//------------------------------// // Five - Hide and Seek (1) // Story: The Infestation of Canterlot High School // by Bonster //------------------------------// Five - Hide and Seek (1) Sunset stood on the front steps of Canterlot High, a faint breeze blowing through her hair as she twirled her baseball bat in her hands. “So here’s the plan: we split into teams and search the school for anything out of the ordinary, and I mean anything. We have to take whatever evidence we can get our hands on, because until we know more, we’re at a severe disadvantage. Twilight, did you bring Spike, by chance?” “No,” she replied. “Even if he has a more intelligent mind now, he’s still a dog. Was I supposed to bring him?” “It’s fine, I just thought his sense of smell might be useful. Any questions?” Pinkie Pie raised her hand. Sunset braced herself. “Yes, Pinkie?” “Anybody want a cupcake?” she asked, holding a box of them out in front of her. “Oh, those look lovely, Pinkie,” Celestia said, reaching out a hand. “NO!” Sunset, Rarity, Twilight and Applejack chorused, the latter grabbing Celestia by the wrist. Celestia gulped and retracted her hand. “Or, perhaps not.” “I have a question!” Rainbow Dash blared, waving her hand wildly in the air. “What are they doing here?” She thrust a thumb out at the principals. “Our apartment was infested with monsters,” Celestia answered, “so whether we like or not, we’re involved now.” “Really? That’s positively awful!” Rarity exclaimed. “Why, if it were my house, I’d be tempted to burn the whole place down.” “It’s a little weird to treat our principals like our peers, though,” Fluttershy said from where she was seated against the wondercolt statue. “It’s even weirder for me,” Sunset said. “They’re royalty in Equestria.” “Royalty?” Celestia and Luna repeated in disbelief. Sunset brushed them off with a wave of her hand. “Don’t worry about it. Anyway, I suppose we should form teams now. Let’s see…” As Sunset decided on the groups through the tried and true method of random selection, Twilight walked over to Rainbow. “Well, I did promise, so here you go.” She held out the thaumic compressor in her hands, and Rainbow’s eyes lit up. “Awesome!” She took the machine and clutched it to her chest. “Just pull the trigger when you’re ponied up, and it’ll fire. Your surge will fade faster, though, so keep that in mind when using it.” “Awesome!” “And make sure you don’t mess with any of the settings, or you could seriously screw something up.” “Awesome!” “You… did hear all that, right?” Rainbow looked up with a blank expression. “Huh? Oh, yeah, of course.” “Good.” “Twilight!” She turned to Sunset at the call of her name. “You drew the short straw, so you’re with Celestia and Luna.” “Um, okay.” As Twilight turned and walked off, Rainbow once again turned her attention to the laser gun. She noticed that a switch labeled ‘safety inhibitor’ was in the ‘ON’ position. Surely that was a mistake; who would want to inhibit safety? That was just plain dangerous. She flicked it off. “Rainbow.” She looked up. “You drew the other short straw; you’re with Pinkie Pie.” Pinkie buzzed up to Rainbow’s side. “Cupcake?” She held one out. “They’re really goooood!” Rainbow pushed the confection away from her face and groaned. Sunset continued through the courtyard. “Rarity and Applejack, you’re a team.” They looked at each other and shrugged. “Which leaves me and Fluttershy together.” “Well, let’s get to it then!” shouted Rainbow with a pump of her fist, her contagious excitement even making Fluttershy look a little less terrified, and the group entered the school. “So this is th’ bathroom ya collapsed in?” asked Applejack, pushing open the heavy wooden door with ease. “I prefer the term ‘fainted’, but yes.” The pair walked in and looked around. The floor glistened with custodial care, commanding they be a bit more sturdy on their feet. One of the stall doors sported a broken lock and swung lazily outwards, the top hinge rusty and old, as though it would snap off if you talked too loudly. Rarity absentmindedly turned off a dripping sink as she fixed her hair in the smudged mirror, and Applejack searched inside one of the stalls. “I dunno, Rarity, I’m not seein’ any monsters in here.” “Oh, we’ve barely started looking, Applejack. Besides, there’s more to be found than the monsters themselves.” Rarity opened another stall door and stuck out her tongue. “Ew, what is that?” “What’s what?” asked Applejack, poking her head around the stall. “That.” Rarity pointed to a sickly goop-like substance stuck to the stall door. “Well, now ain’t that somethin.” Applejack poked it. “Ick, don’t touch it!” “Oh, grow up.” Applejack tried to pull her finger out, but the goop held fast. “What the—hey! Let go!” “Applejack, dear, are you talking to it?” Applejack had a foot on the door now, and was pulling with all her strength. Finally, her finger came out, and she slammed into the stall wall behind her with a grunt of pain. “Oh my, that looked like it hurt,” Rarity commented helpfully, a hand on her mouth. “Very much, thank you,” Applejack said with a bitter glare. “Well, I do believe we’ve stumbled upon some ‘evidence’ as Sunset put it. Do collect it.” Applejack continued her glare as she took out her water bottle and used it to scrape up the goop. “Ya know, you’re awfully bossy sometimes.” “Please, Applejack. You’re a farmer. You’re used to getting dirty; I’m not.” “Sometimes I wonder if a good ol’ mud bath with th’ pigs wouldn’t be good for ya.” “Oh, hush. I’ll get you another water bottle if you’re so bothered,” Rarity offered, heading out of the bathroom. Applejack went to the sink to wash the alien super glue off her hands and shook her head. “I swear, if she ponies up for that, I’ll eat all twenty of my hats.” “Ugh, where are all the monsters? I was promised monsters!” Rainbow complained loudly to the empty hallway. The hallway was speechless. “You weren’t promised there would be monsters, silly! Didn’t you listen to Sunset’s speech?” “Well…” Rainbow scratched the back of her neck. Pinkie giggled. “Me neither!” Rainbow shook her head, resuming her rant with a tad less gusto than before. “But seriously, where’s the action? If I wanted to wander around the school, I’d just skip class.” Then, as if to answer her plea, out of the corner of Rainbow’s eye, she thought she saw a shadow dart into a nearby classroom. “Pinkie this way!” The words had barely started to form in her vocal cords before Dash was off, Pinkie running after her. “Wait Rainbow slow down where are we going what are—oh hey Rarity!” Sure enough, Rarity was standing in the middle of the room, hands on her hips and a frown on her face. “Hello, darlings. I could have sworn something came into this room, but it seems nothing’s here. It’s quite frustrating.” Rainbow chuckled. “Yeah, same. But I guess I saw you. Wait a minute…” Rainbow turned a circle in the room. “Where’s Applejack? Aren’t you two supposed to be together?” “We were tragically separated,” she answered casually. “I—hold on just a minute, I think I see something!” Pinkie looked around. “Really? What?” But Rarity was already out the door. “Come on Pinkie, we have to follow her! I’m not leaving my friend alone with the enemy!” As she finished speaking, Rainbow rose slightly into the air, and wings sprouted from her back. “Woohoo!” she cried, flying down the hallways, Pinkie struggling to match her pace. “Dash, wait up!” Pinkie called, but she was already out of sight. “Man, I should have eaten those cupcakes myself.” Celestia, Luna, and Twilight exited the school cafeteria with empty hands and ruined appetites. “So, Twilight,” said Celestia, “do you know what Sunset Shimmer meant when she said we were royalty?” “Uh, sort of,” she responded. “Do tell,” encouraged Luna. “Sunset has been very tight-lipped about… Equestria, is it? And I must say, I’m quite curious.” “Well, everybody over here has a duplicate over there, which is why we know they’re two different dimensions as opposed to, say, different planets. That’s why there are two of me. And all of our duplicates happen to be princesses.” “Princesses?” Celestia repeated. “But we aren’t related to you,” Luna said. “At least, not that I know of.” Twilight shrugged. “You’d have to ask Sunset for the details, but I’m pretty sure I heard her mention that my counterpart ‘ascended’ into princessdom, so I don’t think it’s by blood.” “Then does that mean the school board represents the kings and queens?” pondered Celestia. Luna shuddered. “Ugh, I hope not.” Their conversation was cut short by the pounding of feet from around the next corner. The three looked at each other before running to the end of the hall, where it formed a T with another corridor. “Rarity?” Twilight asked to the girl running at breakneck speeds towards them. Rarity’s eyes widened at the human roadblock, but she didn’t slow down. Twilight braced herself for collision, yelling at her friends to stop, but as Rarity approached them, she bent her legs and leapt, flying over the group with athleticism that Twilight seriously had not thought Rarity possessed. She landed in a dexterous roll and was immediately back on her feet, arms pumping furiously as she careened down the hall. “What,” Luna said astutely. “Was something chasing her? Should we be running too?” Celestia worried. “Oh, hey guys!” Twilight turned to the new voice. “Rainbow?” She was flying towards them surrounded by a bright blue aura. “Did Rarity come through here?” Twilight pointed. “Great! Come on, I think the monsters are close!” Rainbow grabbed Twilight’s wrist and continued her chase, dragging Twilight along with her. “Rainbow slow dooooooooooown!” Her desperate shout dropped in volume as she was pulled farther away from the principals, until it finally petered out into an echo. “What,” repeated Luna. “I dunno either!” Celestia jumped back in surprise as Pinkie Pie appeared beside her, arms folded and a small frown on her face. Celestia clapped a hand over her rapid heart and exhaled, no doubt repeated calming mantras to herself in her mind. Pinkie continued on as if nothing had happened. “Rarity says she thinks she’s seen a monster and then Rainbow chases to help her and ponies up because loyalty but that means she’s faster than me so she’s leaving me behind which is totally not loyal, but I guess magic doesn’t have takesies backsies.” “What,” repeated Luna, again. “Exactly!” Celestia cupped her face in her hands and let out a long, tired groan. “I’m getting too old for this.” Luna laid a comforting hand on her shoulder and said nothing. Applejack was rooting through Celestia’s office, humming a country tune to herself. Normally, she would never breach someone’s privacy so blatantly, but circumstances were dire. And, well, moral objections aside, who doesn’t want to rummage through their principal’s stuff? A full wastebasket sat next to her desk, which was messier than Applejack had ever seen it in the past. The microphone that she used to make announcements and its accompanying controls were pushed to the edge somewhat precariously, presumably to make room for a litter of paperwork that bored Applejack to death just looking at it. Several documents had sticky notes on them with reminders such as ‘can procrastinate for a week before school board notices’ or ‘dump on Luna’. The whiteboard on the wall was blank (barring the small blotches of marker left from a hasty cleaning), a magnetic eraser stuck to the surface. The bookcase next to it housed mostly binders and reference guides, as well as the school’s trophy from the Friendship Games. Applejack only briefly wondered why the school didn’t have a trophy case to put it in. A globe rested on top of the bookcase, next to a mug that boldly proclaimed ‘#1 PRINCIPAL’ and held a handful of colorful pens and pencils. Finally, Applejack smiled at a framed picture of Luna and Celestia laughing at a joke lost to time. The relative serenity of her search was turned on its head as Rarity burst through the door that joined Celestia’s office to Luna’s. “Applejack, would you happen to know why Vice Principal Luna has a katana on the wall of her office?” Applejack raised an eyebrow. “What, didn’t ya know? Everybody has their theories ‘bout it.” “I can’t say I’ve been in her office before.” Rarity flipped her hair. “Just goes to show how much of a star student I am, hmm?” “Come on, you’ve had t’ gotten in trouble for somethin’.” “Afraid not. So what’s yours?” “My what?” “Your theory, of course. About the katana.” Applejack stroked her chin. “Never really thought about it too much. Suppose it must be important to ‘er; maybe a gift from a relative or somethin’.” “Psh, of course you would say that. I bet it’s part of her look—it fits the aesthetic she sets by never turning on the lights.” “An’ of course you would say that.” Applejack opened a desk drawer only to find more paper. “I don’t suppose ya had better luck in there than me in here?” Rarity shook her head. “Didn’t think so.” Applejack closed the drawer. “C’mon, let’s check somewhere else.” The two left the room and nearly crashed into Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, who had turned the corner into the administrative hallway just as they had left it. “Woah!” Applejack exclaimed, freezing in place just before they collided. “Hey, y’all. Found anythin’ yet?” Pinkie’s eyes flashed to the exit directly behind Applejack and Rarity, and she briefly grimaced. Rainbows hands flew up in exasperation. “Nothing! It’s totally not awesome!” “What about you?” Pinkie asked. “Well, we may have found a little something,” Rarity teased, a smug look on her face. Applejack rolled her eyes and procured her water bottle, the golden alien substance still inside. “Wow! Awesome!” said Rainbow. “Weird!” Pinkie said with fascination, leaning forward. “Can I see it?” “Uh, I guess,” Applejack said, giving her the bottle. As Pinkie inspected the water bottle, Rarity cleared her throat. “We should probably split up again to cover more ground. You two can take that direction”—she pointed to the right—“and we’ll go the other way.” “Awesome!” said Rainbow, flashing a thumbs up. “Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie affirmed Applejack managed to pry her water bottle back from Pinkie, and after she and Rainbow had left, Applejack turned to Rarity. “Is it just me, or were those two actin’ a tad strange?” “Meh,” Rarity said, shrugging. “Seemed pretty normal to me.” Sunset seethed as she opened another boring, regular broom closet. “I hope the others are having more luck than we are. I didn’t come here to find out where every single stupid supply closet is.” “Maybe we should look in the gym next?” Fluttershy suggested. “I hide there sometimes.” “Got nothing better to do,” Sunset ground out as she slammed the door closed. Twilight was not having fun. Her arms were wrapped around one of Rainbow’s in a death grip as a set of unsettlingly small wings propelled them down the hall, Twilight flailing out behind Rainbow like a human cape. Every so often they would reach a turn, and Twilight would almost slam into the far wall before being violently yanked to the side, screaming. It was kind of like riding a rollercoaster, except instead of being strapped in you had to hang on to Rainbow Dash for dear life, and there was always that chance that your car would run out of magic and you would both drop to the ground, but probably not actually die from it because you would be about two and a third feet in the air. And the rollercoaster was also holding a laser gun in one hand, that, if fired, would not only potentially give someone serious burns, but also definitely make both parties fall to the ground. So basically not like a rollercoaster at all. Whatever, Twilight wasn’t a poet. The point was that it wasn’t a pleasant experience. And after ninja-kicking open the doors to the gym and flying inside (it was important to make an entrance), Rainbow came to sudden halt, causing Twilight to be thrown three feet forward face-first to the waxy gym floor with a grunt of pain and a small “Why…” The reason for Rainbow’s sudden deceleration was the pink-haired, pink-skinned girl standing in the middle of the gym. “Pinkie? What are you doing here?” Rainbow asked, whipping her head around the gym. “Where’s Rarity?” Pinkie threw her arms to the side. “I don’t know! You took off after her and I couldn’t keep up!” Rainbow smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, Pinkie. Sometimes I forget how much of an awesome flier I am.” “Yeah, so awesome,” Twilight added, her voice muffled by the floor. She picked herself up, readjusting her hopelessly crooked glasses. “Why’d you even grab me anyway?” “Reinforcements,” Rainbow answered automatically. Twilight just rolled her eyes and brushed herself off, taking a look around the gym. The bleachers were pulled in, like they always were when they weren’t needed, and the stage held nothing more than a broken pencil and a granola bar wrapper. Overall, it was just as bland and inconspicuous as all the other places Twilight had investigated before her ride on the Rainbow Express. “I wish I had remembered to bring my locket. It would make this search much more straightforward.” Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes. “You mean the same locket that creates portals to Equestria every ten minutes?” “It’s stable now,” Twilight protested. “It doesn’t do that kind of thing anymore. I mean, it does, but not on its own.” “Are you sure? Cause I don’t think anybody here wants a surprise visit to Ponyland. Or to be attacked by giant carnivorous plants. Or—” Rainbow was cut off by the gym doors to the side of the stage opening to reveal Rarity and Applejack. “Pinkie? Rainbow?” Applejack gave them a confused look. “Why’re y’all here?” “Why shouldn’t they be here?” Twilight asked, her head cocked to the side. “Because those two were supposed to search the eastern wing, not the west,” Rarity replied, as if it were obvious. “What are you talking about?” Rainbow retorted. “I just chased you across the entire school!” “And you said you and Applejack had been separated!” Pinkie accused. “What? We ain’t left each other’s side this whole time!” Applejack said. Twilight groaned and banged her head against the bleachers. Luna shielded her eyes as a flash of bright green light poured down from the stairwell in front of them. “Woah, pretty!” said Pinkie. Celestia folded her arms. “I… suppose we have to investigate that, don’t we?” The party started to climb the stairs, Celestia and Luna looking as though they had to force themselves to put one foot in front of the other, while Pinkie bounced obediently behind them. “Hey there! Y’all investigating the flash ‘o light too?” The principals turned to see Applejack leaning over the railing above them, Rarity standing behind her. “Um, yes,” confirmed Celestia. “Though it appears it was a false alarm,” said Luna. “Miss Rarity, I have to ask, why were you running away from Rainbow Dash earlier?” “Oh, I wasn’t running from her, darling, I was running after something.” She frowned. “Didn’t manage to catch it, though.” If there was anything suspicious about that, Luna was too distracted by Rarity calling her ‘darling’ to notice. She was, like, over a decade older than her. “Why don’t we head to the gym, then? I don’t think anybody’s searched there yet,” Celestia proposed. Rarity and Applejack descended the staircase. “The real question,” Applejack said, her voice menacing, “is whether anyone is going to search here.” “Kay, they’re evil,” Luna observed. She had seen horror movies before. She and Celestia backed up—right into Pinkie Pie. “Pinkie, we’ve got to run,” Celestia said, trying her best to move to the side. Pinkie bared her fangs. Luna punched her in the fangs. “Go!” “Go where?” Celestia shouted back as they burst into a sprint. “The gym’s close, there’s an exit there!” The two rushed through the halls, the buzzing of wings not far behind them. Yet as they neared the gym, something scalding hot struck Celestia in the shoulder blade, and she fell to the ground with a curse. Luna skidded to a halt. “Celestia!” Her eyes widened as one of their pursuer’s horns began to glow, and a stream of… something… flew at her, sticking her feet to the ground and her arms to her sides. Before long, it was all around her, and she fell into a dreamless sleep. “If you were always together then why was Rarity alone?” Rainbow yelled, her voice carrying even further in the gym. “Maybe you’re just seein’ things, RD!” Applejack retorted. “No, I clearly saw Rarity running from Rainbow,” Twilight supplied. “I think that there may actually be—” Rarity cut her off: “None of this explains why we saw you two at the front office.” “Well, if my hypothesis is correct, then—” “I think we all know that I wouldn’t be lyin’ ‘bout all this, so Rainbow, I think it’s time you told the truth.” “If you idiots would actually let me speak—” “I’m not LYING!” Rainbow shouted, throwing her arms out to the side in exasperation. And accidentally pulling the trigger on the thaumic compressor. Rainbow fell on her backside as she ponied down, the spare magic being channeled into what she would later proudly describe as a ‘large-ass laser beam’ that struck the gym wall with a BOOM and an accompanying green shine, a cloud of dust the only thing obscuring a view of the hallway. Twilight facepalmed. Of course she turned off the safety inhibitor. As the dust cleared, a double of each Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie removed their hands from over their heads, the last fragments of plaster pattering against the floor. “And if you had listened to me,” Twilight splayed her hands wide at the additional friends, “you would know that the only logical explanation is that there are multiple yous running around!” Rainbow’s mouth hung open as she looked between the duplicates. “Well, stick me in a hay bale and call me a pitchfork,” one of the Applejacks said. “Oh, dear, this isn’t good,” the Rarity in the hall stated. The pinkies smiled and waved at each other. And Sunset and Fluttershy chose that moment to make their own entrance into the warzone; Fluttershy’s eyes grew wide and she made small unintelligible noises, while Sunset gasped. “Changelings.”