//------------------------------// // 3. Running for Princess // Story: Equestria Girls - The Legend of Friendship // by Danieru //------------------------------// Getting used to this new body and this new world provided to be a little harder than expected. Walking alone was enough of a challenge so that Star Twinkle barely had time to get accustomed to his surroundings and how this whole world works. He kept telling himself that there was no time for that anyway but it certainly would help to stop Sunset Shimmer and Radiant Blast from getting Twilight's crown. Thankfully, Star Twinkle managed to find Twilight and Spike after spending a while looking for them. He quickly exchanged information with them about how he met Steel Hammer in this world, even though he is supposed to be Equestria. To his surprise, Twilight and Spike met someone familiar in this world too. “Fluttershy?” Star Twinkle asked confused. “Yes,” Twilight replied with a nod before she put together the information that Star Twinkle gave her. “But not only her. I've seen a lot of familiar faces in this school. What you told me only confirmed my theory that this world is maybe not a whole different world but rather a parallel world where everyone we know exists as well,” Even though Star Twinkle nodded in agreement while listening to this explanation, he had to admit that this was a lot to take in. Spike did look a little confused as well and probably didn't even bother to comprehend this information. May it be a parallel world or not, the goal didn't change so Star Twinkle focused his mind on the crown which reminded him of his other meeting. “I met Radiant Blast a while ago. He didn't seem to know where the crown was either, meaning that we probably have the advantage,” Star Twinkle pointed out. But Twilight didn't seem to share the relief that Star Twinkle showed. “I'm afraid, that at least, Sunset Shimmer knows where the crown is as well,” Twilight explained before she shared some more information about how she confronted Sunset Shimmer. Apparently, Fluttershy found the crown after it fell out of the mirror and gave it to Principal Celestia, much to Sunset Shimmer's dislike who was blaming Fluttershy for ruining her plan to get the crown herself. “Princess Celestia is here!?” Star Twinkle asked confused. But Twilight stopped before Star Twinkle could extend his thought further. “Remember, it's not the same Celestia that we know. However, she does seem to rule over this place so it would be best if we go to her, even if she doesn't know us. She should understand if she was like the Celestia we know,” Twilight explained. To a degree, those words seemed to make Star Twinkle feel a little more confident but there was something that bothered him. If what Twilight said was true, then Sunset Shimmer already knew where the crown was as well. This could be a problem since she probably got a hold of it herself. But judging from what Twilight explained further, this doesn't seem to be the case. This only meant that Star Twinkle and Twilight had to take their chance to ask for the crown. Twilight knew the way to Principal Celestia room and lead the way while Star Twinkle and Spike followed her. They stood in front of the door which Fluttershy told was the room of Principal Celestia. Naturally, since they knew they were about to meet the ruler of this school, they both bowed down as they entered the room after knocking on the door and waiting for Celestia's allowance to enter. To their surprise, the room was much smaller and not filled with guards like Princess Celestia's throne room in Equestria. In fact, it was a really small room with only a desk at the end of it where Principal Celestia was sitting at. The Celestia in this world seemed a little more modest. At least that's what Star Twinkle guessed. “How may I help you?” Asked the figure behind the desk who was busy reading some documents in front of her, not noticing who just entered her room. But no answer came from either Star Twinkle or Twilight. They just now realized that the situation that they were in, was probably not the most believable. Telling Principal Celestia that they came from another world, which was filled with ponies instead of those two-legged creatures, was probably not the best idea. She would call them crazy. That's what Star Twinkle would say if somepony would tell him that he or she came from a world filled with two-legged things instead of ponies. Princess Celestia noticed the silence that came from Star Twinkle and Twilight and got confused. She dropped her document and looked at them puzzled, still awaiting an explanation for them to enter the room. She definitely resembled the Celestia that they both knew. She had the same multicolored hair color and her skin was pale white. This only further proved that Twilight was right with her parallel world theory. There really seemed to be someone for everyone in Equestria. Because Star Twinkle was unable to come up with an explanation, he decided to let Twilight do the talking. Surely she had a plan. “My name's Twilight Sparkle and this is Star Twinkle,” she introduced herself and Star Twinkle. “. We are new here, and... Well, I understand that Fluttershy found a crown this morning and gave it to you,” she explained briefly, cutting to the chase quickly since she clearly had no plan on how to explain everything herself. “Yes. I've had Vice Principal Luna put it somewhere for safekeeping,” Principal Celestia's replied. “No idea how it ended up in the front lawn. Were you interested in running for Princess of the Fall Formal this year?” It felt weird for Star Twinkle to just stand there saying nothing but he let Twilight continue. “Uh, no. Not exactly. The truth is... Well, the truth is I... You see, the crown is actually...“ She struggled with her explanation. Now it was pretty obvious that Twilight had no idea how to explain the situation. This ultimately caused her to change the subject. “Princess of the Fall Formal?” Principal Celestia walked past the two and approached a calendar marking a certain day on it as she explained. “It's Canterlot High's big Fall dance,” “Oh!” It suddenly struck Star Twinkle. “Like the Grand Galloping Gala,” But Principal Celestia had no idea what to make out of this term. “Uh, Grand Galloping Gala?” Twilight quickly explained. “It was a big deal at our old school,” “And was there a princess?” Principal Celestia asked. “Yes, but she wasn't exactly a student,” Twilight briefly explained. Principal Celestia continued her explanation. “Here at Canterlot High, the students select one of their peers to represent them. She receives a crown at the Fall Formal,” Star Twinkle had a feeling where this was going to and how it would make things more complicated. Principal Celestia must have thought that Twilight's crown was the crown that was intended for this fall dance. Of course, it couldn't be as easy to just ask Celestia to give Twilight her crown back so that she and Star Twinkle could return home. But despite this news that made everything more complicated, Twilight replied surprisingly confident. “You asked me if I was interested in running for Princess. Can anyone run?” She asks out of the blue, which felt a little out of place since it didn't make things easier getting the crown like that. “Yes,” Principal Celestia replied. “You just need to let the head of the Fall Formal planning committee know you'd like to be on the ballot,” she informed, making Twilight's think about it for a second. “Was there anything else?” “Um, nope! That was it!” Twilight replied before she walked outside of the room again with Star Twinkle following her confused. Principal Celestia closed the door behind the two. Spike, who was forced to hid inside of Twilight's bag since it was forbidden for animals to roam free in this school for some reason, came out of the bag and asked the most obvious question right now. “Twilight, why didn't ya just tell her the crown was yours and ask for it back?” He seemed as confused as Star Twinkle. “It definitely would have made things easier,” Star Twinkle agreed. “Oh, I was going to, but imagine if one of them showed up in Equestria saying they came from a place filled with tall, fleshy, two-legged creatures with these?” She explained as she hinted at her fingers. “We'd think they were crazy!” While Star Twinkle had to admit that this was true, he still thought that they could have made another reason up to get the crown. Lying would not be the noblest way to get the crown back, but it was Twilight's and they needed it back if they didn't want Equestria to be in danger. But if they would have lied, then it could have caused even more problems. All Sunset Shimmer and Radiant Blast had to do were exposing their lie and the plan failed, maybe ruining their chances to get to the crown at all. “But that means, in order to get the crown back...” Star Twinkle started as he looked over to Twilight worried. “Yes! I'll have to become Princess of the Canterlot High Fall Formal!” Twilight said determined as she raised her arms and smiled in victory. Spike, however, pointed out a problem. “And how exactly do you plan on doing that?” “I have no idea!” She replied as she didn't break her smile one bit. “Sounds like something that I would say in this situation...” Star Twinkle thought as he hid his face in the palm of his hand. As frustrating as the situation seemed right now, there was still some help that the two could expect. And this help came in the form of this world's Fluttershy. She was going to this school and probably knew about this fall dance. But then again, it was not really hard to find anyone who knew less than Star Twinkle, Twilight and Spike about this world. Still, it was their best bet right now. Luckily, they found her in the canteen of the school. She was getting something to eat there. Eating something was no bad idea right now. Star Twinkle, Twilight, and Spike didn't eat anything since they came to this world. But before it came to that, Twilight introduced Fluttershy to Star Twinkle. It felt a little weird to be introduced to someone that he already knew, especially since this worlds Fluttershy was also really similar to Equestria's. She had a light yellow skin and pink long hair and green eyes. She was also wearing a white top, a light green skirt and light green boots. Needless to say, her character was the same as the ones that Star Twinkle knew. Star Twinkle and Twilight followed Fluttershy as she grabbed something to eat. Twilight seemed to pick the same things that Fluttershy picked, most likely to not stand out or anything like that. Star Twinkle, however, just picked some things randomly. When it came to food, he wasn't too picky, especially since the food didn't look too different from what they could find in Equestria as well. Twilight quickly cut to the chase of asking Fluttershy for help and being pretty much the same Fluttershy they know, she agreed to help in any way. Twilight was glad to hear that and didn't waste any time. “I've decided to run for Princess of the Fall Formal, and–“ But Fluttershy reacted in shock and dropped her food right at Star Twinkle. “Oh, gosh! Sorry,” she said embarrassed before she quickly took some towels to clean Star Twinkle's clothes hastily. “Don't worry...” Star Twinkle replied. “Why did it had to be me, though?” He thought annoyed. “Running for Fall Formal Princess is a really bad idea,” Fluttershy said, explaining her shocked reaction to the two. “Sunset Shimmer wants to be Fall Formal Princess, and when she wants something, she gets it! She'll make life awful for anyone who stands in her way. Just ask the girl who ran against her for Princess of the Spring Fling,” she explained further as she walked away to look for a table to sit on. “I have to try though,” Twilight said as she walked next to Fluttershy. It was not like as if they really had another choice. They had to get the crown back to Equestria. But of course, they couldn't just say that to Fluttershy so she explained further. “Oh, I don't think you understand. You'd have to convince everyone here to vote for you instead of her,” she said as she pointed towards multiple groups that they walked past. “the athletes, the fashionistas, the dramas, the eco-kids, the techies, the rockers...” she said as she pointed at each of the groups individuality. The groups were all easily identifiable just by their names. The athletes looked like...athletes, the fashionistas were dressed with style and so on. They all seemed to represent some kind of factions within this school. Something that was yet too confusing for Star Twinkle to get behind. “Why is everypony separated this way?” Twilight asked. “Every...pony?” Fluttershy asked confused. At first, no one got the confusion of Fluttershy but then they realized that there were no ponies in this world, which is why the term everypony might seem a little strange for everyone else. “I think, she meant to say...every...body?” Star Twinkle corrected in an attempt to not cause more suspicion. However, Fluttershy didn't seem to mind too much about it and continued. “Maybe it was different at your old school, but at CHS, everybody sticks to their own kind,” she explained before she sat down on one table, followed by Star Twinkle and Twilight doing the same. “One thing that they do have in common is that they know Sunset Shimmer is gonna rule the school until we graduate,” Hearing that only motivated Twilight further to do something against it. “Not if I can help it!” She said determined before she grabbed an apple with her mouth before chewing it. Fluttershy was giving her some strange looks and she looked at Star Twinkle to ask him what that was about, only to find out that he was eating the apple exactly like that as well. “What?” Star Twinkle asked confused while he was chewing his apple, that he was holding in his mouth. Later... Star Twinkle, Twilight, and Spike found out where the head of the fall formal committee was at the moment, thanks to Fluttershy. In order to run for Princess of the Fall Dance, Twilight had to sign up first just like Principal Celestia said. They made their way to something that looked like the gym of the school. According to Fluttershy the person who could sign up Twilight was supposed to be decorating the place at the moment. But when they arrived, there was no one there. There was only a stage at the end of the room which was most likely for the dance. “Fluttershy said she'd probably be in here,” Twilight said as she kept an eye out. Suddenly, a loud and strangely familiar female voice startled the two of them. “Incoming!” The voice shouted which then caused a barrage of confetti and streamers to fall right on Star Twinkle and Twilight, covering them completely. The person who was responsible for that didn't feel the need to apologize or even talk to the two and continued with the decoration. She must be the one that Fluttershy meant. There was no one else in the room after all. “Wait...is that?” Star Twinkle thought confused as he took a look at the girl in front of them. Twilight didn't seem to pay attention and just wanted to speak with her about signing up for the dance. The girl was blowing into a balloon but interrupted by Twilight who started the conversation. “Hi, my name's Twilight Sparkle and... “ This caused the girl to turn around with her balloon in her and, causing Twilight to duck under it. It was then that Twilight realized that this girl looked strangely familiar to her. “Pinkie Pie?” She asked confused, causing the girl to look a little confused, as the balloon deflated in her hand due to her surprise. It was Pinkie Pie. She had the same bouncy pink hair, a light pink skin, and blue eyes. She was also wearing a blue jacket and a white and purple top beneath it, a pink skirt with three balloons on the site, just like her Cutie Mark, and blue boots. But of course, her character was the most obvious thing that gave away that she was Pinkie Pie. Confused by the question why Twilight knew her name, she instantly vanished for a second before she appeared right behind Twilight, in Pinkie Pie style. “Are you psychic?!” She asked shocked as she grabbed Twilight head. “Uh, no. I don't think so. Unless of course, that's something you can do here,” Twilight replied. “Fluttershy said this is where I'd find the head of the Fall Formal planning committee. Is that you?” Star Twinkle asked, trying to get to the point quick. “Fluttershy, huh?” Pinkie Pie replied almost offended after hearing that name. “Don't let the whole "shy" thing fool you. She can be a real meanie,” she added, which was strange since the Pinkie Pie that Star Twinkle and Twilight knew would never say something like that. Unless... “You two aren't friends?” Twilight asked confused. But instead of answering, Pinkie Pie decided to get back to Twilight's first question. “Waited a bit to get your name on the ballot, huh? Dance is day after tomorrow,” “I'm brand new here,” Twilight replied. “Oooh! I thought you didn't look familiar. Though, now that I'm really lookin' at you... “ She said as she literally inspected every inch of Twilight's body. “Do you have a twin sister who lives in the city, has a pet dog named Spike that looks just like that one?” She asked as she pointed at Spike who escaped from the bag to play with a balloon on the ground. “Uh, maybe?” Twilight replied confused, not knowing what exactly to do with this information. Pinkie Pie didn't seem to bother with this and just continued to get the important thing out of the way and gave Twilight a pen to sign up for the dance. While she was trying to figure out how to work with this pen, Star Twinkle couldn't help but think about what Pinkie Pie said. This thought already crossed his mind before but now it got him thinking. There must be versions of him and Twilight in this world as well if it really is some kind of parallel world. “Say...” Star Twinkle began trying to get some more answers out of Pinkie Pie. “Hypothetical...you wouldn't happen to know someone who is called Star Twinkle? Who looked kinda like me?” He asked, trying to be subtle about it. “Yup, must be your twin brother, right? Lives in the city as well,” Pinkie Pie causally replied while Twilight was still writing her name on a board that Pinkie Pie was holding for her. “Really?” Star Twinkle replied confused. “Done!” Twilight said victorious after she was done writing her name. Pinkie Pie took a look on the board and was almost shocked. “Wow! You have really bad handwriting. It's like you've never held a pen before,” she said, which ironically, was true, making Twilight burst out in some nervous laughter. Everyone's attention was then brought to the entrance after another girl entered the room while carrying a box in her arms. “Somebody order a dozen cases of fizzy apple cider?” The girl said as she brought some drinks in the room. Star Twinkle and Twilight quickly realized who that was. The girl had a light orange skin color, blonde hair, green eyes with some freckles under them. She was wearing a white and green top, a blue skirt, brown boots and most noticeably a brown stetson on her head. It was obviously Applejack. “Can you bring in the rest?” She said before someone else entered the room with a whole bunch of boxes in his arms, saying “Eeyup,” after he entered the room. This guy had to be Big McIntosh, only proving Star Twinkle's and Twilight's guesses. He had a very light reddish skin color, orange hair, and green eyes. He was also wearing a red jacket, blue trousers and red and white shoes. Twilight decided to walk up to Applejack to introduce herself but Applejack said that she already knew her. “You do?” Twilight asked confused. “Sure. You're the new girl who gave Sunset Shimmer the what for today,” she said almost as if she was glad or rather proud at Twilight before she took a bottle of her cider and drank a good amount of it, due to her exhaustion. “Twilight Sparkle here is gonna run against Sunset Shimmer for Princess of the Fall Formal,” Pinkie Pie informed, causing Applejack to spit out her cider in shock and showing the same reaction as Fluttershy. Much to Star Twinkle's dislike, she spits it right into his face. “Why me again?” He thought annoyed before he cleaned his face dry again. “I'd think twice about that. Oh, sure, she'll probably approach you all friendly like... sure am lookin' forward to some friendly competition. But then, here comes the backstabbin',” she informed Twilight which was kinda unnecessary since Star Twinkle and Twilight both already knew what they were going up against. However, the sentence after that was what surprised the two. “About the only girl in this school you can trust less than Sunset Shimmer is Rainbow Dash,” “Rainbow Dash?” Star Twinkle and Twilight asked in unison confused. Yet another thing that the Applejack from Equestria would never say. According to Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash was the captain of every team at Canterlot High. “She's also the captain of sayin' she's gonna do somethin' for ya, and then turnin' around and not even botherin' to show up,” Applejack added rather angrily, again, not pretty Applejack likely. “Thanks for the advice, Applejack, but this is something I really need to do,” Twilight explained briefly, of course not fully explaining why that was the case for obvious reasons. “Hey, how'd you know my name is Applejack?” Applejack replied confused. This meant for Star Twinkle that he had to take care of the situation. “It sure was nice meeting you all but we have to take care of some things so if you excuse us,” he hastily said as he pulled Twilight away and out of the room. Leaving like that was maybe not the smoothest way to deal with the situation but the truth was, that they really had to take care of the whole crown situation. And from how everyone is trying to talk them out of going up against Sunset Shimmer, it was unlikely that they would help them anytime soon. Applejack and Pinkie Pie didn't question this behavior and just went on with their work. That is until two people entered the room. One of them being really angry after seeing the decoration in the room. “This looks terrible! There should be more streamers near the stage and fewer balloons,” she complained as she walked inside. The other person who entered the room was Radiant Blast who was walking up to some of the balloons playing around with them a little. “I don't know, Sunset. It looks pretty colorful to me,” he said as he hugged one balloon to his body. However, Sunset Shimmer only gave him a disappointing glare to which he quickly replied a little surprised. “I mean, yeah! More streamers and fewer balloons!” He said in a forced angry tone as he punched away the balloon and crossed his arms, followed by a forced angry face. Sunset Shimmer then walked up to the cider that Applejack brought in for the dance, only to complain about it as well. “Fizzy apple cider? Ugh! This is my coronation, not a hoedown,” she said in disgust. “Who would ever drink something like that?” Applejack could have answered but all she did was pointing towards Radiant Blast who was about to take one of the bottles in order to drink it, if it hadn't been for Sunset Shimmer, looking at him in disappointment again. “Uh...yeah! Who would ever drink something tasty...Err I mean disgusting as...” He began looking rather sad for saying that. “This,” he said almost regretting to say it. Eventually, Applejack couldn't take it that her cider was badmouthed like that anymore and stepped up. “Well, now, it ain't necessarily gonna be your coronation this time around,” “Oh, is that so? You country folk really aren't that bright,” Sunset Shimmer said as she pulled down Applejack's stetson covering her face. “Must be why the other students say such awful things about you,” she added, causing Applejack to turn boiling red in anger. “Obviously it's gonna be my coronation. I'm running unopposed,” she said confidently before Radiant Blast read out loud what was written on the board that Pinkie Pie held. “Not this time, Sunset,” he said as he took a glance at the board and seeing another person signing up for the princess. “What!?” Sunset Shimmer said in shock. “Who!?” She asked. Radiant Blast grabbed the board out of Pinkie Pie's hand and attempted to read the name out loud. “Her name is...uh...the name is...” he mumbled trying to decipher Twilight's name on it. “I have no idea what this is supposed to say...” he gave up as he handed the board over to Sunset Shimmer so that she could read it herself. “I know. Her handwriting is really bad,” Pinkie Pie admitted as Radiant Blast looked over to her. Radiant Blast walked over to Sunset Shimmer as she tried to make sense of the writing herself. But judging from her angered expression, she seemed to figure out who it was. “Where is this Twilight Sparkle?” She said sinisterly and angrily to herself. “Uh...Psst...” Radiant Blast said as he grabbed Sunset Shimmer's shoulder, as he pointed towards Applejack and Pinkie Pie who overheard her saying that. Sunset Shimmer looked a little embarrassed and hid her face behind the board before she came up with an excuse. “I'm looking forward to meeting the competition!” She said followed by a nervous laugh before she turned to Radiant Blast, wanting him to follow her out of the room. The two walked outside and discussed what to do next. Sunset Shimmer looked angered while she walked through the hallway while Radiant Blast looked a little more casually next to her, even going so far to put his arms behind his head as he walked next to her. “So what are we gonna do now?” He asked casually. “First, we confront them. Officially...and make them know who they are up against,” Sunset Shimmer replied confidently. “Sounds like a good plan to me,” Radiant Blast replied happily with a smile on his face. Sunset Shimmer smiled back. “Every plan I come up with sound good to you,” “Of course,” Radiant Blast replied. “Because no matter what we are up against, if we work together, there is no one who can stop us!” He added as he raised his fist in victory up into the air, accompanied by a huge confident smile on his face. Sunset Shimmer's mood seemed to have changed from angry to happy after hearing that. “Exactly,” she agreed happily. “Now let's just make sure that our little princess get this message too,” “Right!” Radiant Blast agreed as he followed Sunset Shimmer. Soon the two would confront Star Twinkle and Twilight. The question was just if the two were ready for the dangers in this new world and how they can deal with them in order to get the crown back to Equestria before anything bad happens. To be continued...