//------------------------------// // Sparkles and Shimmers // Story: Equestria Girls - Drama on the Rise // by Amethyst-ACE //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle made her way to the library. She decided that spending an hour or two reading would clear her mind as she tried to break down everything that had happened upon her arrival. She opened the library door and was greeted by whom she believed to be Cheerilee. “Hello, were you looking for any book in particular?” The librarian asked Twilight. “Mhmm,” Twilight nodded. “I need two yearbooks.” “Yearbooks?” Cheerilee asked. “Did you not buy yours last year?” Twilight stuttered. “I-uh...I wasn't...around.” “Oh! Are you a transfer student?” She asked Twilight. “Sort of.” Twilight Responded. “Well I have a yearbook from last year and two years ago.” Cheerilee presented the two books to Twilight. “This is perfect! Thank you!” Twilight went to take the books and Cheerilee stopped her. “I can't check these books out, so you'll have to stay here to look at them.” She told Twilight. “Of course.” Twilight agreed taking the books to a nearby table. Starting with the book from two years ago, she flipped page after page until she came to the back of it. Near the end of the book she found pictures from the dance, pictures of her and her friends, with wings, extended hair and ears. She looked over the picture with a warm smile on her face, completely lost in thought. She put the book down and went to the most recent one. She saw many pictures, some old students some new ones, but one particular picture caught her interest. Under faculty and staff she saw a picture of a new councilor who apparently started just this year. Twilight couldn't put her finger on it, but there was something eerily familiar about the councilor. “Let's see...councilor...Christina Liss. Why does that sound familiar....” Twilight Sparkle continued to turn pages through the yearbook. She got to the end of the book and noticed somebody was missing, actually, it was several bodies. None of her friends were here, and that's not all. Sunset Shimmer, and that boy with the mask, Acerthyst, neither of them were in the yearbook either. She ran through the book again, but again, none of them where there. Twilight returned the yearbooks to the librarian. “Excuse me, do you mind if I ask you a couple questions?” Cheerilee looked at Twilight for a bit, then shrugged as she took the books. “What about?” Twilight turned the first yearbook to the back and showed Cheerilee the pictures of her friends. “I was looking for my friends in last years yearbook, but I can't seem to find them.” Cheerilee looked at the two yearbooks then nodded. “It seems your friends graduated last year.” “Oh...really?” Cheerilee nodded, and Twilight looked down towards the floor, the only reason she came back was to see her friends, but they could be anywhere by now... “Thank you. I have just one more question. What can you tell me about the new councilor?” “Ms. Christina?” Asked the librarian curiously. “Mhmm” Twilight responded. “Do you know anything about her?” “Well why don't you go ask her yourself?” Cheerilee pulled out a school directory and circled the principle's office, then put a star where the councilor's offices where located. “She's right here if you would like to talk to her.” Twilight Sparkle nodded, “ Thank you. I'll go talk to her.” ~~~~~ Twilight Sparkle made her way to the principle's office, then turned down a hallway to the left of it. The hallway had several doors. each one had a different name of whom Twilight assumed was a councilor. At the very end of the hallway she saw a door with the name 'Dr. Christina Liss.” The door was plastered all over with heart stickers of various sizes and colors, and as she went to knock on the door she heard what sounded like yelling from the other side. “Doctor Liss, more and more parents are complaining about the lack of extra-curricular activities being offered by this school! You and the other councilors can't keep moving the school's budgets around like this!” “Again, Vice Principle Luna, you're blaming the councilors for something that is the fault of the students. Extra curricular activities are a privilege! One that is only given to students that made decent scores on the S.T.E.P, and need I remind you that the only students that were able to make the required points were the members of the Drama Club.” Twilight couldn't help but notice that Councilor Christina had a very raspy voice when it was raised. “The other students didn't make the requirements because it was the Councilor's decision to make the requirement so high!” Vice Principle Luna rebutted “The high score requirement didn't stop the drama club, perhaps the other students simply didn't apply themselves. No doubt because they were all distracted by the activities they so wrongly took for granted!” “You make it sound like the students should be honored that we have activities that other schools give out on a whim, once more rumors are starting to circulate that the members of the Drama club were given easier versions of the test, and some were even given answers!” 'Given answers?!' Twilight thought to herself. 'Why would they go out of their way to give the Drama club an easier test than everyone else?' “Those rumors are exactly that, rumors! Kids will do and say just about anything to put the blame on others. Besides if those rumors were true, how do you explain the 6 girls who got near perfect scores?” Six girls? Twilight wondered if she was referring to her friends and Sunset Shimmer. “Those six girls graduated, that doesn't have anything to do with the S.T.E.P.” “Vice Principle Luna if you really feel so strongly about this, I suggest you put your energy towards encouraging the students to do well on this year's S.T.E.P instead of wasting our time complaining about the last years.” The door flew open and Twilight took several steps back. Vice Principle Luna walked out of the room with a sigh and her arms crossed. She looked over at Twilight, who waved at her and gave her a rather awkward smile. “Good afternoon.” Luna told her bluntly before walking off. Twilight watched Luna walk down the hallway the way that she herself had come in. She turned to the door which was now wide open. With councilor Christina beckoning her in. “Come in dear, come in, did you need to talk?” Now that Twilight was in the same room with her she was able to get a good look at Miss Liss. Her skin was very pale, almost the same shade as ACE's, but hers seemed more vivid and alive than his. Her hair was bright blue and it flowed down her back along a lovely black dress. Her eyes were a bright light green color which was a tad off putting, but her expression was warm and welcoming which more than made up for it. To Twilight's surprise, Christina Liss' tone completely changed once Twilight had entered the room. The raspy sounding voice was replaced by a very sweet one that reminded Twilight of Princess Cadence. “Hello.” Twilight sat down in one of the two brown chairs that were set in front of the councilor's desk. Christina Liss' room was a very vibrant color. The walls were painted with an off white that shimmered when the sun had direct contact with it, on the walls were several motivational posters and two posters mentioning the STEP test. “How can I help you dear?” councilor Liss held out her hand and Twilight took hold of it and shook it lightly. “Well I'm new here and I just joined the drama club, I was wondering if you had any advice.” The councilor put her finger up to her lips and thought to herself for a moment. “Really the only advice I can give you is try to enjoy yourself, and of course study hard, the STEP test is coming up soon after all.” Twilight rubbed the back of her neck. “This may seem like a silly question, but what is the STEP test?” Christina Liss smiled at Twilight and gestured towards the poster closest to her. “STEP is short for Standardized Test for Extracurricular Participation. It's a general knowledge test that allows us to see who's focusing on their studies, and whose focus is...elsewhere.” Twilight was confused and her head tilted a little bit to the side to show it. “Those who excel at the STEP test are free to partake in any extra-curricular activity of their choice. Those who do not pass are not allowed to participate, they are removed from their activities to focus on their studies.” “Forgive me for saying miss Liss, but that doesn't seem very fair. Also I couldn't help but notice that there are barely any extra activities available, the Drama Club seems to be the really big one.” Twilight cringed a little hopping she hadn't insulted the councilor. Dr. Liss smiled. “Just like Vice Principle Luna, you are uninformed, but unlike her you are new here, so allow me to explain. Last year out of all the students that took the STEP test, only a handful managed to make acceptable scores. Of those few that passed six of the students were graduating that year. The remaining students were all members of the Drama Club.” “What score do you need on the test for it to be acceptable?” Questioned Twilight The councilor's expression started to turn a bit more serious. “A passing score is a 90 or above.” She admitted. “But that's an A or higher!” Twilight exclaimed. “Surely you can give the students some amount of leeway!” Councilor Liss shook her head. “Normally we would, but you see these tests are not particularly difficult, any amount of studying at all would amount to a high grade.” Dr. Liss handed Twilight a packet of papers. “Here, this is the test from last year, the one the students took right before we started making changes. Our new test is going to be completely different so there's no risk in you seeing this.” Twilight looked through the packet. Councilor Liss was right, none of the questions looked too terribly difficult. There were maybe one or two questions that she hesitated on, but that was nothing a minimal amount of studying wouldn't fix. “I don't understand. These questions are simple and straight forward, how could anyone get lower than the required score?” Councilor Liss shook her head. “I fear the students might not have taken the test seriously, or maybe they felt we wouldn't be sincere with the consequences of not meeting the passing score. “Maybe...” This whole situation was weird for Twilight. She could understand her friends making perfect scores, they were all very bright, but the rest of the school should have had no trouble with this either...maybe they really didn't take it seriously enough... “Was there anything else you wanted to ask me dear?” Liss asked Twilight. Twilight shook her head and stood up, as she began to walk out the door she was stopped by the councilor. “Sorry dear but I didn't get your name.” “Oh I'm so sorry, my name is Twilight Sparkle.” There was a flicker in the councilor's eyes and her expression seemed to change for less than a millisecond. Twilight shrugged it off. She must have been seeing things. As she walked down the hallway she saw ACE round the corner and start to walk towards the councilor. She waved at the boy but got no response. It's like he was in another world or something. ~~~~~ As Twilight Sparkle exited the principle's office area she was stopped by the sound of someone whispering to her. Looking behind her she saw a shadow turn around a nearby corner. “Hello? Is Someone there?” She asked nervously “Follow me.” The voice simply replied. “I-uh...” Twilight was at a loss for words. “Hurry!” The voice insisted. “There isn't much time!” Twilight groaned and shrugged then ran over to the corner the shadow was at. As she rounded the corner she saw the shadow run towards the gym area. Twilight hesitated for only a brief moment before the mysterious shadow once again insisted that she follow it. She followed the stranger through the gym to the back where it entered the gym's storage closet. Twilight approached the closet then knocked slowly. The storage doors crept open then Twilight found herself grabbed and pulled in. The inside of the closet was completely dark. Twilight couldn't see anything, but she knew she was being watched, perhaps even by multiple people. Suddenly a lone flashlight turned on. The light shined in Twilight's face blinding her for a brief moment. “Well, well, if it isn't Twilight Sparkle. Welcome to the new Canterlot High.” Twilight recognized this voice, there was no mistaking it. The one holding the flashlight moved it away from Twilight and back onto herself, revealing none other than Sunset Shimmer.