//------------------------------// // Tensions Rising // Story: Digital Dustin – Let the games begin // by Prince Dustin Hogan //------------------------------// “Talking” “YELLING” ‘Thinking’ “Telepathic link” Songs Flashback "Transformation Index” Tension Rising The next day, students from both Canterlot High and Crystal Prep gathered at the sports field, sitting in the stands while some others were chatting amongst their fellow scholars. Dustin was by himself, examining the face hugger like device that was attached to the Digitrix. As he walked, he took notice of the Shadowbolt team, the head of Crystal Prep was addressing her students. "You will race in pairs, Indigo Zap and Sugarcoat will handle the motocross," she said to the two girls before her. "Yes!" Indigo Zap exclaimed excitedly with a pump of her right fist as her superior walked over to the next two females, stopping before them. "Lemon Zest and Sunny Flare have requested the short track," she mentioned, as the headphones wearing girl and the short haired girl high fived in agreement with grins on their faces, prepared to take on the challenge while the adult walked over to the last two persons of the group, "Since archery is a standard requirement at our school," she continued as she approached the ponytailed girl and the scholarly student, "any of you should be able to do it," she noted, glancing towards Twilight who had a nervous look plastered on her face while her teammate was looking at her in contempt, "Twilight and Sour Sweet will start us off," she stated. "Well, that's just marvelous!" the latter of the two girls declared sweetly with her hands clasped together while the others just gave her contempt looks, "If you wanna lose before we even start!" she mentioned sourly, hunching over as she glanced to the side. Upon hearing the comment, Dustin was angered at seeing how they treated Twilight. "Given that Twilight won the last event single-handedly," Cinch began as the girl herself was looking away, "I have every confidence that she will be able to pull her weight here," she told her students, "Won't you?" she asked her as she brought her head down to her eye level, causing her to nervously nod her head in agreement. Dustin growled in anger after seeing the manipulative scene. He stormed off to a nearby tree and proceeds to punch the trunk. “That manipulative old bag! I swear to God, how low can she get? I swear I oughta….” “You oughta what?” Cinch’s voice said behind him. He turns to see Cinch, glaring at him with her arms crossed. And she was accompanied by the Shadowbolts. “Were you spying on us?” Lemon Zest asked, raising an eyebrow. “Oh, don’t get your panties in twist. Like I’d be interested in what you princesses are up to.” Dustin said before looking to Cinch. “You, on the other hand,” Dustin started, pointing at Cinch, “I knew you were a class-A, stuck up old bitch! But manipulating people to win?! Honestly, you can’t get any lower than that!” “You watch your mouth, buddy!” Sunny Flare said angrily. “Didn’t your parents ever teach you to respect your elders?” “I respect my elders when they earn my respect.” Dustin points to Cinch. “And this witch you call a principal deserves a stake through the heart, if she even has one!” Cinch was steaming mad at Dustin’s words. “I’m going to count to five. If you’re not out of my sight when I reach five, there’s going to be some serious consequences heading your way!” “Don’t bother, I’m leaving! The less I have to look at that ugly mug of yours, the better!” Dustin then walked away, and Cinch looks at him with a sneer on her face. “Oh, the nerve of him!” Sour Sweet growled. “Tell me about it!” Indigo Zap said, crossing her arms. “If it were up to me, I’d make him eat dirt!” “We'll deal with him some other time.” Cinch said assuring. “For now, you better get ready.” The crowds for both schools were cheered loudly from the stands, some waving towels around wildly. At the top of the stands, there was a large, black scoreboard there with both teams' symbols each under a number zero that was lit up on the board. On the field itself, Photo Finish was excitedly taking pictures as her camera shutter clicked over and over with each flash. Up in the large announcer's booth against the school building, Dean Cadance, Principal Celestia, and Vice Principal Luna were seated down in refined, wooden chairs, with Principal Cinch joining them, seating herself next to her fellow staff member. Flags hung down from the open tabernacle, representing each team. The Crystal Prep dean then stood up, placing her left hand on the microphone upon the stand that was beside her. "Welcome, everyone to the Friendship Games Tricross Relay!" she greeted, causing the crowd to cheer excitedly from both sides of the stands. “In this event, our qualifying competitors will face off in archery,” she said, as the now uniformed Crystal Prep team of Sour Sweet and Twilight and the Canterlot High team of Applejack and Fluttershy were stretching out, with the course behind them consisting of a few hay bales and a rope swing on each team's side, and a large board with moving bull’s-eye targets. “Speed skating,” Cadence continued, as Lemon Zest and Sunny Flare were in uniform, ready to go up against Rarity and Pinkie on the wooden track, while the former crossed her arms and glanced at her opponents. “And finally, motocross.” Cadence finished as the competitors on their bikes were ready to go, Indigo Zap revving her vehicle's engine in excitement, causing her rivals to look at her skeptically as they maintained their positions. And Salazar was there, washing Indigo Zap’s vehicle while the girl casts a smirk to him. "All right…" Aria cheered with a fist pump, "Here we go, Wondercolts!" “Kick some ass, girls!” Dustin cheered along with his friends. "So if the competitors are ready..." the dean started to say as held an air horn up in her right hand as the shy girl and her freckled opponent knelt down at the starting line, prepared to begin like runners on a cross country track. All of a sudden, the airhorn sounded off loudly, enticing Principal Cinch to cover her ears as the two girls ran off, starting the race while their comrades got into position, readying themselves to be the next ones to go. "Each competitor must hit a bull’s-eye before their teammates can start the next leg of the relay," Dean Cadence explained while Sour Sweet was quickly leaping over the hay bails, grabbing a pack of arrows, and then using the rope swing to get across to the blue platform beyond a small moat of mud. She somersaulted before she grabbed the bow there, pulling out three arrows and quickly firing them at the moving targets. They all hit the same one that was moving from side to side, with one striking the bull’s-eye, causing it to stop moving. “Good God!” Dustin uttered with wide eyes, along with Pixel, Aria, Sonata, and Adagio. “Those girls got skills.” “No kidding!” Aria said with a nod. She then looks to see Fluttershy carefully making her way to the rope swing, while Sour Sweet was in a frenzy over the early advantage. Sour Sweet meanwhile smirked in satisfaction, glancing back over to Twilight. The bespectacled girl looked at Applejack for a moment as they were both surprised that Slur Sweet had put her team ahead so quickly. She then took off quickly, while Fluttershy had her bow ready to fire, narrowing her eyes and sticking out her tongue as she attempted to shoot one. However, it fell right before her feet, causing her to have to pull another one out from her pack. Meanwhile, Sour Sweet had already finished looked back to see Twilight trip over one of the hay bales, falling flat on her face with a thud. “Ooh.” Dustin said with a wince. “Face plant.” Sour Sweet growled angrily in frustration, then anxiously looked back to see Fluttershy rival off another arrow, only having a single eye open as she launched it. However, it landed short of the target board, but was definitely closer than the last one, being only inches away. “Flutters isn’t doing too well.” Pixel said with worry. "Come on, Fluttershy!" Sonata cheered from the stands, "Show 'em why you're a Wondercolt, too!" Twilight attempted to traverse the mud moat by the rope swing, but only ended up getting her left foot onto the platform, about to fall down into the pit of muck below while her teammate watched on nervously, pulling at her bottom eyelids in frustration. “Pfft! Hey Sour Sweet!” Aria called from the stand, getting the girl’s attention. “Doesn’t feel good being on losing end, does it?” Aria taunted, making Sour Sweet growl in annoyance. Fluttershy pulled back her next arrow with a confident smile, closing her eyes and puffing her cheeks before pulling the wire back, and letting the projectile fly right off of the bow. It struck the bull’s-eye on the bottom target that was moving from side to side, causing it to slowly come to a stop. “Hell yeah!” Dustin cried out in joy while Pixel and the Dazzlings cheered, as Fluttershy opened her left eye to see she had struck the bulls eye, much to Sour Sweet’s disbelief. Fluttershy smiled as she gives a thumbs-up back to Applejack, who took off from the starting line, leaping over a hay bail quickly. “Good luck topping that, Sour Sweet.” Sour Sweet then looks to Dustin with a growl. “You better shut up or the next thing my arrows hit is you!” Sour Sweet called out with a raised fist. Applejack leapt over the second hay bail on the field, quickly making her way towards the rope swing. Twilight had managed to get herself onto her team's platform, breathing out of relief on her knees while Sour Sweet looked at her blankly with her arms crossed. “Yo, Sour Sweet!” Dustin called out, making the girl look to him. “Show some support for your teammates for God’s sake!” “One more word out of you,” Sour Sweet roared out in fury, “One more word, and I’m going to pommel you! Understand?!” Applejack got onto her team's dais before grabbing the bow Futtershy had used. The only two targets remaining were the ones going around in circles; one on each side of the board. Applejack quickly fired off an arrow at the one spinning on the left side of the board, striking the target, but just missing the bullseye. However, this brought out a small applause from Fluttersny as she had come so close. On the other side, Twilight wasn’t fairing as well, she kept missing the target completely,only hitting the board. Sour Sweet growled angrily, making Twilight develop a somber look on her face. “Yo, lighten up will ya, bittersweet?!” Dustin called out, making Sour Sweet growl furiously towards him. “Dude, you might wanna stop.” Aria said to Dustin. “She’s probably about ready to burst a blood vessel at this point.” “I know.” Dustin said with a smirk. “I just love giving jackasses what’s coming to them.” Applejack was about to take her next shot, she breathed in and out slowly. She watched the target circle around rather quickly, while she kept her arrow held on the bow. After exhaling, she let it fly right off of the bow, as it zoomed right into the bullseye of the target with a whooshing sound, causing it to stop moving while the crowd on the Canterlot High side began cheering loudly. “YEAH BABY!” Pixel Prada called out in elation, as the others cheered alongside her. “Sucks to be you, biyatch.” Dustin called out, and Sour Sweet growled angrily. The starting light post on the speed skating track dinged and changed from red to green, and Pinkie and Rarity to race off, leaving their rivals behind as their teammates hadn't completed the first leg of the relay yet. "And Canterlot is off to an early lead!" Cadance noted excitedly through the microphone system, much to the dismay of the Cinch as her arms were crossed while she had a disappointed look on her face. To make matters worse, Twilight was having no luck at hitting the remaining target on the board, as her arrows kept on missing the bullseye while it circled around. Her legs quivered as she fired off another one, letting it merely hit the board and then get chopped apart by the target itself. She then took notice of the speed skating Wondercolts racing by on the wooden track, with already a lap down in their leg of the relay. "I'm sure glad I don't go to Crystal Prep…" Fluttershy admitted, stroking the left side of her hair out of sympathy. "You said it," Applejack agreed, still holding the bow in her hands. "Whee!" Pinkie exclaimed from the skating track, spinning around happily as she and her cowgirl friend completed another lap, much to the dismay of Lemon Zest and Sunny Flare who were in shocked by this undetected twist.. Meanwhile, the scoreboard showed the Wondercolt team leading by two laps to the Shadowbolts zero. “Man.” Aria said with a smile. “So far, we’re in the lead. Looks like it’s just isn’t Crystal Prep’s day.” "Uh, Aria…" Adagio said as to her twin-tailed friend, gesturing towards Twilight, who was still fumbling the bag in the archery course. “Oh… right.” Aria said, realizing what Adagio was getting at. "Come on already!" Indigo Zap screamed angrily, as she and her teammate glared out at her, causing her to bite her lip out of nervousness with the pressure of her teammates being poured onto her. “Cut her some slack, bitch!” Salazar roared out from motocross, making Twilight and Sunny Flare look to him. “She’s doing her best, so shut it before I shove this damn rag down your throat!” “One more word out of you smart guy,” Indigo Zap said warningly to Salazar, “and I’ll be sure to have a little chat with Cinch later.” “Now be a good boy and keep washing.” Sugarcoat said with a grin. Salazar just sighed before going back to washing the Indigo Zap’s morotbike. "If CPA can't hit another bullseye soon," the Crystal Prep dean began from the booth as Twilight quickly pulled out another arrow from her pack, "they'll be out of this race," she noted, just as her student dropped the projectile onto the platform, enticing her to pick it up while her comrades watched on in frustration. As she re-readied the arrow onto her bow, she wiped her now tear filled eyes, feeling ashamed for failing her school and likely herself. "You're really bad at this!" Sugarcoat shouted from atop the starting ramp of the motocross track, receiving glares from her rivals as everyone else caught wind of it. “Why you…” Salazar growled furiously, but stopped himself when Indigo Zap and Sugarcoat glare at him. Salazar just growled and continued to wash the motorbike. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Indigo Zap said with a warning tone while Salazar glared. Suddenly, Applejack hands her bow off to Fluttershy, stomping off of her team's platform and heading over to the other one. "What's she doing?" Sonata asked from the stands as everyone else began murmuring in confusion. Dustin then had a smile upon realizing what Applejack was about to do. "Ya hafta stop aimin' at the target," Applejack advised to Twilight, getting her attention before she could fire her arrow, gesturing towards the board as she placed a hand upon her shoulder in reassurance. "That makes perfect sense!" Sour Sweet said in a sweetly sarcastic tone, catching their attentions as her rival just glanced at her blankly, "Don't aim at the target!" she repeated mockingly, "Thanks so much!" she said out of sarcastic gratitude, much to Applejack's annoyance. “Jesus! Is it that time of the month for you or something? Because you’re extra bitchy today!” Dustin called out to Sour Sweet, making the girl growl. She them grabs Fluttershy’s bow and took an arrow before aiming at Dustin. “Don’t tempt me!” Sour Sweet declared angrily as she aimed the arrow at Dustin’s head. “I mean it! One more wisecrack and I will shoot you! You got it?!” “Ok, ok! Christ!” Dustin said with a roll of his eyes. In the box, Cinch casts a glare to Celestia and Luna, making the two look away sheepishly. “You do have that boy under a tight leash, correct?” "Ya hafta stop aimin' at where the target is," she began explaining to her as she placed her right hand on her left arm, "an' aim at where the target's gonna be," she told her, gesticulating towards the target board. Twilight then wiped her right eye with her hand, while still holding the arrow as her tears dried up. "Trust me," Applejack advised, holding her hands out to her, "Take a deep breath…" she told her, which she did, inhaling and exhaling slowly, "And let the arrow go..." she continued while the last target continued to circle around, "riiiiight...now!" Twilight then let the arrow fly right off of her bow, much to the surprise of her fellow students in the stands and her principal. It struck the target right at its bullseye, causing it to come to a stop. The crowd began cheering loudly while the light at the track dinged and turned a bright green, allowing Lemon Zest and Sunny Flare to begin their leg of the relay on the speed skating track. "Alright!" Dustin cheered in excitement, jumping up and down. "Yeah!" Spike cheered, coming up onto the platform with his front paws, "That's my girl!" he declared, getting up excitedly as she knelt down, taking him into her arms and embracing him. Sour Sweet just backed away off of the dais, immediately freaked out that her teammate's pet was talking to her, while Applejack just watched with a smirk on her face. "See?" Applejack pointed out in question, "Ah was tellin' ya the truth," she told her. Suddenly, an orange colored aura began to envelop her body, as her pony ears and ponytail formed out of the blue, much to the surprise Twilight as she stepped away from her. The crowd was also surprised, chattering amongst themselves over the development. “Uh oh. I think we know whats gonna happen next.” Pixel said in worry. And sure enough, Twilight's device was humming loudly once again, gravitating towards the cowgirl and opening up, pulling its creator by her neck as she clenched her teeth. “Aw shit!” Dustin said as he began leaping out of the stands in an instant. Back at the platform, Twilight's contraption was beginning to take in the orange colored aura enveloping the archer Wondercolt, causing her to suddenly stumble back out of fatigue. "Eh..." Applejack grunted while Dustin suddenly landed right beside Fluttershy, much to her shock as she saw him run towards the other platform where her teammate was. “Hang on AJ!” Dustin went to grab the device, but as he got a hold it force akin to a jolt of electricity surged through him. Knocking him back and throwing him to the ground. “Dustin!” Pixel said as she and the three sirens ran to help their friend. "What...are...you...doing?!" Applejack asked in between groans while her energy was being drained away by the strange machine that was apparently acting on its own. "I don't know!" Twilight claimed as the sphere of energy within it began to enlarge from the new aura it was gaining.With her magic stripped from her the cowgirl grew fain and fell over, only to be caught by Fluttershy. “Dustin!” Pixel roared out in worry as she ran to Dustin, who was thankfully unharmed. “Are you ok?” “No, mom. I don’t want to go to school today.” Dustin said in a dazed state as Aria and Sonata helped him up. Meanwhile, Twilight fought with the magic seeking device, unknowingly stumbling back towards spike the whole time. She tripped over the purple puppy by accident, hitting the ground and causing the machine to unhook itself from her necklace, rolling across the grass and then onto the wooden track. It came to a stop and opened back up, letting out a pulsating wave of energy. Much to the disbelief of its user, a small rift began to form right beside it, with a small vine poking through it. After the whole ordeal, Applejack and Flutterhsy were resting out in the stands with Dustin, Pixel and the Dazzlings. “How you feeling, sugar?” Applejack asked with concern for her male friend. “I’m sore all over, my ears are ringing like chruch bells, and my heads pounding like some fat dude’s been fucking me in the ear while I slept.” Dustin said as he held an ice pack on his head, taking the girls by surprise. “Uh… right.” Applejack said with a wince. "Do you need to go to the nurses office?" Adagio asked. "Nah", Dustin shrugged "I can tough it out." Meanwhile, as the speed skating race continued, the Wondercolt team is still in the lead while the score on the board was four laps to three. "Canterlot has only three laps to go!" Cadance exclaimed from the booth through the microphone as the duo of Pinkie and Rarity finished their fifth lap, "But it looks like Crystal Prep is making up for lost time!" she pointed out, seeing that the Shadowbolts had gone up to four laps, catching up with their rivals. Their fans were cheering excitedly, while the opposing crowd was beginning to grow nervous. The group looked on worriedly at what happened to the cowgirl. Down on the track, the sounds of rolling wheels raced by as the skaters were zooming around quickly. Pinkie and Rarity both cringed as they saw their rivals pass them again, tying the score at five laps apiece, with the Lemon Zest smiling in victory as they took the lead soon afterwards with six laps under their belts. Their foes quickly followed behind, not taking into account of the strangeness that had occurred moments ago on the platform. While they were passing by the glasses wearing girl, Lemon Zest accidentally struck her device, sending off to the other side of the track. Wanting to avoid any more problems and weirdness, Twilight quickly raced over to try and get it. But the contraption was letting out small sparks of energy, creating rifts beside it that had large vines coming out, much to her shock as she halted herself immediately. She quickly ducked as one extended out at her, preventing her from getting the device, while the scoreboard lit up with the home school's tally at seven laps. "Come on!" Rarity said with Pinkie from in front of her, extending her right leg out for her to take hold of. She did so, allowing her to swing it forward, launching her comrade across the final turn as she bumped aside her rivals, much to their surprise as she crossed the finish line first to give Canterlot its eighth and final lap as its fans cheered. "What a finish!" Cadence declared as the rest of the skaters crossed the finish line, with the Shadowbolts frustrated by the loss while Rarity just waved to the crowd with an elegant smile. Photo Finish then took a snapshot of the victory as her camera shutter clicked with a flash. Having seen everything from the ramp of the motocross track, Sunset, Rainbow, Indigo Zap, and Sugarcoat all had the engines of their bikes rev loudly in anticipation, just before the light post changed from red to green with a dinging sound, signaling the start as their vehicles jumped down onto the dirt track. They zoomed over the first ramp, racing speedily as Rainbow took the early for her team. Meanwhile, Twilight reached for her device again while up against the wooden track on her stomach, but suddenly felt her legs get pulled back. She looked to see that one of the mysterious vines that had wrapped around her feet came from a venus fly trap-like creature, dragging her away as she tried to claw back at get a hold on her contraption. "Awesome!" Rainbow exclaimed excitedly, landing onto the ramp track. Unbeknownst to her as her teammate and the Shadowbolts quickly followed, the portals were appearing right at the gaps between the dirt and the ramp tracks, growing in size exponentially while they all traversed the next jump. After making the next jump, suddenly, another vortex appeared just over the dirt track, with a plant monster sticking right out of it with a large vine as well. The cerulean skinned girl looked up to see it with widened eyes and a gaping mouth as she heard it roar, quickly maneuvering her bike out of the way quickly to avoid its large appendage. The officials in the announcer's booth were all shocked and surprised, and in the stands. “Oh shit!” Dustin called out in shock! “Help!” Twilight called out, making him and the others look to her. They see that Twilight was still trying to reach for her device while she was still being caught by the venus flytrap. “Hang on!” Pixel said as she darted the girl as her left arm morphed into a chainsaw blade. With one fell swing, she sliced at the vines, dealing the bespectacled girl. “Time for some weed whacking!” Pixel declared as she morphed her other hand into a large propeller and proceeded to slice and dice the monstrous plant while Twilight watched with shock. “Twilight!” Salazar called out as he ran to her. “Are you alr…” Salazar then took notice of Pixel taking down the monstrous plant. “What the Hell?!” Meanwhile, Sunset Shimmer was excitedly revving her vehicle's engine, switching gears as her red bike was catching up to Sugarcoat's. However, they both heard the plant monster roar, enticing them to look up and see it about to attack. It lunged out, grabbing the Shadowbolt's bike in its teeth while the Wondercolt had to duck her own under its body. Unfortunately, her vehicle ended up hitting the ground on its side, causing her to fall off of it as she and it both slid across the dirt. The Canterlot crowd gasped at the sight. “Sunset!” Dustin cried out before noticing the jewel on the Corruptrix was flashing on and off like a blinker in a car. “Huh?” After the flashing ceased, the Corruptrix then removed itself and jumped to the ground before scuttling away. “About damn time!” “Let’s go!” Adagio said as she, Aria, Sonata and Dustin ran to help put. Adagio, Aria, and Sonata transformed into their Siren forms while Dustin went through the Digitrix’s roster. “Looks like a control burn by Firefox is needed!” Dustin said as he tapped the Digitrix’s screen and tapped onto the Digitrix's screen, causing his body to be surrounded by the familiat ring of colored Bar Code surrounded him, making an egg shaped dome as his skin began to glow so his entire body was now a shining silhouette of white light. Two rectangular 'plates' appeared and they surrounded Dustin's glowing form before they moved towards each other, squashing around Dustin as if he was in a press mold. As this happened, the colored image of Firefox appeared and fused onto Dustin's body as the 'mold' suddenly exploded, the fiery vulpine fell through the air and landed on a small square platform with the Digitrix Symbol before doing some fiery kicks and punches. "FIREFOX!" Firefox exclaimed in might as the 'egg' of Data surrounding him dissipated. The Shadowbolts were truly shocked upon seeing Dustin transformed into the fiery fox. "What in the...!" Soursweet exclaimed, her eyes as wide as dinnerplates upon seeing Firefox. "Please tell me I'm not the only one seeing this!" Sunny Flare said to her comrades, who were just as shocked as she was. Within the announcer's booth, Principal Cinch was glancing at the two Canterlot High staff members skeptically after witnessing the scene. "Care to explain what I just bore witness to?" Cinch questioned a raised eyebrow to them, as they nervously looked at each other, with Luna biting her lip out of concern. “Alright girls!” Adagio said to Sonata and Aria! “Let ‘em have it!” The three sirens then took a deep breath and unleashed a sonic blast at the vines, sending them back. Back on the motocross track, Sunset was on her knees, about to get on her feet when suddenly, a tire fell down on smacked the ground right beside her. It startled her for a moment before it bounced away, enticing her to look up and see Sugarcoat still dangling above from her bike that was in the plant monster's mouth, while she hung out of it. With a sudden chomp, the creature crushed the remainder of the vehicle in its mouth, causing its driver to fall down, bouncing down parts of its large stem before finally reaching the ground. She stood back up, breathing heavily while she had her hands on her knees. All of a sudden, she saw Rainbow race by on her bike, heading over to her friend who was still lying on her rear end upon the ground. She looked up to see the creature's head facing her, lunging back as it was about to gobble her. Just as it roared and reared its mouth for her, Rainbow Dash threw her right hand out and grabbed her as she passed by, making the monster bite into nothing but dirt. Her comrade was amazed as she sat behind Rainbow, realizing what she had just done for her. "Dash…" Sunset uttered to her, "you saved me!" she said out of gratitude, causing her to smile as they continued to go in the track's opposite direction. "I wasn't about to let my friend become plant food," Rainbow mentioned jokingly in response as all of a sudden, a light blue aura began enveloping her body, much to her teammate's surprise. She then hit the brakes of her vehicle, making it stop immediately with a flurry of dust as she got off, removing her helmet and tossing it aside as her pony ears, ponytail, and wings all appeared upon her person, much to the surprise of the red and yellow haired girl while she put her hands on the bike's handlebars. Within the announcer's booth, Cinch turned to her counterpart, who smiled nervously and shrugged after witnessing the magical transformation of her student. Sunset had a serious expression on her face while she traversed the jump her rival had gone over, enticing the crowd to begin cheering as she passed by the ditch Indigo Zap was in. Reacting quickly, Indigo Zap got back on her bike, revving its throttle while dirt was flung everywhere, getting out of the hole she was in. Rainbow made sure the rest of the monstrous plants were subdued, bashing into them again and again, making sure they didn't interfere with the rest of the race. However, one began pursuing the bikers, catching Rainbow's attention as she saw it stretching out to engulf them in its mouth. “I don’t think so!” Firefox roared out as he lunged at the plant and trusted his hand, which was encased in flame, at the plant and burning it to ashes. Once it cleared, Firefox and Rainbow Dash shared a fist bump. “Dustin?” Rainbow asked before smiling at seeing the Vulpisapien. “Good to have you back, dude!” Rainbow said with a smirk. “Feels good to be back.” Firefox said before he looked to the plant monster's. “Alright you weeds, get ready to feel the burn!” Firefox said as he got in a fighting stance. “Rin, pyo, to, sha, kai, jin, retsu, zai, zen!” Firefox chanted, raising one tail for each syllable, the tips of which were capped with a brilliant white flame. He then raised his right arm upwards as the flames on his tails shot upwards, the flames melding before forming into one massive ball of white superheated flame. “KYU TATSU RYUSEI!!” (AN: That’s Japanese for Nine Dragon Meteors) With a thrust of his left arm, nine streams of white fire shaped like dragons were shot at the vines, burning each and everyone of them to cinders and ashes. Twilight, Salazar, and Spike were dumbstruck at the sight while the other Shadowbolts were truly speechless. "Whoa!" Spike muttered in shock and awe. “Holy shit!” Salazar uttered in disbelief. “Unbelievable.” Twilight said as she looked to the Vulpisapien. “Just how powerful is he?” Once all of the plant monsters had beenbtaken care of, Firefox changed back to Dustin. Meanwhile, Sunset’s bike broke through the red tape at the finish line first, leaving her opponent's in second place. "Canterlot wins!" Dean Cadance declared through the microphone from the announcer's booth, much to the delight of the Wondercolt fans as they cheered loudly, while the Shadowbolt fans were in complete disbelief, frustrated over the loss. "Woohoo!" Dustin and Rainbow cheered in unison. Unbeknownst to them though, another plant monster was looming behind Dustin, reeling its head back as it was about to gobble him up. But before it could strike, a beam hit the plant, freezing it solid. The two turned around and noticed it. "Huh?" Rainbow said as Pixel appeared and punched the frozen plant, making it shatter to pieces. “Nice save.” Rainbow said with an impressed smirk. “I aim to please.” Pixel said as she and Rainbow shared a high-five. In the booth beside the school, Principal Cinch had stood up with a shocked expression as well, placing her hands at her hips in defiance of the loss, catching the attention of her fellow official on her left. "Attention, students," Dean Cadence spoke through the microphone, "please proceed to the gym," she advised. Back on the skating track, Twilight was able to grab her device and using all of her available strength close it up while it hummed loudly. In almost an instant, all the remaining monsters began retracting into the rifts in a bright pink light, much to the surprise of the Canterlot heroes. Spike and Salazar looked to Twilight worriedly as she was cringing on her knees, biting her lip out of feeling ashamed for causing all that just conspired. At the motorcross track, Sunset had parked Rainbow’s bike while the rest of the Wondercolts were walking over to her. The glasses wearing girl grimaced nervously as she looked at them, standing up reluctantly and walking towards them with her pet, the fire mage, and the exceed in tow. "Is everybody… alright?" Applejack managed to ask in between breaths as Fluttershy helped her trot over to the finish line. Rarity and Pinkie rolled in on their skates while the amber skinned girl got off of the bike she had used, having an angered and frustrated expression on her face. "Better than alright!" Rainbow declared as she landed down on the ground right between the cowgirl archer and the fashionista skater, "We won!" she exclaimed, outstretching her arms excitedly as her teammates raised their own out of happiness too. “And I finally got access to the Digitrix again.” Dustin’s aid as he showed the Digitrix was free of the Corruptrix. "Hey, guys!" a familiar voice called out in interjection, causing them to turn around and see Salazar approaching them with Twilight and Spike in tow. "Are you two alright?" Dustin asked the three. But before anything else was said, Twilight walked up anxiously. "I… didn't mean for any of this to happen," Twilight told them, "I just wanted to learn about the strange energy coming from your school," she explained as her dog and the exceed glanced up at her with worried expressions, "I didn't know that it was magic or...how it works…" she mentioned, holding her pendant-like contraption. "That's okay," Rainbow replied as she walked over to her, much to the shock of the blue furred cat and his friend, "Neither do we," she pointed out in an uncaring manner. Suddenly, the device around Twilight's neck began humming loudly again, glowing as it caught the rainbow haired girl's attention. "Oh, no!" Twilight exclaimed in fright as it was yanking her by the neck, directing itself right at the winged girl. It opened up to reveal the enlarged energy sphere within it, as the star athlete was cringing nervously while her sparkling blue aura appeared over her body once again. “Not again!” Salazar said as he reached toxclose the device, but received a jolt like Dustin did earlier, albeit not as severe as. “Gah! Fuck!” Salazar groaned in pain yelled as the contraption began sucking away the light blue energy, causing the Wondercolt to groan in agony. "DASH!" Sunset cried out, rushing over to go and help her along with Sunset Shimmer, as she keeled over to her knees, while her magic was still being drained away by the mysterious device, much to the shock of everyone else. "I'm sorry!" Twilight apologized as her contraption was still taking the aura into its enlarging energy sphere, "It just started absorbing energy on its own!" she told them while Adagio knelt down to support his girlfriend, "But I'm not sure how!" she mentioned, desperately trying to pry the machine away from the aura it was taking in, which it finished doing as electricity was zooming around it. "What do you mean you don't know how?!" Sunset asked angrily, pointing accusingly at her as she stood up, grabbing at the device to try and close it up. All of a sudden, a small spark of electricity shot up into the sky from it, causing a large portal to open right over the whole group. "Whoa!" Spike gasped as Salazar looked on in shock. Everyone else had their mouths agape at the sight of the vortex, frightened and concerned. From afar, Principal Cinch had just returned to the field, taking notice of the portal with a gasp, quickly going over to the side of the announcer's booth as she eavesdropped on the revelation. "It also causes these corresponding rifts to appear…" Twilight added to the group with her while her superior was listening in, "I don't know how that works either," she mentioned, still trying to clamp the device closed as the red and yellow haired girl's ire was rising rapidly while she bit her bottom lip. "Is there anything you do know?!" Sunset screamed to her with outstretched arms of fury, "Like how our magic's been popping up?!" she questioned sarcastically as she got closer to her, making her back away nervously, "Or how to fix the portal to Equestria?!" she asked on angrily. "Equestria?" Twilight uttered in confusion, as she had no idea what her rival was referring to. "You're supposed to be so smart," Sunset declared mockingly, poking her own head as an example while Twilight bit her lip anxiously, "but did you ever think you shouldn't be messing around with things you don't understand?!" she questioned out of rage, putting her hands over hers on the contraption and closing it up herself, causing the portal to shrink and vanish instantly as well, much to the surprise yet relief of the group “Sunset, just calm down!” Dustin said to Sunset, the girl looking to him. “Calm down?! Did you not see what happened?!” Sunset said to Dustin angrily, making him reel back a bit in shock. “You expect me to calm down after what happened earlier?!” "But I wanna understand!" Twilight claimed with an apologetic look in her eyes. "But you don't!" Sunset shouted, causing her to cringe, "And worst of all," she continued with her right index finger pointing at her accusingly again, "you put the lives of my friends in danger!" she screamed, gesturing towards them. "I-I'm sorry…" Twilight apologized with a breaking voice as tears were forming in her eyes, "I didn't mean to…" she said, sniffling in as she teared up. Salazar embraced the girl as she cried on his chest, while Sunset now had a guilty look on her face. Meanwhile, Cinch smirked as an idea became implanted into her mind from the event. Suddenly, the sound of a clearing throat got her attention as she turned to see Celestia standing beside her, with Cadance and Luna lurking in the background. "You can't possibly call that a fair race!" Cinch pointed out to the Canterlot High official, gesturing towards the track. That remark caught the Wondercolt’s attention, along with Salazar and Twilight as they look to her. "Principal Cinch, we all saw what happened," Celestia pointed out to her in response, "You can't think CHS had some kind of advantage…" she mentioned, gesturing towards the group still on the field, who were all beginning to take notice of the conversation from afar. "Can't I?" she questioned with narrowed eyes, "Even without your trained attack plants," she continued, "your students have wings!" "Well, the race certainly had some...extenuating circumstances," Celestia admitted a glance towards the track, "Perhaps we should end the games now and declare a tie…" she suggested with her hand up to her chin. "A tie?" Cinch questioned in reply, surprised, "Was this your strategy all along?" she guessed as the Canterlot group approached them, "To force us into accepting you as equals?" she accused, pointing at the Canterlot High principal with her right index finger, "I think not," she declared in a dignified manner, earning glares from the opposing team's players, "The games will continue and Crystal Prep will prevail despite your antics and whatever performance-enhancing regimen your students are on," she stated in explanation, and Dustin growled angrily upon hearing Cinch’s words. “Horseshit!” Dustin barked furiously, making the four faculty look to him. “Now you listen here you pompous old hag!” Dustin growled, making the woman gasp upon hearing that insult. “You really think Celestia here had a hand in what happened earlier? Then you are definitely more senile then I thought!” "And if I recall," Cinch started to say, "You’ve sent this “thing” here," Cinch points to Dustin, "to intervene with the relay!" Dustin was infuriated by the insult, if his scowl was of any indication. “If I’m not mistaken, this was supposed to be a school. Not a sidehow attraction!” Dustin was now streaming mad at that remark. “GOD DAMMIT! THAT DOES IT!” Dustin shouted furiously as he grabbed Cinch by the collar, much to the shock of everyone else. “YOU JUST DUG UP YOUR GRAVE!!!” Before anything else could be said, Pixel pried Dustin off of Cinch while he failed. “Is this how you run your school, nowadays?!” Cinch said to Celestia with outrage before casting another glare to Dustin. “I swear, my students aren’t even nearly as wild as this one! This ruffian ought to be put in a juvenile detention center!” “Oh, blow it out your wrinkly old ass Cinch!” Salazar said, making everyone gasp as Cinch cast a venomous glare. “Excuse me?!” Cinch smacked with fury as Salazar approached her. “Do your hearing aids need some adjustments, woman?” Salazar said as he pointed to Cinch, making the woman jump a bit. “I don’t know if your glasses were fogged up or if you have glaucoma, but in case you didn’t notice, these guys saved everyone from those garden variety monsters!” “Salazar, please compose yourself!" Twilight pleaded, but Salazar ignored her. “I don’t appreciate that tone of yours, Salazar!” Cinch said as the Shadowbolts approached. “Maybe some time washing the restrooms should adjust his attitude.” Indigo Zap said with a smirk. “FUCK OFF, DYKE!” Salazar barked furiously, earning another gasp of shock from everyone. “Salazar!” Cadence said with a surprised look. "Why you...!" Indigo Zap growled furiously as she was being held back by Sugarcoat. “One more word out of you and I’ll see to it that you never graduate from my school!” Cinch threatened, but Salazar didn’t back down. “I swear, if I had the chance I would smack you so hard that your dentures would fly right out of your mouth!” Salazar said, and Cinch pretty much lost it upon hearing that. “I sure feel sorry for the poor fools who brought you into this world!” Cinch said, and Salazar went wide eyed upon hearing that. “I’ll bet your parents must have given up on you upon realizing they’ve raised such an unruly animal!" Salazar was then shaking in fury upon hearing that, and the Wondercolts and Twilight looked to him in worry. "I'd be genuinely surprised if you were abandoned on the streets and taken in a bunch of strays! Its truly a wonder how you even managed to get an education!” “NOW YOU FUCKED UP, WICKED BITCH OF THE WEST!” Salazar roared in fury as he extended his left arm, which glowed in blue energy before taking on a blue metallic version of Firefox’s head. Everyone present was flabbergasted at seeing this as a blade erupted before Salazar aimed at Cinch, making the woman wide-eyed in fear. “I’m warning you right now, Cinch!” Salazar growled furiously as Cinch was on her knees trembling while everyone watched in shock. “And I’m only saying this once, so listen up! All it takes is one swing to make your head roll!” As Salazar threatened, Twilight was tearing up from the sight. “TRY AND TEMPT ME CINCH! I FUCKING DARE YOU!!!” “STOP IT, SALAZAR!” Twilight begged as she ran to Salazar, grabbing by the side as she began weeping. “Please… stop. P-Please.” When Salazar saw Twilight cry her eyes out, Salazar lost all the anger he had. “Twilight! Get away from that freak!” Indigo Zap said as Lemon Zest grabbed Twilight and dragged her away. “Let go of her!” Salazar said, but Indigo Zap grabbed a rock and tossed it at him, the rock hitting Salazar right on his head. “Don’t you come any closer, you monster!” Indigo Zap growled as Sour Sweet had her bow and aimed an arrow at him in a threatening manner. “I knew you never belonged here!” Salazar was truly devastated at hearing those words. It was like his hear was ripped out of his chest and crushed right in front of him. He then remembered his conversation he had with the figure yesterday. *** “Oh, what’s wrong?” The figure taunted. “Why don’t you show me what you're capable of?” The figure leaned on the bus, a smirk visible on his face. “Come on, show me your power.” “I’d rather not.” Salazar said furiously. The figure had a wicked grin in response, knowing the reason. “Oh, you’re worried that people will ostracize you. Label you as a monster. A freak.” The figure spoke, knowing he was getting to Salazar. --- “Well, I’ll say this much. You can’t keep this a secret forever. Secrets always come out eventually.” *** “He… he was right.” Salazar said as tears started running down his face. He then proceeds to back up before turning around and run off. “Salazar! Wait!” Twilight called out as Lemon Zest held her back. “Salazar!” Twilight tried calling out to Salazar, but he was already out of sight as Twilight started to cry. “Salazar.” Twilight just broke down in tears while the Wondercolts look to her in sympathy. “Good riddance!” Sour Sweet said with a humph, only for Aria to punch her in the jaw. “You watch your mouth, you pompous twat!” Aria growled furiously as the pinned Sour Sweet to the ground, grabbing her by the collar. “Its bad enough that you treat Twilight like she's a second class citizen!” Aria growled in rage “But shunning Salazar like he’s an outcast?! You bastards really are heartless!” “Aria, that’s enough!” Adagio said as she pried Aria off of Sour Sweet. “Cadence,” Cinch said as she dusted herself, getting the woman’s attention. “I expect Salazar’s student file purged from Crystal Prep’s school records when we get back.” The Wondercolts and Twilight gasped upon hearing this, even Cadence was stunned silent. “You mean… he’s expelled?” Cadence asked in shock. “But Cinch…” Cinch just looks to Cadence. “I’m sorry Cadence, do remind me.” Cinch asked with a stern look. “Who’s the principal here?” Cadence reeled back a bit. “I… but…” Cadence stammered before sighing in defeat. “Consider it done, Cinch.” Cadence said with a defeated and disheartened expression as Twilight started bawling her eyes out now, and Dustin was furious at this point. “You cant fucking do that, you wrinkly old bitch!” Dustin growled furiously at Cinch, making the woman cast one last glare to him “I can, and I did!” Cinch shot back. “And unless you want to be expelled from Canterlot High, I suggest you control yourself!” Cinch says as she point at Dustin’s chest. “Consider this my only warning to you, young man!” “Message received.” Dustin growled through clenched teeth. With all of that said and done, Cinch walked away without another word and the Shadowbolts followed her, casting a glare to Dustin as they walked away. Twilight was the only one who stayed behind as she was too disheartened after losing her only friend, the Wondercolts look to her in sympathy. “I’m sorry, Twilight.” Cadence said as she knelt down and hugged Twilight while Spike nuzzled Twilight’s leg. “Damn, I’m just so pissed off right now that I can’t even think straight!” Dustin said as trembled in fury. “I swear, I ought to pound that witch so deep into the dirt that she'll land in ninth circle of Hell!” “Easy there, Dustin.” Celestia said as she patted his back. “You’re already in enough trouble from Cinch as it is.” "I'm sorry I couldn't stop all this from happening…" Sunset apologized to Celestia, ashamed for what had conspired in the relay. "It's not your fault, Sunset," Celestia responded in a reassuring tone as Luna trotted over, standing beside her while she tried to ease the girl's sense of failure. "Isn't it though?" Sunset questioned as the others looked on at her worriedly, "I should know how to control the magic I brought here," she told her, "But I don't…" she admitted shamefully, looking away, "I let everyone down, and now Principal Cinch thinks we're cheating," Cinch groanedout of frustration, outstretching her arms to their respective sides after clenching them into fists. "It doesn't matter what Principal Cinch thinks," Celestia reassured, placing her right hand on her student's left shoulder. "But it does," Sunset retorted, backing away from her, "The students here at CHS don't just wanna win," she noted, "They wanna beat Crystal Prep," she declared with a somber expression, "It isn't gonna count if the other side doesn't really think they lost," she pointed out, "Crystal Prep is never gonna believe we won fair and square if there's magic around," she explained, glancing down at the ground somberly, "And that magic is only around...because of me…" she confessed, receiving sympathetic looks from her teammates. “I’ll be right back.” Dustin said as he walked off towards the ramps used for the motorcross race, and the others watched with worried expressions on their faces. “Dustin?” Sunset asked as she sees Dustin fiddle with the Digitrix before transforming into the eight-armed gorilla that was Prime-8, much to the shock of Spike, Cadence and Twilight. "What in the world…?" Cadence uttered in question as she had her mouth agape. Suddenly, Prime-8 pulled his arms back and punched the railings that held the ramps together. “Dustin!” Sunset said as she ran towards the Onctopithecus while he vented his anger. “Dustin, stop!” Sunset said, but didn’t listen. “Dustin…” Just as Dustin was about to deliver another punch, Sunset got in front of him. “STOP IT!” Prime-8 stopped himself, looking to Sunset. “I know you’re upset about this! Believe me, we all are! But this isn’t going to help!” Sunset then went on her tiptoes and placed a hand on Prime-8’s face, a soft look on her face. “I know things are tough now, but we’ll solve this problem eventually.” After that, Sunset placed a hand on the Digtirix symbol, transforming Prime-8 back to Dustin. Dustin just sighed, his anger ceasing as Sunset embraced him in a hug. Unbeknownst to the group, the figure was watching over them from the tip of the building. “My, my. Tgings have gotten a little tense." The figure said with a cruel chuckled. "All of the pieces are coming together.” He then looks to his left wrist, revealing that the Corruprix was attached to it. “It won’t be long now before my plan comes into fruition.”