Equestria Girls: Reimagined

by Candle Light

Chapter Six

There were a few people around the track when Twilight arrived. A rather impressive track, she had to admit, surrounding a grass field where some students were playing what looked like hoof ball, but with only two legs. The sheer balance of these humans never ceased to amaze her.

She spotted a gallery by the end of the track, where people were sitting and talking, or fiddling with their phones. A few of them laughed when they saw Twilight, but she ignored them, and they got bored pretty quickly. Eight fourty-five; another fifteen minutes until Rainbow Dash would get here. Time measurement, as far as she could tell, was indentical to Equestria, which struck her as weird, since the rotation of the globe—read from the articles online—was considerably slower in this world. Perhaps the planet was larger, or denser in mass. Either way, this was brain candy of the highest quality; for all of Sunset’s fault, she couldn’t claim she didn’t understand her fascination with this world. One could spend a lifetime here, comparing, contrasting, learning…

“…lo, Twilight.”

If Twilight hadn’t been so used to Fluttershy’s near-inaudible greetings, she would have missed it. She looked up to she her standing right next to her.

“Hi, Fluttershy,” Twilight greeted. “Are you having gym class soon?”

“Not exactly. I was just trying to pass out fliers for my animal shelter.” The stack in her hand told her it wasn’t going too well. “Can I sit here?”

“Of course!” Twilight said, beaming. “C’mere, Spike.” The dog leapt onto Twilight’s lap, and Fluttershy took a seat next to her.

“I like coming here and watch Rainbow Dash play,” she told her. “And I’m not the only one; she’s got something of a fan club. It’s just as well; this way, I can stay invisible…”

“Why’d you wanna stay invisible? Wouldn't you rather go talk to her?”

“T-t-talk to her?” Fluttershy stammered, her face bright red, as though she had suggested she would kiss her.

“Have, uh, you two never even talk to each other?” Not being friends is one thing, but the pony versions grew up together!

“Oh, we have… a long time ago. We went to the same grade school. We even used to play together out on the swings.” The memories made Fluttershy smile. “But now look at her; she’s gone so far, and me… I’m almost peddling backwards.”

“You can’t keep putting yourself down, Fluttershy,” Twilight said, trying to sound confident. “I’m sure she still wants to be your friend. You just gotta take the first step.”

“You make it sound so easy. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I don’t have the best people skills—eep, here she comes!”

Rainbow Dash was running out onto the field, keeping her eyes on a football soaring through the air. She caught it with her leg, and it bounced in a perfect arch, then squashed it under her foot before it could make a second bounce. The small audience cheered. Smiling to herself, she started making what Twilight assumed were stretching moves. In those casual shorts and sweater—the latter of which had the rainbow lightning bolt cutie mark printed on it—she looked wild, like she was born ready for action. Another perfect representation of Twilight’s pony friend.

“Alright,” said Twilight, “I’m gonna go talk to her about the Fall Formal. You wanna come with me?”

“What? N-no, I…”

“Please?” Twilight tried. “You saw the video Sunset made about me, didn't you. It will look better if somebody vouched for me.”

This was, of course, just an excuse to help Fluttershy out of her shell, but the prompt seemed to work. “O… okay.”

So they left the gallery and walked out onto the field. She would have prefered a smaller audience, but at least class hadn’t started yet.

“Hey, it’s Sunset’s new target,” Rainbow Dash greeted as they approached. “Oh, and hey there, Fluttershy! Haven’t talked to you in a while.”

“H-hello, Rainbow Dash…”

“They tell me you are the person to talk to if you I wanted meet the captain of the athletes,” Twilight said, sparing Fluttershy from carrying a conversation she clearly wasn’t ready for.

“That’d be me, yeah. And let me guess, you’re looking to get my vote for the Fall Formal.”

“Uh, yeah, that’s kind of the gist of it,” Twilight admitted. “I mean, aren’t you tired of having Sunset Shimmer always—”

“I’ll stop you right there. I know your heart is in the right place, and of course I’d love to see Sunset get hers as much as anybody, but uh,” she made a small laugh, “you? The girl who started her semester without even knowing how to work a computer?"

“I can work one just fine now!"

“Yeah yeah, I’m sure you’ve done your homework like a good little student. But here at CHS, we have this little thing called standards. Sunset Shimmer might be the queen of jerkballs, but she’s at least got pizazz.”

Twilight had known her pegasus friend to be a bit high and mighty from time to time, but this version must have nurtured that part for years without anybody putting on the breaks. It's okay, Twilight; they're not the same people.

“B-but Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy suddenly spoke up. She looked scared, but kept going. “I-I thought you hated Sunset Shimmer. You’re always talking about how you wish you could give her the ‘what for’.”

“How do you know what I've been saying?” Rainbow Dash replied with a skeptic look. “You been stalking me or something?”

“No! That’s to say, I haven’t been… not a lot, anyway…”

“Speak up, I can’t hear you.”

“O-okay, yes, I have been stalking you!” she blurted out, finally showing some assertiveness. “I’ve been watching all your matches, a-and I listen to you talk to your teammate. I know you’ve been too busy to notice me… b-but the point is, I never imagined you could be so… so…”

“I’m what, Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash took a step towards her, a frown on her face. She backed away. “I’m what?”

But Fluttershy stomped her foot down hard, and straightened her back. “Shallow!” she exclaimed, which coming from her made it sound like a shout. “I can’t believe you care about that awful video. Is ‘pizazz’ more important to you than doing the right thing?”

Something in that outburst seemed have to hit a note, because Rainbow Dash looked uncomfortable, scratching her back absentmindedly. “School’s changed, you know. It's not as simple as just ‘doing the right thing’, there is a pecking order now. You gotta be smart.” As much as Twilight didn’t want to, she understood now why Applejack wasn’t her friend. “But tell you what, Twilight Sparkle,” she added, before Twilight could tell Fluttershy they were wasting their time, “we’ll have a game of one-on-one, right here, right now. First to five goal wins. If you win, you got my vote.”

“You're on!” Twilight said without hesitation. Nevermind that she was going up against the school's top athlete, and nevermind that a small crowd was forming around them. She’d show them all. Bullies like her was the reason the likes of Sunset Shimmer could get away with anything. She absolutely could not afford to lose.

She lost. Oh boy, did Rainbow Dash ever mop the floor with her. Just because she didn’t have wings, it didn’t mean she didn’t fly like a hurricane; Twilight had no idea humans could move like that. At this point, she was just happy that none of Rainbow’s shots had hit her in the face

“That’s game,” she called.” Laughter rung out from the spectators. Twilight just collapsed onto the ground. Could this day get any worse? How in Equestria was she going gain anybody's trust now?

“So,” said Rainbow Dash, who was stretching out her hand for Twilight to grab. “How can I help you be princess instead of Sunset Shimmer?”

Twilight blinked, confused. “But… I lost…”

“Of course you lost! I’m awesome! I was always gonna give you my vote, but I wanted to see what sort of gal you are. It takes a lot of nerve to agree to a match with me on your second day of school, and that shows you’ve got determination. I like that.”

Relief washed over Twilight, melting the frost that had accumulated in her heart. So she wasn't a meanie. She was the same caring person she knew, thank Celestia! Grabbing her hand, she rose to her feet.

“There you have it folks!” Rainbow Dash called out to everyone watching, maybe twenty people or so. “Rainbow Dash’s vote goes to Twilight Sparkle, and if you’re awesome like me, so will yours. Let’s give Sunset Shimmer the what for!”

Some did cheer, though it was lot more muted than what Twilight had hoped. But it was a start. Plus, Fluttershy was approaching them again. “I-I-I’m so sorry!” she said, her eyes watering. “I-I didn’t know you were just acting… at least I should’ve… I’m so sorry!”

“Why’re you sorry? You were supposed to think I was a jerk. Maybe I should be the one to apologize… actually, let's just call it payback for never coming up and talk to me.”

“B-but how could I? Every time I tried to get your attention, you’d walk right past me…”

“Well, yeah, I didn’t recognize you at first—your not ten-year-old anymore—and by the time I realized it was you, you kept averting your eyes. I thought you hated me or something.”

“No no, I would never… oh,” Fluttershy said, understanding flashing in her eyes. “Oh, gosh, now I feel so silly.”

“You and me both,” Rainbow Dash agreed with a laugh. “But we’re friends now, right?”

Fluttershy’s whole face beamed. “Friends.” Rainbow Dash hugged her. Fluttershy could not have looked happier.

“So what’s next, chief?” Rainbow asked Twilight. “When do we start campaigning? Two days is already cutting it pretty tight.”

“I’m honestly not sure,” she told them truthfully. Once, she would have panicked right about now, unable to cope with the lack of a plan in such a high stakes situation, but ever since she had moved to Ponyville, and learned the magic of friendship, she liked to believe she had matured enough to know when to ask for help. “What we need is a committee meeting. I’ll call Applejack…”

“Ugh, why do we need her for!” Rainbow Dash whined. “Trust me, I know pretty much everyone at this school, and Applejack’s attitude problem is the last thing we need.”

“But Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy cut in, “the whole point of this is working together to defeat Sunset Shimmer.”

“I guess. Fine. Who else you got?”

“Well, there’s Rarity…”

“Lame!”

“…Flash Sentry from the music club…”

“He’s pretty cool.”

“And Pinkie Pie, I think; I never got her phone number.”

“On second thought, maybe we don’t need everyone to win against Sunset,” Fluttershy sulked.

“I’m sorry, girls, but there’s a method to this madness, I promise.” She typed in the quick-dial to Applejack. “Hello?”

The atmosphere in the room could best be described as fridgid.

All of the five ‘friends’, plus Flash, had gathered in an unused classroom. But aside from Flash, none of them looked like they much wanted to be there. On the right of the front desk stood Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, and on the left, Pinkie Pie and Applejack. Flash and Rarity were just kind of leaning against the wall.

“Alright, people,” Twilight began. “You all know why you’re here.”

“I know why I’m here,” Rainbow Dash retorted. “But I still don’t get why she’s here.” She pointed at Applejack. “I mean, Pinkie, fine, she’s the one taking care of the decoration and stuff, but what godd's she ever done?”

“I actually wanted her to—” Twilight started.

“How about supplying the whole thing with apple cider?” Applejack shot back. “And what’s wrong with just plain wantin’ to help? Heck, even Fluttershy is here!”

“She’s here because—”

“What’d you mean, ‘even Fluttershy’? You know how withdrawn she is; it took major guts for her to come here.”

“Exactly, and I think she—”

“Pfft, guts schmuts,” Pinkie said. “Fluttershy’s just trying to cover up all that meanie beanie underneath!”

“Just because I don’t go around smiling at stuff that isn’t funny,” Fluttershy said, low but quite audible. “Would it hurt you to say something sincere once in a while?”

“What?! Sincere is my middle name: Pinkie Sincere Pie! Everybody knows that!”

“Honestly Twilight,” Rarity spoke up. “You haven't even told us your plan, and I'm already having second thoughts. One hot head with an attitude problem, we could handle, but now there's three? And no offense to you, Fluttershy, but you’re hardly the ‘campaigning’ type.”

“I know it seems that way, but—”

“Don’t you start too, Rarity,” Rainbow Dash told her. “At least Fluttershy step up when it counts; you, on the other hand, don’t seem to care about anything that’s not related to fashion! Remember that time I came around and asked if you can fix a bunch of my clothes? I just wanted to get a couple of holes fixed, but you turned them all frilly! Oh, and before I forget, I’ve heard a few things about your grades too. It’s like you’ve given up on your academic life or something.”

“First off, you’re hardly the one to lecture me on tunnel vision, miss Captain of All Sports, and second, I was doing you a favor, as you sorely need to diversify your—”

“Please!”

It wasn’t Twilight who shouted, but Flash. “Come on, people, we're all here to listen to what Twilight has to say. Let her speak.”

“Thank you, Flash,” Twilight said, grateful for the opportunity. “You know what I see when I look at you? I see a microcosm of what this school has become. Is this really what you want to remember when you think back on your years in high school?”

“Duh, of course we don’t!” Pinkie Pie said. “That’s a really obvious question, Twilight.”

“Yes, well, if we let Sunset Shimmer keep doing what she’s doing, who’s to say it will stop at high school? She might rule the whole city someday. Just look at what she’s done to all of you! You could have been friends!”

“Now hold yer horses," Applejack said with a raised eyebrow. "You think she’s the reason we can’t get along?"

“It’s a nice theory, darling,” Rarity said, “but not all our problems can be traced to her. It wasn’t Sunset Shimmer who ruined the walkway show by bringing fireworks, Pinkie!”

“Whoa whoa whoa! Whoa! I never brought any fireworks to a walkway show!”

“Don’t play innocent. You sent me a text and everything, saying you wanted to ‘improve’ my show. I agreed, because I thought you only meant the decorations!”

“But I never sent a text!” Pinkie Pie said, sounding confused.

Twilight smiled to herself. Things were unraveling just the way she had suspected. Now, once Sunset’s involvement came to light, they could start on rebuilding their--

“Yes you did, look!” She showed the phone to her. “I have it saved right here.”

Pinkie Pie took a glance at it, and her eyes shot up. “Oooh, that text! Yeah, guess I did; completely slipped my mind. What can I say, your show needed more wazoom!”

Twilight’s heart sank. Or not…

“It was a walkway! ‘Wazoom’ wasn’t part of the program.”

“Well it should’ve been!”

“It’s always the same with you, Pinkie, I—”

And the room devolved into chaos. Three or four conversations at once, all throwing accusations at each other. Flash just kept quiet by the wall, and Twilight couldn’t blame him. This complicated matters. Clearly Sunset Shimmer's plan didn't involve any ‘inverted Elements’. Maybe it was time she admitted that the simplest assumption might be the correct one: different upbring, different circumstances, different people. After all, for as humbling as it was to consider, Twilight couldn’t deny that she had played an important roll bringing her Equestrian pony friends together.

Well, I’m here now!

“Stop it, right now!” she yelled, so loudly that they all fell silent at once. “So you don’t like each other. You don’t have to. But you all share a common goal: dethroning Sunset Shimmer. And for that to happen, all of you are going to have to at least tolerate one another.”

“Yeah…” Rainbow agreed with a sigh. “I said I’d help you, so I’ll put up with these bozos.”

“Right back at ya,” Applejack said. “Tell us what to do, Twilight.”

“I have a plan,” she said, and for the first time since she got here, she actually did. “Applejack, I want you to bring us Sweet Apple Acre’s finest cider for tomorrow. The best you got!”

“Ah suppose I could whip up a few fresh batches, if Ah use some o’ the spare apples from the cellar. Is it important?”

“Very important. Pinkie Pie, do you still make those gorgeous frosted cupcakes with vanilla sprinkles?”

“Aye aye captain!”

“Good, we’ll need at least a hundred! Fluttershy, you were handing out fliers before, weren’t you? Do you have a printer at home?”

“I-I do, yes.”

“Do you think you could design a flier for a meet-and-greet tomorrow at nine, and print out fifty copies?”

“Th-that sounds like a big responsibility… b-but I’ll do it.”

“A get-together, huh,” Flash said. “Want me to bring the music?”

“None of this will come together without it,” she told him. “I’ve got a song in mind that I think might get the message accross; I’ll bring you the lyrics tomorrow.”

“Looks like I underestimated you,” Rarity said, a smile returning to her face. “Anything I can do to help?”

“Well, I will need to look my best. Think you can make something that screams ‘Fall Formal Princess?’”

“I was born to. Leave it to me.”

“No way I’m gonna be outdone,” Rainbow Dash said. “You do have something for me too, don’t you?”

“Yes dear,” Rarity said, “she wants to you stand a corner and practice acting civilized.”

“Why would the captain of every sport need to ‘act civilized’.”

“Nobody is asking you to be civilized!” Twilight cut in. “I mean, please don’t be uncivilized, but especially now, I need you to be yourself. I want you to be the one to hand out the fliers, talking to people while you’re at it. Make a splash with that colorful personality of yours.”

“Sounds right up my alley!”

“Good. Then we all have our assignments. We’ll meet up again after school. We also need to exchange phone numbers, so you can call me with any questions.”

One by one, Twilight received the full set of numbers. “Awright, guess it’s time to get to it,” said Applejack. “Ah've, uh, justone small question. How’d you know Apple Acre made cider? Ah don’t think I ever told you.”

“And you knew about my vanilla-sprinkled cupcakes!” Pinkie added. “I knew it, you are—”

“Psychic, yes! I’m psychic!” Twilight said proudly, because at this point, it was the easiest explanation to give. “Now let’s go make Sunset Shimmer pay. Good luck, all of you.”

“Is it really gonna be okay?” Spike asked, when they were finally alone in the corridor. “Looks like they all respect you well enough, but I have a bad feeling about that meet-and-greet.”

“You think so? I have a feeling things are gonna work out just fine.”

“Oho, you got yourself a plan.”

“It is a gamble,” Twilight admitted. “And it could just as well blow up in my face. But I’m a Princess now, Spike. Who am I if I can’t set my people on the right path?”

“I'm guessing this isn’t how you imagined your new role to be put to the test, huh.”

“To tell you the truth, I still haven’t completely wrapped my head around the fact that I’m in a whole other world! But right now, I need to focus on what’s in front of me, and that’s talking to Principal Celestia. I need to secure a room where I can host the meet-and-greet, and if she's willing, ask her a small favor.”

Spike started to reply, but cut himself short. There were footsteps from around the corner.

They nearly walked into Sunset Shimmer. “Whoa! Oh, Twilight. How are the preparations going? Can’t wait to see what you’ve got in store for me.”

“You keep talking down to people while you can,” Twilight returned. “If a shaming video is the best you can do, I don’t think I’ve got anything to worry about.”

“My best? Oh dear, no, that was my worst! I’m actually ashamed; I never should have resorted to such childish tactics. You’ll know when I get serious. Fun chat, Twilight.” She walked away, humming.

She knew she shouldn’t be, but that smug face still left her worried. She had fought many villains in the past, and the ones that had given her the most trouble had always been the ones with the unwavering confidence.