My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: Magic, Magic Everywhere! Page 5

  Costumes and Credits

  The camera was rolling. The set was decorated to look like a busy marketplace. Rarity was wearing a vendor’s costume and pretending to sell fabric to Sunset Shimmer. Just as Sunset Shimmer held up a piece of cloth, Daring Do raced past them. She nearly bumped into Applejack, who was holding a bushel of apples. Daring Do darted around Pinkie Pie, who was dressed as a street performer, juggling brightly colored pins. She swerved expertly past Twilight, who was carrying a stack of books—and she careered right into Fluttershy.

  Daring Do pushed Fluttershy behind her protectively just as the dastardly Stalwart Stallion strode forward.

  “You will give me the Sword of Lusitano,” he demanded.

  “I don’t think so,” said Chestnut Magnifico as Daring Do.

  The Stalwart Stallion cackled devilishly. “Have it your way!” He produced a staff from beneath his cloak and raised it over his head. “Hostium prohibere!”

  Behind the scenes, the technical experts sprang into action. The “magic spell” set the ground to rumbling and trembling.

  Daring Do hesitated, uncertain what to do next.

  “Give up, Daring Do! You can’t stop me! The Sword shall be mine!”

  But Rainbow Dash, in costume, was ready. She jumped forward and handed Daring Do a whip. Daring Do swung it over her head and cracked it. She knocked the staff out of the Stalwart Stallion’s evil hands.

  “And… cut!” yelled Canter Zoom.

  The girls cheered. It was a wrap. The movie was done and they were in it, and they had managed to save Camp Everfree and have an adventure at the same time.

  “So you’ll send in the deposit, right?” said Pinkie Pie to Canter Zoom.

  He looked surprised. “After the movie comes out, for sure. But I invested all my money in making it. Now we just have to wait for it to be a success.”

  The girls’ faces fell. It wasn’t going to be so easy after all.

  “Just like our video!” Rarity sighed. “We did the same thing.”

  “But you girls can help me! Go to the premiere and tell all your friends about the movie.”

  “Of course we will,” they said.

  But after they left, they were more worried than ever.

  What if the Daring Do movie wasn’t a success? What if they didn’t win the dance video contest? What would happen to Camp Everfree then?

  And what will happen to the crystal cave where the geodes came from with so much magic on the loose? wondered Sunset Shimmer. They had to save the camp from disrepair. They just had to. But now the only thing they could do was hope that one of their plans would work.

  Mirrors and Magic

  The dance show sponsoring the contest was playing the videos of all the finalists in the contest on TV. “Dance Magic,” the video by the girls at Canterlot High, was in the running. Would it win?

  Waiting back at Canterlot High, the girls couldn’t believe the good news. Everyone was so excited for them, especially Starlight Glimmer.

  “It’s a great video,” she praised Rarity.

  “Thanks to your help.” Rarity smiled. “Now, if only we can win.”

  “Hooves crossed!” said Starlight Glimmer.

  Starlight Glimmer still said the strangest things sometimes.

  But there was one person who was hoping the girls wouldn’t win the dance contest—and that was Juniper Montage.

  “Ugh, those girls,” she muttered to herself angrily as she passed a television at the mall showing the girls dancing.

  Juniper Montage was wearing a simple uniform of black pants with a white shirt and name tag. She was carrying a walkie-talkie, but not because she was a production assistant. Now she was just an usher at the Flixiplex Cinemas. She was still furious about getting caught trying to ruin the Daring Do movie. “First they get me kicked off the set,” she fumed. “Now they’re about to become stars in their own right!”

  She was so preoccupied she nearly bumped right into a poster cutout advertising the Daring Do premiere. It was Chestnut Magnifico with the whip raised over her head—and there in the background were the girls in their costumes. Juniper growled with fury. “They’re everywhere!”

  She kicked over the cardboard advertisement. “I bet they’ll be at the premiere tonight,” she realized. “I bet I’ll be the lucky one ushering them to their seats.”

  Juniper’s walkie-talkie crackled. “Juniper, where are you?” asked an irritated voice. “We need you back at the popcorn popper stat.”

  Juniper pretended that she couldn’t hear. “What was that?” She crinkled a piece of paper to make it sound like static. “Losing you.” She clicked off the walkie-talkie. She needed a break. She was going to go window-shopping around the mall.

  If only she didn’t have to see those girls dancing on every screen. They were probably going to win the contest. It just wasn’t fair. “Tonight would have been about me. I would have been a star!”

  She was standing in front of a kiosk selling sunglasses, and she started trying them on. Movie stars always wore sunglasses, and one day, no matter what, she was going to be a movie star. She grabbed a purple pair with frames shaped like big stars. A hand mirror was hanging on a hook, and Juniper grabbed it to get a better look at herself. Did she look like a celebrity? She winced. No. She mostly looked silly.

  The bored teenage clerk was watching her and shaking her head, laughing.

  “You’re right,” acknowledged Juniper. “They are a bit much.”

  She took off the glasses and reached for another pair. She didn’t notice that the mirror in her hands was shimmering and sparkling. If Sunset Shimmer were there, she would have known what was happening. She would have spotted the wispy beams of magic seeping in from Equestria to the human world. But Sunset Shimmer wasn’t there. And no one else realized what was happening, least of all Juniper Montage.

  Juniper was wearing another pair of sunglasses. She looked at herself in the mirror. She blinked. She looked again. She screamed. She threw the mirror across the hall, terrified.

  Staring back at her had not been her own face but the face of a glamorous star, her hair styled, her makeup perfect, her expression grown-up and haughty. It was as if someone had mysteriously touched up her reflection. But how?

  “What was that?” she wondered out loud.

  Did she dare look in the mirror again? It had landed on the carpet down the hall She picked it up. It was sparkling.

  The teenager who had been watching her was distracted, listening to music. She hadn’t noticed anything.

  Juniper Montage dared to look in the mirror again. There was her reflection—only more polished and more perfect—blowing her a kiss!

  “Incredible!” whispered Juniper Montage.

  Without ever taking her hand off the mirror, Juniper reached into her pocket and left a bill on the counter for the teenage clerk. “Keep the change,” said Juniper. “Something tells me this thing is worth it.”

  On her way back to the movie theater, she passed crowds of kids staring down at their phones. But Juniper Montage only had eyes for her magic mirror.

  Wishes and Revenge

  Juniper Montage couldn’t pull her eyes away from her enhanced reflection. “It’s like this mirror is the only one around here who gets me,” she murmured.

  Her boss, standing behind her, cleared his throat. He was holding a broom and a dustpan. “Popcorn spill at the condiment counter,” he told her.

  Juniper just sneered. “Does this look like someone who cleans popcorn spills?” She held up the mirror so her boss could see it.

  “No,” he answered. “It looks like someone about to fire somebody.”

  Grumbling, Juniper Montage put the mirror in her pocket and grabbed the broom. She sauntered over to the concession stand and began dragging the broom back and forth. “Ugh, this is the worst,” she muttered. “Hey, I know what will perk me up! A little Mirror Me time!”

  She took out the mirror and gazed into it with a happy sigh. Her reflected
self was posing for the paparazzi and signing autographs. Everyone was looking at her. “That’s more like it. Fame. Adoring fans. Everyone clamoring just to be near me.”

  Her reflection winked at her.

  “I wish this popcorn would clean itself so I could just stare at you all day,” she said.

  It was as if the mirror had heard her. It sparkled. It shimmered. It began to vibrate. It began to make a whirring noise… like a vacuum cleaner. Popcorn was rising up from the floor and disappearing right into the mirror. In an instant, the floor was spotless. The mirror flashed.

  “Wow.” Juniper’s boss said, impressed. “Done already? I’m shocked.”

  “You and me both!” Juniper agreed, staring at the mirror.

  When her boss had walked away, Juniper decided to experiment. She grabbed a box of popcorn and dumped it on the carpet. “Mirror, pick up this popcorn,” she commanded.

  Nothing happened.

  Two moviegoers, arriving for the premiere, tickets in hand, stopped at the concession stand to get some snacks. Juniper completely ignored them and hurtled another handful of popcorn onto the floor.

  She gritted her teeth. “Mirror, I command thee, pick upeth this poppage of corn!”

  Nothing happened.

  “Why won’t this thing work anymore?” she fumed.

  She dumped another scoopful of popcorn on the floor.

  “You know, we were hoping to eat some of that,” said one of the moviegoers.

  “Mirror, make these annoying people go away,” Juniper announced.

  They walked away. But Juniper couldn’t tell if it was magic or if they were just weirded out. “That kinda worked.…” She shrugged.

  More and more people were headed into the theater, chattering and excited. Juniper, grumbling, had to serve up popcorn and soda. All she wanted was to sneak another look at her mirror.

  “Juniper Montage!” called out a surprised voice.

  Juniper cringed instinctively. She wanted to hide. She didn’t want anyone who knew her to see what her new job was.

  Of course, it was the girls from Canterlot High. They’d all agreed to meet at the mall to go to the movies. They were just waiting for Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Glimmer to arrive. But the last person in the world they had expected to run into was Juniper Montage.

  “What in the blazes are you doing here?” asked Applejack.

  “Were you invited to the Daring Do premiere?” Pinkie Pie couldn’t believe it, especially after everything that had happened. “That’s exciting. No, crazy. No, concerning. No! Just… no!”

  Pinkie Pie blushed, embarrassed by her own outburst. “No offense,” she apologized.

  “I wasn’t invited to the premiere,” explained Juniper Montage. “My uncle, Canter Zoom, felt bad for firing me, so he pulled some strings and got me this job.”

  Fluttershy gulped, strangely unnerved. “You work here?”

  “As little as possible,” answered Juniper, raising an eyebrow. Oh, she wanted to look at herself saying that. She imagined that the mirror would show her how haughty and powerful she looked.

  “You know,” said Rainbow Dash, “if you hadn’t tried to sabotage the movie, you could be celebrating with us.”

  Juniper’s eyes lit up with rage. “This should be my night! I would have found a way to be in the film if you all had stayed out of it. I would have been famous! Everyone would have loved me! See?”

  Juniper held up the mirror so everyone could see how glamorous and popular she was. But all the other girls saw were their own everyday reflections.

  “What is she talking about?” wondered Twilight Sparkle in a low voice to the others.

  “Not a clue!”

  “What is with her?”

  “Two apples short of a bushel, I say,” whispered Applejack.

  Juniper stamped her foot. “Can’t you see what’s right under your noses? Ugh! I wish you’d all go away and leave me alone!”

  The mirror flashed. It shimmered. It sparkled. It trembled.

  “What’s happening?” wondered Twilight Sparkle, sensing mischievous magic on the loose.

  Juniper’s eyes widened. “I’m not sure.” But she had a terrible, awful, horrible feeling that the girls were about to disappear like kernels of popcorn.

  Womp! Twilight Sparkle was gone!

  “It ate her!” screeched Pinkie Pie. “Like a hungry monster mirror magnet!”

  Womp! Womp! Womp!

  One by one, every one of the girls disappeared.

  Juniper watched—stunned, amazed, delighted. She saw Fluttershy’s barrette on the ground and picked it up. She pinned it triumphantly onto her lapel near her name tag. She was going to win after all. That’s what the mirror was telling her!

  She spun it around and looked at her face, surrounded by adoring fans. “Hi, me!” Just behind her own smiling visage and the adoring crowds, she saw the girls trapped inside the glass. “Hmm,” she mused. “Looks like I may finally be getting the hang of this.”

  There was no telling what she could do now!

  Worries and Concerns

  Sunset Shimmer looked down at her phone, worried. “Six cell phones, all straight to voice mail,” she said anxiously.

  She and Starlight Glimmer had arrived at the mall on time, but Sunset Shimmer thought she’d seen a wisp of magic near the sunglasses stand. She and Starlight Glimmer had tried to track it down, but they couldn’t find it—and now they couldn’t find their friends. Why weren’t they answering their phones?

  “I’m sure they’re around,” Starlight Glimmer said reassuringly. “We are only a few minutes late. What’s the worst that could have happened?”

  Sunset Shimmer was thinking about all the out-of-control magic she’d witnessed since coming to Canterlot High. She sighed. “Our friends are probably fine. I’m over-reacting. But maybe not. I can’t tell anymore.”

  “You’ve wanted to talk to Princess Twilight about this, right? Because you can still talk it over with me if you want.”

  Sunset Shimmer smiled. She really liked Starlight Glimmer.

  “Or you could just journal with Princess Twilight about it. That’s a good idea, too,” suggested Starlight Glimmer.

  “I know my friends and I have been given special powers for a reason,” Sunset Shimmer confided. “And I want to be ready for whatever is going to be thrown at us.” Sunset Shimmer was wearing her geode necklace again. She touched it protectively. She could tell that something was about to go haywire. Thanks to the necklace, she could feel it. But she didn’t know what was about to happen. Still, it made her feel a whole lot better to have a friend from Equestria at her side.

  “My advice,” offered Starlight Glimmer, “would be to just trust that things will work themselves out in the end. If you spend too much time worrying about the bad things that might happen, you’ll miss out on all the good things that are happening.”

  Sunset Shimmer blushed. “Like the fact that the pony who was supposed to come here and learn a lesson about friendship is kind of teaching me one right now.”

  “Yeah.” Starlight Glimmer laughed loudly. “Like that.”

  “Come on,” said Sunset Shimmer. “Let’s go look around the theater. I’m sure they’re fine.”

  Nowhere and Nothing

  The girls were lost in a strange limbo between the worlds. All around them was, well, nothing. It was like being in a vast, silent, empty room. But they could see one another—and that was better than nothing.

  Pinkie Pie stepped forward, and her footsteps sent booming echoes through the eerie quiet. It was very strange.

  Rarity shivered. “Any clue yet where we are or what just happened? Anyone?”

  Pinkie Pie was investigating the perimeters of the space. “Nope, no wall over here. Come out, come out, wherever you are, walls!”

  She raced forward until she was far in the distance, a tiny dot. “I don’t get this place,” she shouted back. “There are no walls in here anywhere.”

  Applejack was
thinking. “Somehow, someway, that dang Juniper sucked us all inside that mirror of hers.”

  “Or into some lost world behind it,” worried Twilight Sparkle.

  “I think I might be freaking out a little bit,” murmured Fluttershy, her voice trembling.

  “On the upside,” said Pinkie Pie, walking back to her friends, “there’s popcorn in here!” She munched on a handful she’d found.

  Rarity didn’t feel relieved. “How could this happen the evening of my first movie premiere? Of all nights! Curse you, oh cruel, cruel fate!”

  “Not our number-one problem right now, Rarity,” snapped Rainbow Dash.

  “Is there really no way outta here?” asked Applejack. They were a good team. They were problem solvers. They could figure this out, right?

  Ping! Ping! Ping!

  Small brown pellets were launching through the air, hitting the girls on their heads.

  “Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!” they screeched.

  “Oh my heavens! What was that?” cried Rarity.

  Rainbow Dash was looking at one of them, which she’d caught in her hand. “Chocolate-covered almonds?”

  “Dibs!” Pinkie Pie called. They might not be able to figure out where they were or how to escape, but at least the treats were yummy. Pinkie Pie always tried to look on the bright side of things.

  Friends and Faults

  Juniper was holding up the mirror, using it to vacuum up a spilled box of chocolate almonds. When she was done, she admired her reflection. Really, she was getting prettier and more important every time she looked.

  Sunset Shimmer spotted her across the lobby and couldn’t believe it. “It’s Juniper Montage!” She gasped.

  “No!” said Starlight Glimmer instinctively “Who’s that?”

  “Trouble.” Sunset Shimmer nodded grimly. “She’s trouble.” She was even more worried when she saw that Juniper Montage was wearing a pin that looked an awful lot like Fluttershy’s barrette.