//------------------------------// // Friends From The Same Side // Story: Equestria Girls Ninjago: Friendship Games // by Digi_Verse //------------------------------// Twilight kneels on the floor, gathering papers and loading them into a backpack while Spike sits nearby. An athletic jersey lies among the disorder; when she picks it up, the little canine snatches the tail in his jaws and pulls at it with a growl. “Come on, Spike! I was always gonna go to Canterlot High for the Friendship Games!  The only difference now is that I have to compete. Besides, it’s not like Principal Cinch gave me much of a choice.” Twilight took back the backpack, letting it fly into her face.  Spike gives a piteous little whimper and lies down, earning a consoling pat on the head. This brings him up off the floor with a panting smile. “I know, Spike. I don’t like it either.  I probably won’t be able to collect anywhere near as much data as I thought.” Twilight sighed as she scratched his chin. She then picked up her device, letting a small smile grow on her face. “But maybe I can still get some.”  A second later, she has run a cord through the hole cut in the hinge and knotted it around her neck as an oversized pendant. Spike whimpers again. “Spike, I wouldn’t leave without you!” She opened the backpack and stiffened him in. “Just remember to be quiet, and try not to shed.”  Zipping and shouldering the bag, she strides out of the lab and closes the door behind herself. Dissolve to the parking lot just outside the front entrance of Crystal Prep; she walks out toward two buses parked here. Six female students stand lined up at the doors of one of them, along with Cadence, and two men in school colors are at the other. A close-up of the first bus picks out Cadence by the doors, clipboard in hand, and the first few students in line as Twilight approaches. All are framed from the knees up. One girl is Fleur, checking her cell phone.  Another is Sunny Flare: light blue-gray skin; red-violet eyes with dark blue shadow; short, medium violet hair shot through with lighter pink-violet streaks and cut/clipped back in a slope to hang past her cheeks and ride high on the back of her head; orange/yellow sunburst hair clip; dour expression.  The third is Sour Sweet: light yellow skin; freckles; blue-violet eyes with green shadow; long, deep pink hair with streaks of lighter pink and gray-green tied in a high ponytail; bored expression. She wears a vest instead of a blazer, in a slightly different design from Twilight’s, and her shirt has short sleeves without gray cuffs and is not tucked in.  The fourth is Aspheera, grey blue skin with fire orange hair going to her shoulders, snarky expression. She wears the same thing that Sour wears and carries a rolled up piece of paper on her waist.  Twilight walks right past all four of them and up to Cadence. Behind the group, the side of the bus displays a cluster of dark purple diamonds trailing yellow streaks; the largest of these contains a winged magenta S whose ends trail off into lightning bolts—the Shadowbolt logo. “Dean Cadence?  I’m not really sure where to go.” Twilight said as Sour gaped behind her, Sunny glared, and Aspheera put a hand to her chest.  “One second Twilight.” Cadence walked off before answering.  “You could try the end of the line.” Sour said snarkly. “Should have been her first idea since she’s so smart.” Aspheera underhand fived Sour and Sunny after adding her remark.  “What did you say?” Twilight turned around as she pushed her glasses up from slipping.  “Just that someone as smart as you should definitely go first!” Sour responded with fake sweetness as Sunny and Aspheera snickered in the back.  “I…I didn’t mean to. I was just asking.” Twilight stuttered as Cadence returned. “This is the right bus Twilight. Go ahead.”  “But… I didn’t mean to cut in front.” Twilight sighed as Aspheera rolled her eyes and Sour let off a scoff. “Well, it’s too late now.” Sunny adds her own facial measure of contempt as Twilight steps through the doors. She has not even made it up to the driver’s seat before another two faces thrust themselves toward hers from the front seats. The first one has Pale cream-colored skin; orange-brown eyes; swept-back, shoulder-length dark blue hair with streaks in lighter blue and blue-green; multiple ear piercings, including gold lightning-bolt earrings; round-lensed goggles propped on forehead. This is Indigo Zap, whose voice carries a grating, fierce enthusiasm. The boy next to her has a dark toned colored skin, red eyes and messy white hair with purple streaks in them, along with two laser earrings and goggles with one of the lenses looking like a laser as well, despite just being magnifying goggles. This is Cryptor, a boastful, arrogant student of Crystal prep. As they lean forward during the following exchange, the motion exposes the cardigan she wears instead of a blazer, rolled-up sleeves, an unbuttoned and turned-up shirt collar, gray wristbands with dark blue lightning bolts, and a half-untied collar bow. The boy wears a jacket with the medals he won for robotic creation at school.  “Are we gonna win?!?” Indigo yelled in her face.  “I-I don’t know.” Twilight stuttered.  “Wrong answer! Try again!” She corrected.  “She said, are we gonna win!?” Cryptor leaned closer and repeated Indigo’s words.  “Um…I guess? I-It’s just…I mean, I heard that CHS is doing well now, with their reputation, and, I mean…it’s not better than ours, of course. But we can’t let them do it, you know? Win, I mean? Right?” Twilight explained nervously.  (Another cut to her perspective picks out a bus half-filled with students who are giving her their own versions of the old hairy eyeball. Among them are human versions of Jet Set, Suri Polomare, Trenderhoof, and Upper Crust. Eyes are rolled, glasses adjusted, and Indigo throws in a gesture and a tiny head shake that might best be translated as “where did they dig her up?” Back to Twilight; now the bus driver sits down behind the wheel and regards her irascibly. “The correct answer was yes.” Cryptor facepalmed and shook his head.  “You’re gonna have to take a seat!” The driver yelled.   She starts off down the aisle; cut to her perspective yet again. One student after another blocks her access to the empty seats by either shifting toward the aisle seat or setting a bag in it. As she closes in on the back row, the camera cuts to these seats and she removes her backpack so she can sit down opposite a bored-looking girl with light blue-violet skin, violet eyes behind orange-framed glasses, and two-tone pale blue hair gathered into two long pigtails that extend to either side from behind her head. She wears a cardigan marked with the same lightning-bolt crest as Sunny’s blazer, and her sleeve cuffs are not as broad as Twilight’s and are patterned differently. This is Sugarcoat. “Hi, Sugarcoat.” Twilight gestured to her.  The latter speaks in a rapid-fire cadence and a matter-of-fact tone, turning her head just enough to reveal a bright pink barrette shaped as a piled-high measuring spoon. “That was a really bad speech. You should consider not speaking in public.” Sugarcoat deadpanned. Twilight frowned and turned to the boy in the seat next to her.  He had brown hair in a flat top and almost copper skin, with red eyes and a straight face. His clothes were the same as cryptor’s with red and black highlights. This was Mystery, Harumi’s adopted brother.  “Hi Mystery! How’s everything?” Twilight asked. The boy didn’t respond and just let out a smile. “You know he doesn’t talk right. Everyone knows that.” Sugarcoat added.  As the bus engine revs up, Twilight smiles to herself and opens her pack; cut to her perspective, with Spike putting his head out. “Well, Spike, at least I’ve got you with me.” A faint blare of rock music causes him to glance off to one side with a whimper. Cut to a close-up of a girl in another seat, Lemon Zest. Light reddish-pink skin; very pale yellow-brown eyes with light blue-violet shadow; long, unruly hair in three shades of yellow-green; short-sleeved shirt/blazer with unbuttoned, turned-up shirt collar; headphones marked with slices of pie over ears—the source of the disturbance. Her voice carries a tone of raucous, abrasive cheer. “Dude! You have gotta hear this!” Zest yelled.  On the end of this line, she leans over Twilight and transfers the phones to the violet ears. Now the music comes through all too loud and clear, prompting her to shudder and moan softly with one eye squinched shut against the assault. Zest and another white haired boy by the name of Unagami cheer Twilight on. The bus starts to move; cut to behind it as it rumbles toward the street. Dissolve to an overhead shot of Canterlot High, zooming in slowly as Zest’s raucous track is replaced by a different rock beat. In a music practice room, where the Rainbooms are running through a song. All twelve have ponied up, but the extra features disappear as the final chord dies away. Rainbow stands up from the kneeling position she has assumed “I hope the Friendship Games have a music competition, because we would totally rock it!” Rainbow said as she hit a chord at the end of this. “You said it Rainbow! Sending the crowd flying with a boom would be so awesome!” Cole high-fived the girl as Sunset sighed. “Um, we’re supposed to keep magic and elemental powers out of the Friendship Games, remember?”  “Plus, we still don’t know the extent of our powers here, so no using them to show off. We have to stay focused and not mess around, with magic or powers.” Lloyd added. Rainbow rolls her eyes and sighs wearily. Cut to an extreme close-up of Rarity’s face, reflected in the mirror of her open compact; she is touching up her makeup. “Easier said than done, darling. I’m sure in Equestria and Ninjago, powers and magic do whatever you want. But…” Rarity closed the compact.  “…this isn’t Equestria or Ninjago.” Sunset said as she paced with her instrument put away.  Applejack and Fluttershy have put away their own instruments, and Rainbow is returning her guitar to its case. “Well, when it comes to magic, I’m sure you guys will figure it out.” Applejack patted both of their shoulder.  “And while Sunset works on keeping the magic out of the Games, Nya and I have been working on what to put in!” Rarity and Nya grin at each others.  “I noticed you two had been hanging out a lot more recently… what did you guys do…” Kai facepalmed.  A rack of clothes is shoved into view before Sunset in Fluttershy. Half of them are athletic outfits in school colors; the rest are dresses and suits in a variety of other styles. “Well we had a little time on our hands, and since we don’t know what the Friendship Games events are…” Rarity grinned hugely.  During this line, more racks are pushed over to Pinkie and Jay at their drum kits, who push their heads through and then to Rainbow, who has now squared her six-string away. Here, the prolific designer shoves aside the hangers from behind and squeezes through with a blue/white/yellow jersey/shorts combo. “We made a few options for uniforms!” Nya said to the rest. “Rarity gave me a newfound love for making things besides vehicles, but there are a few surprises in each fit!” She shoves the lot down over Rainbow’s head, instantly replacing her usual threads and even switching out the athletic boots with dark blue knee socks. The athlete is very much caught out at the quick change. “You guys really didn’t have to do that.” Rainbow said.  “We know!” Rarity exclaimed. “No seriously….” Cole started as he was put in a spacesuit, standing next to Fluttershy and Sunset, who puzzle over the other racks and Pinkie stands behind them in a wizard’s robe and starry hat and a fake pink beard. “You guys really didn’t have to.”  “We know!” Nya took the line this time. She laughs with Rarity as they both fit their friends into each outfit.  One of the Crystal Prep buses is parked at the curb of Canterlot High, and Luna stands in front of it on the grass. A cut to the sidewalk frames Celestia and Abacus here as well. Seen from head to toe for the first time, the primly dressed principal wears magenta stockings and purple pumps that match her skirt, accented by light blue straps across the toes.  “Vice-Principal Luna can help your students get settled, if you’d like me to show you around, Principal Cinch. There have been quite a few changes since your last visit.” Celestia smiled.  “Oh, yes, Principal Celestia. I’m sure that would be fascinating.” Cinch responded with slight interest, more wanting to see what type of facilities they were using for a student to pull off what happened in that video.  The Students are stepping out the open bus doors and Luna and Cadence share a warm embrace. The dean no longer carries the clipboard she had when checking everyone onto the bus. “Oh, it’s always such a pleasure to see you, Dean Cadence—even if it means another defeat.” Luna grimaced.  “Thank you, Vice-Principal Luna.  But I hear it’s not going to be so easy this time. There’s a rumor going around that some of your students act like superhumans.” Cadence chuckled. “Ah, well, some of them are just really athletic.” Luna smiled nervously as they walked off. Only now does Twilight put her head out through the doorway, her backpack slung up and closed and no longer wearing Zest’s headphones. After a tentative flick of the eyes back and forth, she draws herself up, adjusts her glasses—and promptly gets shoved aside from behind by the pumped-up Indigo. Her knee socks have puddled around her ankles, and she has eschewed the standard shoes in favor of dark purple combat boots decorated with blue bows and lightning bolts. In addition, the hem of her cardigan has a slightly different cut from Sugarcoat’s. “Comin’ through” “Snooze ya lose!” Twilight loses her balance after being knocked by both Indigo and Cryptor, and topples off the steps, taking the nearby Sunny down with her. This shot brings the latter’s footwear into view—the usual chunky-heeled loafers, but the socks are only ankle-length instead of going to the knee—and the dark blue patches on both sleeve cuffs, not just the right. Standing next to Sunny are Sour and Asphera, whose standard loafers have had their shield buckles replaced by bows and hearts while Ashpeera’s are fire and a staff. As she stares in surprise, the three fallen girls sit up back to back; Twilight adjusts her glasses again and Sunny rounds on her. “Seriously?” Sunny glared.  “Oh, sorry!  I didn’t mean to.” Twilight apologized as she Sunny walked off. Sighing at the girl’s response, she stands up and very nearly gets run into by Sour.  “Oh, sorry. Why don’t you go ahead?” “You are such a sweetie!  I am watching you!” Sour’s sweet time quickly changed to a more viscous one as Aspheera snaked around her. “And when we find something out, we will have our revenge!”  Away they go to join the others. Twilight starts to walk toward them, but Zest and Unagami bound out to the doorway, inadvertently cutting her off. Her blazer is now seen to have two lightning-bolt crests low in front, and she has the standard shoes and socks and is wearing her blaring headphones again. She mimes playing guitar, adding a round of enthusiastic grunts and laughs with a “yeah” and a scream mixed in, and charges off while throwing a set of bullhorns with one hand. Unagami plays a game on his phone while he nods his head to the music from the game. Behind her comes the blasé Sugarcoat, who wears ankle-length socks and dark purple tights under a skirt that is rather shorter than those of the other girls. “You are kinda being a doormat right now.” Sugarcoat told her as she walked off as well. Mystery followed behind her and gave Twilight a thumbs up. For a guy who didn’t talk, he sure was the nicest one.  As he too walks away, the lone violet girl gets a surprise when the high-tech pendant around her neck winks to life, its perimeter strobe indicating the general direction of the school. She lifts it for a closer look and, after a quick glance around herself, aims it toward the building. The indicator is pointing directly at the front entrance as she lowers the device—then back to her. Making very sure that no one else is paying her the slightest mind, she grins and jogs toward the doors, Spike putting his head up from her backpack. As she climbs the front steps, Bon Bon and Lyra—stop on the way down. “Hi, Twilight.” Not even the slightest break in stride; she becomes puzzled and Lyra shrugs. Cut to inside the lobby; one door opens and Twilight steps in, eyes fixed on her detector. She moves into one of the hallways, passing a green-haired rocker girl. “Hey, Twilight!” This time, the budding scientist does pause her steps for just a moment, one eyebrow lowering in mild befuddlement. She continues on her way, encountering a few other students going the other direction. “Hi, Twilight. Hi, Twilight. Hey, you! Looking good! Hey! What’s happening? Really nice to see you. Twilight! How you doing? Twilight! Yo!” “Hi! Hello. Uh…good.” As Twilight continues her awkward reverse perambulation, she collides with Flash, sending herself, him, and the cased guitar he carries to the floor. The impact knocks her glasses off to land nearby. “Twilight? I almost didn’t recognize you.” The Kai sounding boy helped her up.  She, on the other hand, shifts into the classic squint and hands-extended grope of a person in search of missing corrective lenses. One hand finds its way to the fabric of his T-shirt by chance; he glances toward floor level,  “When did you start wearing glasses?” He asked as he picked them up. “Um, like, since forever.” She chuckled.  “Oh! So how long are you here for?” Flash asked. “Just for the friendship games.” Twilight responded  “Right! Of course! We’ll totally win with you here.” He pur her glasses towards her face.  In her perspective on the end of this, framing his face as a blur of blue and pastel yellow-tan that slowly comes into focus as he settles the lenses in place. Then her detector is picking up something again.  “Uhh… I gotta go!” She zooms off towards the right, leaving Flash standing there puzzled. “Uh, okay! Bye?”  Flash groans quietly, covering his face with his hands, as Derpy Hooves walks up behind him and gives him a “there, there” pat on the shoulder. With the Main 12 in the practice room, all having changed into some rather unorthodox outfits. Fluttershy: hockey goalie in full padding and helmet decorated with butterflies and flowers, holding the special stick used by players in that position. Pinkie: cowgirl dress/hat/boots, sitting on the piano. Rainbow: the classic long, dark blue tunic of a British police officer, with black pants, white dress shirt, and black necktie; she holds a nightstick. Jay: Chef outfit complete with apron and white chef hat. Lloyd: Soccer shirt along with pads and cleats, all with a line of green on them. Rarity zips into view to take a measurement on Fluttershy and plunk a round-crowned helmet, decorated with a checkered band and gold star/wings, onto Rainbow’s head. Sunset stands a bit farther back, garbed in a long shirt and pants in two shades of blue and wearing a welder’s mask, protective gloves, and work boots.  Applejack is suited up to play jai alai, including a wicker “cesta” basket for catching the ball and an apple-decorated helmet in place of her hat. Her jersey has ridden up slightly to expose a patch of midriff, but Nya tugs at the hem to cover it up. “Uh, Rarity, Nya, these outfits are great, but why would you put so much time and effort into clothes we might not even wear?” Applejack questioned.  “You’re gonna exhaust yourself before the Games even start!” “Don’t be silly, darling.” Rarity sputtered in disbelief. “We never get tired, and plus.  “Putting effort into clothes is what I live for…”  “And spending time on our friends fills us with energy!l” Nya finishes for her. On this last word, the two rise into the air and pony up without any warning. A circle of water surrounds Nya as they both strike joyful midair poses.  Each of the group watch in awe and Sunset raises her mask, smiling glumly. “And magic powers too, I guess.” She says as Lloyd facepalms and groans at the end of this.  Twilight holds the detector in her hands as she roams the school. The direction finder begins to zero in on a heading; once it gets a lock, the device snaps open and circular panels in both halves begin to glow magenta. Twilight stops short, her glasses sliding down and getting a quick tweak; and inside the practice room and zoom in slowly on Rarity and Nya. A streamer of purple and water blue energy is now wafting from their backs and through the slit between the not-quite-closed double doors; out in the hallway, it wavers for a bit before being drawn into the detector. The two girl’s gusto and aura fade away and sink back to the floor, slumping on their  feet. “Actually, Applejack, now that you mention it, I suppose I could use a tiny break.” Rarity yawned. “Yeah… maybe that was a little too much.” Nya agreed tiredly. Applejack and Jay help the two girls from falling over as Applejack scolds them. “I told you two!”  Twilight enters, closing the detector, and finds twelve amazed, smiling faces turned her way. “TWILIGHT?” The Rainbooms yell. “Uh, yes?” Twilight responds hesitantly.  “Well, I’ll be! You shoulda told us you were comin’!” Applejack said. “Yeah! I have so many stories to tell you about since we’ve been here!” Kai added.  Lloyd stays behind, suspicious of Twilight's strange new appearance. The red/gold-haired girl makes to move closer, relief and elation written all over her face, and grins as she tries to think of what to say. Rarity, however, beats her to it. “Darling— —those glasses! What are you wearing? It’s so…severe.” Rarity chuckles disgustedly.  “My… Uniform?” Twilight responded. “Your uniform for what?” Fluttershy asked, puzzled.  “For Crystal Prep. But why does everyone at this school know who I am?”  “Did you just say “Crystal Prep”?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “What’s a “Crystal Prep” again?” Jay asked as Kai rolled his eyes. Spike chooses this moment to break the instant tension by poking his head out of Twilight’s backpack and barking. “Spike!” Cole instantly goes to pet him along with Rarity and Fluttershy. “You know my dog’s name too?” Twilight recoiled.  “See! I knew something was wrong! Our Twilight doesn’t wear that!” Lloyd shouted from the back as everyone looked at him. “Okay I didn’t know at first it was just an educated guess.” He admitted.  The others have no immediate response, while Celestia and Abacus walk along a hallway, leading towards the practice room.) “And our music program has especially taken off.” Celestia finishes telling as they stop at the door, pulling in a little gasp as she sees Twilight from behind.  “Twilight?”  “This is getting ridiculous!” Twilight groaned.  “I must aplogize for the curiosity of my prize student.” Cinch crossed over to Twilight. “Your student?” Celestia raised an eyebrow.  “The smart ones are always curious. I’ll return her to check in with the rest of her classmates.” Cinch began to take her away until two other students ran towards her.  “Aunt Cinch! I forgot to tell you- who are they?” Morro and Harumi stopped in front of the door as Lloyd’s eyes widened.  “There’s no way…” Kai whispered. “Hey, those two look awfully a lot like those bad guys from your past!” Pinkie pointed out.  “Morro, Harumi? How did you guys get here?!” Lloyd asked. “Uhhh…. The bus? From the school?” Morro stared at Lloyd with confusion.  “You don’t remember?” Lloyd raised an eyebrow. “Remember what? You’re being kinda weird, save that intimidation stuff for the games.” Harumi butted in. Cinch walked off with the three students on the end of that.   Twelve Rainbooms and one principal stare after the departing squad in total confusion that lasts for some moments before Celestia speaks up. I didn’t know Twilight had a twin sister, or that you guys had friends from Crystal prep. I thought this was your first time here?” “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! And as for the ninja, since their world is also connected to the pony world, they have duplicates of people from their world in this world as well, which is why they haven’t antagonized the ninja or remember anything!” Pinkie explained in rapid fire.  If Celestia’s mind had slipped out of gear upon first seeing the visitor, this high-speed—and, of course, entirely correct—explanation causes it to belch up its entire transmission.  “Never mind.”