Orion and Raven walk together toward their classrooms, after a quick trip to their respective lockers. "Luckily we're not too late... if anyone asks, we had to talk to Vice Principal Luna. Keep an eye on Snips and Snails if you see them, and Sunset too... I'll see you at lunch." He kisses her gently then enters his classroom, leaving Raven alone.

Raven walked to her class. For the remainder of the day, she kept watch on Sunset's activities, noting that she seemed to be conspiring more with her lackeys Snips and Snails more than she uually did. Something was up and she suspected it had something to do with the new girl. She caught snippets of conversation, mostly having to do with the upcoming Fall Formal, and how vitally important it was that she be crowned queen at that event. She recorded what she thought was relevant in a notebook, and went through her day as usual.

At day's end Orion is by his locker, waiting for Raven to meet him there as they had arranged. Every so often he glances at a pocket watch, and checks for signs of either her or Sunset and her lackeys. Other students rush by him in their hurry to get on the buses.

Raven sneaks up and taps Orion on the shoulder. When he turns his head, she gives him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Hey sweetie. Something's going on, but I'm not sure what yet. What did you find out?"

"This and that... Twilight Sparkle intends to run against Sunset as Fall Formal Princess... so she's pulling out all the stops to discredit Twilight so that no one will vote for her. How about you?"

"She's got Snips and Snails tailing Twilight to get evidence to that end, but there's something important about that crown. Sunset wouldn't stop ranting about how important it was that she win. Something about 'making them pay,' and 'taking over.'" Raven shook her head. "Sunset's always been a bit of a controlling meanie, but this is way overboard for her."

"Making who pay? Taking what over?" He straightens his bow tie and paces back and forth. "It doesn't make sense! There are too many missing pieces here... we need to find out how they fit..." He looks up. "What about that statue in the courtyard?"

Raven shrugged. "May as well, we've looked at everything else." They go to the statue. Raven starts looking around. "I don't get it, I've never seen anyth-" She stops as her hand starts to pass through the stone at the base of the statue, transforming briefly into a purple hoof. "What the...?" she says, pulling her hand back quickly.

"Ah, you see? I knew there was something odd about it!" He places his hand through the base, and watches as it too turns into a hoof. "Raven... this is an inter dimensional portal... a gateway to another world..." He looks toward her. "Want to go through the other side and see if we can find anything?"

Raven shakes her head. "You saw how Twilight was acting, right? What if it's some backwards universe and if anyone else finds us, they catch us and burn us for being witches?" She shivers. "I can see them getting the duck and scales ready right now. Although," Raven continues, "what if Twilight was sent her to stop Sunset? Maybe that is her scheme: to take over that little world for whatever reason!"

"Then we need to stop her before she can!" He takes Raven's hand in his own, and smiles. "Vice Principal Luna only said not to handle this on your own. She didn't say I couldn't help." He looks back toward the portal, "Maybe one day, we'll go through... but not today." He straightens up. "Okay... let's split up. I'll look for Sunset, you look for Twilight. We meet back here in two hours!"

"Right!" Raven heads back in to the school. She had noticed that Twilight had been spending a lot of time in the library - as good a place as any to start, she thought. She opened the door and slipped inside.

Twilight is currently 'typing' (hitting the keyboard with her fists) on the computer, but she looks up when Raven enters. "Oh! Hello! You're Raven, right? From this morning?"

"Umm, yeah," Raven replies nervously. "Yeha, I was just ... curious as to how things were going for you. Is, um ... is everything all right?" she asks, noting how Twilight is using the keyboard. "I could help you, if you'd like."

Twilight smiles, "That would be great, thanks! I'm looking for any strange phenomena that may or may not have happened here since Sunset Shimmer started school here. Do you know her?"

Raven rolls her eyes. "Oh yeah, we've met," she says with an annoyed tone. "She's perhaps the bigest bully this school has ever seen. We've tangled a few times before and she leaves me alone for the most part. But only because I threatened to feed her a large helping of her teeth, washed down with my knuckles." She blinks, and smiles at Twilight. "Sorry, I don't take well to bullies ... no matter who they think they are. Now then ... is there anything in particular you're looking for?"

Twilight looks a little unnerved by Raven's words but tries to hide it, "Oh! Yes. Any distinct magical events... big explosions, sudden monsters appearing, ponies... people acting funny... anything like that?"

Thinking for a moment, Raven shakes her head. "Nothing recent, but about two and a half years ago, I've heard, the cops were called here for a disturbance. They found ol' Sunset there beating on the statue, yelling about wanting to go home." She chuckles. "They took her to the hospital for 'observation,' but released her once they felt she wasn't a threat to anyone." She paused a moment. "Wait, why ponies?"

Twilight clasps a hand over her mouth, then gives up. Time to tell the truth. "She and I... we're from a place called Equestria. We're ponies. And the crown she's after is my Element of Harmony, a very important magical artifact that is one of my country's most important means of defense. If Sunset tries to use it here, terrible things will happen. So I was sent here to stop her and return my Element to its proper place."

Raven claps her hand to her mouth in shock. "Orion was right ... you are an alien! And that shimmery portal at the statue ... that's how you get back and forth, isn't it?" She was almost giddy with glee until she remembered the reason she was there in the first place. "I better tell you now ... Sunset is out to discredit you so you'll never win the Fall Formal. I don't know if she knows who you are yet, but if she finds out, you could be in great danger. Orion and I have been keeping an eye on you, but it looks like Sunset's gonna be making her move soon. Speaking of which, I should go check on him," she says, glancing at the clock. "Watch out for Snips and Snails, her little lackeys. I'll be back in a little bit with Orion, will you still be here?"

Twilight nods, "I have nowhere else to go... see you later, Raven!" She turns back to her work for the moment.

In a different part of school, Orion is walking through the halls, looking for any sign of Sunset. He was relatively certain now that she and Twilight both were effectively aliens. From the shadows, a figure observes Orion as he moves around. "I knew you'd be a thorn in my side, fez-boy ... but soon, you will be under my control. And I think I know just how to do it," she says to herself, slipping away before she is seen.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Orion calls. "I know what you are, Sunset Shimmer... I'm not stupid, you know!"

Two meaty hands grab Orion's arms and pin them behind his back. As Orion struggles to break the hold, Sunset steps out of the shadows. "If you truly weren't stupid, you would have never revealed that information." An evil smile crosses her face. She looks up at her henchman. "Put him in the equipment locker while I go deal with his little sweetie. Don't let him leave."

A monotone voice, almost robotic in nature, responds: "Eeyup." The unseen captor drags Orion toward the gym.

"No!" Orion exclaims, trying fruitlessly to free himself from the arms of his captor, "Don't you dare hurt my girlfriend, Sunset!" Then the doors of the gym close behind him.

Raven left the library and set out down the hall. Her progress was stopped when Sunset stepped into her path. "Well, that was quicker than I thought," she sneered as Snips pinned Raven's arms behind her. "I thought I was gonna have to search the whole school for you." Sunset motioned to an empty classroom and Snips shoved Raven inside, Sunset following. "Wait outside, " she said to Snips, who nodded and closed the door.

Raven fixes Sunset with a surprisingly cold look, "I know all about you, Shimmer... where you're from, what you really are, why you want that crown... but you're gonna lose! 'Cause Orion, Twilight, and I are all going to stop you! And then I'll give you that knuckle sandwich I've been saving!"

Raven flinches as Sunset moves closer, a sinister grin on her face. "Oh, you mean the fez-wearing nerd I have locked in the equipment room? That Orion? Oh no .. in fact, you and him are going to assist me in my conquest of Equestria!" With a flash, Sunset transforms into a demon version of herself, red eyes boring deep into Raven's very being. Sunset's eyes flash, and Raven's eyes turn glassy in appearance, her expression going slack. "Now. Go to your precious Orion, and look him in the eyes as I have done to you. This will place him under my control as well. When the time is right, I will call for you again." Another flash, and Sunset returns to her normal human appearance. "And don't worry about Twilight, I'll deal with her myself. Now go." She opens the door and shoos Raven out of the room.

Meanwhile, Orion has been trying to free himself from the supply cupboard with no real success. At the moment, he's trying card tricks. "Pick a card. Any card at all. You memorise the card, you put it back in the deck. Don't let me see it." His captor picks the card, and Orion has a guess. "The three of clubs?"

His captor shakes his head, "Eenope."

"How about the seven of diamonds?"

"Eenope."

Orion facepalms, "You're doing it wrong!"

Stepping into the room, Raven taps Orion's guard on the shoulder. He looks at her, and leaves with out a further word. Raven keeps her eyes diverted from Orion as she approaches. "You were right ... Twilight told me everything. And it's all going to come to a head at the Fall Formal."

"As I suspected." He straightens up and gives Raven a hug, "This isn't going to be easy, you know... we have to be ready for anything. There's no telling how or when Sunset will attack us."

"She ... already has," Raven says, hugging Orion tight. "She got me a little while ago. She sent me here to get you." She keeps her eyes from looking at Orion.

"I told her not to hurt you..." He hugs Raven back, "Get me? What does she want me for? Someone to gloat to?"

"No ... she sent me to make you her slave, like she did to me." She turns away. "I don't want to ... I don't know how long I can resist."

"As long as we have each other, we can do anything," Orion says softly, kissing her cheek. "We can defeat her by turning her own abilities against her."

"But .. if I look at you, you'll be entranced. How can you fight it when you're under her control? Someone has to look after Twilight and I don't know if I can be trusted right now."

"Raven, there's something you'd better understand about me, because it's important, and one day your life may depend on it... I will do -anything- if it means keeping you safe."

"Okay then, if you're sure ... look me in the eyes." She opens her eyes and stares straight at Orion. "I love you," she whispers, a tear tracing down her cheek.

"And I love you too." He pulls her into a passionate kiss, staring deep into her eyes as he does so.

A flash of light shines in Raven's eyes, and Orion's flash in the same manner. As the two break their kiss, Raven blinks. "I don't feel much different .. but from what Sunset said, she can turn the spell off and on at will. I guess she'll reactivate it when she needs us again. So, what now? There's still Twilight ..."

"Let's go and find her... I want to hear about her plans, assuming she has any." Taking Raven's hand again, they walk back toward the library.

Back at the library, Raven and Orion sit with Twilight. "We'll do whatever damage control we can should Sunset try anything, and if you need a place to go for a while, you can always stay at my house," Raven says.

Twilight smiles, "Thanks Raven... that's really very generous of you!" She gazes around at the other two humans, "You're taking this all very well... I was afraid you'd think I was crazy!" She shakes her head, "Anyway... I'm trying to make friends with Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity... but it hasn't been going too well. And if what you say about Sunset's plan to discredit me is true, this will be even harder than I thought.

Raven thinks upon hearing the names. "Yeah ... they all used to be best buddies, until something happened ... more like a series of somethings. Started about a year ago, from what Applejack told me. She never told me exactly what happened, though."

Twilight blinks, "Really? Hm... if I see them tomorrow, I'll ask them. Thanks again for your help, both of you!" She gives them both hugs.

Raven hugs Twilight. "Anytime! My offer still stands if you need a place to stay!"

"Thanks... I'll have to take you up on it soon!" Twilight says happily. "See you later!"