While everyone else was enjoying their last days before classes start, Rainbow Dash and Indigo Zap decided to take a jog on the campus track where most of the team outdoor sports are held. It was also here that the football team was using the field for practice.
“Man, this track is much better than the one at CPA,” Indigo said.
“Seriously? I thought CPA had the best track,” Rainbow explained. “Ours was a bit harder.”
“Just feel the comfort of your feet. It makes your legs feel much better than what we have. And it’s better than running indoors where basketball practice is going to be held.”
“Maybe so. But you should feel the field. When I had my soccer tryouts, it was all artificial. They said that it can even take in the water during the heavy rains so that the grounds don’t become a mess. That is like 20% cooler if you ask me.”
“Could explained why it’s the best campus out there. They put sports safety first.”
“Is that why you went to get a scholarship here while the other girls were busy working on the funds for CPA’s prom?”
Indigo stopped for a moment, causing Rainbow Dash to do the same.
“Yea. I heard about what they were trying to do by taking Rarity’s idea for their own,” Indigo explained. “But I never would have figured that they would have a problem creating music and go to you girls for help.”
“Well, when Rarity overheard what was going on and the help that was needed, we all pulled our resources together and made it happened. Just wished you were there to join in.”
“Not to sound rude, but dancing and looking pretty are some things I’m not used to. I think you girls did a good job without me.”
Both girls shared a heartfelt laugh before resuming their jog. But during that time, they had to deal with the calls that were coming from the football team.
“Too bad they couldn’t show some respect to others,” Rainbow said, pointing out the players on the field.
“Welcome to the big leagues,” Indigo said. “Although, I would like to meet this Steel guy that the girls were talking about. At least he can help us out with where the safe areas are and what to look out for.”
“If he was able to get Centaur out of trouble, then he’s good in my book. I just hope Sunset is able to help out with his problems that we have been hearing about.”
They were still dealing with the calls until someone yelled at the team.
“Hey. That’s enough. We’re here to practice, remember?”
The girls stop and took a glance to see a red guy with short black hair. He was one of the players who was wearing a red practice jersey with the number 8 on it, while the others were wearing white practice jerseys.
“That must be one of the quarterbacks on the team,” Rainbow said.
“Didn’t Daisy said that her cousin was the starting quarterback?” Indigo asked.
But they were able to get their answer soon enough when a black guy with white hair spoke up.
“Hey Blaze. Who put you in charge?”
“Coach Tirek. And if you don’t like it, then you can take it up with him, Rocky,” Blaze replied.
Rocky got the message and backed away.
“Well, looks like we found Blaze,” Indigo said. “And I think that must be Steel next to him.” She was pointing out the green, bigger guy with brown hair, wearing a white jersey with the number 58 on it.
“You got that right.” They look to see a guy with brown skin and gray hair that was in a ponytail, wearing a white shirt, blue shorts, and gray shoes standing next to the water coolers. “That’s the center duo who now leads the team.”
Rainbow and Indigo walk up to meet the guy.
“I’m guessing that you help out on the team, right?” Rainbow asked.
“I help out most sports teams on here. Name’s Needle Spike” He extended his hand out to shake the girls’ hands. “I think I’ve seen you two around before.”
“I was here when I tried out for soccer practice. Name’s Rainbow Dash.”
“Now I remember seeing you,” Needle said. “You were really fast and agile on the field with the soccer ball. Coach thinks very highly of you down the road.”
“I know I’m awesome, but I didn’t expect to be that awesome.”
“Just make sure you don’t let it go to your head. She hates it when that happen.”
“Well, I was at the gym court for basketball practice. Name’s Indigo Zap.”
Needle placed his finger on his chin. “Indigo, Indigo. Where have I’ve heard that name?” Then he finally remembered. “Now I know. Silver was telling me and the others how good a team player you were in high school and gave you the invite, right?”
“That’s me.”
“I’m guessing you haven’t had a chance to meet her in person,” Needle said, to which Indigo shook her head. “That’s OK. I’m sure she’s moving in to her new place on the edge of campus right now. Drink?”
“Why not. I’m feeling a bit thirsty.” Rainbow Dash went to grab a cup of water. But when she picked it up, the water started to slowly come out from the bottom of the paper cup. “What the-”
Needle quietly laugh for a moment. “Sorry, sorry. I have a habit of pulling pranks around here. You know, keeps the team loose out there. Looks like you grabbed one of the paper cups that I added a cut to the bottom. Here, use this one.” He grabbed another cup that was left intact and handed it to Rainbow Dash.
“Nice one. You should meet Pinkie Pie. She host the craziest parties and likes to pull a few pranks on the side.”
“We’ve met Blaze’s cousin earlier during orientation,” Indigo explained. “She’s rooming with a classmate of mine from CPA.”
“We also heard a bit about Blaze and Steel, not to mention Silver, from a couple of… friends of mine that work here, Aria and Adagio,” Rainbow added.
That was when Needle’s mood got serious. “Then I can guess you’ve heard about Centaur, right?”
“From what we have heard of,” Rainbow explained. “A friend of mine from CHS is rooming with him.”
“And we weren't pleased with what he went through,” Indigo added. “My school has had some bad habits with respect towards other before Principal Cinch resigned long after we had the Friendship Games. I think we have an idea what he’s been going through.”
“But right now, we’re leaving it to our friend, Sunset, to get him through this, once they meet,” Rainbow said.
“Well, I’m sure that he can use the help unloading, since Blaze and Steel were needed here. I just hope that he can get back to his old self before that mess went on. Even Rocky has been helping out the best that he can.”
“That’s the guy with the white hair that Blaze was yelling at, right?” Rainbow asked Needle.
“Yep. He’s also my roommate. Likes to hit the punching bag every now and then. Just don’t be surprised if he judges you too quickly. He has a habit of that. All of us are like… a close family, if you can call it that.”
“Seems that way with me and my friends,” Rainbow said.
“Hey, hang on just a moment.” Needle turned his direction to the field. “Hey Blaze! You got a moment?”
“Sure!” Blaze told Steel to take over before making his way to Needle’s area. “What is it?”
“Just met some of Daisy’s new friends, not to mention they’re friends of Centaur’s roommate. This is Rainbow Dash and Indigo Zap.”
“Indigo! Silver has been telling me a lot about you over the summer,” Blaze said. “She hopes you have be a big team player for the team, maybe be their next captain next year.”
Indigo was a bit startled to hear that. “I didn’t think I was that great.”
“Well, you better be working hard to make that happen, because this will be her last year on the team as their captain,” Blaze explained.
“Is she graduating after this year?” Rainbow asked.
“Not really. She wants to focus on her law degree next year, so she knows that she won’t have time to compete in sports by then. And I don’t blame her. It’s her fourth year here.”
For some reason, this got Indigo thinking. “Say, are you and Silver… you know…”
Blaze was able to get the hint. “Oh no. We’re just good friends. In fact, she never thought about the dating scene since she’s been here. I think most people here know what her parents do for a living and want to avoid being a case for them.” He started to grab one of the water cups, but Needle stopped him and pointed to another cup. “You really need to stop doing that. Just make sure Rocky gets that one.” He took the other cup and took a quick drink and threw the cup in the waste basket. “Well, I better get back to the team. It was nice meeting you. And I hope to meet your other friends as well.” Blaze started to run off and rejoin the team.
“You know what, we might as well head back to our room,” Indigo said. “It was nice meeting you.”
“Same here,” Needle replied.
Indigo made sure she grabbed Rainbow and started to leave the track.
“Indigo? What are you doing?”
“Setting things into motion.”
“What things?”
“I’ll explain on the way.”
Back at Clover Dorm, Gear Works was working on the A/C unit in Sunny and Sour’s room, with Aria watching over the work. Sunny and Sour stayed in the other room with Rarity until the work was done. Rarity and Sunny were looking outside the window, seeing the other students walking by. But Sour Sweet was acting more anxious that ever.
“Sour, will you just sit down,” Sunny ordered.
“I can’t. I just… can’t.”
“If you’re thinking about Centaur, don’t even bother,” Aria said. “Otherwise, you’re sending the wrong message to him. I don’t need some creeper to be chasing him around.”
“I am not a creeper!”
Aria got up to Sour’s face. “If you become one, then I will see to it that you sleep in a hospital bed for years.”
“Trust me. You don’t want to get on her bad side,” Gears yelled to them.
“Dearie. Now’s not the time to be boyfriend hunting,” Sunny said. “Not with that attitude.”
“Oh? And should I wait for Indigo to find me a loser the same way she did with you?”
“That was but a mistake that she made,” Sunny said. “We were early in high school when it happened.”
This got Rarity’s attention. “Dear, did you have a bad dating experience back then?”
Sunny let out a sigh. “You remember I told you about Tenderhoof?” Rarity nodded. “Well, Indigo hooked me up with him during our freshman year. I went along, thinking it was alright. But somehow, we just didn’t… connect, that’s all.”
“What happened after that?” Rarity asked.
“Well, we hardly saw each other after that, until the Friendship Games came around. After all that has happened, we just started talking as friends once again. That when he told me about his dream of traveling around the world and seeing what most people don’t get to see. So I wished him luck on his journey.”
“I think I remember reading up on his website earlier.” The girls looked over to see Gears next to Aria, wiping his hands clean. “He just finished his four week trip around Japan and is now in China.” He took his cell phone out and started to find the site before handing it to Rarity and Sunny.
“Oh wow,” Rarity replied, scrolling the site of his phone. “He has pictures and videos of his journey. We have you take a look at it later on.” She handed the phone back to Gears.
“So, have you ever had a bad dating experience before?” Sunny asked Rarity.
Rarity let out a sigh before she spoke. “One experience I wish I never experience. And it happened during my first Spring Fling dance. My dress was ruined in the process.”
“Hold on,” Gears spoke. “Were you the one that was with Blueblood that time?”
“How did you know?”
“I was working the drink table when someone lost their balance and crashed into the table. The punch bowl went flying in the process and landed on a girl that Blueblood was hiding behind when it was coming his way. She just lost it and punched him in the face.”
“He didn’t act like a gentleman to protect me from the punch bowl,” Rarity reacted.
“Well, after that, he was having a hard time recovering for a week. I had a class with him, and he just looked like a mess since then. The look was priceless.”
“Well, I guess he got what he deserved,” Rarity replied.
“Isn’t he the principal’s nephew?” Sunny asked.
“Distance nephew,” Rarity corrected. “And he’s not what they say about him being a gentleman, that’s for sure.”
“No doubt what you did effected him for life. Or at least until he graduated,” Gears explained. “Well, got the A/C working again. Shouldn’t have any problems this time.”
Sour Sweet raised her hands and said, “Finally!” before going back to her room to get some cool air from the A/C unit.
“I swear, she’s going to cause trouble one day,” Aria said. “And I hate to be the one to clean it up.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure she doesn’t cause any,” Sunny explained. “You plan to have the fans removed, right?”
“Already unplugged and ready to leave,” Gears replied. “And if it starts to act up again, let me or Aria know. But hopefully, that won’t happen.”
It wasn’t long before Indigo and Rainbow Dash came across the hallway, only to see Rarity’s door left open, causing them to stop by.
“Guess who we just met near the track?” Indigo asked Sunny.
“Who, dearie?”
“Blaze. He was with the team practicing when we got a chance to talk to him. Takes his role seriously. And he’s single.” A grin came across Indigo’s face.
“Dearie. You are not going to hook me up with another boy you think would be suitable for me. I told you time and time again not to even bother.”
That was when Rarity decided to intervene. “Sunny dear. Maybe you should give it some thought. This is Daisy’s cousin we’re talking about.”
“I rather make my own choice in who I should date,” Sunny replied.
Rainbow Dash decided to add her opinion. “You know, his roommate, Steel, might be single as well. Maybe a double date should be in order, Rarity.”
Rarity raised her finger in excitement. “That’s sounds like a great idea. If we get to meet them, then we could see which one would be suitable for us.”
“You sure?” Sunny asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I promise,” Rarity replied. “And perhaps you can learn about how to approach a boy from my view as well. I do know how to get a boy to help out anyway.”
“Like that time you got those guys to get that piano up to the music room back at school?” Rainbow asked.
“Hey, it worked, right?”
Gears just shook his head. “You girls are just something.”
Rainbow Dash was able to look at him. “You must be Gear Works.” She walked up to shake his hand. Name’s-”
“Rainbow Crash,” Gears finished.
She was shocked when she heard that name. “How did you know that name?”
“Because you were the only one who crashed into me between 3rd and 4th period classes during, I believe, your freshman year… and keep on going just yelling that you were sorry.”
“Wait. You mean-”
Gears nodded his head. “How can I not forget that rainbow hair blazing by me.”
Rainbow Dash just rubbed the back of her head. “I guess I was in a hurry getting from one end of the school to the other to get to my next class.”
“Gears, you are just full of surprises,” Rarity explained.
“Well, we need to head to our rooms,” Rainbow explained. “I want to tell Pinkie about another boy we met near the track.” Both her and Indigo went on their way back to there respective rooms.
“Looks like they met Needle as well,” Aria said. “Guess you could be cleaning up more messes in the future if those two got together.”
“Is this Needle guy a party planner?” Rarity asked.
“More like a prankster,” Gears explained. “He likes to pull harmless pranks on those that he knows. Most likely, sports teams.”
“Then I think Aria might be right about that one,” Rarity explained.
“Well, I better put these fans in the truck so that I can take them back to the maintenance building, in case someone else needs them.” Gears went back to the other room and collect the pair of fans before leaving the room.
“At least that’s out of the way,” Aria said. “I just hope that’s the last of the dorm problems that I have to deal with.”
Rarity was looking out the window when she saw four guys walking on the sidewalk. “Say Aria. What does Blaze look like?”
“Red guy with black hair. His roommate will be a bit taller than him,” Aria explained. “Why do you ask?”
“Because I just found them walking by.” Rarity went to open the window and stuck her head outside. “Oh excuse me. Can I ask you something?”
Sunny just place her hand on her face.
“You wouldn’t happened to be Blaze Lionheart, would you?”
“And who wants to know?” he asked back.
“Rarity Belle. Me and my roommate, Fluttershy, met your cousin a week ago.”
“I see. Your roommate is taking the same major that my cousin is taking, right?” Blaze asked, to which Rarity nodded. “She hasn’t been any trouble, has she?”
“Oh no. Not at all. I was just curious if… gosh, how should I put this.”
That was when Pinkie stuck her head out of her window. “SHE WANTS TO KNOW IF YOU AND STEEL WILL GO ON A DOUBLE DATE WITH HER AND SUNNY!”
“PINKIE!!!” Rarity was both embarrassed and furious at the same time.
“No doubt Indigo had a hand in this,” Sunny explained.
Blaze was able to make a witty response. “Wow. Talk about rushing into things.”
“I’m sorry about her outburst. It’s just that… both me and Sunny here had some… bad dating experiences in the past.”
“What she said is the truth,” Aria yelled as she walked towards the window. “Explained it to me and Gears.”
“Hey there Aria,” Needle waved, barely seeing her at the window.
“Hey Needle. Pulled any stunts as of late?”
“Does putting a hole in the cup I picked up answer your question,” Rocky yelled back.
“Hey. Blaze told me to do it,” Needle responded.
“Whatever.”
“Hey Aria. Have you or your sisters heard from Silver today?” Blaze asked.
Aria tapped on Rarity’s shoulder, requesting her to move so that she could clearly respond. “Not at the moment. Adagio’s not even sure where she moved into right now.”
“Neither have we,” Steel replied.
“I’m sure we’ll find out soon,” Blaze said.
Before Aria could pull back, she was able to see Sunset with Twilight, Moon Dancer, Trixie, Flash, and Rara walking towards them. “Looks like the others are making their way back,” she said to Rarity.
The guys looked as saw Flash waving at them.
“Hey there, Flash. You got Centaur settled in,” Blaze yelled.
“Got everything unloaded, thanks to some friends of mine,” Flash yelled back.
But when Blaze brought up Centaur’s name, Sour looked up, and thoughts went swirling in her head. ‘Is he here? Is he here? OK, calm down. This is just your first time seeing him. You want to make a good first impression, that’s all.’
When Flash joined up with Blaze, he introduced his friends to the guys, exchanging handshakes in the process.
“So, I heard that you’re trying to help out with Centaur’s problem, right?” Blaze asked Sunset.
“From what I have heard so far. And it looks like Gem wasn’t pleased with how he spent his summer.”
“We told him not to worry about it anymore,” Steel explained, “but he wouldn’t listen.”
“Maybe Gem can knock some sense into him,” Rocky requested. This caused Blaze to issue a stern glare at Rocky, causing him to flinch.
“Maybe Applejack can get him on track,” Sunset explained. “At least on the archery issue. No sense aiming an arrow at someone.”
“Who would that be?” Blaze asked.
Sunset looked over to find Centaur, Applejack, and Gem talking to each other. Applejack was exchanging playful jabs with Centaur as all three of them laughed at what they were talking about.
“Looks like he found himself a keeper,” Steel said.
“I wouldn’t go that far just yet,” Sunset explained. “She knows to take it easy on him, after what he’s been through.”
“That’s good to hear,” Aria yelled to them.
But Back in her room, Sour noticed Applejack next to Centaur, and it caused her eye to twitch. ‘What? She’s with him? That cowgirl… is with him?’
Aria started to see this as well, and soon realized who wasn’t around. “Sunny, is Sour still in your room?”
“I guess.” That was when Sunny started to worry as well. “Oh my. I better make sure.”
Sunny got up and made her way to her room. Aria decided to follow her and made sure that that everything was fine. But when they got there, fear and worry started to show on their faces.
“Oh no. Sour, do not do this. Don’t you dare.”
“Sunny, what’s wrong with her?” Aria asked.
But instead of answering, Sunny ran back to the other room and went straight to the window. Sticking her head out, she was hoping that Pinkie’s window would be open.
“Indigo! Lemon! CODE SOUR!!!”
Indigo was the first to stick her head out. “What!?”
“You heard what I said. GET OVER HERE REAL FAST!!!”
Lemon, who was with Indigo joined her. “Did she say what I think she said?”
“She just did,” Indigo answered. “Rainbow, Pinkie, I’m going to need your help,” she said as she was making her way out of the room with Lemon behind her.
Rainbow and Pinkie went to follow them, causing Rainbow to ask, “What’s going on?”
“Remember what we told you about Sour’s outbursts,” Indigo asked, causing Rainbow to nodded. “She’s about to have one right now.”
All four of them ran down the hallway to Rarity’s room. When they just got there, They looked for Sunny, only to find her in her room with Aria. What happened next was what they didn’t what have happen. Sour’s face soon snapped, and she ran all the way to the window and opened it, yelling:
“HOW DARE YOU HIT ON MY BOY, YOU STINKING COWGIRL!!!”
Applejack, Centaur, and Gem were surprised at what they just heard. But before she could continue, Indigo and Sunny were able to grab Sour and drag her back inside, trying to pin her down. Pinkie, Rainbow, and Aria soon joined in and held her down, hoping she would calm down.
“You let me go!” Sour yelled.
“Not until you stop what you’re doing,” Sunny replied.
“Not until I teach that cowgirl a lesson… WITH MY FISTS!”
Somehow, this caught the attention of Sugarcoat and Fluttershy, who went to check on what was going on. They soon saw the girls holding Sour down, but having a hard time.
“Is she doing it again?” Sugarcoat asked.
“Does seeing AJ with Centaur count?” Sunny explained.
Seeing what was going on, an idea came to Sugarcoat’s mind. “Fluttershy. Can you display the Stare that you were explaining to me just now? On her?”
Fluttershy was a bit hesitant to respond. “Um, I guess I could try.” She went up to Sour’s face, still seeing the anger in her eyes. She started to stare into those eyes, and her stare slowly grew. “You will stop what you’re doing. You will calm down. YOU. WILL. OBEY ME!” At that point, Sour went from anger to stunned, before going to sleep. Fluttershy breath a sigh of relief. “I guess that worked.”
The other girls were able to relax after what they just experienced.
“Does this happen often?” Rainbow asked.
“Rarely,” Sunny replied.
As they started to recover and put Sour on the bed, Sunset yelled from outside.
“Is everyone OK there?”
Aria was able to go to the window and said, “We’re OK. Just… a minor issue… that’s all.”
“Minor issue my rear,” Applejack replied. “What the hay was that all about?”
“You don’t want to know,” Aria replied.
Sunset and Applejack looked at each other, causing Sunset to ask, “This isn’t because of what we discussed hours ago, was it?”
“I hope not,” Applejack replied.
Aria started to receive a text on her cell phone. She looked to see a list of texts coming in, and looked back to the others outside. “Blaze, just got a text from Adagio. Said that Silver was trying to call you, but got no answer. Sea Spray and Crab Hammer are tied up in traffic. She needs some help unloading.”
“I must have left my phone back in my room,” Blaze replied. “You have an address?”
Aria found the address and forwarded it. “I sent it to Gem.”
“Got it,” Gem said as she looked at her phone. “Do you know when those two will get here?”
“Not sure. All I know is that Daisy and Soul are already there.”
“Knowing those two girls, they can’t even lift the heavy stuff,” Rocky said.
Blaze looked up to Aria and said, “Thanks for the info. We’ll try to get there once we get changed.”
“Do you need some extra help?” Flash asked.
“Not really,” Steel replied. “The six of us should have this covered.”
“Hey Rarity,” Blaze yelled, causing Rarity to stick her head out the window. “Maybe we can chat later on, if you like, once everything calms down on your side.”
“That… would be lovely. Is there a way that I can call you later?”
“If you see Daisy later on, you can get it from her. Otherwise, you might find me on the football field on some afternoons,” Blaze explained.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Rarity replied.
“Well, we better head off and help Silver out,” Gem said.
“No problem,” Applejack replied. “We might want to make sure our girl up there, Sour, is alright. I have a feeling that Fluttershy used the Stare on her to put her to sleep.”
“It was nice to finally meet you two,” Sunset said to Gem and Centaur. “If you need to talk to one of us, you have our numbers, right?”
“Already on our phones,” Centaur replied.
Blaze and his friends started to walk away from the rest of the group.
“Man, today’s been something, hasn’t it,” Flash said to the others.
“It has,” Moon Dancer responded. “At least we got Gem up to date on the bracelet.”
“I just hope Sea Spray and Crab Hammer are alright.” Rara added. “You know how traffic can be back home.”
“One big mess,” Moon Dancer responded.
“Well, I’m sure you want to check on Sour,” Flash said to Sunset. “I’m… just going to go to the University Center for a quick bite to eat.”
“Care if Trixie joins you?”
“I don’t see why not. Our roommates are going to be out for a while. Might as well enjoy what’s there.”
“Hey!” Pinkie yelled from Sour’s window. “You should check out the gaming room at the UC downstairs. They have some classic and pinball games there.”
“She’s right about that.” The others saw Gears walking outside. “I heard screaming earlier. Someone care to explain?”
“Might as well explain as we check on Sour,” Sunset said.
“Girls, I’m going to join Flash and Trixie to the UC. Maybe some pinball games will help get my mind off of things,” Rara explained.
With that, Flash, Rara, and Trixie went on their way to the UC, while Sunset and the others went back inside, explaining what they just saw.
But there was a different conversation with Blaze and his friends.
“Hey Blaze. I thought you had your phone with you,” Rocky asked.
“I do,” Blaze replied. “But it wasn’t because Silver needs our help.”
Needle responded, “You mean-”
“I do,” Blaze quickly replied. All of them stopped for a moment. “Sea Spray and Crab Hammer must have encountered one on their way here. Gem, try to get in touch with them and see if you can get an update from them. Centaur, call the professor and have her meet us at Silver’s place. I want both of you at Silver’s asap and get everything up and running. We’ll clean up and meet you there.”
“Blaze. There’s a good chance that it could be a category three that they encounter,” Centaur said.
“What makes you say that?” Steel asked.
“Not here,” Centaur replied. “Daisy and me can explain it over at Silver’s. We might want Adagio there as well.”
“Do it,” Blaze replied. “You both know what to do. Knight’s honor.
“KNIGHT’S HONOR.”