//------------------------------// // Chapter 19: ACADECA // Story: Thomas & Equestria Girls 2: Adventures From Sodor // by LPFanFic //------------------------------// Thomas & Equestria Girls 2: Adventures From Sodor! Chapter 19: ACADECA "Welcome back to the Crystal Race!" Principal Cadance announced. Students and faculty from both Crystal Prep Academy and Canterlot High School cheered and applauded from their own stadium bleachers surrounding CPA's soccer field. They were set up to face each other while also able to view the event through three, large televised monitors stationed within the middle. Everyone was excited for the event. Cadance continued. "Today, our contestants will be competing in an academic decathlon, where students who display an advanced knowledge in each academic curriculum will earn a point for their team." "The academic decathlon is the most important event in my opinion," Shining Armor said. "Our donors will see CPA and CHS students excel in fields of chemistry, algebra, and carpentry, just to name a few." "Agreed! I'm looking forward to seeing everyone witness a shinning example of just how far advanced studying can go." "And we look forward to seeing what surprises both teams have in store for us today." One of the large monitors flashed on and the Shadowbolts appeared on screen from a classroom, which was being broadcasted from inside the school. Another monitor flashed on revealing the Wondercolts in the same room. CPS students cheered for the Shadowbolts while CHS students politely cheered for Thomas and his friends. Diesel and the Shadowbolts stood proud and confident, not even looking remotely avid. Thomas and the Wondercolts ranged from different stances. Gordon and James were showing off for the camera while the others remained quite but happy to be participating. "The Wondercolts still hold an early lead after yesterday's event," Cadance announced. "And the Shadowbolts will have to step up their game in order to surpass the other team," Shining Armor added. "Which won't be a problem for today's event. But the question on everyone's mind from both sides are whether these new Wondercolts can uphold a consistent winning streak." "Or will the decathlon be the rock in their road that throttles our Shadowbolts to the top?" Back inside the school itself, The Wondercolts and Shadowbolts were in a science room standing across from one another. Three cameramen stood on the sidelines so as to broadcast the event for everyone out in the bleachers to watch. There were also several teachers present in the room to make sure each contestant had the tools, and instruct safety procedures to compete without running into any accidents while woodworking and conducting chemical compartments. While both teams waited to begin, they took part in back talking one another over who would win today's race. "Let's see how well you manage to weasel your way through the decathlon," Sour Sweet boasted with crossed arms. "Good luck, steamies!" Diesel chuckled in his nasally chortle. The Engines all glared at Diesel and the Shadowbolts all pompously taunting them from across the room. But while both teams budded heads, Lemon Zest saw Percy and waved happily at him while clutching her headphones. Percy saw this and made sure his friends weren't looking before bashfully doing the same. He puts on the headsets Lemon Zest gave him and beamed when he heard her rock music play. Just then, Juniper Montage came barging through the door with a giant grin on her face. "You guys won't believe it!" She said. "Everyone from Canterlot High came out to cheer you on!" Thomas and the others were amazed. "Hey!" the teacher said. "Only official team members allowed during the event!" "It's okay!" She had to think of a quick excuse. "I'm… their personal trainer!" "You're their instructor?" Sunny Flare scoffed. "Yes!" Juniper said, proudly. "Just here to give some last-minute advice for my team." "You've got a minute before we go live again," The teacher advised. The Engines dared not object despite their confusion. Juniper then eagerly approached her friends. Earlier, Thomas, Emily and the rest showed concern about the Academic Decathlon since learning what was required of them in order to win. They didn't want to look foolish in front of Canterlot High and the Shadowbolts. The group knew next to nothing about academic curriculums. Luckily, Juniper Montage stepped up and volunteered to teach the Engines a few basic and key points to each field they'd be working in. All morning until the afternoon, they spent learning everything they could about science, math, carpentry, and bakery. Juniper went through each area with each engine step by step to give them a better understanding of how and what they'll need to do to perfect. Each engine practiced in different fields they were comfortable with but even this didn't seem to help much. The rigorous training was tough for the Engines to learn on the spot, but some showed vast signs that proved they at least understood each component. Some also found it too frustrating and were unable to complete it properly. Just as they thought of quitting and accepting loss, the Engines kept at it thanks to Thomas' and Juniper's encouragement, who were beginning to see potential in their improvements. The Engines didn't have time to actually practice each class, however. But still Juniper tried her best to get everyone caught up. "Alright," Juniper began. "Now the Wondercolts don't necessarily have to win today's game. You just need to earn enough points to at least bypass the Shadowbolts in tomorrow's event." "But we don't wanna look like fools in front of everyone either, Juniper," James said. "Too late," Indigo Zap snickered. Her and the others snickered as well. "The point of this race is to fund better schooling," Toby said. "Won't it look bad on our part if we don't represent that?" "Not if we work together," Thomas said. "We'll get through today's event by doing just that." "And Principal Cadance will see us showing sportsmanship just like we said," Emily said. "It's already making the Shadowbolts look bad from the sound of it," Gordon teased. Some of the Shadowbolts overheard this and shied away in shame. They remembered Principal Cadance scolding them about sportsmanship and tried reserving any urge to talk back against. Bickering and arguing among each other alone resulted in Diesel self-appointing himself as their new leader because of it. "We have Juniper to thank for keeping us up to date on all this school work," Thomas said. "So, let's not have it all go to waste." Juniper beamed a bashful smile. "Alright," Called the instructor. "Wondercolts, Shadowbolts, you're up!" "Remember," Juniper continued. "All you gotta do is follow instructions and apply whatever makes sense to you. Including but not limited to; solving quadratic formulas, record accurate reactions from elements and compounds composed of atoms, molecules, ions and their composition, structure, properties, behavior, and the changes they undergo with other substances." The Engines all blinked with perplexity. But Juniper was still beaming with determination. "In other words; Fake it till you make it!" [Appearing one by one, The Engines stood in blue backdrop and took steps forward while snapping their fingers.] Thomas & Wondercolts: "Ho! We're here take you down." "We're here take you down!" [Thomas took the lead with Percy and Emily on his left, James and Toby on his right, and Gordon taking up the middle. ] "We're here take you down!" "Take you down!" [Then the Shadowbolts appear one by one in a purple backdrop. Diesel led the gang with Sour Sweet and Sunny Flare to his right, Sugarcoat and Indigo zap to his left, and Lemon Zest in the back.] Diesel & Shadowbolts: "We're gonna to take you out." "Oh oh!" "We're gonna to take you out." [Thomas and his unnerved friends stepped back the closer the Shadowbolts got while snapping their fingers.] "Aw aw!" "We're gonna to take you out!" "Take you out!" The first leg of the academic decathlon was in science. Shadowbolts were stationed at a lab table on one side of the room and the Wondercolts sat at a lab station of their own. Both teams had to follow a set of instructions and preform chemical reactions in a very specific order with very specific ingredients. Judges held their clipboards and stood by the sidelines, often taking notes while observing the two teams at work. [Wondercolts: "We're not about to let you win, so get out of our way. Think we're out of date, but we're here to stay."] Every Shadowbolt but Diesel excelled at completing their assignment, which the Judges were easily impressed by. However, several loud explosions alerted everyone over to the Wondercolt's table. Thomas and nearly all his friends were covered in black powdery residue with a hint of green mixed in. Glass shards and other liquids laid everywhere over a blast radius, and covered the entire station. ["United strong and we'll take you down. You're not so tough, even in your town."] The Engines grinned innocent smiles despite their embarrassment. All the Shadowbolts laughed while the teachers shook their heads. Next they moved on to Baking, an area the Shadowbolts, especially Diesel, were admittedly weak at. ["All of the times you said we're slow are irrelevant claims 'cause we're bringin' in more!" The Judges taking notes disapproved of their cattery and how they tasted after taking samples, especially from Wondercolts, who's cupcakes and cakes ushered them to wash the lackluster taste out. ["We can smell your fear. We can see you shake."] Some of their baked goods were presentable with little to no flare or decoration added. Each dish was simple and small, and tasted either too bitter, dry, or sweet. It seemed neither team would earn a point. The teachers then took a bite out of Toby's gourmet pie, and nearly jumped from their shoes with joy. ["Hope you got enough steam 'cause you're running on fumes!"] Amazed by Toby's hidden talent, the Engines all ran up and congratulated their friend for earning the Wondercolts a point. [Wondercolts: "You've got nothin' on us," "Na, na, na-na-na, na!"] The Engines all stood in a blue backdrop again, this time with a large, brightly blue and yellow neon Wondercolts logo appearing above them. "Let's go, Wondercolts!" Back in the room, the teachers happily took down notes while eating out of Toby's pie. Thomas looked over to the glaring Shadowbolts and gave Sour Sweet a sassy, confident smirk. This frustrated Sour Sweet and her grinding teeth to no end. ["You've got nothin' on us," "Na, na, na-na-na, na!"] She was too fumed to respond and stormed off with a red face and smoke steaming from her ears. ["Let's go, Wondercolts!"] Both teams were now in shop class and expected to fabricate objects made out of wood with either their hands, tools or powered machine tools. Once again, each Shadowbolt, except Diesel, crafted brilliant creations that blew away the judges. [Shadowbolts: "Talk a little too much for a bunch of freaks and geeks. Maybe you should just stop before it gets any worse."] Thomas and the others, however, had crafts that barely held together and fell apart piece by piece with one gust of wind whooshing by. It was clear they didn't construct their creations properly. The Judges were not impressed to say the least. ["We are Crystal Prep High and we have a reputation. Every little moment is about our education."] Within a purple backdrop, Diesel and The Shadowbolts closed in on the Engines, who were stepping back from the incoming group. They continued closing in with arms behind backs and smirks galore. "Put your ear to the rear." "Listen to what's near." "It's a failing engine," "And it's about to breakdown!" "Breakdown!" [The frightened Engines backed away until they found themselves cornered against a wall with the Shadowbolts leering over them.] "About to breakdown." "Breakdown." Diesel: "Hit the ground." All through out the Decathlon, the Shadowbolts kept on sweeping another win from the Wondercolts with flawless fashion. Thomas and his friends could barely keep up and found themselves falling behind with each curriculum. [Shadowbolts: "You've got nothin' on us," "Na, na, na-na-na, na!"] The Shadowbolts stood in a purple backdrop and posed proudly while a violet and pink Shadowbolt logo shined brightly above them. "Let's go, Shadowbolts!" Now it was Sour Sweet's turn to gloat. She looked over at Thomas and gave him a smug smirk. Thomas could only stare back angrily with crossed arms. He could not stand her fixated smugness one bit. ["You've got nothin' on us," "Na, na, na-na-na, na!"] No matter how irritated Thomas or the Wondercolts appeared, Sour Sweet, Diesel, and the other Shadowbolts only relished in his frustration and chuckled over their evaporated lead. ["Let's go, Shadowbolts!"] The Wondercolts and Shadowbolts now had to preform at a spelling bee. The Engines didn't think this round would be too difficult, until realizing it was being held on a stage in front of both their schools. A small stage was set up outside in Crystal Prep's soccer field where the audience watching their games was seated. The Engines didn't have time to worry despite pressing fears of going up on stage and perfectly attempt to spell out a word in front of the many on lookers. [Wondercolts: "Pressure's on 'cause now we're gonna beat you." "Step aside, it's time that we defeat you."] Each Wondercolt took their turn going up and standing in front of a microphone. Percy, Gordon, James, Emily, Toby than Thomas were each eliminated as soon as they spelled a word incorrectly. ["Cry yourself to sleep 'cause you're about to go," "Down, down, down, down!"] The Shadowbolts were up next and weren't intimidated by the large crowd at all. Everyone except Diesel, who immediately plucked up confidence after receiving suspicious brows from Sour Sweet and the others. [Shadowbolts: "Pressure's on, you know we're gonna take you." "Just give up before we have to break you."] Diesel tried spelling out 'oxymoron' but immediately got it wrong. Sour Sweet went up next, then Lemon Zest, Sunny Flare, Indigo Zap, and ending off with Sugarcoat yawning with boredom. ["Wonderflakes are fake, you're about to go," "Down, down, down, down!"] Both groups had now reached the final round of the Decathlon; the elimination equation, which was being held on the same stage. Principal Cadance and Shining Armor were now on stage with their headsets on and waiting for the chosen contestants to step up and participate. [Thomas marched up the flight of steps with his friends cheering him on as he reached the top.] Wondercolts: "Take it up to the top 'cause we've got what it takes." [Diesel stepped confidently up the stairs with the Shadowbolts firing back at their opponents all the while.] Shadowbolts: "Maybe you should just quit 'cause you're not going far." [Thomas and Diesel stood face to face and exchanged determined scowls before turning and facing two giant chalkboards stationed in front of them.] Everyone: "We believe in ourselves and we're not backing down." "'Cause we're not gonna stop!" Thomas stared at the tall chalkboard with dread. He had to solve a mathematical equation, one too massive for him to even comprehend. There was no way he could do this. But Thomas wasn't about to give up. The least he knew he could do was try. Diesel saw his nervousness showing and taunted him from across the stage. "Not looking so good for the Wondercolts, is it Thomas?" Diesel smirked. "Such a shame you steamies haven't been keeping up as much as you claimed." "Don't act like you've been earning them points either, Diesel," Thomas refuted. Diesel's grin slowly faded. He knew looking up at the chalk board that even he too had no idea what to do. This was just as far beyond his understanding as it was with the steamies. But he couldn't let Thomas know that. "If both contestants are ready," Principal Cadance announced. Thomas and Diesel gulped and begin drawing their answers. Everyone watched with fixated attention. Everyone: "Can they do it? Will they make it? Who will win it? Who will take it?" [Thomas solved the problem the best he could. Diesel did the same, already beginning to drip sweat from his forehead. Both the Wondercolts and Shadowbolts were tensed.] "Can they do it? Who will take it? Did they win it? Did they make it?" [Soon, the tension was dwindled once the Judges, Shining Armor, Cadance, and even the Shadowbolts examined their equations with questioning brows. Students and faculty weren't aware of what was being written, however, and continued griping their heads in anticipation.] "Who's the winner? Who's the reject?" "How did they answer?!" Finally, after both Thomas and Diesel finished, Principal Cadance looked over their equations and announced which was incorrect. "Um, Incorrect," Cadance said, respectfully. The audience on both sides held their gaping jaws open. Diesel looked to Thomas who could only shrug with arms thrown up. "Wait, which one's incorrect?" Diesel asked. "Both of you," Shining Armor said. "By a long shot." Everyone else soon looked over their boards. Both Thomas' and Diesel's equation were nothing but a few random, disorganized scribbles with numbers placed in random spots to mimic symbols and their proper placement, but were really all over the place. The crowd murmured aloud. The Shadowbolts were shaking their heads and face palming with disappointment. The Judges tallied up the score and disclosed it with Principal Cadance before she announced the winners. "The score from each round's tallied 1 to 5. The Shadowbolts are today's winners!" Crystal Prep students up on the stadium bleachers broke into an applause with clapping hands echoing the field. Canterlot High students, on the other hand, sat and jeered at their representing team with nothing but disappointment. The judgement being received from Canterlot High was enough to make Thomas and the Engines feel just as silly as they looked. Thomas looked at his board and even he knew it didn't look right. "The Shadowbolts have taken back their lead from the Wondercolts," Shining Armor announced. "Now we'll just have to see how long they can keep themselves from falling behind again. But given today's questionable display, I'd say it won't take much." "Perhaps the Wondercolts can still bounce back when we begin tomorrow's third Crystal Race event," Principal Cadance said. Diesel hoped nobody noticed his mistake. The Shadowbolts all joined him up on stage and exchanged snide smirks to Thomas and his friend who also joined them on stage soon after. "Better luck next time," Sunny Flare teased. Thomas scowled at the Shadowbolts until Principal Cadance and Shining Armor approached everyone and congratulated both teams. "Well, that was truly… eh, interesting," Cadance said, finding the polite words. "Thankfully tomorrow's event will be a little more practical." "This isn't going to look good for anyone interested in donating," Shining Armor said. "Actually," Cadance said. "Our fundraiser is still going strong. Guess their faulty equations was enough to realize better schooling is more important than they thought?" "Maybe," Shining Armor then turned to both teams. "Just don't let this happen again. Especially you guys." He pointed specifically at the Shadowbolts, who hung their heads in shame until Principal Cadance and Shining Armor left the stage. When they did, the Shadowbolts turned their attention and anger on Diesel. "You're lucky we won today, Diesel!" Sour Sweet scolded. "Otherwise you'd be off my team!" "My Team!" Each Girl said in unison. This rattled Sour Sweet a little until they were reminded of Diesel and his failings. "Your little class act failures are more than an justified excuses to use up my one reason," she continued, sourly. "I-I-I promise to do better," He stuttered. "Honest! Whatever it is, I'll excel at it no problem!" "That's great! Just believe in yourself hard enough and you can achieve anything!" She said, sweetly batting her eyes. Diesel was greatly confused by her shift in behavior. "Translation," Sugarcoat said. "You can't. All five of us won because we know what we're doing." "And If one Shadowbolt under performs, it makes us all look bad!" Sunny Flare added. "As appose to your performance in general," James teased. Him and Gordon laughed which angered a few of the Shadowbolts. "Laugh all you want," Sour Sweet said. "Your team is behind now." "Where you should be!" Indigo mocked. "We can catch up no problem," Emily said. "And we will!" Thomas said, proudly. Sour Sweet gritted her fist then walked away. The Shadowbolts follow her while sharing scornful looks to everyone in return. Diesel was too preoccupied thinking of ways to keep his position on the team to join in on the stare down. When they were gone, the Engines all slouched and exhaled with exhaustion. "You did the best you can, Thomas," Percy tried supporting. "That's all that matters, right?" "Yeah," Thomas half-heartedly agreed. "Thanks, Percy." But then the Engines gazed up at both crowds from CPA and CHS. Everyone was pointing and laughing at the three large monitors and the Wondercolts projected on screen. Thomas and the others quickly realized they were laughing at them and their performance. Some of the engines sulked while others were embarrassed and saddened. The Academic Decathlon was anything but an exemplary display of their capabilities as people. It was clear as day that everyone else mocking the group of washouts knew this to be true too. "Ooohh, the indignity," Gordon moaned. Walking off stage in shame, the group found Juniper Montage waiting for them at the bottom steps. "Well… it definitely could've gone a lot worst, right?" Juniper Montage smiled, meekly. "It did," James grumbled. "We're officially the laughing stock of both schools now." "Who knew being a person was this hard," Emily commented, stretching her wrist. "I don't remember ever having to push myself this much as an engine." "There's just so much writing and thinking and problem solving to do at once," Percy said. "It was nearly impossible to keep tack of." "We didn't have any advantage in any silly academic field," Gordon claimed. "How do those Shadowbolts do it?" The other engines agreed. Juniper slouched, feeling all the training she passed on to them drain out of waste. Thomas saw how upset her and his friends looked and tried to cheer everyone up. "Hey! It's not over yet. I mean, just look at how Toby wowed the judges with his special pie! Who knew he could even do such a thing?!" "I certainly didn't know I had it in me either," Toby chuckled. "Exactly! And look how we've each handled those roller skates, and how we managed to still complete a challenge despite how troublesome they were. Who knows, maybe we'll all discover something we're good at tomorrow?!" "You'll definitely still have plenty of chances to gain the lead again," Juniper added. "Today might've been a loss," Thomas continued. "But tomorrow's win is just around the corner!" The Engines all looked at each other and found themselves smiling over the thought. They didn't like how bleak tomorrow looked, but everyone was still proud of their accomplishments today. James tried to play up confidence despite his lack there of after the event. "Hah! Being a laughing stock is no reason to quit. I'd give anything to see Indigo Zap's frustration again. I'm still in! How about you guys?" Gordon groaned. "What I'm in for is a much-needed rest after today's embarrassing turn out." "I think we all deserve one for giving it our all," Emily smiled in agreement. "I'll be ready to keep trying tomorrow too!" Percy added. Thomas smiled as bright as he could. He was glad to have lifted their spirits again. He gazed back at his chalkboard and the little white scribble he made to solve the equation. This definitely wasn't Thomas' proudest moments. Thomas soon felt the doubt he had earlier in regards to their abilities the more he lingered on his mistake. All the insults and claims made by Diesel and the Shadowbolts rifled through his thoughts, making him question his reasons for participating. Nothing in Thomas' life could've prepared him for any of this. This really was much harder than he expected. He wondered if he should've brought himself and all his friends into this mess to begin with if the race would just be more of this. There was no chance him or his friends could go through another challenge that involved critical thinking. Thomas' eyes then widened when Juniper Montage laid a hand on his shoulder for assurance. He smiled back again, soon forgetting his worries and second guessing after looking over his friends all laughing and recollecting the events. He said the Wondercolts will help Crystal Prep with their fundraiser, and Thomas knew he had planned to uphold it. Though everyone still felt silly for the way they preformed today, the Engines all agreed that tomorrow was still another day. To Be Continued.