“Those three are definitely in possession of some kind of dark magic. How else could you explain what happened back there?” Sunset said as the 12 teens walk down the hall. Rainbow and Kai were kicking a ball between each other.
“I’ve never seen villains that use singing to, take over the world?” Kai responded. “Not that I’ve ever seen villains!” He quickly added, giving off a deep sigh.
“Don’t worry, y’all. We let Principal Celestia know all about this, and those girls’ll be kicked to the curb in no time. Last thing she needs is another CHS event almost ruined by some power-crazed lunatic,” Applejack said, noticing a mildly irked Sunset. “Uh, no offense,”
“None taken…”
“What I don’t understand is that, where’s their source of power? Do they just automatically have that?” Zane pondered. “I don’t know, but I sure wouldn’t be very phsyced to try and find out.” Jay shuddered.
———————
“Dark magic? I find that very hard to believe.” Celestia looked through her blinds for a second and then turned around. “Those girls came into my office earlier and were absolutely delightful.”
Luna let off a mild scoff. “Perhaps Sunset Shimmer is just eager to make someone else out to be a bad element, so that her actions at the Fall Formal will become old news.”
“I could see why you might think that, but—” Sunset nervously started, which then Rainbow leans over in front of her and across the desk.
“That’s not what’s happening. We saw all of this go down in the cafeteria too!”
“Yes, but isn’t your band supposed to be part of the Musical Showcase?” Celestia asked. “Yes?” Rainbow reluctantly answered.
“Wait, but we’re not apart of a band, and we saw it too!” Cole spoke up. “Are you an exchange student?” Luna asked. “Um, yes, but-”
“Then we assume you will be enrolling for the time being, and that you are part of the Rainbooms.” She cut him off. “Please sign here.” She handed off a clipboard to the Orange skinned teen in front of her. The ninja shrugged and passed it on to write down their names, as there was really no point in arguing.
“Ok, now that that’s over with, can we please stop the dark magic at hand?!” Kai pointed his palms out the door.
“Perhaps you’re all just worried that the Dazzlings will steal your spotlight.” Luna responded.
“The Dazzlings?” Applejack asked, puzzled.
“It’s the name of their musical group. That’s why they came by my office earlier, to sign up for the Showcase. Even sang a little song to Vice-Principal Luna and I.” Celestia answered.
“They did?”
“Yes. And we think having a Battle of the Bands instead is a marvelous idea.”
——————
All four eyes briefly flash pale green as she finishes, leaving the teens visibly unnerved and at a total loss for words. They all go to the statue to think about what just happened and what to do next. They all seem to be doing their own thing. Applejack pacing and thinking, Fluttershy standing and staring at one side of the base, Pinkie lying on her back atop the base and letting her head hang over the edge, Jay and Cole practicing a hand shake, Rainbow and Kai continued to kick her ball to each other, Rarity sitting near Fluttershy and painting Nya’s fingernails, Sunset standing slumped against another of the base’s sides near Applejack, and Lloyd rewiring Zane’s back.
“I can’t believe they got to Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna too.” Fluttershy sighed. “They’ve gotten to everybody!” Rainbow yelled as she bounced the ball back to Kai from her head.
“Not everybody!” Pinkie said excitedly while overlooking all her friends.
“Pinkie Pie’s right. We were there when the Dazzlings were singin’, and we weren’t affected. It was like we were protected somehow.” Applejack wondered.
“So let’s take them down! It’s not like we haven’t tangled with dark magic before and totally whupped its sorry butt.” Rainbow said, until realizing she had made the same mistake as Applejack.
“Uh, no offense”
“None taken, Again.”
“But that was when Princess Twilight was still here…” Fluttershy said. “There may be some kind of magic inside us—but it only comes out when we play music. I sure don’t know how to use it to whup anybody’s butt.”
“Speaking of which, if the magic is left over from Princess Twilight, how are they affected?” Sunset pointed towards the Ninja, making the rest of the girls raise an eyebrow.
“So, you gonna tell us what’s going on, “exchange student”?” Rainbow smirked in Kai’s face. Kai rolled his eyes and sighed. “Okay, time to come clean, we aren’t from another country.”
“Aha, I knew it!” Rarity yelled out, causing everyone to give her a worried look. She put herself back together and brushed herself off. “Erm, well, I think it was pretty obvious.”
“So, you’re from Twilight’s world?” Applejack raised an eyebrow. “No, we’re from Ninjago.” Cole facepalmed.
“Ohhhh… Huh?” That just made the girls even more confused.
“Okay, we’re from a mystical land with dragons, demons, skeletons, snakes, you name it. We’re ninjas there and we fight evil.” Lloyd explained. “So how did you get here, if you’re not from Equestria?” Sunset asked. “That’s the thing! This strange mirror showed up way our door, we used it and it brought us here, right from there!” Jay pointed at the right side of the portal.
“We have powers too, elemental powers!” Kai added on. “Like, I can use fire,” Kai stood and front of everyone and began to demonstrate, but when he tried using them, only a spark appeared and it faltered.
“What the? Where are my powers? They came back I thought! Do they not work here?!” Kai groaned. “I suppose not. Our powers seem to be connected to the energy from our world.” Lloyd pinched his chin.
“So how are you still protected? Unless…” Sunset started.
“They’re connected to the energy of this world, which is magic and can only come out through singing!” Lloyd and Sunset came to the revelation at the same time. “Awww this world is the worst! Let me go back home!” Kai banged on the statue, ignoring a slightly annoyed Applejack and Rarity.
“So what you’re saying is, the ninja are also the elements of harmony?” Rainbow asked. “It seems so,” Sunset answered.
“If only we could get a message to Twilight. Maybe she could tell us how to break the spell the Dazzlings have cast on our friends, and more how the ninja got here.” Rarity sighed. “Well, that’s not gonna happen. The portal’s closed.” Rainbow said as she threw the ball, which Rarity and Nya ducked under, but to both their dismay, Rarity had accidentally spread the polish up both their arms, which Nya had made a shocked expression and Rarity let out a gasp.
“And I get the feeling they don’t exactly have cell phones where she’s from.”
Sunset scratched her head for a moment and then an Idea appeared in her head. “I may have an idea how we can get in touch with Princess Twilight!” She said.
The 11 other teens follow her to a dimly lit locker. It is Sunset’s locker; she peers intently inside, then rummages through a box as the others gather behind. she then stands up, holding a book bound in faded brown leather with her red/yellow sun cutie mark on its cover and brass accents on the spine.
“When I was Princess Celestia’s student back in Equestria, she gave me this.” Sunset explained nervously. She brushed a hand across the cover, a layer of dust being wiped away. “Even after I abandoned my studies, I held onto it.” She flipped through the pages with a smile on her face. “Deep down, I guess I knew I was making a big mistake, and I still wanted a way to reach out to her. She passes the last used pages and stops at a couple of blank ones, running a hand gently over the unmarked surface.
“Maybe it still works.”
“That’s a book, darling. What do you mean, “maybe still works”?” Rarity deadpanned. “Maybe let her explain it, just for a change, I don’t know, you may find out how it works?” Cole sarcastically commented, as to which Rarity gave him a backhanded glare. “It used to be that if I wrote something here, it would appear in the pages of a book back in Princess Celestia’s library. I get a message to her, then she can get a message to Princess Twilight.” Sunset explained.
“So what are you waiting for? Get to writing!” Rainbow held out a pen to her
Sunset looked at all of the eleven, including one blue athlete with writing tool in hand whose challenging smile turns into a warmer one that matches those on the others’ faces. Sunset regards the item with wide-eyed puzzlement for a second, then takes it and lets a very large measure of trepidation play across her face before voicing a sigh.
“Been a long time since I’ve written these words.” Sunset sighed.
She brings the pen down and starts to write.
“Dear Princess Celestia…”
The ink briefly flares pink/white as it first touches the page,The view gives way to a hurtling zoom through a tunnel of swirling pastel colors—and then emerges at the far end into a long overhead shot of the Ponyville town square. It is a beautiful day in the neighborhood, and over the village toward its far edge is where Twilight’s tree-styled crystal castle stands—the end product of her fight against Tirek.
The doors open to reveal a delivery stallion hauling a cart piled high with books. The violet Princess sits in the center of the floor, a stack of books and envelopes alongside as she reads from a document held in her magic. Rarity has taken a seat on her own throne, resting on her belly as she telekinetically polishes one arm with a cloth; the copy of her cutie mark set into its upper portion is glowing blue. The edge of Spike’s head can be seen beyond the side of his own smaller throne; he is reading something, revealed as a Daring Do novel. Applejack and Fluttershy push a very large crate across the floor with head and hooves, respectively, and then Pinkie blowing up a balloon while seated on a vacant throne. She is using Applejack’s rather than her own for this work, while Rarity shifts her polishing cloth to the high back near the three glowing gems. The stallion pulls up at the circle of thrones; ground level, his forelegs stepping into view.
“Excuse me, Princess. Where do you want all these books from Princess Celestia?” The Delivery stallion asked.
“The library!” Twilight answered, Her perspective of him and Pinkie. As she points off to her left and he follows the gesture with his eyes, the topmost book on the cart begins to emit pulses of light and jitter in place. “Third door on the left.”
“Even this one that’s glowin’ and vibratin’?” He glanced up at it.
She looks up in alarm, the paper before her dropping forgotten to the floor, and sees the anomalous volume—whose cover is emblazoned with Celestia’s cutie mark. She floats it down from the pile as the other four mares take notice. Applejack and Fluttershy step a bit closer, while Pinkie floats off Applejack’s throne on her giant balloon. The book quiets down once Twilight opens it and riffles the pages; something she sees causes her to stop and stare popeyed, and Fluttershy is first to cross to her.
“What is it, Twilight?” Fluttershy asks as Pinkie peeks from behind, off her balloon, then Rainbow from above. “It looks like…a message to Princess Celestia from my friends at Canterlot High!” Twilight read over the words. “How is that even possible?” Rarity asked.
“I have no idea, but …it sounds like they need my help!”
Cut to a dimly lit extreme close-up of a row of books on a shelf, seen from behind. One is floated away in a magical grip, giving a view through the resulting opening of a well-lit expanse of library shelves across the way. The sliver of green tree-patterned window beyond this tells that the room is in the castle.
“The way Sunset Shimmer described them…”
A slight rotation frames the gold unicorn-head decoration on the cover—this is the reference guide she and others have consulted on a number of occasions. Cut to a table at the center of this large room; all six mares and one dragon are gathered here, and Twilight brings the book in.”
“ …I think these new girls sound an awful lot like… the Sirens.”
“Not the Sirens!” Pinkie yelled out, then leaned aside to Fluttershy. “I don’t actually know what that is.”
(Back to Twilight, magically opening/flipping pages.)
“The Sirens were three beautiful but dangerous creatures—”
As she speaks, the view dissolves to an illustration of three finned fish/dragon beasts, with horses’ heads and forelegs, sitting on a rocky outcropping amid ocean waves. One is red-orange, one violet, one blue-green, and each has a large red gem embedded in its chest. Tilt up slowly as they raise their heads to sing, streams of magic issuing from their mouths.
“—who had the power to charm ponies with their music. (They float over a seaside village; slow pan as the residents argue.) But to maintain this power, they had to feed on the negativity and distrust of others.”
A Close-up of two ponies butting heads, then zoom out slightly to frame the three Sirens behind them and tilt up to follow the wisps of green haze that stream up to them.
“The more of this negative energy they consumed, the stronger their voices became— (Another stretch of land, panning across; they float over many squabbling equines.) —and the farther they could spread their dark magic.”
(Back to the library table, panning slowly across the unnerved onlookers.)
“I don’t think I like this story very much.” Fluttershy cowered.
“If the Sirens had their way, they would have divided and conquered all of Equestria. But a certain Starswirl the Bearded wasn’t having it.” Twilight continued.
On the end of this, the eminent unicorn mage, seen from ground level just in front of his front hooves, and in on the cottony expanse of his beard. Once a single spiraling tuft of white hair fills the screen, it begins to rotate and then gives way to a swirling black vortex. The Sirens are slowly drawn into it, circling helplessly in an attempt to break loose.
“Rumor has it, he found a way to banish them to another world.”
The zoom continues, revealing that the entire phenomenon has shrunk to perhaps grapefruit size and is floating before Starswirl’s stern eyes.
“One where he believed their magic power would be lost. That world must have been the one where my Canterlot High friends live.”
“But Starswirl musta sent them there ages ago. How come they’re just surfacin’ now?” Applejack asked. “I don’t know. (warming up horn) But if my hunch is right—and it is the Sirens who’ve come to Canterlot High—this spell they’ve cast is just the beginning.” Twilight closes the book and turns away.
“As for this “Ninjago” I’ve never heard of it. But I think I’ve seen it somewhere.” Twilight levitated a book. “Here it is!”
“Ninjago is a mystical land, created by the first spinjitzu master, it is the sister realm of Equestria. That’s all it says? My friends need me. I have to get back to them.”
She gets only a couple of steps away before Rainbow flies over the table to intercept.
“I hate to burst your bubble, Twilight, but the connection between their world and Equestria will still be totally cut off for a super-long time.” Rainbow stopped her.
Pinkie zips up between them.
“Okay. First of all, if there was bubble blowing going on, why wasn’t I told about it? And secondly, if the connection is totally cut off, how was Sunset Shimmer able to get a message to Twilight?” She reasoned.
(The egghead mulls this over for a split second, then voices a gasp as inspiration strikes.)
“Pinkie, you’re a genius!” Twilight galloped away. “Yeah, I get that a lot. (She yanks Rainbow over, suddenly irate.) Now about those bubbles!” She pointed at her.
Any further tirade is forgotten when the two catch sight of Twilight trotting back the way she came, levitating several pieces of mechanical/electrical equipment in her wake. The others are equally dumbfounded at her return, but she pays no mind and gets to work, directing her magic back and forth to hook up the components. She finishes by levitating a wooden panel toward the camera to black out the screen.
Fade in to a small holder topped with light bulbs on poles and attached to a curved rail that runs between two large antennas, which are in turn fixed to the upturned ends of a wooden frame. Tilt down slowly to the sound of Twilight’s voice; the rig is mounted on an upward-angled arm, part of a complex arrangement of machinery and antennas that would fit perfectly into the laboratory of any self-respecting mad scientist. She comes into view on the end of the following, standing next to the heart of the entire system—the magic mirror.
“And the interval between the two points is defined as the square root of the sum of the squares of the separation between the points along three spatial dimensions.” Twilight explained.
Almost every one of them has gotten completely lost in her verbiage—which happens to be a long-winded and entirely accurate way of stating the Distance Formula in coordinate geometry. The one possible exception is Pinkie, whose smile suggests that she either has managed to follow perfectly or is entirely oblivious.
“Say what now?” Spike raised an eyebrow.
“Duh! She’s gonna take the magic in here and put it in there.” Pinkie moved around
She points at Celestia’s book and moves over to indicate the mirror on “here” and “there,” respectively. The following, delivered at slowly increasing tempo, is accompanied by a cross to the book; flipping it up onto its edge with her forelock; turning cartwheels past the mirror; standing on the book; stretching toward the glass; pointing at the book; putting her nose up against the reflective surface; moving behind the book; lounging at the mirror’s base; and finally a cut back to the others.
“That’ll make the portal open up so that whenever she wants to, she can go from here to there. There to here. Here to there. There to here. Here to there. There to h—”
“We get the idea.” Applejack stopped her
The pink goofball, having sprawled out on the base, snaps upright and trots placidly away from it as Twilight crosses to her newly built setup
“Now to see if it actually works.” She hoped.
Her magic field maneuvers the book into the elevated holder; the sun on its cover flares white as the bulbs above it energize. That blinding spot floats into the air and bursts into two ribbons of electric charge that stream into the antennas, which in turn take more charge from the leather cover and begin to crackle with sparks, reaching an eye-searing brightness.
Everyone oohed in awe
The power sparks and spits its way down through the conduits available to it, eventually pouring into a box with two pistons protruding from its top. A side panel glows brightly and the pistons begin to cycle, producing a sheet of energy that snakes from the base and through a set of rollers before disappearing into a hopper. Two vertical panels slide into view from opposite sides of the screen, each showing a different area; crackling power works its way along the cables as the two views separately pan away from the centerline separating them to frame two antennas that come to scintillating life. As Twilight watches closely, this channels itself into the mirror and the glass becomes a fitful rippling of white wave fronts against a magenta ground. She shields her eyes an instant before one last flash of white fills the screen and subsides; now the mirror’s surface has calmed down to a steady swirling pattern, and she smiles broadly.
“Ahhhhh!”
“Don’t suppose we could join you this time around?” Applejack asked. “Better not. It could make things pretty confusing if Canterlot High all of a sudden had two of all of you.” Twilight laughed.
The others are mildly surprised, on the end of this. All but Spike nod and voice a range of agreement.
“But I still get to go, right? There isn’t another one of me at Canterlot High, and you never know when you might need your trusty assistant.” Spike pleaded with a big smile as Twilight looked him over and nodded. “Mmm-hmm”
“Yes!”
Twilight walked over to the others. “We won’t be gone long.”
She is soon caught up in a six-way group hug and a round of warm goodbyes; as it breaks up, Rarity’s words come through most clearly. Pinkie is the last to let go, giving a big squeaky grin, and Twilight steps over to her number-one assistant.
“Ready, Spike?”
He Cracked his knuckles, blew out a breath, Dropped to a three-point stance, stretching his legs out to full extension one at a time.
“Ready!”
The Princess hunches down determinedly, and both rush toward the mirror. Spike plunges through its swirling aura, then Twilight, a brief flare of white hiding them from view as they make contact.
—-------------------------------
One of Fluttershy’s hands is being held up by Rarity so she can apply polish to the nails. The two girls are seated a short distance from the school’s statue. Rainbow and Sunset sitting by the base—the latter showing Lloyd the old entries in her magic journal—and Applejack, Pinkie, Kai, and Jay seated atop it and playing cards. The apple farmer gazes levelly across at her opponent and lays down her cards—four aces—whereupon Jay lays down a messed up deck, not exactly understanding and Kai watches. Pinkie smirks triumphantly and spreads out four jokers on top of them. Her ear-to-ear smile prompts a very funny look from Applejack as if to say, “You may be playing with a full deck, but what the heck is it full of?” And Nya and Zane begin to work on something with parts they got out of the school.
Rainbow idly tosses her soccer ball from hand to hand for a moment, but knocks off with a bored sigh.
“I’m starting to think she’s not coming.” And as if an answer to her, the side of the base behind her promptly flares white, and one violet-skinned girl and one lighter violet dog come flying out headfirst as if shot from a cannon. They hurtle in a split second. Rainbow drops her ball, and all twelve are quick to take notice and perk up
“Twilight!” Everyone but the ninja yelled happily. Sunset ran up to her as Twilight turned around “Oooh…I’m back.”
A hand is being extended toward her; she regards it with clear unease and suspicion, After a short internal argument, Twilight allows herself a small smile and lets her past nemesis pull her upright. Within seconds the other five girls have swarmed in for a hug, Sunset backing off.
“Oh, Twilight!”
“And I’ve got some bad news about those new girls.”
Everyone groaned uneasily.