Twilight's friends enter Canterlot High to help Human Twilight make friends
Back then, Princess Twilight Sparkle entered the human-world to chase Sunset Shimmer for her missing Element of Magic. However, there was a catch: Her friends could not enter, because all six Elements of Harmony would have reacted differently in the other world, and thus cause untold chaos and destruction. This left Twilight to instead rely on her friends' alternate selves, while her friends were left behind to wait for their only friend and leader.
And now, back at her library, Twilight now summons her friends to go on a brand new quest! To compensate for their inability to accompany her into the human-world, Twilight sends them to a second Canterlot High, one that has an alternate version of the adorkable princess herself, but no alternate versions of her friends. There, the human Twilight has no friends nor want any, and it is up to her pony-self's friends to teach her about the magic of friendship. And, much like Twilight's trip into the last Canterlot High, it would involve two things: An alternate Sunset Shimmer, and the Fall Formal Princess Pageant.
In the first floor of Twilight Sparkle's library, the new princess's five friends were bewildered by Twilight as she paced back and forth between her library books and the convoluted math equations on her chalkboard. They were invited here by their beloved friend and leader, but were not told exactly why yet. Already, Rainbow Dash and Applejack grew impatient, because they were being kept from their jobs managing the weather and farming for apples, respectively. As a result, the two of them felt that the meeting was almost wasting their time. Fluttershy and Rarity, meanwhile, were more patient and willing to hear out what their friend and leader had to say. As for Pinkie Pie, she uncontrollably shook and grinned in excitement over Twilight's little surprise; and as usual, she loved surprises.
"Okay, so let's..." Princess Twilight investigated her books while speaking some technobabble.
"Um, hello your Majesty!" Rainbow Dash called out to the adorkable princess, who was still ignoring her. "We've been standing here for probably half an hour by now. So surely, you'd want to tell us about the big surprise!"
"Aw, come on, Rainbow!" Pinkie cheered. "If Twilight told us her surprise right now, then it wouldn't be a surprise anymore!"
"Easy for you to say," Applejack responded to the pink party pony. "Ah'm supposed to buck over fifty apple-trees by six in the evening, otherwise Granny Smith would launch my sorry flank all the way to Luna's moon."
"A ha!" Called out Twilight, after finishing her unknown research.
"About time!" Rainbow Dash sighed.
"So, what did you learn from your research?" Rarity asked as Twilight walked to her friends.
"I'll get to it, soon." Twilight responded. "But for now..." She pointed her friends to what appeared to be a small piece of cloth on a table, covering some sort of spherical object. With her horn, she telekinetically removed the cloth and revealed what appeared to be a crystal ball.
"Wait," Fluttershy said to Twilight, "I've never seen you own a crystal ball before."
"That's because I've recently purchased it at a local magic-item store," responded the librarian princess. "And trust me, it won't be like that crystal ball Pinkie once used during her brief stint as a fortune teller.
"How?" All five of the girls asked Twilight.
Twilight faced her crystal ball but thought to herself, "Now, how did the formula go, again?" After giving herself some time to think, she then used the power of her magical horn to summon an image from the crystal ball... one that appeared to resemble the entrance of the same modernized high-school Twilight herself used to enter, populated by those strange bipedal creatures who could hold objects with fingers and opposable thumbs.
As Twilight's friends grew befuddled, Applejack interjected, "Wait a gosh dern minute 'ere. Ain't that the 'igh-school you told us about? The one you entered and met up with those five hairless apes who resembled us?"
"Of course," Twilight answered. "However, this is not the same Canterlot High I've entered. Rather, it's another Canterlot High I've spent extensive research on finding."
"So let me get this straight," Rainbow said. "All of that nerdy research you've done was all on interdimensional travel?" Twilight nodded yes.
"And," Pinkie said, "you bought that crystal ball to be able to find alternate dimensions like the one you're showing us?" The librarian princess nodded yes again.
"If that is the case," Rarity continued, "then how can the Canterlot High not be the same one you have entered?"
With her magic, Twilight switched the crystal ball's image from Canterlot High's entrance to another of one of its hallways, featuring what appeared to be a second Twilight Sparkle scrambling through her locker. Compared to the pony Twilight, this version Twilight actually wore clothes, from lavender leg-warmers, to a light-blue dress with a tie around its neck and a purple skirt with the pony version's cutie-mark. She was also wearing her bag, and in it secretly contained a dog who resembled Twilight's baby dragon assistant, Spike.
"Is that what you looked like when you entered the mirror?" Fluttershy asked, as she and the others looked upon the image on the crystal ball.
"And let's not forget about the dog who resembles Spike," Applejack said. "You know, the one in 'er bag."
"To answer both questions," Twilight responded, "yes. Both the girl and her dog are me and Spike, respectively. The Canterlot High I explored did not have an alternate version of me or Spike anywhere. So, I've done extensive research on which other Canterlot High had alternate versions of the both of us, if not alternate versions of you. This Canterlot High, and the Twilight and Spike you're seeing right now, are all results of my research on interdimensional travel."
"The Canterlot High you explored also did not have its own alternate version of Sunset Shimmer," Rarity said. "Does that mean that..."
"Unfortunately," Twilight solemnly responded, "that's also according to my research."
With her horn, she switched the image on her crystal ball to another high-school girl, one who resembled the Sunset Shimmer Twilight faced off against at Canterlot High's Fall Formal Princess Pageant. The image showed the other Sunset actually as she walked up to the other Twilight, grabbed her books and papers from the locker, and threw them high in the air to scatter them. In desperation, the other Twilight scrambled across the floor to gather her books and papers again, as Sunset and the other surrounding schoolkids laughed at her for her misfortune, with Spike barking at the kids to defend his owner.
"Did that alternate Sunset just... bully the other Twilight?" Fluttershy shyly asked.
"Much like me before I met you," Twilight continued to her friends, "this version of me has no friends save for probably her dog. As a result, the alternate Sunset Shimmer would take advantage of the alternate me's lack of friends to bully her relentlessly. Hay, we can't even forget about the other kids laughing at the other me's misfortune, either; she's that lonely."
"Why does that other you have no friends?" Rainbow asked, as Sunset and the other kids in the crystal ball left the alternate Twilight to gather her books back.
"Even though that girl is me," Twilight answered, "I do not have access to her mind, so I can't say. However, one theory springs to mind: Like me, she has no friends because she doesn't want any, because all she wants to do is study."
"How are we involved in this?" Applejack asked. "Ah mean, Ah feel sorry for your alternate self 'n everything, but we ain't in 'er world, so there ain't no way we can help 'er."
"That's because I'm sending you there!" Twilight announced.
"WHAT!!!?" Twilight's friends were horrified by the news.
"You heard me," Twilight continued. "Somepony needs to enter the Canterlot High I've found for you, and teach her about the magic of friendship. And so far, based on your experience with me, I'm sending you on this high-risk operation to do so!"
Rarity's heart beaten uncontrollably, her mouth hanging down wide open. "You mean... throw us into this Canterlot High... and turning us into... these bizarre-looking bipeds?"
"Aw, come on, Rare!" Rainbow Dash assured Rarity. "We've had a history of adventure together, and despite the impossible odds we've made it out alive many times over. Surely, adapting to hands and walking on two legs won't be bad, either!"
"Rainbow's right," Twilight said to the white unicorn. "Besides, I have a good reason for this: It's because it was unfair for me to enter a world inhabited by these creatures but not you. Not only that, but there weren't any alternate versions of me or Spike. So, to even things out between the six of us, I'm sending you on this mission."
"I thought everything was already evened out," Pinkie Pie interjected. "When you entered the last Canterlot High, you met us... well, they weren't us per se, but they were technically us but with memories as high-school teenagers rather than ponies. But then..." Pinkie's head started to spin, "Even though those girls weren't us, they looked and acted like us, even shared the same names as us, so they are us but aren't us even though--"
"We get it, Pinkie!" Applejack interrutped. She then continued to Twilight, "Look, the point is that even though we couldn't accompany you, our alternate selves compensated for our absence. So in a way, we did help you, just indirectly and without even knowin'. So surely, there ain't no need to send us to help your alternate self the same way ours' helped you."
"Oh, but I insist," Twilight responded. "You are all my friends, and friends give each other equal opportunities. So as your friend and leader, I'm giving you this opportunity to compensate for not accompanying me into the previous Canterlot High."
"If you insist," Fluttershy said. "You know, if that's okay with you..."
"I'll let you go back to your homes to pack up, but I expect you to be back as quickly as possible. As you saw in the crystal ball, the alternate me is suffering without you!"
"Right!" The five girls responded, as they left Twilight's home to enter theirs' and begin to pack up.
As they left, the baby dragon Spike walked past them and into the library, carrying what appeared to be bags of groceries such as hay and salad. As soon as Spike placed the bags on the floor, he wiped his forehead of sweat, took a deep breath, and said to Twilight, "I'm back from my grocery shopping!" He then faced the crystal ball, which still showed the image of the alternate Twilight and her dog resembling Spike. "I just can't believe you're sending our own friends to another Canterlot High, just because they couldn't accompany you to the last one. Don't you realize what Princess Celestia said about sending multiple Elements of Harmony into another world, whether it's the Canterlot High we entered or the one you're sending your friends into?"
"Don't worry, Spike," Twilight assured her assistant. "To ensure that the other Canterlot High doesn't lose its natural balance and get destroyed, I won't accompany them. Princess Celestia said that the only way the other Canterlot High could be destroyed is if all the Elements of Harmony entered, and I'm only sending out five, not including myself. Besides, I only have a limited amount of magical strength to open up a portal for a short time, meaning that I won't have enough of that strength left to join them."
"But then, it's at that point, there's no turning back! You're literally imprisoning your own friends in another world, like they might as well be Luna when she was banished to the moon, or Discord when he was imprisoned in stone!"
"I'll still watch them through that crystal ball. Once they succeed, I'll open another portal to bring them back here."
"And let's not forget about how labyrinthine this place is, and crowded, too! What if they get lost or separated? And what about growing a pair of hands and walking on two legs?"
"Despite the fact that you, yourself, had no problem turning into a dog?"
"Oh... well, there's that, and I was cool with it. But your sending your friends into something they have a slim chance of surviving in, and without you as their leader and everything!"
"Come on, Spike! You know them as much as I do. I'm sending them on a mission to teach another me about friendship, and they had like, how many... three years of experience teaching me about friendship? If they can handle me, surely they can handle another version of me!"
***
Applejack was the first to arrive in front of Twilight's library with her saddle-bags packed with supplies, such as snacks and bandages. Twi ain't Celestia, she thought to herself. It's one thing to go on the adventures herself, just 'cause Celestia doesn't do so herself. But to send the five of us on this adventure, probably without her...
"Applejack, darling!" The orange farm-pony turned around and saw Rarity walking to her, also wearing her fully-packed saddlebags as well as an expensive hat and scarf.
"Hey, Rare," The orange farm-pony greeted her friend with little enthusiasm.
"You don't look fine. Anything I can do to help you feel better?"
"Actually, Ah'm fine. It's just that I had to tell Granny Smith that I won't be helpin' 'er farm apples because Ah'm headin' to another dimension. She didn't believe me and kept insistin' that Ah stay with 'er, but Ah argued with 'er relentlessly 'til I said this was for mah friends."
"Did she eventually give in?"
Applejack sighed. "She eventually said to me, 'If this is for your friends, then don't keep 'em waiting.' Granted, Applebloom wanted to come with me on this trip, but Ah told 'er it would be a dangerous trip. Mah baby-sis kept insistin', but I still refused 'er, and said that she'll 'ave to wait for me 'til Ah return."
"I was doing the same with Sweetie Belle, you know? Oh, you should've seen how she cried and begged to come with us, possibly to get her cutie-mark in dimension hopping!"
"Which was what mah baby-sis thought she'd get once she comes with me!"
"And Scootaloo, too!" Called out a tomboyish voice. Applejack and Rarity eventually saw Rainbow Dash walking to them, also with her saddle-bags packed with supplies. "She thinks she can earn her cutie-mark in growing a pair of hands and walking on two legs, even though our chances of surviving the second Canterlot High is almost slim-to-none!"
"Ya'll don't need to remind us, RD," Applejack responded. "The Cutie-Mark Crusaders'll do anythin' to get cutie-marks, even if it means throwin' their lives away like garbage!" She turned her head back and forth, before the orange farm-pony went off-topic, "By the way, where are Pinkie and Fluttershy?"
"Hello!" A loud, familiar voice from behind Applejack startled her, and before she knew it, she and her two friends saw Pinkie Pie behind the farm-pony. Like the others, she also had her bags packed with supplies. "This is going to be so exciting!" The pink party-pony said to her friends. "I mean, you and me, growing hands and walking on two legs, exploring another Canterlot High to help Twilight's alternate self learn about friendship? And the best part? It's all compensation for Twilight not bringing us into the previous Canterlot High!"
"I-I don't know..." The girls turned to face Fluttershy, the last to come to Twilight's library with her own saddle-bags packed with supplies. "I-I mean... Twilight herself was barely able to survive it... so what if we..."
"Where in all of Tartarus is your sense of adventure?" Rainbow wrapped her front-right leg around Fluttershy's shoulders. "Yeah, it'll be dangerous, but that's the whole point of adventure! You're supposed to expose yourself to danger in an adventure, just so that you could build character!"
"I-if you say so..." The animal caretaker meekly and quietly answered.
"You're all here!" The girls looked up and saw Twilight sticking her head out of one of the top windows. She then disappeared behind that window, and eventually reappeared behind her front door, inviting her friends in.
In the library, the five girls lined up in front of their leader. "Based on the saddle-bags you're carrying," Twilight said to her friends, "I assume you're fully packed for the second Canterlot High?" The lavender alicorn's friends nodded yes. "Then let's go over some protocol, shall we?
"I'm going to open a portal for you leading to the second Canterlot High, but I won't have the magical capabilities to keep it open for long."
"So then, once we enter... there's no going back?" Fluttershy meekly asked.
"I'm sorry," Twilight answered Fluttershy, "but your right. The portal will close behind you, and there will be no way for you to go back unless I open another portal for you. But don't worry, because I'll still watch you from my crystal ball, and once you successfully teach the alternate me about friendship, I'll open a portal back home.
"Also, once you enter that other Canterlot High, you might magically transform from ponies to one of those bipedal creatures. When that happens, don't freak out and try to adapt to walking on two legs and holding objects with hands. Also, Canterlot High is a large, crowded, labyrinthine school, and as a result, you might get lost or split up. So, whatever happens, stick together at all times, no matter what!"
"And if we find your alternate self?" Rainbow asked.
"Teach her everything there is to know about friendship, like you did me. And if she refuses like I used to, then keep persisting until she gives in! Chances are that, like me, she will not accept your friendship, let alone anyone's. However, that's to be expected, but I'm sure that, with your experience with me, you'll eventually succeed."
"What about you?" Fluttershy asked. "Are you coming with us?"
"I'm afraid I can't. You see, somepony has to open the portal from the other side, and if I join you, I'll lose my magic and be unable to return us to Equestria. Granted, I could bring the Element of Magic with me so that I can use magic in the other Canterlot High, but Princess Celestia said that all six Elements of Harmony entering Canterlot High at once would cause them to react differently and disrupt its natural balance. However, if only five of you entered the other Canterlot High, then not much damage will be done!"
"Anythin' else, sugar-cube?" Applejack asked.
"Only that, no matter what happens, you are all my friends. United under my leadership, you've survived impossible odds many times over, and helped me rise to power as Equestria's new leader. If you can help me master friendship, then surely you can do likewise with my alternate self, and that would be the greatest thing any friend could ever do!"
Twilight faced away from her friends. As her horn glowed a lavender hue, a flash of light exploded in front of the girls and turned into what looked like an electrified funnel. "Girls, now!" The lavender alicorn called to her friends. "While I have the portal open, enter it before it closes!"
The girls looked and nodded at each other, then one at a time entered the portal. However, as Fluttershy saw her friends disappear behind the portal, she became the only one left behind, fearful of what might lie ahead. "Fluttershy!" Twilight called out to her friend. "You, too!"
Listening to Twilight, the animal caretaker closed her eyes and blindly ran into the portal, hoping to catch up with her friends. A bright flash of light appeared before her, until darkness took hold of her...
All Rarity could see was darkness, but could barely feel herself. However, as soon as her vision restored itself to normal, she could see what appeared to be a pair of white hands that nearly fitted Twilight's description of them. What made this even crazier for her was that she could feel those hands, even move them! She then looked down her body and saw everything else that also described Twilight's experience at Canterlot High, from a dress with a short skirt, to leg-warmers on where her back-legs were normally supposed to be, and a complete lack of fur all over her body.
Rarity's heart was beating uncontrollably, and she held back her urge to scream. Okay, Rarity, the fashion designer thought to herself, promise me you won't scream. Twilight herself survived it, so surely, you can survive it as well...
Before Rarity could scream, she was crushed underneath a heavy weight. Lying face-down, she turned up and saw Applejack on top of her, and magically transformed into another hairless ape just like her.
"Watch where you're going, Rare!" Applejack demanded Rarity.
"Well, excuse me," Rarity scoffed at Applejack, as the former pushed off the latter, "it's bad enough that you and I turned into those... those creatures..." Rarity looked at her hands again, her throat pushing upward like she was about to vomit. "...Complete with these... things that Twilight described to us... the same ones her alternate self has!"
"Wait, what'r you--" Applejack then noticed that Rarity looked different, then looked at her own hands. Like the white unicorn before her, the orange farm-pony also had the urge to scream, but before she could, she and the professional fashion designer heard another loud scream behind them.
They soon turned around to discover Fluttershy, kneeling down on her legs in front of a large statue, as she also transformed into a hairless ape like them. She was screaming so uncontrollably, that she was nearly shattering Applejack and Rarity's ears.
The two grabbed Fluttershy and restrained her. "Now calm yourself right now!" Applejack shouted over Fluttershy's screaming. Unfortunately, the animal caretaker still continued screaming, so Rarity slapped her yellow friend on the cheeks to calm her. From that slap, the yellow pegasus slowly quieted herself down.
"It's okay, Fluttershy," Rarity reassured her, her hands placed on Fluttershy's shoulders. "Just calm down and take a few deep breaths." Listening to her friend's suggestions, the animal caretaker slowly breathed in and out from her diaphragm repeatedly until she grew calm.
Fluttershy looked at Applejack and Rarity, and to her shock discovered what they now looked like. Her teeth clenched so hard that they could probably chip, and she sweated and shook uncontrollably from the sight of her friends becoming hairless apes just like her. Her eyes became watery, and without any notion of self-control, she hugged Rarity, rested her face on her bosom, and cried uncontrollably on her.
"I'm so sorry," Fluttershy sobbed. "It's just that my hooves are replaced with hands, and I don't have any fur and..."
"Now, there there," Rarity comforted the animal caretaker. "Just let it all out..."
While Rarity hugged the crying Fluttershy, Applejack eventually saw Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie be the last ones to fall out of the statue, possibly like herself, Rarity, and Fluttershy, with Pinkie on top of Rainbow's back. "Hey!" Pinkie looked at Fluttershy, as she stopped crying and saw the two with Rarity and Applejack. "I thought Fluttershy was the last to enter, and yet she came before us?"
Rainbow pushed Pinkie off her back, then continued, "If I were to sum up a guess, it's that Fluttershy flew through the portal so quickly, that she passed--" Rainbow investigated her entire body as well as those of her friends, and became dumbfounded by their looks. "O-kay..." The rainbow-maned pegasus said to herself. "So as I said... if we can survive our past adventures... surely we can survive hands and walking on two legs..." She looked toward her friends and nervously asked them, "Right?"
Before she could continue, Rainbow and the others turned around to face the giant entrance of Canterlot High, where many of the students were walking in and out and communing with each other. However, what their attention was a pair of adolescent boys who somehow resembled Snips and Snails from Ponyville Elementary, the latter of whom held a strange device in front of them. The two stared at the girls, before eventually running back into the building with the device.
"What was that for?" Applejack asked.
"Never mind," Rainbow responded. "What matters is that we find Twilight's alternate self and teach her about friendship. Everything else is just window dressing!"
"Now..." Rainbow held on to the statue to lift herself up on her two legs. "Like that Twilight we saw in the crystal ball, we're supposed to stand on two legs rather than four, right?"
Following Rainbow's example, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy also grabbed the statue to lift themselves up on their two legs. Afterward, they let go of the statue and wobbled back and forth to the entrance. Rarity managed to grab onto the stair-rail, but the other three then suddenly slammed into Rarity and fell to the ground, a result of their struggle to balance on two legs.
"Ugh!" Rainbow groaned. "How did Twilight learn to survive walking on two legs?"
"No wonder we were kept from going to the last Canterlot High!" Applejack exclaimed. "Twilight brings us with 'er, and we would've slowed 'er even more than 'er own bipedal battle."
"Where's Pinkie, by the way?" Fluttershy asked the others.
The four girls looked behind, and to their sudden surprise, saw Pinkie Pie happily walking on her two legs to the front door without losing her balance, then gripping the door's handle with her right hand flawlessly. She faced her friends and called out, "Come on, girls! This hairless ape thing isn't as bad as any of you think!"
Pinkie opened the door and walked inside, while the other four girls became astounded and confused by her. "Pinkie Pie," Rainbow said to herself. "Still the same random pony she's always been."
Rainbow and her friends got off of each other and the ground, then walked up the steps to the front door. Before they could enter, Fluttershy said to her friends, "All Pinkie did was grab the handles with her hands, right?"
"Oh nonsense!" Rarity responded. "Back in Ponyville, I just open the door with my magic, like this..." Rarity made a swoop of her head, acting like she was opening the door with her magic like when she was a unicorn. Unfortunately, the door did not open on its own, and as a result, Rarity slammed into the door, hit her face, and fell on the ground.
As Rarity rubbed her nose, Applejack pulled the white unicorn up and said to her, "You're forgettin' that we're in a world populated by hairless apes."
"Yeah," Rainbow interjected. "That means you have no horn, and no horn means no magic."
"Oh," Rarity tempered up. "When I get back to Twilight's library, I am going to strangle her with my hands..."
"But by the time we go back to our world," Fluttershy said, "wouldn't your hands go back to being hooves?"
"Then I might as well do likewise with my magic!"
"Come on, Rare," Applejack calmed the fashion designer. "You're just frustrated is all."
Rarity sighed. "Perhaps you're right. It's just that... adjusting to a body other than that of a pony's is so exhausting!"
Like she should have done earlier ago, Rarity grabbed the door's handles with her hands and pulled it open. The girls entered the doorway and found themselves in what appeared to be a lobby, where in the back were several staircases leading to different hallways. Placed on the walls were flags with the symbol of a horse, the same symbol the floor itself had, possibly to represent the school they were in. At the same time, tons of those ape-like teenagers in clothes were walking up and down the lobby, sometimes walking to different hallways, and other times talking to each other.
None of the girls had any idea of what they were looking at. All they knew was that it all fitted the description of Twilight's adventures in the previous Canterlot High: Modernized, rather than medieval like Equestria, and full of hairless apes who could grab things with hands and walk on two legs. Out of pure stress, the four girls held on to each other's hands and squeezed them as hard as possible. All they wanted to do was find and grab Pinkie Pie, run back to the statue they came out from, call out to Twilight to let them out, and hope that their beloved leader would listen to their cries for help from her crystal ball. And yet they could not, because their mission was to find Twilight's alternate self, and teach her about friendship, and they will be unable to leave until they get the job done.
"Hey, everypony!" Called out a familiar voice. The four girls faced frontward to discover Pinkie Pie, waving at them and calling them out.
"Pinkie!" Applejack said, as she and the others walked to her. "What do you think you're doing, walking ahead of us like that?"
"Also, you said 'everypony,'" Rainbow retorted to the pink party pony. "Twilight once said that in Canterlot High, these hairless say 'everybody!'"
"Oh!" Pinkie squeed. "It's just that I was getting the hang of this bipedal hands thing, but to think that I'd forget to say 'everybo--'"
Before the party pony could start her usual endless chatter, she was interrupted by a school bell, which rung so loudly and repeatedly that it almost pierced their ears. Once the bell stopped ringing, crowds of those ape-like teenagers walked down the halls and flooded the lobby. There were so many teenagers, that they even inadvertently blocked them from each other and splitting them up.
"Oh, my Celestia," Rarity whispered to herself, her muscles tensing from the crowds of teenagers splitting her apart from her friends. Without thinking, the white unicorn called out to the others, "Rainbow! Pinkie Pie? Fluttershy? Applejack?" She ran around the crowd, hoping to find her friends, but to no avail. The crowd eventually ended up pushing Rarity away to one of the hallways, thus splitting her farther away from the others.
Little did Rarity know was that her friends tried to find her and each other, but were also pushed by several other crowds into separate hallways. All five of them were now split up, alone in an unfamiliar world, and vulnerable. Is this what Twilight herself endured? Each of them thought...
***
The crowd surrounding Rainbow Dash grew smaller, which eventually bought her time to lean on one of the lockers to catch her breath. After recovering, she found herself in the middle of one of the hallways, populated by ape-like teenagers scrambling through their lockers and socializing with each other. What made this even more mind-boggling was that some of those teens resembled ponies she knew from Equestria! Two of them included a grey-skinned, sophisticated girl with well-groomed hair and a treble clef on her skirt, and a white-skinned girl with blue, spiky hair and large sunglasses, with the two of them using strange devices that let them listen to classical and electronic music, respectively. Two more included a yellow-skinned girl with dark-blue and pink-streaked hair and a candy symbol on her dress, and a light-green girl with a lyre symbol on her dress talking relentlessly to the other girl about magical, talking horses. A fifth teenager had blond hair, gray skin, and bubbles on her skirt, eating what appeared to be a muffin. Walking with that grey-skinned girl was a young, brown-skinned man wearing a tuxedo and scarf with a sand-clock symbol, carrying what appeared to be a mixture of a pen and a tiny screwdriver. The seventh and eighth teenagers included a bright-yellow girl with spiky, orange hair, and a blue military uniform with the badge of a flaming phoenix, and a light-blue male with dark-blue, spiky hair, a military uniform like the yellow girl, and the badge of a lightning bolt with wings.
This definitely fits Twilight's description of Canterlot High, thought Rainbow, looking upon the hairless apes. She once mentioned seeing hairless apes who resembled ponies we knew, and this Canterlot High is no different from the one she explored. Suddenly, a thought hit her. Oh dear, the rainbow pegasus thought again, my friends!
Out of desperation, Rainbow ran down the labyrinthine halls of the high-school. "Fluttershy!" She called out, hoping for a response. "Pinkie!? Rarity!? Applejack!?" It was bad enough that she had to adapt to hands and two legs like Twilight, but now she had to contend with her missing friends, thanks to that crowd of ape-like teenagers separating her from the others. In fact, every time she ran around searching for her missing friends, it almost reminded her of the time she had to stay behind while Twilight was the one who entered the previous Canterlot High. Both situations involved parting ways with beloved friends, constantly worrying about their own safeties and well-beings, as if they might have gotten destroyed by Canterlot High. Just wait until I get my hooves... hands... whatever I have on them, she continued thinking as she relentlessly searched for her friends, making me worry like this and everything...
Upon walking down a three-way intersection of the hall, she stopped after hearing a familiar voice calling, "Hey, those were my research notes!"
Twilight? Rainbow thought to herself. On her left of the intersection, she could see a crowd of teenagers gathering to laugh at someone's misfortunes. The rainbow-maned pegasus walked to the crowd and leaned above it to see what the commotion was about. And, to her surprise, she found her mission objective!
The alternate Twilight Sparkle scrambled all over the floor to gather her torn-up notes, while Sunset Shimmer's alternate self stood above her, laughing at her misfortunes alongside all the other students. In Twilight's backpack was the dog who resembled Spike, barking at Sunset to defend his master.
"Oh, look!" Sunset gave Twilight's dog a cold glare, as Spike continuously barked at her. "Her disgusting, slobber-laden dog is defending her honor. Pfft, as if!"
Already, Rainbow furrowed her brows and tensed up. Okay, the rainbow-maned pegasus thought to herself. I'm split apart from my friends and I need to reunite with them before anything happens to them. But on the other hoof, I've sighted my target, and I would need to defend her from that alternate Sunset Shimmer. My friends, or alternate Twilight?
Twilight packed her torn notes into her backpack, ensuring that they still leave room for Spike. As she stood back up, Sunset continued to her, "Face it, egghead! No one, not even the nerds -- that clique you're supposed to be with -- want you. You'll forever remain a lonely, pitiful reject, and might as well not even exist in this school." Spike was still barking at Sunset, as she retorted to him with, "And that goes for your dog, Spike, too!" The lavender girl hugged Spike inside her backpack, hoping to protect him from the yellow-skinned bully.
This is getting me nowhere! Rainbow thought again. Out of fury for Sunset, the rainbow-maned pegasus pushed aside the crowd to walk up to, and stand up to her. "The kids in this school call you Sunset Shimmer, right?"
"Tch," Sunset scoffed at Rainbow. "Looks like my popularity in the school precedes me."
"Listen," Rainbow scolded Sunset, "I may be a new student who's unfamiliar to this school, but I won't stand by and do nothing while bullies like you pick on the weak!"
"Oooh..." The crowd of teenagers watched in amazement over this new girl defending Twilight.
"Excuse me?" Twilight said to Rainbow. "Since when did I ask you for your help? I've gotten everything under control!"
"No you don't!" Rainbow retorted. "You're in trouble, and it's natural for somepo-- er, I mean somebody like me to save you." The rainbow-haired girl switched her attention to Sunset. "And as for you, I am not going to tolerate your behavior! Tw-- this girl is just trying to get through her school day, and the first thing that pops into your mind is to humiliate her for your own amusement."
"Oh..." Sunset then told the crowd of teens, "Look, everyone! Some new student is defending the nerd's honor!" The other students laughed alongside the yellow-skinned girl. The crowd then quieted down so that she could continue to Rainbow, "Listen, girl. That egghead you're defending, Twilight Sparkle? She actually doesn't want friends, because instead she wants to study at Canterlot High. She hates the idea of others stepping in to help her, because to her, all that matters is that she studies and earns good grades like the nerd she's always been!"
"I don't care!" Rainbow argued. "Even if what you said is true, that Twilight doesn't need mine or anypo-- er, anybody's help, it's still always important to help others like her in need!"
"Oh really?" Sunset talked back. "You and what army?"
"Simple! Not so much an army per se, but rather four more new girls who happen to be my friends! Right now, they're split apart from me and have gotten lost. But if they were still around, they would also do everything in their power to defend Twilight, because these girls and I are her potential friends!"
"Wait!" Twilight interrupted. "Did you just say what I thought you said? You... and those other four girls you've mentioned... my potential friends?"
"You heard me!" Rainbow sternly answered Twilight's question. "We may be five girls versus an entire school, but we'll defend you, even to the death, if we have to!"
"Then defend her all you want!" Sunset demanded Rainbow, who turned around to face the yellow-skinned bully alongside Twilight. "Just remember, Miss..."
"Rainbow Dash," the rainbow-haired girl responded. "My name is Rainbow Dash!"
"Whatever," Sunset retorted. She then started pointing at Rainbow's chest, giving her a cold glance. "Just remember: By choosing to defend this egghead and her dog, you'll end up at the bottom of the food chain just like her! And, if those 'four new girls' you mentioned try to help you help her, too, then they'll be ridiculed as well!"
"Whatever it takes," Rainbow argued. "Anything to protect Twilight!" She grabbed the lavender girl's arm and pulled her away from Sunset. "Come on, Twilight. Let's get you and your dog away from her and her lack of mercy." The rainbow-haired tomboy then escorted the lavender-haired school-girl and her dog away from the crowd of students and their ringleader, Sunset Shimmer.
***
Already, Rainbow,Twilight and Spike were far away from Sunset Shimmer. As the two stopped near a door leading to a classroom, the rainbow-maned pegasus said to the lavender unicorn's alternate self, "Are you okay, Twilight? Because you know, after her complete lack of hospitality and everything, it seems you would have been damaged beyond repair."
Suddenly, Twilight furrowed her eyebrows and tensed up to the blue-skinned tomboy. "Your name is Rainbow Dash, right? Well, don't you even realize what you've done?"
"Of course!" Rainbow responded. "I've saved you and your friend, Spike from that school-bully and those other kids she enticed into ganging up on you. Tch, for someone so smart, you can be so simple, sometimes!"
"More than that," the lavender girl responded. "You heard Sunset! Now that you've defended my honor, you are now as likely to be bullied as I am! I could have handled this situation on my own, but then you had to pop out of nowhere and rescue me like I'm some stereotypical damsel-in-distress."
"But you couldn't have," Rainbow argued back. "You had no way of defending yourself, and you've allowed Sunset to tear up your notes for whatever class you're taking. Had I not stepped in, you would've regretted 'handling this on your own', or whatever the hay you said you would!"
From Twilight's backpack, Spike the dog angrily barked at her master. The lavender girl then said to her dog, "You agree with her, Spike?"
"See?" Rainbow spoke. "It's as you said, even your dog thinks you could have accepted help!"
Twilight sighed and placed her palm on her face. "Look, Rainbow..." She then pointed to the rainbow-haired tomboy to four different groups of teenagers. One consisted of nerds speaking technobabble to each other. The second were jocks who wore sweatshirts while carrying sports equipment. The third were female fashion designers talking about what dresses to make. And the fourth were rockers with over-dyed hair, black leather coats, and rock-and-roll instruments. "Tell me what these are," the lavender girl ordered Rainbow.
The rainbow-haired tomboy looked closely at the groups, but could not put a finger -- or hoof -- to it. "All I see are kids socializing with each other."
Again, Twilight sighed. "These are called cliques," she answered harshly. "You probably heard Sunset mention that I do not belong with the nerds despite the fact that I am one. Cliques are those kids who are segregated into different groups based on certain stereotypes, and they do not interact with any of the other cliques because of their inability to respect each other's differences."
Rainbow investigated the groups again. Funny, the rainbow-haired tomboy thought to herself. These kids definitely fit our Twilight's description of them during her trip to the other Canterlot High. I mean, with the exception of those bullies back at flight camp, and Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon every time they torment Scootaloo and her friends for lacking cutie-marks, most of the ponies I've met back in Equestria were nicer to each other than that.
"And let's not forget about Sunset Shimmer!" Twilight angrily continued. "She's the most feared and popular kid in school. So much, in fact..." The lavender girl pointed to Rainbow what appeared to be a glass case on the wall. She escorted her to the case, and showed her what appeared to be a series of trophies... and to the tomboy's shock, three photos of Sunset Shimmer wearing a dress and sash, carrying a bouquet of roses, and wearing a golden tiara.
"Are you telling me," Rainbow asked Twilight, still facing the photos, "that Sunset won a few prom-queen pageants?"
"Correction," Twilight answered, "Fall Formal Princess Pageants! And, she won three of those pageants in a row. With the powers of a princess, she has the ability to influence all the other kids in the school, even turn them against each other!" She then faced Rainbow and continued, "Which is why I don't want any friends! This school is not designed to help children make friends. Rather, it's all about survival of the fittest here; you try to make friends, and you'll appear weak! But divide yourself from everyone else, and you'll survive longer. I'm just one of those students trying to get through the school-day for exactly that reason, because if I don't, Sunset will bully me for the rest of my life!"
Rainbow sighed, then argued to the lavender girl, "You don't even know what my four friends and I are about, do you? Back where we come from, the five of us were all about defying impossible odds and challenging the status quo, namely through the magic of our friendship! But here, all I see is a coward and a loner who would rather submit to that oppressive ice-queen, rather than stand up to her by finding friends to support her."
"Excuse me," Twilight responded, "but did you just call me a coward?"
"You want to remain alone and vulnerable for the rest of your life?" Rainbow scolded the lavender girl. "Fine! Just remember that I've stood up for you, and my friends would've done the same had we not split up!"
Suddenly, the two felt caught off-guard, as they turned around and saw that some teenagers were watching and listening to their argument. The two grinned at the crowd, before the both of them sneaked away and split up from each other, already embarrassed.
Rainbow ran from both Twilight and the crowd, her face scrunched in a heavy mixture of anger, embarrassment, and sadness. 'High-risk operation' indeed... The rainbow-maned tomboy thought, as she fought off her tears.
