//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Dust Devil // Story: Transdementia // by Kwakerjak //------------------------------// Being Twilight Sparkle’s imaginary friend came with more than its fair share of perks and privileges, but arguably the most versatile of these was being her intellectual equal. This hadn’t even been a conscious decision on Twilight’s part; rather, if Surprise hadn’t been as smart as her, the two would have run into trouble attempting to talk about all the esoteric knowledge Twilight had accumulated. Thus, when Surprise first manifested as Pinkie Pie, she took with her a raw intelligence on par with her precocious creator, who was quite possibly the smartest pony who ever lived. That being said, Pinkie was still somewhat nervous about her first day at Canterlot High School, mostly because so much of what she knew didn’t apply here. This was a world where scientists had no reason to assume magic existed, and thus, whole swaths of what Equestrians would have considered the building blocks of science, like alchemy and ether theory, would no doubt be dismissed as hogwash over here. Likewise, nothing Pinkie knew about Equestrian history was really applicable either; given that there seemed to be only one variety of human (as opposed to three kinds of ponies), it seemed unlikely that human conflicts in the past would bear much resemblance to the mess that Equestria had been before the arrival of the alicorns. Fortunately, though, there was one subject that didn’t worry Pinkie Pie in the slightest: mathematics. The rules of math hadn’t changed; two plus two plus two still equaled six, and presumably all the stuff about arithmetic and algebra and calculus were the same, too, though thanks to her trip through the mirror, she wasn’t totally certain about geometry. However, theoretical questions like that could wait until later, because the only math course on her schedule was “Algebra II: The Numbering.” Okay, so the course didn’t actually have a subtitle, but Pinkie really thought it needed one. This turned out to be the course taught by Cheerilee that Applejack had mentioned during her tour, and indeed, Applejack was the first student who greeted Pinkie and Penumbra as they walked through the classroom door. “Howdy, y’all! Glad to see you’re gonna be in this class. You’re gonna love Ms. Cheerilee, I guarantee it.” Pinkie responded with her widest, most cheerful smile. “Thanks, A.J. Um, do you know when we get our textbooks?” “Pretty sure Ms. Cheerilee will have copies for ya when she comes in. You wanna take a seat an’ talk a bit before the bell rings?” “I’d like to... but I have a whole classroom of students to introduce myself to first.” Pinkie quickly excused herself from the conversation and made her way over to a cluster of students. “Huh... she’s really outgoin’, ain’t she?” Applejack asked Penumbra, who was still standing by the doorway with her arms crossed and a somewhat weary look in her eye. “You have no idea,” Penumbra answered. ——————— Friendship was magic, and Discord knew this all too well. For one thing, he’d been on the receiving end of such magic several times before; for another, his status as a former imaginary friend meant that this principle was arguably the reason he even existed in the first place. However, he also knew that friendship was magic in a metaphorical sense as well, as it had prompted him to actions that were otherwise inexplicable (even for him), whether it was abandoning a nascent revolution to preserve his friendship with Penumbra or sacrificing his life to save Celestia from history’s most anal-retentive psychopath. And indeed, this principle had proven itself once again, as he was now facing hours of dull, uninteresting busywork, because when Pinkie Pie had called his bluff about wanting to forge a genuine friendship with her for Penumbra’s sake, he had discovered, to his great consternation, that he hadn’t been bluffing. Now, as his “daughters” spent their day investigating Sunset Shimmer and the tiara, Pinkie had charged him with researching this world’s magical stability, in recompense for his earlier recklessness. Ordinarily, this would have been a relatively simple matter of casting a few diagnostic spells, but since there was reason to think that even these might have an adverse effect, Pinkie had insisted that he do it the boring way, which involved collecting large amounts of meteorological data and meticulously analyzing it for anomalies.  Thus, he found himself standing at the reference desk of the nearest public library with a shopping list of necessary data in his hand, looking like he was about to face a firing squad armed with spitballs. “Can I help you?” asked the kindly-looking woman sitting behind the desk. “Perhaps,” Discord said unenthusiastically. “Do you have any books where I can find out about...” He glanced at his sheet of paper before finishing his sentence: “...local precipitation for the last 30 years?” The librarian seemed to consider this for a few seconds before answering, “I’m sure we do, but to be honest, it’s a lot easier to get that sort of information from the internet.” “The... internet?” “Oh, yes, there are plenty of sites that keep those kinds of records. I can help you find them if you don’t know where to look...” The librarian paused when she noticed that her guest’s slightly irritated gaze had morphed into something that resembled otherworldly fascination. “Sir? Are you alright?” “Hmm?” Discord said, briefly returning from his reverie. “Yes, I’m fine. It’s just...” “Just... what?” “I’m not sure, but I have this strange feeling as though I’m about to have the best day of my entire life.” ——————— It wasn’t until lunchtime that Pinkie and Penumbra managed to spot more human counterparts of their friends. Out of the corner of her eye, Pinkie spied a pink-haired girl with pale yellow skin sitting by herself at the end of a long table, looking like she was trying to avoid eye contact with everyone else in the cafeteria. Pinkie decided to head over and introduce herself, while Penumbra continued to scan the crowded room for any other familiar-looking faces.  Leaving her “sister” behind, Pinkie confidently walked up to the yellow girl, who apparently hadn’t noticed her approach. “Excuse me,” Pinkie said as she set her lunch tray down across from her. “Is this seat taken?” “Huh?” the girl said in a startled tone of voice, seemingly shocked that anyone would even bother speaking to her. “Oh, um, no.” “Thanks,” Pinkie said cheerfully as she slid onto the seat. “My name’s Pinkie Pie. What’s yours?” “Uh, it’s...” the girl paused briefly before mumbling something that got lost in the din of conversation surrounding them. “What was that? I didn’t hear you,” Pinkie Pie said, even though she was almost certain she knew exactly what her new acquaintance had said. “Um, Fluttershy,” the girl replied in a somewhat louder voice—though if Pinkie hadn’t been expecting that answer, she still might have missed it. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Fluttershy. I’m a new student here, so I’ve been trying to meet as many people as I can.” “Oh. Um, well, in that case, maybe you should find someone else to eat lunch with. I’m not exactly waiting for any friends I could introduce to you.” Pinkie Pie let out a giggle as she picked up a fork and stuck it into her salad. “Oh, don’t you worry about that. I’ve already started a conversation with you, and the way I see it, it would be rude to just stop in the middle.” She shoved the lettuce and tomato that she’d speared into her mouth and chewed them for a few seconds before swallowing. They weren’t quite as flavorful as the veggies she got from the farmer’s market in Ponyville, but they still tasted pretty good, especially since human farmers obviously wouldn’t have access to earth pony magic. “So, what year are you?” “Oh, um, this is my junior year.” “Really? I’m a sophomore myself. I hope that’s not a problem.” “Uh, no, that’s fine,” Fluttershy said quietly. “Actually, when I was younger, one of my best friends was a year younger than me.” “Is that so?” Fluttershy nodded. “She actually goes to school here, too. You might see her around; her name’s Rainbow Dash.” “Oh, that’s nice to hear,” Pinkie said cheerfully as she shoveled another forkful into her mouth. “I was beginning to think that maybe you didn’t have any friends here.” “Um... well, Rainbow and I haven’t really spent much time together recently.” The fork dropped from Pinkie’s hand and clattered on her lunch tray. “What? What happened?” “Nothing really happened. It’s just that after Rainbow got into sports, it was harder for us to get together, and our interests started to drift apart... I don’t think she like animals nearly as much as I do.” Pinkie blinked a few times before she remembered that Fluttershy’s love of animals was supposed to be new information. “Oh! Do you want to run a shelter, or maybe a pet store, then?” “Actually, I’d like to be a veterinarian.” “That’s neat,” Pinkie said, temporarily shoving aside the revelation that Fluttershy’s relationship with Rainbow Dash had... well, it hadn’t really soured, but it sure sounded like it had fizzled out. “Maybe you can help me out with my biology classes... though now that I think about it, I guess we probably won’t have many classes in common since we’re in different years,” Pinkie mused. “Well, maybe not the required courses that everyone has to take to graduate, but that’s not the case for electives like art, or music, or foreign languages....” As the pair began comparing their schedules, Penumbra was still looking for a seat. She worked her way towards one corner of the large eating space, where she thought she had spied a familiar-looking purple hairstyle. However, with her attention on the purple locks, Penumbra ended up tuning out her immediate surroundings, with the result that she bumped into another student, nearly spilling the contents of her tray. “Hey,” said the girl, “why don’t you watch where you’re going, you klutz?” Penumbra did her best to keep from rolling her eyes as she issued a brief apology. “Sorry. I was distracted.” “Distracted?! This is a new leather jacket! Do you have any idea how hard it is to get stains out of leather?” This time, Penumbra couldn’t avoid her eye roll. “No, but I don’t see how it matters, given that you didn’t spill anything on it.” It was only at this point that Penumbra deigned to actually pay attention to whom she was conversing, and the moment that the girl’s red-and-yellow streaked hair registered in her mind, she realized that their quarry had been located. As it so happened, Sunset Shimmer chose that exact moment to make eye contact, doubtless to better chew out the student who would dare to be so flippant about the state of her belongings. “Listen, you...” she began, but she trailed off, as if she hadn’t expected her target to react with a look that was halfway between boredom and defiance (which, on reflection, was more than likely the case). Sunset Shimmer squinted her turquoise eyes for a few moments—long enough for Penumbra to realize that they were the same shade as hers—and then said, “Who are you?” Her tone of voice sounded like an attempt to cover up suspicion with a threatening demeanor, and it might have worked if Penumbra hadn’t occasionally used that trick herself during her time as The Nightmare. “Penumbra Noctis,” Penumbra replied as she maintained her stone-faced expression. “You’re new here,” Sunset Shimmer observed. “Yes,” Penumbra confirmed, “and I’d like to eat my lunch. If you’ll excuse me...” Penumbra didn’t bother finishing her sentence. Instead, she hauled her tray towards the first empty seat she could find and began eating. She didn’t bother looking back at Sunset Shimmer, though she did listen for any hints of pursuing footsteps, which never came. Penumbra thought this the best course of action to take; obviously, Sunset would be suspicious of any new student, since she likely expected somepony to come after the Element of Magic, and it didn’t seem wise for Penumbra let on that she had any reason to suspect that Sunset wasn’t a normal human (albeit something of a bitch). More importantly, though, was the obvious confusion that Sunset Shimmer had been trying to cover up. Penumbra couldn’t say for sure, but it seemed that their adversary was second-guessing her initial expectations, whatever those were. She probably thought that Twilight would come to this world, she mused to herself. If not that, then her next guess would probably be all of the Element-Bearers. I bet she never expected the Element of Laughter would come over accompanied by the very being that Celestia had been grooming her to defeat. And she definitely isn’t expecting Discord. ——————— Friendship was magic; that much was true. But Discord had learned something else today: magic couldn’t hold a candle to the internet. Ostensibly a worldwide network of computers that allowed users to share and retrieve information with relative ease, the internet, was, in reality, the thing that humans used to do all the cool stuff that they couldn’t do with magic. You could learn anything, see anything, hear anything, and do anything (though the last case was only valid if the “anything” one wanted to do didn’t actually require one’s physical presence). Within minutes, Discord had gathered all of the data Pinkie Pie had requested, and more, and he had soon moved on to other reference materials, such as the large, encyclopedia-like sites called “wikis,” where he absorbed massive amounts of human history, science, and most importantly, pointless pop culture references. From thence, he discovered news sites, which, to his delight, contained a great deal of utterly unnewsworthy fluff, much like Equestrian newspapers. However, when one of the ads in a “financial” subsection of one of these sites introduced him to the concept of day trading, Discord immediately left the library, found the nearest electronics store, and used some of his remaining cash to purchase a laptop computer of his own. Granted, getting started at playing the human stock market wasn’t easy, but this had nothing to do with his complete lack of knowledge regarding this world’s economy. Quite the contrary: the ups and downs of the stock market were so inherently chaotic that just watching it was enough to make his paws itch. No, the problem was that the website required him to have verifiable financial information if he wanted to play this game using actual money, which meant that he needed to open a bank account, which took all morning and was more boring than watching horseshoes rust. But once he got back to his hotel around noon and used his laptop to access the hotel’s wifi, he was soon wheeling, dealing, taking risks, losing big, and winning even bigger. And the best part was that he was making money without expending a single drop of magic, so Pinkie Pie wouldn’t be able to chew him out about it when he was done. However, as he’d never been particularly greedy (power-hungry, perhaps, but never greedy), he had little trouble abandoning this pastime once he felt that he’d accumulated enough wealth to last him and his “daughters” for the remainder of their stay in this world... with a little bit extra to start playing the game again tomorrow. But there were other, more pressing matters to attend to, for he had yet to taste from what was quite possibly the internet’s sweetest fruit: cat videos. And it was through the perusal of these videos that he spied a feature that had somehow escaped his notice on all of the previous sites he’d visited: the comments section. Truly, the internet was easily the most wonderful thing ever in the history of anything. ——————— Whether by chance or design, it wasn’t until after lunch that Pinkie and Penumbra were in separate classes, at least on their first day. This, however, was hardly a problem, as it increased the chances that one of them might spot another one of their friends. Pinkie did exactly that in her PE class, where she found herself playing basketball with Rainbow Dash. The sport was remarkably similar to the version played back in Equestria, although the rules were obviously adjusted to be more applicable to bipeds. Pinkie thought she did rather well for someone who normally dribbled with her tail, but not surprisingly, Rainbow Dash ran circles around her—and everyone else, for that matter. Still, Pinkie must have made a solid impression, because Rainbow Dash took the initiative and struck up a conversation as they headed to the locker room. “Hey, you’re pretty good.” “Oh, really?” Pinkie said. “I thought I was supposed to put the ball through the hoop.” Aiming a throw with her hands had turned out to be more complicated than she’d expected. Rainbow Dash laughed. “I’m serious, though. You played some solid defense, so I’m just assuming you were having an off day with your offense. You’re new here, right?” “Yeah,” Pinkie Pie said. “I’m Pinkie Pie.” She stuck out her hand. Rainbow Dash accepted the handshake with a firm one of her own. “Rainbow Dash,” she said. “So, uh, did you play any sports at your last school?” Technically, Pinkie Pie’s last school had been the one-room schoolhouse in Ponyville, where she had, in fact, been captain of the horseshoes team one year, but somehow, she doubted that this was the type of “sport” Rainbow was referring to. “Not really,” she said. “I was pretty busy with my after-school job. Why? Is there a team you think I should join?” Rainbow chuckled. “Not if you don’t want to,” she said. “But if this really was just an off day for you, the girls’ basketball tryouts are coming up soon.” “I’ll keep that in mind,” Pinkie said, mostly because she couldn’t think of a discreet way to say that she would more than likely need to return to an alternate dimension before the tryouts began. “That’s about the most I can ask, I guess,” Rainbow said before growing more solemn. “I, uh, noticed you yesterday afternoon, while you were on your tour.” “Really?” Pinkie Pie said. “We saw you too, but our guide thought we needed to head back to the office before we had the chance to say hello.” Rainbow raised her eyebrows skeptically. “Really? That’s all she told you?” “Uh... well, I think that’s all she meant to tell me and my sister, but...” Pinkie decided the time had come to be blunt. “Is there some sort of history between you and Applejack?” Rainbow sighed and rolled her eyes. “Last year, we were in the same literature class, and we had to do a project together, and we’d worked out who’d do what ahead of time, but even though there was still plenty of time to get things done and I totally have a system, she got impatient and did half of my work for me, because she’s a holier-than-thou redneck who thinks I’m a lazy-ass moron, and then she acts like it’s my fault that she couldn’t trust me to do what I said I would do!” Rainbow Dash was close to shouting by the time she reached the end of her long, rambling complaint. “Oh, um... right,” Pinkie said when she realized that Rainbow Dash had paused so she could offer a comment. “That definitely sounds like some sort of history.” “Always talking about that stupid farm...” Rainbow grumbled as her voice lowered in volume. “So what if she’s helping out her family? I’d help out my family too if my parents actually needed it. Hmph... probably spends her time sneering at me behind my back just because my dads are gay.” Pinkie was fairly certain that she wasn’t supposed to have heard that last bit, but she picked it up all the same. Huh... I could have sworn our Rainbow Dash said her father was single.... Then again, maybe he hasn’t met the right stallion.... Actually, I shouldn’t assume too much; he might like stallions and mares.... Pinkie shoved this thought aside; there were more pressing matters to deal with, such as the fact that this world’s Rainbow Dash and Applejack were considerably worse than not-friends. “Well, enough about that,” Pinkie Pie said. “We’d better get to the locker room or there won’t be enough time to change for our next class.” “Yeah...” Rainbow Dash said. “You’re probably right. Hey, you wanna hang out after school?” “Um, I’d like to, but my family and I are still moving in, so I’d better not. Tomorrow, maybe?” “Sure thing,” Rainbow Dash said with a smile. “Oh, and Pinkie?” “Yes?” “Thanks for listening. I’ve been needing to get that off my chest.” “No problem,” Pinkie said, despite the massive, blatantly obvious problem staring her right in the face. ——————— Penumbra’s afternoon was considerably less sweaty than Pinkie Pie’s. Discord, it seemed, had gone to the trouble of ensuring that the surlier of his “daughters” was enrolled in an art course, which Penumbra very much appreciated, particularly since her class had just started a unit on pottery, which, in its combination of the aesthetic and the practical, was very reminiscent of her day job at back at Cloud Nineteen. Compared to magically-imbued clouds, clay was a considerably easier medium to work in, especially for creatures who had fingers, which made shaping the creations on a throwing wheel fairly simple. Not only was this class intellectually stimulating, it afforded Penumbra another encounter with the purple hairdo she’d missed at lunch. “My goodness, that little teacup is simply adorable.” Penumbra briefly considered smiling, but decided against it. She’d taken a seat next to Rarity as unobtrusively as possible, and had spent the last ten minutes trying to figure out how to start talking to her. She hadn’t really been paying close attention to what she’d been making, but she had to admit that her cup look rather cute. This wouldn’t have been a problem, except she hated excessive cuteness. Still, though, it had created the conversational opening she’d been hoping for, and she wasn’t about to let it slip away. “Thank you, I suppose, though it’s not really my usual style. I’m Penumbra, by the way.” “Rarity,” the chalk-white girl replied. “I’d offer a handshake, but I need both to maintain the shape of my vase.” “Totally understandable,” Penumbra replied. “So, do you like this class?” she asked, not bothering to take her eyes off of the cup in front of her. Likewise, Rarity remained focused on her own project as the conversation continued. “Oh, of course. I’ve always had a flair for visual creativity, though admittedly, pottery is not the means I would normally use to express myself.” “Is that so?” “Indeed. I have hopes of becoming a fashion designer, actually—though as of late, I’ve taken a slight detour into the realm of interior decorating. Have you had a chance to see the gymnasium yet?” Penumbra stopped her wheel to examine her work more closely. “Yes,” she replied as she grabbed some more clay and kicked the wheel into motion again. “I presume you’re involved in decorating it for this Fall Formal I’ve been hearing about?” “Oh, I’m quite involved, seeing as I’m the chair of the decorating committee. It’s been surprisingly easy to convince the other members to go along with my overall vision, particularly since the theme was a bit more... abstract, shall we say, than is the norm.” “Is that so? Well, what is the theme, then?” “Well, oddly enough, the name was the only aspect upon which I drew a complete blank. Fortunately, the others came up with ‘The Persistence of Elegance.’ I think it’s much better than something like ‘Enchantment Under the Sea’ or some such clichéd drivel. I intend to make sure that this year’s formal is the height of fabulosity! This is, after all, when the Princess is crowned.” Now this was just the sort of information Penumbra was interested in. “I’ve heard a few folks mentioning that in passing. What’s actually involved in it?” “Oh, well, when you get right down to it, I suppose it’s little more than a popularity contest, but it’s a most amusing one. Candidates submit their names one week ahead of time, and on the evening of the Formal, the attendees vote on who receives the tiara.” “I see... are you entering?” Penumbra only asked this question to keep the conversation going while she figured out how to transition to questions about the human versions of other ponies they knew, which was probably why Rarity’s answer was so surprising. “Oh, my goodness, no!” Rarity replied with a bright, cheerful peal of laughter. “I couldn’t possibly become the Princess this year.” “Modest?” “Oh, modesty has nothing to do with it. You see, as the reigning Princess, I’m ineligible for this year’s ballot. No student can hold the crown for two consecutive years; that’s quite clear. However, I will have an opportunity to compete again in my senior year.” Penumbra became quite thoughtful. “Is that so? I guess you won as a sophomore, then? You must have made quite an impression on the other students.” “Of that, I have no doubt,” Rarity replied as she checked the stability of her vase’s neck, “but I must admit that circumstances did improve my odds.” “How so?” “Well, my stiffest competition dropped out of the running. You see, since the start of that year, there had been a sort of shadow campaign for a girl named Sunset Shimmer. You may have seen her around—” “Yes,” Penumbra interrupted, “we’ve bumped into each other.” “And from that hint of barely restrained aggravation, I’m going to assume she was her usual charming self... though to be fair, she really can be quite charming when she wants to be. But I digress. Even though Sunset and her clique had been keeping up a steady whisper campaign, she withdrew her name from consideration the day after she entered. Since most of the other juniors and seniors hadn’t thought they could win, the field was unusually slim, which gave me the opening I needed.” “Well, that was fortunate,” Penumbra said. “So, why exactly did Sunset Shimmer withdraw?” “That’s the really odd thing about it; no one outside of Sunset and her clique knows, and they aren’t telling. That said, I do have a little theory....” Rarity trailed off, as if she was mildly embarrassed by whatever idea was bouncing around in her mind. “Let’s hear it,” Penumbra said as she briefly glanced away from her piece towards Rarity. “Well, I don’t think she wanted to be crowned with the old tiara. I heard a rumor that she asked Principal Celestia to update the design, and even nearly got her to agree, but Vice Principal Luna objected on the grounds that the tiara had been a part of the Formal for decades, and there wasn’t any reason to change a longstanding tradition. So, I think she dropped out with the intention of entering this year, but after first getting elected to the Student Council, so she’d be in a better position to push her case for a redesign.” “Are you telling me that the Student Council here actually has that kind of influence on the administration?” “Ordinarily, no, but when Sunset Shimmer ran for Student Council president, she did so on a platform of using student funds to update the school’s overall look; therefore, when she won, she was able to demonstrate that the student body as a whole was behind the general principle of modernized aesthetics, and even Vice Principal Luna conceded. From what I’ve heard, Sunset Shimmer designed it herself, and even found a high-end costume jewelry maker to produce the finished product.” “That sounds strange,” Penumbra said. Unless, of course, you come from a world drenched in magic, in which case it’s actually starting to make sense... sort of. Obviously, part of Sunset Shimmer’s plan had involved using school funds to make the replica of the Element of Magic that she’d attempted to leave behind in Equestria, but there was still a sizable number of blanks that needed to be filled in. Oblivious to this internal monologue, Rarity continued the conversation. “Oh, it is most strange indeed. But what’s truly odd is that she somehow managed to lose it in the park near the school.” “How do you know that?” “A few days ago, I saw her searching for something there. She must have spent fifteen minutes sifting through the bushes before she left—presumably to get help. Well, my curiosity was piqued, so I had a look around of my own. I’ve always had a bit of knack for finding interesting things; my father says I’m simply living up to my name. In any case, I found the tiara and took the liberty of delivering it to Vice Principal Luna myself.” “Why?” “Well, to be honest, it gave me a chance to highlight Sunset’s tendency towards irresponsible behavior, especially since I know that Luna isn’t nearly as enamored of her as Celestia is.” “So you wanted an excuse to bitch about her to an authority figure?” Rarity sighed. “I wouldn’t say it quite so crassly... but yes. Still, I must admit that it’s a very nice design, and whoever manufactured it clearly put in a lot of effort, because the quality is positively flawless. In fact, the central star is so well-made that I initially thought that it was a real pink sapphire, but that’s just ridiculous.” “That hardly sounds like a reason to abandon the ancient art of bitchcraft in Sunset Shimmer’s case.” “Oh, it most assuredly isn’t,” Rarity confirmed. “That said, even if I’ve had the occasional sparring match with Sunset Shimmer from time to time, our spats pale in comparison to other feuds. For example, I suspect you’ll hear about Applejack and Rainbow Dash before too long; they’re in your grade, after all.” Penumbra nodded absently. “Applejack actually gave us a tour yesterday afternoon, but she went out of her way to avoid talking about it.” “Well, I don’t know all the details, mostly because I’m a grade above them and don’t share many of their classes, but in this case, I don’t particularly want to. Frankly, I find both of them to be rather loud and obnoxious.” “Really... well, I spotted my sister talking with a girl in your grade at lunch. Quiet, with pink hair. Any hidden drama I should be aware of?” “Pink hair... I think I might know who you’re talking about, and if I’m right, your sister has little to worry about. That girl... Fluttersomething-or-other... she’s rather boring, if you ask me.” Penumbra bit her lower lip for a second before asking her last question: “And what about Twilight Sparkle?” Rarity seemed to be genuinely perplexed by this. “Twilight Sparkle? I don’t believe I know anyone by that name. Is she a student here?” “Apparently not...” Penumbra said quietly.