In a world full of magic, can Twilight defeat Sunset and discover who she's meant to be?
In a world full of magic, Twilight Sparkle is a young mage who is drawn to Canterlot High just in time for the Fall Formal. There she uncovers a secret plot that could threaten her home and whole world. With the help of her new friends, will she be able to stop Sunset's plans and discover the truth behind an ancient mystery?
An alternate take on Equestria girls but without the ponies and where magic is much more common place.
Inspired by human Equestria girls stories and the "My little Mages" series.
(This is my first story so other chapters and future stories may depend on the reactions I get to this one.)
Long ago, in a magical place called Equestria; dark forces had invaded the land. It tore through the land destroying everthing and everyone in it's path. Warriors fought day and night with their best enchanted weapons, but the monsters only seemed to grow stronger and more numerous. Not even the most powerful of mages could combat the darkness with their magic. For years the humans, mages, vampires, werewolves and the many other beings that inhabited the land lived in a constant state of terror.
All hope seemed lost...until one day, a young, powerful mage journey into the dark forest surrounding her home in search of a way to defeat the evil that had invaded her home. She journeyed for several days, battling with the dangerous creatures that inhabited the woods until finally she returned with six powerful objects said to be given to her by the gods themselves in reward for her courage and resilience.
These objects represented various aspects of harmony: Generosity, Honesty, Laughter, Kindness, and Loyalty: the sixth has been lost to time and remains a mystery to this day. The mage channeled the power of the Elements of Harmony and drove the evil out of the land forever. The magical creatures were so grateful that they named her the Mage Queen. The first Mage Queen and those after her continued to use the Elements to maintain peace and harmony among the magical creatures under their rule and protect them from any danger that rose up.
Now though... many years have gone by, the time of the Mage Queens has long passed and the elements themselves vanished without a trace. Some say the elements knew that their work was done and left the world on their own will. Other say that the elements went into hiding, searching for worthy bearers to their power. Whatever happened Equestria now remains in a time of peace and all are happy. However, if history has taught us anything it is that peace never lasts forever. Legend has it that one day the elements will reappear again with new chosen ones who will rise to protect Equestria, and the whole world.
The full moon shone brightly, illuminating the ruins of a once grand palace surrounded by forest and lighting the way for a young cloaked figure. She carefully navigated around the rubble and, after examining the map she had made, entered a crumbling wing of the palace. In the middle of the room stood a crumbling pedestal with the remains of six broken stone orbs on the branches. The figure smiled and began thoroughly examining the room; cleaning away vines and leaving no stone unturned all in the hopes of finding something.
The figure was just about the give up when she spotted something sparkle in a pile of rubble at the bottom of the pedestal. She quickly rummaged through the pile and, with a triumphant grin, pulled a small magenta gem cut in the shape of a six pointed star. The cloaked girl examined her prize up close; this was what she was looking for; all those hours of pouring over old books and scrolls were worth it now that she had finally found it.
She secured the gem in her bag and was just about to leave when she heard a voice call out.
"Halt! Who dares violate this sacred place?!"
The figure, as though recognizing the voice quickly turned towards the entrance where a woman with beautiful blue hair and skin, wearing dark blue and black mage robes stood with authority.
Narrowing her cyan eyes the woman spoke again "Drop whatever it is you just took and reveal yourself at once!" she commanded. The figure shook her head. She wasn't about to be stopped here, not when she was so close! She had worked too hard for it to end. The woman began to approach the figure when, with a opal glow coming from her hands, she levitated the surprised woman and tossed her into one of the crumbling walls, allowing her a change to race towards the exit.
The woman quickly recovered and cried out "Stop!" as a dark blue magic blast shot out of her hands towards the figure.
Just as it was about to come into contact there was a flash of light and the blast destroyed the wall behind it .
The woman looked on in shock but quickly regained her bearings before locating the magic trail and using her own magic to teleport where the figure had. She looked around, she was outside the ruins.
"Where are you? Show yourself!"
But the figure was nowhere in sight. The woman groaned, knowing she had lost the figure and whatever it was she took.
"Way to go Luna, you have the power of the moon at your beck and call and you lose a petty thief." She muttered dejectedly to herself. "Wait till Celie hears about this..." She sighed again and decided to return to the room. Maybe there was a clue about who the their was or what she took.
After watching the powerful mage woman leave, the figure dropped her invisibility spell and began her trek home through the forest. She knew she would have to be more careful from now on. She then realized that if she kept the gem on her, they were sure to find out it was her and what she was up to. She needed a secure place to hide it then come back for it when the heat died down a little. She needed somewhere not so obvious but still just close enough for her to keep an eye on it until she was ready.
She sorted through several ideas until she came upon the perfect hiding place. It would be perfectly hidden yet just right under their noses. Best of all she would be able to get it back without any trouble! She grinned again and began formulating her plan as she made her way through the dark forest. Soon, she would finally have everything she wanted and no one would be able to stop her.
Twilight Sparkle, a teenage girl with smooth purple skin, luxurious indigo hair with pink and purple streaks, and beautiful violet eyes, was considered by many who met her to be the most intelligent girl they ever knew. She was at the top of her class and received high marks and praise from her teachers in nearly every subject at school. Of course; her intellect was only matched by her talent with magic. She was capable of performing spells that even mages twice her age couldn't. So it came as a surprise when those people learned that she didn't continue to focus on her magical studies at magic school. They were not surprised when she told them she attended Crystal Prep Academy, one of the top private schools in the city of Canterlot. Only the best of the best went there, and they even had an top rated magic program for the resident mage students. One would think she had it all.
However, Twilight was not happy there. The other students were overachievers who were cold and distant and constantly gave Twilight a hard time. They looked down on anyone who didn't go there or do anything of note by yourself. They considered themselves to be the best and if you didn't share their attitude you were an outcast, as was poor Twilight.
All that would change, however, when one day out of the blue she told her parents she wanted to transfer to a different school. And the name of the school? Why, Crystal Prep's very own rival school: Canterlot High.
On her last day at Crystal Prep, Twilight was carrying a box while dodging through the barrage of students in the all, everyone (including herself) clad in their pristine uniforms. Upon reacher her locker she sighed with relief, having avoided being tripped or bumped into this time around. She opened her locker to collect her books when suddenly...
"AAAAAGH!" Twilight cried in terror as vicious snakes jumped out at her from her locker! She closed as she remained frozen with fear. She felt their cold, scaly bodies on her waiting for the right moment to kill her when she started to hear laughing. She opened her eyes and took a quick look at one of the "snakes". The illusion had faded revealing them as nothing more than rubber. Of course... She sighed and turned around to find two girls standing out among the group of students now laughing at her. The first had lime green hair and pink skin and wearing a set of headphones. The other had indigo hair with blue streaks styled to resemble a mohawk accessorized with a pair of goggles. Once they finally came down laughing high's they finally addressed her.
"Hahaha....You should've seen your face Dorkle!" Indigo Zap said with a chortle.
"Just think of it as going away present." Lemon Zest chimed with slightly less maliciousness than her friend.
"More like a 'good riddance' present. Good luck at Canternot Dorkle!" Indigo taunted as she and Lemon walked off to their own lockers.
Twilight just rolled her eyes, ignoring the people still chuckling at her expense, removed the rubber snakes and got to work clearing out her incredibly organized locker. She made sure to take out every textbook, notebook and pencil. She didn't want the next student who got her locker to think she was lazy and sloppy.
"So are you really are transferring to Canterlot High?" asked a monotone voice. Twilight jumped and her locker slammed closed revealing a girl with orange glassed and white hair in two giant pigtails. She wore a stoic expression revealing nothing of what she was actually feeling.
Oh...Hi Sugarcoat" Twilight addressed her once she calmed down. "And yes, I start on Monday."
"Im surprised, considering how low rate that school is compared to this one."
"Well..." said Twilight nervously "I figured it was time to....see what more is out there and...broaden my horizons..y'know?" Twilight gave a nervous smile. "Besides, I hear their magic program is very good and they've still done pretty good academically and athletically speaking."
Sugarcoat narrowed her eyes, sensing that Twilight was hiding something. After a full minute she just said "Well have fun. But don't expect us to be happy to see you next time our schools come together." With that she briskly turned around and walked away, leaving a defeated looking Twilight.
Twilight sighed yet again and picked up her box, she had already cleaned out her locker anyway, and began to head down the hall. Once she turned the corner however she crashed into someone. She landed on her behind, box thankfully still in her hands and looked at the person she definitely did not want to run into today.
"Hey watch it!" cried out the girl Twilight had bumped into. Like Twilight, she had landed on her behind too. This girl had bobbed purple hair and light blue skin. Her friend, standing a few feet behind her and smirking at Twilight had bright yellow skin with freckled along with pink hair with green striped tied up in a ponytail.
"Oops! Sorry Sunny!" Twilight quickly apologized as she got back on her feet.
Sunny Flare rolled her eyes as she stood up. "Whatever. Just try not to be a total dweeb at your new school. We don't want them to know we let a nerd like you in. Think about our image!" Sunny stated as she glared at Twilight.
"Aw I'm sure it'll be great!" Sour Sweet added, joining the conversation. "Maybe you'll find someone even lamer than you are to be your friend!"
Sunny snickered and linked her arm with Sour's. Both girls walked away still giggling while Twilight looked even more depressed than before and continued on.
As soon as she entered an out-of-the-way room and set her box on a nearby table, Twilight was pounced on by a purple and green fluff-ball that began to lick her face excitedly.
"Woah! Woah! Easy Spike! Easy!" Twilight giggled as Spike, her loyal (and adorable) puppy leaped back on the floor. Even though pets were against the rules, Twilight often snuck Spike in with her to help her get through the day as he always knew how to cheer her up. Now that she was going to Canterlot High, she hoped that would change as she usually didn't like breaking the rules.
Twilight began packing up her makeshift lab as Spike began to entertain himself by chasing his tail. She was given use of the room for personal projects and often used it when she got tired of everyone else. She was just about finished was someone knocked on the door and it opened, revealing an older woman. She was beautiful with pink skin and hair with several colorful stripes running through it. She was the dean of Crystal Prep and if you looked hard you could just see the little bump of her stomach as the only proof that she was six months pregnant with her first child.
"Oh! Hi Dean Cadence." Twilight cheerfully greeted her. Cadence was one of the few people at Crystal Prep who were not cold and hostile. In fact Cadence was very loving and was constantly surrounded by an aura of warmth and affection. She also knew that Twilight brought Spike in often but kept quiet so long as twilight kept him under control.
"Oh Twilight I'm not your Dean anymore. After today I'll just be your regular sister-in-law." She said smiling warmly at the girl she used to babysit back in high school. "Did you finish packing?"
Twilight nodded "Yup! I'm all set to start Canterlot High on Monday!"
Just then a box holding some equipment on the edge of a table fell over. Before Twilight could do anything, the box was surrounded by a light blue aura and levitated securely back on the table.
Twilight turned back to the Dean "Thanks Cadence, but aren't you supposed to be taking it easy with the baby?"
Cadence rolled her eyes but continued to smile. "I'm pregnant not helpless. I get enough of that from your brother." she said teasingly. "It's going to be really weird to be here without you but I'm sure you'll have a good time at Canterlot High. My aunties were so excited when they heard you wanted to transfer there. They can't wait to see you again."
Twilight smiled fondly but stopped when Cadence continued "You might even make some friends!"
Twilight paused for a moment as processed her sister in law's words until finally giving a resounding, "Oh"
Unfortunately for Cadence Twilight had no intention of making friends here or at Canterlot High. She just wanted to be left alone in her studies until she graduated high school, went off to college and became a full on mage or even a scientist. Twilight didn't know exactly what she wanted to to do yet but friends were not part of any of those scenarios. Besides, it wasn't as though she could tell Cadence the real reason for transferring unless she wanted to sound like a complete lunatic.
Cadence, sensing Twilight's hesitation continued, "This is a whole new start for you. A brand new adventure. A chance to meet new people and who knows...you might even find that special someone." She said with a wink.
Twilight rolled her eyes at her sisters not so subtle suggestion to meet people. After promising to see each other at dinner that night, Cadence left and Twilight turned towards Spike.
"I don't know what she's so insistent on me making friends. It's High School it'll probably be no different there than here. I mean what could possibly happen?"
Twilight Sparkle was running through the darkened halls of Canterlot High in terror. She came upon a door and, upon opening it, revealed the faceless, black forms of the students there. The only visible sign of color was their glowing cyan eyes, as though they were under a spell. She shrieked and continued running. She continued running while avoiding avoiding even more hoards of the faceless zombies until she finally came upon the gym. There, in the center of the gym, standing upright on a pedestal was a magenta gem cut into the form of a six pointed star. It glowed slightly and Twilight felt herself drawn to the gem, as though it was calling out to her. Twilight approached the gem and upon reaching it, raised her hand towards it. As soon as contact was made the gem glowed even brighter.
Just as she was about to grab it in her hand she heard a noise behind her. She looked around and was horrified to discover that she was surrounded by glowing-eyed zombies. As they began to walk towards her she looked back at the pedestal.
It was bare.
Suddenly she heard a loud, screeching laugh echo across the gym as the wind began blowing violently. She looked up towards the source of the laugh and there, floating high in the sky of the now roofless gym, was another shadowy creature. Like the zombies there was no face but she could make out the torn bat-like wings, a tail and hair that moved as though it were fire. Like the zombies, the creature had glowing cyan eyes that were instead gave the impression of pupils.
The creature continued to laugh as the zombies closed in on Twilight. She was too terrified to think and it felt like her magic had disappeared. The last thing she saw before the zombies got to her was the laughing form of the creature, her eyes aimed directly at Twilight.
Twilight woke up with a start, eyes wide, heart pounding and her pajamas sticking to her from all the sweat. A second later a loud beeping sound made itself known. She quickly took in her surroundings; she was back in her bedroom and the beeping sound was coming from her alarm clock on her bedside table informing her it was time to get ready for school. In his doggie bed at the foot of her bed Spike still slept peacefully and would continue until the scent of breakfast reached his nose.
She gave a sigh of relief, it had just been another one of those horrible dreams. There were different variations of it but they all had one thing in common.
They all took place at Canterlot High.
The laughter of the creature echoed in her again but she quickly shook it away and began to get ready. Today was her first day at Canterlot High and she was determined to figure out what all the nightmares were all about.
Thankfully her new school wasn't too far from her house and the weather was nice, allowing her a nice walk to school. Having packed away her old uniform she now wore a light blue blouse with a little pink bow tie and a purple skirt with a giant star surrounded by smaller stars on it. She was just across the street from the school when she felt something move in her backpack. She cautiously set it on the ground and slowly opened the zipper.
"ARF!" Spike barked as his head popped up from the backpack.
"Spike!?" Twilight cried out in surprise. She quickly gained her bearings and gave her dog a stern look. "No Spike, I told you to stay home today. You know I'm not allowed to bring pets to school!" Her hand began to glow with a magenta light as she prepared a teleportation spell to send him back home. Seeing that his owner was about to send him home he did the only thing he could do: her gave her "the puppy dog eyes".
Twilight groaned, "Come on Spike! You know I can't win against those eyes!" However, that only encouraged him and he somehow expanded his eyes a little bigger. Defeated, Twilight dropped the spell. "Alright but you have to stay hidden either in my backpack or in my locker, understood?" Spike barked and nodded in understanding and ducked back in the bag. Twilight put it back on and crossed the street.
Twilight now stood directly in from of CHS. It was smaller than CPA but still bigger than your average public high school. In fact it sort of resembled a castle, and in front of the school was a statue of a horse rearing on it's hind legs. Overall (unlike in her nightmares), it seemed very welcoming; unlike Crystal Prep.
Twilight took a deep breath and began to head into school. As she passed the wondercolt statue she began hear something that resembled sobbing. She looked towards the statue and there, sitting right in front of it surrounded by flyers of some kind, was a girl about Twilight's age huddles in a ball and weeping softly into her hands. She was very pretty, with soft yellow kin and flowing pink hair with a butterfly clip. After a quick mental debate about going to help herself or letting someone else deal with it, Twilight approached the weeping girl.
"Hello?" Twilight asked, concerned. The girl stopped sobbing for a moment and looked up in alarm, revealing two cyan eyes. "Are you ok?" The girl blinked as though she didn't understand Twilight. Then she wiped her eyes on the back of her hand and finally replied in a soft voice:
"Oh...I-I'm f-fine." She claimed, trying to reassure Twilight. Twilight offered the girl her hand and helped her back on her feet and decided to introduce herself. "Hi, I'm Twilight Sparkle, I'm new here. What's your name?"
"Um..I'm Fluttershy" The girl replied in soft voice that made it hard for Twilight to hear. "I'm sorry, what was that?" Twilight tried again hoping it would encourage Fluttershy to speak up. It didn't work. "It's Fluttershy." She replied, somehow even quieter than before. "Didn't quite catch that." Twilight tried desperately again for a coherent response only hear sounds resembling squeaks coming from Fluttershy. Twilight was at a loss and was about to make a hasty get-away when Spike popped his head out to see what was going on. As soon as she laid eyes on Spike, FLuttersy's eyes went wide and, letting out a cheerful gasp, promptly scooped Spike out of the bag and cuddle him and scratch him behind the ear, his favorite spot.
"Oh my goodness! What an adorable little puppy! Who's this little guy?" Twilight was momentarily stunned after this complete stranger pushed her aside to get to her dog. One she recovered she replied: 'Oh that's Spike, my dog. He followed me to school today and I can't send him back." Fluttershy, upon hearing this, realized what she had just done turned back and quickly apologized.
"Oh my goddess! I am so sorry. It's just...whenever I see any animal, I tend to get carried away." Fluttershy promptly summoned her own magic to carefully levitate Spike back into Twilight's waiting arms. "And don't worry, your not the only one to sneak her pet into school. She then opened her backpack to reveal a bunny, a kitten, a hamster, a gerbil, and even a few birds! "They just get so lonely when I'm at school all day..." Twilight was amazed at the number of animals before Fluttershy promptly hid them away again.
Twilight then then set Spike on the ground and returned her focus to Fluttershy. "So..I'm guessing you like animals?"
"Oh! I LOVE animals! I volunteer at the animal shelter all the time. In fact the reason I was so upset was because I was trying to get more volunteers but.." Fluttershy looked sad again and picked up her untaken flyers."...nobody even noticed me." Twilight gave her a look of sympathy, as she used to be in a position similar to her. Twilight was torn, she wanted to help this kind girl but she also knew class would be starting soon and she didn't want to be late, especially on her first day.
"Look, I gotta get going but if there is anything I could do to..." Twilight was suddenly interrupted by the sound of barking. She and Fluttershy looked towards the source. Apparently after having been set down by his owner, Spike had decided to sniff around for something interesting. He was now barking at something in one of the bushes just outside the school. Twilight and FLuttershy went over to investigate. "What is it Spike?" Twilight asked, moving aside the leaved to see what had gotten her dog so worked up. What she pulled out left both her and Fluttershy stunned for a minute.
It was a crown, carefully made out of paper mache, colored gold and was designed to perfectly rest upon the head of whoever wore it. It was plain except for the piece that had Twilight so captured.
In the center was a beautiful magenta gem cut into the shape of a six pointed star.
Fluttershy's question brought Twilight back to reality with a resounding, "Huh?"
"That's the crown for the fall formal princess." Fluttershy explained, "I wonder why it's in the bushes?"
"Fall Formal?" Twilight asked with a confused look. "It's this big dance we do every year. In fact it's this Friday." continued Fluttershy, "Every year we elect a girl to be 'princess' of the dance, sort of like prom king or queen." Twilight nodded with understanding but couldn't take her mind off the fact that the jewel in the center of her crown looked like the same jewel from her dreams.
Suddenly the warning bell sounded and both girls jumped in surprise. "Class is going to start soon, I should probably return that to Principal Celestia." Fluttershy began to reach for the crown but Twilight yanked it away from her without even thinking. After realizing what she had done, she gave Fluttershy a nervous smile, "Actually I have to meet Principal Celestia anyway to get my schedule and locker, so I can take it to her. I don't want you to be late to your first class." Fluttershy looked confused for a moment but quickly smiled and with a quick "thank you" and wishing her luck on her first day, she hurried off to get prepared for class.
Twilight, after a quick look around to make sure no one was looking, stuffed Spike back in her bag and she entered her new school.
Thankfully, Twilight had already memorized the layout of the school from a map she found online so she was able to figure out the path to the principal's office. On the way there she examined the crown further.
This gem...it's the one from my dreams, I can feel it. But why is it on a fake crown for the winner of a high school popularity contest? Why was it in the bushes? Why do I feel like it's....calling me?
Twilight quickly checked her surroundings, the hall she was in and the ones she had already passed were just like the ones from her dream, only more bright and less foreboding, and this one was completely empty with the student likely already in their homerooms waiting for class to start. She looked back to the gem, which stood out prominently from the paper mache. She reached out a finger and touched the center....
Imaged flashed in her mind as her eyes went white. Images of a rainbow blast, a crystal tree, and the same shadowy monster from her dream appeared before she removed her finger and returned to reality. Her eyes returned to normal and she could feel her heart racing.
What...What was that?! This gem....it couldn't be magical could it? Something like this wouldn't be allowed in a regular high school...right?
She shook her head to clear it a little. She would get to the bottom of this, one way or another.
After knocking and hearing a swift "come in" Twilight entered the principal's office. The was brightly lit, from both the electric lights on the ceiling and the natural light from the winder behind the desk. Sitting at said dest was a woman with pale pink skin and pastel colored hair. Upon hearing Twilight enter she lifted her light purple eyes from the folder she was reading to Twilight. Once she saw who it was, a smile lit up her face and she stood up, revealing her above average height.
"Twilight Sparkle! It's good to see you again!" She greeted Twilight warmly as she gathered her in for a hug, which Twilight gladly returned. After they broke apart Celestia continued, "You look so grown up! I can't believe it's been over two years since...." Celestia stopped abruptly as she realized what she said and began to regret almost bringing it up, especially when she noticed Twilight flinch as the memory hit her. Celestia decided to immediately change the topic. "Anyway, Luna and I were so excited to hear that you wanted to transfer here. It'll be nice to have you as a student again, even if we aren't teaching you directly. Now, I'm assuming you're here for your schedule and locker?" Twilight nodded and Celestia sat back down on her desk and began typing on her computer.
While she was busy, Twilight decided to let her eyes wonder around the office, noticing the comfy looking chairs, certificates for teaching and such, and the filing cabinets. What really caught her attention where three pictures featuring a girl with red and gold fire like hair and cyan eyes. In each photo she was wearing a pretty dress and a crown of some sort. The first picture had the girl looking sweet and innocent, but by the third picture it had completely dropped as the girl now looked downright diabolical. The oddest thing was that the girl looked...familiar to Twilight, but she couldn't quite place her finger on it. Before she could think about it further, Celestia called her attention again with her freshly printed schedule and locker combo, along with a late pass for first period to allow her time to get ready. Twilight accepted these with a "Thanks" and was just about to head out when she remembered the crown still in her possession. She pulled it out of her backpack (While still allowing Spike to stay hidden) and and held it out.
"Oh, by the way...Fluttershy and I found this in the bushes just outside." Celestia's eyes widened with surprise as she took the hand made crown. "That's odd...what would this be doing out there." She then stored the crown away in a drawer of her desk. "Thank you Twilight, I'll have Vice Principal Luna lock it up for safekeeping this time." She looked at Twilight and noticed her hesitation, "Is something wrong?"
Twilight debated with herself. Should she really tell Celestia what happened? Would she believe her or would she think Twilight was crazy? "Ummm...It's just that..." Twilight began nervously, "Don't you think it's...weird that the fall formal crown was found in the bushes?"
"Well...yes, but it was probably just a prank by one of the students." Celestia shrugged. Twilight tried a more direct approach. "I mean..haven't you noticed anything...strange about it? You know, like it might be enchanted in some way?"
Celestia raised an eyebrow at this, "Twilight it's just something the art department came up with, any non magic-focused schools aren't allowed to have enchanted objects available for anyone to take unless under strict supervision. If it'll make you feel better I'll run a magic scan on it myself later for any lingering spells on it. Why are you so interested in it anyway?" Celestia then donned a playful smirk at Twilight. "You aren't thinking about running for fall formal princess, are you?"
"What? N-No!" Twilight stammered, "I'm not really into these kind of things. You know me...always the curious type!" she gave her principal a nervous smile before making a hasty retreat. "Anyway it was nice to see you again, but I'd better get going sooo...bye!"
She quickly shut the door behind her and took a deep breath. She had wanted to tell Celestia about the vision but she couldn't. Part because bringing it up made her feel very uncomfortable, and part because Celestia had said she would examine it later. Twilight began to head to her locker and then her first class trying to push the thoughts of the crown aside and focus on getting through her first day. If the principal, especially a powerful mage like Celestia, said it was ok, then everything was fine, wasn't it? She would figure out if there was anything going on with the crown. Now wasn't the time to focus on vague visions or crazy dream, now was the time to focus on her studies at her new school.
But try as she might, the lingering sense of dread still remained.
After her first three classes went by, Twilight was back in her element. Her classes had been enjoyable without being too challenging, now just one more and then off to lunch...
Before Twilight could finish that thought she heard a familiar voice, "I-I'm really sorry..we just found it and she went to give it to her...I didn't know you had dropped it..." Twilight quickly peaked her head around the corner and saw Fluttershy being cornered by the same fire-headed girl from the pictures, now donning a leather jacket and boots to match.
"Well, I did! And I was about to get it before you swooped in and ruined everything! You shouldn't pick up things that don't belong to you!" The girl sneered.
"I-it doesn't really belong to you either..." Flutershy responded in a hushed voice.
"EXUSE ME!?" the girl demanded, placing her hands on the wall behind Fluttershy, trapping her. "N-n-n-nothing!" Fluttershy whimpered before dropping to the floor.
"That's what I thought. It's as good as mine, and you know it. You really are pathetic. It's no wonder your best friends are all stray animals." The girl said mockingly. By this point Twilight was furious. As much as she had been bullied back at Crystal Prep, she couldn't stand to see anyone else be a victim, especially now when it was happening to the same girl who had been so nice to Twilight earlier. Even Spike, who had popped his head out to see what was happening, was growling. Deciding enough was enough, Twilight stamped around the corner toward the girl.
"How dare you speak to her that way!" The girl turned around, revealing a pair a cyan eyed that were currently glaring daggers at her. "What did you say!?" She and Twilight both stalked towards each other.
"I said, 'How dare you speak to her that way!'" Twilight and Sunset were now face-to-face, glaring into each other's eyes to see who would break first. After a moment Sunset just smirked.
"You must be new here." As she said that she pointed a finger to Twilight's blouse. When Twilight looked down to check, the girl quickly flicked her nose. The girl then began to strut away confidently. "I can speak to anyone any way I want." The other teens in the hall quickly moved out of her way, fearful of her wrath. When she was finally gone, Twilight helped Fluttershy up.
"I can't believe you did that!" Fluttershy said with awe, staring wide-eyed amazement at Twilight.
"I couldn't just stand there." Twilight shrugged. She wasn't a hero, she was just doing what any decent person would do.
"Yeah but nobody stands up to Sunset Shimmer."
"Sunset Shimmer!?" Twilight couldn't believe it. It couldn't be, could it? As a wave of memories flooded she reprimanded herself for not recognizing her earlier.
As Twilight continued to stare blankly down the hall where Sunset went off, Fluttershy spoke up. "Umm...are you ok?" Twilight was once again brought back to reality and she gave Fluttershy another nervous smile, "Yeah, I'm... fine."
Fluttershy wasn't buying it, but before she could ask further, the bell rang, causing both girls to widen their eyes with worry. They were both late for class and rushed off.
Thankfully Twilight's teacher let her off with a warning when she got there, so she was in the clear. After that class she followed the crown of students to the cafeteria. Looking around she could make out the various cliques at each table; one with eco kids, one with fashonistas, another with rockers and so forth. Guess high school's the same wherever you go.
Just then she heard her name being called and was greeted by Fluttershy. Twilight smiled at her as they stepped in the line together. As they got their food (at least it looked better than at Crystal Prep), Twilight decided to ask about Sunset Shimmer.
"What was she so upset about earlier?" Fluttershy looked down before replying,
"Well, she was asking about the crown we found earlier and got upset when I told her we found it and that you brought it to Principal Celestia."
"Why would she get upset about that."
"Probably because she's running for fall formal princess." Twilight was shocked. The Sunset she remembered was never into that kind of stuff. "Why?"
"She runs every time we have something like this, and always wins because she usually runs unopposed. You should have seen what she did with the girl who ran against her for the spring fling."
Twilight went back into seep thought. Why would Sunset get so upset over a crown for a stupid school dance? Did it have something to do with the gem on it and the visions Twilight experienced? Twilight decided to ask Celestia if she found anything as soon as school was over. She and Fluttershy reached checkout where the grandmotherly lunch lady provided both of them with a nice red apple, and went to look for a table to sit. Twilight wasn't paying attention to what was in front of her when...
*crash*
She collided with another student, dropping their trays and getting food all over her clothes.
"Oh my stars I so sorry!'
"No. No. It's my fault."
As they both reached for the spilled trays, they banged their heads together and quickly stepped back in pain, each rubbing the spot that had been hit.
Twilight looked at who she had run into and saw a handsome teenage boy with electric blue eyes and and matching spiky hair and felt her heart skip a beat for some reason. Like her, the boy was looking at Twilight and felt himself starstruck, even with the food on her clothes she was still the most beautiful girls he had ever seen. When their eyes met, they both blushed and looked away, chuckling nervously.
"I'm sorry again, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and..." Twilight rambled, trying to bring herself under control. What is wrong with me today? Boys never looked at her back at Crystal Prep, at least not in the way he was looking at her.
"No, it's my fault I should've been looking where I was going." the boy rambled too. Being the lead guitarist of a popular school band, hew was used to being flocked by adoring girls, but Twilight was different and he felt his own nerves get jittery. Hoping to make things less awkward, he decided to introduce himself. "I'm Flash Sentry."
"Twilight Sparkle."
"Oh my stars! Are you two ok?" Fluttershy, hearing the crash and noticing that Twilight was no longer following her, went back to see if she was ok. But before they could give her an answer, another voice made itself known.
"Oh my goddess darling! Look at your outfit!" They turned to see a very beautiful girl with pristine white skin, dark purple hair in curls rush up and began examining Twilight's ruined outfit. The girl herself was dressed impeccably though that didn't seem to deter her from her work. She then took out a measuring tape and began getting Twilight's measurements. When she was done she momentarily stepped back and examined Twilight herself through narrow eyes.
"Hmmm, petite frame, dark coloring....Yes I should have something that should fit you."
"Oh, no it's fine, I have a spell that can..." But before she could protest further, the girl began to drag Twilight away out of the cafeteria.
"Oh nonsense darling! I have this blouse that would really make your eyes POP!" and just like that, both girls were out of the cafeteria, leaving a confused Flash and Fluttershy behind.
"So..um..is she gonna be..?" Flash tried to ask Fluttershy.
"Oh, you know Rarity, she can be a bit...overbearing, but she means well."
Flash nodded and the two teens parted ways. Spilled lunch forgotten he took a seat with the other rockers. Flash was thinking about Twilight when he heard someone call him.
" Dude...Dude?DUDE!" Flash broke out of his daydream and turned to see his bandmates looking at him funny.
"Dude, i've been trying to get you attention for like..five minutes now..are you ok?" His drummer Brawly Beats asked.
"Yeah I'm fine." Flash tried to wave his friends concern off.
"You still thinkin' about the new girl you ran into?" asked Ringo, his keyboardist. Flash stared at him in shock. "What? Your not exactly hard to read. Now don't get me wrong, she's not bad to look at, but she doesn't exactly fit your 'look', you know?"
"And what 'look' would that be?" Flash asked, his voice tinged with anger at his friend's somewhat shallow remark.
"The rockstar look. Now dude let's ignore Ringo for a sec and just listen." Brawly tried to reason, "I know you can't help it but you tend to fall hard and fast. Remember what happened with Sunset?"
But Flash wasn't listening anymore. He didn't care about his rockstar 'image' and 'reputation' like some of his friends did.
He could also feel that Twilight was different from Sunset. He wasn't sure how exactly, but he just knew it.
Rarity dragged Twilight all the way to her locker with Twilight protesting all the while. "W-What are you doing!? I said I didn't need..." But before Twilight could finish that statement, Rarity opened her locker and an entire rack of clothes came out, long enough to reach the other side of the hall. Twilight stood there, stunned with amazement while Rarity began sorting through the various outfits.
"Too big...too small...wrong colors...ugh what was I even thinking with this one? Ah hah!" She produced an outfit consisting of a light blue bomber jacket, a light pink shirt with a purple moon on it, and a purple skirt with black leggings which featured stars on one of them. While Twilight had to admit the outfit looked nice and would probably also look nice on her, now was the time to put an end to this.
"Excuse me, miss..."
"Oh my heavens! Please do forgive me for my rudeness. My name is Rarity, aspiring fashion designer. And you are?"
"Twilight Sparkle, new student. Now, not to seem rude myself, but I really don't need a new outfit. See?" Twilight recited a spell in her head and quickly waved a hand over her outfit, making all the food stains disappear in the blink of an eye. Rarity sighed in defeat.
"Oh well. I understand. But I insist you keep the outfit." Rarity then levitated the ensemble to her. "It would look just darling on you!" Twilight was surprised by the girl's generosity. "Wow! Thanks!"
"It's no problem darling. After helping poor Fluttershy earlier today, what are friends for?"
"Friends?" Twilight was shocked. She was about to tell Rarity that she didn't do friends when the bell rang, ending the lunch period and giving the signal for fifth period.
"Well better head off to class then. See you later darling!" Rarity stuffed away the rack and pulled out books from somewhere in her locker and strutted briskly to class, leaving a still surprised Twilight behind holding her new outfit.
And I didn't even get any lunch....
The rest of the day seemed to drag on when the last bell finally rang, calling an end to the school day. While everyone else headed home or stayed behind for clubs, Twilight headed straight to the principal's office. When she got there, Celestia was thankfully still there behind her desk and greeted Twilight with her usual smile.
"Twilight! Back so soon? In case you were still wondering about the crown, I examined it and I can assure you, I found absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. No devices and no enchantments placed there." Twilight was taken back by this. As much as she wanted to believe the more experienced mage, Twilight couldn't shake the feeling that there was something strange about it.
"In that case, would it be alright if I took a look at the crown myself?"
"I'm sorry Twilight, but I already gave it to Luna and we're keeping it under more secure lock this time." Seeing Twilight's disappointed face, Celestia offered up another solution. "But if you really want to take another look at it, you could sign up for the party planning committee. I think Pinkie Pie's in the gym setting up for the fall formal as we speak, so why not talk to her and she'll help you get set up." Twilight, feeling a little better now, thanked her and was on her way to the gym.
"Well Spike, looks like getting to the bottom of this will be harder than I thought...."
The gym looked exactly as it had in her dreams, only more brighter, less ominous and covered with streamers, balloons and other party decorations. Spike swiftly jumped out of Twilight's backpack and began playing with one of the stray balloons.
"Hello? Is anyone here? I'm here to sign up for that.."
"INCOMING!" Before Twilight could react, she was suddenly covered in a shower of streamers. Once she cleaned herself off, she looked to see a very pink girl with curly hair blowing up balloons. Despite not understanding how she suddenly got there, Twilight decided to get it over with.
"Excuse me Pinkie Pie, but I'm..." Before Twilight could finish, Pinkie suddenly gasped loudly and grabbed Twilight by her blouse and came face to face with her.
"Are you psychic!?" Pinkie asked excitedly.
"N-no, Principal Celestia told me to find you."
Pinkie Pie let Twilight go with a sigh, "Oh well" before releasing Twilight. However, she wasn't done quite yet and began to examine Twilight quite intimately, like Rarity had earlier. Have the girls at this school never heard of the term 'personal space?
Once Pinkie was done she became quite excited again. "Oh my stars! Are you new here!? I mean of course your new here, I've never seen you before, and I remember everybody I meet! I'm sorry if I didn't get the chance to throw you a proper welcoming party, but I've been sooo busy setting up for the fall formal. Anyway let me introduce myself! My name is Pinkamena Diane Pie but thats too long to remember so everybody just calls me Pinkie Pie! What's your name?" Pinkie stopped her rambling, waiting for Twilight to answer. Momentarily confused by the sudden influx of words (and admittedly only making out every other one) Twilight understood that Pinkie wanted her to introduce herself.
"My name's Twilight Sparkle, I am new here and I want to sign up for the party planning committee."
"Oh! That's great! I've got the sign up sheet right here!" Pinkie pie then reached into her hair and pulled out a clipboard with slots for names on it. Again confused by the girl's defiance to the laws of physics, Twilight decided to save studying it for another day and took the pen Pinkie offered her. She was just about to sign her name the the gym door opened again.
"Somebody order a dozen cases of fizzy apple cider?" a distinctly western voice called out. Twilight and Pinkie turned to see a blonde girl in western clothes (including a distinctive hat) enter carrying a case of cider. Behind her, an older boy with orange hair and light red skin entered carrying even MORE cases of cider. Pinkie a began exclaiming a rapid series of "oh's" and "me's" while bouncing joyfully on one leg. The girl looked at Twilight and her eyes widened a little in surprise.
"Hey! I know you!"
"You do?" Twilight was confused, she had never seen this girl before today.
"Sure! Your the new girl who gave Sunset Shimmer the what-for today." The girl then proceeded to help herself to a bottle of cider. Twilight was surprised, people were talking about her confrontation with Sunset?
"Twilight Sparkle here is gonna sign up to help the party planning committee." Pinkie informed her, before blowing up another balloon which somehow started floating, taking her along with it.
"Good. We need all the help we can get." The girl put out her hand for Twilight to shake. "Name's Applejack, mah family owns Sweet Apple Acres. Mighty pleased to meet ya."
"Nice to meet you too." Twilight grabbed her hand and was surprised by Applejack's quick and forceful shakes.
Pinkie Pie, after freeing herself from the balloons grasp, once again produced the sign up sheet. "Now all we need to do is get you signed up and your all set to go!" Twilight was about to sign when the doors slammed open yet again.
Suset Shimmer stood at the gym entryway flocked by two freshman boys. She looked around at the various decorations as though they were just pieces of garbage Pinkie just tossed around. She began to walk around the room.
"There should be fewer balloons and more streamers!" she demanded, using her magic to pop a group of balloons all at once.
"Yeah! Streamers." repeated the short one with blue skin and orange hair.
"And fewer balloons!" parroted the taller boy with orange skin and blue-green hair. Sunset walked towards a table holding a case of cider. She picked a bottle up and made a face of disgust.
"Fizzy apple cider? Ugh! This is my coronation, not a hoedown."
Twilight was becoming more irritated and angry with each comment. How dare Sunset dismiss these girls' hard work? Apparently Applejack felt the same way as her face became red with anger. "Hey!" she called, gaining Sunset's attention. "Ya'll can't just barge in here and treat us like yer slaves or somethin'."
"Is that so?" Sunset retorted as she walked up to AJ. "You country folk really aren't that bright. Must be why the other students say such awful things about you." she said dismissively as she pushed AJ's hat down to cover her face. Steam seemed to shoot out of AJ's ears. Twilight decided she'd had enough of this.
"You can't treat them that way!"
Sunset turned and narrowed her eyes at Twilight. "What is she doing here?" She asked icily. From the looks of it, Sunset had heard the student's talk and and realized who Twilight was.
"That doesn't matter! What matters is that you have no right to boss them around like that!" Sunset just turned smug and replied, "Oh yes I do, you see...I'm running unopposed."
Twilight remembered her conversation with Fluttershy and her comment about how Sunset usually ran unopposed by scaring the other students and threatening those who did run. This just made Twilight even more angry.
"She right." Pinkie Pie chimed in, startling both of them She pulled out the ballot for fall formal princess, revealing Sunset's name to be the only one on there. "Since Sunset Shimmer is the only one on the ballot, which means she's automatically going to become fall formal princess. Which means whatever she says goes." Twilight couldn't believe it.
"Are you kidding me?! I mean no offense....but it's just a stupid school contest."
"Who cares?" Sunset said smugly. "What matters is that I'm going to be princess which means you all have to do whatever I say. So ha! I. Win!"
Twilight doubted she had been this furious before in her entire life. Magic boiled to life from her clenched fists. It wasn't the fact that if she joined the party committee she would have to take orders from Sunset. She could handle her, as she had her previous bullies. What infuriated her most what Sunset thinking she could do anything she wants because everyone else was too scared. She couldn't just stand by and watch Sunset dismiss Pinkie Pie's and Applejack's hard work and treat them like pack mules, especially after they had been so nice to her.
There will be times, Twilight, when life offers you the chance to take action and make a difference. Twilight suddenly heard her late grandmother's words echo in her head. If you have the the chance to do something, do it. In that moment, Twilight knew what she had to do.
"Pinkie, hand me the sign up sheet."
"Which one?" Pinkie asked, a clipboard in each hand.
"The Princess Ballot!" As soon as she declared those words, everyone in the room gasped, with Pinkie's being especially loud as Twilight took the ballot form from her.
"Woah now sugarcube, let's not do anything crazy." Applejack tried to reason with Twilight.
"Listen to her Twilight Sparkle. You do not want to do this!" Sunset threatened, glaring at Twilight as though mentally trying to set her on fire.
But Twilight payed them no heed as she signed her name on the line right below Sunset's. Twilight Sparkle was now a candidate for Fall Formal princess.
After that was a moment of complete silence as everyone just realized what Twilight had done. Finally Sunset broke it as she threatened Twilight again, her voice full of venom:
"Trust me when I say this Twilight Sparkle. You Will REGRET THIS!" Then she promptly stormed out of the gym in anger, her lackeys following cautiously following behind her. After another moment of silence as they digested Sunset's words, Applejack finally broke the silence:
"Well sugarcube, I don't know if that was the smartest choice to make. But it sure as heck took a lot of guts to do that in front of her."
"Yeah about that..." Twilight said nervously,"I don't suppose it's too late to sign up for the party planning committee?"
Pinkie shook her head as she put the sign up sheets back in her hair."Sorry, but you can't run for princess and be on the committee. A candidate would have a chance to get her hands on the votes and stuff."
"oh" Twilight sighed, "Crud" There goes my chance of getting a look at the crown.
Applejack spoke up, "Well if you wanted ta be on the committee so badly, then why'd ya do it?"
"Well...I couldn't just stand there and do nothing. It isn't right for Sunset, or anybody for that matter, to treat people like that."
"Well I thought what you did was Amazing!" Pinkie pie exclaimed while wrapping Twilight in a warm hug. After a second of shock, Twilight found the hug to be comforting. "Nobody ever stood up to Sunset before, especially for US!"
Suddenly Pinkie broke the hug as a thoughtful look crossed her face,"But then again you did make Sunny really really mad, and bad things usually happen to people who make Sunset mad, and I've never seen Sunset that mad before. Not to mention you only have until Friday to convince everybody to vote for you instead of her." Twilight's eyes widened in fear before she groaned in exasperation.
"Gee, thanks Pinkie." Twilight said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Way to make me feel better."
Twilight gathered up her dog, getting ready to leave. "Anyway, I'd better get home. I have a lot of research to do tonight. Like Pinkie so eloquently explained, I only have a few days to run a campaign and somehow convince everyone to vote for the new girl."
"Aw shoot! Don't sweat it sugarcube. We'll help in any way we can. Besides," Applejack gestured between Pinkie and herself" ya already got two votes right here. And we'll be happy to convince anyone we can to vote for ya too."
"Thank girls, but I usually do things on my own." Twilight felt comforted by these girls' offer to help, even though she probably didn't need it. She was just exiting the gym when she heard Pinkie Pie exclaim:
"But helping each other is what friends do!" Twilight once again felt a twitch of discomfort at the word "friends". She then made her way home, determined not to let anything like friends distract her from her mission.
"How was your first day at Canterlot High sweetie?" Her mother asked at dinner. Twilight Velvet looked like an older Twilight Sparkle, though with a different color scheme of light grey skin, light blue eyes and purple and white stripped hair. Though middle aged, her young face often made people mistake the two Twilights for sisters instead of mother and daughter, which flattered Velvet and annoyed Twilight to no end. Twilight decided not to mention suddenly running for princess or running into Sunset Shimmer, lest they get worried or involved.
"Oh..it was fine." she replied vaguely before stuffing her mouth with spaghetti. Her parent glanced at each other before her father spoke up.
"Did you meet any nice people?" Night Light was just a few years older than his wife, with yellow eyes, blue skin and dark blue hair which was starting to show some grey.
"Uh...yeah. I talked to a few nice girls..."
"Thats great!" her mother exclaimed. "Your finally making friends! When can I meet them?"
"Um...maybe later, y'know..when I'm all settled in." Twilight quickly finished her meal and used her magic to put her dishes away. "Now if you'll excuse me I've got a... big project for school to work on."
"Already?" Her father questioned with a raised eyebrow."But you just got there."
"Well, they already started it when I arrived, so gotta make up for lost time!" Twilight quickly escaped to her room to get started on her campaign.
Velvet and Night looked at each other. They didn't have to say anything to know something was going on with their daughter.
Twilight stood in front of CHS in the middle of the night. The wind was howling and flying high in the sky before her was the same shadowy demon from before, still laughing maniacally.
"Do you honestly believe that you can defeat me?" the creature asked mockingly, "Let's just see about that." Suddenly a ball of fire began to form in it's hands. When the creature decided it was big enough, she blasted it towards Twilight! The last thing Twilight heard before being incinerated was:
"Goodbye Twilight Sparkle."
Twilight woke up the same way she had yesterday morning: heart pounding and covered in sweat. What is going on with me? She jumped again when the alarm clock went off. She pounded her fist on the 'snooze' button and got ready, after all she had a big day ahead of her.
Twilight (along with Spike), got to school nice and early. Last night she had done a ton of research on the school's history and campaign strategies. She had also printed up several posters to be hung around the school. She had just hung one up when an eager voice popped up behind her:
"Hey! Your Twilight Sparkle right?"
Startled, Twilight turned to see a girl with light blue skin, magenta eyes, and vibrant hair with all the colors of the rainbow in it. Behind her, FLuttershy stood with a small smile.
"Yes that's me...and you are?"
"Names Rainbow Dash." Rainbow began to examine Twilight as though trying to figure something out. "You know...you might have only just gotten here yesterday, but you've already got people talkin'."
"Really?" Twilight said nervously. In her experience, being talked about made you a target.
"Yeah, helpin out Flutters here, stickin it to Sunset, not to mention running for the fall formal. That takes guts." Rainbow said with a hint of admiration in her voice. "And that's exactly what we need in a fall formal princess." Rainbow then proceeded to take half the posters from the stack Twilight had.
"Huh?"
"I'm gonna help you out. I'm pretty sure an endorsement from someone as awesome as me is gonna snag you a few votes." Rainbow said proudly. "Plus I'm the captain of pretty much every sports team here so i'll talk to some of my teammates for ya."
"Wait! I..." Before Twilight could protest, Rainbow was off to hang up posters at an impressive speed, leaving Twilight and Fluttershy behind.
"Sorry about that. Rainbow Dash is a bit eager when it comes to helping her friends." Fluttershy apologized for her impulsive friend. Twilight was again bothered by the word 'friends' but decided not to bring it up this time.
"It's alright, but Applejack and Pinkie Pie already offered to help earlier and..." Twilight stopped when she noticed the frown on Fluttershy's fave when she mentioned Pinkie.
"Oh. Just be careful around Pinkie Pie." she warned Twilight with a startling edge in her voice. "She likes to ignore everyone else's needs and make everything into a wild party. One time I had a silent auction to help the animal shelter and she brought fireworks and noisemakers that scared the poor animals out of there minds! The auction was ruined and I was up all night trying to calm the animals down." Twilight was shocked. Pinkie certainly seemed like a party girl, but to really go so far as to ruin something her friend worked so hard for? She just didn't seem to be that type of person.
Just before they parted ways, Fluttershy issued her a final warning: "Try not to mention Applejack's name to Rainbow. Their...not exactly on the best of terms. She wouldn't tell me exactly what happened but it sounded bad."
Twilight stood there, stunned. First Fluttershy and Pinkie don't get along, and now Rainbow Dash and Applejack? What was going one? Deciding it wasn't her business, she continued to hang up more posters before class started.
Lunchtime came once again and this time Twilight was more careful about where she was going before seating herself at an empty table. Lunch was always a good time to get some extra studying done in her books. She pulled out a text book and was about to dig in when a familiar voice called out:
"Well howdy there Twi!" Applejack proceeded to plop herself down right across from Twilight.
"Oh, hey Applejack." Twilight was disappointed that she would be going through another day without a peaceful lunch. She stopped her self-pity when she noticed the serious look forming on AJ's face.
"So...I hear ya got Rainbow to help convince people to vote for you."
"Well, I didn't really ask, she just.." Twilight was about to explain until Applejack interrupted.
"Let me just warn ya...she ain't nothin' but a backstabber! I asked if she and the softball team could make an appearance at my bake-sale. Everyone waited around for hours and not one of 'em shows up! She made a liar out of me!" Twilight was shocked yet again. Was this what Fluttershy had warned her about earlier? But Twilight couldn't make sense of it.
"Anyway, just be on the lookout. Don't be surprised if she supports you today, but leaves you in the dust tomorrow."
Twilight didn't know what else to say. She and Applejack spent the rest of the lunch period eating in an uncomfortable silence.
Rainbow Dash finished lunch early so she could get some extra practice in. Her teammates had been skeptical when she told them about Twilight Sparkle but all it took was a little convincing from her to get them on board. She continued on her way until she heard some familiar voices.
"I want you to follow her. Bring me something I can use just like I did with that last girl who thought she could challenge me."
Rainbow peaked around the corner and saw Sunset talking to her two lackeys: Snips and Snails.
"Yes ma'am!" They both saluted her.
"Once the crown and it's power are mine Twilight Sparkle will regret ever challenging me. Not that she would've been safe if she hadn't..." Sunset muttered to herself, but it was still loud enough for the others to hear it.
"Uh..what was that?" Snips asked curiously.
Sunset, realizing they had heard her, put on her commanding voice: "What are you two still doing here?! GO!" The two boys quickly scampered off. Sunset rubbed her eyes and muttered "idiots.." and headed into the bathroom, forgetting about her bag on the floor.
Rainbow was confused. it's power? As far as Rainbow knew the crown wasn't magical in anyway, was it? Rainbow decided to have a quick peak into Sunset's bag to see what she was up to. Inside were the usual notebooks, textbooks, pencils and other supplies. But what caught her attention was a huge, well-worn book and didn't look like anything Rainbow had seen before. On the cover was a golden image of a unicorn head. Taking a quick look inside, Rainbow found the title:
The Elements of Harmony: A reference guide? But...the Elements of Harmony are just an old fairy tale, or at least something that was destroyed a long time ago. Why would Sunset have this?
Suddenly she heard the bathroom door began to open and Rainbow quickly closed the bag and ran off, still holding the book. Sunset picked up her bag and, not sensing anything out of the ordinary, went off to her business.
Rainbow hid around the corner, clutching the book to her as though her life depended on it. Once the coast was clear she rushed off to put it in her locker for safekeeping.
I have a feeling Twilight will be interested in this.
Twilight was walking the halls between classes when a little ball of light the size of a marble suddenly appeared in front of her. Twilight was startled and looked around quickly, but no one else seemed to notice the strange light. Then the light flew away from her and around the corner. Twilight was hesitant but eventually her curiosity got the better of her and she continue to follow the light down a few hallways until she reached a darkened, seemingly abandoned one. Once there, the light flickered away, leaving Twilight confused.
"Can't believe I didn't recognize you."
Twilight turned around and was greeted by a smirking Sunset Shimmer. "Me neither." Twilight was on her guard and watched Sunset closely as she approached.
"Should've known you would come back and take what's rightfully mine: again." Sunset's voice seethed with anger.
"It's not your crown! Why are you so obsessed with it anyway?"
"It doesn't matter! I earned that crown and you know it!"
"You mean by bullying and scaring all the other students into doing what you say? That's not right and you know that. Someone has to stop you."
"Oh, and that someone is you?" Sunset said mockingly as she started to circle Twilight, who in turn never took her eyes off her. "This is just a minor setback for me. You don't know the first thing about this school, and I already rule it."
She stopped and stared straight into Twilight's eyes, "Face it. You're still the same little runt you were back then and when I'm done, you're going to wish you'd stayed at that other lame school."
Spike growled at Sunset, having heard every word she said. Sunset just smirked yet again at this.
"Oh, and I'd keep an eye on your mutt. Hate for him to be... taken away from you."
"Is that a threat?" Twilight growled herself. Mess with her all you want but NOBODY messes with her dog!
"Oh of course not." Sunset replied, her voice dripping with fake sincerity. "But I'd be careful about what I''d say if I were you. You didn't belong in magic school, your other school, and you certainly don't belong here. You wanna be a princess here? Please. You don't know the first thing about fitting in." And with that, Sunset walked away with a victorious smile on her face.
Twilight just stood there, processing what she just heard. As much as she wanted to deny it, Twilight couldn't help but admit to herself that Sunset was right in that last regard.
After school, Twilight headed to one of her most favorite places in the whole wide world: The Library! Twilight couldn't help but be amazed by CHS's enormous collection. Rows and rows of books in all different genres lined the shelves of the two story area. Twilight immediately got to work and picked out books on school life, self help books, and guides on social interaction. She had just set her books down at a table and was about to pick a book when another voice made itself known.
"Oh! Hey Twilight."
Twilight looked up and saw Flash Sentry approaching her. He eyed the large pile of books Twilight had collected. "So...getting some studying done?"
"Sort of. I'm just trying to figure out how to be elected fall formal princess." She tried to have a normal conversation while ignoring the beating of her heart. Does it have anything to do with Flash? Magic had to be involved here, what else could it be? "Hey, I know this is a little out of the blue but...are you a mage?"
Flash blinked, "No, but my little sister is. Her name's Scootaloo, maybe you've seen her: orange skin, purple hair and eyes?" Twilight nodded, recalling seeing her often hanging around two other girls her age. So much for the 'magical enchantment' theory. But that could wait, there were more pressing matters at the moment.
"So, back to the fall formal, do you need any help? I can maybe help with signs and I could convince my friends to pitch in." Flash volunteered eagerly.
"Oh that's ok...I'm doing fine on my own, really!" Twilight tried to reassure him. As much as she wanted his help she could not afford to get distracted.
"Really? But I saw Rainbow hanging up posters and I overheard Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow convincing their groups to vote for you too."
Twilight was shocked, to say the least. Why were these girls helping her? What did they have to gain out of it? Were they helping her because they genuinely liked her or because they hated Sunset more? She was pondering these questions when Flash spoke up again.
"Well, anyway I gotta head to band practice but let me know if you need anything." Flash walked away cooly.....or it would have been cool had he not tripped over a pile of un-shelved books. Twilight tried to stifle her giggles as Flash made a quick exit in an effort to save some dignity.
Twilight decided to get to back to work, no more distraction! But as she hunkered down with her first book she felt her mind drift away. Thoughts of those girls, Sunset, Flash, and the crown filled her mind, making it nearly impossible to focus.
First those dreams..then the crown...the formal...those girls...Sunset and now Flash! Ugh! What is going on with me? Ever since I got to this school things have been so...weird! Is it just me? Is it this school? I just can't shake the feeling something big is going to happen.
Books pushed aside, Twilight decided that whatever was coming, she was going to be prepared for it.
Wednesday morning arrived and Twilight was feeling pretty good (aside from the usual nightmare). She decided that while having those girls spreading the word was helpful, the best way to garner votes was to convince people herself. She had even compiled a list of various talking points she could discuss with her potential voters. Maybe she could include Spike on her posters and win the animal lovers vote. The formal was two days away and she didn't have a second to spare.
As she headed towards her locker however, she could hear students giggling as she walked by, pointing at her and whispering. What is going on? As she was asking herself this she felt someone grab her and pull her into a nearby classroom. Twilight turned around and found the culprit to be Rarity, who immediately closed the door behind her.
"Rarity!? What are you..." Before Twilight could properly get a question out, Rarity pulled out a bag and began pulling out various articles of clothes before finally settling on a few. She snapped her fingers and two flashes of light filled the room for a second. When it was over Twilight was now wearing a new outfit.
Twilight now wore a light green shirt with a green skirt with a light blue belt accessorized with a star. The oddest part was that she was wearing a blonde wig which covered her dark hair. Rarity examined her work.
"Perfect! Oh, yes. This is good! No one will recognize you!"
"Why wouldn't I wanna be–"
"And we'll need a disguise for your dog, which is too bad." Rarity began petting Spike who definitely looked like he was enjoying himself. "He really is so adorable!" Rarity stopped petting hime. " Y'know, with the right charm, I think I could make him look like a rabbit instead." This left both Twilight and Spike very confused.
"A rabbit?" Before Twilight could question her further, the door slammed open revealing Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie (who was somehow hanging upside down).
"There ya are Twi!"
"So much for the disguise..."Rarity grumbled to herself.
"What is going on?" Twilight wanted answers. Fluttershy's eyes widened in surprise.
"Oh, you haven't seen it yet..."
"Seen what!?" Twilight was more confused than ever. Before anyone could answer, someone else appeared at the door.
"There you are! I was looking all over for you." Rainbow Dash entered the room. When her and Applejack's eyes met, tension filled the are as the two glared at each other.
"Applejack." Rainbow said bluntly.
"Rainbow Dash."
They just continued glaring at each other for a minute until Twilight finally had enough.
"ENOUGH! What is going on here?"
Suddenly remembering why they were here, Rainbow and Applejack looked around nervously. Pinkie pulled out her laptop from her bag and began to uploading a video of some sort.
"Um...I'm not sure she needs to see it..." Fluttershy quietly tried to stop her but it was too late.
"Oh I'm sure it's not that bad." Pinkie laughed nervously, trying to reassure them. As the video began to play with a voice that non of them liked.
"Twilight Sparkle wants to be your Fall Formal Princess. But what does it say about our school if we give someone like this... such an important honor?" It began to play clips of Twilight being tripping, trying to open her locker when it got stuck, and trying to use the photocopier yesterday. Each time stopping and zooming in on the goofy faces she was making. It went on like that for a few minutes until it finally stopped, leaving the room in silence.
"I take that back. It's pretty bad!" Pinkie was the first to speak after a moment of silence.
Twilight was mortified and humiliated. Not only did this ruin any chance of winning she had, she was now the laughing stock of the school! Twilight closed the laptop and covered her face with her hands. Applejack put her hand on her shoulder and tried to comfort her.
"Hey, it's gonna be alright sugarcube. I'm sure we'll think of something."
"Like what?" Twilight asked skeptically. Applejack was struggling to come up with an answer when Pinkie spoke up.
"Oh! Oh! I have an idea!" she volunteered enthusiastically, raising and waving her hand as though she were in class.
"Let me guess: a wild and noisy party?" Fluttershy retorted sharply. She turned to Twilight. "Want my advice? Don't accept any help from her. She never takes anything seriously!" Pinkie's face turned from pink to red.
"What! I do do take things seriously! It's people like you who don't know how to have fun that are the problem!"
"Oh! Pff. Kch. Ts! Don't play innocent, Pinkie Pie! You are no better than she is!" Rarity spoke up. "At least she appreciated what I have to offer when I want to help!"
"At least Pinkie won't invite you to a party then cancel it at the last minute without telling you!" Rainbow declared.
"Why you...! At least when I make promises I stick to 'em and don't go lying behind the other person's back!" Applejack retorted, getting in Rainbow's face. The girls continued to argue loudly with each other until Twilight reached her boiling point and had enough of this.
"SHUT UP!" The other become silent as Twilight began ranting.
"I have had enough of you girls arguing about 'who did this..' and 'who said what..'. Right now I'm the laughing stock of the school and you know what! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULTS! If I hadn't met any of you this wouldn't be happening! I only entered this stupid contest because you were too scared to stick up for yourselves! But you know what? I'M DONE! I'm sick of getting involved in other people's lives just for them to hurt me! I never should have come to this school and I never should have tried to help people! So do yourselves a favor in the future and just LEAVE ME ALONE!" Twilight stomped out of the room, tears streaming down her face as everyone else just stood there, stunned at what just happened.
Spike quickly followed after his owner, leaving the other girls just standing there and looking at each other in silence.
Twilight walked away from the classroom, wiping tears from her eyes. How could she have trusted them like that! They didn't care about anything but themselves! She was better off alone, just like before. Twilight turned a corner and found Sunset Shimmer down the hall vandalizing one of her posters with a black marker.
"Well well well, look who it is. Did you see the video? Pretty funny right? I wonder who made it..." Sunset smirked. Twilight was furious. Magic was boiling up in her clenched fist as she stared down Sunset.
"Dont lie! I know it was you!" Sunset merely raised an eyebrow at the accusation.
"Now why would I do something like that? It's not like you have any proof or anything?" She asked, mocking innocence. This just added fuel to Twilight's growing anger and the magic in her hand began to flare as a result.
"THAT"S IT!" Twilight then aimed her hand at Sunset as a magenta beam headed out toward her. Startled, Sunset fired a similar opal bean. Just before the two beams intercepted, Spike jumped between them in an effort to protect Twilight and both beams collided with him. A flash of light later and Spike was lying on the ground, unconscious.
"SPIKE!" Twilight rushed over and cradled her precious pup. How could she be so reckless? Even Sunset looked a little worried about Spike.
"Spike are you ok!?" Twilight asked worriedly as Spike began to open his eyes.
"Um...I think so..?" Twilight was relieved until they both realized that her dog had actually spoken to her!
"AAAAAAAAHHHHH!" They both screamed and Twilight ran off.
"Twilight! Wait!" Spike called out as he chased after her leaving and stunned Sunset just standing there, wondering what just happened.
Twilight ran until she ended up in an empty dead end hallway. She pinned herself to the wall as Spike approached.
"Twilight are you ok?" Spike asked, concerned about his owner.
"Well gee, after finding out whatever social life I had is ruined, those girls who wanted to help me too busy arguing with each other, and accidentally creating a talking dog, do you think I'm ok!?" Twilight asked hypothetically.
"Ummm...maybe?" Spike replied, taking the question literally while scratching his ear with his back paw. Twilight calmed down and went over to him, her concern for him overriding the part of her mind that was telling her how weird it was.
"Are you ok? How do you feel? What happened?" Twilight's line of questions was interrupted when Spike licked her face.
"Hey! One question at a time. This is pretty new to me too." Twilight gave a quick 'sorry' before listening to what Spike had to say.
"All I know is that I wanted to stop those glowy lights from hitting you so I jumped in front of them. I was pain for a minute but it went away pretty fast. Suddenly I was back in your arms and I could talk! I don't really understand why I couldn't before though. It's so easy."
While Twilight was touched that Spike was trying to protect her, she still had a million questions on her mind. Did it have something to do with the magic she and Sunset used? She quickly examined him, not finding anything out of the ordinary except for the talking part.
"I think maybe when our magic hit you, it created a 'combined' or 'mutant' spell that allowed you to talk." Twilight explained her theory and Spike nodded, still not fully understanding what she was saying.
"...Twilight?" a familiar voice called out. Twilight quickly stuffed Spike in her bag. She looked up to see the other girls approaching, worried looks on their faces. Applejack spoke up again.
"Are ya'll alright sugarcube?"
Twilight took a deep breath, "Yeah, I'm fine. I just needed a little time to myself I guess."
"Oh, well we're mighty sorry for arguing like that when you needed us."
Twilight quickly shook her head at that. "No, I'm the one who should be sorry for yelling at you like that. I had no right to say those things."
Applejack smiled and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "It's alright, all this must be stressin' you out." Applejack looked to the others and continued, "In fact, we're willing to put aside our differences and help you through this, right ya'll?" The others nodded in agreement.
Twilight smiled. She was touched, really. Nobody at Crystal Prep ever treated her like these girls treated her. She felt a warmness growing inside her.
It ended when she though back to what Applejack just said and what the other girls were arguing about earlier. "Actually when I was doing research on this school, I came upon the picture of the five of you, hanging out and being...friends." Twilight narrowed her eyes as an idea popped into her head, "Did all those things you mentioned happened before or after Sunset Shimmer came here?"
All there eyes widened with surprise. "Why, it all started happening right after Sunset started CHS! But why would.." Rarity realized what Twilight was getting at. "Well it's a nice theory darling, but I'm sure Sunset had nothing to do with it."
"She's right." Fluttershy popped in. "Sunset Shimmer isn't the one who ruined my silent auction for the animal shelter by bringing fireworks and noisemakers! It was supposed to be a serious event, and Pinkie Pie ruined it!"
Now it was Pinkie's turn to be confused. " What are you talking about? I got a text from you saying that you didn't want a silent auction. You wanted a big party!"
Fluttershy blinked with surprise. "I never sent you any text."
"You didn't?"
"You don't think she's the one who's been sending me those e-mails, do you?" Rarity asked. "Every time I volunteer to help with the decorations at a school function, I get an e-mail from Pinkie Pie saying she has plenty of volunteers! And then I find out she's done everything herself."
Pinkie began looking through her phone. "I never sent you any emails!"
Twilight nodded, her theory was coming together nicely, and it only needed one more piece. "Applejack, where and when did you have your bake-sale?"
"Why...Saturday in the gym last Spring."
"What!?" Rainbow turned to Aj, shocked at what she heard. "But Sunset told me you had to move it to Sunday!"
"What!?"
Everybody except Twilight just stood there as they just absorbed this new revelation. "Well girls, I think we've finally figured out what happened."
"Why that no good, backstabbing..."Rainbow fumed.
"Of all the horrible things she could have done this is the Worst. Possible. Thing!" Rarity cried out dramatically.
"Well galls, I think we all know what we have to do now." Aj called their attention. "We've gotta get Twilight that crown and show Sunset that she messed with the wrong girls! You hear me?"
"YEAH!" Rainbow, Rarity, Pinkie and even Fluttershy cried out. Rainbow's eyes widened as she suddenly remembered something.
"Hey! I almost forgot!" She reached into her backpack and pulled out the old book. " I, uh, ....sorta 'found' this in Sunset's bag yesterday and thought you might want to see it." She handed the book to Twilight, who quickly began examining it.
"Wait. You 'found' this in Sunset's bag?" Aj asked suspiciously.
"Yeah, well, it was just sitting there, and no one else was around so..." Rainbow rubbed the back of her head nervously, trying to ignore the stern looks the others were giving her.
"Rainbow Dash!"
"I'm sorry ok? It's just that she was muttering about 'power' and stuff and I wanted to figure out why!"
"Elements of Harmony...?" Twilight muttered questionably. The others focused their attention on her. "Why would she have this?"
"Elements of Harmony, aren't those just a myth?" Rarity asked.
"I know. But this book seems to explain what they are and how they work!" Before Twilight could explain more, the warning bell sounded.
"Shoot! We better get going. I'll try to study this whenever I can!"
"Meet up at Sugarcube Corner after school?" Aj suggested.
"Sounds good!" Twilight rushed off to class, not noticing the piece of paper that fell out of the book. Rainbow picked it up.
"Hey! Wait! You dropped..." But Twilight was out of earshot. Rainbow looked at the paper and saw that it was a picture. She blinked and squinted, as though she couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"No way..."
"What is it?" Fluttershy asked as she and the other girls gathered around Rainbow to take a look. When they saw it, they couldn't believe it either.
"Oh my stars!"
"Could it be..?"
"But...it cant!"
"But it looks like..."
"I think it is..."
The picture was of two little girls, sitting side by side at a park or somewhere, arms slung over each other's shoulders making it clear they were best friends. But the shocking part was that the two girls in the picture were Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle.
Twilight managed to get through the rest of the day despite the snickers that followed wherever she went. She even managed to study the book between classes and at lunch. Finally the bell rang and classes were over for the day. Twilight stuffed away the book and went to meet her friends.
Sugarcube corner was a nice little coffee shop not too far from CHS. It served a wide variety of drinks and baked goods and thus was a popular hangout spot for the local teens. When Twilight got arrived, she discovered the other girls waiting for her.
"Sorry girls. I got a little caught up in the book and almost didn't hear the bell ring."
"Don't worry about it, go get yourself a drink and we'll get started." Rainbow reassured her. Twilight nodded and headed for the counter. There, a plump middle aged women with pink swirly hair greeted her.
"Why hello there deary. Name's Mrs. Cake. What can I get ya?" she greeted Twilight eagerly. Twilight introduced herself and placed her order. Finally it was ready and she paid for it, but when she turned around...
*WHAM!*
Twilight collided into Flash, this time spilling her drink on his shirt. After a moment of shock, Flash put on a good natured smile.
"Oh! We've gotta stop meeting each other like this." Twilight offered a quick and sincere apology as they both reach down to the dropped cup. As they grabbed, their hands touched. Noticing this, they both pulled away, blushing.
"Yeah. Well...um...thanks." Twilight managed to put out.
"Hey. I heard about that video. Sorry about that." Flash said, "If it helps, most people probably thought it was kinda funny. Not that posting it was a funny or cool move! It was actually kind of stupid. N-Not that your stupid! I-I mean..." Flash fumbled around for words to help salvage the situation.
"It's ok. Sorry about bumping into you...again." Twilight replied. "Here, let me help." She recited a spell in her head and pointed at Flash's shirt. One magenta glow later and it was devoid of any hot chocolate stains.
"Cool thanks." They continued to stand in awkward silent for a minute until Twilight noticed Rarity calling her over.
"Looks like she's calling me, so I'd better go. See ya later?"
"Sure!" Flash agreed, a little too eagerly."Don't forget; if you need any help, just ask, ok?" Twilight nodded and they both went their separate ways, spilled drink forgotten.
When Twilight reached the booth, she still had a slight blush on her face, which Rarity noticed.
"Don't even think about it! You're already trying to get her crown. Who knows what Sunset Shimmer would do if you ended up getting her ex-boyfriend too?" She warned Twilight.
" I'm not trying to. I don't even know... We just accidentally... Ex-boyfriend?" Twilight was surprised, to say the least. How could someone as nice as Flash date someone like Sunset?
"Flash Sentry broke up with her a few weeks ago. I can't believe she hasn't done something awful to him yet." Fluttershy said. Twilight's eyes widened with worry as an idea popped in her head.
"Maybe she's just waiting until she has the power to do something really awful." The realization made her worry as she pulled out the book. "I've been studying this whenever I could, I didn't get too far, but I found this." She pointed to a picture of five gems surrounding another gem...one in the shape of a six pointed star.
"Hey! That looks like the one on your outfit!" Pinkie said, pointing to Twilight's skirt.
"And it looks just like the Fall Formal Crown!" Twilight explained.
"But the Fall Formal Crown is just paper mache darling. There's nothing magical about it." Rarity reasoned.
"Maybe there is. Fluttershy, remember when we found the crown? Did you notice anything different about it?"
"Well...the gem in the middle did seem more...special, I guess?" Fluttershy offered, thinking back to the event.
"Exactly. I don't know how, but I think Sunset actually found an element of harmony and hid it in the crown by replacing the gems!" The others looked shocked at Twilight's theory.
"Maybe that's why she was so upset about the crown earlier!" Fluttershy concluded.
"But..if she had something that powerful, why didn't she just keep it?" Rainbow asked.
"I don't know, maybe she was worried about getting caught? Or maybe she was being followed? In anyway, I have a feeling that Sunset is planning something, and I don't think we're gonna like it."
"Now hang on ya'll..." Applejack tried to calm them down, "We don't know for sure that the gem is some all powerful element. It could still be just an ordinary fake jewel like we use at all our school events."
Twilight took a deep breath. She knew she was risking sounding like a lunatic, but it was the only way she could think of to get them to listen.
"Actually...when I was delivering the crown to Celestia, It felt as though...the was was calling out to me. And when I touched it, I saw these...visions, I guess?." She saw the others looking her, mouths slightly open in astonishment. She pressed forward, "And even before that, I've been having these... dreams involving the gem, and the school. They've been happening for about a month and every night since I got here. It's...the main reason why I started thinking about transferring here in the first place. Guys...I think something is going to happen at school and I need to be there when it happens. Do you understand?"
The others just continued to just stare at her for a moment, processing what she just said until Fluttershy spoke up.
"Actually, I've been having dreams like that too."
Twilight was shocked that someone else was experiencing the same thing she was.
"Me too! Maybe not as often as you've had them, just once or twice the last few days. I've had no idea what they meant until you came along!" Rarity explained. Pinkie, Rainbow and Applejack nodded their head in agreement.
"Then this can't be a coincidence! There's something going on, and whatever it is, I'm pretty sure Sunset's at the center of it."
"Actually...speaking of Sunset..." Rainbow glanced at the others and pulled out the photograph. If there was a good time for explanations, now was the time. "This slipped out of the book while you were walking away." Twilight took the photo in her hand, not believing what she was seeing.
"She actually kept this...after all this time..?" She muttered to herself as she was mesmerized by the photo of the two smiling girls.
"So you do know Sunset?" Rarity questioned, breaking Twilight attention from the photo.
"Yeah actually, we went to magic school together."
"Well, what happened?" Rainbow asked, demanding an answer.
"Oh!Oh! Did the two of you meet at magic school and totally become BFF's? Like sleepover, birthday, and always together Bff's? Did the two of you used to be specially tutored because you were bother smart and powerful, but one day something bad happened and the two of you haven't spoken or seen each other since that day?" Pinkie asked, somehow managing to ask all that with one breath.
"I'd...rather not talk about it right now." Twilight sighed. "Besides, we've got more important things to worry about right now."
"She's right." Applejack said, respecting Twilight's privacy. "If Twi's right and that crown really is an all-powerful thingamajig, then Sunset's the last person who should have it. The only way to prevent that is for Twilight to win, agreed?"
"Agreed!" Pinkie, Rainbow and Rarity chimed.
"Good. Now, the dance is in two days and we still don't know how we're gonna get Twilight the votes she needs to be named princess. Right now, folks only know the Twilight from the videos Sunset Shimmer posted online. We need to help 'em see her differently."
Everyone began thinking of ideas. After a moment, Rarity called out:
"I'VE GOT IT!" This got the attention of the other customers, who looked at her curiously. Rarity blushed until they went back to their own business. She pulled out fake pony ears and tails out of her backpack and began to explain (in a normal volume).
" I mean, um, perhaps I have a solution. Now this may be an absolutely preposterous idea, but what if we all wore these as a sign of unity?" As she talked, she handed out tails and ears to the other girls at the table. "Freshman year, they were very, very popular. A way for everybody to show their school spirit! You know? "Go, Canterlot Wondercolts!"' She did a little cheer before giving a small cough and slumped her shoulders. "I haven't sold any in ages. I mean, the five of us are obviously very different, but deep down, we're all Canterlot Wondercolts! Sunset Shimmer is the one who divided us, Twilight Sparkle is the one who united us. And we're gonna let everyone know it! What do you think?"
The other girls made noises of agreement.
"Oh! Maybe we can even do a song!" Pinkie suggested, proudly wearing her ears and tail.
"That sounds awesome! We can practice at my house." Rainbow offered. The other became excited, this was going to win voted for sure!
Twilight glanced over to where Flash was sitting with his bandmates. "And I think I know someone who can help us with this."
The next day at lunch everything was as it usually was, cliques sitting together and not much communication between them unless necessary. However, if one looked closely, they would notice five girls all waring ears, tails, and sweaters with the school colors on them. You might also notice a trio of boys setting their interments up. The leader of this band, Flash Sentry, nodded to Rainbow Dash when they were ready. Seeing this, she began to bang her lunch tray rhythmically. Soon, the other girls all joined in, whether it be using their utensils or clapping.
Leaning against the wall of the lunchroom was Twilight's backpack, with Spike right inside. (Though fortunately no one seemed to notice him). Seeing that the other girls were ready, he turned on the MP3 player nearby, starting up music with the same beat the girls had, blasting it all over the cafeteria. Flash's band also began to start playing.
Suddenly the girls all got up from their seats and started singing!
Hey, hey, everybody We've got something to say We may seem as different As the night is from day But you look a little deeper And you will see That I'm just like you And you're just like me. Yeah!
The song was catchy and soon the other student began to listen and clap along. It encouraged them, telling them that why they may seem different on the outside, deep down they had more in common with each other than they thought.
So get up get down If you're gonna come around We can work together Helping Twilight win the crown So get up get down 'Cause it's gonna make a sound If we work together Helping Twilight Sparkle Win the crown!
Each girl sang about their friendship, about how they might have let petty differences drive them apart, but Twilight Sparkle helped them see past that and brought them back together in harmony.
Generous, Honesty Laughter, Kindness, Loyalty
The girls pulled open the doors, revealing Twilight Sparkled donned in her new school colors. Then she began to sing in a voice so beautiful even the other girls were surprised for a moment.
I'm gonna be myself No matter what I do And if we're different yeah I want you to be true to you If you follow me We'll put our differences aside We'll stick together and Start working on that school pride!
The girls began passing around ears and tails, which the students eagerly grabbed and put on. The song was in full swing now, everyone was dancing and singing along with new and old friends. Suddenly it was if social labels never existed, what mattered is that they were Wondercolts! The girls continued to sing and dance.
Jump up make a sound (Hey!) Stomp your hooves turn around Start now, make a change, Gonna come around Jump up make a sound (Hey!) Stomp your hooves turn around Canterlot Wondercolts Help her win the crown!
While the whole cafeteria was caught up in the music, not everyone was enjoying it. Sunset Shimmer peered in to the cafeteria from the hall. To say she was furious was an understatement. She continued to watch and Twilight completely undid all the work she had put into over the years to separate everyone. At this rate, she was going to win for sure! Sunset turned around and saw Snips and Snails also decked out in CHS gear and dancing to the music. Sunset had had enough.
"Take those off! I have something I need you to do."
If she couldn't stop Twilight from winning by using the students, then she would have to use another approach to stop her.
The day of the dance arrived, and everyone was in the spirit of things. Everywhere you looked you could see student in wondercolt gear hanging out with people they wouldn't have last week. And in the center of it all were six teenage girls.
Everywhere they went people greeted them with smiled and waves, especially to Twilight.
"Hey Twilight!"
"Loved your song yesterday!"
"Yeah! You've totally got my vote!"
"Mine too!"
Twilight blushed, ever since yesterday she had gotten comments like that from everybody she walked by. From the looks of it, nearly everyone in school was going to vote for her! She had never felt so popular in her entire life!
"This is so awesome!" Rainbow beamed. "You're a shoo-in to win now!"
"Yeah." Twilight said. "And I couldn't have done this without any of you! I can't thank you girls, or Flash, enough for any of this."
"Ain't no sweat Twi. Anything for a friend." Applejack replied. This time, Twilight didn't feel any discomfort when Applejack called her a friend and just smiled. She hadn't felt this good with other people since she and Sunset were kids.
The good feeling ended when she saw Applejack frown at something. She turned to see what it was and saw Sunset strutting confidently down the hall, her two lackeys right behind her.
"Don't know what she's smilin' about. Twilight's the one that's gonna be Princess of the Fall Formal."
They watched as Sunset knocked on a nearby door, which opened to reveal a woman with beautiful blue hair and skin.
"Vice Principal Luna!" Sunset exclaimed with worry, "Come quick. Something terrible has happened!"
The gym was a wreck, to put it mildly. Streamers were torn, balloons were popped, and tables and chairs and been flipped over and even damaged.
" Isn't this just awful? And after Pinkie Pie worked so hard to make things so perfect! Why would Twilight Sparkle do something like this?" Sunset proclaimed, her voice full of fake innocence. Luna eyed her skeptically, not completely bought by the act as some other teacher might.
"Why would you think Twilight was responsible for something like this?" Sunset just smiled confidently and produced a vanilla file.
"Because I have proof."
As this exchange was going on, another party was listening in, namely one Flash Sentry. He had seen Sunset walking with Luna and decided to follow them to see what was up. Realizing what Sunset was up to, he decided he had to do something. Confronting Sunset now was too reckless and risky. He would need to do his own investigation, and fast.
Twilight sat nervously in Vice-Principal Luna's office. Unlike her sister's, Luna's office was shrouded in darkness with only a little light peeking in between the blinders, creating an ominous atmosphere. The vice principal herself stood on the other side of her desk, back turned to Twilight.
"As glad as I am to see you again, I had hoped it would be under better circumstances." Luna was looking at various pictures in a vanilla binder. After a moment, she tossed the folder and the pictures right in front of Twilight.
"This is you in the photographs, is it not?"
Twilight winced, it was her in the pictures. It showed her in various stages of wrecking the the gym.
"Well, yes it is me, but I didn't do it!"
"Really? So where were you between four and six yesterday afternoon?" Luna narrowed her eyes at Twilight in a way that made Twilight feel that if she told any lies, she would melt on the spot.
"I was at home." was all she managed to get out.
"Was there anybody with you that can verify that?"
Twilight shook her head, her heart pounding. Of course she had to be alone when something like this happened! Her friends had various after-school activities to get to and even her parents had been out with errands. There was nobody who could prove Twilight didn't destroy the gym...well except Spike but Twilight had a feeling that having a talking dog testify for her would only cause more problems.
"Hmm. So there's photographic evidence and no one who can prove that their false."
Luna walked to the window and peered out of it.
"I think it should be fairly obvious that the school cannot let someone who would do something like this compete for the Fall Formal crown."
Twilight buried her face in her hands. This can't be happening... What was she going to do now? She had no proof of her innocence and now she was going to be kicked off the princess ballot just as she was about to win! She had a feeling...no, she knew Sunset was behind this, but she also knew that Luna would only listen to hard evidence, which she didn't have either. She felt so hopeless.
Just before Luna could say anything else, someone knocked on the door before opening, revealing Flash Sentry holding some photos too.
"Vice Principal Luna. I found these in a trash can in the library. Thought you should see them." He handed them over and she looked over them. These photos showed various backgrounds with large pieces cut out. Flash grabbed a photo from the desk and held it behind one of the cut photos, showing the pose Twilight was making and the cut-out matched perfectly.
"Someone obviously combined these photos to make it look like Twilight was the one who trashed the gym."
Luna nodded at this, as this was apparently the case. Someone had been taking pictures of Twilight and pasted them over the real culprits picture.
"I appreciate you bringing these to my attention, Flash. In light of this new evidence, you may of course continue your bid to be crowned the Princess of the Fall Formal."
Twilight couldn't believe it! She had never felt so relieved or happy before! She quickly ran up to Flash and hugged him tight.
"Thankyou!Thankyou!Thankyou!" Realizing what she was doing, she quickly stepped back, blushing fiercely. Flash was blushing himself and just chuckled lightly.
"What was I gonna do? Not prove your innocence? Wouldn't be much of a Canterlot Wondercolt, would I?"
Luna decided to ignore the obvious attraction between the teens and began to head out. "I am afraid enough damage has been done to the gym that we will have to postpone the dance until tomorrow night. If you will excuse me, I need to let my sister know about this latest development." She left, leaving the two teens alone.
"So I, uh, wanted to thank you again for helping me out yesterday, and for today too I guess." Twilight tried to pull herself together.
"Like I said, I'm happy to help anytime! Plus I had fun yesterday." Flash said, also trying to keep his nerves in check. "You know, you're a really great singer. I-I mean not just great, but amazing! Best I've ever heard!" He mentally punched himself for babbling like an idiot. Twilight just smiled and blushed some more at this.
"Thanks, you were really great too." Twilight mentally groaned at that response. Really? That's the best you've got?. The both just continued to stand around awkwardly for a moment before the bell rang.
"Well, I guess we should get to class." Twilight said, relieved for an exit.
"Yeah! Totally! Learning is important!" Flash again mentally punched himself as both teen went their separate ways. Once she was out of earshot, he just sighed. He had wanted to ask her to the Fall Formal, but his nerves had gotten the better of him. He continued to look dejected all the way to his next class.
Lunch arrived yet again, but this time was different. Instead of the various 'groups' sitting with their own kind, there were mix ups everywhere. Rockers eating with eco-kids, techies laughing with fashionistas and dramas chatting with athletes just to name a few. And at one table, six very different girls sat and enjoyed lunch together for the first time in a long time. Well, for the most part, until they got to the subject of the Fall Formal.
"I can't believe because of Sunset's scheme, we have to wait an extra day for the dance!" Rainbow fumed.
"She's right, I cannot believe she tried to get Twilight kicked out of the running! Not to mention ruining all ofApplejack's and Pinkie's hard work!" Rarity exclaimed.
"Now I know it ain't fair, but there ain't any proof that Sunset's behind it." Applejack tried to calm them down. "Anyway, it's me and Pinkie who've gotta get the gym clean again, and we'll make it a might better than before, right Pinkie?"
"Yesserooni positoovly."
Twilight just shook her head. "Rainbow and Rarity are right, it's not fair you have to clean up Sunset's mess." Suddenly she smiled, "How about I help you out after school? After all 'many hands make light work'." Before Aj or Pinkie could protest, the other girls voiced their agreements.
"If she's in, I'm in! Practice is cancelled anyway so..."
"I'm sure I could give it a touch of elegance befitting a Fall Formal."
"I'd be happy to help too, I'm sure the shelter won't mind if I take one day off."
It was decided; after school they would head to the gym and see what they could do to help. Pinkie was so happy.
"This is going to be a Fall Formal nobody will ever forget!"
The gym was worse off than anyone thought. Even with their magic, it would take a while to get this cleaned up.
"I simply cannot believe they did all this!" Rarity exclaimed.
"If I was allowed to bring my party cannon on school grounds I could have this fixed up in no time." Pinkie grumbled.
"Now Pinkie, you remember what happened last time." Rarity reprimanded.
"Yeah. I'm still finding confetti in weird places!" Rainbow spoke up.
"But I finally worked out the kinks this time!"
"Focus ya'll!" Aj reminded them.
"I know it seems impossible, but, maybe if we all work together?" Twilight asked.
"Now that's the kinda can-do spirit I'm lookin' for in a Fall Formal Princess! Let's do it, y'all!" Aj said, getting everyone on board.
Soon, they were sweeping, dusting, and throwing away trash as a team. Even Spike was helping out.
Fix it up Yeah, it's all right We'll get it ready by tonight Mix it up Yeah, help a friend We'll come together in the end
As they worked, students who were passing by saw what they were doing a decided to help them out. Twilight was impressed by their enthusiasm to help and got them organized to different tasks. Soon the whole school was working together on decorations, moving tables, and getting the sound system ready. Before long, everything was fixed and the gym looked even better than before!
We... will...) Fix it up, yeah, it's all right (Come... tonight, tonight...) We'll get it ready by tonight (We... will...) Mix it up, yeah, help a friend (Come... together, together...) We'll come together, together now!
"This... looks... sooooo... GOOD!" Pinkie gush, seeing the brand new decorations. Hearing about what was going on Celestia and Luna decided to check in to see how they were doing. What they saw left them amazed. Celestia clapped, grabbing everyone's attention.
"All right, everyone! Fall Formal is back on for this evening." Hearing the news, everyone cheered, especially the girls. They hadn't expected to be done this quickly!
"So you'd better get out of here and start getting ready. Oh, and don't forget to cast your ballots for the Fall Formal Princess on your way out!"
Students quickly lined up to drop their ballots into the box Luna was holding. Along they, several students addressed Twilight.
"You got my vote Twilight."
"Yeah! You totally rock!"
"You've got my vote for sure."
Twilight was ecstatic! Whatever students had reservations about voting for her before now were totally on her side. At this point, almost everyone at school was voting for her.
The few exceptions to that fact were hiding in the storage closet watching everything that was going on.
"You may have gotten lucky Twilight, but I've still got one more trick up my sleeve. Just you wait..." Sunset turned to Snips and Snails. "All right you two, this is what I need you to do..."
The girls arrived at the boutique Rarity worked at to get ready for the dance.
"I can't believe we actually pulled it off!" Fluttershy gushed.
"Of course we did! We're awesome!" Rainbow asserted.
"Yeah, you girls are amazing!" Spike spoke up. His eyes widened when he realized what he had done. Twilight paled and the other girls just stared at him in shock.
"He can talk!?" Rarity freaked out.
"Yes. You see..there was this incident with Sunset.." Twilight tried to explain until Fluttershy cut her off.
"This. Is. So. Amazing! Tell me, what are you thinking right now?" Her eager face was not right in front of Spike's weirded out one.
"Well...I...uh..." Was all he managed to blurt out before Twilight came to his rescue.
"Listen, I'll tell you girls more later, but right now we need to get ready." This brought the other girls back to earth, and they nodded while still understandably a little freaked out.
"All right girls. We need to get ready, and we need to look fabulous!" A she said this, Rarity pulled out a rack of dresses.
This is our big night We're getting ready And we're doing it up right This is our big night Friendship survived, Now we'll start it out right
The girls tried on different combinations of dresses, jewelry and make-up until they found the right look that suited them. Rarity helped them get sorted out, and even had a dress specially picked out for Twilight. Even Spike got a little bow tie. By the time they were done, the girls did indeed look fabulous and were ready to party.
This was going to be a night they would never forget.
That night, the girls arrived in a limo Rarity managed to rent for them. The girls quickly got out and rushed into the school. Just as Twilight was about to enter, a car horn drew her attention back outside. Stepping outside of his car, Flash called out to her.
"Twilight!"
Twilight waited as he rushed up to her.
"Listen! I-I was wondering if..." Flash struggled to get his nerves in order,"...you might save a dance for me?"
Twilight smiled, "I'd be happy too." Flash grinned at this and he and Twilight linked arms and tried to enter the school...only for him to slam his face on a closed door. Twilight giggled at this as they entered through the open door.
Inside the gym, the dance was in full swing. Students in fancy tux's and dresses danced, drank punch and just hung out as Flash's band played on stage. In the middle of the dance floor, six girls were enjoying themselves, except for Twilight who looked around, trying to find something.
"Anybody see Sunset Shimmer?"
"Maybe she was too embarrassed to show! She's gotta know you won by a landslide!" Rainbow brushed off her concerns and focused on dancing to the music.
"Maybe..." Twilight wasn't convinced. If she remembered Sunset well enough, she knew she was planning something, but what?
The song came to an end and the band left the stage as Principal Celestia walked on and addressed the students.
"First off, I wanna say how wonderful everything looks tonight. You all did a magnificent job pulling things together after the unfortunate events of earlier. And now, without further ado, I'd like to announce the winner of this year's Fall Formal crown." She gestured to Luna, who held the box containing the crown. Celestia pulled out a gold-colored envelope and read the name inside.
"The Princess of this year's Fall Formal is... Twilight Sparkle!"
The whole gym cheered and Twilight and her friends jumped with joy. Twilight then walked on stage as Celestia presented her with the crown.
"Congratulations, Twilight!"
As soon as the crown was on her head, the gem seemed to glow. Most people watching just chalked it up to the lighting. But Twilight could feel the gem's energy. She hid this and just smiled and waved to the audience until a familiar voice cried out.
"Twilight! Help!"
Twilight looked around and was horrified to see that Snips and Snails had snatched up Spike! He struggled against them as they rushed out of the gym.
"SPIKE!"
Twilight quickly jumped off the stage and ran through the confused students. When she passed her friends she shouted:
"They've got Spike!"
The girls understood and swiftly followed Twilight out of the gym. When they reached the front lawn, they saw Sunset standing beside the statue, her minions still holding a captive Spike.
"Twilight!" Spike cried out, still struggling against the two teens.
"That's close enough!" Sunset warned them and the girls promptly stopped in their tracks.
"Don't hurt him!" Twilight demanded/begged.
"Oh I won't..." Sunset stared straight into Twilight's eyes." If you give me my crown!" The girls gasped.
"What!?"
"Give me the crown or you never see your mutt again!" Sunset threatened.
Twilight felt like she couldn't breathe. Sunset must be desperate, otherwise she wouldn't have resorted to this. Twilight could feel the crown's power, and she knew she couldn't let Sunset get her hands on it. On the other hand...Spike had been Twilight's best friend since she started Crystal Prep. He had been her only comfort in those cold, lonely halls. Twilight felt like she was being torn in two.
"I know." Twilight finally managed to get out after a moment.
"What?" Sunset demanded.
"I know why you want this crown so badly." Using her magic, she summoned the book Rainbow gave her. Sunset's eyes widened.
"Hey! That's mine!"
"I know about the Elements of Harmony. I know that you managed to find one in the ruins of a castle in the Everfree Forest, and that you hid it in this crown because Luna almost caught you and was on your trail."
"How...how did you...!?" Sunset sputtered.
Twilight had seen it all in her dreams, and in the visions the gem showed her, but she couldn't very well tell Sunset that.
"But most of all I know that I can't let you have it! Seeing what you've managed to do to this school without it's power tells me your going to do something worse once you do have it!"
While Twilight kept Sunset and her lackey's attention on her, Rainbow and Aj managed to sneak behind Snips and Snails. Once Twilight completed her statement, they tackled them to ground, releasing Spike who ran joyfully back into Twilight's arms.
"Twilight! You weren't really going to leave me?" He asked, eyes wide.
Twilight just nuzzled him in comfort. "Of course I wouldn't Spike! Your more than just my pet, your my friend!" She hugged and cuddled him until....
"Give me that crown!" Sunset tackled Twilight, knocking Spike out of her arms. The crown also dropped off her head. Twilight and Sunset struggled against each other to get to it. Rainbow got to it first. Snips and Snails, managing to escape Aj's hold, tried to get the crown from her.
"Fluttershy!" Rainbow called out, tossing it to her. This continued on for a few minutes, with someone grabbing the crown and end up losing it or tossing it to someone else in a game of 'keep away' until Rarity tried to throw it to Twilight but Sunset jumped in the way and caught it first.
"Finally!" Sunset exclaimed, a mad gleam in her eyes. "More power than I could ever imagine!" She then dropped the crown on her head.
The crown gave a creepy dark glow, which then surrounded Sunset. Suddenly it transformed into a large beam of magic which lifted Sunset in the air. Twilight and the other could only watch in horror. Sunset was crying and biting her lip, as though the magic was causing her pain. Her eyed began to glow and she began to...transform.
A bright flash of light blinded them for a moment, but when it was over what they saw left them terrified. Sunset barely looked human anymore. Her skin was blood red, here wings were bat-like with a few holes in them. Her hair was now actual fire and moved on it's own, she even had a tail that matched. Her clothed were replaced by a short, strapless dress the colors of her hair. When she opened her eyed, her sclera was now pitch black with two glowing cyan orbs.
Twilight couldn't believe what she was seeing. Even though it now had color there was no mistaking it. The creature floating up in the air before her was the same creature that had haunted her dreams.
The creature laughed the same, echoing laugh from Twilight's dream as she admired her new form. Then she fired a beam of dark magic at a terrified Snips and Snails, turning them into similar demon-like creatures.
"This is gonna be so cool!" Snips said, also admiring his new form. The girls (besides Twilight) began to back away from them in fear.
Suddenly screams could be heard from the school. The students, curious about the commotion outside, came to see what was going on and were horrified by what they saw. When Sunset turned to them, they screamed and ran back into the school as though it could protect them. Sunset responded by using her magic to destroy the front entrance. Exposed, the students huddled in fear as Sunset flew towards them.
"I've had to jump through so many hoops tonight just to get my hands on this crown, and it really should have been mine all along." She growled, hew voice now hollow and echoing. Suddenly she started smiling. "But let's let bygones be bygones. I am your princess now, and you will be loyal... to me!"
Sunset's eyes turned into swirled and rings of magic flew towards the students. They tried to run but it was too late. Their eyes now glowed a solid cyan color. Twilight could only watch in horror as the students she had just started to be on good terms with be transformed into the mindless zombies from her dreams, only now with actual faces.
Sunset laughed again and turned back to Twilight and the girls. "Now there is nothing to stop me from getting what I want! This world is mine! And there is no one who can stop me!" she gloated.
"I can!" Twilight said, gathering her courage. She honestly doubted her own statement, but she had to at least try. So this is what those dreams were warning me about... She couldn't just stand by and watch this. Sunset just laughed at that, and wiped away a tear.
"Oh, please! What exactly do you think you're going to do to stop me? I have the most powerful magic in the world, and you. Have. Nothing!
"She has us" Rainbow spoke up as she and the other girls stood beside Twilight. She couldn't believe this. Why were these girls willing to rink their lives just for her. Them helping her earlier had been confusing enough, but this? Sunset just continued to laugh.
"Oh how noble of you! Standing beside someone you just met a few days ago!" She mocked before getting serious. "Now step aside! Twilight has tried to interfere with my plans one too many times already! She needs to be dealt with!" She then summoned a huge ball of fire and aimed it directly at Twilight! Just before it hit, Twilight felt the other girls hug her protectively. She felt the same warmness inside her from a few days ago and felt it spread out just as the fire hit them.
Sunset grinned as the ball hit her target and implode. Those other girls had been minor collateral damage, after all she had the whole world at her mercy now! But when the magic cleared, she was shock at what she saw.
"What!?"
The girls were still there, still hugging each other, only now surrounded by a magenta aura over each of them. The girls opened their eyes and were just as confused.
"How is this possible!?" Sunset demanded. Twilight was confused for a second, before it finally hit her. She looked at each of the girls and thought about how they had personally helped her throughout the week, even when they didn't have too. How they were willing to risk their lives for someone they just met, and the warmth she felt when they were around. Twilight felt a spark inside her and turned confidently towards Sunset.
"You think you've mastered the full power of the element, but your wrong! You need all six to unlock their power!"
"But the other five were destroyed! This is the only one remaining!"
"Tell me...do you even know what element you have?" Sunset just waved Twilight's question.
"Does it matter? What's important is that the others are gone and nothing can match it's power!"
"Well, you're wrong, because the spirits of The Elements of Harmony are right here." Twilight gestured to the girls, who continued to stand beside her. Suddenly, they began to float as each were surrounded by their own magic. "Each of them embody an aspect of harmony that you don't have!"
"Honesty!" Applejack's magic created a golden necklace with an orange gem the shape of an apple in the middle. She also grew pony ears and her hair became longer in a ponytail.
"Kindness!" Fluttershy's magic also created a golden necklace on her, but with a pink gem in the shape of a butterfly, Like Aj, she grew pony ears and ponytail, but also a pair of wings like a pegasus.
"Laughter!" Pinkies necklace had a light blue gem in the shape of a balloon.
"Generosity!" Rarity's necklace had a dark purple gem in the shape of a diamond.
"Loyalty!" Rainbow's necklace had a red gem in the shape of a lightning bolt.
Like with AJ and Fluttershy, the others grew pony ears and ponytails, with Rainbow getting wings like Fluttershy. Sunset stared at them in shock and horror.
"You still don't have the sixth Element! You need a spark for it to appear! There wasn't any!"
"But there was! A different kind of spark! I felt it the moment I realized how much I care for them, and how much they care for me!" Twilight turned to the girls." The spark ignited inside me when I realized that you all...are my friends!" Suddenly the crown flew off of Sunset's head and landed on Twilight's. The crown turned into real gold and Twilight gained the same pony features as her friends did, though her wings were slightly different from Rainbow's and Fluttershy's.
"When these elements combine they ignite the spark that resides in the heart of us all, and they create the sixth element; the element of magic!" Sunset screamed in pain as she felt the magic leave her. Twilight closed and opened her eyes, they now glowed bright white with power.
"Together they create a power beyond anything you could imagine, but it is a power you don't have the ability to control! The crown might've been on your head Sunset Shimmer, but you could not wield it, because you do not possess the most powerful magic of all: the Magic of Friendship!" The magic of the girls combined and formed a giant rainbow,which flew towards Sunset. She tried to cover herself but it was too late, as the rainbow completely engulfed her. Strips of the rainbow broke off and hit the students, releasing them of their mind control.
As the bright light dissipates, Twilight and her friends float back to the ground, unconscious. Spike quickly ran up to his owner and licked her face, awakening her. The others quickly joined her.
"That. Was. So. AWESOME!" Rainbow cheered. She admired her new wings and began to test them out. She began performing various ariel stunts.
Twilight just stood there, a blank look on her face which worried AJ and Spike.
"Twilight?" He asked.
"Are ya'll alright sugarcube?"
"That...was...AMAZING!" Twilight burst out, the excitement of the night finally catching up to her. "Did you see us up there!? We need to do tests! Take notes! Are these part of the elements of harmony or something else!? Are these temporary or permanent!? Are there any other cool abilities!? Can we....!?" Applejack cut off Twilight's ramblings.
"Woah, woah, slow down sugarcube, let's take this one step at a time."
"Sorry" Twilight meekly said, blushing.
"Oh Rarity, it's so lovely." Fluttershy gushed.
"Oh! I know darling aren't they adorable!" Rarity gestured to her pony ears."I'll need to come up with some clip on earrings and something that looks good in a longer ponytail..."
"I mean you necklace, it's so lovely." Fluttershy pointed at Rarity's neck. Rarity stopped her ramblings and finally noticed her new accessory.
"Oh my! Your right! And you have one too!" The other girls stopped examining their pony parts and began examining their new accessories.
"What in the hay are these?" Aj asked, looking at her new necklace.
"I'm not positive.." Twilight said, examining the crown. "But I think we're meant to have them."
Twilight then noticed the giant crate below where Sunset once stood and went over to examine it, the others following right behind her. Inside, she saw Sunset crouched down, de-demonized, smoking, but awake.
"You will never rule here or anywhere else. Any power you might've had is gone.Tonight, you've shown everyone who you really are. You've shown them what is in your heart." The other students finally came out and looked down at Sunset, still processing what had just happened.
Sunset looked up at Twilight, revealing trails of tears coming from her eyes. "I-I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't know there was another way." she sobbed.
Twilight couldn't help but feel sympathetic towards Sunset. It was hard seeing someone who had been so confident and arrogant her whole life suddenly become a sobbing wreck. Like her, Sunset thought she didn't need any friends and tried to go about her life all alone.
"Why did you do all this?" Twilight wasn't angry anymore, just curious.
"I-I just wanted people to notice me! I wanted them to think I was special! I-I never wanted to actually hurt anyone!" She continued to sob.
"Seriously!?" Rainbow shouted, only to be elbowed in the gut by Applejack.
As Sunset continued to sob genuine apologies, Twilight realized that these years alone had hurt Sunset as much as they hurt her, maybe even more so. Twilight then went down and helped Sunset out of the hole, much to everyone's surprise.
"Why...why are you helping me?" Sunset asked.
"Because I understand you." This certainly got her attention.
"B-But I was horrible! I tore apart friendships, I humiliated and blackmailed people, I kidnapped your dog, I turned into a monster and I tried to kill you!" Sunset listed. "Why are you doing this, after everything I did to you?"
"Because I forgive you." Everyone just stood there, shocked as Twilight continued. "I didn't think I needed friends either after what happened. But when I came here, I discovered people who cared about me, even if I was different and weird. Even when I got upset at them, they forgave me and still had my back. They were rilling to risk everything for me. I realized just now that I shouldn't have given up on friendship..." Twilight looked into Sunset's eyes. "..and neither should you." Sunset blinked.
"But... But all I've ever done since being here is drive everyone apart. I don't know the first thing about friendship!" Twilight pulled Sunset into a hug.
"I bet we can both learn it...together" Sunset returned Twilight's hug.
"Thank you."
Everyone was touched by the heartwarming scene. Some were even wiping away tears from their eyes.
"That's my girl. Woo-hoo!" Spike cheered, grabbing the attention of a few nearby students.
"Did that dog just talk. Whoa. Weird." Spike just gave the boy an incredulous look.
" Seriously? The talking dog is a weird thing about all this?"
" I, for one, think you're adorable." Rarity picked up Spike and began to pet him, which he enjoyed.
Twilight and Sunset broke their hug as Celestia and Luna approached.
"Well done girls, we're so proud of you!" Celestia beamed at the six human embodiments of the Elements.
"To be honest, we've always suspected it to be one of you." Luna addressed Twilight and Sunset, who looked surprised.
"Huh!?"
"You both had the power and the potential to bear the element of magic, but after the...incident, we gave up on that theory...at least until tonight."
"We'll deal with Sunset and the damage tomorrow, but for now, let's get back to the Fall Formal!" Celestia announced and the students cheered in agreement.
Flash approached Twilight nervously. "Would now be a completely awkward time to ask you for that dance?" Twilight just giggled and took his hand as everyone made their way back to the gym.
This is our big night We made it happen Now let's party all night We're here now and we worked so hard to make it come around To tonight so let's try to make it last forever The school lights so bright, beat is pumping through the night Party's starting, DJ's got the music just right!
The girls and other students enjoyed the rest of the night. Dancing, hanging out with friends, it was truly a night to remember. Once she finished her (not so graceful) dance with Flash, Twilight rejoined her new friends who began giggling at something.
"That was adorable!" Twilight blushed at Rarity's statement.
"It's nothing like that, we're just...friends." Twilight herself used the term 'friends' uncertainly.
"Of course you are darling." Rarity said, taking a sip of punch, obviously not buying it.
"I wonder what's going to happen tomorrow." Aj asked, flicking one of her pony ears. "Celestia and Luna are taking Sunset to the magic council tomorrow to figure out what to do with her, and we're going with 'em."
"Why?" FLuttershy asked.
"Hello?" Rainbow rolled her eyes."Because we're literally living legends and they want to reward us!" Rainbow held up her necklace, letting the gem shine in the disco-light.
"Oooh! Maybe they want to throw us a party!" Pinkie said, throwing confetti.
"Rainbow's right, this is big." Twilight said, before smiling. "But that can wait for tomorrow. Right now let's just enjoy the rest of the night."
The others nodded in agreement, and went to enjoy the night, as friends.
Six friends on the way up now Six friends here to show you how This is our big night This is our big night This is our big night...
Sunset stood nervously outside the council chambers, she was too nervous and fidgety to sit. In there, the magic council, the mayor, Celestia, Luna, and the girls were all discussing what to do with her.
Sunset considered the possibilities. Twilight said she forgave her, but what about all the others? They were probably looking through her records and finding out all the other devious stuff she's done. If she were lucky, maybe she would just be sent to juvie again. On the other hand, she could be banished, or imprisoned, or banished and imprisoned in the place she was banished too! She could also be sent to tartarus, where they sent the worst of the monsters, and that's pretty much what she turned into last night.
As she was wondering about each scenario, the door opened, revealing Luna. She gestured for Sunset to come in. Time to face the music... Sunset thought as she entered.
The council, mayor and girls (back to normal after their pony parts vanished a few hours ago), sat at a round table in the center of the room. As Luna returned to her seat next to Celestia, Sunset braced herself for what they had in store for her.
"Sunset Shimmer." Mayor Mare stood and addressed her. "By a near unanimous vote, you are found 'guilty' of: misuse of magic, theft, blackmail, bullying, and attempting to take over the world." Sunset hung her head, as though preparing for an executioner to chop it off. The mayor continued.
"We've been discussing various punishments for you, but after a convincing argument from these girls and your principals, we've agreed to the terms they set out." Sunset looked up again, surprised.
"Due to your age, and the testimonies of those here today, we have decided on: probation and reformation." Sunset couldn't believe what she was hearing. She looked at Twilight, who just smiled and let the mayor continue.
"You will continue to attend Canterlot High, but under the strict supervision of these girls and the Principals, along with several weeks of detention. They will make note of your actions and attitude. They will also see to it that you learn the, uh..." The mayor looked at her notes again. "..'the Magic of Friendship!'" The mayor nodded, signaling that she was done. Sunset just stood there with a look of shock. The girls jumped out of their seats and rushed up to her. Pinkie immediately grabbed Sunset in a big hug.
"Isn't this great! You'll still be able to go to school with us! And this time we'll all be besties! Well, technically bestie parol officers, but that'll be fun too!"
Sunset looked to each of the girls. "Your..willing to do this...for me?"
Twilight nodded and slung her arm across Sunset's shoulders. "Of course. Like I said, I forgive you, and besides...I can't learn the 'Magic of Friendship' without all of my friends!"
"Sunset could only smile while wiping away the tears that were forming. "Thank you."
"No matter what may have happened, your still our student and it's our job to guide you and help you grow." Celestia said, looking to her sister, who nodded in agreement.
"Now onto the other matter at hand..." The mayor spoke again, grabbing everybody's attention. "We have decided to fully acknowledge and announce your status as the new bearers of the Elements of Harmony to the general public, though the actual artifacts will be given to Celestia and Luna both for safekeeping and convenience in case of emergencies. You six girls will also be given the title of 'Defenders of the Land' so that when trouble arises, we can call on you to help with it. Is that alright?" The girls nodded eagerly (or not-so-eagerly in Fluttershy's case).
""Alright'? It's AWESOME!" Rainbow exclaimed.
"In accordance with these responsibilities, you will be given special training from Celestia and Luna here, in place of your regular magic courses." The mayor nodded to the aforementioned women.
"Looks like you'll get to be our personal student again Twilight!" Celestia said cheerfully.
"Now I believes that covers pretty much everything. Celestia and Luna gave give you more details later on. If Sunset doesn't mind staying here for a few more minutes, you girls are free to go." The girls looked at Sunset, then at the Principals, who all nodded reassuringly, allowing the girls to leave.
As the girls left town hall, it was only midday.
"So what happens now ya'll?" Applejack asked. "Elements of Harmony, 'Defenders of the Land'?"
"What happens now is that we're heroes!" Rainbow declared, pumping her fists in the air. "Travel, adventure, monsters! This is gonna be awesome!"
"M-Monsters?" Fluttershy squeaked, her eyes going wide.
"This is gonna be so much FUN!" Pinkie exclaimed before gasping. "Ooh! Maybe we'll develop some cool new superpowers along the way! Isn't this so exciting!? Then we'll be real superheroes!"
"Hmmm. Well I would look darling in a dashing cape and jumpsuit.." Rarity said, thinking up superhero costume designs for her and her friends.
"We've got a huge responsibility on out shoulders girl." Twilight said, capturing everyone's attention. "I don't know why we were chosen for these roles but I do know one thing: I couldn't have chosen any better bearers and friends then you all. No matter what comes our way in the future, I'm confident we'll be able to handle it together. As friends!" The girls cheerfully agreed and entered a huge group hug before separating to inform their families of this latest development.
Unknown to the girls, a mysterious woman was watching them and listening what they were saying. Upon hearing Twilight's declaration, she smiled and nodded before vanishing in the blink of an eye.
A new era was coming, and those girls would be the ones to bring it about.
