Twilight had just about finished packing her books for her visit to Canterlot High. She grabbed her uniform shirt and was about to pack it in her bag but Spike was not too keen on letting her leave. He grabbed her shirt with his mouth and growled. "Ugh, come on, Spike. I was always gonna go to Canterlot High for the Friendship Games. The only thing different is now I have to compete. Besides it's not like Principal Cinch gave me much of a choice." She managed to grab her shirt from Spike's grasp as she stuffed it in her backpack. "I know, I don't like it either, I probably won't be able to gather as much data as I hoped...but maybe I can still get some." Spike started to whimper as Twilight picked him up. "Spike! I would never leave without you" She placed him in her backpack and told him, "Just remember to remain quiet, and try not to shed." She zipped her backpack and headed on out to the bus.
At the bus stop, Twilight wasn't sure where to go. She asked Dean Cadence where to go.
"One second, Twilight," Cadence told her.
"You could try the end of the line!" said Sour Sweet. A girl with pink and slightly light blue hair. Just like Twilight (and all the other Crystal Prep students) she also wore the Crystal Prep uniform.
"Oh, I'm sorry, what did you say?" Twilight asked trying to sound polite. Sour Sweet put on a 'sweet' smile.
"Just that someone as smart as you should definitley go first!"
"No I didn't mean to...I was just asking," Twilight said a little worried.
"This is the right bus, Twilight," Dean Cadence told her.
"But...I didn't mean to cut infront,"
"Well it's too late now," Sour Sweet grumbled in a not-so-sweet tone.
As Twilight went inside the bus, Indigo Zap, another Crystal Prep student asked Twilight,"
"Are we gonna win?!"
"Umm...maybe?" Twilight replied nervously. Indigo Zap shook her head.
"Wrong answer! Try again! Are we gonna win?!"
"Um I mean CHS I heard is doing really well now a-and with their reputation we can't let them do it...win I mean, right?"
Indigo Zap gave her a confused look as Twilight just stood there feeling like an idiot.
"You're gonna have to take a seat!" the Bus driver said.
Twilight started to make her way down the bus aisle but whenever she saw an empty seat, it was immediatley made unavailable for her as if no one wanted her to sit with her. She managed to find an empty seat next to Lemon Zest who was listening to music through her headphones. Twilight placed her backpack on her lap and opened it. "Well Spike, at least I still got you with me," she whispered.
"Dude, you have gotta hear this!" Lemon Zest said suddenly as she placed her headphones over Twilight's ears as the latter was taken surprise by the heavy metal.
*Canterlot High*
Back in the music room, Rainbow was showing off a few guitar solos. "I hope the Friendship Games have a music competetion because we would totally rock it!" She exclaimed as she strung a chord.
"Um, we're supposed to keep magic out of the games, remember?" Sunset reminded her.
"Easier said than done, darling," Rarity said. "I'm sure in Equestria magic does whatever you want, but..."
"This isn't Equestria," Sunset said sadly.
"Well when it comes to magic, I'm sure you'll figure it out," AJ reassured.
"And while Sunset works on keeping the magic out, I'll be working on what to bring in!" Rarity giggled.
"Rarity, what did you go and do?" AJ asked
"Well I had a little time on my hands, and since we don't know what the events are...I made a few options for uniforms!" Rarity immediatley put one on Rainbow Dash.
"You really didn't have to do that," Rainbow started to say.
"I know," Rarity smiled.
"No, you really didn't have to." AJ said with more emphasis on the word 'really'.
"I know!" Rarity giggled. "Oh and I made a few outfits for you too, Amber but I understand if you still want to keep your jacket. I know it holds very dear for you."
Amber smiled kindly. "Oh, thanks. Maybe I can try on one." She saw a jacket on one of the racks and examined it. It was a dark red jacket, with a black wavy pattern along the sides. "This jacket looks pretty cool." she commented.
"Go ahead and try it, darling," Rarity insisted. Amber took off her pink jacket and tried on the red one. She took a good look at herself. "This looks pretty good."
"Oh I just knew you would like it!" Rarity said excitledly.
When the bus arrived at Canterot High, the students filed out of the bus while Principal Celestia met with Principal Cinch.
"Vice Principal Luna can help your students get settled in, while I can give you a tour, Principal Cinch," Celestia told Cinch.
"Oh yes, Principal Celestia, that would be fascinating," She said in a somewhat cold tone.
Dean Cadence and VP Luna hugged eachother. "Oh it's always a pleasure to meet you, Dean Cadence. Even if you do beat us every time."
"Thank you, Vice Principal Luna, but I heard it's not going to be so easy this time around," Dean Cadence said kindly.
Twilight was about to make her way off the bus, when she heard someone yell, "Comin, through!"
"Ugh!" Twilight gasped as she was pushed to the side and into Sunny Flare.
"Seriously?" she asked annoyed.
"Oh sorry, I didnt' mean to," she turned to Sour Sweet. "Why don't you go ahead." she suggested.
"You are such a sweetie!" Sour Sweet said in her sweet voice then said in her sour tone, "I am watching you!"
Twilight made her way inside the Canterlot High and as soon as she stepped foot, everyone seemed to know her.
"Hi, Twilight."
"Hey, Twilight, what's up?"
"Yo, Twilight!"
"How you doin, Twilight?"
Twilight was starting to get confused wondering how everyone knew her already but she pushed it to the side. Her device around her neck started to vibrate and she started to follow where the signal was taking her.
Meanwhile back in the music room, AJ said to Rarity, "These outfits are great and all, but why put so much effort into clothes we're probably not going to wear? You're going to exhaust yourself before the games even start!"
"Oh don't be silly, darling! Putting effort into my clothes is what I live for, and spending time with my friends fills me with energy!" Rarity exclaimed joyfully as she began to float in air and started to pony up similar to Rainbow Dash did during the pep rally.
The girls, including Amber all had amazed reactions.
"And magic too I guess," Sunset said with a small smile.
Twilight continued to follow the signal coming from her device until it started to absorb some sort of purple smoke from the music room. She was unknowingly draining the magic from Rarity but of course she didn't know.
In the music room, Rarity started to feel exhausted as she slowly descended back down to the floor. "Actually, Applejack, now that you mentioned it, I suppose I could take a tiny break."
"Told you," AppleJack said.
The door to the music door opened as Twilight stood at the entrance.
"Twilight?!" All the girls except Amber said in surprise. Although Amber was a little surprised herself. She knew most of the Crystal Prep Students from past Friendship Games, albeit not in a good way but Twilight didn't seem familiar to her. Nevertheless she smiled at Twilight.
"Darling, what are you wearing? It looks so...severe." Rarity said.
"It's my uniform for Crystal Prep" Twilight answered. "But why does everyone know who I am?"
"Did you just say Crystal Prep?" Rainbow questioned. Spike suddenly popped his head of Twilight's backpack and gave a single bark.
"Spike!" Fluttershy and Rarity said together as Fluttershy began to pet the dog on the head.
"You know my dog's name too?" Twilight asked in surprise as she turned Spike away from Fluttershy.
"You must be one of the Crystal Prep students, is that right?"
"I don't think I've seen you in the games before," Amber said to Twilight. "I assume this is your first time competing."
"It is...and if I'm being honest, not looking too foward to it. Only reason why I'm competing is because I'm kinda being forced to. Oh and I'm Twilight,"
"Amber Shine. Nice to meet you, Twilight." Amber smiled. Twilight seemed a bit surprised by that name.
"Wait...why does that name sound so familiar?" Rainbow started to hide her smirk as Twilight started to connect two and two together. "Wait...you're not Amber Shine from Cloudsdale High are you?"
"Maybe," Amber giggled. "Or maybe I'm just an ordinary girl who just so happens to have the same name as 'Amber Shine'."
Oh my gosh! You're like one of the best region competitors out there...M-my school literally loses to yours every time!" Twilight gasped. " My classmates actually talks about you, not in a good way but they do know a lot about you. I-I don't think we're gonna keep our winning streak anymore."
"Well whether you win or lose I'm sure you'll do great." Amber said kindly. "I actually gotta go. I'll catch you later at the welcoming party!" She left the room and that's when Principal Celestia happened to be walking by giving a tour to Principal Cinch. When she saw Twilight she gasped.
"Twilight?"
"This is getting ridiculous." Twilight muttered.
"I must apolgize for the curiosity of my prized student," Principal Cinch said to Celestia.
"Your student?"
"The smart ones are always curious. I'll return her to check in with the other students." Cinch said as she started to usher Twilight along with her to the other Crystal Prep students. As soon as Cinch left Celestia looked at the girls.
"I didn't know Twilight had a twin sister."
Pinkie started to giggle. "She doesn't! That Twilight is obviously the Twilight from this world since it couldn't possibly be the Twilight from the pony world since the Twilight from the pony world doesn't go to Crystal Prep or wear glasses."
Principal Celestia started to say something but decided better not to question Pinkie's knowledge. "Nevermind." she says as she too left.
"Principal Cinch, I didn't mean to wonder off, I was just following these strange readings and they led me to those girls." Twilight tried to explain.
"Twilight, what you do in your free time is little concern to me, but while you're here, all of Crystal Prep requires your complete focus." Principal Cinch said sternly.
"But everyone seems to know who I am," Twililght said.
"Perhaps to lure you,"
"But it didn't seem like anyone was trying to 'lure' me,"
"Well whatever they're trying to do, it isn't to help us win."
As Sunset and her friends were walking down the hallway, Rarity expressed her disbelief of Twilight going to Crystal Prep. "I can't believe our world's Twilight goes to Crystal Prep!"
"You're saying Twilight's gonna play against us? She wouldn't." Rainbow remarked.
"Our Twilight is a Princess from Equestria and if she was here, we would've already figured out why all this magic is happening during pep rallies and costume changes!" Sunset said with a bit of irritation. The other girls started to flinch. and Sunset's expression softened. "Sorry, I tried to contact Twilight earlier today, but I couldn't get a hold of her."
"She's a princess from Equestria. Probably got problems of her own to deal with." AppleJack pointed out.
"We certainly can't expect her to drop everything and pop through the portal whenever," Rarity added. "Especially if it's to deal with something as minor as a few random pony-ups."
But they aren't minor!" Sunset argued. "Magic came into this world when I stole Twilight's crown. It's taken a lot for me to earn everyone's trust. If we have to forfeit the games because I can't think of a way to keep it under control..."
"Oh Sunset...I'm sure you'll figure things out." Fluttershy said.
"You're the one who helped us understand what we needed to defeat those sirens, remember?" AppleJack remidned Sunset.
"Yeah, but Twilight was the one who really showed us what we needed."
"But remember, darling. What we needed to defeat them was you." Rarity pointed out. Sunset gave a small smile and sighed.
"Alright."
The girls cheered as Rainbow declared, "Come on, guys. Let's go see what the events are and come up with a strategy!"
Sunset started to stay behind as Rainbow asked her, "You comin, Sunset?"
"I'll catch up with you guys in a bit," Sunset replied. She made her way outside to the front yard and placed her hand on the portal. Still no reply she thought as she placed her hand on the marble base of the wondercolt statue. Maybe there's another way I can reach her. All of a sudden she couldn't move her hand from the portal as she began to feel herself being being drained. Twilight was on the other side and her device started to absorb a red aura coming from the other side of the portal. "Hey let go!" Sunset yelled out. Twilight however could not stop her device from draining the magic from Sunset. They both screamed in fear as Sunset was finally able to let go of the portal. She looked at Twilight in disbelief. "What did you do?!"
Twilight was about to answer when Dean Cadence intervened. "Twilight, you have to check in with the other." Twilight quickly left while Sunset put her hand back on the portal but this time, all she felt was cold marble.
"Where's the portal?" Sunset asked "The portal isn't here anymore!"
Sunset didn't want to believe it, but there was no denying the truth. The portal had been closed.