Twilight Sparkle rolled out of the portal onto the hard dirt ground, with Whisper and Jibanyan close behind her. They both tumbled on top of her, using her body to soften the impact.

"Still not gonna get used to that..." Twilight rubbed her head and slowly stood up on her newly-acquired human legs.

"Twilight?" Whisper looked up at what Twilight had transformed into. "What in the world happened to you?"

"That's what this portal does to you." Twilight nodded as she looked at Whisper and Jibanyan. "If you're a pony like me, it transforms you into a human. But you and Jibanyan look relatively unchanged to me. I thought the portal would turn you into something different as well."

"Yo-kai aren't like the ponies of Equestria, Twilight," said Whisper. "No matter what world we're in, be it Equestria, the human world, or even the Yo-kai World, we always manage to keep our forms exactly the same."

"You sure you don't feel a little different?" Twilight raised a brow as she leaned in towards him. "Nothing's out of place? You're not missing anything?"

"Nope. Nada. Nil. Zilch. Everything about me is still one-hundred percent Whisper." He nodded and stroked his chest. "Well... maybe with a little less hair than usual..."

"Twilight?"

Sunset Shimmer ran down from the stairs of Canterlot High, wearing her traditional leather jacket and orange skirt. There was a red crystal around her neck with her Cutie Mark on it, and she was cradling the book that she used to contact Twilight in her arm as she ran up to it.

"Sunset! Nice to see you again!" Twilight turned towards her and gave her a tiny hug. It was then that she noticed the gem on Sunset's neck. "What's with that weird doohickey around your neck?"

"I think I could say the same about what's on your arm." Sunset pointed towards the Yo-Kai Watch.

"I think we'll both have time to explain later." Twilight nodded as she held on to the Yo-kai Medallium. "Where's the other girls? Are they still with those three boys? We'd better find them and see if everything's alright."

"They're with them alright, and I don't think they'll be going anywhere any time soon." Sunset turned back towards the school and held Twilight's hand. "C'mon. I'll lead the way."

"Jibanyan, Whisper. You stay close to me." Twilight spoke back to her Yo-kai friends. "I might need you in case these boys are inspirited by Yo-kai."

"Yo-kai? Jibanyan? What are you talking about, Twilight?" Sunset raised a brow at Twilight.

"Huh? Oh! Nothing, Sunset." Twilight gave her a gentle blush and walked inside the school with her old friend, her Yo-kai close behind her. If only Sunset could see Yo-kai too. It'd make this much easier to explain...

Twilight and Sunset Shimmer walked into the cafeteria and saw a rather peculiar sight. Everyone in the room was clamouring around three individual teenage boys. One with a marionette, another with two sock puppets, and a third with a crystal that he dangled on a string in a pendulum motion.

Each of the students all laughed and gushed over the tricks that the boys were doing with their items. And when they asked if they could have a turn, the boys immediately agreed and gave them smiles. Even when they had trouble doing the stuff or managed to do the easiest things that they could with them, they were still very happy that they were being able to play with and use the trio's stuff. Once they were done with their turns, they immediately handed them back to the boys.

"Man. Puppet shows are so awesome!" a male student called out.

"I never realized just how cool non-magical hypnosis could be!" a female one clapped her hands together.

"Those sock puppets are really funny!" another one laughed.

"They're all amazing!" a fourth student added.

"There they are." Sunset pointed over to the crowds of teenage boys and girls. "Those three boys in the middle of those crowds? They just walked right into Canterlot High, and everyone fell head over heels in love with them, their puppets, and their hypnosis skills."

"Could it be another Dazzlings situation?" Twilight asked as she saw the students laugh even more at the puppet shows.

"I'm not sure. They haven't driven everyone against each other yet, but I'm still worried that they're up to something no good." Sunset crossed her arms. "I mean, they do have some talent with puppets, but I still don't think that ten seconds is enough time to win over the entire school—even if they have magic."

"Whisper? What do you think?" Twilight looked over towards him.

"Hmm... I'm definitely detecting Yo-kai energy emanating off of those three teenage boys." Whisper flew over towards them and sniffed them all like a dog would. "But I can't tell if they're being inspirited by Yo-kai, or if they're the actual Yo-kai themselves. The signature's a bit wobbly.

"As for the other Canterlot High students, I'm not really seeing any inspiriting flames around them." He watched the students play with the boys for a little while longer. "Either these Yo-kai are really good at removing their evidence, or these teenagers REALLY love puppet shows and hypnosis."

"Well there's only one way to get to the bottom of this." Twilight marched forward towards the boys, gently shuffling through the crowd. "Excuse me. My name's Twilight Spa—" she gasped at what she saw.

The rest of the Rainbooms, including the human version of herself, were dancing with the boys, twirling underneath their arms and spinning along with their puppets. All of them were being cheered on by the rest of the students, and both them and the boys had wide smiles on their faces and chuckled at all of the dancing.

"Oh. Am I interrupting anything?" The boy with the marionette exchanged glances with Twilight, who dropped her jaw wide at the sight. The boy gently let go of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy and strolled up to her. "Greetings. We are the Puppet Brothers. My name is String, and these two are Sock and Mind." He bowed and stretched his arms out to introduce his brothers.

"Masters of the art of sock, mind, and string puppetry, our only goal is to entertain an audience." Mind Puppet gently clutched his gem in the palm of his hand. "And I would go as far as to say that Canterlot High has been the best crowd we've ever had. Am I right?" He thrust his arm up, hearing the students all cheer.

"So, what's your name, and what brings you to Canterlot High?" The boy with the sock puppets stepped forward. "That didn't sound like you were interested in the question!" He used one of his sock puppets. "Oh, give it a rest, you!" Sock snapped back at his own puppet. "Total jerk right there." His other puppet barked. "And his feet smell!" He raised his left foot to speak with another sock puppet. "Shut up!" He snapped. "No, you shut up!" the sock said. "Oh, you little—"

Sock Puppet wrestled with his own socks, elicting more laugher from the students as he fumbled and shook all over the groudn, trying desperately to win against himself.

"Oh. Well, uh..." Twilight rubbed the back of her head and remembered that the other Twilight Sparkle was right there, listening along with the other students. "My name's Twinkle Star. It's nice to meet you boys."

"Huh? That's not her real na—" Pinkie Pie felt Twilight's hand go right over her mouth.

"Pinkie. Ix-nay on the ilight-tway for a bit, alright?" Twilight whispered into Pinkie's ears and turned to the other girls. "You too. If they knew that there were two Twilight Sparkles, then things would get very weird for all of us, and they might find me suspicious."

"Why'd you decide to come back anyway?" Rainbow Dash raised a brow. "There's a Twilight Sparkle right here, you know. Aren't you gonna cause one of those weird paradoxes from a sci-fi movie if you're both here?"

"Believe me, there's much weirder stuff going on here than just some simple paradox risk," said Twilight. "I'll be glad to tell you about it later when school's out for the day, but right now, just keep enjoying the boys' company, alright?"

"Anyway, Sock, Mind, and String. I'm Twinkle Star. And these are some of my friends." Twilight lied and wrapped her arms around the rest of the group. "Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle."

"Twilight?" String Puppet was taken aback at the name. That's the one that the king ordered us to suffer, and yet we treated her as a simple audience member. This won't be good for our reputation...

"It's very nice to meet you, Twilight." Sock Puppet shook hands with Twilight before his sock said, "That didn't sound charming enough!"

"Forgive them. They're all just naughty little sock puppets." Mind Puppet walked forward and shook hands with the rest of Twilight's friends. "It's a pleasure to meet you all. I do hope that our time at Canterlot High is simply unforgettable..." He gave her a subtle wink.

"Uhh... I'm not feeling too comfortable right now." Twilight gulped and tugged at her collar while backing up into the rest of the crowd. "Maybe I should go. You boys are actually really nice, though."

"C'mon, Twinkle. We only just met." String pulled her back and gently wrapped his arm around her back, leaning over her with a grin on his face. "Stay a while. I haven't even shown you my puppets yet..."

"That's quite alright, String. I'm not really much of a puppet fan myself." Twilight tried to get out of his grip but was bent over backwards too much. "I've got a lot of homework that I need to get doing. Y'know? To get my grades. To go to college. Yep, that's what I meant." She blushed and forced a smile as she stood back up and went back to her friends.

"Well, if you don't want a taste of our absolutely lucrative, divine, and downright puppetry, then who are we to force it on you?" String gave her another gentle smile and walked up to her. "But I know what all boys and girls like when they have time to themselves, and that's to be entertained."

"Back off, String. She said no. We must abide by her wishes." Mind Puppet shook his head and pushed String away. "Forgive my brother. He can get a little bit clingy at times when people say no to his shows. Why don't I show you to your next classroom and we can meet up later?"

"That's very kind of you, Mind, but you're new here." Twilight jittered as she moved through the crowds to get away from him. "I wouldn't want you getting me lost and making me miss it. I'll go by myself if that's alright with you." She meekly chuckled and darted off with Sunset walking out of the room shortly afterwards.

"Alright then. I shall see you soon, Twinkle Star." Mind Puppet nodded and returned to his audience, holding up the crystal once more to implement more mental commands and continue his show.

"What did you find out?" Sunset Shimmer asked Twilight as they now stood outside of the cafeteria, leaning against the walls and peaking back into the room. "Are they evil forces from Equestria? Is that why they've got the students adoring them?"

"Not quite, Sunset," Twilight sighed. "You're probably not going to understand this, but there are forces at work known as Yo-kai that are making the students like Mind, Sock, and String."

"Yo-kai?" Sunset pushed the air with her hands. "Wait, wait, wait. Is that why you said Whisper and Jibanyan earlier? Because these creatures called Yo-kai are now infecting Canterlot High?"

"They could be everywhere in this world if there are some here." Twilight looked up at Sunset and showed her the Yo-Kai Watch. "This device is the only thing that allows me to see Yo-kai, battle them, and even befriend them. Yo-kai can't be hurt by mortal beings, and I'm not sure that any form of Equestrian magic can harm them either."

"But how did these Yo-kai even come into being?" Sunset asked, examining the Yo-Kai Watch very closely. "I don't think there's ever been a thing like that in this world or Equestria."

"It's because they're not relative to either." Twilight shook her head. "Yo-kai come from this other world known as the Yo-kai World. In all different shapes and sizes, separated into eight different tribes, Yo-kai are responsible for everything weird and wonderful with the world."

"So, what can Yo-kai actually do?" Sunset raised a brow as she looked at the watch.

"Yo-kai take control of a pony or human through something known as inspiriting. Invisible purple flames are cast on that person, and they think and feel exactly how the Yo-kai feels." Twilight looked at the medals in her Yo-kai Medallium. "Whenever someone is cast with these flames, it always means that a Yo-kai's at work, altering their emotions or making them feel weird things that aren't normal for them."

"So these little purple flames are over the students right now?" Sunset Shimmer asked, looking back at the crowd once again.

"So far, not yet. But we definitely know that there's Yo-kai at work here." Twilight flipped up the lens and raised her arm so that Whisper was directly visible through the lens. "This little ghost here is known as Whisper. He's a Yo-kai that can detect other Yo-kai signatures."

"I'm also Twilight's faithful butler. I've been her companion ever since she freed me from the Crank-a-kai in the Everfree Forest." Whisper bowed. "Charmed, Miss Shimmer."

"And I'm Jibanyan!" He leapt up to the lens and waved at Sunset, making her stumble backwards and fall over. "Nyice to meet you, Sunset Shimmer!"

"Whoa!" Sunset got a closer look at Whisper and Jibanyan through the lens of the Yo-Kai Watch. "I never expected to see these things today. And considering the things that me and the girls have seen and battled since you left, that's saying a lot..."

"Now the real question remains: Who's inspiriting the students at Canterlot High?" Twilight asked, taking one more glance into the cafeteria. It was still the same, everyone was loving what the Puppet Brothers were doing. "I have a hunch that something's either helping the brothers get their audience. But it could still be disproven by other Yo-kai."

"Well we're not going to get anywhere just sitting here." Whisper took a look for himself. "Let's wait until you regroup with your human world friends, and then discuss the best course of action."

"Good idea, Whisper." Twilight gave him a nod and walked down the corridor. "Come on, Sunset. Let's go."

"Alright." She followed closely behind Twilight, still unable to shake the thoughts of meeting Yo-kai from her head.