Prologue
"To be honest, the strawberry ice cream isn't as good as the chocolate flavored one."
The Friendship Games had ended, and the six girls from Canterlot High were celebrating at Sugarcube Corner. Accompanied by their 'new' friend from Crystal Prep, Twilight Sparkle, they all sat at a large table. Each one of the friends had some type of treat, ranging from dripping ice cream to warm, mouth-watering muffins.
"Applejack, that is more of an opinion than a fact, so therefore it cannot be honest," said Twilight. She smiled, showing she was trying to be truthful. She had come to realize from her experiences at her old school that people thought she was being rude when correcting them, and even though she never intended it, no one ever understood what she really meant by it.
"Ah know, Twi- but to me, chocolate is honestly the better choice." The cowgirl chuckled in reply.
Twilight sighed in relief. She had never had many friends before, and these six girls were the best things to ever happen to her.
"Hey! Twilight, you go to our school now, right?" Pinkie Pie asked excitedly. The hyperactive girl jumped up from her seat and threw her arms into the air.
"Well, yes, I did transfer to Canterlot Hi-"
Pinkie gasped. "Yay! That means that when you come in for the 'first' time," Pinkie made quotation marks in the air as she said the word 'first', "I can throw you a Welcome to Canterlot High From Crystal Prep Charter School I Hope You Like It party!" She smiled widely, her large puffy hair bouncing behind her.
Sparkle stared at her for a moment, before smiling. "Heh, alright Pinkie Pie."
"Ooh! What's your favorite kind of cake? I can make lemon cake, vanilla cake, chocolate cake, berry cake, red velvet cake, marble ca-"
Rainbow Dash put her hand over Pinkie's mouth. "I think she gets the idea, Pinks."
Twilight nodded. "I don't really need a cake. Based on what you girls told me, it seems as if everyone already knows me." Glancing down, Twilight sighed.
"What's wrong, Twilight?" Rarity leaned over. Sitting down her gelato, she looked over at Twilight. "Is something the matter?"
"It's nothing, really." The girl replied, focusing her attention back on the table of newly found friends in front of her.
"This time I know for an honest fact it ain't nothin'. C'mon now, Twi, what's troublin' ya?"
"I just... I know there's more that's out there... Like, another me I haven't met. Maybe that Twilight is here at Canterlot High: I already know I belong. Maybe... Maybe that's it."
Sunset Shimmer glanced over to Fluttershy and Applejack, who both looked like they wanted to tell her about the Twilight they knew.
It was true, the girls did tell the former Crystal Prep student about her. But the two counterparts had never met each other, and Twilight did seem suspicious about it when her newly found friends explained it. However, based on all the evidence provided, she could only assume they weren't lying.
The three girls knew she referenced herself instead of Princess Twilight. Fluttershy leaned back in her chair, trying to not be noticed. Sunset sighed. "Twilight, can I talk to you for a moment?"
"Um, sure." Twilight replied.
"In private?"
Twilight nodded and stood up. Sunset walked over to the doors of the shop, and the two girls went outside.
"What did you want to talk about?" Twilight asked her.
Sunset looked up at the sky, then shifted her eyes down the the grass below her. Digging her shoe into the ground, she sighed again. "There's something else we didn't tell you about your extraterrestrial counterpart."
Twilight's eyes widened. "Mmhmm? What is it?"
"Well... It's not really about your counterpart, you see..."
"Yes?"
"It's... Um, she's smart!"
"Huh? You already told me that... Which would make sense, since I'm smart." Twilight said in return, sounding puzzled.
"Oh, we did? Oh, well, ok then." Sunset said quickly. Smiling, she opened the door to go back inside.
"What did you tell her?" Fluttershy whispered to Sunset when the two sat back down.
"Nothing... I'll tell you later." Sunset replied.
Rainbow Dash pulled out her phone. "Woah, already time for practice!"
Rarity looked at her. "I thought you said your soccer practice wasn't today."
"It isn't. Instead, I'm helping my little friend Scootaloo to become as awesome as I am!" Rainbow smiled wide, proud of herself.
"That's really nice, Rainbow." Twilight said, "People at my old school never helped each other, unless if it was in dire circumstances."
"That's because your old school's a bunch of stuck-up jerks that-" Rainbow stopped herself. "What I mean to say, is... Crystal Prep students are, um... How to word it..."
Twilight smiled. "I understand, trust me... I wanted to switch schools for a reason. Not only because I did all I could over there, but I thought that going to Everton would get me away from people. I just didn't see any reason to try to be friends with people like that. We went to all the same elementary and middle schools."
"Well, now you're at our awesome school! You should join one of the sports teams, especially while I'm still captain!" Rainbow replied.
"Maybe, though I'm not exactly an athlete."
"Perhaps you'd like to join our study group first." Sunset cut in.
Twilight turned her attention to the girl and smiled. "I like the sound of that. I've never been in a study group before, though. What's it like?"
"Just meet us in the school foyer early Monday morning- you'll see." Sunset replied.
"Yes, it did help bring up my science grades. I think you'd like it. Not that I think you need to improve your grades, of course..." Rarity responded sheepishly.
"Alright, I'll be there." Twilight assured them.
"Welp, I've gotta go. See you guys around." Rainbow waved to her friends as she left the table.
"Bye, Rainbow!" The girls responded, waving back.
"Let me get this straight," Twilight put her hands on the table, "My... Extraterrestrial counterpart... Looks just like me, acts just like me, has the same dog as me... Attended our school for a while... Then went back home?"
Fluttershy nodded.
Pinkie smiled. "She's also a roy-" Sunset quickly covered her mouth, just like Rainbow Dash had to do a few minutes before.
"Sunset?" Twilight tilted her head in puzzlement.
"Heh, sorry, I thought I saw a crumb on Pinkie's face... I was just getting it off of her. Oh, hey, Would you look at the time? First Rainbow Dash, now me..." Sunset fake gasped, but well enough to make someone question if it really was fake. "Twilight, since you're new around here, why don't you come with me?"
"Uhm... To where?"
"The school library! You'd love it. I have to research a few things... Why don't you come with me?"
Twilight smiled slightly. "Erm... Sure, I guess." She stood up and pushed in her chair. "Bye, guys!" Her smile grew wider as she said that. Twilight had friends. Real, true friends.
Sunset pulled her phone from her pocket and quickly began typing a group message to all of her newly found friends: except for Twilight. Do NOT tell our new friend that the other Twilight is a pony princess... At ALL. Pinkie, this means YOU especially!
Pinkie looked up. "Why?"
Sunset face palmed. "Research for history!" As she left Sugarcube Corner, she began to add another text. Please try to reply to the text, Pinkie! And because, it's dangerous if we do so.
"Is... Pinkie always that oblivious?" Twilight asked as they began to walk down the side of the road.
Sunset quickly hid her phone. "Uhm... Well, it's hard to say. She was probably distracted by her food. You'll come to learn very quickly that she has a large sweet-tooth and love for baking."
Before Twilight could reply, Pinkie ran up to the door of Sugarcube Corner and yelled, "OKAY, SUNSET!" Looking back at the girl, the two friends laughed.
~~~
Sunset and Twilight roamed the halls of Canterlot High after searching even deeper through the library's bookshelves. "Have you seen your locker yet?" Shimmer asked.
"Nope, Principal Celestia said I'd find it Monday, which is in three days, counting today." The purple haired girl responded.
"Oh, ok. I figured I'd get all my research done today because it's Friday. School isn't open during the weekend, and the public library is just too big for me to find anything without looking for hours."
Twilight smiled. "People think I'm weird for going to the library just to smell the books and flip through their pages."
"I used to do that, too, before I-" Sunset paused.
"Before you... What?" Twilight asked.
"Uhm... Moved. I moved here, from somewhere really far..." Shimmer replied quietly.
Twilight's eyes widened. "Ohh... I've never moved. But I hear that it can be hard. I'm sorry, Sunset."
"It's ok," Sunset cracked a smile, "Oh, look- there's my locker. I have to get another book out of it, for my weekend research. Mind holding these?" Sunset eyed the stack of books in her arms. Twilight held almost the same amount in hers.
Twilight shook her head. "Not at all."
Sunset smiled. "Thanks, Twi." She sat the enormous amount of textbooks in her arms, doubling the size and weight of Twilight's load. The pile was all the way up to her chin. Sunset felt bad for making her hold all of the books, but it was better than sitting them down: she wasn't sure if they'd be able to pick them all back up without assistance.
"We should've brought our backpacks..." Twilight huffed.
"Yeah... I'm sorry." Sunset quickly undid her lock and grabbed her book from Equestria. Quickly securing her locker, and grabbed the book, and then allowed Twilight to lay the top half of the pile into Sunset's arms.
"It's... Okay..." Twilight said between breaths. "I'm not used to... So many books... All at one time."
Sunset began walking again. "Oh? Well, here at our school, books are all we have."
"Woah... No, like, personal research?"
"Huh?" Sunset kicked the school's front door open.
"Like... You can't go out there, and observe things yourself? You've gotta use books for... Everything? Don't get me wrong, I love books... But..." Twilight slowly walked down the stairs.
"This isn't a prestigious school anymore, Twilight. Then again, most of our students can't even do the projects already assigned. If you can go above and beyond, I'm sure it'll count towards something." Sunset Shimmer responded.
"That's true." Sparkle nodded her head in agreement.
The two highschoolers continued to walk down the street. Once they reached Sunset's house, Twilight departed for her own home. Sunset took her books, handful by handful, upstairs to her bedroom. Closing her door, she slumped into bed, the magical book from her homeworld in her hands. Taking a pencil, she began to write.
Princess Twilight,
The Friendship Games are over, and everything is well between the two schools. However, in the midst of everything, our friends and I happened to meet someone eerily familiar...
Your human counterpart is joining our school. I have told her about you. She doesn't know you are a princess, or even a pony... I trust that you will understand my reasons. What is best? Should I tell her everything about you? Though I have yet to meet my counterpart in this world, I do hope that I haven't caused anything to abnormally happen between our two galaxies.
Sunset Shimmer
Sunset closed the book and sat it on her nightstand. Closing her eyes, she fell asleep.