//------------------------------// // Friendship Games Part II: Games We Play // Story: Ashes to Inferno // by Sun Aura //------------------------------// Right. Vice Principal Luna wants her to figure out how this world’s Magic works and keep it in check during the Friendship Games. Easier said than done, considering that the girls are starting to Pony Up without being part of the band. Oddly enough, while the girls seemed to 'Pony Up' more often, it did seem as if the Magic was becoming more stable. She couldn't quite describe how she knew, it was something she could feel through the Magic itself, something that only she would know to look for. Even so, this level between stable and unstable wasn't ideal for 'keeping it in check'. But at least for tonight, it was time for distressing under a pile of dog. She was going to go in, compete tomorrow, and do everything she can to keep things from blowing up in their faces. Of course, sometimes the unexpected happens. Like the unpredictability of Twilight Sparkle. “This is going to be a headache,” Sunset groaned as she leaned against the lockers. “Gameplan going rapidly downhill?” Flash guessed. “More than you can imagine,” Applejack nodded, leaning against the locker with her. “Come on, it’s not that bad!” Pinkie insisted. “Really?” Rarity sighed, still looking a little tired as she leaned against Applejack. “What would you call the Interdimensional Counterpart of a close friend being at Crystal Prep of all places?” “A chance for a lot of new friends?” she replied. “No offense Pinks,” Rainbow said. “But Twilight or not, we’re currently her rivals which isn’t really good for friendship.” “Well, Sunset was her rival and now she’s a friend,” Fluttershy defended. “What’s going on?” Flash interrupted. "This world’s Twilight is on Crystal Prep’s team,” Sunset clarified. “Which means that we’re playing against her. And she seems to be investigating something or other but I can’t figure it out yet.” “Wait,” he frowned. “Glasses and hair in a bun, right?” “You ran into her?” she asked. “She might’ve wandered around,” he nodded. “So half the school probably confused her by saying hi. And she probably thinks I’m a complete tool.” “Thought she was our usual Twi and started flirting?” she smiled. “Like you wouldn’t do the same!” he defended. “Possibly,” she shrugged. “Let’s hope she doesn’t completely destroy us in the Games.” “Do you really think she’d be that bad?” Fluttershy asked. “Maybe,” she mused. “Not maliciously, but again, we are her competition. And we definitely aren’t her friends yet. She has no reason to hold back.” “Well, we won’t hold back either,” Rainbow agreed. “We’re going to win the Games, and then we can do the usual Friendship thing.” “Or do it during the Games,” Pinkie suggested. “Since, you know, that’s the point of 'Friendship Games'!” While they debated over what to do, Sunset thought up her own plan. She knew one person who could help her figure out Magic and also help handle this Twilight. Well, she knew one Pony. This was bad. This was very very bad. Not only did the Portal seem to disappear, but her Magic had been messed with. Drained. That wasn’t too much of a problem, she could replenish her energy with food and rest. But it was the fact that her Magic had been drained in the first place was the concerning part. She’d wanted to get to the bottom of it as soon as possible, but the culprit, the other Twilight had run off before she could figure it out. After that, she’d been dragged away by Rarity to put on the new outfits for the pre-game get together in the gym. At least there she’d have a chance to figure things out. Sunset could handle this. She had to. The others were looking for her to lead, and without access to Princess Twilight she couldn’t even get any guidance there. Making her way through the gym, she found this world’s Twilight. “Twilight,” Sunset said, getting the girl’s attention. “What have you been up to?” “Me?” this Twilight shrank back a bit. “O-oh, I was just, uh-“ “Who wants to know?” a blue-haired Shadowbolt cut her off, getting in Sunset’s face. “Um, we do!” Rainbow answered, getting in the girl’s face. Sunset watched as it devolved into the usual school rivalry. But more importantly, she watched Twilight. She was strange, acting little like the one she knew. The way she shrank back and hid away was more like Fluttershy on a bad day. The only other one not getting caught up in the rivalry was Pinkie, who instead nudged Sunset’s side before sliding over to Twilight. At least she could try and talk to her. Whatever was happening was definitely because of that other Twilight. Acting strange or not, she was draining their Magic energy and had disrupted the Portal. The only question was why? What was the point of that? It would be difficult to do anything about it until after the first round of the Games, so Sunset opted instead for sticking to playing the game, so to speak. As expected, Twilight did just as well as she did during the academic parts. Better, in fact. Sunset slipped somewhere on the math. She’d started to go over the equation when she remembered that there were more important things. She ran off stage in time to see Flash seemingly strike out. “Well, she won’t even talk to me,” Flash sighed as she walked up. “To be fair, I think she has something else on her mind,” Sunset frowned, watching the girl walk off. “You’re not actually going to try and flirt with her just because she looks like Princess Twilight, right?” “I’m a teenage boy but I have some self-control,” he pouted. “At this point I’m just being a friend. She looked like she needed it.” “I was half-joking,” she sighed. “I know,” he elbowed her side. “But you’re also kinda right. I’d be lying if I said she wasn’t pretty, but I get that she’s not the Twilight we know, even if it’s taking a little longer to see it.” “But you do see the differences, right?” she asked. “She’s not….. confident.” “You’ve seen how Crystal Prep is,” he said. “It’s hard to be confident without support. I know you’re worried about what she might be dong, but you can balance that with being a friend.” “You’re right,” she said. “But that’s what scares me.” “Being a friend?” he asked. “Her lack of friends,” she clarified, shaking her head. “Friends can help you, encourage you to reach for your dreams, but they’re also there to keep you in check. It’s obvious she’s trying to do something with our Magic, but if there’s no one to remind her of the limits, she could end up like I was.” “Do you really think that?” he asked. “Somewhat,” she said. “As she is now, her mindset’s a bit better. Hopefully the lack of confidence keeps her in check until we can talk to her, but if something other than confidence pushes her over the limit…” “Yeah,” he nodded. “Well, best way to cut that off is start the friendship part early.” “I’ll gather the girls,” she said. “We’ll try friendship, but we need a backup plan as well.” The triathlon was a disaster zone. Twilight’s device had drained Applejack’s Magic, and sent everything haywire. Miniature portals popped into existence, bringing plant creatures that had to be from Everfree. At least the danger had been contained. With Rainbow distracting the plants, most of the crowd had been able to evacuate the stands. By the time Sunset crossed the finish line, winning a point for CHS in the process, the portals had disappeared as well. And that freaked her out. She didn’t know what this world’s Magic was doing now, and even if she did, how was she supposed to do anything about Portals? Especially with her Magic getting drained? Any of them could’ve gotten hurt, or worse. “Um, excuse me?” Sunset looked over to where the girl, the other Twilight, was, and her skin bristled. She tried not to be mad, because while a Counterpart could be different, it was still Twilight at heart. Whatever she was trying to do, it wasn’t what happened. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen,” Twilight began. “I just wanted to learn about the strange energy coming from you school. I didn’t know that it was Magic, or… how it works.” “That’s okay,” Rainbow shrugged, instinctively stepping forward to comfort. “Neither do we.” The device around her neck began glowing, and Sunset watched in fear as Rainbow’s Magic drained into it. Without thinking, she ran and caught her as she fell. Why was this happening? “I’m sorry!” Twilight shouted, trying to get a handle on the device. “It just started absorbing energy on its own! But I’m not sure how!” “What do you mean you don’t know how?!” Sunset shouted. She tried to close the device as well, but it shot a beam into the sky. Above them, another Portal opened, this one thankfully somewhere less dangerous than Everfree. “It also causes these corresponding rifts to appear!” Twilight continued. “But I don’t know how that works either!” She didn’t know. There was no grand plan or anything, she was just too curious for her own good. And perhaps that was better. But instead, it hit far too close to home for Sunset. She knew exactly what happened when you messed with Magic you didn’t understand, and especially when you messed with this Magic without the best intentions. And while a rational part of her said ‘this isn’t your Twilight, she doesn’t know how Magic works’, another part of her said ‘she should’ve been safer’. Because even though she’d decided to forgo safe experimentation, she didn’t stop messing with it, even after seeing it had bad effects on them. But above all, because of what could have happened. And maybe that was hypocritical, considering her past, but she’d been too far gone when she realized what happened, while this still had a chance. “Is there anything you do know?!” Sunset snapped. “Like how to stop this? Or how to fix the portal to Equestria?!” “Equestria?” Twilight muttered, shrinking back again. “You’re supposed to be so smart!” she said, grabbing and closing the device. “But did you ever think you shouldn’t be messing around with things you don’t understand?!” “But I want to understand!” she insisted, a small burst of confidence pushing forth. “But you don’t!” she shouted. “And worst of all, you put the lives of my friends in danger!” Sunset didn’t realize how loud she’d been, how angry, until after the girl ran off with whispered apologies. Rainbow’s hand was on her shoulder, not as reprimand but as comfort, but she still felt terrible. While she needed someone to tell her exactly how far down the rabbit hole she was going, a rant full of rage probably wasn’t the best. Then again, it was her own fault too. If she could figure out this world’s Magic better, figure out how to Stabilize it, then none of this would’ve happened. She tried to stop her thoughts from going further, from pointing out how Magic in this world at all was her fault. She just hoped she could stop this, before anyone else made her mistakes.