part 3.5

"You shouldn't pick up things that don't belong to you", said Sunset.

"It…it doesn't really belong to you either",said Fluttershy, in a low tone.

Sunset leans into her face, still seen from behind, and slams both palms against the lockers to hem her in, then says, "Excuse me?!?"

"Nothing", said Fluttershy,whimpering, sliding to floor.

Back to Twilight,Spike, and I are looking plenty steamed.

"That's what I thought", said Sunset.

(Tilt down to a growling Spike.)

"It's as good as mine, and you know it", said Sunset.

Profile close-up of Fluttershy; now Sunset's chin and mouth are barely in view, sneering down at her.

"You really are pathetic", saidSunste, then points at Fluttershy.  "It's no wonder your best friends are all stray animals".

Sunset strides away, the nature lover sliding a bit lower, and the camera cuts me walking to Sunset instead of Twilight.

"Hey! Leave her alone", I said to Sunset. "Who do you think you are?"

Sunset straightens up a bit and turns toward the camera, revealing a yellow/red sun on her shirt that matches her pony form's cutie mark.)

"What did you say?" asked Sunset.

"I said, "Leave her alone", I repeated.

Now nose to nose, we glare daggers at each other for a long, tense moment; Sunset breaks with a nasty smile and straightens up.

"You must be new here", said Sunset, flicking me under my chin.

 "I can speak to anyone any way I want", Sunset declared, while walking.

The boy who edged away from the face-off has half-tucked himself into an open locker for cover, and a glare from her is all it takes for him to yank the door shut behind himself. Twilight walks to me, as Fluttershy gets up.

 "I can't believe you did that!" reacted Fluttershy, looking at me.

"Well, I hate seeing people get bullied", I said.

"Well, it's just that nobody ever stands up to Sunset Shimmer", said Fluttershy.

"Sunset Shimmer?" Twilight and I gasped.

Twilight and I catch sight of the grump and thief and bully rounding the corner, and the boy in the locker peeks out cautiously.

"You've heard of her?" asked Fluttershy 

"Sort of", I said, with a nervous smile.

"I don't think I've seen you around before. Did you just transfer to Canterlot High from another school?" Fluttershy noticed.

"Um...yeah. my name is Kanisha", I introduced myself.

"My name is Twilight", said Twilight, beside me.

Twilight waves at Fluttershy.

"I'm…Fluttershy", said Fluttershy, dropping to whisper.

"Sorry, what was that?" asked Twilight, hand to her ear.

"It's Fluttershy", said Fluttershy,even softer, backing up.

"It sounds like you're saying "Fluttershy," but…how can that…" Twilight starts to figure out.

The camera cuts to a close-up of the uneasy girl on the mention of her name, then to her perspective—peeking out through the pink curtain of hair and fixing on Spike. Back to her, instantly breaking into a huge smile.

"Oh, my goodness! Who's this sweet little guy?" asked Fluttershy,darting over to kneel by him, almost bowling Twilight and  I over. 

 The screen cuts to Twilight, regaining her balance and I help her.

"That's Spike...my dog", said Twilight.

Fluttershy has now set her bag down; it bears the three pink butterflies of her pony self's cutie mark.

"Oh, he's so cute!"  Fluttershy pets Spike under the chin.

"Go on. Eat up, little pup", Fluttershy offered a dog biscuit.

Spike takes a nibble of the dog biscuit.

 "Huh?" asked Spike, looking surprised by the taste of the dog biscuit.

Spike wolf's down the rest of the biscuit.

 "Oh, wouldn't you just give anything to know what they're really thinking?" asked Fluttershy, looking at Spike with a smile.

I stop Twilight from answering and says "Yeah, that would cool".

"Sunset Shimmer said you'd picked something up, something that belonged to her. It wasn't a crown, was it?" Twilight asks Fluttershy stands up to face her.

"How did you know?" asked Fluttershy.

I stepped in the way, and says "Lucky guess".

"Do you still have it?" asked Twilight.

"Mmm-mmm", Fluttershy shaking her head.

Twilight's face falls, but perks up quickly.

"Well, do you know what happened to it?" I asked.

"Mmm-hmm", Fluttershy nodded.

Cut to frame all four and zoom in.

"This morning, I was passing out flyers for the animal shelter like I do every Wednesday", Fluttershy recalled.

A wavering dissolve takes place near the end of this line; after which the remaining words are delivered as a voice over. The scene, now rendered in soft focus, has shifted to Fluttershy in front of the school statue, holding out a flyer from the stack she carries.

"Canterlot's animal shelter needs more volunteers. Won't you help an animal that can't help itself?" said Fluttershy, in a soft voice.

As Fluttershy speaks, a knot of students walks by the statue, paying her no mind whatsoever. The lack of response unhinges her knees and she sinks dejectedly to the sidewalk, the flyers sliding from her grasp and showering the concrete around her. One piteous little whimper later, Twilight's tiara comes sailing out of the portal in the statue's base and bonks her in the head.

"Ow!" said Fluttershy, rubbing her head.

Fluttershy picks it up and regards it bemusedly, and a WD back to the present begins.

"I have no idea how it got there", said Fluttershy, doing a voice over.

Fluttersht is now sitting on the floor and petting Spike's head.

"But I didn't want anything to happen to it, so I decided to give it to Principal Celestia", said Fluttershy.

"Principal Celestia? She's the ruler here?" asked Twilight.

I giggled at Twilight's question.

(Twilight looks at me, so I whistle looking normal)

(Fluttershy stands up, her backpack on.)

"You could say that. Technically, I guess she and Vice-Principal Luna do make the rules", answered Fluttershy.

"And where would it be?" I asked.

"Probably in her office", said Fluttershy.

Spike and Twilight tried to dash off, so I stopped them and asked "And that would be?"

"Third door on your left", said Fluttershy.

"Thank you!" called Twilight.

"Oh, wait!" Called Fluttershy.

 Twilight and Spike peek from the corner, while I was still standing; 

"You're not really supposed to have pets on school grounds. Might want to tuck him into your backpack. That's what I do", Fluttershy tells Twilight, as she points to Spike.

The flap on her book bag opens up and three animals emerge: a bird, a kitten, and a white rabbit that is a dead ringer for Angel. She sits and gathers in the last two as the bird roosts on her head.

"They just get so lonely when I'm at school all day", said Fluttershy.

Spike glowers at the idea of being called a pet.

"Oh…okay! Thank you!" Twilight thanks Fluttershy again.

Bell rings; Fluttershy stands up, the bird flying off.

"Oh, no! I'm late for class!" Fluttershy remembers.

One swift, fluid motion later, and she gathered the three critters into her backpack, zipped it up, and slung it on her back before running down the hall. Dissolve to the interior of a room, the camera placed just inside a closed door whose window is covered by a shade. A knock from outside is answered by the businesslike voice of an older woman.

"Come in", said a voice.

The door swings open to expose Twilight, who is pushing it with her head instead of using the knob. Zoom out to expose more of this room: bookcase by the door, desk with intercom and telephone, and a person sitting behind this. Although partly obscured by the back of the chair, the pastel colors of the long hair give her away as Celestia. Very light pink skin, violet slacks, light yellow shoes, and a light tan sleeve can be seen, and she is looking at some photos in a file folder. Twilight straightens up partially into a semblance of a bow before the camera shifts to a head-on view of the principal, who glances over the folder's top edge without lowering it right away. The sleeve is attached to a blazer.

"How may I help you?" asked Celestia, who has a paper in front of her.

Twilight stands up, shoots a quick look back at Spike—who is now peeking out from her open backpack—and sets the bag on the ground. It is now seen to bear a copy of her cutie mark.

"Um, uh…" said Twilight.

I groaned and started talking for Twilight.

"Well, you see we're looking for a crown, and Fluttershy told us it was here", I said.

Principal Celestia gets up revealing she has a sunburst pin on one lapel, matching her Equestria counterpart's cutie mark, and is buttoned over a magenta/white-striped shirt or blouse. A "get on with it" gesture prompts Twilight to wipe the placating grin off her face and shake her head clear. Celestia wears a violet-banded wristwatch and a bracelet in the same color on her other wrist.

"Yes. I've had Vice-Principal Luna put it somewhere for safe keeping", said Principal Celestia, crossing up files.

 "No idea how it ended up on the front lawn. Were you interested in running for Princess of the Fall Formal this year?" said Principal Celestia, closing the door.

I tell Twilight in a whisper what to say.

"My name is Twilight and I'm new, and this is Kanisha, about the fall formal can anybody sign?" Twilight followed my advice.

We saw a framed photo on the wall: a younger Sunset, positively ecstatic in a white dress with a gold sash at the waist, wearing a gold flowered tiara. The camera pans slowly along the wall, revealing two more photos in a row with the first; each of these shows a slightly older and cockier Sunset, in a different dress and a more ornate crown.

Twilight, Spike, and I walk out the door, then turn to Principal Celestia.

"Yes", said Celestia, by the door

"You just need to let the head of the Fall Formal Planning Committee know you'd like to be on the ballot. Was there anything else?"

Twilight looks at me, I shake my head.

"Um…nope, that was it", said Twilight.

"Well, if you do need anything else, my door is always open", said Celestia, then closes the door.

"Kanisha, are you sure that was the right choice?" asked Spike.

"Of course, think about if we told Principal Celestia the truth she would think we had gone bizarre and there's no way she would've given us the crown", I insisted.

"You're right, I guess if we want to get that crown, I must win the title of Princess of the fall formal and that's what I'm going to do", said Twilight, with determination.

"That's the spirit", I said.

Twilight turns to me and says "You sure you don't want to run?"

'I couldn't that ruin the plot', I thought.

"No thanks, it had to be Twilight, after all it's your crown", I said.

The bell chooses this moment to butt in on her enthusiasm, and she cringes away from the tide of high school humanity that instantly fills the halls.