//------------------------------//
// A Great Debate 
// Story: Canterlot High Days 
// by James Pwyll 
//------------------------------//

"So, my chaotic friend, who are we gazing upon this time?"

Discord, taking a moment to find amusement in the overly-refined way Celestia was sipping her tea, gave a dry chortle before once more turning his eyes to the vortex. He studied classroom after classroom within the layout of Canterlot High, before stopping at one in particular, where a pair of rather familiar-looking students were. They were sitting opposite one another, and appeared to be in the middle of a discussion of some sort. But what truly caught Discord's eye in this is who they appeared to be.

"Well, if my guess is right, I do believe that's your student's students Gallus and Smolder down there."

That piqued Celestia's interested, and as she too looked down, she could not deny that there was indeed a great deal of resemblance between the aforementioned youngsters and the two humans that now appeared to her in the vortex, at least in terms of their colouring. Nodding slowly, the Princess again turned to her companion.

"What are they up to?"

Discord shrugged his shoulders.

"Dunno. Looks like a debate or something."

Hearing that, Celestia smiled, looking down to the two youths with clear approval.

"Ah, now that's what I like to hear! A pair of fresh and eager minds, discussing and debating the great questions of life! A fierce back-and-forth on matters of intellect and philosophy! Clearly this school has been fostering these youths well."

Discord arched an eyebrow to her, letting her continue to speak.

"Pray tell, what exactly are they debating?"

Looking down to the vortex, the two immortals at last started to listen in on the conversation below.





"Smolder, you're crazy!" Gallus declared.

The girl opposite him chuckled and shrugged her shoulders.

"Hey, I stand by what I said, and there's nothing you can do that's gonna convince me otherwise."

Balling his hand into a fist, Gallus slammed the desk between them, looking to his friend with fury.

"What you're saying is nothing short of madness!"

But Smolder simply smirked, leaning in closer and looking her classmate right in the eye.

"Oh yeah?"

Gallus nodded frantically.

"Yeah! How can you possibly say that Dino Catastrophe is a better game than Zombie Evil?!"





Celestia, blinking very slowly, soon let out a long and tired-sounding sigh, then took another calming sip of her tea.

"You know...sometimes I set my hopes too high."

Discord, smiling triumphantly, snapped his fingers and conjured a kazoo out of nowhere, bringing it to his lips and blowing it.

"Let it be known across the land! Celestia finally gained some self-awareness!"

Celestia rolled her eyes, looking instead to the vortex.





"Smolder, everyone and their Grandma knows that Dino Catastrophe is nothing more than a clone of Zombie Evil! I mean come on! It's just a rip-off, plan and simple!" Gallus declared.

Smolder snorted.

"Hey, I don't care how similar they are, Dino Catastrophe is just plain better!"

Gallus frowned angrily at her.

"The only real difference between them is that your games has dinosaurs and mine has zombies!"

Smolder smirked.

"Yeah, and that makes all the difference. Because as everyone knows, dinosaurs were, are, and always will be objectively better than zombies!"





"Hmmm...the girl makes a fine point."

Celestia, upon hearing Discord's voice, turned to see him now dressed in a fancy outfit reminiscent of that of a university Professor, complete with a pair of glasses and a pipe. Taking said pipe into his mouth, the draconequus blew bubbles out of it, adjusting his glasses before finally speaking, albeit in an obviously fake "smart guy" tone.

"Dinosaurs are indeed better than zombies. I see she's got a good head on her."

Celestia, as expected, sighed again.

"So...this is how my day is going to go."





"Smolder, let's be totally real here. There's nothing about dinosaurs that would make them better enemies than zombies. I mean, zombies are...you know...zombies. They're the walking dead for crying out loud!"

Smolder frowned.

"First of all, copyright, so be careful. Secondly, the fact that they're walking dead is exactly the problem! You see a zombie coming and they're just shuffling along at the pace of a snail."

She tittered a little.

"Oh no! This falling-apart dead person is very slowly coming towards me! Whatever will I do! Oh, I know! I'll just walk at a slightly faster pace! Problem solved!"

Gallus fumed at her sarcasm, but didn't say anything, instead watching as Smolder continued.

"Now a dinosaur? Those things don't have that problem. They're fast and vicious predators! Zombies ain't got nothing on them!"

"Pfft! The game's still a rip-off! I mean, dark tone, closed paces, terrible controls, it's basically just a reskin and everyone knows it!" Gallus countered.

Smolder arched an eyebrow.

"Hey, I thought you said you liked that game?"

The boy nodded.

"I do! But let's face it, turning a corner is hard as heck with those games."

In spite of herself, Smolder afforded herself a quick chortle.

"Yeah, no argument there."

She turned, looking out of the nearby window.

"It was pretty awesome that Mayor Dazzle lifted the violent game ban, otherwise we'd have never seen those two on the shelves again!"





Celestia nearly choked on her tea.

"Mayor who now?!"

Discord waved her off.

"Oh, I'm sure it's never gonna come up again."

He stifled a laugh behind her back.





But the truce between the students was short-lived, as the two glared at one another shortly afterwards.

"Okay, maybe we can agree on that much, but there's still no excusing the fact that you actually like other terrible games!" Gallus remarked.

"Oh yeah? like what?" Smolder asked.

An I've-already-won-this-argument type of smirk crept onto Gallus' face.

"Well, for one thing, there's those cute little animal games you like so much. Like Catch-Em-All?"

Smolder's eyes widened, and she nervously looked around herself.

"Where...where did you hear that?!"

Gallus snorted, folding his arms and leaning back into his chair, clearly happy that the discussion had gone more in his favour now.

"Oh, I may have heard a rumour or two."

His smirked widened.

"The legendarily tough Smolder, playing games where you catch adorable little animals. Oh, how embarrassing!"

Slowly, Smolder narrowed her eyes.

"S...so what if I like stuff with cute animals in it! Besides, I catch them so they can fight one another, remember?"

Raising his hands, Gallus assumed a more defensive posture.

"Okay, okay, calm down, I'm just messing with you."

He took on a more mischievous look.

"Besides...you look so cute when you're flustered like that."

Immediately, Smolder's cheeks started to blush, much to Gallus' amusement. Unfortunately for the lad, this moment of having one over her did not last long, and soon she looked to him in the same way one would when looking at a person who had just stolen the last cookie on the plate. Pure rage. Gallus, perhaps sensing some oncoming conflict, swallowed loudly.

"Yes, well...um...you know, maybe we should check in with our friends and..."

He didn't get the chance to finish, for Smolder, after pushing up the sleeve on her right side, promptly slammed her elbow down. Gallus, seeing the determined look she had, as well as the snarl she was forming, sighed, realising what was happening.

"Really? Here? Now?"

Smolder nodded.

"Yep! You asked for this, Gallus!"

Rolling his eyes, Gallus unleashed an exasperated groan, then got himself in a proper sitting position. Realising that there was little he could do to dissuade her, he too took up a proper arm-wrestling stance, clasping her hand into his own. They glared at one another, just waiting for the right moment. Then, it happened, and both of them put their all into this contest of literal arms. Unfortunately, though Gallus's spirit was willing, his body was not, and it only took one forceful motion on the part of the much stronger Smolder to send him sprawling, off the desk and right onto the floor. As the boy recovered, his friend stood over him, smiling triumphantly.

"Not so cocky now, eh?"

But Gallus was not done yet, and he silently smiled while Smolder couldn't see his face. Before the girl could react, her fallen foe gave a sweeping kick along the ground, which collided with the backs of her legs. After yelping out slightly, Smolder tumbled, but contrary to where Gallus would have wanted her to fall, she instead toppled onto him. Naturally, such a collision was uncomfortable for both parties, and as they struggled to regain themselves, their mood was not exactly improved by the experience.

"Argh! Get off me!" Gallus yelled.

"Hey! I wouldn't be on you if you hadn't...hadn't..."

Smolder's words trailed off, and soon, Gallus understood why. Their current position was, from the outside, rather unfortunate, as Smolder, with her hands on the floor on either side of the boy's head, was right over him. They stared at one another, both blushing immensely, yet never saying a word. However, to the even greater embarrassment of the two, they soon found that their solitude was now interrupted by the sudden creaking of the door of the classroom they'd been using. Beyond stood their friends, who had clearly arrived to come and find them. As Sandbar, Silverstream, Yona and Ocellus stared blankly at the two, the pair on the floor immediately got off one another, standing up and brushing themselves off, with Gallus trying desperately to explain what had happened.

"Er...we...that is...what happened was..."

"It's not what it looks like!" Smolder summarized.

While the three girls in the doorway all blushed and smirked in equal measure, Sandbar simply folded his arms and looked to the two with interest.

"Well it looks like you two had another argument about video games, got into some kind of a fight, and then accidentally fell on top of one another."

The two blinked, glancing to one another quickly before again turning to Sandbar, with Gallus clearing his throat.

"In that case...it's exactly what it looks like."

Sandbar's eyebrow raised.

"Really? Because we can just as easily assume the other thing, if you like."

Gallus frowned to that.

"No, thank you."

Sandbar smiled.

"Alrighty then."





"Ha! I like that kid!" Discord remarked.

Celestia too smiled.

"Yes, I imagine you'd do much the same in his position."

The draconequus laughed.

"As if there was any chance wouldn't!"