//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3 
// Story: Elements of Equestria 
// by Bookpony579 
//------------------------------//

"Oh my. I wonder what that's doing here?"

Fluttershy's question brought Twilight back to reality with a resounding, "Huh?"

"That's the crown for the fall formal princess." Fluttershy explained, "I wonder why it's in the bushes?"

"Fall Formal?" Twilight asked with a confused look. "It's this big dance we do every year. In fact it's this Friday." continued Fluttershy, "Every year we elect a girl to be 'princess' of the dance, sort of like prom king or queen." Twilight nodded with understanding but couldn't take her mind off the fact that the jewel in the center of her crown looked like the same jewel from her dreams. 

Suddenly the warning bell sounded and both girls jumped in surprise. "Class is going to start soon, I should probably return that to Principal Celestia." Fluttershy began to reach for the crown but Twilight yanked it away from her without even thinking. After realizing what she had done, she gave Fluttershy a nervous smile, "Actually I have to meet Principal Celestia anyway to get my schedule and locker, so I can take it to her. I don't want you to be late to your first class." Fluttershy looked confused for a moment but quickly smiled and with a quick "thank you" and wishing her luck on her first day, she hurried off to get prepared for class.

Twilight, after a quick look around to make sure no one was looking, stuffed Spike back in her bag and she entered her new school. 





Thankfully, Twilight had already memorized the layout of the school from a map she found online so she was able to figure out the path to the principal's office. On the way there she examined the crown further.

This gem...it's the one from my dreams, I can feel it. But why is it on a fake crown for the winner of a high school popularity contest? Why was it in the bushes? Why do I feel like it's....calling me?

Twilight quickly checked her surroundings, the hall she was in and the ones she had already passed were just like the ones from her dream, only more bright and less foreboding, and this one was completely empty with the student likely already in their homerooms waiting for class to start. She looked back to the gem, which stood out prominently from the paper mache. She reached out a finger and touched the center....

Imaged flashed in her mind as her eyes went white. Images of a rainbow blast, a crystal tree, and the same shadowy monster from her dream appeared before she removed her finger and returned to reality. Her eyes returned to normal and she could feel her heart racing.

What...What was that?! This gem....it couldn't be magical could it? Something like this wouldn't be allowed in a regular high school...right? 

She shook her head to clear it a little. She would get to the bottom of this, one way or another.





After knocking and hearing a swift "come in" Twilight entered the principal's office. The was brightly lit, from both the electric lights on the ceiling and the natural light from the winder behind the desk. Sitting at said dest was a woman with pale pink skin and pastel colored hair. Upon hearing Twilight enter she lifted her light purple eyes from the folder she was reading to Twilight. Once she saw who it was, a smile lit up her face and she stood up, revealing her above average height. 

"Twilight Sparkle! It's good to see you again!" She greeted Twilight warmly as she gathered her in for a hug, which Twilight gladly returned. After they broke apart Celestia continued, "You look so grown up! I can't believe it's been over two years since...." Celestia stopped abruptly as she realized what she said and began to regret almost bringing it up, especially when she noticed Twilight flinch as the memory hit her. Celestia decided to immediately change the topic. "Anyway, Luna and I were so excited to hear that you wanted to transfer here. It'll be nice to have you as a student again, even if we aren't teaching you directly. Now, I'm assuming you're here for your schedule and locker?" Twilight nodded and Celestia sat back down on her desk and began typing on her computer.

While she was busy, Twilight decided to let her eyes wonder around the office, noticing the comfy looking chairs, certificates for teaching and such, and the filing cabinets. What really caught her attention where three pictures featuring a girl with red and gold fire like hair and cyan eyes. In each photo she was wearing a pretty dress and a crown of some sort. The first picture had the girl looking sweet and innocent, but by the third picture it had completely dropped as the girl now looked downright diabolical. The oddest thing was that the girl looked...familiar to Twilight, but she couldn't quite place her finger on it. Before she could think about it further, Celestia called her attention again with her freshly printed schedule and locker combo, along with a late pass for first period to allow her time to get ready. Twilight accepted these with a "Thanks" and was just about to head out when she remembered the crown still in her possession. She pulled it out of her backpack (While still allowing Spike to stay hidden) and and held it out.

"Oh, by the way...Fluttershy and I found this in the bushes just outside." Celestia's eyes widened with surprise as she took the hand made crown. "That's odd...what would this be doing out there." She then stored the crown away in a drawer of her desk. "Thank you Twilight, I'll have Vice Principal Luna lock it up for safekeeping this time." She looked at Twilight and noticed her hesitation, "Is something wrong?"

Twilight debated with herself. Should she really tell Celestia what happened? Would she believe her or would she think Twilight was crazy? "Ummm...It's just that..." Twilight began nervously, "Don't you think it's...weird that the fall formal crown was found in the bushes?"

"Well...yes, but it was probably just a prank by one of the students." Celestia shrugged. Twilight tried a more direct approach. "I mean..haven't you noticed anything...strange about it? You know, like it might be enchanted in some way?"

Celestia raised an eyebrow at this, "Twilight it's just something the art department came up with, any non magic-focused schools aren't allowed to have enchanted objects available for anyone to take unless under strict supervision. If it'll make you feel better I'll run a magic scan on it myself later for any lingering spells on it. Why are you so interested in it anyway?" Celestia then donned a playful smirk at Twilight. "You aren't thinking about running for fall formal princess, are you?"

"What? N-No!" Twilight stammered, "I'm not really into these kind of things. You know me...always the curious type!" she gave her principal a nervous smile before making a hasty retreat. "Anyway it was nice to see you again, but I'd better get going sooo...bye!"

She quickly shut the door behind her and took a deep breath. She had wanted to tell Celestia about the vision but she couldn't. Part because bringing it up made her feel very uncomfortable, and part because Celestia had said she would examine it later. Twilight began to head to her locker and then her first class trying to push the thoughts of the crown aside and focus on getting through her first day. If the principal, especially a powerful mage like Celestia, said it was ok, then everything was fine, wasn't it? She would figure out if there was anything going on with the crown. Now wasn't the time to focus on vague visions or crazy dream, now was the time to focus on her studies at her new school.

But try as she might, the lingering sense of dread still remained.