Sleeping in a library with a see-through-roof surely was good for sleeping at night but once the sun raised, it was impossible to hide the eyes from the light, waking you forcefully in the process. But then again, sleeping on books was nothing that someone should extend any further. Because of that, Star Twinkle sat up and felt how his back was really stiff. He looked at his body to see if all that happened the day before wasn't just some weird dream. To his dislike, it wasn't.
Once he stood up, he proceeded to stretch a little. All while making a rather bothered face. “Yep. Just as I expected. Sleeping on books...not the best idea,” Star Twinkle said as he stretched a little.
Twilight was nowhere to be found and only Spike was left on her “bed”. He began looking for her, once he was done stretching. Knowing her, she was probably still somewhere in the library but the thought that she was going to do something to convince the other students to vote for her on her own, also crossed his mind. But that thought proved to be wrong once he saw Twilight sitting at a table with her eyes glued to a book.
Twilight noticed how she was being looked at and greeted Star Twinkle happily. “Oh! You're up. You must be an early bird as well,” Twilight figured with a smile on her face.
“Totally...” Star Twinkle replied sarcastically. Of course, it was a miracle for him how Twilight could read a book so early in the morning. Star Twinkle was practically still half asleep at this moment.
Twilight then closed her book and stood up. “Once you're ready, we can start talking with some of the students. The earlier we start, the better,” she said highly enthusiastic.
“I...suppose that's true...” Star Twinkle agreed, scratching his chin, though he was all too excited to get to work this early.
Before he knew it. He, Twilight and Spike were already ready to leave the library. Star Twinkle saw how some students were already entering the school by looking through the glass door in front of him. School clearly began just now or was about to. Principal Celestia was greeting the whole school through some kind of P.A system and reminded everyone to vote for the Fall Formal Princess. This instantly reminded Star Twinkle to Sunset Shimmer and Radiant Blast and how they were wandering around the school as well. And how they needed to be stopped.
“So...what's the plan?” Star Twinkle asked, clearly wondering how Twilight could be so excited before and what she was about to do against her competition.
“Fluttershy said I'd need to win over all those different groups if I wanna become Princess of the Fall Formal. So I've compiled a list of talking points,” she proudly said as she pulled out a bunch of papers.
“Of course, you did...” Star Twinkle replied while rolling his eyes, not in the least surprised.
Spike clearly was more amused by this. “You made a list? That's so unlike you!” He said jokingly as he laughed his heart out. However, his laughter was interrupted by Twilight who opened her bag and reminded him to get inside of it since animals are not allowed in school. “Uh... Please... Continue,” he said nervously before he wandered inside of the bag.
Twilight continued with the explaining of her plan.“I'll start introducing myself, sprinkle in some things I learned about their world into the conversation, show them how I fit in here!”
“Things you learned about this world? Like what?” Star Twinkle questioned in a little disbelief.
“Just trust me. It'll be fine,” Twilight replied confidently before she stood ready to open the door in front of her to start her plan.
“Okay...” Star Twinkle simply replied.
All this time Star Twinkle was just glad that he wasn't the one who had to do the talking. But talking with the other students about things in this world also sounded like a plan with flaws. Especially if you are not of this world. Twilight probably just got some minor ideas of how the world actually functioned so the best thing would be not to talk about anything like that. But then again, Twilight became a Princess in Equestria because she was good with everything friendship related so maybe Star Twinkle was just underestimating her.
“Okay. Time to make a good first impression on my fellow students,” Twilight said unshaken before she opened the door in front of her to confront the students that she was about to befriend soon. “ The whole world sorta depends on it,”
As soon as the door opened, the two walked through the hallway. Both of them smiled, Star Twinkle a little more forced then Twilight. Star Twinkle didn't want to ruin Twilight's plan and decided to just watch for whatever Twilight was about to do or whoever she wanted to talk to first. But that was really hard since everyone who they walked past laughed at them. At first, they thought that they were just imagining things but after seeing literally everyone laughing at them, whether it was in secret or openly, they knew something was off.
“Is it just me or is everybody laughing at us?” Star Twinkle whispered to Twilight.
But before she could even answer, Twilight was dragged into a room so fast by someone that he could even react in time. Of course, he quickly ran after her but the door closed right in front of him. Star Twinkle was sure that it was either Sunset Shimmer or Radiant Blast who captured Twilight so he opened the door and came to Twilight's rescue.
As soon as he entered the room, the door was shut closed behind him. He turned around and saw the one who closed it and was about to confront her but first he looked around to find Twilight. He quickly noticed that she was in the same room as him but she looked a little different. She wore a blonde wig and over her clothes she was wearing some green clothes.
Naturally, Star Twinkle got confused by this sudden getup. “Why do you look like this, Twilight?”
The person behind Star Twinkle seemed upset by those words. “You recognized her? And I was doing such a great job on this disguise...” the girl added frustrated.
The voice of that girl sounded very familiar, not to mention the way she looked. Purple curly hair, white skin color, dark blue eyes, a very light blue top, and a purple shirt with three blue diamonds on it and purple shoes.
“Rarity?” Star Twinkle said confused.
Moments later, the door opened and Applejack showed up, followed by Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie who were all entering the room, claiming that they were looking for Twilight. Every one of them quickly realized that it was Twilight under the disguise, much to Rarity's dislike for some reason. Pinkie Pie approached Twilight and stated her opinion. “I like your new look!” She complimented.
Rarity picked up on that and seemed a little angered. “I do have an eye for these sorts of things. Not that you seem to care,” she said bitterly, causing Pinkie Pie to clench her teeth in anger. When Twilight was wondering why Pinkie Pie would not care, Applejack and Fluttershy made sure to give some signals behind her back to not ask any further. Seems like there were more complicated reasons indicating that Rarity wasn't friends with Pinkie Pie.
Just like Spike said the night before, there was no reason to worry about why the girls were fighting in this world so Star Twinkle changed the subject. “Why were you all looking for Twilight?
The girls had all very worried expressions on their faces. “Oh, they haven't seen it yet,” Fluttershy said before she covered her mouth.
“Seen what?” Twilight asked.
Shortly after, Pinkie Pie placed some strange device on a table which resembled those “computers” from the library only that it seemed to have the buttons and the screen on only one device. Whatever it exactly was, the important seemed to happen to the screen so Star Twinkle focused on that instead.
“Oh, it's really not that bad,” Pinkie Pie said before she pushed a button on this thing and laughing nervously.
Soon, a video started in front of everyone that showed Twilight back then when she was in the library, mashing on the buttons of the computer randomly. It wasn't all too graceful to look at and to top it all of, Sunset Shimmer's voice could be heard over this video. “Twilight Sparkle wants to be your Fall Formal Princess,” she said in a rather mocking tone. What followed were some more clips of Twilight. All of them showing her doing some really clumsy and awkward stuff that only put her in a bad light. Accompanied by Sunset Shimmer's mocking in the background, it only made it worse. “But what does it say about our school if we give someone like this... such an important honor?”
Star Twinkle felt the need to add something after seeing this. “That was pretty bad...” he said without thinking, causing the girls to glare at him for that unneeded statement.
Twilight looked shocked to see all this. Of course, if everyone saw this by now, it was no wonder that everyone was laughing. And of course, it was all playing in Sunset Shimmer's favor. “What am I gonna do? No one is gonna vote for me after seeing this!” Twilight said frustrated after seeing the video.
“Not that it'll make any difference, but I'll still vote for you,” Fluttershy assured but Twilight only dropped her head on the desk in frustration since one vote will really not make a difference.
Pinkie Pie also joined in and offered her help. “If ya still wanna run, maybe there's something I can do to help!”
But Fluttershy quickly advised Twilight to not accept this offer. “Don't accept her help. She doesn't take anything seriously!”
While this may be true in a way, the way Fluttershy said it was a little bitter and Pinkie Pie got angry by this. “Ugh! Why do you have to be so awful to me?” She said offended by Fluttershy's words.
“Oh! Don't play innocent, Pinkie Pie!” Rarity joined in. “You are no better than she is!”
“And what is that supposed to mean?!” Pinkie Pie replied offended.
“I am happy to offer up my assistance as well,” Rarity said. “To someone who would appreciate what I have to offer!” She added which was directed towards Pinkie Pie, accompanied by a glare.
This soon escalated into more arguing between the girls. Everyone except Applejack, who just sat on one of the desks, advising that the girls should all carry on and stop the fighting. But Rarity didn't like hearing that from her. “You mean like how you've gotten over what happened with Rainbow Dash?”
“She said she'd get the softball team to make an appearance at my bake sale. I tell everybody they're comin', and then not one of 'em shows up! She made a liar outta me! That's different!” Applejack protested angrily.
Soon she joined to argue with the rest of the girls. It became really loud in the room and both Star Twinkle and Twilight couldn't stand all of this. It was obvious that something happened between them and that it didn't matter to worry about their problems since Star Twinkle and Twilight would leave this world again soon but this was just too much. It also didn't help Twilight to get her crown back.
“Shut up!” Star Twinkle exclaimed, getting the girls to stop arguing for a moment. “What is wrong with you all? Weren't you supposed to be friends before!?” He added, after the image of the picture from the yearbook that Twilight found yesterday popped up in his mind.
The girls seemed to pick up on that and looked at each other. Soon, Twilight stepped up as well. She grabbed the yearbook that she found yesterday out of her bag and presented it in front of everyone. “You were friends once, remember?” She said as she flipped open the page with the picture of her friends. The girls quickly recognized the picture and felt some nostalgia after seeing it, forgetting their fight for a moment. “Something must have happened. I think that something was Sunset Shimmer,” Twilight concluded, even though she didn't have any proof of it.
“Well, it's a nice theory, darling, but Sunset Shimmer had nothing to do with it,” Rarity said, surprisingly defending Sunset Shimmer.
“She's right,” Fluttershy agreed. “Sunset Shimmer isn't the one who ruined my silent auction for the animal shelter by bringing fireworks and noisemakers! It was supposed to be a serious event, and Pinkie Pie ruined it!” She added, again blaming Pinkie Pie for it.
“What are you talking about?” Pinkie Pie replied angrily. “I got a text from you saying that you didn't want a silent auction. You wanted a big party!” She then replied.
“Uh! I never sent you a text!” Fluttershy replied confused.
“You didn't?” Pinkie Pie replied confused as well.
Rarity came to another conclusion. “You don't think she's the one who's been sending me those e-mails, do you? Every time I volunteer to help with the decorations at a school function, I get an e-mail from Pinkie Pie saying she has plenty of volunteers! And then I find out she's done everything herself,”
“I never sent you any e-mails!” Pinkie Pie replied confused.
All those reveals caused Applejack to come up with something as well. “Maybe she's the reason Rainbow Dash didn't show up for my bake sale!”
It all came together. Those were way too many misunderstandings at once. Star Twinkle remembered that Sunset Shimmer was always winning every competition that she attended to. The thought that those five would come in her way crossed probably her mind so she needed a reason to take care of them by destroying their friendships. This was only Star Twinkle's theory, however. According to Applejack, she never talked to Rainbow Dash about why she never showed up at the bake sale, making it unknown of why that happened.
To get some answers, the only one who could help them was Rainbow Dash herself so they decided to talk with her. Rainbow Dash was supposed to be on the “football field” outside of the school building. Since the only one who got into a fight with Rainbow Dash, Applejack went to see her on her own while the rest of the group waited for the result of their conversation. At first, it looked like as if the two were starting to argue but then Applejack seemed to apologize to her. She must have explained the situation to her and Rainbow Dash listened. After a while, the two hugged each other as if they were relieved to not argue anymore.
The group was relieved to see this picture. Finally, all five of them seemed to get along like their counterparts in Equestria. It was...nice, thought Star Twinkle, even though he planned to not interfere with all this in the first place. But seeing them all like this again surely made him happy as well.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash came walking towards the group. This was the first time that Star Twinkle could take a better look at Rainbow Dash. She, of course, had her rainbow colored hair color, a sky blue skin color, purple-reddish eyes, a blue vest with a white shirt under it showing her Cutie Mark, a pink and white skirt with black shorts under it and blue shoes.
Applejack explained. “Somebody, and I think we can all guess who told Rainbow Dash that my bake sale had been moved to a different day. Dash showed up with all the softball team and thought I'd canceled on her!”
As expected, another misunderstanding. Things seemed to point directly at Sunset Shimmer more and more. It also gave everyone a reason to help Twilight now. Sunset Shimmer basically ruined everyone's friendships. There was no reason to not go up against her.
Rainbow Dash greeted Star Twinkle and Twilight, ready to help them as well. “So you're lookin' to dethrone Sunset Shimmer and become Princess of the Fall Formal, huh? Gotta say, I'd really love to see that happen. I'll totally help you out!” She said happily, making things easier...at least for a second.
“All you gotta do is beat me in a game of one-on-one,” she then said, taking the excitement out of Twilight.
“What?” Twilight replied confused.
“First to five goals wins,” Rainbow Dash said before she showed off her skills by kicking a ball into a goal from where she stood right now.
Of course, Twilight accepted. If that's what it meant to get Rainbow Dash to help her, then she just had to prove herself. Twilight walked up to a ball and attempted to mimic what Rainbow Dash did by kicking the ball at one of the goals. Needless to say, it didn't nearly look as professional as it did with Rainbow Dash. In fact, Twilight didn't even hit the ball properly at first. Given, how Twilight was not too good with sports in the first place, that was to be expected of course.
Star Twinkle saw only one solution for this. “Mind if I take her place?” He said all of the sudden, getting a surprised look from Twilight. “I haven't done anything to help you so far. You don't have to do everything on your own. I want you to win as much as everyone else here,” he said determined as he walked towards Rainbow Dash.
Twilight appreciated how Star Twinkle stepped up and accepted. “Alright,” Twilight replied with a smile on her face. “I trust you, Star Twinkle,“
Shortly after, the game began and Star Twinkle and Rainbow Dash stood in front of each other, ready to start. The goal was to kick the ball in the middle into the respective goal five times. Shouldn't be too hard, Star Twinkle thought before the game started.
However, what followed was not exactly what he planned. In fact, it was a total disaster. Rainbow Dash completely destroyed Star Twinkle. He barely managed to get the ball a few times and when he did, it was only snatched away shortly after. Rainbow Dash was way better at this than him, despite Star Twinkle doing his very best. If it wasn't his friends who were watching this, he would have totally embarrassed himself in front of everyone.
After a while, it was four against zero and Rainbow Dash was already on her way for the fifth goal. This is when Star Twinkle's adrenaline kicked in. He had to make his comeback now. And that comeback had to start with one goal. He charged at Rainbow Dash and actually managed to snatch the ball away from her. “I did it!” Star Twinkle thought victoriously. Whether it was out of pity from Rainbow Dash or actual skill from him, he had the ball. Now he just had to kick it into the goal.
While running towards the goal, he prepared himself to kick. He actually hit the ball perfectly and made it fly right to the goal. “Yes!” He said excitedly to get one goal at least. However, instead of landing right into the goal, the ball bounced off from the bar and came flying back right towards Star Twinkle, coloring his face in shock. The ball directly hit his face and sent him falling to the ground. While he was getting hit, his cap fell off from his head and landed right on his face as he laid on the ground. Once he was able to see straight again, he noticed how Rainbow Dash was already shooting the ball into his goal, ending the game and making her the victor of this game.
A sigh of defeat was the only thing that he could do after this, covering his face with his cap in embarrassment. Rainbow Dash then walked up to him and looked down with a victorious smile on her face. “Hehe, you lost,” Rainbow Dash said smugly before she offered Star Twinkle her hand to get him up.
“You think?” Star Twinkle replied sarcastically before he reached his hand out to let himself get picked up by Rainbow Dash. He could see how the rest of his friends walked up to him, causing him to turn his head away. “Sorry...” he then apologized, mainly towards Twilight.
“Don't worry, Star Twinkle,” she replied. “I don't think that I would have been any better,” she admitted, though she was a little sad that Star Twinkle lost.
The mood was a little down after Star Twinkle's defeat, Rainbow Dash was the only one who was still in a good mood. “So what's the plan? How can I help you be princess instead of Sunset Shimmer?” She then said out of the blue towards Twilight.
“What!?” Star Twinkle replied confused. “But I lost!”
“Of course you lost. I'm awesome!” Rainbow Dash replied. “But I'm not gonna help just anybody tries and beat Sunset Shimmer. No one would vote for Sunset Shimmer because they want to. They only do it because they think they have to. However, you and the others are ready to go so far for Twilight to make her a princess. A princess represents the whole school so it should be someone that everyone trusts instead of someone who forces everyone to vote for her, don't you think?” She explained, much to the relief of everyone else. Twilight hugged Rainbow Dash out of thanks and was just happy that she and the others were finally friends, just like in Equestria.
Later...
With all friends finally working together, there was just one more thing to take care of. And that was coming up with a plan to convince all students to vote for Twilight. The discussion for that was postponed to a nearby cafe. Twilight was still ordering something while the others were already at a table, putting their heads together to come up with an idea. Given that Star Twinkle didn't know too much about this world in the first place, that was easier said than done for him.
“Any ideas?” Rainbow Dash asked into the round.
“Nope...” Pinkie Pie replied, speaking for basically everyone right now.
Twilight joined the group and sat down at the table as well. Strangely enough, she didn't come back with anything. “You didn't want anything?” Star Twinkle asked confused.
Twilight seemed to be a little embarrassed. “I kinda splashed my drink on somebody,” she said as she played with her hair while making an embarrassed face.
“Okay...” Star Twinkle got confused by this behavior but couldn't concentrate on that for now.
“All right. Dance is tomorrow night, and we still don't know how we're gonna get Twilight the votes she needs to be named princess,” Applejack pointed out. “Right now, folks only know the Twilight from the videos Sunset Shimmer posted online. We need to help 'em see her differently,”
With everyone in the school seeing the video, chances were that everyone already decided to vote for Sunset Shimmer, whether she was nice to the students or not, seeing Twilight in her most awkward moments in the library probably convinced everyone that she wasn't the best pick for being a princess. At least in the eyes of everyone besides her friends.
Before anyone could even attempt to come up with something Rarity stood up “I'VE GOT IT!” She screamed excited through the whole cafe, causing everyone in there to look at her surprised. Of course, Rarity noticed that she might have been a little too excited and got embarrassed for a moment. But she calmed down again and explained. “Now this may be an absolutely preposterous idea, but what if we all wore these as a sign of unity?” She said before she pulled out something out of her bag.
“Are those pony ears and tails?” Star Twinkle asked confused after inspecting the things that Rarity pulled out of her bag.
They were headpieces that had pony ears on it and bushy tails both in blue and yellow color.
“In Freshman year, they were very, very popular. A way for everybody to show their school spirit! You know? "Go, Canterlot Wondercolts!"“. She said as she jumped up and down excited. I mean, the five of us are obviously very different, but deep down, we're all Canterlot Wondercolts! Sunset Shimmer is the one who divided us, Twilight Sparkle is the one who united us. And we're gonna let everyone know it! What do you think?”
“Worth a shot, right?” Star Twinkle replied, definitely speaking for everyone right now. “But how do we do that?”
Later in the mess hall...
Star Twinkle walked into the mess hall. It was filled with students which was perfect. Perfect for him and his friends to start their plan. He placed some kind of musical device on the ground that the girls gave him. Everyone except Twilight was inside of the hall sitting in some random place. All of them wore a blue top with a yellow hoof on it to represent their unity. They also began to wear the head and tail pieces once they realized that Star Twinkle was ready.
The girls began to make noises by either clapping their hands or stomping on the ground, making everyone in the room notice them. After some of the student's attention was grabbed, Star Twinkle pushed a button on his music device, making music come out of it. Once everyone looked at the girls now, they began singing and officially started the plan.
“Hey, hey, everybody
We've got something to say
We may seem as different
As the night is from day
But you look a little deeper
And you will see
That I'm just like you
And you're just like me.
Yeah!”
The students were wondering what happened all of the sudden but didn't seem to mind it either, giving the girls all the more reason to continue. They began to approach some of the students one by one as they continued their song.
“Hey, hey, everybody
We're here to shout
That the magic of friendship
Is what it's all about
Yeah,
We thought we were different
As the night is from the day
Until Twilight Sparkle
Helped us see another way
So get up get down
If you're gonna come around
We can work together
Helping Twilight win the crown
So get up get down
'Cause it's gonna make a sound
If we work together
Helping Twilight Sparkle
Win the crown!”
Before the last line kicked in, Star Twinkle stood ready at the door and opened it, revealing Twilight, who was walking into the room and joined in the song as well.
“I'm gonna be myself
No matter what I do
And if we're different yeah
I want you to be true to you
If you follow me
We'll put our differences aside
We'll stick together and
Start working on that school pride!”
Finally, all the students joined into the song and the whole room was filled with people dancing and having fun. Completely different how it was only a few minutes ago. The school was now united as one, thanks to Twilight and her friends. This brought them one step closer to the crown as well. Finally, things were going to everyone's favor.
However, there was still someone outside of the hall who didn't share the same happiness and watched the singing with a bitter expression on her face. “What is going on in there?” Sunset Shimmer said as she looked through the glass door to the mess hall.
“I don't know,” Radiant Blast replied as he stood next to her. “But it sounds like fun! Should we join in as well?” Radiant Blast suggested, causing Sunset Shimmer to glare at him angrily. “Or maybe...we could just continue to watch...”
Sunset Shimmer, instantly saw how Twilight was responsible for all the commotion inside and focused all her anger towards her. She now realized that she had to take care of things to secure her victory. After all, she couldn't just let her come to “her world” and mess everything up what she had worked for so long.
“Let's go, Radiant. We need to make sure that Twilight and her friends will not make any more mistakes by standing against us...” she said with a bright evil smile on her face.
Radiant Blast saw her expression and it sends some shivers down on his spine. “Yeah...sure...” he said a little hesitantly. “Just say what I can do and I will,” he added confidently awaiting what Sunset Shimmer had in mind.
Whatever it was...it would only get in Twilight's and her friend's way...
To be continued...