"She's worse than Prudence." Cherry spoke up vocally once they were out of earshot from the wicked woman.

"I'm gonna join Sci-Twi, wherever she is." Atticus said.

"Of course you would..." Cherry mumbled.

"You know I'm close with Twilight." Atticus reminded her.

"Of course I do..." Cherry glared at him slightly. "Have fun with your new best friend..." she then turned away with her arms folded, feeling neglected.

"This won't be forever and besides, you're still my best friend." Atticus assured her.

"Ever since we met Princess Twilight, it's always been about her!" Cherry sounded emotional now. "You stood by her side at the Canterlot Wedding, you helped her win the Element of Harmony crown, the only real time I've had alone with her was when the Dazzlings were interfering with our world!"

"Can we please focus on the mission at hand, please!" Patch's voice told them from Atticus's backpack before realizing he just goofed up. "Oops."

Atticus stared at his backpack.

"Patch Pongo...?" Teller called sharply, folding his arms.

"I'm so busted." Patch's voice said inside the backpack.

"Yes, yes you are..." Teller waved his finger. "Stay hidden for right now in case Principal Cinch might be watching... She's highly allergic to dogs."

"Yes, sir." Patch's voice said in the backpack.

"I better find Twilight, knowing her, she must be somewhere doing research alone." Atticus said.

"Good luck, both of you..." Teller told them before going down the hallway.

"You can tell me all about it..." Cherry snarled.

"Cherry, it's not like that!" Atticus defended.

Cherry scoffed, she then walked off another hallway that had other students, such as a girl with white hair in high large pigtails and she also wore glasses. "I'll show you, I'll make a new best friend!" she growled. "Hey, wanna be best friends?" she then smiled with her eyes shut to the next student in her way.

"Um, sure?" The student said, confused.

Cherry stuck her tongue out at Atticus.

Atticus sighed and shook his head. "There are still some things about her that even I don't understand..." he then went to turn, but someone bumped into him and the two were on the floor.

"In bowling, I think that's called a strike..." a female voice said as a hand was patting the floor in front of her with her eyes squinted shut.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there," Atticus said before finding a pair of glasses and picking them up. "I think these are yours."

"Thanks..." the girl sighed, she then took her glasses and slid them on, stroking her hair nervously, putting it back into a bun. "I'm just a super klutz..."

"I doubt that," Atticus said before getting up along with helping her up. "Is your name Twilight Sparkle?"

The girl's eyes widened. "Okaaaay, this just got creepy... I... Uhhh... I need to go now!" she then grabbed her backpack, picking up a pendant and ran off.

"Wait!" Atticus told her.

The girl kept running, bumping into other students, but did not stop until she would get to where she wanted or needed to go.

"Your principal just told me your name!" Atticus called out.

This caused for Sci-Twi to stop.

"That must mean you are one of the transfer students that was switched to this school." Sci-Twi said.

"Yeah..." Atticus smiled, that was basically true anyway. "Where are you going?"

Sci-Twi looked around. "You can't tell anyone."

"I cross my heart." Atticus said.

Patch was about to speak up, but he knew that this world's Twilight didn't know about talking animals so he just simply barked softly.

Sci-Twi looked around, but shrugged, she could had sworn she heard a dog bark, but she led Atticus away and took him into a closet. "No one else must know of this..." she whispered as they got closer to the door, when she saw it was just the two of them, she opened the door and led him right in, shutting the door right behind him.

She then heard another bark or two both from Atticus's backpack and also from her own dog. Both were unable to speak since they were both hiding dogs in their backpacks, so they decided to just come clean.

"Come on out, Patch." Atticus said, unzipping his backpack.

"Spike, you too, boy." Sci-Twi added as she opened her bag.

Both the Dalmatian puppy and the purple dog came out of the backpack and bag. Patch hopped down on the floor and stood on his hind legs, giving a human like appearance. Spike smiled, panting with his tongue dangling out and sat on his hind legs like a normal dog and had his front paws against his chest.

"He's so adorable, what's his name?" Atticus asked, even though he did know, but didn't want to sound like he was a creeper.

"His name's Spike," Sci-Twi patted her dog on the head. "He's kind of my best friend... No one here wants to be my friend, but who needs friends when you're a top academic student, right, Spike?" she smiled to her dog.

Spike was unsure of how to answer that.

"Everyone needs a friend or two." Atticus said.

"Oh, I don't know, nobody really likes me here..." Sci-Twi said as she pet her dog. "I think everyone just expects me to do the best since Shining Armor won the Friendship Games and he's been a great student with Dean Cadence in their times at Crystal Prep..."

"Well, then they are missing out me and Patch will be yours and Spike's friends," Atticus said. "And so will Cherry once she meets you."

"Cherry?" Sci-Twi wondered.

"She's a good friend of mine..." Atticus said, then thought back to what Cherry was going on about earlier. "That is, if she's not mad at me... So, what's this room?"

"This is my special room," Sci-Twi told him as she showed him items that looked like they belonged in a laboratory such as a computer, machines, and beakers containing chemical liquid. "Something weird is going on at Canterlot High and I am determined to find out what."

"Oh, you mean the magic." Atticus said before covering his mouth.

"Magic?" Sci-Twi asked. "There's no such thing as magic."

Atticus couldn't help but laugh in his head, he knew this was a different Twilight, but it was kind of funny to hear those words come out of Twilight Sparkle's mouth.

"It's simply bizarre energy, my field test last night confirmed it," Sci-Twi got into a rolling chair, going to her desk and took out her pendant that glowed briefly. "With this device, I can track and contain the bizarre energy coming from Canterlot High."

Spike growled at the name of the rival school that his mistress was against.

"Whoa, down, boy... Seems like he doesn't like that school." Atticus said.

"He doesn't like me going over there, I'm sorry, Spike, but I just couldn't wait," Sci-Twi explained, petting her dog then. "And soon, I'll have all the time I need. All of Crystal Prep is going to be there for the Friendship Games."

"So, I've heard," Atticus remarked. "Wait, aren't you going too?" he then asked.

"I just hope the rivalry doesn't get in the way of my studies," Sci-Twi replied. "If I can collect enough data on these EM frequencies, I should be able to extrapolate the waveforms to determine their origin."

Spike was now chasing a ladybug.

"That would practically guarantee my entrance into the Everton Independent Study Program!" Sci-Twi then said with glee.

"Everton Independent Study Program?" Atticus asked. "But, wouldn't that keep you from meeting more people?"

"Exactly!" Sci-Twi beamed, she then accidentally fell out of her chair.

Spike licked against his owner's forehead with a smile to make sure she was okay.

"I'm alright, Spike." Sci-Twi giggled from the licks.

There was a knock at the door.

"Uh-oh!" Patch ran back into Atticus's backpack.

Dean Cadence came through the door and spotted the brainy girl on the floor. "Twilight, you know the rules against pets," she reminded and warned before helping her up, then spotted Atticus. "Oh, have you finally made a friend?" she then asked eagerly and hopefully. She then saw Patch trying to hide in his backpack.

Atticus held Patch nervously with a smile.

"I'm sorry, but we have rules against pets..." Dean Cadence told them after she saw the Dalmatian puppy.

"Well, Spike isn't a pet, Dean Cadence," Sci-Twi told the woman. "He's the focus of my research project... 'Human/Canine Cohabitation: Effects and Implications', and this boy here kindly volunteered to help with his own test subjet."

"If you say so..." Dean Cadence shrugged. "But, Principal Cinch is highly allergic, so Twilight, I suggest you put on a clean shirt."

"Better clean my shirt then too." Atticus said.

"Actually, she just wants to see Twilight." Dean Cadence folded her arms.

This excited Sci-Twi. "Maybe she has news about my application to Everton!"

"I've been meaning to talk to you about that," Dean Cadence put her arm around the girl. "Are you sure that's what you really want?"

"I agree with Dean Cadence, if you get accepted there, you won't be able to make any friends there." Atticus said.

"I don't need friends," Sci-Twi insisted, unintentionally rudely. "Just think about it! A program that allows me to focus all my attention on my own advance math and science projects. What a dream come true! I'll be on my own, but that's why they call it an Independent Study Program."

"I just don't want you to miss out on anything, that's all," Dean Cadence told Twilight, sounding more like an older sister with advance than a school employee. "Being around other people isn't a bad thing. Sometimes it's how you learn the most about yourself."

"It's true." Atticus said.

Sci-Twi shrugged, rubbing her arm. "I guess..."

"Meet you in Principal Cinch's office in a few minutes?" Dean Cadence suggested with a smile.

Sci-Twi silent nodded once. Dean Cadence smiled and left, shutting the door behind her.

'I sure hope she doesn't get into that program.' Patch thought to himself.

"What's she so worried about?" Sci-Twi sighed. "Everton is exactly what I need right now. It's not like I have anything left to learn at Crystal Prep... Excuse me..." she told Atticus while fiddling with her tie and walked out of the room to meet Principal Cinch.

"Do you want me to wait for you here?" Atticus asked.

"Might as well..." Sci-Twi nodded and walked down the hallway to meet her headmistress.

Patch poked his head out once the coast was clear.

"Well, this school will be a challenge." Atticus said.

"Looks like it..." Patch agreed, hiding his face.

---

Cherry was now walking with two girls that Atticus and Patch had not seen before.

"Hey, Cherry!" Atticus called to her with a friendly wave.

Cherry glared to him and ignored him as she walked with her new best friends.

"Wow, she is really angry at you." Patch said.

"I don't understand why..." Atticus frowned. "I didn't do anything wrong..."

"Maybe spending almost too much time with Twilight might be the cause of it." Patch said.

"You don't think I spend too much time with Twilight, do you?" Atticus asked him.

Patch paused before answering. "Hmm..."

"Patch!" Atticus called to his puppy, demanding an answer.

"Um, well, maybe just little..." Patch answered before whispering. "Or even more."

"Hmm..." Atticus hummed to that.

Patch shrugged. "Whenever we have an Equestrian mission, you go to her more than the other Mane Six."

"Oh... I-I had never noticed." Atticus said.

"It's good that you guys are friends, but remember, there are others," Patch reminded him. "Don't worry though, I'm not mad at you."

"I've gotta make it up to Cherry and the girls." Atticus said.

"You should..." Patch agreed.