//------------------------------//
// An Interesting Party 
// Story: Equestria Discord 2: The Friendship Games 
// by Epicdiscord214 
//------------------------------//

The Canterlot High gym was decorated in honor of Crystal Prep's arrival. Although, the students themselves didn't show as much enthusiasm as the banners did. The students of Canterlot High and Crystal Prep looked at each other with anguish. In the middle of the two groups of students, Tartus spoke with Greengear.
"Discord's here?" Leaf asked. "I thought you just said the portal didn't work anymore."
"Not that Discord." Tartus said. "I think this world's Discord is attending Canterlot High and working alongside Sunset Shimmer and her friends."
"That's not right." Jade said.
"You're telling me." Emerald said. "I thought it was sickening when the Equestrian counterparts became buddy-buddy. But now, we have to see the human versions do it too?"
"Not that, you bird-brain!" Jade snapped. "Remember what Tartus said about statistics? Discord shouldn't be here."
"So what?" Emerald asked. "It's just one guy. I can beat him with one wing tied behind my back." Just then, green feathers started sprouting from out of his sleeve.
In a panic, Tartus grabbed ahold of the feathers and pulled them off. Emerald tried to scream, but Jade covered his mouth. They looked around, and they saw that everyone was too busy glaring at each other, they didn't bother seeing the Everton group.
When the last feather was plucked, Jade let go of Emerald's face, but she was still mad.
"You bird-brain!" she whispered aggressively. "Tartus said not to change without his say-so!"
"Hey, it wasn't too much." Emerald defended. "It wasn't supposed to be more than a few feathers."
"Regardless, don't ever do it again." Tartus warned. "And as for Discord, all my calculations didn't include his arrival. It's obvious my arrival in this world must have set off some chain of events that lead Discord here. With this unforeseen variable, that makes him a wildcard. So we're going to have to rip that card before it becomes a problem."
"How?" Leaf asked.
"Ooh!" Verde exclaimed. "We could ask him to leave."
"Huh, yeah." Leaf responded. "What do you want?"
"Boys, don't talk out loud." Jade said. "You'll lower the IQ of the whole building."
"I'll tell you how we're going to do it." Tartus said. He reached into his jacket and grabbed something. "With this." He pulled out his hand slightly revealing a shining, yellow apple that widened the eyes of all Greengear.
"Really, boss?" Jade asked. "Here? Now?"
"Fight chaos with chaos." Tartus responded with a sinister grin.





The group walked down the hallway while Sunset told the girls what just happened.
"What do you mean, the portal's gone?" Applejack asked.
"I mean, it's gone, vanished, not working anymore." Sunset said.
"Discord?" Fluttershy asked.
"Hey, don't look at me." Discord said. "You know as much as I do."
"Well, how'd it happen?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Not sure." Sunset replied. "But I bet it has to do with that other Twilight."
"Don't forget that beanpole with one eye." Discord said. "I noticed he was the only guy not surprised by it."
When they reached the gym, they saw the rift between the students. They didn't feel comfortable until they saw five boys heading to them.
"Hey, everyone." Ricky said.
"The Computer Club." Pinkie cheered. "What's hyper, typers."
The guys felt discomfort upon hearing that. "Pinkie, nobody on Earth says that." Terry said.
"But maybe we should." Joe said. "Sounds cool."
"You nerds are making me very uncomfortable." Discord said. "But anyway, what's happening?"
"Well, I just put Devastator in my laptop for safekeeping." Ricky said. "Although, he's so mad at me, he's started messing up my browser history. Anyway, what's happening with you all?"
"Oh, it turns out Twilight's human counterpart is a student at Crystal Prep and competing against us, Discord used to go to Crystal Prep until he spilled paint all over the other students, and somehow the portal to Equestria managed to close shut cutting off our connection to the pony princess Twilight." Pinkie Pie explained.
"What?" Ricky asked.
"What'd I tell you?" Aaron asked. "Rainboom problems."
"How'd it happen?" Marty asked.
Sunset looked and saw Twilight pacing around looking at her device. "That's what I want to find out?"
"You're wasting your time."
Everyone looked and saw Scimitar sitting on the bleachers beside them. He was playing a handheld game console.
"You again?" Sunset asked.
"My dad's good at covering his tracks." Scimitar said. "You'd just be wasting your time."
"Your dad?" Sunset asked. "You mean that thin man with the bandages? What's he got to do with all this?"
"Why would I tell you dunces anything?" Scimitar asked.
"Hey!" Pinkie Pie shouted. "That's not a nice thing to say! Especially to someone who wants to be your friend!"
"First of all, no one is here to be nice." Scimitar replied. "And second of all, the last thing I want is a friend. All they do is get in the way."
"What?" Sunset asked. "Hold on, you. I don't know who you think you are, but you can't talk to us that way."
"Yes, I can." Scimitar said. "It's a simple moving lips and letting words come out. Any dunce can speak, even you all."
"And stop saying dunce!" Sunset replied heavily.
"Easy, Sunset." Ricky said. "What's gotten into you?"
"Is there a problem going on here?" Indigo Zap asked approaching the group with her own.
"Mind your own business!" Rainbow Dash said.
"Look who's talking." Scimitar said.
"Now, hold on, everyone." Appejack said. "Let's just save some of that energy for the competition."
"I wouldn't call it a competition since we never lose." Sugarcoat replied.
"Well, that's not a very nice thing to say." Fluttershy spoke up.
"Well, we're not here to be nice." Lemon Zest replied.
"That's what I said!" Scimitar shouted.
Nervous, Twilight backed up from the crowd, but she bumped into Pinkie Pie, who greeted her with a smile.
"Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie."
Twilight was nervous, but she greeted back. "My name's Twilight Sparkle."
"Oh, I know." Pinkie replied. "You're just like our other Twilight friend, just with a different hairstyle and glasses."
"I... don't understand what that means." Twilight responded.
Pinkie Pie then caught sight of the device hanging around Twilight's neck.
"Ooh, what's that?"
"This?" Twilight showed Pinkie her gizmo. "I guess it's some kind of spectrometer. It can detect and observe mysterious energies as well as contain anomalies." She saw by Pinkie's blank smile that she didn't understand what she meant. "It measures things."
"Neat." Pinkie replied.
"Oh, I can't take all the credit." Twilight said. "I may have built the thing, but Tartus knows how it works. He just gave me instructions."
"So if it measures things, does that include this awesome party?!"
"I guess... Although, it doesn't look like anyone's having fun."
Pinkie observed the room and noticed the negativity in everyone's faces. "You're right. I know just what to do. Follow me."
While Pinkie and Twilight were leaving, the teams of CHS and CP were still arguing. Eventually, Discord stepped up.
"Hey, Crystal pompous!" That got everyone's attention. "Why don't you pick on someone you're own ego's size?"
"Stay out of this, Dip-cord!" Indigo Zap shouted. "Or better yet, play a prank that'll get you kicked out again! It'll save us all a headache!"
"Well, this feels like deja vu." Discord replied. "Let me tell you something: I try and I try and I try, but you all kept pushing me."
"If memory serves, your trying wasn't much effort." Sugarcoat said. "You still pulled that prank."
"If you knew the circumstances, you'd be apologizing to me!" Discord growled angrily.
"What are they talking about?" Rainbow Dash whispered.
"Don't know." Applejack replied.
"Look, everyone!" Scimitar said. "I was just trying to find a good place to play my game! Is there no personal space in this human world!"
That very sentence caught Sunset's attention. As soon as Scimitar realized what he had said, he hit himself on his forehead.
"Did you just say..." Sunset asked. "How do you know about..."
Suddenly, the microphone began to cover the whole gym. Principal Celestia spoke to everyone. With everyone's attention on her, Scimitar took the opportunity to slip away and escape. As soon as Sunset noticed he was gone, she growled angrily.
Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie and Twilight returned pushing two big boxes in and opened them up. They are revealed to be two big cannons with colorful patterns.
"What... are these?" Twilight asked.
"Party cannons, silly!" Pinkie exclaimed. She nodded her head at Vinyl, who then turned up the music. The lights then changed into flashing lights that matched the music.
Without questioning the sudden change in environment, everyone started dancing and partying. Discord bobbed his head left and right.
"This is my jam."
Meanwhile, Twilight was a little nervous when Pinkie Pie grabbed ahold of the strings attatched to the cannons. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"Absolutely!" Pinkie responded with confidence. She tugged hard at the strings and confetti boomed out bringing more life into the party. Suddenly, Pinkie Pie started to glow and her hair and ears grew. She was ponying up.
Suddenly, Twilight's device started to glow alongside Pinkie. It opened up and all of Pinkie's glow started to get drained. And just like that, Pinkie lost her pony features and became exhausted.
"I'm party-pooped."
This time, Twilight had a harder time to close her device.than before. A spark escaped and slipped under the bleachers. Twilight looked in and saw a dark forest can can be seen through a dark-purple circle. She gasped and closed her device with effort. The circle began to close when the lights came back on. everyone looked and saw Cinch abrupting the music.
"How... interesting." Cinch announced. "Like always, Canterlot High has chosen their champions with a popularity contest while we definitely chose the best in their fields. But still, despite all the loses, I admire Canterlot High for not losing their determination. I look forward to the games, even though the outcome is inevitable."
"BOO, YOU STINK!"
Everyone looked for the source of the outburst. The Rainbooms turned their attention to Discord. "Wasn't me." he said innocently. Suddenly, a halo appeared above his head.
"Discord!" Sunset shouted. She grabbed the halo and removed it before anyone saw.
"What?" Discord asked.
"What is this?" Sunset showed him what was just made.
"By my guess, it must be some golden ring." Discord said.
"Don't be a wise guy." Rainbow Dash said. "I thought you weren't going to use your magic anymore."
"What?" Discord asked with a raised eyebrow. "I didn't make that."
Then, Pinkie Pie came in groggily. Everyone caught her before she had the chance to start falling.
"Are you all right?" Applejack asked.
"A little." Pinkie said. "I was just showing off a good party then I ponied up."
"Of course, you did." Sunset said rolling her eyes.
"When suddenly, Twilight's gizmo started to open up and the magic got drained out of me."
"Drained out of you?" Sunset asked. "Twilight's thing did that?"
"Well, it's not hers, as she said." Pinkie said. "She said that Tartus guy up there told her how to make it."
Suddenly, Tartus took the microphone and the stage. He cleared his throat and presented himself.
"For those of you who don't know me, my name is Tartus. I'm the headmaster for Everton. For more information, look online. Anyway, I am also a third-party judge for the Friendship Games. I guarantee that this will be a year you'll never forget."
Sunset looked away for a moment to get herself a glass of punch, but she was shocked when she saw a drop of punch take the shape of a man and dance around the table. She picked up a paper plate and used it to flatten it.
"Now, I assume you're all wondering 'why would some random headmaster get himself involved with a competition that his school isn't a part of'. Well, I don't really care on who wins and who loses."
Sunset then saw more drops of punch fly out of the bowl. She then poked her elbow at Discord and showed it to him. He then panicked and gestured it's not him. Quietly, the two caught the punch without anyone noticing.
"To me, the Friendship Games isn't about who is superior over the other; it's about who makes the biggest impact. I see that as potential for impacting the world. I hope I can see great impact from each and every one of you."
Suddenly, the punch in the bowl began to shake. Sunset, Discord, the computer club, and the Rainbooms began to worry. Meanwhile, Tartus, holding a glowing Golden Apple in his jacket, glared his uncovered eye at Twilight.
"Or, at least... one of you."
In an instant, the punch bowl exploded. Everyone backed up from it and saw the drink spill across the floor.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"Uh..." Sunset Shimmer said.
"I saw it." Dawna called out. "I saw the punch bowl sitting at the edge. That's what made it spill."
Everyone looked at her, Tartus mostly.
"Well, if it's just that, we'll get the janitor on it as soon as possible. In the meantime, start to get ready for the first event. Thank you, Dawna."
"Dawna?" Tartus asked. He took a good look at her and smiled. "Well, well, well."
While everyone was leaving, Ricky observed the spill and rubbed his chin in worry.
"Oh, no."