//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: A New Friend // Story: The Magic of Love // by Ro994 //------------------------------// House after house, a stop every three minutes or so. It seemed like time was passing by slower and slower. Twilight Sparkle sat at the very last seat of the public bus, watching through her window as she got further from the city and closer to the small neighborhood where Canterlot High School was. After everything that had happened in the Friendship Games, Principal Celestia thought it was the best thing to give her students a few days off to recover from yet another magical near-fatal experience. Now a week had passed and it was time for everyone to return to regular classes. Everyone was ready –and quite relieved– to at least stop worrying about magical threats and go back to normal. And so was Twilight. Well, sort of ready. This was going to be her first day at her new school, and she was everything but at ease. Her mind and thoughts were all over the place. She tapped her fingers against the window and her seat, and was shaking her knees up and down nervously. Her books and backpack were at her right, and inside the backpack, aside from her notebooks of the day, was her faithful –talking– dog Spike. He popped his head out of the backpack and said to her: “Calm down, Twilight. You’re shaking like a bowl of jelly!” Twilight was taken aback by the sudden voice of her animal friend. She looked around to make sure no one was looking at him. “Spike, be careful!” she said in a whisper, leaning closer to him “We agreed you wouldn’t talk in public, we don’t want to call any attention to ourselves!” “Come on, look around,” Spike said as he gestured to the seats in front of them, “I’m sure we’re safe.” Twilight glanced at the almost empty bus. Indeed, the closest passenger to them was four seats away, and he had headphones on. The other five people that were there were either sleeping, looking at their cellphones or too busy minding their own business that they weren’t even paying attention to her and her speaking pet. Twilight sighed in relief. “I guess you’re right. Sorry if I’m so uneasy. I’m just really, really nervous.” “I know, but don’t be so nervous.” Spiked comforted. “Just act natural and I’m sure everything will be just fine!” Twilight gave him a quick fake smile and turned her head back to the window again. She led out a sad sigh. Spike tilted his head a little to look at her reflection on the glass. She seemed sad, worried and somewhat… scared. He had known her long enough to know when something was bothering her. He walked out of the backpack and placed his front paws on her lap. “Hey, what’s the matter?” he asked with concern. Twilight looked down at the window pane and rubbed her arm. “Do you think… they’ll get over it?” Spike was staggered by this response. “Do you mean… the whole Friendship Games incident?” “The Rainbooms have told me that this isn’t the first time something like this has happened, but… I was so awful…” she said, more to herself than to Spike, lost in thought. “I got so overwhelmed by all that magic… I nearly destroyed everything and everyone… will they be able to forgive me?” “Of course!” Spike said in a calming voice. Twilight turned to him with an unbelieving look, lifting an eyebrow. “I mean, maybe not right away… not everyone, but… I’m sure they are much nicer than the people at Crystal Prep, right?” “They certainly seem so” Twilight agreed. Although she had mostly spoken only to the Rainbooms so far, she could tell that the people at CHS weren’t nearly as snobby and rejecting as most of her Crystal Prep former classmates. At least that was a little reassuring. It’s not like she was transferring from CHS to CPA. That would’ve been a whole different story. “Just give them time to get to know the real you.” Spike said, laying a paw on her forearm. “They’ll see what an amazing girl you are, and they’ll accept you. Trust me.” Twilight gave him a warmer, more real smile. She took Spike in her arms and sat him on her lap, as she started scratching his head. “Thank you, buddy.” Spike let out a happy whimper as he panted and shook his tail. But when the dog could no longer see her face, Twilight’s smile disappeared. Even with his friend’s encouraging words, her concern was still there. She couldn’t get the thought that she still wouldn’t fit in out of her head. The bus finally stopped in front of the large building. Canterlot High School. Twilight gulped and helped Spike return inside his hiding place. She put her bag on her back and grabbed the four extra books in her arms close to her chest. The door of the bus opened and she got up her seat. Her heart was beating so fast, and she felt as if her whole body was shaking. She had taken this same bus several times before, but it had never seemed so long before. When she finally reached the door, she looked up at her new school. This was it. No turning backs, no second guesses. She inhaled deeply and got off the bus. The doors closed behind her and the bus left back to the city. She found herself standing there, just staring at the large structure, unable to move due to her nervousness. She then got a hold of herself and shook her head. “Calm down, Twilight” she thought to herself. “It’s just another school day.” She started to walk the long –or at least, it felt long– path to the front door. She had been to this school a few times before, why did everything feel so new? She was glancing around her as if it was her first time in this territory. Twilight had agreed with her first six friends, the Rainbooms, to arrive early so they could give her a tour and all the information necessary, now that she was a Wondercolt. Now that she was a Wondercolt. She had gotten so used to going to Crystal Prep every day, wearing that uniform, being known but ignored by everyone… she still didn’t feel like this was all happening. Yes, she was there, walking to the entrance of her new school… but it felt surreal. As if in any moment she would snap out of her trance and find herself in her CPA uniform, in her private laboratory, getting ready for her Calculus class. It had felt so weird not putting on her uniform this morning. Instead she wore some of her favorite casual clothing: a light-yellow blouse with a pink shirt in top, buttoned up to her chest and her sleeves rolled at her elbow length. She completed this with dark blue leggings and boots that matched the color of her over-shirt. She wore her hair on a ponytail, unlike the bun she usually ported at Crystal Prep. She didn’t even feel like she was going to school wearing that. Classes wouldn’t start until another thirty minutes or so, but a lot of people were already there, hanging out outside school before class. Twilight looked at everyone and tried to memorize their faces the best she could. They were her new schoolmates, after all. A group of three girls that looked around thirteen years old caught her attention. One of them was riding her scooter around the campus, as the other two followed her running and laughing. They definitely would not be her classmates. They were freshmen at best. Twilight kept looking around and found a group of three girls and two boys that did look around her age. They were sitting in a circle, talking underneath a tree. Should she go talk to them? No, no. She had to meet the six friends she already knew. Besides, she wasn’t precisely the best at socializing and would probably make a fool of herself, nervous as she felt. Maybe it would be the best thing to go nice and slowly and not force any new friendships, rather let them happen. Besides, she still didn’t know how everyone thought of her… “Hey, Twilight!” a male voice called her as she reached the porch, just about to pass through the door. The girl froze in place. Was he talking to her? Maybe there was another Twilight in this school. Why would someone call her? Was it something bad? She didn’t know how to react, and suddenly forgot how to move. She heard some steps behind her, and they became closer and closer. She felt a knot in her throat and her hands and feet felt cold as stone. She heard the footsteps coming up the stairs. She looked at the glass front door. Her own reflection covered most of the stranger’s, but when she saw some blue spikes of hair come in sight, she suddenly returned to her senses and, in panic, she turned around abruptly, and bumped into the boy. They both grunted simultaneously, and the impact made Twilight’s glasses fall out of place to her chin. She dropped the books she was carrying to the floor and when she looked down with her very hazy vision, she saw that underneath them was a big brown blur that looked like a guitar case, which most likely belonged to the person in front of her. “I’m so sorry, my bad! Let me get that” said the blurry young man as he quickly leaned forward and started to pick up the objects. That voice sounded oddly familiar to Twilight... She took her glasses and placed them back where they belonged. She looked down and saw the same navy hairdo she had seen reflected on the crystal. When the stranger finished picking up all of Twilight’s books, he took the handle of his guitar case on his right hand and placed the books on his left forearm. He got up and looked at Twilight to her face, their eyes finally meeting. She remembered now. He was the same guy she had bumped into in the hallway, the last time she had been on CHS for the Friendship Games. It seems like he had some sort of habit of bumping into people… she remembered how he had helped her to get up and find her glasses. Although he had confused her for the other world’s Twilight –Princess Twilight Sparkle, as she had been told–, he seemed very… nice. Even though at the time she hadn’t really paid much attention to this fellow, due to her being more distracted investigating were this strange magic was coming from, the two things that had struck her the most were the kind look on his beautiful sky blue eyes, and the sweet smile on his handsome face. And now, there they were again. And they had the same effect on her as the last time. She was frozen. Speechless. Her heart went wild and her face felt hot, a blush threatening to show up. She was not used to this kind of treatment, much less coming from a guy. The guys in her school were never gentlemen to her, and were rather immature and rude. Even at this age, they still occasionally put pins on her seat or stuck gum on her hair –which was the reason she started wearing a bun–. She once again was unsure of how to react, and although she remained still on the outside, she was screaming and freaking out on the inside, struggling to get a hold of herself as soon as she could. She almost didn’t notice that he had a similar reaction. He was just as speechless and frozen. As much as he tried, he couldn’t look away from her eyes. He parted his lips, but no words came out. Luckily, he was able to get back on his senses soon enough, shaking his head a little and trying to dissimulate the deep blush on his cheeks. He cleared his throat and recovered his smile, although it clearly was a nervous smile now. “Here you go, Twilight” he said as he handed her the books she had dropped. This made Twilight finally react. She looked down at the books, reached out both her hands and took them. She looked at the boy’s face again, attempting to control herself. He was just a person, after all. No need to be so nervous. “Th-thank you, uhm…” she stuttered, trying to remember his name, only to realize that she didn’t know it. He had never told her. “Oh, right!” he said, slightly hitting his forehead with his now free left hand, struggling to keep his cool. He then moved his hand though his hair, moving it all the way down to his nape. This motion made Twilight shake a little. “I think we haven’t formally introduced ourselves, have we? My name’s Flash. Flash Sentry.” Flash Sentry, Twilight repeated in her head. She had to start memorizing names. This was a good start. Flash Sentry. Even his name was nice… “H-hi, Flash,” Twilight said, her voice still shaky. She was trying her best to seem calm. “I’m… Twilight Sparkle… b-but, you probably already know it,” she finished with a nervous chuckle. Flash chuckled too. “Yeah… uhm, hello, Twilight,” he greeted as he reached out his hand and gave her a more secure, but friendly smile. “It’s… nice to finally meet you properly.” Twilight felt touched to finally receive some friendliness. It seemed like the students in this school were much nicer than the ones in her former school. But Flash seemed especially nice. For some reason, Twilight felt a quick connection with him. She smiled and shook his hand. “It’s nice to properly meet you too, Flash.” Flash gave her an even warmer look. None of them seemed nervous anymore, but they still couldn’t look away from each other. They didn’t notice how long they had stared at each other, but they suddenly looked down and noticed they were still holding hands. “Oh!” they both said at unison, taking their hands away, looking down or around, a little awkwardly. They were blushing again. Flash looked at Twilight and once again cleared his throat, making the girl turn her hear to look at him again. “Listen, I…” Flash started to say, rubbing the back of his neck and looking down at his feet. He was trying to find the right words. “I wanted to apologize… for the other day. You know, mistaking you for… uh…” he took a quick gulp, “... the other Twilight. That must’ve felt so weird for you. I’m sorry…” “No, no, it’s okay,” Twilight said quickly, holding a hand in front of her. “You’re not the only one that did that. And, how were you supposed to know? Don’t worry about it. It’s fine, really.” “Well… thank you for understanding,” he said with another sweet look. “So, this is your first day here, right?” Twilight nodded. “Well, that’s awesome! How are you feeling so far?” “Well, you’re the first person I have talked to so far, so… I’d say pretty good!” she answered, and they both giggled at her response. But Twilight stopped giggling and looked down as she made small circles on the ground with her foot. “To be honest, I am a little nervous.” “I understand that. It’s perfectly normal to be nervous on your first day. Don’t worry, I’m sure you’re gonna love it here.” “You really think so?” Twilight asked, looking up at him again. “I know so! People here are at CHS great, I’m sure you’ll make a ton of friends!” he said with an optimistic voice. “Yeah…” Twilight’s voice was off, acquiring a sad tone. She looked down at her books, and Flash looked at her with concern. “I just hope everyone can get over what happened in the Friendship Games.” This made Flash feel bad for her. He thought for a moment about what he could say to her to make her feel better. He smiled when he found just the right words. “Well, I have.” Twilight looked at him in surprise. His expression seemed sincere. She honestly hadn’t expected someone to have forgiven her so quickly. “You really seem like a good person, Twilight,” he told her, sounding just as sincere. “I was hoping we could start over. I’m willing to be your friend and get to know you. If you want to, of course.” Twilight felt herself blushing again, but she managed to give him a grateful beam. “I would love that.” “Great then. If you have any questions, or if there’s something you need… you can ask me. I’m always available. And I’m in your same class, too!” Twilight had suspected it, but she felt great relief and joy to have confirmed that he was indeed going to be her classmate. “That’s wonderful! One more person I know,” she exclaimed, giggling. Flash gave her another charming “combo” of a kind glance and sweet smile before he put his guitar case on his back. “I’ll see you in class, then. Your friends are waiting for you inside,” he told her, gesturing at the door behind her. This made Twilight recover her memory. “Oh right! Uh… see you later, then… Flash.” Flash gave her one last friendly smile before turning around and walking down the stairs. Twilight looked at him as he walked away. He couldn’t get the smile off her face… or the blush. When he got out of sight, Twilight turned around and started to open the door. She stopped when she felt her backpack trembling. She looked back and saw Spike had popped his head out. He looked at her with a smug look on his face. “What?” Twilight asked, confused by his expression. “Look at you! First day at new school hasn’t even started yet and we already have a cute boyfriend!” Spike answered teasingly. Twilight blushed for a moment but then she snorted and said: “Don’t be silly, Spike! He’s… just a friend.” She paused for a moment, realizing the truth in her words. She looked back at the field and saw Flash from afar, talking with other boys near the street. She saw him turn around for a moment, and he look at her. He waved at her from the distance. She smiled and shyly waved back. “A friend…”