and all.
“What’s with all of this?” Pinkie asked curiously. She scratched the record, producing a warbling sound effect.
“Don’t touch that, please,” Nino said to her, and she turned to face him. “That’s stuff’s for me. I’m the DJ for the school dance. In fact, I’ve been the DJ for all the dances we’ve had this year thus far.”
Pinkie Pie grinned at him eagerly. “So you’re the DJ for this event, huh? Just like DJ PON-3!”
Nino blinked at her. “Who’s . . . DJ PON-3?”
Pinkie Pie grinned nervously. “Oh, right, never mind. I forgot that you’ve never been to Equestria.”
Nino shrugged, chuckling. “I’m sure that she’s just as talented as I am.”
Pinkie Pie shrugged back, then went the center of the auditorium, pulled one of the balloons off her skirt, and blew into it, apparently not minding the fact that a few people had noticed and found this weird. The balloon inflated, and when it flew up into the air, it took Pinkie along with it. If Pinkie Pie peeling off the balloon design off her dress like it was a sticker and inflating it like an actual balloon didn’t turn many heads, then this certainly did; soon, there wasn’t a single person whose eyes weren’t focused on the pink girl who was dangling in the air from a yellow balloon.
“How does she even do that?” Alya asked in bewilderment, watching Pinkie Pie float up in the air with the balloon she pulled off of her dress.
Twilight shrugged, having long since accepted Pinkie’s oddities. “She’s just being Pinkie, I guess.”
“Forget the Ladyblog,” Alya said. “I know what my next scoop’s gonna be.” She took out her phone, turned on the camera, and zoomed in on Pinkie Pie. “Finding out exactly what makes her tick.”