//------------------------------// // Equestria Girls (Part 2) // Story: My Little Pony: Sora's Misadventures in Equestria // by Codex92 //------------------------------// Twilight had continued screaming for another five minutes over her new body's anatomy. She finally stopped as she pressed her hands against her mouth, but that only scared her more as she began looking all over herself. Sora just sighed and shook his head while Spike just scratched his ear like a canine would. Twilight flailed her arms over her body, even pulling one of her legs out at the sight of the larger appendages, hyperventilating in shock. "W-What happened to me!?" she asked. "What am I!?" "Are you done panicking?" Sora asked, the girl shaking her head. "Well, too bad. You are what I am: a human." "H-Human?" Twilight began touching her head, finding her ears now on the sides of her head and her muzzle no longer existent and shrunk to a smaller nose. "Ahh! What happened to my muzzle!? My ears!? Are they supposed to be like this for-" Sora slapped his hand against Twilight's mouth, silencing her before she wound up getting a heart attack from her panic attack. "Twilight, calm down. You freak out like that in a public place, you're going to catch everyone's attention, and the number one rule for being in a new world is to not stand out like you're some kind of alien." "Are dragons aliens in this world?" Spike asked. "...More like mythical. But talking dogs? That's sure to freak people out if you speak." Spike understood and zipped his lips. Sora looked back at Twilight, seeing she was calm enough, but needed to make sure she wouldn't stress and panic. "Now, I'm going to slowly lower my hand, and you are not going to scream and flail around. Ok?" She nodded her head. "Ok." He slowly pulled his hand away, and Twilight did as she was told. She looked down at her hands again, flexing them, finding them odd like a monkey's, though less hairy. She continued to experiment with her fingers, using two on one hand to grab one on the other, testing their flexibility and functionality. "This is so strange..." Twilight looked down at herself, noticing the clothes and footwear on her. "And why am I wearing clothes? I didn't come in with these on." She began to try and pull her blouse off, only for Sora to quickly grab her hands and lower her shirt back down before it got too far up. "Whoa whoa whoa! Keep those on!" "Why? I don't want to wear these...even if they do feel a little comfy." Sora couldn't help but blush in embarrassment as he was about to explain to a pony turned into a human why she needed to keep her clothes on. "You know how Riku, Kairi, and I always want to keep our clothes on, despite being around ponies who don't wear clothes?" he asked, Twilight nodding her head. "Yeah...Humans need to wear their clothes. It's not exactly...decent for any of us to wander around in the nude. We don't have...tails to cover the back...or anything to hide the front..." It took a moment for Twilight to understand, blushing heavily as she looked down her shirt, quickly wrapping her arms around her chest. "...I-I see...And...And why are my-?" "I really don't want to talk about the difference between pony and human anatomy!" Sora shouted. "It's embarrassing enough that I tried to explain why we wear clothes, and the only way you're finding out the difference between the males and females from both sides is either in books in this world or from Kairi when you have girl time!" "Ok, ok! Dropping the subject!" Sora and Twilight turned their heads away from each other in awkward silence while Spike stared at them. "I am going to have to steer Twilight far away from human biology books before her curiosity ends up making things more awkward." He looked over at the statue, their gateway between this world and Equestria. Sora approached the stone pedestal and placed his hand on the side, watching his arm phase through the portal. "Yeah. This statue's our ticket back to Equestria once we get the crown back." "Well, we can check that castle over there," Twilight said as she pointed at the school. Sora pulled his arm back and turned around to the alicorn-turned-human. "Twilight, that's not a castle, that's a-" His eyes widened when he saw her trying to walk on all fours like a pony with Spike riding on her back. The teen quickly ran up to them, grabbing Twilight's arms and pulling her up on her feet, sending the purple dog tumbling to the ground with a surprised yelp. "What are you doing walking like that!?" "You mean humans don't walk like that?" she asked. "Did you completely forget how I was walking a minute ago?" Sora questioned. "Ugh. I am going to be teaching you a lot of different things so you don't make us look suspicious. I'm actually glad no one else is around right now, otherwise everyone would think we're a bunch of weirdos." "Oh. Right...We can't act like we're from another world at all." Sora slowly backed away as he let Twilight stand on her own two feet, the girl suddenly flailing as she began to lose her balance. He quickly grabbed her arms before she fell over, pulling her straight back up. "This is harder than I thought! How can somepony walk on two legs!?" "As babies, we all start out crawling on all fours. It just takes a lot of practice," Sora said. "Oh. And, try not to say 'somepony', 'anypony', 'everypony', or anything that addresses people and ending with 'pony'." Twilight nodded as he let go again to let her practice balancing. "Hopefully, before we get the crown back, we'll have you walking like a human in no time." "It's going to take me weeks to master walking on two LEGS!" Twilight tried to step forward, her legs stretched out too far and causing her to flail backwards. She managed to move forward, her legs wobbling until she collapsed against Sora. "Ugh. I do not want to be here any longer like this." "Well, at least you don't have to worry about your wings," Spike said, earning a glare from her. "What? You have been complaining about them for the past week." "I'd rather have my wings, then." Twilight leaned against Sora as he helped her walk, slowly getting used to being on two legs, though still a bit shaky. They climbed the steps to the entrance of the school, Twilight moving her head around, confusing Sora, then tried to walk inside the closed glass door, smacking her face. "Ow!" She rubbed her forehead, unable to feel her horn. "W-Wha?...Oh don't tell me I don't have my horn." "Sorry, Twilight, but humans aren't exactly magical." Sora grabbed the door handle and opened it up for them. "I'm an exception because of my Keyblade, but before that, I had no idea I could use magic at all. So, you're going to have to do things earth pony style, but without being a pony." Twilight grumbled as they walked inside the foyer of the school. "Wow. How are we going to find the crown in this giant castle." "It's a school, not a castle," Sora said, escorting Twilight over to the nearby trophy case for her to get a better look at herself. "Oh my..." For the second time within one day, Twilight looked at herself in the mirror. She examined all of her new features from a different perspective from what she could see in the reflection of the glass case. "I really do look different...I wonder how different Riku would be as a human." "If I had a picture of us, I could probably show you, but I sadly don't at the moment." Twilight began to look in the case, ignoring her reflection. "I wonder if Sunset stole any other artifacts from Equestria." While looking around, the bell began to ring all around the building. Like a swarm of bees, there were hundreds of students that piled out from the many classrooms, all of them chattering and making their way around the halls like a packed in traffic jam. Sora and Twilight were shoved around by the other teens and pre-teens, separating them as they were pushed in different directions. Sora tried to push through, but he couldn't risk jumping up high in the air and snatch Twilight out of the air to get her out of the surrounding teenagers. "This is why I always hate school!" Sora complained. "Aside from the learning, everyone just loves to crowd one part of the building as they get through to their next class! I got to find Twilight before any of them try to drag her off into a random-" Sora was suddenly smacked in the face by an open locker, falling on his back while clutching his face. "Whoa! Sorry about that." The teen shook his head and looked up at the person apologizing for smacking him with their locker door. Holding his hand out to him was a teenage boy around his age, his hair blue and swept up, a black jacket worn over a white shirt with a picture of a lightning bolt in front of a blue shield, a pair of blue jeans, and a pair of black and white shoes. Sora took his hand and was helped back up on his feet. "You ok, man? Didn't see you coming." "Yeah, I'm fine," he said. "I've taken worst hits." "I don't think I've seen you around here," the teen pondered. "You new to Canterlot High?" "Yeah. I just moved here recently...with my sister, Twilight." Sora looked back at the crowd, unable to see Twilight in the ocean of students wandering around in the lobby. "Speaking of, I kind of lost her when the bell rang and the other students split us up." He didn't have to worry for long as the princess squeezed her way through, winding up in the same hallway Sora ended up getting smacked in by the teenage boy. "Oh. There she is." Twilight struggled to stand back up after surviving the "deadly" wave of students, leaning against the lockers as she panted in exhaustion. "I hate this place already!" "Hey, 'sis'! I thought I lost you!" Sora walked up to Twilight and hugged her tightly. "Just play along and pretend we're siblings. I know it's weird, but that's what I came up with to hide our identities from being outside of this world," he whispered to her, releasing his hold on her and turned to the other teen with a grin. "New to this school and we have no clue where everything is! You gotta remember to stick close to me so we don't lose track of each other!" "It's not my fault everypo-" Twilight shrieked as she felt Spike lick her leg, looking down at him with a look that told her "watch what you're saying. "...I mean, everybody here kept pushing me back." "New students, huh?" the teen pondered, suddenly looking upset. "Well, just be careful here at this school, ok? It's pretty rough...Ever since she changed..." He shook his head, his frown turning to a grin as he closed his locker. "Anyway, it was nice meeting you and your sister. I better get to class. See ya." As they watched the blue haired teen head down the hall, Sora scratched his head in confusion. "Why does his voice sound familiar?" He tried to wrack his brain over where he heard the teen's voice from, but he couldn't come up with anyone he knew. "Oh well. Maybe I was just imagining things. Let's take a little look around the school and find Sunset and the crown." Sora took hold of Twilight's hand, making sure she doesn't get separated from her again, as the trio made their way down the halls. While the pony human looked around at the students and the building in fascination, the Keyblade wielder somehow found some of the students familiar. He couldn't put his finger on it, but there were a couple of features that some had that looked like some of the ponies back in Equestria: There was a girl with electric blue hair with a pair of purple tinted sunglasses losing to music through her headphones like a humanized Vinyl Scratch, one of the teachers in one of the classrooms had dark fuchsia hair and nearly resembled Cheerilee from the schoolhouse in Ponyville, and he could even swear he saw a glimpse of a blonde-haired girl with her eyes crossed just like Derpy Hooves. "Gangway!" Up ahead of them, a young girl riding on a scooter inside school grounds headed straight for them. Twilight yelped, but Sora stood in the way, grabbing the handlebars and stopping her on the spot. "Scootaloo, watch where you're riding!" The girl looked up at him, staring at him confusion, but when he got a good look at her as she wore a similar looking helmet a certain pegasus filly wore, Sora gasped in surprise. "Oh my gosh..." The young girl wearing a black hoodie with green cargo pants, her hair purple and her eyes displaying that air of daredevilry WAS Scootaloo. "Do I know you? How'd you know my name, dude?" "Hey, Scootaloo! Stop ridin' on ahead of us!" Running up after the filly pegasus as a human, two other girls with familiar hairstyles and faces caught up with their speedy friend, making Sora's jaw drop even further. The red-headed girl sounded just like Apple Bloom, also wearing the familiar pink bow in her hair. She wore a green shirt and a pair of blue jean shorts, exuding a recognizable, youthful enthusiasm that was apparent in the youngest Apple back in Equestria. Next to her, staring at Sora with a light blush, was Sweetie Belle as a human: same curly dark fuchsia and light pink cotton candy mane, same cuteness that was unrivaled by the real filly, though for her clothing style, she wore a white and light lavender shirt under a purple dress jacket and a flowing yellow skirt. "It's the Cutie Mark Crusaders...as humans..." Sora was quick to figure out where he, Twilight, and Spike wound up as they passed through the portal. "Do you guys know him?" Scootaloo asked. "He knew my name, and I've never seen him before." "Nope. They both seem new around here to me," Apple Bloom said. "Do y'all know him, Sweetie Belle?" Scootaloo and Apple Bloom looked at their friend, the humanized unicorn filly's eyes still locked on Sora, her blush growing deeper as they trailed over his hair and clothes. "Uhh, Sweetie Belle?" "Huh!?" Finally snapping out of her daydream, she looked at her friends, then back at the new "students". "Oh! Uhh, nope! Never seen them before!" "Then how did he know my name?" Scootaloo stared at Sora suspiciously, the teen trying to figure out a way to avoid breaking the one rule he was close to shattering. "Uhhhhhhhh..." He looked down at the scooter, still holding onto it as he stopped the speedy young girl from ramming into them. "...You were riding on a scooter, and the nickname that was perfect for you popped into my head that I just had to blurt it out?" "...Oh. That makes sense." Spike facepawed himself for Twilight and Sora, human Scootaloo just as oblivious as the filly back home. "Anyway, you realize you're not supposed to ride a scooter inside the halls of a school?" Sora asked as he let go of the handlebars. "You'll wind up in a lot of trouble." "Haven't gotten caught by the principle yet. Plus, I like to be on the wild side!" It was clearly obvious this girl was Scootaloo's human incarnate, just as wild and crazy as the pegasus she idolizes. "We better get off to class before we're late! Later, new guy and awkward girl!" "'Awkward girl'?" Twilight questioned at the odd perk Scootaloo gave her, even though it was a bit true that she was clueless about her new form and how humans move and behave. "Scootaloo! For goodness sake!" Apple Bloom complained. "Hope y'all have a good time here at Canterlot High. Scoots! Wait for us!" The humanized earth pony filly chased after her scooter riding friend, disappearing down the corner of the hallway. Sora soon felt someone tug on his shirt, looking down at Sweetie Belle as she was getting his attention, though she was looking away in shyness. Her eyes darted up to him then back down at the ground, a little embarrassed to say anything to him. Before he could ask what she wanted, she gave him a slip of paper, then ran off after her friends with a nervous giggle. "...Ok...Feels like deja vu when I babysat for Sweetie Belle..." He looked down at the paper the shy human Sweetie Belle gave him and opened it up. "'I really like your hair.'" Sora looked at Twilight and Spike, both of them confused by the young girl's written compliment. "Well, at least she has great taste in hairstyles." "You're hair is like the back of a porcupine," Spike said. "I'm going to ignore that, because I figured out where we are the moment those three came up to us," Sora said as he bent down and picked Spike up in his hand. "The three of us are in another world, but an alternate version of Equestria." "Really?" Twilight asked. "Are you absolutely sure?" "We just ran into the Cutie Mark Crusaders. As little human girls. Knowing them for so long, I can tell who they were the moment I saw their faces." He looked around, seeing the other students entering classrooms and leaving the hallway empty. "There are other people here that look exactly like ponies we know back in Ponyville. And if there are humans of them around here, then there have to be humans that are like you and the others. And another dog that looks exactly like Spike." "Whoa," Spike said in awe. "That's...pretty cool." "And even more important that we don't bring any attention," Sora warned. "Sunset's probably done enough just from being in this world for years, and who knows what could happen if they know about Equestria, or even my Keyblade and magic. If we find her, I can't risk confronting her and showing off my abilities. Until then, we lay low, pretend to be brother and sister, get the crown, and get out of here." "Oh, I-I'm sorry." They soon heard a quiet voice down the end of the hallway, sounding pretty scared. Sora brought a finger to his lips, telling Twilight and Spike to keep quiet as he crept along the wall and peeked around the corner. He saw a girl with long pink hair, wearing a white shirt and a green skirt with butterflies on one side, trapped in a corner by a girl with red and yellow striped hair, wearing a black biker's jacket and an orange skirt with a purple and pale yellow strip running down the right side. "I-I found it and gave it to her. I didn't know you dropped it..." "Well, I did!" the other girl said aggressively, both girls sounding familiar. "And I was just about to pick it up before you snatched it! You shouldn't pick up things that don't belong to you." "B-But, it doesn't belong to you either," the bullied girl whispered, moving a strand of her hair back behind her ear. "EXCUSE ME!?" the bully shouted, slamming her hands into the lockers behind the terrified girl, making her slid down to the floor, unable to defend herself. "You're absolutely pathetic! No wonder why all your friends are nothing but stray animals!" Having had enough seeing someone picking on a quiet, shy girl, Sora stepped out from hiding and approached her. "Hey! Quit picking on her!" "What?" The girl turned around, glaring at him. "I said quit picking on her," he repeated. "What gives you the right to hurt others who can't defend themselves?" "Psh. You must not be from around here if you have no idea who you're talking to." She walked up to him and poked him in the chest. "You cross me again, and you'll regret talking to me like that again." "Then how about you quit treating people that way?" Twilight said as she approached them, glaring at her, sharing Sora's sympathies for the cowering teen in the corner. "Same goes for you too," the bully said as she flicked the human alicorn's forehead. "I'm letting you two off easy since you're new, but know that I rule this school." She walked off and disappeared down the hall, terrifying one of the students with just her gaze alone as he stuffed himself in a locker to hide from her wrath. As soon as she was out of sight, Sora turned back to the bullied girl and held a hand out to her. "Hey, you ok?" he asked, the girl nodding her head, accepting his hand as he helped her back on her feet. "I-I can't believe you two did that," she said. "Nobody's ever tried to stand up to Sunset Shimmer like that." "Sunset Shimmer!?" Twilight exclaimed, turning back to the hallway their thief disappeared down. "I knew her voice and hair were familiar," Sora whispered to himself. "I don't think I've ever seen you two around here," the timid girl said. "Did you two transfer from another school?" "Yeah. We're from across the sea," Sora said as he wrapped an arm around his "sister". "I'm Sora, and this is my sister, Twilight. What's your name?" "M-My name's...Fluttershy," she quietly said, almost like deja vu between them when they first met their shy pegasus counterpart. "Oh my gosh, this is another Equestria," Twilight whispered to Sora. "You were right. This is so strange, but also exciting. I wonder what the others look like as humans." While Twilight began to grow excited about learning what the human world of Equestria had to offer, Fluttershy peeked through her bangs in her shy state, spotting Spike scratching his ear by Sora's feet. "Oh my goodness! A little puppy!" She dove for the purple dog, knocking Sora off his feet and on his back while Twilight flailed backwards in surprise. "Oh, he's so cute! What's his name!?" "Uhh...His name is...Spike," Twilight said, really feeling a sense of deja vu with Fluttershy's reaction to seeing something that wasn't the same species as her. "He is so adorable!" Fluttershy squealed as she scratched Spike's chin. She pulled out a dog treat out of her backpack, quite odd for anyone to have animal treats in one's bag while at school. "Here you go, little puppy." Spike looked at the treat and sniffed it, then took a small bite. He took a liking to it, either because he was now a dog or the fact that he was able to eat anything no one else could like with those horrible muffins Applejack and Pinkie made during Applebuck Season, chomping the rest of the treat as he noisily munched on it. "Ugh. Dragons have a weird appetite," Sora muttered as he was reminded of the horrible muffins that caused all of Ponyville to get sick. "How amazing would it be if we could hear animals talk?" Fluttershy wondered as she pet Spike more. "He's quite the talker," Twilight said, causing Sora to wince as she blurted out Spike could speak English. "What do you mean?" The animal lover asked in confusion. "She means he's good at following commands, especially speaking!" Sora quickly said, kneeling down to the dog. "Spike, speak." Understanding the situation, Spike barked on command. "Good boy! Now sit." He sat down, panting in excitement as he kept the act going. "Now, gimmie paw." Spike lifted up his right front paw and touched Sora's hand. "Other paw." He gave Sora his other paw. "Good boy!" "Wow. So well trained, and he's still really young," Fluttershy complimented. "Yeah, well, I'm good with pets. Twilight, on the other hand...Not so much." Twilight grumbled, showing she can be a good pet owner after helping raise Spike after she hatched him and caring for her pet owl. "Anyway, dog tricks aside-" Twilight snatched Spike up and held him in her arms, the dog yipping in surprise as he was being carried. "-Sunset said you picked up something that she claimed was hers. What exactly was it?" "Oh. Well, I don't have it with me," she said. "This morning, I was handing out fliers for the animal shelter I volunteer to work every Wednesday. I was over by the statue outside the front of the school, but no one wanted a flyer. Then, something ended up hitting me in the head, and it was a crown with a purple star on top." Sora and Twilight looked at each other, her crown they were looking for confirmed to be here along with Sunset Shimmer. "I didn't want anything to happen to it, so I decided to give it to Principal Celestia." "'Principal' Celestia?" Sora asked, holding back his laughter as the alicorn princess in Equestria was reduced to being a school principal as a human. "Where is she now?" Twilight asked. "She should probably be in her office," Fluttershy said. "It's the third door on the left down the hall. Oh, and I think you should hide Spike. Animals aren't allowed on campus. I'd put him inside your backpack. That's what I do." Fluttershy took off her backpack and unzipped it, releasing a white rabbit, a robin, and a white furred kitten with a blue bow on its head. Sora couldn't help but snicker, knowing that the most timid and shy out of their friends is actually a rule breaker, bringing animals to school and sneaking them away in her bag. "They get really lonely when I'm at school all day." "Right," Twilight uttered, Sora covering his mouth as he stifled his giggles. "Thanks for the directions. And advice." The bell suddenly rang, Fluttershy gasping as she quickly zipped her bag up after putting her animal friends back inside. "I'm late for class!" She ran down the hall and hurried off to her next class, leaving Twilight, Sora, and Spike behind. "Wow. Who would have thought Fluttershy could be so bad bringing animals to school?" Sora chuckled, grabbing Spike and placing him inside Twilight's backpack. "Ok. We know what Sunset looks like, the crown is here in this school, and we got our directions to find the principal." He snickered again. "I'm guessing Luna's the vice principal here if Celestia runs the school." "Princess Celestia as a human." Twilight shuddered at the thought of seeing her mentor in this world. "This is going to be very awkward, isn't it?" Taking Fluttershy's directions, the duo walking through the empty halls until they found the principal's office. "Ok. Principal Celestia's office. Now, remember, Twilight. This Celestia isn't the princess back in Equestria, so no doing any respectful bowing." "Uhh...I was about to consider that if she would allow us in," Twilight giggled sheepishly, forgetting that this world wasn't like her own. "And that's why she needs us to function," Spike teased, quickly shoved back in the backpack. Sora knocked on the door and waited for a response. "Come in," she announced, the Keyblade wielder opening the door as he and Twilight stepped inside. Sitting behind her desk was Celestia's human counterpart, with the same multicolored hair, only without it flowing in an invisible breeze. She was wearing a yellow blazer and a pair of dark purple dress pants. She was busy looking over some students' permanent records, looking up from her work to see her two guests. "Hello. How may I help you two?" "Hello, Principal Celestia," Sora greeted. "We're both kinda new here. I'm Sora, and this is my sister, Twilight." "New students?" Celestia looked through her documents, unable to find what she was looking for. "I was unaware of having new students arriving at Canterlot High today." "We just moved here and our records aren't in your system quite yet," the Keyblade wielder lied. "Hopefully you don't mind us going through a self-orientation of the campus before we're officially enrolled, right?" "Hmm...I guess I can allow that. Canterlot High is a pretty big school, and many new students tend to get lost in the halls." She brought a hand to her chin as she stood up, staring at the calendar on the the wall. "I can even allow you to join into the dance coming up on Friday. And I'm glad one of my students had found the tiara Luna and I had made for the dance, too. I wonder how it wound up outside." As the principal approached the calendar, Sora and Twilight looked at each other in shock. "That terrible tiara was something she and Luna made?" "Great. Now there's no way we can take it if they have it kept somewhere," Sora whispered. "The only way we can get it now is by waiting until the dance, and that's the last day of our time to wait for it." Looking back at Celestia, he noticed a few pictures of Sunset Shimmer on the walls from previous Fall Formal dances. The first one on the showed her looking quite innocent and excited to have won, but the ones after had her looking more sinister and maniacal. "Wow. Someone's on a big winning streak." "Yes. Sunset Shimmer had won as Princess of the Fall Formal for the last few years. It would be hard for any other girl to win when she gets all the students' votes unanimously." Celestia crossed off today's date with a marker, then turned back to her "new students". "She's an excellent student. Quite bright. But, her conduct is a bit...off as the years progressed." "Gee, I wonder if she shows it," Sora muttered sarcastically as he looked at last year's "victory" picture of the theif. "I know this isn't really allowed for students who aren't officially enrolled here, but if you'd like to sign up to be on the ballot, you'll have to speak with the head of the Fall Formal planning committee." Celestia stepped back to her desk after finishing explaining to them how Twilight could take part in the ballot. "Is there anything else you'd like to know?" "No, ma'am," Sora said. "I think we're good. Thank you for allowing us free reign to wander around and see the school." "Anytime," the principal said. "And if any of you need me, my door is always open." Sora and Twilight quickly left the office and headed back to the lobby. Their plan to get in and out wasn't going to happen, and there was only one other way to retrieve the alicorn's crown back. "I was hoping you would have said we needed the crown back," Twilight said. "Couldn't we just tell her it's mine?" "The one Sunset left as a fake for you matched the exact same design as yours," Sora explained. "And since we're considered minors in this world, we can't just ask an adult to take something without any proof. Plus, to prevent anyone else from trying to steal the crown again, Celestia and Luna have it hidden somewhere, and we're sure to get kicked out if we bust into everything." "Not to mention, everypony here will think we're crazy if we told them we're from a world with talking ponies." Sora nodded in agreement. "Well, seems like we've got only one option to get it back: I'm going to have to sign up to win Princess of the Fall Formal." "And how exactly are you going to do that?" Spike asked, poking his head out of the backpack. "...I have no idea," Twilight groaned. Soon, her stomach began to growl, and as luck would have it, the bell rang, all the students crowding the halls as if they were dying to escape. Sora made sure to keep a firm grip on Twilight's hand so they don't get split up again. "I think some food would help us get our brains going," he said, trying to guide them both through the sea of chattering students toward where the cafeteria was. The scent of food hit their noses as soon as they walked into the large room, hundreds of students already waiting in line or sitting at the tables with their lunches they brought from home. Sora and Twilight got in line, standing behind Fluttershy as they waited to grab a tray and whatever they pleased. As soon as they began to grab their foods, Sora was disappointed when he saw veggie burgers the moment he saw rows of sandwiches. It would be a little difficult to explain to Twilight humans were omnivores, and she probably won't give him enough time to explain humans don't eat equines...at least not in most places. "So, Fluttershy, I was wondering if you could help me with something," Twilight said, grabbing whatever the timid girl was grabbing. "Sure. What is it, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked. "I'm going to be running for Princess of the Fall Formal." Fluttershy gasped, dropping the bowl of fruit she had in her hands and spilling it all over Twilight. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" she apologized, quickly grabbing a bunch of napkins and drying Twilight off before the juices stained her clothes. "I don't think you should even try and do that. Sunset Shimmer always wins Fall Formal Princess, and when she wants something, she gets it." After drying her off, Fluttershy threw the napkins away. "She'll make anyone's life awful if you get in her way." "Oh no, the horror," Sora droned. "She's going to stoop to the lowest of the low in order to win everything. Pth. Twilight and I have gone up against worst bullies in the past, specifically me." While moving further down the line, he froze when he saw one of the lunch ladies working on the other side of the counter, which so happened to look like Granny Smith if she was an old lady. She placed a fresh apple on his tray and he was on his way following Twilight and Fluttershy to a table. As odd as it was to see the elder Apple here in the school, he went back to the topic on Sunset Shimmer's harsh winning streak. "If she's going to get to Twilight just to cheat her way to victory, that's not happening." "But you two don't understand." Sora, Twilight, and Fluttershy found an empty table and sat down, the animal lover continuing her reasons why Twilight shouldn't run. "If you ever want to win, you're going to have to get everyone's votes AND try to convince them." They looked around the cafeteria, seeing most of the students have all been split up into different social groups. There were some jocks, cheerleaders, goths, drama club, eco-friendly teens, rockers, nerds, any other group they could possibly think of. Sora noticed the same teen who helped him up earlier in the hallway was over with the rocker group, playing a few chords on a red and white electric guitar. "Why are they all split up like this?" Twilight asked. "Cliques," Sora answered, taking a bite out of his veggie burger. "They're all grouped together by their social status." "Sora's right. I don't know how it worked at your old school, but here at C.H.S., we all stick with our own kind." Fluttershy picked her fork in her salad and took a bite of her leafy greens. "The only thing all of us have in common is Sunset Shimmer ruling the school until we all graduate." "Not if we can help it!" Twilight lowered her face and grabbed her apple with her teeth, unaware of the odd look Fluttershy gave her. Sora cleared his throat, getting the human alicorn's attention, motioning his fingers to remind her of her hands. Realizing she was eating like an earth pony, she grabbed the apple in her hand, giggling nervously. "Uhh...Nervous eating habit?" "...Why?" Fluttershy asked in confusion. "My sister's weird. This is her first time coming to a public school, and she's a bit kooky." Twilight growled and kicked Sora's leg, the teen wincing a little as he chuckled to himself. "So, where can we find the head of the planning committee at this time?" After eating lunch, Sora and Twilight followed Fluttershy's directions to where the head of the party planning committee was. They found themselves in front of the gymnasium, a big enough location to throw a school event like a dance or pep rally. The gym was already decorated with balloons, streamers, and confetti, something that would mostly fit with a birthday party for a kid. There was only one person in the gym decorating everything, a girl with really frizzy and poofy pink hair, wearing a blue and white shirt with a pink heart in the center and a light purple skirt with three balloons, two blue and one yellow. Sora approached her while Twilight let Spike out of her bag to get some air, not noticing the girl actually pulling off one of the balloon designs on her skirt and making it a real balloon, blowing air into it and inflating it. "Uhh, excuse me. I'm looking for-" She turned around and smacked Sora in the head with the balloon. Before he could continue asking for who they were looking for, he gasped as he saw the girl's blue eyes, recognizing her face. "Pinkie Pie?" She stopped blowing into the balloon, causing all the air out to blast her in the face. Aside from the Mirror Pool incident, just knowing there was a second Pinkie Pie in the human world of Equestria, and able to do anything out of the ordinary like the mare back home, that sparked fear in Sora's soul at the possibilities of the two Pinkie's meeting and causing trouble. She gasped and grabbed Sora's head, smushing her face against his as she stared deep in his eyes. "Are you psychic!?" Pinkie screeched. "Uhh...no? Unless you are?" She let go of Sora, making him fall on his back while going from surprised to bored in the span of a millisecond. "Nah. I wish though. How'd you know my name?" she asked as he stood back up. "Is it the hair? I always figured it was the hair. Ooh! Let me guess your name by looking at your hair!" "How about I just tell you, but Fluttershy told us we could find the head of the planning committee here. And...I'm going to guess that's you." Instead of hearing an excited reaction from the human counterpart of the pink pony goofball, she instead scoffed and grew angry. "Fluttershy, huh?" she questioned. "Don't believe the 'shy' side of her. She's a big jerk." Hearing that statement bothered Sora, even Twilight as she walked up to him. Even if this was an alternate world, Fluttershy and Pinkie should be friends, but they aren't. "Anywhoser, your girlfriend deciding to sign up for the ballot?" "G-Girlfriend!?" Sora and Twilight blushed and stammered, not wanting to go back to that awkward topic when the human alicorn had her crush on him. "W-We're not a couple!" Twilight exclaimed. "He's my brother!" "Oh! Whoopsie doopsie! My mistake!" Pinkie grinned bashfully. "But I knew you two are new around here. So I got some points for that!" Sora facepalmed, the girl never even mentioning that they were new around the school until now. "You know...there's something familiar about you two...Do you both have a twin or cousin who lives in the city and looks a lot like you, while also having a dog just like that one?" Pinkie pointed at Spike, the transformed dragon keeping up his act as a dog, chewing on a balloon to avoid suspicion. Though one fact she did bring up was that there was a possible theory that there was another Twilight and Spike, which are thankfully not at Canterlot High. Though the possibility of there being another Sora was unlikely since he isn't from Equestria. "...Uhhhh...Maybe?" Twilight guessed. "Eh. Just a thought." Pinkie stuck her hand in her hair and pulled out a clipboard and pen. "Okie dokie lokie! Just sign right here and you'll officially be in the runnings for Princess of the Fall Formal Dance!" She held the clipboard and pen out to Twilight for her to sign, Sunset Shimmer's signature already written down on the first line of the nearly empty paper. Twilight reached out to grab the pen, with her head, grabbing the tip with her teeth. Sora sighed, wishing he had the time to actually teach her how to act like a human, and also not using her mouth to grab everything when she now has fingers to easily grasp things unlike her hooves. He couldn't blame her, being a unicorn all her life and using her magic to do things, rarely using her mouth to move something light enough for her to carry in her jaws. He cleared his throat, her eyes looking at him as he pretended to cough into his fist, shifting his fingers to mime himself writing with an invisible pen. They were lucky Pinkie was always oblivious, just standing there and watching without a care in the world, not even bothered by the fact Twilight took the pen out of her hand with her mouth. Understanding what she was doing wrong, Twilight grabbed the pen with her hand and pulled it out of her mouth, grinning sheepishly. She finally began to sign, clutching the pen with her fist as she very sloppily tried to write her name down. Her writing was all over the place, stretching out over a few lines. When she finally finished, she gave the pen back to Pinkie and flipped the clipboard over, yelping in surprise as she saw Twilight's "signature" "Oh wow! You have really bad handwriting! It's like you never held a pen in all your life." Twilight giggled nervously, slowly backing away, feeling a little ashamed. "Yeah. My sis is not exactly that good with writing. She was home-schooled and did all of her writing on the computer." "Ohhhh. That makes sense," Pinkie said, not surprising to either of them for her to believe anything. "I'll sign her name for her so no one else gets confused." Sora took the pen and clipboard, writing Twilight's name down, then handed it back to Pinkie. "And my name's Sora, by the way." "Okie dokie! 'Twilight Sparkle'. Weird how her and Sunset Shimmer's sound like the names of a star. And yours sounds like a girl's name." Sora fell over in exasperation, grumbling to himself while Pinkie looked down at him. "Somebody order a dozen cases of fizzy apple cider?" Opening up the doors to the gym was a girl carrying a case of apple cider. "Ooh! I did! Over here!" Pinkie said as she jumped. As soon as she put the case down and Sora stood back up after Pinkie's little comment about his name, he and Twilight stared at the girl that walked in, easily recognizing her just by her southern accent and a brown stetson hat on her head. It was Applejack as a human: long blonde hair tied at the end in a ponytail, wearing a green and white work shirt with a short jean skirt, a belt around her waist with a red apple on the front. "Ya got the rest of them cases, Big Mac!?" Applejack called out as a young man walked into the gym, carrying several cases of the cider. "Eeyup," he said, Sora's jaw dropping at the sight of human Big Macintosh: not as "big" in muscle size like the red earth pony stallion, but still strong enough to hold heavy cases of cider without breaking a sweat, wearing a white work shirt under a red jacket and a pair of blue jeans. Applejack grabbed a bottle of cider, took the cap off with her teeth and spat it out, looking over at Sora. "Hey, Ah know you two. Y'all are the ones that gave Sunset Shimmer the what for earlier today, right?" "And Twilight's going to do even more now that she's running against Sunset for Princess of the Fall Formal!" Pinkie announced. From hearing the news, Applejack spluttered as she took a drink, spitting out her cider in shock. "Y'all are plum crazy! She's one of the meanest girls in the whole school! Ah'll bet ya she'll try to approach ya all friendly like, and when your back's turned-" Applejack grabbed a balloon, drew Twilight's face, showed it to her and Sora, then squeezed it until it popped. "-she'll end up breakin' ya. But the one girl y'all can trust last aside from her is Rainbow Dash." "Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked. "Yeah, she's the captain of EVERY sport here in school," Pinkie explained while bouncing on a big balloon, the inflatable piece of rubber popping on her after a really hard bounce. "Don't forget her bein' the captain of promisin' to do somethin' for ya, then turnin' her back on ya and not botherin' to show up." Applejack sulked as she downed the rest of her cider. Now this got even more strange for them. Sora and Twilight know that Rainbow and Applejack are the best of friends and rivals to each other, similar to how he and Riku are. And Rainbow Dash is all about loyalty. As much as they wanted to question what happened between their human selves in this world, it wasn't their right to ask or get too involved with the world. "Ok. Thanks for the warning, Applejack," Sora said. "But Twilight isn't going to let someone like Sunset Shimmer try to control the school." "Suit yourselves." Applejack turned to place the empty bottle on the table behind her, only to turn back around with suspicion. "Wait a minute. How did ya know mah name?" Sora winced, having once again accidentally blurting out another of their friends' names. "Uhhhhhhhhh...Lucky guess?" The farm girl raised a brow at him, apparently inheriting her pony counterpart's ability to sense when others are lying like this world's Pinkie's wild and random antics similar to the real party pony's. "Or, maybe you said it earlier?" "Nope," Big Mac said after placing the last of the cases down. "Thank you, Big Macintosh," Sora mumbled, quickly grabbing Twilight's hand and dragging her out of the gym. "Welp! It was nice meeting you guys! Better get a move on! Let's go, sis!" Applejack eyed them as the new students exited the gym, Spike chasing after them before the doors closed. Pinkie slid up next to the farmer, finishing tying another balloon after inflating it. "They look like they're hiding something, but I am totally onto them." Pinkie leaned over to Applejack, bringing a hand to her mouth to whisper something to her. "Sora's psychic!" "Ah highly doubt that." While Applejack got to work on stacking the cases of cider, the doors to the gym slammed open, Sunset Shimmer and two younger boys walking in: one of them a stout, chubby kid with messy orange hair, wearing a black shirt with a pair of scissors on the front, the other lean with green hair, wearing a green long-sleeved shirt and white pants. "What is this!?" Sunset complained. "This is absolutely ridiculous! There are supposed to be more streamers around the stage and less of these dumb balloons!" "Yeah! Streamers!" the smaller said as he tried to tear a streamer in half. "And fewer balloons!" the tall one said, failing to pop a balloon by squeezing it. Sunset approached the cases of cider, staring at them in disgust. "Fizzy apple cider!? UGH! This is supposed to be my coronation, not a filthy hoedown!" "Well, tough luck, Sunset," Applejack said. "It ain't gonna just be your coronation this year." "Oh really? You rednecks aren't all that bright, are you?" Sunset turned Applejack's hat around and slid it over her face as she insulted her. "No wonder everyone makes fun of you." The farm girl growled as she lifted her hat back up, her face burning red in anger. "This is MY coronation. I'm running unopposed, just like the last year, and the year before that." "Hate to burst your bubble, Sunset, but someone's running against you this year, and she ain't backing down." Surprised, Sunset snatched the clipboard from Pinkie, finding her name, a terribly scrabbled mess of a signature, and "Twilight Sparkle" underneath the worst case of chicken scratch she'd ever seen. "Yeah, ignore all the big squiggles. She wasn't a good writer. But her brother helped her sign in, and I think he's a psychic! Just don't look him in the eyes, or he'll figure out your name like he did for me and Applejack!" Sunset looked up at Pinkie and Applejack from the signatures, taking a guess that Twilight must have been the new girl she met, and she was with that boy that stood up to her first. "Where did they go?" "And yet you tell me not to try and act suspicious," Twilight scolded Sora as they walked down the halls. "I know. I blurted their names out, but Pinkie's able to believe anything, so with her was a stroke of luck," Sora reasoned. "I can't help it. I live with the Apples back in Equestria, and they're like a second family to me after all the hospitality they gave me. Can you blame me for wanting to say the name of my surrogate sister that I never had by accident?" "...I guess not. It's really difficult to not be so inconspicuous when in a new world, especially one where all of our friends are around as something completely different. It's probably not as bad if we actually did go to another world, not an alternate universe of Equestria." Sora nodded in agreement as they walked around the corner. They soon wound up in a dim hallway, the lights flickering from lack of maintenance, and it lead to a dead end with more lockers. "This school has a really poor design with a dead end hallway just to have more lockers." "I should have known you two were familiar." They both quickly turned around, spotting Sunset Shimmer standing before them on the other side of the hall. "Should have guessed 'Princess' Celestia would have sent her prized pupil, her mutt, and Equestria's greatest warrior to take my crown." "You've known about us?" Sora asked, quickly moving in front of Twilight as he stared the thief down. "The portal opens and closes every thirty moons. How could you have possibly gotten any information on us?" "Psh. Thirty moons, my non-existent tail. Always exaggerating the time in between when the portal opens when Celestia has no idea how long it really takes." Sunset walked toward them, not intimidating the Keyblade wielder or alicorn princess as she got closer. "The portal opens back up within a month, so you don't have to worry about waiting for nearly three years just to get back. But, then again, Equestria would crumble without your Element of Magic, now wouldn't it?" "How do you know my crown's the Element of Magic?" Twilight questioned. "The portal didn't upon until midnight earlier today." "I was a student who studied under Celestia as well, princess. I was a prodigy with magic, and I could tell it had so much power inside that little gem." Sunset stopped in front of Sora, smirking all the while as he extended his arm out in case he needed to call his Keyblade. "I wouldn't summon your Keyblade if I were you, Sora. Don't want to further upset the world order like we already have in being here, right?" That caught Sora, Twilight, and Spike off guard. "H-How do you know that much?" "I sneak into the castle when the portal does open. I don't plan to catch up on old times, just any juicy information about anything Celestia had hidden from the rest of the world." She laughed as she relished the anger on Sora's face. "Who would have thought there were other worlds out there, and that you are an alien sent here to try to keep Equestria safe? "To be honest, I was actually a bit surprised to have almost gotten caught by your two friends. And that magic that unicorn had...Kairi, was it?" Sora growled, but stood his ground. "That's no ordinary unicorn magic. And it's pretty powerful. I wonder if I can figure out how the spells work once I get my crown back." "It's my crown, Sunset!" Twilight exclaimed. "And why do you need it if you're already ruling this school by acting like such a bully!" "...You're a genius, right, Sparkle? Tell me: what happens when you bring an Element of Harmony in an alternate world?" Sunset waited for an immediate response, but Twilight wasn't able to find an answer. She shook her head and chuckled. "You don't even know. And you're supposed to be Celestia's star pupil. Better than me. But, what are the odds that she chose somepony else after I left her and that pathetic world I was born in? And you're just as pathetic as her, being wrapped up as the princess of the sun's pawn, doing whatever she commands like a worthless dog that obeys their master, even after being beaten to near death by thrusting you into dangerous catastrophes she herself could have handled by herself. She practically thrust you and five others to find the Elements of Harmony, in a dangerous forest where any of you could have gotten killed." "Back off, Sunset," Sora warned, summoning his Keyblade to get her to back away. "I'm just speaking the truth," Sunset said, slowly backing away with her hands raised, her grin never faltering. "Believe me or not, it doesn't matter. And don't even think about trying to best me. I know this world better than you two, and there's no way Twilight can fit in as a pony among humans. That crown will be mine." She began to walk away, chuckling sadistically. Sora dismissed his Keyblade, breathing a heavy sigh of irritation. "Don't listen to her, Twilight," Sora assured her. "She's just trying to play mind games. She's nothing but a selfish brat who wants power." "I know. And I'm not going to let her beat me. If I'm going to win, I need to do a bit of research to get everyone's vote in time before the dance." Twilight looked down the hall, finding a sign that lead to the direction of the school's library. "We don't have much time to spare. Let's go, Sora." "Right behind you, Twi." They ran down the hall to find the library so Twilight can better understand the human world along with Sora's help. As soon as they disappeared, Sunset overheard them as she disappeared around the corner. "They seriously think they can win? Not a chance in Tarterus." She heard grunts come from the hall, finding her lackeys tangled up in streamers from the gym. The girl squeezed the bridge of her nose, groaning in annoyance. "I'm surrounded by idiots." She grabbed a loose streamer hanging off of the younger boys, pulling them hard and spinning them out of their weak bindings. "Snips. Snails. I want you two to follow them and bring me something like you did with the last girl who tried to challenge me." "Yes ma'am, Sunset Shimmer!" Snips said as both boys saluted her. "Good." They stood in silence, watching them stand there aggravating Sunset as she growled. "NOW, YOU MORONS!" Snips and Snails panicked and finally got moving, chasing after Twilight and Sora to aid their leader. "As soon as I get that crown and control its magic, Twilight will be sorry she ever set hoof in this world...And Celestia will pay for denying me what I wanted." Sunset turned about and wandered the halls to check on more preparations for her victory in the next couple days. Little did she realize that her body was emitting an aura of darkness, quickly dissipating as she began to focus on taking down her competition, not wanting to dwell on her anger against her old mentor, her promises nothing but lies the moment she was brought under Princess Celestia's wing.