Ch. 5: Twilight?!

Back at CHS, the Rainbooms finished rocking out in the band room as their pony features disappeared and the others applauded them.

"Nice work, ladies," said Sonic. "You've really come a long way since the Battle of the Bands."

"I hope the Friendship Games have a music competition because we would totally rock it!" said Rainbow, laying out a riff.

"Um, we're supposed to keep magic out of the Friendship Games, remember?" said Sunset and Rainbow rolled her eyes angrily.

"Easier said than done, darling," said Rarity, working on her makeup.

"Especially with how Rainbow loves to show off," whispered Tails.

"I heard that." she said.

"I'm sure in Equestria, magic does whatever you want it to, but…" continued Rarity.

"This isn't Equestria." said Sunset.

"True dat," said Silver.

"Dude, no one says that anymore," said Sonic.

"Sorry."

"Well, when it comes to magic, I'm sure you'll figure it out." said Applejack.

"And while Sunset works on keeping the magic out of the games," said Rarity. "I have been working on what to put in."

"Rarity, what did you go and do?" asked Applejack.

"Actually, it wasn't just her this time," said Silver.

"Oh god, don't tell me she's got you wrapped around her finger, Silver." said Sonic.

"Nah, it was just a favor," he replied. "And with such bounty."

"Of what sort?" asked Shadow as Silver and Rarity pushed a few clothing racks in with a ton of uniforms on all of them.

"Well, we had a little time on our hands," said Rarity. "And since we don't know what the Friendship Games' events are… we made a few options for uniforms." Then she threw some over Rainbow and Sonia, instantly putting them in white and blue soccer uniforms.

"You really didn't have to do that," said Rainbow.

"I know," said Rarity, taking it as a compliment.

"No," said Sonic, looking over some of the other wardrobe choices. "You really didn't have to."

"I know!" said Rarity, giggling at the unintended compliment. Outside, the bus from Crystal Prep had arrived and Celestia and Luna came out to greet them.

"Vice Principal Luna can help your students get settled if you'd like me to show you around, Principal Cinch," said Celestia. "There have been quite a few changes since your last visit."

"Oh. Yes, Principal Celestia. I'm sure that would be fascinating," said Cinch. She was obviously being sarcastic, but Celestia didn't let it bug her. Then Luna and Cadence were wrapped in a hug.

"Oh, it's always such a pleasure to see you, Dean Cadence," said Luna. "Even if it means another defeat."

"Thank you, Vice Principal Luna," said Cadence. "But I hear it's not going to be so easy this time." Then Twilight tried to slip off the bus all stealthy-like, but one of her classmates rocketed past her. She had deep blue hair, tan skin and amber eyes. Her name was Indigo Zap, and she was the most athletic person at Crystal Prep.

"Comin' through!" she shouted, knocking Twilight into two of her other classmates; the two-faced Sour Sweet, and the straight up Sunny Flare, accidentally knocking the later to the ground. When they got up, Sunny was pretty ticked.

"Seriously?" she asked.

"Oh! Sorry. I didn't mean to," said Twilight acting almost like a beat puppy would. Sunny just got up and left. Twilight sighed and stood up, nearly bumping into Sour. "Oh. Sorry. Why don't you go ahead?"

"You are such a sweetie!" said Sour, her sweet side showing before her sour side kicked in. "I am watching you," she whispered and walked away.

Twilight was really upset when she almost bumped into her amaranth-skinned and lemon-lime haired classmate, Lemon Zest, who was rocking out to the extraordinarily loud music on her headphones before yet another of her classmates, one with opal hair and phthalo gray skin.

Her name was Sugarcoat, and as her name implies, she's the bluntest of the Crystal Prep student body.

"You are kinda being a doormat right now," she said. Twilight realized she was right and fell into even greater despair, when all of a sudden, her pendant started beeping, indicating there was magic nearby. Twilight held it up, and it seemed to be acting as a compass, guiding her to where the magic was; right inside Canterlot High. Quickly, she checked if anyone was watching before she left, following the pendant.

"Hi Twilight," said someone on the steps of the school, but she ignored them and went inside following it.

"Hey Twilight!" said another girl. This greatly confused Twilight, making her wonder how that girl knew her name. She quickly shook it off and continued on, but her confusion only grew as more and more people walked past her and called her by her name. Then, as she was responding to various greetings, she bumped smack dab into… you guessed it, Flash Sentry.

Sonic Prime: And the awkward meter goes up another notch. Ding-Ding-Ding-Ding-Ding-Ding-Ding-Ding!

Anyway, after he saw her, he was really confused. "Twilight?" he asked and chuckled as he helped her up. "I almost didn't recognize you." Twilight was just flailing around without her glasses until Flash found them on the ground, adding to his confusion. "Since when did you start wearing glasses?"

"Um… like, since forever," she replied.

"Oh," he said, picking them up. "So how long are you here for?"

"Just for the Friendship Games," she replied, struggling to see clearly.

"Right! Of course. We'll totally win with you here," said Flash, giving her back her glasses, this time confusing her. Then her pendant started beeping and pointed her to the music room.

"Uh. I've gotta go," she said and raced off.

"Uh, ok. Bye? Aw." he said and put his hands over his eyes as a cross-eyed blonde patted him on the back to comfort him. Back in the music room, everyone but Team Sonic was wearing some of the clothes Rarity made. Fluttershy was wearing an ice hockey suit, Pinkie was dressed as a cowgirl, Rainbow as a British constable, Sunset as a welder and Applejack was wearing a jai alai outfit. (Y'know, that sport where the players wear those huge baskets on their arms and throw balls at a wall really fast? Yeah, that one. Anyway…) Rarity was zipping around giving them the finishing touches.

"Uh, Rarity? These outfits are great, but why would you put so much time and effort into clothes we might not even wear?" asked Applejack.

"Seriously, I doubt we're gonna need half this stuff," said Knuckles. "You're gonna burn all your energy before the games even start." Rarity just scoffed.

"Oh, Pfft, don't be silly, darling," she said. "Putting effort into clothes is what I live for! And spending time on my friends fills me with energy!" Then out of nowhere, she flashed as a purple aura billowed around her and she ponied up. Everyone looked in awe, but Sunset and Shadow were getting worried.

"And magic too, I guess," she said, lowering her mask.

"Apparently so," said Shadow. Out in the hall, Twilight's pendant drew her closer and closer to the music room until it opened on its own and started drawing Rarity's aura out the doors into it, suddenly tiring her out as she returned to normal and landed.

"Actually, Knuckles, now that you mention it, I suppose I could use a tiny break," she said and fell into Silver's arms.

"Warned ya," said Knuckles. Suddenly, Twilight walked in, closing her amulet.

"Twilight?" everyone shouted happily, except Sonic and the others.

"Uh yes?" she asked.

"Well, I'll be darned! Ya should've told us you were comin'!" said Applejack.

"Darling, those glasses…" said Rarity, drawing Silver's attention.

"Uh, Sonic? Refresh my memory," he whispered. "Did Twilight ever wear glasses before?"

"No. You guys aren't thinking what I'm thinking, are you?" asked Sonic.

"What're you wearing? It's so… severe." said Rarity.

"My uniform?" she replied.

"For what?" asked Tails.

"For Crystal Prep," said Twilight. "But why does everyone in this school know who I am?"

"Wait a sec," said Rainbow. "Did you just say Crystal Prep?" Then Spike shot his head out of Twilight's bag and barked.

"Spike!" said Rarity and Fluttershy.

"Jeez, you know my dog's name too? What are you, psychic?" asked Twilight.

"Well, Silver is," said Rarity. Meanwhile, Celestia and Cinch were closing in.

"And our music program has especially taken off," said Celestia, before she saw Twilight. "Twilight?" That confused Twilight and Cinch alike.

"This is just getting ridiculous," said Twilight.

"I must apologize for the curiosity of my prize student," said Cinch, confirming Sonic's suspicions.

"Your student?" asked Celestia.

"The smart ones are always curious," said Cinch. "I'll return her to check in with the rest of her classmates." Then she led Twilight away.

"I didn't know Twilight had a twin sister," said Celestia.

Sonic was just about to open his mouth when Pinkie said "She doesn't. That Twilight is obviously the Twilight from this world since it couldn't possibly be the Twilight from the pony world since the Twilight from the pony world doesn't go to Crystal Prep or wear glasses."

Sonic just closed his mouth and pointed at her with his thumb. "What she said," he said

Celestia opened her mouth for a second, but then just said: "Never mind." Then she walked away.

"This is just getting confusing," said Shadow. Outside, Twilight and Cinch were talking about what happened back there.

"I'm sorry, Principal Cinch," said Twilight. "I was just following these strange readings. Actually, they led me to those girls and-"

"Twilight, what you do in your free time is of little interest to me, but while you're here, I… all of Crystal Prep, in fact, require your immediate focus," said Cinch.

"But why does everyone at this school seem to know me?" asked Twilight.

"Perhaps they're trying to confuse you or lure you away." said Cinch.

"It'd didn't seem like it to me," said Twilight.

"I don't know what they're playing at, but I guarantee you it isn't to help us win," said Cinch. Inside, the team was talking about what just happened.

"I can't believe our world's Twilight goes to Crystal Prep," said Rarity.

"You're saying that Twilight's gonna play against us?" asked Rainbow. "She'd never do that."

"Our Twilight wouldn't." said Fluttershy, making Sunset snap.

"Our Twilight is a Princess in Equestria and an expert in Friendship Magic," she said. "And if she was here, we'd have already figured out why magic is randomly popping up during pep rallies and costume changes,"

"Jeez, we get the point. Calm down," said Sonic. After that, Sunset saw everyone looking at her funny. She let out a sigh.

"Sorry guys," she said. "I'm just frustrated that I haven't heard back from her yet."

"You said yourself, she's a princess in Equestria," said Knuckles. "She probably has enough problems of her own to deal with."

"We certainly can't expect her to drop everything and pop through the portal whenever," said Rarity. "Especially not if it's to deal with something as minor as a few random 'pony-ups'."

"But they aren't 'minor'," said Sunset. "Magic first entered this world when I stole Twilight's crown. It's taken a lot for me to earn everyone's trust. If we have to forfeit the games because I can't think of a way to keep it under control…" Then Shadow put his arm around her waist.

"Relax beautiful," he said, complimenting his girlfriend. "You'll figure all this out, I know it."

"He's right," said Applejack. "You're the one who helped us understand what was going on with the Sirens, remember?"

"I guess," she replied. "But Twilight was the one who really figured out what we needed to defeat them."

"Don't you remember, darling?" asked Rarity. "What we needed to defeat them was you." Sunset smiled and sighed in a happy defeat.

"All right." she said and everyone expressed a quiet happiness.

"Come on, guys," said Rainbow. "Let's see if we can find any info about the events and come up with a strategy."

"Piece of cake," said Manic. "I was crackin' tougher locks than they got in this place when I was a kid." Sunset almost followed but then bit her thumb thinking. Shadow noticed and walked back over to her.

"Hey, Sunset. You coming or what?" he asked.

"I'll catch up with you guys in a bit," she said and walked off. Then Sonic whistled back to Shadow.

"Yo Faker! You coming?" he asked.

"Sunset and I will catch up," he said and walked after her to find her outside walking towards the statue. "Where are you going?"

"Back through the portal," said Sunset. "If Twilight isn't receiving my messages, then maybe there's another way I could reach her."

"I'll go with you," he said. "I'd like to see your world."

"All right then," she said. Then Twilight's pendant directed her towards the portal where it suddenly opened itself again. Then once Sunset touched the statue, the spot around her hand burst into flames.

"Hey!" she shouted. "Let… go!" She and Shadow tried to pull her free, but her hands wouldn't budge as red energy flew into Twilight's amulet. She forced it to shut and they were all knocked back. As Twilight was getting up, Shadow was surprised to see her. Sunset was just worried.

"What did you do?" she asked. Twilight was certain her goose was cooked until Cadence told her to check in with her classmates. Quickly, she ran to do so before Shadow could grab her. Sunset touched the portal but nothing happened. It was solid marble. She tried over and over, each time getting the same results; nothing.

"Where's the portal?" she asked becoming frantic. "Where's the portal?!" Shadow tried kicking it, but that didn't work either. The portal was sealed shut, and there was nothing they could do to open it back up.