The first half of a new shorter, but fully written, version of my take on the cancelled Equestria Girls special that was supposed to introduce the human Sunset, with Flash Sentry as the main character.
Premise: Flash Sentry has begun to long for the days before Equestrian magic (and Twilight Sparkle) was introduced into his life. He and his family move in next door to the family of his childhood best friend, and Flash transfers to his school to avoid the Rainbooms as much as possible. But as he tries to move on with his life, Flash comes to a horrifying realization that could mean the end of all of reality.
Somewhere on the edge of Canterlot City was an average suburban neighborhood that was just like any ordinary town. One of the houses in the town was a smaller than average two story house. Inside this house, in one of the bedrooms on the second floor, was a yellow skinned teenage boy with blue hair. Flash Sentry was laying on his bed staring at the ceiling. He was feeling very …. conflicted to say the least. Lately, his life had taken a turn for the weird.
Four years ago, a girl named Sunset Shimmer had shown up at his school and proclaimed herself the queen bee, making everyone fear her. She drove friends apart, terrorized anyone who dared to stand up to her, and had been his girlfriend for a short time but only to gain popularity. Of course Flash found that out and furiously broke up with her. Two years after Sunset arrived, a beautiful girl named Twilight Sparkle had shown up and took down Sunset in less than two days which ended in a fiasco of Sunset briefly turning into a demon. Flash had fallen for Twilight, not only for how pretty she was, but how much she cared about helping friends and people in general. But then, after he was lucky enough to get a dance with her (a VERY strange dance), she disappeared. For a while anyway. When three mysterious girls with mind controlling singing had shown up and turned everyone in the school against each other in a “Battle of the Bands” as they called it, Twilight reappeared to help her new friends the Rainbooms fight off their influence, and that was when Flash had learned that she and Sunset were ponies from another dimension. After the Dazzlings fled the school, Twilight left again. And then a few months later everything got even more confusing.
When it came time for the Friendship Games between CHS and Crystal Prep, Twilight Sparkle had shown up once more, but not the one Flash and everyone else knew. She was the Twilight Sparkle of this dimension, she had not had real friends before (she also had glasses), and she went through a transformation similar to Sunset. She also had no interest in Flash, her boyfriend that she met at Camp Everfree was enough proof of that. Ever since then, Flash had been as respectful as he could to this Twilight, Sunset, and their friends, although he did end up getting involved in their situations a few times, thanks partly to the magic disturbances that were now popping up all over the place.
It was thoughts of all these events that led Flash to where he was now. He was tired. Tired of magical chaos, tired of being in potential danger, tired of being caught in this, and most of all, tired of his love dilemma. Half of him wished he had never met either Twilights, and the the other half wished he simply had never fallen for the Pony Twilight so he wouldn’t have any problems interacting with the Human Twilight. Of course, he didn’t blame either Twilight, Sunset, or even Human Twilight’s boyfriend Timber Spruce for his situation. This was completely his own doing. But it was hard to not feel negatively about it sometimes.
Flash was interrupted by a knock on his bedroom door. “Flash! Mom says family talk!” came the voice of his cousin First Base.
“Coming!” Flash responded. He came out of his room, and the two went downstairs and into the dining room. They sat down at a table across from two grownups, a man with dark green skin and yellow hair and a woman with dark blue skin and white blue hair. They were Base’s parents, Heat Flame and Water Wave.
“Boys, we have an announcement to make.” said Heat. “This is probably going to feel very out of nowhere, but we’re moving to a bigger house.” Flash’s eyes widened.
“Moving?!” exclaimed Base. “At the beginning of the school year?!”
“Don’t worry, we’re still going to be in the city and close enough to the school” said Water. That visibly eased Base’s concern.
“When did this happen?” Flash asked. “And why?”
Heat and Water’s faces turned serious. “We’ve been planning this for a while.” Water explained. “This house is getting kind of small for us.” There was no argument there. “We did get slightly less squished together after Firestreak left, but you two need plenty more space.” Firestreak was Flash’s older brother who had gone off to college and joined a sports team. “And, we found a place that’s perfect for us.” Water concluded.
“We also have your father to thank for this, Flash.” added Heat.
Flash instantly knew what that meant. His father Metal Gleam, Water’s brother, worked for a big company on the other side of the country, which provided him with a near six digit income every year, and he sent part of his income to them. Metal had been working there ever since his wife Spring Blossom had died of a terminal illness. She was diagnosed with the condition one day, seemingly out of nowhere, and after sixteen months of fighting it and being treated, she eventually passed in the hospital with her husband and two sons by her side. After Spring was gone, Metal had been in a very hard place, where he now had to not only raise his boys alone, but also pay for their house at the same time. So the following year Metal had left his sons in Water and Heat’s care, while he moved to be closer to his new job. Flash was ten years old at the time, while Firestreak was fourteen, so they were affected a little by their sudden new lifestyle, but not too badly. Metal always made sure to come see them when he got a chance. So it didn't surprise Flash and Base very much that Metal had been part of this.
“So when exactly are we moving?” Flash asked his aunt and uncle.
“Just after Halloween” Heat answered. “Now, there’s one other thing else you need to know in advance.” He shared a glance with Water before facing the cousins again. “We’re going to have our new neighbors a bit … close. We’re going to be in a duplex.”
That was unexpected. “A double house? Come on, I don’t want to be living right next to strangers!” Base complained.
“I think you’ll be surprised, son.” said Heat. “And you’ll both be pleased with our neighbors. Especially you, Flash.”
That night, Flash lay in his bed staring at the ceiling again. He wondered what his new bigger home was going to be like. And he was certainly curious about what Heat and Water had said about him being especially pleased with their new neighbors. Did they know something? Whatever it was, he’d find out in a few months.
Four months later, after a usual day at school, Flash pulled up to the duplex house with First Base in his passenger seat. The moving truck was already there, unloading all their stuff, and Water and Heat were telling the moving people where to put everything. The duplex was two identically shaped three story houses right next to each other, and in the very middle of the structure were two front doors right next to each other. The right door led to the house on the right, where Flash and his family were moving in, while the left door led to the house on the left, where their neighbors (who Flash and Base still hadn’t met yet) lived.
Flash had spent the last couple months going about his daily life while keeping the news about the move as much to himself as he could. The only ones he had told about it were his friends Micro Chips, Derpy Muffins, and Sandalwood. He didn’t want the Rainbooms to find out, because he knew that Pinkie Pie would insist on throwing him a going away party. And while he did enjoy a good fun time every now and then, he wasn’t really up for something like that. Not to mention he wasn’t even leaving town anyway, so a going away party would be pointless. Base had also kept his mouth shut about it to prevent them from being shoved into any sort of spotlight. Everything in their old house was packed into boxes the previous week (which the cousins had had to skip the school’s Halloween party for), and the house had been emptied that morning.
“This place is huge!” exclaimed Base as they got out. “There’s no way we won’t have space here!”
“No kidding.” Flash replied. “We just gotta remember keep it down at night so the neighbors and any visiting guests won’t get mad at us.”
“Come on, cous. It’s not like they’ll hear us from outside.” Flash gave him a look. “Okay, I’ll try be quiet.”
“Boys, come and see your new home!” called Water. The two came into the house where the moving guys were still working. The big table had already been placed in the big area to the left, and past that was the kitchen. The stairs leading up were on the right. The cousins walked up to see the TV and couch set up on the second floor, and then up to the third floor, where there were their separate bedrooms and an outside deck.
They came back down. “You guys really picked a good place.” said Flash. He smiled “I love the deck. It’s a great place for a view of the sunrise. Or the sundown.”
“I was expecting you’d say that, Flash.” Heat said.
“Dad, Mom, who are our new neighbors?” Base asked. “I’d really like to know who I’m gonna be living right next to now.”
Heat and Water looked at each other with a suspicious looking grin, then back to the boys. “That’s the best part.”
Flash shared a confused look with Base. “Aunt Water, Uncle Heat, do we know the neighbors?”
“Just wait and see.”
A little later, Flash was out in the backyard enjoying the nice outside air. A few minutes before, Flash had been told by Water to wait in the backyard, as there was a surprise for him that his father had been in on. So now he was waiting to see what the surprise was. While he was waiting, Flash’s thoughts once again drifted back to Twilight. “She’s a bossy control freak, she hates being wrong about anything, and besides she already has a boyfriend who shares her interests.” he thought, his facial expression becoming a mix of irritated and confused, “I should just leave her alone, right?”
“Aren’t you being unfair to Twilight?” His heart asked, “You don’t do that with your family and friends.”
“That’s different. They’ve known me for way longer, and it’s a different kind of love.”
“So what?” his heart retorted. “You still care, about her don’t you? And the sooner you admit that, the better.”
Flash’s argument with his heart was interrupted by a ding from his phone. He saw a text from Heat telling him to stay where he was, for the surprise was just coming in now. Matter of fact, he could hear a car pulling in front. The neighbors must have gotten back. He heard car doors opening and closing, footsteps running around the side of the houses, and then a voice.
“Hey Flash!”
That voice sounded familiar. Flash turned to see a boy around his age with light yellow skin and grayish blue hair dressed in gray pants, a white T-shirt and an orange overshirt standing at the other end of the backyard. At first he didn’t know who the boy was, but then memories started coming back. Memories from his younger days when he would run around, have fun with, sometimes get into trouble with, and almost never be far from a kid who looked just like the teen now standing in front of him. Flash’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped. It was his best friend from kindergarten to 6th grade, Comet Tail.
Finally finding his voice, and with his excitement rising, Flash managed to say “Comet?! Is that you?!”
“You know anyone else who looks like this?” asked Comet with a grin.
“You’re my new neighbor?”
“Neighbor? Are you kidding, we’re practically roommates now!”
“Well, almost.” Flash then grinned himself “Come on, bring it in!”
“Are we hugging?”
“I’m coming for you!”
“No, I’m coming for you!”
“Yes I am!”
“You come here, you come here!”
“I’m reeling you in, I’m reeling you in, I’m ree-“
The two finally embraced and laughed. “Comet, I’ve missed you!”
“Well I missed you more!”
Flash rolled his eyes playfully. “Did you know I was gonna live here?”
“Just since last week. Your aunt called my parents and they filled me and Moony in on everything.” Moony was the nickname Comet and his parents used for his incredibly smart twin sister Moondancer. “I’ve got so much stuff to tell you about.”
“Well you can tell him during dinner.” said another voice coming from the door, belonging to Moondancer, who had cream colored skin, red hair with a purple stripe, a sweater, and glasses. “Hi, Flash.” she said with a smile as she walked over to the boys. “Long time no see.”
“Hey, Moondancer.” He let go of Comet and hugged her as well.
“This calls for celebration! Come on guys!” Comet exclaimed, grabbing their hands and hurrying inside. His twin and best friend just chuckled.
Flash quickly shot a text to his father, “Thanks so much, Dad!” with a smile face emoji.
To celebrate Flash’s family moving in, the two families sat down together for dinner in their new house. Flash sat between Comet and Base, while Moondancer sat on Comet’s other side. Water, Heat, and the twins’ parents sat across from them. They were all telling each other stories about events that had happened in the five years since they had last seen each other before the kids had gone to different middle schools.
“And she won first place, of course.” Comet said proudly, putting an hand on his twin’s shoulder. He had just finished retelling the events from their school’s most recent science fair to the cousins.
Moondancer blushed with flattered embarrassment. “Comet, you give me too much credit. You, Cheese, and the girls helped build it, remember?”
“Yeah, but who came up with the idea for the machine in the first place?”
Listening to the twins talk brought back more memories for Flash. Back in the day, when he and Comet would engage in their crazy misadventures, they would usually be joined by Moondancer, and sometimes Firestreak would also tag along. The latter two were usually the much needed voice of reason. Those were good times.
“So Flash, have you been up to anything in particular?” asked Moondancer.
“My band and I have been keeping things cool at CHS’s special events. Aside from that, nothing really special.” was Flash’s reply.
The only other thing that came to his mind was what he didn’t want to think about at all. In fact, he hadn’t thought about it since the backyard.
His facial expression must have fallen, because Comet tapped him on the shoulder. “You okay, pal?” he mouthed.
“Meet me on the deck at 8:30.” Flash mouthed back. “I’ll explain there”. Comet winked.
Flash and Comet stood on the top floor deck overlooking the backyard and the woods beyond. After finishing dinner, clearing the table, and brushing their teeth, the two had come up here to talk. Comet’s house had a door to the deck too, so the deck was basically a place where they could essentially move back and forth between the two houses. The sun had gone down, and stars filled the night sky above.
“So what’s up?” Comet asked, breaking the silence. “You seemed kinda nervous back there when Moony asked you about your personal life. Did something bad happen to you?”
Flash continued to stare out toward the woods “It’s a really weird long story. I don’t even know if you’d believe it.”
“Try me.”
Flash hesitated. He hadn’t ever talked about his love issue with anyone but Derpy and Micro. Sandalwood meant well, but wasn’t exactly the right person to talk to about that specific problem. But this was Comet. His oldest and most trusted companion. He sighed and turned to him. “Okay, have you heard of … strange things happening around the city lately?”
“You mean crazy stuff involving really weird energy? Moony’s been talking about it nonstop.”
That made sense. Moondancer was just as much of a scientist as Twilight, and she particularly liked to check out anything out of the ordinary. So she would definitely have reason to investigate the magic occurrences, and Comet would therefore have reason to hear about it.
“Well,” said Flash “all of that has something to do with it. I gotta warn you, this is gonna sound really crazy.”
“Dude, you’re my best friend. Whatever it is, I’ll listen. Even if it sounds nuts to me.”
“Okay. It all started four years ago. A girl named Sunset Shimmer showed up at school…”
Flash explained everything to Comet. Sunset’s initial takeover of CHS, how Twilight had appeared and taken her down, the incident with the Dazzlings, how the Human Twilight had then shown up during the Friendship Games, and that she didn’t like him. He didn’t mention who she was dating, since Comet had protective instincts for whose he cared about deeply, and he didn’t want him to do anything rash. When Flash was finished, Comet looked half furious and half flabbergasted
“So let get me straight.” said Comet after a few seconds of silence “There’s a portal to another dimension where everyone is a talking horse, there’s magic from that dimension leaking into this one, and one of those horses is in this dimension in the body of a teenage girl and in a band with six actual human girls and they’ve all got crazy powers from that magic? Oh, and you like one of those girls after falling for her double from the horse world, but she’s dating someone else?”
“Yeah, that’s about it.” Flash looked back out toward the woods. “I know, it sounds ridiculous.”
“Not gonna lie, it kinda does.” Comet replied “But I’ll take your word for it.”
Flash turned to him, surprised “You believe me?”
“It would explain all the crazy energy. And besides, I’ve known you long enough to know you wouldn’t normally try and convince someone that something like that actually happened.” Comet’s face became angrier and he punched his closed right hand into his open left one “Yeah man, I believe you. So where can I find them?”
Flash turned serious “Comet, no.”
“No one breaks my BFFFL’s heart and gets away with it!”
“No!” Flash’s raised voice made Comet pause. “Look I get it, your ‘protective BFFFL instincts’ are ringing. But beating up Sunset, Twilight, or her boyfriend isn’t going to solve anything. If you do that, you’ll be the bad guy.” Comet’s anger faded as he started to see the logic in Flash’s words.
“But Flash,” Comet spoke more gently now “don’t you want to do something?”
“Yeah. And I know exactly what. Trust me, the best thing to do is just leave it alone and let this whole thing fade into the past.”
“You know he’s right, Comet.” The boys turned to see Moondancer standing in the doorway of the twins’ house. “Revenge is never the answer. It only makes things worse.”
“How much did you hear?” asked Flash.
“Enough to know what’s going on. Not to be insensitive or to steer the conversation away from your love life issues, but is there really a portal to another dimension in front of Canterlot High?”
“Yep.”
Moondancer’s face lit up with pure excitement. “Oh my gosh. Comet, do you know what this means?!” she said, shaking her twin by his shoulders somewhat vigorously, “If there’s another dimension with an alternate world, that means the multiverse is real!” She turned to Flash. “Flash, could you show it to me please?”
“Show you what?”
“The portal. I want to see it.”
“Whoah! Hold it, Moony!” exclaimed Comet “This isn’t the best time to get into hyped-up scientist mode. What if it’s dangerous? And besides, I think we've got a more sensitive issue to take care of here.”
“It’s okay, bud.” said Flash, “It’s not like the portal’s gonna suck us in if we get too close. And remember, it’s better to just leave that other issue alone and let it fade. That’s what I’m doing already. Besides, Twilight’s pretty happy with her boyfriend.”
Comet wanted to protest again, but didn’t want to upset either of them, so he gave a reluctant sigh and gave in. “Alright dude, look. Does it hurt to see you pining for a girl who’s with someone else? Of course. But you’re my best friend, and if you say leaving her alone is the better thing to do, that’s what I’ll do.”
“Thanks, man.” Flash turned to Moondancer “I’ll try and find a good time to show you the portal.”
“Well, I’m coming too.” Comet quickly spoke “I’d like to see this interdimensional door too.” He turned to his twin. “And also to make sure you don’t just dive right into it.”
“Comet!” Moondancer looked annoyed while Flash snickered. He had missed the dynamic between the twins. Moondancer rolled her eyes, knowing that Comet was right.
“You know Moondancer, I think you and Twilight would get along really well.”
“Really?”
“She’s a scientist too.” That instantly excited her even more.
“But should they?” Comet interjected.
“Comet, if she and I do become friends, I promise I’ll keep her away from you and Flash.”
Comet wasn’t fully satisfied with that answer, but agreed nonetheless.
After a little extra conversation and a goodnight, Flash went back to his (new) house and room and the twins went back to theirs. Just before going to sleep, Flash checked his phone.
There were two texts. A reply from his father “You’re welcome :)”
And a message from Comet. ”You know, if you really want to stay away from that girl and her gang, you could always change schools.”
It was a usual day at Canterlot High, or at least as usual as things were in this school, and all the students were in the cafeteria. A certain bespectacled purple skinned girl with a ponytail was sitting in the cafeteria with her six friends, the first true friends she had ever made, the Rainbooms. Next to her sat her best friend Sunset Shimmer, the pony-turned-human from the Equestrian dimension, the one who had first introduced to friendship (after a somewhat rough start). Their other friends were Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie. The group were currently discussing their next show. At least most of them were.
Sunset was staring into space, her mind elsewhere. Ever since her reformation thanks to Princess Twilight, she and her new friends had been spreading the magic of friendship in this world, and along the way had reformed a few other formerly bad or misguided people. However, she had recently started to wonder something. Why did Equestrian magic keep showing up? Why did these disturbances keep happening? And in the process of constantly thinking about Equestria, she had started to feel a little homesick. Since she wasn’t actually human, she didn’t really know where to go after graduation. She hadn’t mentioned this to her friends, because she didn’t want to worry them.
Sunset’s thoughts were interrupted by a finger snap. “Oh, sorry Rainbow. What were you saying?”
“I said what would you think about performing for the New Years party?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“Oh yeah, that sounds like a great idea.” Sunset replied, staring into space again.
“Something on your mind there, Sunset?” asked Applejack.
“Oh, uh.. nothing much.”
“Come on, Sunset.” said Pinkie, appearing right behind her and getting rather close. “You’re thinking about something.” Everyone knew that Pinkie always somehow knew when they had deep thoughts, so Sunset decided to tell them.
“Girls, have you ever thought about the future?”
“Oh, lots of times!” Pinkie started rambling “Like whenever I’m planning a party, or we’re all planning a party, or practicing for a performance-“
“I meant when you grow up. After we graduate.” Sunset clarified. That got all the girls’ attention.
“I don’t even need to think about it. I’m gonna be the best sports player in the world!” proclaimed Rainbow, to which the others (sans Pinkie) all rolled their eyes playfully.
“I’ll probably still be living off the farm with the rest of my fam.” commented Applejack.
“I will create my own fashion line!” declared Rarity.
“I’m not totally sure yet, but I definitely want to work somewhere with animals.” said Fluttershy.
“I want to work at a bakery!” piped Pinkie. “Full time!”
“You know the bakery workers are only supposed to make the treats, right?” said Applejack.
“That doesn’t mean they can’t sample!”
“Well, I’m going to try and-“
“Get a PHD in every science and your own official personal lab?” Sunset interrupted Twilight with a smirk.
“Oh. I’ve said it before, huh?”
“Only a few dozen times whenever we’re studying.”
“But I didn’t say every form of science! Just chemistry! And a few others …” Twilight said, rubbing her arm and smiling sheepishly “What about you, Sunset?”
Sunset’s smirk faded. “Frankly, I have no idea. There’s a lot of different job options out there to choose from, and I’m not even an actual human anyway. What can someone like me do in this world? Is there even a place for me?”
“Of course there is. I’m sure you’ll find something.” commented Applejack, to which the others all agreed.
“But what if I have to run out of work?”
“What?”
“What if I have to suddenly leave unannounced to go and deal with a magic disturbance?” Sunset elaborated to a confused Rainbow. “It would get time in big trouble with my boss. Speaking of which, have we ever stopped to wonder WHY magic keeps showing up here?” That got the girls thinking.
“If it was the necklaces, there would just the magic following us everywhere we went. It can’t be that.” Rarity replied.
“Rare, magic IS following us everywhere” retorted Applejack.
“I meant that all of it would be drawn to us.”
“Ah.”
“Well, somehow we’ve gotta figure out why it keeps happening and how to make it stop once and for all.” Twilight determined. The girls continued to chat until the bell rang for the next class.
As the group were getting up and walking to the cafeteria door amongst the crowds of their fellow students, one of them deliberately kept to the back, as far away from them as possible, all the way to his next class, which was with Fluttershy. He then sat across the room, never even making eye contact with her for the whole period. The final two periods he didn’t have with any of the Rainbooms, so he returned to his normal behavior. When the final bell for the day rang, he blended into the crowd, went to his locker, grabbed his stuff, and made his way out the front door while still making sure to dodge the seven girls, especially two of them, as best he could. He reached his car, got in, and drove off, not giving them a backwards glance.
Flash had just picked up Base from his after school club and they were now making their way back to their new house. Over the last couple months, Flash’s new daily life had become a routine of avoiding the Rainbooms like the plague whenever he was at school, and if he had any class periods with any of them, especially Twilight, he would ignore them altogether. It didn’t affect his grades or his band at all, but it was starting to get irritating. And he wasn’t the only one who thought that.
As they pulled into the driveway, Base finally broke the silence “Cous, if you’re really gonna avoid that girl all the time, you need to find a better way to do it.”
All Flash could say back was “Tell me something I don’t know.”
It was currently the Friday after Thanksgiving break, which meant that in a couple more weeks, winter break would be upon them again. While Flash was certainly looking forward to spending his first Christmas in his new house with Comet right next door, he was even more looking forward to not having to constantly dodge a certain group of girls. And in the process, he had started to consider Comet’s offer of transferring, but was still hesitant about it.
Just then his phone dinged. “Living room, 5:00. Movie.” said Comet’s text. Flash instantly smiled.
At 5:00, Flash came into the living room of the twins’ house to see Comet sitting on the couch with the remote in his right hand and two bowl of chips in the middle of the couch. Flash took a seat next to him, and they started watching. The movie was about giant crocodiles and snakes fighting and rampaging. Comet was a fan of giant animal horror movies, and this was one of several very poorly made TV films by an independent movie company. By the time the movie had reached the halfway point, the boys were laughing at just how bad the acting and CGI was and they were also yelling at the screen multiple times. But that was what made it fun.
It was at this point that Comet paused the film. “Hey bud, you want an early Christmas present?” When Flash nodded, he dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out a folded up a piece of paper. He handed it to him, and Flash took it into his own hands and unfolded it to see that it wasn’t just paper, but a transfer form for him. He gave Comet an uncertain look.
“Dude, don’t think I haven’t noticed what’s been going on lately. You can’t stay at that school as long as she’s there. My principal’s already signed it.”
“Don't you think it would look kind of weird for me to change schools in the middle of junior year? Especially after going to the same one since middle school?”
“Better than changing in senior year.”
“True. But what about my band?”
“Can’t you meet up and perform with them for events even if you’re not going to CHS?”
“Probably. But they might not like the guy in charge not going to the same school as them.” Flash gave a hesitant sigh. “I’ll …. think about it.”
“Hey.” Comet faced him again. “How about after graduation you and I ditch this city and make a name for ourselves somewhere else?”
Flash grinned. “That sounds great.” They unpaused the movie.
——————————————————————————————————————————
On the last day of school before winter break, Flash sat down in Principal Celestia’s office, with his backpack on the floor beside him and the form on front of her desk in front of him. He had made up his mind that morning and had asked to see her at the end of the day just after the final bell rang.
“Are you absolutely sure that this is what you want?” asked the principal after signing the form and putting down her pen.
“I’m positive.” He replied without hesitation.
“Is there any way at all I can convince you to change your mind?”
“Sorry, Principal Celestia. There isn’t.” Flash said firmly. He took the pen and signed the form himself, completing it. “Trust me, this is for the better.” He gave the pen back, took the form, folded it up, put it in his pocket, grabbed his backpack, and got up to leave.
“I’d just hate for you to be a student I failed.”
Flash opened the door and turned back to his now former principal. “It’s okay. You didn’t fail me. I just got caught up in a storm of crazy events that messed me up.” And with that he walked out closing the door behind him.
As he walked out the front door where Base was waiting, Flash caught sight of a familiar purple bespectacled girl and her friends walking away from the school. He and his cousin didn’t go to the school parking lot, since his car wasn’t there. They and the twins had decided that morning to walk home from their respective schools to enjoy the beginning of winter break. The twins’ parents had driven them, while Heat had driven the cousins.
Flash and Base made their way off of the school grounds and headed toward their street (in the opposite direction of the Rainbooms), where they eventually met up with the twins who were coming from their school, Hayton Central.
“Did you sign it?” asked Moondancer. Flash nodded.
“So how do you feel?” Comet asked.
Flash was silent for a moment and then said “Like I’ve got one less big problem to worry about.”
“So no more acting weird now?” asked Base.
“Hopefully” Flash responded.
And the four continued walking home towards their winter vacation, and Flash walked away from the problems he had left behind.
After getting Big Macintosh in the face with a snowball, Flash picked himself off the ground and shook the snow off him. He had just gotten clobbered by snowballs after helping Sunset and Pinkie with something. He didn’t even know what it was, but he had leapt at the opportunity to help them, perhaps a bit too eagerly. He was only part of the snowball fight in the first place because Derpy had called and asked him to come. Now he just wanted to leave.
He managed to silently slip away from the fight, along with Derpy. “Sorry about that.” said the blonde when they got far enough away “I just thought this would be a fun snowball fight.”
“It’s not your fault, Derp. I just need to be more careful about where Twilight, Sunset, and their friends are gonna be.”
“Sentry! There you are!”
The two friends turned to see Flash’s bandmates Ringo and Brawly Beats coming toward them. They both looked rather irritated.
“Can I help you guys?” Flash asked.
“Yeah. What’s this about you leaving school?” Brawly demanded. Flash had texted them about it just yesterday.
“Look guys” Flash said “I’ve been having some issues at CHS that I just can’t get rid of. It’ll be better for me at Hayton Central.”
“Hayton? That school on the other side of town?”
“That’s the one.”
“You’re the head guy.” said Ringo “If you don’t play at any of the big events, we don’t.”
“Guys, I can still come to the events. It’s not the end of the band.”
“This isn’t about that girl, is it? Come on, man, just suck it up and accept it already.”
Derpy turned angry and opened her mouth to speak, but Flash beat her there. He walked closer to Brawly and leaned in with a deep scowl until they were face to face. “I suggest you don’t say that again” he said quietly and darkly “Unless you want my new neighbor to come after you. Because trust me, he will.” And with that, he walked around them and proceeded away. He had something else to do later.
There was a moment of silence until the other three realized what he had said. “Did he say new neighbor?” asked Ringo.
“Yeah” said Brawly “They must have bonded really quick.”
”Or,” Derpy thought, “it’s someone he already knows. And maybe I know.
And unknown to them, Sunset, who had come back to apologize to Flash for snapping at him, had overheard their conversation and was shocked. “Flash transferred?” she said quietly to herself.
——————————————————————————————————————————
The evening after the snowball fight, Flash’s car pulled up to the front of CHS. Flash stepped out of the driver seat, while the twins stepped out of the back seats. Moondancer was smiling intensely at the statue with excitement, while Comet looked a bit more cautious.
“So that’s it?” he asked Flash.
“Yep. Right there.”
Flash took a quick look around to see if anyone else was there. No one was.
Moondancer instantly darted over to it and sat down with a book and pen in her hands. “The multiverse.” She opened her book and started writing in it.
Comet put his hand on the statue (or rather through it) and jumped back “Whoah!” he exclaimed.
Flash chuckled “Easy Comet. You don’t want to get sucked in.”
Moondancer jumped up. “Hold my hands” she instructed the boys. They did so, and she very quickly put her face through. When they pulled her back out, she instantly grabbed her book and pen, and resumed writing.
“You know what I want to know?” Comet commented a while later, “How has the government not sent agents to swarm this thing by now?”
Flash and Moondancer’s eyes widened. “You know, that’s actually a really good question.” Flash replied. “With everything that’s been going on here lately, you’d think there’d at least be some investigation.”
“Maybe they think it’s all a bunch of pranks.” Moondancer reasoned. “I mean, no one in the government would actually believe there’s a portal to another dimension, would they?”
“No, but if they knew it was real, you know what they would do.” Comet said nervously.
“Yeah, they’d mess it all up and get everything out of control.” Flash responded, now a bit worried himself “Maybe it’s worth mentioning.” He took out his cell phone and called his aunt. “Aunt Water? Comet, Moondancer, and I need to talk to Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna about something.”
——————————————————————————————————————————
A few days later, Flash and the twins pulled up to the parking lot outside the mall. They went inside and just avoided getting knocked over by a speeding rainbow blur.
“Whoah! What the?!” Comet jumped back.
“That’s just Rainbow Dash.” Flash said. “Come on, the principals said they’d meet us over there.” He pointed up toward a spot further into the mall.
The trio made their way up an escalator and continued walking. Moondancer happened to glanced to her right, down over the railing. She walked to the edge. “Is that them, Flash?” she asked. The boys came to her side and looked down to see seven girls exchanging presents.
“Yeah, that’s them.” Flash replied.
“So that’s the one?” Comet asked, pointing to the purple girl with lavender hair in a ponytail and glasses. Flash nodded. Comet’s eyes then fell on the yellowish-orange girl with the red-streaked hair. She looked beautiful. “Is that - ?”
“Sunset? Yeah that’s her.”
Comet stared for a few more seconds. And then he snapped back to reality and shook his head. “Ew, ew! Talking horse! Get a hold of yourself!” He turned to his best friend and twin. “Listen, if I ever do that again, slap me.”
“Got it.” said Flash. “Come on.” The trio turned and continued on their way, not noticing that two pair of eyes had looked up and spotted them.
The trio met up with the sisters at a seating area. “Principal Celestia, Vice Principal Luna, this is my best friend Comet Tail and his sister Moondancer.”
“Nice to meet you both.”
“Likewise.”
“Ma'am's.”
“So, Flash” said VP Luna “your aunt called us. What seems to be troubling you three?”
“Well, we’ve been thinking about the magic occurrences that have been happening lately and we’re worried about what might happen if the government finds out. I wasn’t thinking about this before, but they brought me up and now I am.”
“I see.” said Principal Celestia. She turned to the twins. “Listen, I understand your concerns, but I assure you both that Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer, and their friends have this under control.”
“Is it though?” said Comet. “I’m not sure how comfortable I feel having a hole in this dimension right in front of a school in this town.”
Moondancer spoke up “Let me show you what we’re talking about. Have you ever seen a BB shot through glass?” The sisters nodded. She stood up and walked over to a window. “Well, let’s say that this window represents the wall between dimensions. When the portal was first created, it made a hole in the wall, just like a BB. And when it made the hole, it cracked the world around it. The entire surface of this dimension splintered. And that’s how the magic gets through, that’s how it gets everywhere. It’s bleeding through the fault lines. Leaking from that dimension, across whatever’s in between, and into this one. With you bunch encouraging it along. Too much magic at once, and the entire wall could collapse.”
“And incomes the apocalypse.” Comet finished nervously.
“Comet, I promise you there will no apocalypse.”
“Sorry, but your promises aren’t assuring enough for me.” Comet said to the Vice Principal. “And another thing, if Miss flame hair is from that other dimension, why is she still here?”
“Flame hair?” Flash looked at him quizzically.
“Yeah, her hair looks like fire.”
“To answer your other question, Comet” said Principal Celestia, directing their attention back to her, “Sunset is here because she is one of my students and she has many friends.”
Flash and the twins still weren’t convinced, but decided to let the issue slide. For now.
“Thanks for your time.” Flash said to the Principals.
“Anytime, Flash.” said Principal Celestia as she and her sister shook hands with the trio “You may not be my student anymore, but that doesn’t mean I can’t still look out for you.”
As the trio walked back the way they had come, down the escalator and toward the doors, they saw the Rainbooms again, luckily not noticing them. Just before they slipped out the door and left, Sunset happened to glance in their direction and locked eyes with them. Comet shot her a death glare, and they hurried out.
Comet tapped Flash on the arm “We’re all gonna die.”
It was the day before New Years Eve. Flash, Comet, and Comet’s other best friend Cheese Sandwich were at the market buying snacks and drinks for their upcoming New Years Party at Cheese’s house.
Flash had been introduced to Cheese the day after he signed the transfer form, when the twins brought him to their school’s playground to meet their group, composed of them, Cheese, and Moondancer’s friends Minuette, Lemon Hearts, and Twinkleshine. At first, Comet had been slightly worried that his two best friends might not get along, or worse, fight for his attention. Fortunately, no such thing had happened. Both Flash and Cheese were perfectly alright with Comet having another best friend and had gotten along quite well, and so Flash had become part of the twins’ group. Moondancer’s friends had been happy to meet him too. The entire group (especially Comet) assured him that he was going to love it at Hayton Central. Now the boys were taking care of the food for the party tomorrow night. Micro, Derpy, and Sandalwood had also been invited and given directions.
“We definitely need to get these”.
“And these.”
“Guys, I think we’ve got enough stuff to keep us up all night.” Flash interrupted. Their cart was filled with sodas, cookies, chips, ice cream, and a cake. “And besides we’re still ordering pizza.”
Comet and Cheese looked at each other and shrugged, then put their last suggestions (a box of brownies and one more bag of chips) into the cart. “Alright” said Comet “let’s go.”
After they paid for their stuff and left the market, they walked to Flash’s car in the parking lot, loaded the food in, and began driving to Cheese’s house.
“So she decided to erase their memories just because she wasn’t well known?” Cheese asked.
“Yeah, apparently.” Flash replied. He had just told them about the memory stone incident with Wallflower Blush.
“Is every girl in that school bonkers?” Comet asked, shaking his head in annoyance.
“Comet, you know it’s not nice to say that. Is Derpy bonkers?”
“That’s different. She’s our friend.”
Eventually they reached the house and started to unload. The girls had been getting decorations and setting them up. In the living room was a plastic ball Cheese had designed to looked just like the New Years one.
“Hey boys!” chirped Minuette. “The cooler’s in the backyard.” They proceeded to put their cold drinks in there.
The next evening, after everything was set up, Flash, the twins, and First Base and his best friend Button Mash went to Cheese’s house. The entire drive, Flash had been very quiet. When they got to the house, Comet pulled him aside.
“You alright man?” Comet asked his best friend.
“Yeah, bud.” He answered in a toneless manner. “Just started thinking about, well you know, again. I just can’t get it off my mind.”
“Flash, I think you’ve been in that school a little too long. We’re men, and men don’t need to be protected by interdimensional witches.”
“Not the most polite way to put that Comet, but yeah you’re right.” Flash smiled. “Let’s go get crazy.”
“Now you’re taking!” Comet said eagerly. They headed inside with the others and found the rest of their friends from CHS talking with Cheese. When they heard them coming, they turned.
Micro Chips turned pink in the face when he laid eyes on the smarter twin. “Hey, Mo-Moondancer.” Micro stammered. Flash and Comet rolled their eyes. This had been a thing since their younger days.
“Hi, Micro. It’s been a while, hasn't it?” Moondancer replied with a smile. Micro let out a rather childish giggle, causing Comet to give him a look, and Flash and the others to snicker.
“I haven’t heard you make that sound in years.” Sandalwood remarked.
“Not since the last time they were in the same room.” Flash added. Micro blushed in embarrassment and cleared his throat. Derpy ran forward and hugged the twins.
A little later, after the party was in full swing and all introductions, old and new, had been made, a very interesting pair of conversations happened. It started with Micro asking Moondancer for some alone time to catch up, and her quickly catching on to what he was really implying and replying with “Sorry Micro. It's not you, I’m just not really in a dating mood. I’ve sort of had a really bad experience.”
“Oh. Okay.” Micro replied, looking glum. “So, what happened?”
“I’d rather not talk about it. But I wouldn’t mind studying with you.” That brightened Micro’s face a bit.
Comet tapped Flash on the shoulder and beckoned him to follow with a head gesture. The two went upstairs into a room and Comet shut the door behind them. “So what was that about?” Flash asked. They had seen and heard the prior conversation.
“Listen, you can’t tell anyone that I told you this, okay? And I mean that. Especially Moony.”
“Promise.”
“A while back, this guy came to visit the school. He seemed like a nice fella, but he didn’t really want to talk to me, Cheese, or any of the other guys. He was only interested in the girls, especially Moony. He really liked the “smart ones”. Cheese and I found out. When we told Moony, she was so mad, she …” Comet paused, clenching his fists. “I wanted to beat him up for it, and almost did, but the principal would have expelled me.”
Something about this person’s description felt familiar to Flash, but he couldn’t quite place it “What was his name?”
Comet quickly glanced at the door, then mentioned for Flash to come closer and whispered “Timber Spruce.”
Flash froze in shock, his eyes widening.
“You okay, dude?”
“Y-Yeah.” Flash stuttered, regaining his composure. “Just wasn’t expecting that guy. We went on a trip to the camp he works at with his sister a while back.”
“He didn’t flirt with Derpy or anyone else, did he?” Comet asked, visibly alarmed.
“No.” Flash quickly declared. He knew Comet would probably do something really irrational if he found out the full story. “Well, sort of, but no one flirted back.”
Comet looked at him closer.
“Look Comet, it doesn’t matter, okay? Besides, we’re supposed to be enjoying ourselves right now, not getting angry or sad .”
“Alright, fine. But I’m telling you dude, stay away from that guy.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
With that, the two went back to the party. When the ball dropped on TV, everyone in the room counted down and shouted “Happy New Year!” together. Sometime later, Flash and Comet lay on the floor in Cheese’s room in sleeping bags, while the others slept in other rooms. But the intense sugar rush combined with their conversation earlier had left Flash awake for a while. Eventually he did fall asleep, but he still could not take his mind off what Comet had told him.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this” Flash muttered to himself.
It was about a week after the New Year, and Flash was driving toward a place he never thought he’d be again, Camp Everfree. When he heard Comet’s story about Timber flirting with Moondancer and other girls behind their backs, it had sounded credible, but he knew that Comet had always had a tendency to exaggerate when it came to describing someone he didn’t like, or defending those he cared about. It could be that he was making it sound worse than it actually was. He could have asked any of the others in his new group, but Comet had said that it was something none of them liked to talk about. And asking the twins’ parents about it was likely out of the question too. So there was only one other way to know for certain.
Flash parked at the entrance, stepped out of his car, and walked into the currently closed camp, which was as white as the city. Luckily he had his coat, hat, and gloves. He glanced around and spotted the person he was looking for. Since he and his sister lived here, he was easy to find.
As Flash made his way closer, Timber glanced in his direction and saw him.
“Can I help you?” He asked a bit rudely when Flash had gotten close enough and stopped.
“Hi, Timber.” Flash greeted. “Yes you can. Remember me? I’m one of the students from CHS who came here on a trip a while back.”
“Oh yeah, you’re that Sentry guy. What do you want?”
“I need to talk to you about something.”
“Make it quick. I’m kinda busy, in case you couldn’t tell.”
Flash kept himself steady from Timber’s rudeness. “Okay, this is gonna sound really random, but do you know a pair of twin siblings named Comet Tail and Moondancer who go to Hayton Central School?”
Timber’s eyes widened. “Nope. Never heard of them before in my life.” He declared a little too quickly.
“Really?” Flash asked, quirking an eyebrow at Timber’s reaction.
“Yeah.”
“See, Comet’s my best friend and he told me you came to their school and flirted with Moondancer and her friends behind their backs a while ago.”
“You trying to get something from me?”
“No, I just wanna know if that actually happened or not, he exaggerates sometimes. And their other friends don’t like talking about it either, so talking to you was the only way I could find out.”
“Well, you and they have got nothing on me.”
“Look, I’m not trying to pick a fight with you, Timber. I just want to know if what he told me is true.”
“Didn’t you hear me the first time?! I already said it wasn’t!”
Flash had had enough of Timber’s attitude and decided not to push it any further.
“Alright, that’s all I needed to know. Since you’re clearly in the middle of something, I’ll take my leave.”
“Why do you even care?” Timber snapped.
“Because as much as Comet is my best friend, I don’t want him to take something you may or may not have done in the past and use it to ruin you now.”
“Why? You don’t seem like the kind of guy who would care about me.”
“You’re in a relationship, aren’t you?” Flash said in a matter-of-fact tone. And with that, he turned and walked away out of the camp.
——————————————————————————————————————————
Timber scowled at Flash from behind as he left. “Great, he knows. I should have known that idiot from Hayton wouldn’t keep his mouth shut forever.” he fumed.
Unbeknownst, his sister Glorasia Daisy was watching from inside a building and had seen and heard the whole conversation. She was definitely going to talk to him later.
——————————————————————————————————————————
Flash got back in his car, relived to be out of Timber’s presence. As he drove away from the camp, he pondered over what he knew. Timber had denied even knowing the twins, but Comet had said he had come to their school, so he had no idea if what Comet told him about had actually happened or not.
However his thoughts then drifted to Twilight yet again. No matter how long he was able to stop it, the thoughts always came back eventually. And it was driving him crazy. “She doesn’t even like me.” Flash grumbled “Besides, she’s already got plenty of friends. She definitely doesn't need me, the weird guy who crushed on her alternate dimension double, for one.”
”That doesn’t mean YOU shouldn’t care about HER.” replied his heart.
“She’s happy with him. And it’s not my place to barge in.” Flash retorted aloud to himself. “End. Of. Story.”
——————————————————————————————————————————
Little did Flash know, that Twilight wasn’t as happy with Timber as he believed. Elsewhere in the city, the purple skinned bespectacled girl in question was sitting on a bench reading a science book. Her dog Spike was laying down beside her feet.
Spike turned around to see his owner staring into space with her book closed “What’s up, Twilight?” asked the puppy, hopping up onto the bench beside her.
“It’s nothing, Spike. It’s just, the girls and I have been wondering lately. Why does magic keep showing up? Is it going to keep happening forever, or is there a way to stop it?”
“You’ve dealt with magic this much, haven’t you? Whose to say you won’t be able to forever?”
“But what if I don’t WANT to deal with it forever? Even though some of the others might.”
Spike’s face faltered. “Good point.” He turned to look out towards the park, until a few minutes later Twilight sighed, drawing his attention again. She had her phone pulled out and was looking at a text chain between her and Timber Spruce.
“Twilight, I mean it, you can handle as much magic the world throws at you.”
She put her phone down. “It’s not just that, Spike. It’s about Timber. I don’t know why, but I’m not looking forward to my next hangout with him as much as I used to.”
“Well, maybe you just don’t like him anymore?”
“But he’s still just like he was when I first met him, so I should still like him. Right?”
“Uh, Twilight, I’m not a human and definitely no expert, but I’m pretty sure that’s not how relationships work.”
“Besides” Twilight continued, ignoring what Spike said “I have to keep liking him or I’ll break his heart. I’m sure I’ll feel better again after our next hangout.“
But she was wrong. A couple days later, after her next hangout with Timber was over, she didn’t feel excited. Everything had gone how she had planned, but her interest in her current relationship only kept diminishing. Why?
It was a week after Valentines Day. Flash had spent said day with his group of friends from both Hayton and CHS, and had finished the day with a special dinner with his aunt uncle and cousin and the twins and their parents, after which the two families had given V-Day calls to his father and brother, and the twins’ older sister Morning Roast who was away at college. He was now in the mall on the CHS side of the city with Comet and Cheese. His birthday was coming in a month and they were looking for the best place to get decorations to prepare. They were also discussing the whole “magic in their dimension” situation.
“So we actually all went to the other dimension when the yacht sank fully.” Flash said. He was telling them about the spring break ocean incident. “Through a sinking pool of sand, no less”.
“Did you see … her?” Comet asked hesitantly.
Flash looked at the floor. “Yeah. In her castle. But I didn’t talk to her, or even look at her twice. I just walked right back through that mirror.” Comet and Cheese both put a hand on his shoulder.
“That’s probably part of this reason this Twilight got with her boyfriend.” Flash said, being careful not to say Timber’s name “When she first came to CHS during the Friendship games, me and everyone else just thought she was the other Twilight. So those first few weeks after she transferred, I could see her, but not actually SEE her. I was just remembering.” He sighed “Not that I really blame her.” The other boys frowned in sympathy for their friend and gave him a gentle hug, which he returned.
“You know what this whole situation sounds like?” Cheese commented as they broke the hug. “It sounds like … like the plot to a really really bad spinoff of a really great cartoon that was only meant to be a one time thing but spiraled out of control and was never even finished.”
Flash and Comet looked at each other, then back at Cheese. “That’s quite an interesting way to describe it.” replied Flash.
“Yeah, it really is!”
The three boys looked up and saw Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy standing nearby. They quickly turned to leave, only for Pinkie to suddenly appear in front of them. “Hey, Flash! Haven’t seen you in school a while! Who are they? Are they your friends? Hi new friends, I’m Pinkie Pie do you wan-“
“Hey, back up witch!” Comet snapped loudly causing the pink girl to immediately stop talking and jump backwards in fright.
“Comet!” Flash held him back “We talked about this!” Comet just continued to scowl. “Sorry about him.” Flash said to the two girls. “He has protective BFF instincts.”
“And he’s a bit on edge about you and your friends wielding interdimensional forces.” Cheese commented. “Which I must admit, I’m a little uneasy about myself.”
“Hey, don’t worry boys! We’ve got everything under control!” said Pinkie, smiling so wide, her teeth were next to her ears. The boys looked at each other. They weren’t even slightly convinced.
“Where have you been?” Fluttershy managed to ask Flash, having been more scared by Comet’s shout. “We haven’t seen you around in a while.”
“I transferred to their school.”
Pinkie started to gain one of her horrified “missed party” looks “Why didn’t you tell me?! I didn’t get to-“
“No party, please. My family and I are still in town anyway.” Flash quickly cut in. That made Pinkie look better.
“What are you guys doing here anyway?” Fluttershy asked.
“Looking for birthday decorations.”
Pinkie’s face brightened even further.
“No.” Comet interjected before Pinkie could speak again. “I don’t want either of you or the rest of your group coming anywhere near our houses.“
“But, but-” she stammered.
“No, Pinkie. Trust me, you don’t want to make him even angrier.” Flash affirmed.
“Besides,” added Cheese, “I’ve already got most of it covered. It was Comet’s idea, of course.”
“You plan parties too?” Pinkie asked excitedly. Cheese nodded.
“Cheese Sandwich.” He offered her a handshake.
“Pinkie Pie!” She eagerly accepted.
Comet pulled him back by his shoulder in annoyance.
“Dude, no.”
“What?”
Comet just gave him a deadpan look. “You know what.”
Cheese sighed “Fine.”
Flash looked at the pink girl again. “Look, Pinkie. If you absolutely must have your party sense satisfied somehow, you can get me a present and leave it somewhere I can pick it up, but you can’t come to my house. Is that enough?”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Please respect that.”
Pinkie looked dejected but agreed to Flash’s request. “Okay.”
“Thank you.”
The boys made their leave to resume their search for a good decoration place. “We’ve really gotta be more careful from now on.” Flash muttered to his friends.
——————————————————————————————————————————
Some days later, the Rainbooms were at their usual meetup place, Sugarcube Corner. Twilight had a lot on her mind. Yesterday she had confided in her brother’s once again girlfriend about not feeling attracted to Timber anymore, and Cadence had given her some helpful break up advice. And now she felt the need to tell her friends about what she was going to do.
Twilight spoke, getting their attention “Girls? There’s something I have to tell you. Can you not tell anyone else?” They nodded.
At that moment, the door opened and in walked Moondancer. She noticed the Rainbooms and made her way around them to the front counter rather nervously. But Sunset had seen her. Recognizing her, she walked up and tapped her on the shoulder.
Moondancer sighed and reluctantly turned to look at her. “Can I help you?”
“Pardon me, but do you remember me? I saw you with Flash and someone else at the mall during the winter.”
“Yes, I remember you. Sunset Shimmer, right?” Sunset nodded. “My name’s Moondancer.” They shook hands. “That other person was my twin brother Comet Tail. He and Flash are best friends.”
Sunset looked sheepish at the mention of that “So I take it he told you two about-“
“Enough to get the full story. And yes, I know who all of you are too.” she said, briefly turning to the other girls. “Just be glad you’re talking to me right now and not my brother.”
“He’s mad, huh?” said Sunset.
“Believe me, if he knew I was talking to you right now, he would go ballistic. He has what he calls-”
“Protective BFF instincts?”
Moondancer turned to look at Pinkie. “Exactly. I heard they ran into you and one of your other friends the other day.”
“Your brother called us witches.” Fluttershy whimpered.
Moondancer rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that sounds like him. If it makes you feel any better, witch doesn’t automatically mean evil person, it just means a woman who has magic powers.”
Rarity frowned “That is not helping much. But thank you anyway.”
“I don’t recall seeing you or your brother at the friendship games.” said Applejack. “Do you go to Crystal Prep?”
Moondancer was disgusted. “That nightmare of a school? Absolutely not! We're from Hayton Central.”
“Hayton?” asked Rainbow “That school on the other side of town?”
“That’s the one. We don’t do friendship games. It’s better that way. I should know, I won second and first places in the science fair the last two years for my study on emotional health and my geography project.”
“You’re a scientist too?!” Twilight squealed excitedly, darting over to the other bespectacled girl.
Moondancer smiled at her fellow scientist “Yes. And a calm one at that. Most of the time anyway.” Twilight regained her posture and gave a sheepish smile while the others grinned at her.
“Your brother doesn’t want us at Flash’s birthday!” Pinkie exclaimed, changing the subject.
Moondancer frowned but knew why “Trust me Pinkie, it’s better to do that.”
Applejack spoke up “So your brother and Flash don't want to see us?”
“Basically. I talked to them about it yesterday. He wants as little to do with all of you as possible.” She turned to Twilight. “Especially you two. He said he’s doing you a favor so you don’t have to see him either.” Twilight looked concerned, but quickly understood what she was talking about.
Moondancer turned to Sunset “There is one thing about this that concerns me. You’re from the other dimension, right?” Sunset nodded. “So why are you still here?
“I’ve found a life here. My friends are here.”
“Yes, but aren’t you a little worried about how and why magic from your dimension keeps showing up here?
Sunset, who had been thinking about this herself for a while and brought it up before, decided to assure her new friend. “I am. And I don’t know how or why. But we’ll find out.”
Then they heard a vibrating sound. Sunset reached into her bag and pulled out a book with her cutie mark on the cover.
“What’s that book?”
“Oh, I use this to write with Princess Twilight back in Equestria.”
Moondancer was astonished. “Interdimensional communication? That’s incredible!” Sunset chuckled, checked the message from Princess Twilight, pulled out a pen, and wrote her response.
After agreeing to keep their new friendship between them and away from the boys, Moondancer exchanged phone numbers with Twilight and Sunset and left.
“So Twilight, what were you going to tell us?” Sunset asked her best friend, turning the other girls’ attention back to her.
“Oh right.” Twilight’s face turned serious, she took a deep breath and dropped it “I’m going to break up with Timber Spruce.”
Flash had been enjoying Hayton Central so immensely that his frustrations with the magic running wild and his personal problem had been pushed to the very back of his mind, though they were still there. Now his 17th birthday had come, on the day before spring break no less. Comet, Base, and the other guys had just taken him out to an incredibly fun game (or four) of laser tag after school. Now they were walking back to the duplex house. And when they reached and opened the backyard gate …..
“Surprise!” shouted Water, Heat, Moondancer, the other girls, and somebody else…
“Fire!” Flash exclaimed, rushing to his brother, who embraced him with a tight hug.
“Hey little bro. How’re you doing?”
“Better than I have been for a while. What are you doing here?”
“You didn't actually think I was gonna miss your party, did you?”
Flash gave a sheepish smile. “Well I did kinda think you had extra game practice.” to which Fire just poked him.
“Hey, Fire.” Comet waved to the football player.
“Hey, Comet. Been a while.” said Fire, high fiving him.
Later on after Flash had opened all his present and everyone was eating cake, Flash got a FaceTime request. He pulled out his phone to see it was from his father and answered it.
“Hey birthday boy! How's it going?"
“It's going great.”
"Your present should be there tomorrow.”
As Fire came forward to join the family conversation, Moondancer's phone rang. She glanced at it, then backed away from the group and walked to the other end of the backyard.
“How are the games?” Metal asked his older son.
“Pretty exhausting, but rewarding.”
"You sure about that?" Moondancer asked the person she was talking to.
“Yes. Please.”
“Okay.” She came back up to the group. “Comet, please try not to explode, okay?” And she turned her phone to face the boys, revealing …
“Hey, guys” Sunset waved with a nervous smile, with Twilight on her side and the other Rainbooms behind them.
“What is she doing on your phone?” Comet snapped.
“We’re friends now. Listen Flash, I’m sorry for snapping at you a few months ago. I hope I didn’t take the fun out of the snowball fight for you.”
“It’s alright. You were in a hurry.”
“Yeah, but I still shouldn’t have taken my frustration out on you. Did you really transfer?”
“Yes I did, but don’t worry, it wasn’t because of you, it was Comet’s idea.”
“Hi Comet.” Sunset waved politely. Comet just glared.
“Does it matter?”
“Sure it does Flash. Even if you don’t go to CHS anymore, you’re still a wondercolt.” Twilight said. The other Rainbooms nodded. “Happy Birthday, by the way.”
Flash was flattered by that, but he wasn’t convinced. Still, he decided to be polite and introduce his family. “Thanks, Twilight.” He beckoned Fire over and turned his phone to face Moondancer’s “Dad, Fire, this is Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle.”
“Metal Gleam. Nice to meet you young ladies. You seem to have made quite the impression on my son. He talks about you a lot.” That was true, Flash had talked with him about his personal issue before.
“You too, Mr Gleam.” Twilight greeted politely. “I guess we have.” She said.
“Well what can I say?” Flash said trying not to blush in embarrassment from his father’s comments “You girls are quite influential. Especially you, Twilight.”
Twilight averted her gaze at his compliment, her cheeks turning slightly pink. “Thanks.”
“Yeah, influential.“ Comet whispered to himself sarcastically.
“Hey Pinkie/Minuette!” The two girls in question waved to each other.
“What?! You too?!” Comet exclaimed. He and Flash looked at Moondancer with respective expressions of frustration and curiosity.
“I may have introduced the girls to them.” She admitted. “And they hit it off really well.” Flash simply shrugged in indifference while Comet facepalmed in annoyance.
“Are you Firestreak?! From the Canterlot University football team?!” Rainbow Dash suddenly said, grabbing Sunset’s phone having noticed the football player.
“Yes.” Fire said nicely. “I take it you watch the games?”
"He's your brother?!" Applejack exclaimed. She and Rainbow (who had watched many of the games on TV) were so amazed, and the others’ jaws dropped slightly. Flash felt a little self conscious that they were now interested just because of this.
Comet muttered “Dude, you’re embarrassing us in front of the witches.”
Flash elbowed him “Comet.”
Metal turned to look at something else “Sorry everyone.” he said “I’ve got to go. Flash happy birthday and the best luck with your next game to you Firestreak.”
“Thanks dad. See you.” said the brothers. Flash hung up. Fire went into the house to chat with Water and Heat.
Comet took Moondancer’s phone “I need to talk to flame hair. The rest of you scram.”
“Excuse me?” Rarity said narrowing her eyes.
“I said scram!” The other Rainbooms scurried out of the phone’s sight.
“Listen, Sunset Shiner-“
“Shimmer.”
“Whatever. You and your pals can be friends with my sister, but you have to keep away from me and my friends, especially Flash. I know about what you did. Got it?”
“You have my word there. But you can’t decide who your sister can or can’t be friends with. If she wants to befriend us, you can’t change that.”
“That doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
“Wouldn’t expect you to, Comet. And stop calling us witches.”
“I’ll call you whatever I want. I’m watching you, horsey.” He said threateningly as he gave the phone back to his twin.
“I’m a pony, not a horse.” Sunset corrected, feeling offended.
“Same thing.” Comet retorted.
“Actually yeah, pony literally means young or small horse.” Flash added. “Not to start a fight or anything.”
“Well, for us maybe, but not necessarily for them.” Twilight interjected. “In their dimension, it could mean something very different.”
Moondancer snickered seeing her twin getting the science talk from someone else “I’m loving this.” Comet growled with frustration while Flash rolled his eyes amusedly and said nothing. Moondancer moved slightly further away and continued talking with Twilight and Sunset.
“Listen Twilight, if I know my brother which I absolutely do, he’ll probably want to know who your boyfriend is so they can dodge him. So just for that reason, what’s his name?”
Twilight sighed. She was about to break up with him anyway, but they didn’t need to know that yet “Timber Spruce.”
Everything stopped the moment she said that name. The twins and the rest of their Hayton group all froze in place. Comet’s facial expression slowly morphed into pure rage while Moondancer’s eyes slowly widened and gained a scary looking mix of anger and fear, something that made Flash, Base, and their CHS friends nervous.
“I see.” Moondancer said after a moment, struggling to keep her composure. “Well, thanks. That’s all I needed to know. Okay, see you later, bye.” She said rather quickly, and she hung up before Twilight could respond.
Twilight faced her friends with equally confused looks. “What was that about?” She wondered.
In the backyard, Comet then rounded on Flash. “She’s seeing HIM?! And you knew this?!”
Flash turned to his cousin “Base, Button, could you go inside for a moment?” Base opened his mouth to protest, but quickly realized that was likely happening so he ushered his best friend into the house. Once the door closed Flash turned back to face Comet again “Yes.”
After a few seconds of silence, Comet turned and started to run towards the yard gate. Flash, having predicted this, tackled him to the ground and the two struggled for several more seconds.
“Let me go! I’m gonna kill him!”
“You will do no such thing!”
“That jerk’s crossed the line again!”
“No he hasn’t!”
“How can you be okay with this?! He stole yo—“
“Don't you dare say that!" Flash said loudly, cutting him off. "Timber did NOT “steal” her from me! That’s like calling her property. She never was interested in me anyway remember?”
“But Flash!“
“Comet, just pause and think about this for a moment. The best friend of a guy who liked your mirror self from another dimension walks up and tells you that he once saw your boyfriend flirting with multiple girls at once. What would you think?”
Comet pondered for a moment and finally relented and stopped struggling. “Okay yeah, I see your point. She probably wouldn’t believe us.”
“Or even worse, she’d yell at us for even saying it. Trust me, it’s better to just let all this become a distant memory.” Flash gave him another stern look after they got back up “You see? This is why I didn’t tell you.”
“Sorry, dude. I just —”
"I know. But this is how it should be. We are not chasing him down for any sort of vengeance. Understand? Please don’t.”
Comet hung his head in disappointment “Okay, I won’t do anything.”
Flash turned to the others who had looked angry but calmed down “I’m sorry guys. I didn’t ask any of you about it because I didn’t want to make you relieve any unpleasant memories.”
“It’s okay Flash” said Moondancer “I know you were just trying to be sure.”
“So that really did happen? It’s not just one of Comet’s made up scenarios to protect all of you?”
Moondancer, the girls, and Cheese all nodded and Comet gave Flash an “I told you“ look.
“Well who knows? Maybe Twilight’s changed him for the better.” Flash offered.
Minuette and Twinkleshine rolled their eyes and Lemon Hearts scoffed “That guy? Change? I’ve heard more believable things than that.”
“I thought I could change him.” Moondancer agreed.
“Believe me, very few people have ever gotten me extremely angry, but he did” Cheese added.
“Speaking of Twilight, shouldn’t she at least know about this?” Micro asked, finally speaking up. He and the CHS students had been frightened by the boys’ little squabble.
Flash pinched his nose with a sigh “Yes, but let her find out by herself. Trust me, It won’t look good coming from any of us. Especially me.”
“Are you sure about that?” Derpy asked.
“Positive. Besides, she’s smart enough to figure that out.”
“You know what I’m curious about?” Comet commented, getting the others’ attention “Why are those horses so pretty in human bodies?”
“I have no idea.” Flash replied, then raised an eyebrow “Are you asking that because of Sunset?”
Comet looked embarrassed “Kinda.”
“Dude, I really don’t want to see you make my mistake. I fell for one of them and look what happened.“
“Yeah. I mean I can only imagine what would happen if we bumped into the Sunset of this dimension.” As soon as Comet said that, Flash suddenly froze in place. “What?” he asked confused.
“What did you just say?” Flash asked.
“I said I can only imagine what would happen if—“ Comet trailed off, the realization dawning on him and everyone else. “Oh.”
“Of course!” exclaimed Moondancer. “If the pony Twilight has a counterpart in this world, and Sunset is a pony from the other world, she has to have one here too!”
Everyone started to get really nervous.
“Why hasn’t the other Sunset shown up here already?” asked Twinkleshine.
“This is basically identity theft!” said Minuette.
“Identity theft? Are you kidding? This is LIFE theft!” exclaimed Cheese.
“What if the government finds out?!” said Sandalwood.
“How have they not already noticed? How has SHE not realized this yet?!” Comet panic-shouted.
Water, Heat, and Fire came back outside “What’s all the shouting about?”
“Nothing, Uncle Heat. Just a little teenage disagreement. Sorry.”
“See you guys at the next game, right?”
“You know it, big bro.” said Flash with a double thumbs up. After sharing a brother hug, Fire left the backyard, got in his car and drove away.
Flash faced his best friend with a very serious expression “Comet, it looks like we have something important to do.”
Later that evening, Twilight was hurrying to the cafe near CHS, the Sweet Shoppe, where she had asked Timber to meet her. She had several few questions on her mind. In particular, her mind kept going back to the horrified enraged expression on Moondancer's face when she told her who she was dating. She hadn't mentioned she was going to break up with him because she wanted to do that first. The sooner this was done, the sooner she could find out why Moondancer was so scared of or/and enraged by him.
She entered the establishment and found Timber waiting for her at one of the tables. He waved her over with a big smile on his face. Twilight gave a small smile back and walked over.
“Miss me already?” he flirted.
“Uh, Timber, I didn’t ask you to meet me here for a date,” Twilight explained as she sat down on the other side of the table.
“Oh.” Timber blinked twice in surprise.
“You see,” Twilight bit her lip as she began her breakup speech, “you’re a nice guy, Timber, and I liked dating you, but—”
“Wait,” he interrupted, realization setting in, “why does it sound like you’re breaking up with me? Are you breaking up with me?”
“Well, yes,” Twilight managed to get out. “Look, it’s not you, okay? I’m just not as invested in this relationship as I was when we started out, and—”
“Twilight, I don’t know how you found out, but I swear none of it meant anything,” Timber interrupted again, his tone becoming very frantic. “I was only doing it because I liked the attention.”
Twilight’s eyes widened at Timber’s sudden declaration. Then she just stared at Timber, her face twisting in complete utter confusion.
“What in the hay are you talking about?” she exclaimed.
Timber’s jaw dropped as he realized what had just happened.
“You mean, you don’t know.”
“Know what?”
“Uh,” Timber’s eyes darted away from her as he replied, “nothing.”
Twilight’s eyes narrowed as her gaze transformed into a hard glare.
“Timber, this relationship is going to be over regardless of what you end up telling me" Twilight stated sternly "and since you have nothing to lose anyway, you might as well just tell me everything,”.
Timber whimpered in fear. Then, he took a breath and put on an obviously forced confident expression.
“I know you say it’s over, but are you sure I can’t change your mind?” he purred. “I mean, I’m sure whatever the problem is it’s nothing that time and my natural charm can’t fix.”
Twilight blinked twice before her glare intensified, getting angrier.
“Didn’t you hear what I just said?” she tried her hardest not to shout. “The problem is that I’m not as invested in this relationship as I used to be, and it’s going to take more than just charming me to fix that. And what if I want more from relationship than just charm?”
Timber opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything, he was suddenly doused with a hot sticky liquid. He cried in surprise and turned to see Twilight's old Crystal Prep classmate Sunny Flare standing there with a glare that could melt rocks.
"Sunny Flare?" Twilight asked. "What are you doing here?"
"Doing you a big favor." Her old classmate responded while still glaring at Timber.
“Um, do I know you?” Timber asked Sunny innocently, still dripping with tea.
“No,” Sunny replied with an anger-tinged calm, “but I believe you know my friend.” She pulled out her phone and showed a picture of her with four other girls Twilight recognized. Then she pointed to Lemon Zest, practically shoving the image into Timber’s face.
Timber’s pupils shrunk as he looked at who Sunny was pointing at. “I’ve never seen that girl before in my life.”
“Oh, really? Then, I suppose that you have also never been a lifeguard at the Canterlot Beach either,” the mulberry haired girl bitingly remarked, crossing her arms.
Twilight’s eyes widened in realization. “You were cheating on me?! With Lemon Zest?!”
“I did not cheat!” Timber shouted back. “There was no cheating involved!” He groaned, realizing that he just admitted to having met Lemon Zest.
“Lemon Zest thought that he looked cute and started flirting with him,” Sunny informed Twilight. “He flirted back.”
“It never went past that. I swear,” Timber pleaded. Then his eyes widened and he turned back to Twilight “Wait a minute. He blabbed to you, didn’t he?! That guitar playing loser told you about those twins from Hayton Central and their friends?! I swear, it was all a lie!”
"His name is Flash. He didn’t tell me anything. And he is NOT a loser." she retorted, getting almost right in his face. Twilight felt her cheeks heat up and she sat back down. She had no idea why she had jumped to Flash's defense so quickly. "How do you even know them?"
"I don’t!" Timber stammered.
“Then why did you ask about people from Hayton?" snapped Sunny. "You also never mentioned to Lemon that you already had a girlfriend.”
“It never came up in conversation!”
Sunny brought her furious glare closer to Timber’s trembling eyes. “Well, considering that she wants to ask you out the next time that she sees you, you probably should have brought that up sooner.”
“Well, tell her that I’m not interested,” Timber retorted.
"Actually, if you want to go out with Lemon Zest, or any other girl, feel free to." Twilight said in an unusually calm manner "Because you and I are done."
"What?!" Timber shrieked.
“We’re done, and this relationship is over." She stood up and walked away "Just like this conversation.”
"Twilight, wait!"
But Twilight had already walked out the door with a determined facial expression. She was going to get some answers.
Flash was in his room searching the internet with a very similar expression on his face. Then something caught his attention, making his eyes widen. He clicked on whatever it was.
His eyes scanned over the online item for a few seconds. “Bingo.”
He hit print, went downstairs to the printer, and grabbed the paper that came out. He went back upstairs, found the twins on the deck, and showed them what he had found.
“I think this is the article we’re looking for”.
The headline read GIRL DISAPPEARS INTO THIN AIR and underneath it was a picture of three young teens. On the right was a girl who looked awfully similar to Starlight Glimmer, another pony from the other dimension who had visited briefly some time ago, except she had different clothes and pigtails. On the left was a boy with glasses, orange skin, messy orange hair, and a long blue coat. But Flash and the twins were most focused on the slightly older girl in the middle of the other two, who looked exactly like Sunset but with goth clothes and black eyeshadow.
Flash and the twins gave each other a serious look and all nodded in unison.
