Canterlot High trembled under the might of two beams of pure energy colliding above the courtyard. Scattered amongst the grounds, students of the school and their rivals from Crystal Prep looked up, a mixture of awe and terror on their faces. The converging rays emanated from the hands of two girls - though still human in appearance - the energies they wielded had seemingly turned them into something quite unworldly.

The Crystal Prep student known as Twilight Sparkle had unleashed unknown magics upon herself. The result was truly terrifying to behold. A pair of massive black wings had sprouted from her back and her hair stood straight up like dark violet and magenta fire. Bright blue energy danced around her eyes and at the soles of her feet, as a blazing blue beam shot from her palms which matched the twisted foot-long horn which jutted upwards from her forehead. Her purple dress, which shifted about her tall and slender frame from the conflicting forces, completed the look of a fallen angel that had been reshaped by pure nightmare.

Similarly, Sunset Shimmer, former villain now hero and unicorn from another dimension, had harnessed the elements of harmony from her friends, giving herself an angelic form and surrounding her with a glow that was warm and powerful as the sun itself. This energy not only flowed freely from her hands but extended from her back into wing shapes as her already fiery-colored hair stood straight and swayed gently despite the maelstrom of power in front of her. Like Twilight, or Midnight Sparkle, Sunset’s new form also had a horn. However, Daydream Shimmer’s horn shot up straight like a beam of light which ended in a point, easily twice the length of Midnight’s. Her pink and white dress likewise billowed as the energies tore at the air between her and her opponent.

For a moment, Daydream’s explosive ray of light pressed closer to Midnight, but only for a moment. With a determined look on her face, Midnight thrust her arms forward. And with that, more crackling blue magic cascaded out her palms, pushing back the warm glow of Daydream Shimmer’s counter-attack, threatening to consume the woman whole. Midnight laughed maniacally. Victory would be hers and she’d unlock the secrets of magic and that other world, and no one would pressure, bully, or belittle her ever again!

Daydream struggled under the oncoming force.

The students below looked up in dread.

A small purple dog leapt out of the arms of one of the students and rushed towards the fight. “Twilight!” it called out in a pleading tone.

‘Twilight’ paused for a moment to look down at her pet, this being only the third instance of a talking animal at Canterlot High and the second of said talking animals which just-so-happened to look identical to and have the same name as the first. However, Midnight’s focus was only pulled away from the fight for a second. “I’m a little busy here, Spike!” she called out. “We’ll go ‘walkies’ later after I lay waste to my enemies and tear open my portals once more!” She grinned wickedly as she heard the straining grunts from her opponent. “You’ll have a whole new world to explore and defile as you see fit!” Her grin grew wider. “I’m not even going to bring any plastic bags! Muhahahaha!”

“Twilight, stop!” Spike pleaded once more. “This isn’t you!”

Midnight grit her teeth and glared down at the pup as her attack continued unabated. “Oh? And who gets to decide what is me and what isn’t?! Principal Cinch who threatened to deny my application to the Everton Independent Study Program?! The other students of Crystal Prep who only care if I can help them win?!”

“You seem to be dealing with a lot of pent up emotions over there!” Daydream shouted over the din of the beam collusion. “Want me to help?”

“No! I want you to DIE!” Midnight snarled.

“Story of my life…” Daydream lamented.

“Twilight! You’ve got to stop!” Spike cried.

“I’ll ask you again, Spike! Who gets to decide what ‘is’ and ‘isn’t’ me?! The people who’ve tried to use me?! Society?! Who?!”

“It’s your mom!” Spike called out.

“… What?!” Midnight replied in a truly perplexed tone as her beam began to falter just a bit.

“Your mom has been glaring at you the entire time since you transformed!” Spike called out. “I think she’s mad!”

“What in the ASS, Twilight Sparkle?!” a woman’s voice called out.

Daydream cocked her head towards the voice, the force of her own counter-attack fading. “Okay. Just. What?”

Midnight Sparkle made a full stop as an expression of pure dread washed over her. “Truce! Truce!” she called out to Daydream in a near panic.

Daydream gave Midnight an unsure look, but slowly lowered her own magic’s intensity as Midnight did the same. No sooner was the courtyard clear of waves of pure magical energy than a woman’s call of “Gosh darn it! She made me say the ‘A’ word!” could be heard above the din.

Sighing loudly, a white-skinned woman with purple and white striped hair in the stands picked up her purse, rummaged through it briefly, then pulled out a dollar which she handed to a blue-skinned man sitting next to her. This man with a coif of dark blue hair received the dollar and placed it into the left pocket of his black cargo shorts, which had a purple t-shirt tucked into them. Said shirt sported a golden Crystal Prep logo and wording which was left exposed under an unbuttoned black shirt. The woman was wearing a similar t-shirt, though one that fit her shapely form tightly along with blue jeans that hugged her hips. Her black jacket wafted from the slight breeze of her own resolute march down to the courtyard.

“Oh, sweet Beleth, no,” Midnight murmured as she gently floated back to the ground.

Daydream gave Midnight a sideways look as she too lowered herself to the ground. “Did… did you just invoke the demon king of math?!”

“Jus’ what do you know about demons, Sunset?!” Applejack cried from the sidelines of people getting their wits together.

“Hey! You transform into a demon, you’ve got some questions!” Daydream quipped. “Books seemed to have a lot more answers than priests and they’re far less likely to douse you in holy water!” Daydream glanced at Midnight. “Speaking of which, does anyone have any holy water?!”

“Oh, I’m in for a baptism of fire as it is…” Midnight muttered, gulping as the woman from the stands stormed into lecturing range.

“It’s okay, Twilight!” Spike said. “I’m right there with you! 100%!”

“Spike, Mom throws you out when you bark at her when she’s upset with me. What do you think is going to happen if you actually back-sass her?”

Spike frowned heavily as his ears dropped around his head. “I’m going to see if any squirrels are getting too close to the car!” Spike announced before he began trotting away.

Midnight just sighed as she watched her mother approach. “Yeah, you do that….”

“Twilight Sparkle, you stop this nonsense at once! I’m all for you exploring your identity, but what kind of mother would I be if I just stood by and let you commit murder!”

“Omnicide,” Daydream corrected. “Your daughter’s actions were probably going to result in omnicide!”

Pinkie gasped. “That sounds at least 10 times worse than a murder!”

“What’s an omni?” Rainbow Dash asked. “And how do you kill it?”

Sugarcoat folded her arms across her chest. “How did we struggle in the academic portions of the competition against these girls, again?” she posed to anyone in earshot.

Sour Sweet smiled widely. “Oh, I’m sure their talents lie elsewhere… or at least they have GREAT personalities.”

“All of you shush while I’m talking to my daughter!” the woman cried. She took a moment to lean past Midnight’s currently substantially taller figure to glare at Daydream. “You! You were going to blast my poor Twily!”

“S-She started it!” Daydream stuttered, leveling a shaking finger at Twilight. “I was just trying to fix her!”

Twilight Velvet cleared the distance between Midnight and Daydream in a second and glared up at the seven-foot-tall, floating angelic figure of a woman. “Are you suggesting there’s something wrong with my daughter?!”

Daydream swallowed. “No.” She squeaked out. “I mean… What I was firing was basically a beam of pure focused positive energy! I was just going to disarm and make friends with your daughter! I swear!”

The woman gave Daydream a disbelieving glare.

“Look! I said some unkind things to her earlier, and I felt really bad about that…” Daydream went on in desperation, beginning to visibly sweat under the gaze of this tiny, angry little woman. She hadn’t felt this nervous since she’d first seen Principal Celestia and assumed it was the Princess coming to drag her home. “That is, before she got high on magic and almost destroyed the school, but like… been there, almost did that. I thought if I got her to stop tearing opening portals left and right and trying to kill me, we could talk it out! Please, believe me!”

Twilight Velvet considered this for a moment then took a few steps forward and extended her hand. “It’s alright, you have an honest face.”

“Uh… thanks?” Daydream said as she reached down to shake the woman’s hand.

“Twilight Velvet! Twilight’s mom!” Twilight Velvet proffered by way of introduction.

“Er… Sunset Shimmer,” Daydream replied. “Most the time, that is…”

“I saw!” Twilight Velvet said. “You have a cool jacket! Though that dress you have on right now is quite attractive.”

“Oh… uh… Thanks!” Daydream replied she craned her way one way than the other, examining her own attire. “I think it’s made out of magic and sunlight?”

Twilight Velvet tittered. “Oh, you girls and your ever-changing fashions! Still, it looks much better than the bell-bottoms and turtleneck sweaters we wore when I was your age.”

“Mom!” Midnight Sparkle called out. “Stop making friends with my arch-nemesis!”

Twilight Velvet wheeled around on her heels and stormed right up to her magically charged daughter. Without hesitation, she reached past the glowing horn of energy to grab her daughter’s ear and drag her head downwards as she began to march her away. “You do NOT talk to your mother like that! Now, we’re going home where we will have a frank discussion about this behavior of yours!”

“Ow! Ow! OW! But I was going to mold reality into my plaything and rule the multiverse!” Whined Midnight Sparkle as she flailed impotently against her mother’s grasp.

“That is not an acceptable activity for a woman your age to engage in!”

“Listen to your mother, Twilight!” said the man who had collected the dollar from Twilight Velvet. Daydream felt safe in assuming that he might be Twilight’s father.

Midnight swatted her mom’s hand away and glared up at the man. “Don’t give me that, Dad! I know you’ve experimented too! Remember the basement fire?!”

“Hey!” the man called back. “That was just a harmless hobby that got a little out of hand. Besides, it was just a little distiller explosion! Mostly harmless!”

“Well, my PORTALS are mostly harmless, too!” Midnight insisted. “LOOK!” Without warning, Midnight extended a hand where a bright blue bolt arched out a few meters away and ripped yet another tear in the fabric of reality.

A light-purple pony with a burnt-orange mane tied into one massive braid took one look on the people on the other side of the portal and let out a shriek. She immediately dove to the other side of a large metal counter and began to rant to herself, “I haven’t done any studies on this! I haven’t done any studies on this, at all!”

Daydream sighed and raised her own hand. “Here… let me…”

Twilight Velvet swatted at the hand. “No! No more magic tonight! Everyone is on a magic time-out!”

Daydream frowned. “But—”

“No butts!” Twilight Velvet said. “I don’t understand it, but I know magic got my daughter into this mess, so, for the time being, I’m going to assume it’s 100% bad until I see otherwise.”

Daydream’s forehead tightened. “Okay, but how is anyone supposed to show you it’s not 100% bad if you don’t—”

“I said, ‘no magic!’” Twilight Velvet asserted in a maternal tone.

“Alright, alright! No magic!” Daydream replied as she held up her hands defensively in front of her.

“Now where was I…” Twilight Velvet wondered out loud.

“Omnicide!” Lemon Zest called out excitedly as she threw up her left fist, her pinkie and index fingers extended. “Yeah!”

Sunny Flare swatted at the horns Lemon Zest had thrown. “Put that away! Don’t know if you’ve heard anything through those headphones except for the words that interest you, but this is kinda a big deal.”

“Kinda a big deal?!” Lemon Zest replied in disbelief. “Duuuude, I got a front row seat to a near apocalypse! This was the most metal, and therefore BEST, day of my life!”

“You girls shush!” Twilight Velvet commanded. “I’m still sorting this all out!”

Midnight let out an exasperated sigh. “I can’t believe you came all the way down here…” she moaned.

“Like I’d miss my daughter’s big day!” Twilight Velvet said as she reached up and pinched Midnight Sparkle’s cheeks.

“Not what I meant!” Midnight snapped. “Also, you’re embarrassing me!”

“You’re embarrassing you with this tantrum you’re throwing!” She tut-tutted with the click of her tongue. She shook her head. “Though I am surprised you even agreed to the games. I thought you hated competitions.”

Midnight’s eyes narrowed. “Well, you can ask Principal Cinch about that. Shiny and Cadance, while you’re at it, too!”

Standing a few meters away, Cadance visibly cringed as a look of dread cross her face. However, as if sensing her input was needed to sooth a situation, Principal Cinch stepped forward from the crowd. “I’m sorry for Twilight’s outburst, Mrs. Velvet,” Principal Cinch said. “I’ll have a talk with her.”

Twilight Velvet grimaced. “You stay the HEL—” Twilight Velvet took a deep breath and reached for an invisible purse at her side. Finding said purse was ethereal as well, she pursed her lip into a small frown and continued. –“Heckies away from my Twilight!” She leveled an angry index finger and placed it right under Principal Cinch’s chin like a loaded gun ready to go off. “I saw everything! The tears in reality, the dark transformation, and especially the impressively improvised song number that pressured my daughter into doing those things!” Twilight Velvet paused and thought for a moment. “That the entirety of the Crystal Prep bleachers got involved in including myself, husband, son, but that’s beside the point.” Twilight Velvet leveled a glare that seemed like it could level a building at the Principal. “How. Could. You?!”

“But it was important!” Principal Cinch insisted, a look of genuine fear on her face. “The Pride of Crystal Prep was at stake!”

“WHAT?! No one really cares about a stupid contest between high schoolers! Sure, we all want to see our kids perform to the best of their abilities, but not at the cost at anyone’s wellbeing! This is my daughter’s life we’re talking here, you sick bi—” Twilight Velvet grit her teeth and began to shake in place. “Night Light, honey! I left my purse in the bleachers when I got up to get Twilight! Swear for me!”

“You sick bitch!” Night Light yelled out as he pulled out his wallet from his right front pocket, took a dollar from it, then stuck the dollar in his left cargo pocket.

“Thanks, sweetie!” She turned back to Principal Cinch, finger at the ready. “You’re just lucky you’re my son’s fiancée’s beloved boss or I’d give you such a slap!”

“Oh, I don’t actually like her,” Cadance called gleefully as she stood a few meters away in the crowd. “Also, after this debacle, me becoming the new Principal of Crystal Prep is all but guaranteed!”

‘SMACK!’

“Ow!” Principal Cinch exclaimed as she rushed a palm to her struck cheek. “Dean Cadance! What is the meaning of this?!”

“You deserve a lot more than the slap, believe me,” Cadance deadpanned.

“No! What is this nonsense about becoming the new Principal?!”

“Oh, please,” Cadance said with a Cheshire grin. “You really think the board is going to let you stay on after multiple students and members of staff come forward to explain you pressured a student into dangerous actions that might have destroyed the entire planet? Go ahead, plead your case before you resign. I dare you. I double dare you, motherfucker!”

“Cady!” Twilight Velvet hissed. “In front of the children, no less!”

Cadance sighed heavily and trudged off toward the Crystal Prep stands.

Daydream took a moment to glare at the pink woman, “Cadance?! Why aren’t you helping with the whole ‘Evil Twilight’ thing?’”

The dean turned her head to answer, “All the magic stuff here looks a bit beyond my paygrade!” she quipped. “Also… who are you?” she asked earnestly as she patted her teal skirt and navy blue jacket. Frowning, she stopped and turned back towards the bleachers. “Shineeeey! Give your dad a fiver! I forgot the women’s Crystal Prep uniform doesn’t have any pockets…” Her face tightened. “File that under ‘first thing I fix when I’m Principal’,” she muttered to herself.

“I only have a tenner!” Shining Armor called back.

“Just give it to him!” Cadence called up. “I’m sure he’ll get enough money for change from your mom or I’ll fuck up bad enough he’ll get to keep it.”

“CADY!” Twilight Velvet shrilled.

“See?”

“DEAN CADANCE!” Principal Cinch yelled. “This behavior is inexcusable.”

Daydream gave Cinch a look of pure, undiluted incredulity. “Like pressuring a teenager to use magic they don’t understand? Which is a thing by all accounts you probably didn’t believe in until, like, an hour ago? Yeah, you’re in a greeeeaaaat position to judge,” she said, letting sarcasm soak every syllable of the last sentence.

Cadance took a moment to catch Twilight Velvet’s eye and mouthed a quick, ‘I like her.’

Twilight Velvet mouthed ‘I like her, too,’ back.

Standing amongst the students, Principal Celestia snickered. “Someone’s going to get it.”

Clearly earning the ire of the mama bear on deck, Twilight Velvet wheeled on her heels to face the Principal of Canterlot High. “Oh, like you’re any better!“ She rolled her eyes. “‘Oops! I guess some deadly plants are on the loose?! Whatayagonna do?! Guess we’ll just keep playing our silly games and hope no one is horribly mangled and killed by scientifically impossible flora!”

“Someone got killed,” Sugarcoat asserted. “My motocross bike…” She took a deep breath then let it out. “I loved that bike.”

Indigo Zap turned palm upwards as her forehead tightened. “You didn’t even know we were having a motocross race! That was the first time you saw that bike, let alone rode it!”

“It was love at first sight,” Sugarcoat insisted. “But also death at first ride,” she lamented.

Indigo Zap thought for a moment. “Yeah, okay… I can see that.”

Principal Celestia held her hands up in front of her defensively. “Look, I was willing to call off the games and call it a tie for the sake of the students, but Principal Cinch wouldn’t have it!” Celestia thought for a moment. “Also, by all accounts, it was a student at Crystal Prep who is the cause of this mess and, specifically, your daughter.”

“I-you-fucking-Cunt-whore-SHIT!” Twilight Velvet yelled angrily as she stamped a foot down on the ground.

“Honey, this is getting expensive!” Night Light called from the stands as he emptied a bunch of cash from his wallet and shoved it into the ‘swear pocket’.”

“I DON’T GIVE A FUCK! IT’S FOR TWILY’S FUTURE!” Twilight Velvet screamed.

Midnight Sparkle gave Twilight Velvet a shadowy smile. “There is no future except for what I decide there to be, mother.”

Twilight Velvet just shot her daughter a dirty look then grabbed her ear again. “We’re going to the car, NOW, to TALK about this new attitude of yours, young lady!”

“Ow, ow, ow, OW!” Midnight Sparkle cried as her mother dragged her away. “Okay! I can FLY to the car myself!”

“No magic!” Twilight Velvet replied firmly.

“These wings are natural!” Midnight Sparkle insisted.

“Oh… Then I want a ride!” Twilight Velvet said, a sudden look of surprise and delight coming over her.

“What!? But, MoooOOOooom!”

“You heard me!” Twilight Velvet said.

With a roll of her eyes, Midnight Sparkle grabbed hold of her mom and ascended into the sky, quietly grumbling about feeling demeaned.

“Okay… that was weird…” Daydream mused.

Night Light trudged past Daydream, holding his wife’s purse. “No, it’s okay!” he called out in a mildly vexed tone. “I wanted to walk!”

Right behind him, Shining Armor chimed in with a quick, “I can carry you!”

“It’s not the saaaaaaaame!” Night Light lamented. He glanced back at Daydream.

“So, uh, you gonna start flying around soon?”

“Yeah, probably.”

“Then, uh, can I—“

“No,” Daydream said sternly.

Night Light kicked at the ground and continued walking, Shining Armor following behind him.

Daydream frowned heavily to herself. “I’ve had better days… I mean… much worse, too… but… loads of better ones.”

Celestia took a moment to turn towards Principal Cinch and give her a smug look. “So… do you think your firing will be completely open to the public, or will they be selling tickets?”

Principal Cinch glared through her spectacles at Celestia. “Your students likewise displayed magical abilities! How is this all to be laid at my feet?!”

“Your student CAUSED this entire mess!” Celestia insisted. “AFTER you goaded her into using things she didn’t understand.” She shook her head. “You being mad at me is like being mad at a zoo for having lions when you brought your pet lion to the zoo and let it loose on everyone!”

Cinch folded her arms across her chest. “Well, at least my students are out there discovering things instead of idly living a life of mediocrity.”

“YOU SAW THAT ONE OF MY STUDENTS FLIES AND THE OTHER TRANSFORMED JUST TO STOP YOUR STUDENT!” Celestia cried as she motioned to Rainbow Dash and Daydream Shimmer in turn.

Cinch simply nodded. “And yet your school still lingers in performance behind Crystal Prep. It’s clear your students are not pushing themselves to their full potential and that the staff, specifically the Principal of this school is to blame.”

Something seemed to snap behind Principal Celestia’s eyes. “I’ve dealt with two near world ending experiences on school grounds and now a THIRD, all because previously unheard of magic making its way over to my school! And you want to claim I’m not running my school correctly because I’m not treating it like some sort of school for magically gifted youngsters?!”

“Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh!” Rainbow Dash called out. “That would be so RAD!”

“Yeah, sign me up,” Indigo Zap chimed in.

“Hell, yeah!” Lemon Zest shouted. “Let's get some crazy magical powers up in this bitch!”

“Right, because what could possibly go wrong?!” Sour Sweet posed cheerily. “It’s not like there were loads and loads of proof that that is a terrible idea we witnessed, or anything!” she added in an irritated tone.

Cinch couldn’t help but smirk. “Well, I just know if someone more qualified was guiding these children, they’d be able to explore their abilities without the concerns of their staff dropping the ball and allowing such disasters to happen.”

Celestia inhaled sharply. “Right, so I’ve decided it’d be much faster and satisfying to punch you in the face then explain the exact nature of what’s transpired here the last two times this happened, so you might want to clench your teeth.”

Cinch scoffed. “As if you have the clout to—”

‘SLAM!’

There was the slight sound of something crunching as Celestia’s fist hit open jaw. Dazed, Cinch quickly grasped at her injured face and cradled it for a moment before she regained her trademark composure. “Well, now that THAT barbarism is out of the wa—”

‘POW!’

Cinch’s glasses topped to the ground has her head reeled back. She slowly turned it to face Celestia with a determined glare.

“Take a hit,” Celestia said with a smile that was making violent promises. “Be somebody, baby.”

With a feral growl, Cinch leapt atop the other principal and brought her to the ground where both women began to roll, punch, scratch, and do anything and everything they could to harm the other.

Daydream simply stared down at the scuffle below her and sighed as Dean Cadance and Luna seemed to watch with detached amusement.

“Ten bucks says my sister breaks at least two of Cinch’s ribs.” Luna quipped.

“Twenty says double the ribs, and Tia breaks a finger,” Cadance said with a smirk.

“Oh, you’re so on!”

Applejack stepped up to Daydream. “So, ummmm… What exactly are we going to do about this hole thingy”

“How should I know?!” Daydream snapped back. “Twilight’s mom said ‘magic time out’! Remember? Just… put a blanket over it, or something!”

Rarity looked to the tear in reality, which clearly lead to a curious shot that was equal parts lab equipment and carpets. “You want us to just… ‘cover up’ the extra-dimensional hole in existence… with a blanket?” she asked indignantly.

“Rarity’s right, Sunset,” Applejack asserted. “Ah don’t think blankets are gonna cut it…”

Rarity clenched her fist tightly. “I shall get to work constructing the finest curtains these school grounds have ever seen!” Tittering to herself, Rarity was gone in an instant.

Applejack frowned heavily. “Though, I reckoned we’d need more than some fancy drapes, too…”

“Well what do YOU suggest?!” Daydream asked.

Applejack shrugged. “We get everyone together and build a barn around it?”

Daydream cringed. “That is such a ‘you’ answer that it hurts my magically imbued soul, AJ,” Daydream said before an all-too-familiar line hit her ears.

“Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie and I want to be your bestest best friend!”

“KEEP YOUR SQUID MIXED WITH SAUSAGE APPENDAGES AWAY FROM ME, PLEASE!” The pony shrieked. “I DON’T WANT YOUR ALIEN PROBES OR DISEASES!”

“Pinkie, stop trying to make friends with the Equestrian!” Daydream shouted. “She’s clearly freaked out!”

“I’m making first-er-make that THIRD contact!” Pinkie shouted back. “It’s important, probably!”

“It’s okay now,” Fluttershy soothed as she stood next to Pinkie Pie and leaned over the counter. “Maybe I can get you a nice carrot or apple!”

“You keep your alien produce far away from here! Do you want to completely contaminate the planet with foreign plant life, or WORSE? A foodborne parasite could ruin the ecosystem and eventually kill us all!”

“Gee…” Fluttershy said in a concerned tone. “I guess I never thought of that!”

“Fluttershy, stop trying to reassure the pony on the other side of the portal! Again! I think you’re making things worse.”

“But she’s so scared!” Fluttershy replied. “She needs a little reassurance right now!”

“What I need is a panic room!” the pony replied. “Which is literally EVERY room in this home and many, MANY under it! Except your stupid portal opened up in between me and the buttons I need to ACTIVATE my 70% Ponyville Disaster-proof shutters!”

Rainbow Dash’s face tightened and she looked into the portal past the counter. “Can’t you just go outside?!”

“WHAT?!” shrieked the pony. “I’m not going outside! There are BEARS outside! Are you crazy?!”

Indigo Zap walked up closer to Rainbow Dash and mirrored her expression. “Like… bears waiting to snack on you bears?!”

“Probably?!” the pony shot back. “There is at least one pet bear in town and a bunch of bears in the magical forest of DEATH this village is set next to! Statistically, my chances of bear-related death go up significantly if I go outside! Now, THIS I’ve done studies on!”

Applejack shook her head and turned back towards Daydream. “Well… we should at least try to find Princess Twilight.”

Daydream rolled a palm upwards to match the rolling of her eyes. “Look! If she wasn’t here before and she isn’t here now after our worlds had many convenient express ways into the middle of the sky for a good minute there. I’m guessing she’s indisposed with her own crisis! Besides, if this world is going to be continuously hit with weird magic stuff, we need to step up our game!”

“Easy for you to say, Miss sudden-growth-spurt and flying!” Rainbow Dash called out.

“Hey! Next time you can throw the weird science-magic compact at your feet and hope for superpowers instead of having your molecules exploded across the multiverse!”

“Dude, can that happen?!” Lemon Zest exclaimed excitedly. “Are their MORE science-magic compacts?! Asking for a friend.”

Daydream groaned and scanned the crowd. “You! Yeah! The Shadowbolt with the short purple hair and cool-looking sun hair clip! Try to keep your crazier students in check!”

Sunny Flare glared at Daydream. “What makes you think that’s my job?!”

“You’re the least tropey of the bunch!” Daydream called out. “And, therefore, the most sane and likely to step in before they do something totally banana-shoes. So hop-to and do some damage control!”

Sunny Flare grit her teeth. “And why should I listen to you?”

“Because I proved my academic intelligence over you AND am clearly physically more apt currently due to magic, by Crystal Prep rules, you have no choice.”

Sunny Flare shook a fist into the air. “Dangit! She’s read the bylaws! Fine!” she snarled. “I’ll try to keep the girls from doing anything too stupid, but for the record, the bar is really frickin’ low here!”

“Noted,” Daydream replied.

Applejack tossed a wayward glance and sideways frown in the direction of Rarity as the girl giddily jogged back to the group with arms full of different colored fabrics. Fabrics she began to compare to the color of the edge of the portal and metal counter inside which the pony was still hiding behind as Pinkie and Fluttershy tried to coax her out. “Okay, well, maybe you should at least talk to Twilight? Get her to.. you know… not be a magical crazy, knowledge-hungry, psycho?!”

Daydream’s lips twisted on her face. “I can maybe deal with the MAGICAL part of that sentence, but her mom’s there and it’s not like I can just walk over to the car and be like, ‘Hey! Sorry! I think we got off on the wrong foot when your daughter absorbed too many magical energies and tried to kill me while threatening the safety of TWO worlds!”

Applejack shrugged. “I’m sure her mom will at least let you explain things.”

Daydream motioned in the direction of the parking lot. “Applejack, she saw everything! EV-ER-Y-THING! And that crazy bitch STILL dragged a magically charged Twilight Sparkle off to the parking lot to have a WORD with her instead of letting someone who CLEARLY has a lot more magical know-how fix this situation.” Daydream let out another sigh. “The stupid idiot...”

Applejack cringed hard.

Daydream frowned. “She’s right behind me, isn’t she?”

Applejack nodded. “She is, but she looks a lot less mad fer someone who was just called a crazy ‘b-word’ and idiot. A stupid one, no less.”

Daydream turned and sighed down at the woman who was, in fact, standing about a meter away. “Look, I think my wallet is currently in another dimension,” she said as she patted at her dress helplessly. “So I’m going to have to contribute to the ‘swear pocket’ later.”

Twilight Velvet just smiled. “It’s fine… really…”

Daydream gave Twilight Velvet a wan smile. “Well, there’s a hole in reality, and both Twilight and I are some kind of avatars of good and evil, so...literally nothing is fine right now, but go on.”

Twilight Velvet chuckled to herself. “Sunset, I know it’s been quite the day for everyone, but I think Twily could really use a friend right now, and it seemed like you might have wanted to connect with her before I interrupted…”

“So…?”

“Please-have-dinner-with-us-tonight!” Twilight Velvet blurted out.

“Well, I mean, there’s still that hole—”

“After dinner!” Twilight Velvet said quickly. “We’ll come right back, I promise!”

"Yeah! Portals can wait!” Night Light shouted from the rolled-down, driver’s side window of a silver sedan. “Our daughter needs friends that aren’t four-legged!"

“HONEY!” Twilight Velvet hissed. “Don’t say stuff like that out loud! We TALKED about this!”

“We did!” Night Light confirmed. “I just didn’t agree to anything.”

“Hey! At least I can talk now!” Spike cried indignantly.

“That’s the spirit!” Night Light replied. “Never give up! Also… What?!”

Daydream's forehead tightened. “Why is it always the talking dog that gets people?” She looked down at Twilight Velvet. "Also, technically I'm a pony."

Midnight Velvet just smiled. "That's fine! You seem nice, is all that matters. Whatever you self-identified as now isn't really an issue."

"What?! No, I'm not like... an otherkin, or anything. I mean, I'm literally a pony from another dimension!" Sunset frowned. "I suppose that explanation doesn't really help my case."

A shriek pierced the air, followed by, "How many times do I have to tell you! Who knows what crazy mutations I'll suffer if I eat your other-worldly oats!"

"Oh, uh... but they're organic!" Fluttershy insisted to the pony that was stroking her large braid like a comfort blanket and huddled in the corner of her shop next to the door.

"Wait... You guys have oats there that AREN'T naturally occurring?! Now I definitely don't want anything to do with your food!"

Daydream snapped her fingers. "I'm like that pony there, except with a horn... Also not quite that neurotic—" Daydream paused to dwell on past tantrums and even somewhat recent panicked responses in the face of a trio of singing Sirens turned humans "—anymore," she qualified.

Twilight Velvet's eyes lit up, "Oh, wow you're perfect!"

"Uh..." Daydream rubbed the back of her head. "Well, that's certainly something I could stand to be called more often."

"Hey, is the problem that I'm a dog?!" Spike called out. "I mean, I don't have to be! I can self-identify as a dragon!"

"A dragon that needs to be taken out for walkies and have his food dish refilled daily?" Night Light asked.

"Fuck you, I'm a dragon!" Spike exclaimed.

Daydream pursed her lips for a moment. "That's surprisingly hard to argue with, all things considered."

"Spike!" Twilight Velvet called out. "If you're going to talk, you're going to pay the price for swearing as part of this family! That'll be five dollars!"

"... I don't have any money..."

Twilight Velvet narrowed her eyes in the direction of the car. "I'll start a tab," she said in a threatening tone.

Midnight let out a very audible growl. "See! I can socialize with Spike, he may still be a dog, physically and, uh, dragon in his erm.. heart, but his intelligence has clearly increased and technically—"

"Technically, your father is still right.” Twilight Velvet cried. “Get in the car!"

“Yes! Sweet validation!” Night Light exclaimed.

“But, mom! I can just fly or maybe rip open a portal to our living room-”

Twilight Velvet grit her teeth. “Get. In. The. CAR! NOW!”

Midnight flinched. "Yes'm,” she answered as she opened one of the back doors. “Move over, Spike… I’ve got a lot of feathers composed out of sheer anguish to get back there…”

Twilight Velvet turned back and gave Daydream a nervous smile. “Sorry you had to see that… Are you still up for dinner now?”

“Of course!” Daydream replied cheerfully. “I’d love to!” Daydream answered before turning to Applejack and giving her a double-thumbs up.

Twilight Velvet giggled to herself and practically began to skip back to the car. “She said she’d love to…”

Applejack shook her head. “So, this is your plan?!” she cried as she motioned towards Rarity attempting to take the length of one of the rips in space/time with measuring tape. “Drapes an’ dinner?!”

“Well, do you have a better idea?!” Daydream snapped.

Applejack opened her mouth to speak.

“A non-BARN related plan?!” Daydream snapped.

Applejack frowned heavily and looked around. “Pinkie! Fluttershy! Help me come up with a fool-proof plan to deal with this Twilight situation!”

“Hey! What about me?!” Rainbow Dash protested as Pinkie and Fluttershy came walking up.

“You don’t have any ideas!” Applejack exclaimed. “I know that already.”

Rainbow Dash shot Applejack a dirty look. “Yeah, but still!” She thought for a moment. “Hey! What about Rar—”

“Busy, darlings!” Rarity called out gleefully as she continued to flitter about the portal.

“Knew that, too!” Applejack said. She turned. “Pinkie?”

“How about the S.S. Friendship?” Pinkie offered. “ I mean… it seemed to do the trick all the other times… even if it was friendship violently pointed and shot at someone else those other times!”

“What do you think I was doing!” Daydream said. “But that’s a concept, not a plan! We can’t just apply friendship liberally to the problem area and hope it goes away!”

“So… if you’re saying if I just make friends I’ll stop having an unquenchable desire to control my surroundings and force people to conform to my ideals?!” Starlight Glimmer asked, hope permeating through her tone.

Princess Twilight Sparkle smiled warmly. “Sure! Why not?”

The left side of Applejack’s mouth twisted into a frown. “Fluttershy?”

“I, er…” Fluttershy tapped her index fingers together as she avoided eye contact with Applejack. “…I want the portal to stay open so I can make friends with real-life talking animals…”

Daydream groaned. “Look, just don’t give the poor girl a heart attack. She seems easier to spook than you, Fluttershy.”

“Don’t worry!” Fluttershy said with a warm smile. “Getting animals to trust me is my specialty!” she asserted as she walked back over to the portal.

“You’re invading my personal bubble!” the pony shrieked. “Personal bubble compromised! Oh, Celestia, why do I have to be on THIS side of the counter where I can’t get to my REAL personal bubble!”

Daydream shook her head. “Well… at least she’s not likely to open her door anytime soon…”

“Uhhhh, think we’re losing sight of what’s really important here!” Rainbow Dash called out.

“More important than the world possibly ending?” Daydream replied.

Rainbow Dash nodded. “We can save the world anytime. What really matters is finding that pennant and beating Crystal Prep!”

Daydream looked at Rainbow Dash in disbelief. “You’re seriously concerned with the competition still?”

“When we’re one event from winning I am!” Rainbow replied.

Applejack gave Rainbow Dash a serious look. “Rainbow, I’m all fer a good competition, but we got more pressin’ things to deal with right now.”

“Hah!” Indigo Zap called out. “Spoken like someone who knows they’re going to lose!”

“Not calling that one out!” Sunny Flare chimed in. “Because I agree!”

Applejack snorted. “Ah take it back… Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie…” she raised a fist to the sky and slowly brought it down. “Let’s get it on.”

Daydream watched with a look of resignation as three of her friends scattered along with the five other Crystal Prep students. This was on top of her principal tussling violently on the ground with another principal all while two other members of the two school’s faculty watched, one of her friends was in visual range (but technically in another dimension) trying to make friends with a xenophobic pony who refused to stop screaming, and a third was busily sewing yellow-orange tassels to a similarly colored curtain in the works.

Vice-Principal Luna looked down at the two principals kicking, scratching, and biting each other on the ground then turned to Dean Cadance. “Okay, this is taking forever. Do you want to get ‘student-faculty’ wasted with me at a dive bar?”

Dean Cadance turned to Luna with stars in her eyes. “More than anything!” she turned and shouted towards the parking lot. “Sweetie! You’re designated driving tonight!”

Shining Armor immediately pumped his fist. “Yessss! All I can drink Shirley Temples and endless chicken strips, here I come!” A frown immediately crossed his face. “But I’m supposed to have dinner with my family!”

“It’s okay, Shiney!” Twilight Velvet called out from the car. “Twily has a friend coming over so we could use the room in the car anyway! You go have fun with Cady!”

“Yay!” Shining Armor called out as he came bounding up to the group. He took a moment to stare at the towering amazon of a woman in front of him, place his arms on her shoulders, and give her a very serious look. “You take good care of my sister, alright?”

“Again! Okay. Just. What?!” Daydream replied.

Shining Armor removed his hands and waved one about dismissively. “You know what? I’m sure you got it handled.”

“I’ve barely had a handle on anything literally all day,” Daydream admitted dryly.

A girl’s voice suddenly pierced the night air.

“Case in point,” Daydream added.

“It’s not in the girl's bathroom!” Pinkie called out.

“Excuse me, but do you bloody mind?!” A woman who owned the scream snapped.

“Only if you have a pennant, inexplicably English accented cello player!” Pinkie replied

Another, much girlier scream rang out.

“It’s not in the boy’s bathroom either!” Rainbow Dash’s voice called out. “Also, sorry, Flash.”

“It’s cool.”

“Why are you on the can while there’s like… a portal to another world outside and your ex and human version of Twilight are sexy magic girls right now?”

“When you gotta go, you gotta go.”

“I’m sure there’s a correct thing to do here,” Daydream mused to the cosmos as she tossed her hands up. “I just can’t be arsed to figure out what it is.”

“Do you need a moment?!” Twilight Velvet called out.

“No!” Daydream called back as she took flight. “In fact, the sooner we leave the better!”

“Great!” Twilight Velvet called from the passenger side of a silver sedan. “Well, please pile in the back with Twilight!”

“It’s Midnight!” Midnight snapped. “Midnight Sparkle!”

“Oh, sorry, honey! Please pile back with Midnight!” Twilight Velvet gave Daylight a sheepish look as the girl once again touched terra firma. “Sorry if it smells like dog.”

“I can’t help how I smell, mom!” Spike griped from the center seat.

“Also, the dog talks, now…” Twilight Velvet said with a somewhat worried look on her face as if the two-meter tall woman with magical energy wings might bolt at a moment’s notice.

“I’m used to THAT at least!” Daydream said as she opened the car door and was greeted by a hunched over Midnight glaring at her as the nightmare incarnate horn smoldered against the roof of the car. Sighing to herself, Daydream managed to cram all two meters of herself inside as she retracted her energy wings, though her horn was quite another story. Not being used to accounting for its placement, she managed to burn a trail along the headliner as she sat down, and noted with alarm that she was melting a hole through the roof. Meanwhile, Midnight’s wings remained quite tangible and seemed to occupy almost all available space. With an annoyed grunt, she ruffled them slightly before retracting them to herself as best she could, barely leaving Daydream with enough seat to sit on without placing her posterior on ebony wings.

Perhaps feeling cramped, Spike wordlessly clambered onto MIdnight’s lap who began idly stroking him as she shared a glare with Daydream.

Daydream glanced up. “Uh… we’re kinda destroying the top of the car from the inside back here…”

“T-that’s okay!” Twilight Velvet said hastily. “You two can’t help who you are!”

“...Wow…” Daydream replied. “There’s a lot to unpack from that sentence.”

“Now buckle up, you two!” Twilight Velvet added sweetly.

“Mom, we’re both imbued with magical energies that have basically turned us into demigods! I’m reasonably certain that in the event of a crash this car will break before us, assuming I don’t have time to open a portal in front of us to avoid it to begin with.” Midnight asserted in an irritated tone.

“I said buckle up, young lady! It’s only safe!” Twilight Velvet fired back.

The girls took a break from shooting glares at each other to awkwardly struggle with the seatbelts of the car and strap themselves in. Daydream managed to click her belt into place first and give Midnight a smug look as the dark girl pulled her belt past the dog on her lap and finally got it to click.

Perhaps unaware of the atmosphere behind her, Twilight Velvet clenched her hands in excitement. “Oh, this is so exciting! Twily—Midnight’s first friend over!”

Night Light backed the car out of the spot quickly enough that the two much-taller-than-usual women in the back found themselves lurching forward against their restraints and bumping into the back of car seats with twin grunts.

“Do you girls need more space back there?!” Night Light asked.

“Yes,” both girls replied in unison.

“Well, too bad,” Night Light replied, grumbling something about “Shoulda given me a ride, then…” under his breath. With that, he shifted the car into drive and drove it towards destiny.