//------------------------------// // Ch 4. Late to Class and More New Faces? // Story: End of the Wormhole // by colt alchemist //------------------------------// Henry opened the door to their room. As they entered, Twilight was less than impressed with what she saw: a small room with a square window on the wall and two separate beds on opposite sides. The bed on the left was messy and covered with colored pencils, crumpled up paper, and manga scattered across the pillow, while the one on the right was neat and tidy, appearing to have never been touched by mortal hands. In the middle was a small dresser with three drawers. A tall lamp and laptop rested upon it. Twilight became increasingly concerned with the capacity of the room she’d be sleeping in, the spinning walls, tasteless paint job, a mare couldn't even find a decent nook to cram her traveling Encyclopedias! Or even how she was going to study with Henry there. Overall, Twilight was starting to have second thoughts on her living arrangements. “This is my room,” Henry stated, “I know it’s not much, but you know, what’s mine is yours as they say.” “Thanks.” she snarked, her hesitance riddled with crippling sarcasm. “You can take the bed on the right, it used to belong to my old roommate, but he moved out.” “Okay, thanks.” Twilight said again as she set her bag down and sat on the edge of the bed. She couldn’t help but notice the crumbled up paper littering the floor. As Henry was setting his stuff down, Twilight picked up one of the papers and unfolded it, raising an eyebrow. She tilted her head to see a pencil sketch of a ninja holding a crude rocket launcher. She couldn’t help but giggle. “D-did you draw this?” she asked, still giggling. Henry panicked and snatched the paper away before she could do anything else. “Oh, that? T-That’s nothing, you don’t want to look at that. He-he-he-he...” he stammered, re-crumpling the modern masterpiece. Pushing the thought aside, Twilight's mind wandered elsewhere, specifically on why Henry and Mimi were acting so weird when she asked about his parents. She rubbed her finger on her chin at the thought. “So,” Henry started, “How do you like the place so far?” “It’s... definitely different from what I’m used to.” Twilight replied. “Well sorry if I don’t have a royal suite for you, but this isn’t exactly a big fancy castle.” “That’s not what I meant. I meant that this room is just much more different from my own. It's a little hard adjusting.” She explained. “I see.” “I also didn’t expect to see so many kids here...” “Well, they don’t call this a foster home for nothing.” “Wait, what?” Twilight asked, surprised. “Yeah, this is a foster home, Twilight. You didn’t know? What? Did you think I lived with a bunch of little brothers and sisters?” Henry jested. “So, all of those little kids that were running around?” “Yeah, they don’t have parents.” “E-Even you and your sister?” “Mimi? She’s not my actual sister. I’m an only child.” “But, why did she refer to you as ‘Bro'?” “She likes to call all of the kids here ‘Bro’ and ‘Sis’. It’s her thing. Just because her mom owns this place.” “Her mom?” “Yeah, that Marge person she mentioned, that’s her actual mother. She owns this house and looks after all of us. That’s what all foster parents do right?” “I… I suppose,” Twilight answered sheepishly. “So, does that mean you’re an orphan then?” “Me? I guess you could call me that. Most people at school do.” Twilight gasped. “I,” he paused and stared out the window. “Some things happened and…” That was all Henry could muster, before his eyes started to swell and was on the verge of full-blown tears. Remembering clearly what had happened to his folks many years ago, the very thought was enough to make him go dead quiet in any casual conversation. Twilight couldn’t help but feel bad for him. Only an hour after meeting Henry and she could sense he wasn’t well. Twilight couldn’t help it, her eyes were beginning to water as well, and she broke her gaze. “I’m…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to call you a... you know.” she offered somberly. Henry snapped out of his trance and his attention returned to Twilight. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it. You didn’t know.” “How can I not worry about it? It’s hard to imagine what it feels like to lose the ones you love. I can’t even picture my life without my parents or my brother, or the princesses; or even my best friends.” As she went on, Henry felt all of the emotions inside of him build up. The thought of someone else talking about how their life was more fortunate or how they couldn't imagine what they would do without their loved ones, it really hurt. It would always take him back to the days of his parent’s deaths and hearing those same words over and over again. “Alright!” Henry snapped, making Twilight jump. “I’m unfortunate and you don’t know how to relate to that, I get it! I hear it from every person I know, so just stop it!” Twilight fell silent for a moment, she didn’t know whether to feel scared or ashamed. She just looked away, dimming her eyes. Nonetheless, Henry noticed what he had done. He miserably slumped his shoulders and let out a loud sigh. “I’m sorry. It’s just... I hear people say, ‘I’m sorry for your loss, I can’t imagine that’, and it just reminds me that at the end of the day I won't ever see them again...and-and the world just keeps on going." He swallowed the lump in his throat. "I mean, most kids in this house don’t have theirs either, but they just don’t understand it yet. Not yet.” “I-I’m sorry.” For once in her life Twilight was dumbfounded. She couldn’t fathom what it would be like, lest be constantly reminded. Twilight got up and walked over to Henry’s side, wrapping her arms around him and gave it a tight squeeze. Henry looked down, confused. “If you don’t want to talk about it, I'll understand.” “Thank you.” He replied. “And I’m sorry for snapping like that. I won’t do it again… hopefully.” Twilight couldn’t help but giggle at Henry’s last statement, once again restoring the genial air. She felt better knowing that her new friend and host had forgiven her. Additionally, it was Henry who soon noticed that Twilight was still holding him. “Uh, Twilight...” he murmured. Twilight discovered she was still attached to him and grew bright red. She swiftly let go and backed off waving her arms away. “Oh, I-I didn’t m-mean to...you know,” she stuttered. Henry laughed as he prepared to start on his homework. As he did it, he supplied Twilight with a manga to read so as not to bore her. Twilight couldn’t help but notice the work he was doing, though, consisting of a bunch of numbers and letters. It looked like Algebra, but didn't resemble the math books she skimmed every once in a while. Night came and Mimi decided to make everyone dinner, luckily they were having spaghetti. “Wait. If you’re the oldest, shouldn’t you be the one fixing everyone dinner?” Twilight asked as she sat next to Henry. “Oh trust me, you don’t want THIS guy cooking your meals,” teased Mimi, leaning in between them. “Why’s that?” wondered Twilight. “I think we should save that chapter for another time.” Henry responded as he didn’t want Mimi to embarrass him in front of his house guest. “You DO eat spaghetti in your…uh… home, right?” “Of course I do,” she replied as she slurped down her noodles, getting red pasta sauce all over her mouth. Henry couldn’t help but chuckle at her poor table manners. “What?” Twilight muttered with food hanging out of her mouth. “If you keep that up, you’ll have to eat at the kiddie table.” He then pointed his fork to a smaller and colorful plastic table where all the younger kids were eating, whom looked even messier then she. And were now, surprisingly, throwing garlic bread at each other. Twilight looked back and was not amused. “I’d rather not,” she said flatly, socking Henry in the arm. Dinner soon ended and Twilight decided to help Mimi with the dishes as Henry put some of the younger kids to bed. After, Twilight followed Henry back up to his room. “We should probably get ready for bed,” He suggested. “Yeah. Do you have any spare pajamas by any chance?” “Spares? For girls? Uh. Well, the only spare we have belongs to Mimi, and I think they might be too small for you.” “Yeah, she is a small girl.” She added with a chuckle. “Indeed.” He paused for a moment. “You could just sleep in your clothes.” “Sleep in my clothes?” Twilight repeated. “I don’t know, that’s not usually something I do back at home.” “What do you normally sleep in?” He just had to ask. “What do you mean? Normally I don’t sleep with anything on,” She replied nonchalantly. Henry double blinked to make sure he'd heard her correctly; had she really just openly acknowledged that she slept in the nude right in front of him? The way she responded so calmly about it was weird. “But seeing how I came here, already wearing an outfit, I can tell it’s necessary to wear clothes in this world as well. It was like that too back at Canterlot High,” “Uh, I’m pretty sure it’s necessary in ALL worlds to wear clothes.” Henry responded. “Not in Equestria. Wearing clothes in our world is actually optional, if not a little drastic. Most of the rich ponies in Canterlot wear clothes, but the majority of us don’t. It just feels, better that way.” “An almost nudist world? No thank you.” He said, waving his hand. “But then again, all of the citizens in your world are probably ponies, right?” “Most of us are.” He thought about it for a second and moved on. “Look, tomorrow or the day after, we’ll go out and buy some pajamas for you. But for tonight, just sleep in your clothes. Alright?” “Alright fine,” She groaned. With that, Twilight pulled back the spread of her bed and tucked herself in. She pulled the covers over herself and rested her head on the pillow. Henry would soon do the same after carefully packing all of his school belongings. Once finished, he got into bed and reached for the lamp. “Goodnight, Twilight.” “Goodnight, Henry.” Henry tugged on the beaded string to his lamp and the whole room was dark. He rested his head on his pillow and tried to fall asleep. Nothing. Not even a wink. “Hey, Henry?” Twilight called out. A budding smile went unnoticed as Henry rustled between the overlapping sheets, accentuating his wakefulness. “Yeah?” He replied. “Thanks for letting me stay here with you. I just need some time to figure out a spell to open the wormhole again.” “No problem. But, you’ve said ‘thank you’ to me over a hundred times already.” “Well, now I’ll say it a hundred and one. Thank you,” They broke into light laughter. “Alright, get some sleep now, good night.” “Night.” Twilight tossed and turned in her bed as Henry just lay there motionless. As he drifted off, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was forgetting something. Something important. ………………………………………………………………………………… “What do you mean she just disappeared!?” exclaimed Rainbow Dash. “I don’t know! I closed my eyes for five minutes and when I open them she was gone!” Spike frantically explained, standing in front of all of Twilight’s friends. They were all in her library with anxious expressions. “When I woke up, I noticed that her work study was a complete mess and she was gone. So I called you guys over here to help figure out what’s going on.” “Well, we sure as hay don’t know what’s going on here!” panicked Applejack. “H-How could Twilight j-j-just disappear like that?" stammered the frightened Fluttershy. "It doesn’t make any s-s-sense.” “Who did this? Who abducted Twilight?!” yelled Rainbow. “I keep telling you guys, I don’t know!” Spike retorted. “I’m just as scared as you are.” “This is just awful. It’s like getting invited to a birthday party and expecting a great big cake. Only to find out your cake has been cake-napped.” cried Pinkie Pie. “Now is not the time, Pinkie!” scolded Applejack. “This is truly devastating,” uttered Rarity. “Can you take us to where she disappeared?” Spike gave a simple nod and led them to Twilight’s work desk. All the five mares could do was gasp in its sight. It looked as if a tornado had blown through the room, the desk was nearly destroyed with paper scattered everywhere. Book covers with heavy dents and bruises and pools of ink on the floor. Their mouths were wide open, their eyes unwavering from the devastation. “Oh my stars...” Applejack gasped. “When I woke from my nap, I heard a loud noise and came down here to check on Twilight. But when I got here, it was like THIS.” explained Spike. “H-How did this happen?” asked Rarity. Spike shrugged his shoulders and shuffled through the clutter to find something, anything. He then felt something brush agaisnt the tip of his claw, he swiped all of the papers aside and made a discovery. It was one of the new books that Twilight ordered, the one labeled 'The Multi-verse Theory'. “What’s that?” asked Fluttershy. “It’s one of the books Twilight ordered.” He turned to face the others with a nervous expression on his face. He had an idea of what could’ve happened, but he didn’t want it to be true. “You girls don’t think...” he paused for a moment. Their faces perked up, as if they had the same idea Spike was going with. “N-no... that can’t be right...” Rainbow Dash started. “But, can it be?” wondered Rarity. “With the amount of magical items constantly found in Equestria, I wouldn’t be surprised,” added Applejack, still looking nervous. “But, this book couldn’t possibly do anything right? I mean, it looks like an ordinary science book,” pointed out Spike. “Oh my, what do we do?” muttered Fluttershy. “There’s something not right about this here situation, and I’m getting a funny feeling from that there book. Ah say, we do what Twilight would’ve done and request a meeting with the Princess. Who’s with me?” Applejack rallied. Everyone in the room yelled a great and enthusiastic “Yeah!”. “Spike, take a letter,” Pinkie ordered, while everyone just stared at her with puzzled faces. “What? It’s what Twilight would’ve said.” “Oh, I do hope Twilight is ok,” muttered Rarity. “Who knows what kind of trouble she could be in now.” …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… The morning light shone through the glass window and a beam hit Henry directly in his face. His eyelids twitched and he twisted and turned on his pillow. Henry slowly forced his eyes open as he tried to look away from the morning sun blinding him. He saw something red shining in his eyes. He rubbed his eyes to clear his vision and to get a better look. He caught a glimpse of his alarm clock, which read 7:44 am. His eyes widened with fear and shock as he sprinted out of bed, yelling, “Oh crap!” over and over again. Twilight heard the loud voice and jumped out of bed. “H-huh, w-what?” she stammered. She then noticed Henry was rushing though, well, everything. Running around his room while doing various tasks; mobile as he put on a new striped shirt on. Henry ate a banana, brushed his teeth, sprayed on deodorant, and grabbed his bag. “Henry, what’s going?” asked the confused Twilight. “Not now, Twilight, I’m late for class...again!” exclaimed Henry as he was still rushing through everything. “What? What do you mean again?” “Not now, I’ll tell you later. Just stay here, hidden. Read a few books, and maybe put on a skirt while you're at it. Okay, bye!” he finished as he ran down the stairs and out the door. Twilight was a little confused at that last comment. She looked down and let out a loud yelp. She noticed that her skirt, she was sleeping in, had somehow slipped off during the night. She pulled down her shirt to cover her nearly naked body (saved only by her shirt and underwear.) She searched her bed covers to find her missing skirt. Meanwhile, Henry raced through the streets trying to get to his school where the sidewalk ended. So far he was only able to run two blocks and both of them had too many cars passing by for him to cross. He only had eleven minutes left and doubted whether or not he could make in time. “I’m late! I’m late! I’m late! How does this keep happening to me?!” he exclaimed. As he was running, he saw a bright purple flash appear in front of him. It was bright, sparkly, and in the way. “Henry, wait!” yelled Twilight, as she appeared right in front of him. Henry didn’t react quickly enough and slammed right into his new friend, knocking her to the ground. They both hit the sidewalk hard with a loud ‘thud’. Henry noticed he was laying right on top of her and quickly scurried off. “Um, ow.” She whined, rubbing her head. “Sorry.” Henry said as he helped Twilight up, who was thankfully wearing full clothing. “What did you mean by late again?” asked Twilight. “I have to get to school or else I’ll be late for the hundredth time, and I’ll end up with Saturday detention.” he explained. “Ok, this isn’t actually the hundredth time I’ve been late, but you get the idea.” “Yeah, I get it.” “Wait, how are you even here? I saw you in my room just a minute ago.” “Teleportation spell. I’m still a little surprised that some of my magic actually works here.” She admitted. “Me too.” Henry agreed, blinking rapidly when an idea struck. “Hey, wait! Do you think you can teleport me to my school?” “That should be easy, where is it located?” Henry pointed vaguely into the distance, spotting a tiny square dot sitting on the gray background. “All the way down there, you see? That’s where I need to go, but the crosswalks are acting crazy this morning. I still have several streets and blocks to cross.” “Just that building over there?” Twilight asked, looking at Henry for confirmation. He nodded. “Sure.” She then placed her hand on Henry’s right shoulder. She then closed her eyes and both of her hands started to glow a rosy pink color from before. Henry then found himself and Twilight engulfed in a sparkling aura. In a flash, they were both gone and reappeared in front of the school building. Henry's mouth was left wide open, he couldn't believe. Simply couldn't believe it. He checked to see what the time was on his phone, and he was still surprised to see it read 7:49 am. “H-h-holy crap.” he managed with a gasp. “T-That was amazing!” “Aw, thanks,” Twilight replied. “It was nothing.” Henry chuckled to himself. “No seriously, talk about getting to places in a flash,” “Really?” Twilight groaned at his poor pun. “Sorry.” “Well, I’m glad I could be of some help.” “Yeah, thanks a lot. I owe you one.” “That won’t be necessary. You’ve already repaid me by letting me stay with you.” she said matter-of-factly. “True. Well, I should probably get going then. You remember our address, right?” he asked, seeing if she remembered. “Yeah.” That was good enough for him. “Ok good. Just teleport back and stay there until I return, okay?” “Sure.” “Cool, bye!” he said as he waved goodbye and hurried off to class. Twilight made sure that the coast was clear and teleported out of the area. She made it back to his room and began to search her bag for some of her spell books. She took some out and started flipping through the pages, hoping to find one with a return spell. “Now, what’s the right counter spell for this?” Meanwhile, Henry was running through the hallways and eventually made it to his class. He rushed through the door just in time. He made it in the class room, panting, and noticed he was ten minutes early; seeing how there wasn’t as many students in the classroom. He looked up at his teacher, Miss Diaz, who had an impressed look on her face. “Huh, you’re actually on time today, Mr. Hirota,” she pointed out. “I’m impressed. I guess this means no detention after all.” “Guess not,” Henry agreed. “Oh well, go take your seat,” she ordered. Henry walked past her and took his normal seat next to Sierra, who also had an impressed look on her face. “Wow, you’re actually ten minutes early to class. That’s a first,” Sierra complimented. “Yeah.” “Did you remember to set your alarm clock this time?” I guess I know what I was forgetting last night, he thought to himself. “No I forgot again,” he admitted. “Haha. Then how did you get here so early then, did you teleport here or something?” You could say that... “No….I…uh…just ran really fast this time.” “Over eight blocks during morning rush hour? No way. Did you like jump over all of the moving cars?” she asked. “Yes,” he answered sarcastically, “I managed leap on all of the moving roofs of the cars and jumped across them like a bridge. Because I am just that good.” “Ha! I knew you were a ninja!” “Huh?” “I knew you were a fast runner, but... I didn’t think you’d be that fast. Plus, you always seemed to have that crazy look in your eyes,” she teased. “You sure you weren’t just looking at your reflection?” “Shut up. I’m a different kind of crazy.” “There’s more than one kind?” Henry asked. “Quiet now, class will be starting soon,” announced Miss Diaz. Both Henry and Sierra piped down and paid attention to the upcoming lecture. …………………………………………………………………………………… Four and half hours later, Twilight had just finished looking through her thickest spell book. Granted it was full of useful spells, but none of which could reopen a portal. She searched through her bag to find more books inside, Twilight groaned. “That counter spell could be anywhere,” she complained. Twilight paced back and forth in the small bedroom, pondering on how she’d find the correct spell. Subsequently, she wondered if there was even a counter spell to begin with. Wait, could there even be a counter spell? For all I know I could be stuck here for another thirty moons. Maybe a whole year! Twilight mused. Calm down Twilight, you don’t know that. There’s always a solution out of things like this. But what if there isn’t? What will I do then? Oh, the princesses must have noticed my disappearance by now. My friends all must be worried about me. *Growl* Her thoughts were interrupted when her stomach let out a monstrous growl. She hadn’t really eaten anything for breakfast and she’d been in Henry’s room all day looking for the counter spell. She then started to wonder what she would do for food. She then looked out the window as another idea struck her mind. I wonder how Henry’s doing right now, she wondered. I know that this world is inhabited by humans too, but just how different are these ones compared to the humans back at Canterlot High? Are they any different? Similar? Do these ones also socialize in their own separate groups? I wonder what they would talk about. Who does Henry hang out with? Twilight then formed a small smile on her face. “Might as well do some research on this place.” ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… As the lunch bell rang, both Henry and Sierra exited the bio lab and went towards the lunch area. Sierra was walking by Henry’s side as she was rummaging through her bag, looking for her favorite snack. “I thought I was going to starve in there.” moaned Sierra as she continued to look through her bag. “How were you NOT disgusted by that sheep eye dissection?” asked Henry. “In fact, how is it that you still have your appetite?” “Hey, once I get something, I stick with it. Physically or mentally. I don’t care how disturbing life can get,” she answered. “You don’t exactly get an appetite you know.” “You know what I mean.” After a while, she finally found what she was looking for. She yanked out a small plastic bag filled with tiny bell peppers. Her mouth just watered from the sight of it. “Aw, hell yeah,” she spoke softly. Sierra opened the plastic bag and picked out a yellow pepper. She then took a big bite out of the vegetable with a satisfied face. “Also, how is it that you can eat that without screaming in pain?” Henry wondered as she finished her first pepper. “Hey, bell peppers are sweet. You’re probably thinking of chili peppers. Those little bastards will make anyone scream. Or maybe, just you.” “Hey, I can handle spicy foods. Maybe you should-“ “HALT!” Henry and Sierra stopped their traces to see someone standing in front of them, with his right hand held out. This guy in front of them had a dark, muscular appearance. For one thing he had big, spiky, black hair with a small ponytail sprouting from the back of his head. He had pale skin and he sported a long dark gray coat with a violet shirt underneath, along with black jeans and black boots. The thing that was hard to point out, but equally noticeable, was the beaded necklace he had around his neck. “Not one step further,” demanded the guy, who had a surprisingly deep voice. There was long pause between the group, but then……. “Until I receive one of those bell peppers!” he proclaimed. “Goddammit, Clyde,” Sierra chuckled. “I told you, these babies are mine. Nobody can eat my babies!” she finished as she held her bag close to her chest. “One day I shall taste one, or my name isn’t, Clyde Takashi!” he declared. “No way! Go eat your own babies!” Sierra retorted playing along. “Never!” “So, you just got out of Drama, Clyde?” Henry asked, breaking their game. “I did. On our way to our usual spot, Hirota?” Clyde asked. “Yep,” he answered as they continued to walk down the hallway. The trio managed to get in line, buy their lunch, and made their way to their usual spot which was a small, rectangular, blue table outside of the cafeteria and near the school entrance. It was also near the quad where Henry first found Twilight. “Do you think Kawada will be joining us today?” wondered Clyde as he carried his pizza on his tray. “Axel? I don’t know actually. You know how he is sometimes, he comes and goes whenever he wants,” Henry answered, carrying a chicken sandwich. “I’ll say...” Sierra chuckled, carrying a hamburger and her bell peppers. “Don’t.” muttered Henry as he understood what Sierra was saying. They made their way towards their lunch table, when they noticed two people already sitting there. Two sophomores, a boy and a girl, who looked like twins. “Looks like Thomas and Reza beat us to it,” mentioned Sierra as she pointed to the two. They looked like complete counterparts of each other. Thomas had short blue hair, with a white short-sleeve shirt and black pants. On the other hand, Reza had long blue hair, along with a white long-sleeve shirt and black short shorts. They were on close terms with Henry and his group and like to hang out with them every now and then, especially during lunch. The trio finally made it to the table and took their seats. Henry and Clyde sat next Reza while Sierra sat next to Thomas. “Hey, glad you guys could make it.” Thomas greeted cheerfully. “Hello to you too, Ikeda and Ikeda,” Clyde replied, calling them by their last names in his deep voice. “We always come here for lunch, Thomas.” Sierra mentioned. “Took you guys long enough.” complained Reza. “C’mon, the line was really long.” Henry said. “Why don’t you guys ever bring lunch from home? That way, you don’t have to wait an hour just to get some stinking food.” suggested Reza. “Because we’re too tired and lazy in the morning to care,” joked Henry. “Sounds like something you would do,” laughed Thomas. As they were talking and joking around, Henry felt something poke him on his left shoulder. He turned around to see who it was. “Hey, Henry!” Twilight greeted. “Hey, Twilight,” he responded, and then glass shattered all around him. “Twilight?!” Oh crap! What is she doing here?