//------------------------------// // Chapter 14 // Story: When Lightning Strikes // by Necrogen Lord //------------------------------// As the day ended, Trevor walked out alongside Sunset and her friends. Pinkie was excited for a party this Saturday, Dash and Rarity were talking about something regarding the holidays, AJ and Fluttershy were discussing rats and bats that were infesting the former's farm, and Sunset was hanging back, writing in a journal with a two-toned sun on it. As they were leaving, he followed the group into the parking lot. Rarity and AJ pulled out their keys, unlocking their own cars, Rarity's white and small while AJ's was a large, mostly rusted pickup truck. "Alright, well, Shy and I are gonna head to the farm," she said, hiking up into the driver's seat. "Got some bait to lay out for the rodents." "Goodbye," Fluttershy said, waving. "I'll be online if anyone needs help with their homework." The two climbed in and went off, the truck rumbling and clanking down the road. Rarity pulled out her phone and started texting as she leaned on the hood of her car. "I'm going to wait for Sweetie Belle and her friends, they're staying late to finish some project in Biology," she said. "'Kay, I'm going home," Rainbow said as she hopped on Sunset's bike. "Thanks for lending me your bike for the week, Sunny." "Just don't scratch it and keep it fueled," Sunset said, winking. "Later!" Dash said, popping on her helmet. The bike roared as it revved up, and after screeching the tires, Dash took off on a wheelie, swerving around the parking lot before speeding off. "And she thinks we don't know why her bike's in the shop," Rarity mumbled, not looking up from her phone. "Well, I'm going home too!" Pinkie said, skipping along to the sidewalk. "Sunset, Trevor, you guys gonna stay behind?" "No, I'm pretty tired," Sunset said. "Can't wait to get home and just sleep. Trevor?" "Yeah, I'm going home too," he said, hefting his bag's strap over his shoulder. The three walked together out of the parking lot, stopping at the crosswalk while Pinkie pulled out her phone. "Hehehehee~!" she giggled, typing back. "How's Dan doing?" Sunset asked. "Oh, he got mugged by some weird guy wearing a Luchador costume with a horse head while getting lunch. Sent me a pic of the guy face-first in a pile of fish with the mask on his butt!" Pinkie laughed. Trevor blinked as he tried to picture what was just said before Sunset pat his arm. "Don't try to make sense of it, that's why they're perfect for each other," she said. "But hey! You got any plans for the weekend?" "Well, I've got to look through some stuff and see if I need groceries, and... school supplies. I mean, it should only take a day, so if you want to hang out, I should have time," he said. "Great! I was thinking you could stop by Pinkie's party and we-" Sunset's phone pinged as she spoke. She pulled it out of her jacket and read the message. "Ooooh... Pinkie, we're going to have to reschedule the party," she said, putting her phone back. "What? Why?" Pinkie said, looking up from her phone. "Just got an update from CHS' update channel. Since there's been a lot of... you know, stuff, going on elsewhere, the School Board decided to push the Friendship Games up to next week." "WHAT!?" Pinkie said, jumping. "Next week!? Are they coocoo for CoaCoa Puffs!? There's no way we'll be ready by then!" "Yeah, I can tell. I'm going to forward it to the group chat, let everyone know." "Oh, speaking of which!" Pinkie said, pulling out another phone. Trevor looked at the phone and his eyes widened before he panicked, patting down his pockets before turning to Pinkie. "I-is that my phone?" "Yep! I wanted to add your number to the group, so I just put all of our numbers in for you!" She tossed his phone back to him and he quickly unlocked it and scrolled through his contacts. Indeed, he had all of the girls in his list, along with profile pictures. Pinkie had also altered Sunset's contact, adding hearts to either end of her name and changing the font to cursive. "How... h-how did you-" "Family secret!" she said, winking. Trevor didn't know whether to be scared by the fact that she had managed to easily unlock and alter the information of his phone, or the fact that she was able to swipe it off of him without him noticing. "How long did you have it for?" "About... all, of fifth period." \\\\\\////// In the halls of Crystal Prep, many students made noises of irritation and or dismissal. The speakers across the halls blared with the bland tone of their Principle, carrying the news of the rescheduled Friendship Games. In particular, the team that had volunteered for this year's games were quite unhappy with the sudden time change. "Gah, I can't believe we have to do the Friendship Games next week!" Sunny Flare said, slamming her locker. "Honestly, it's better to just get it out of the way now instead of waiting another few months and preparing for nothing," Sugarcoat said, locking her backpack in her locker. "It's not like they're giving CHS any time to prepare either." "Besides, I'm sure it won't matter," Indigo Zap said, slipping into her workout shoes. "It'll be as easy as every other year against those chumps." "It's not about that, it's about the fact that we're still a member short!" Sunny said. "Where are we going to find a new teammate to-" "Excuse me?" The girls turned to see a familiar student entering the locker room. "Twilight Sparkle?" Sugarcoat said. "It's odd to see you here, considering you were moved out of P.E. due to your horribly subpar performance." Twilight narrowed her eyes into a glare at the twintailed girl. "Well, if that's the case," she started, adjusting her glasses, "I guess I'll have to rescind my request from Principle Cinch and you'll have to find someone else for the Scholastic portion of the Friendship Games." "Wait!" Indigo said as Twilight turned to leave. "You volunteered for the games!?" "Indeed," she said, turning back. "I thought it'd be a... worthwhile experience, to try and reach into a field I'm not familiar with. So I asked Cinch if I could join the team, she said yes and informed me of the Board's choice to move the date. I asked if I should associate with who would be my teammates, and she told me to look here, since you three had P.E. as your last class." The three exchanged glances and looked back at Twilight. "Okay seriously, why'd you volunteer?" Sunny asked. Twilight blinked before she blushed. "I-is it really that hard to believe that I just want to participate for the sake of it?" "Yes, exceedingly so," Sugarcoat said. Twilight looked at the far corner of the room, nudging her shoes together as she stood there. "My parents said I need to participate in something or they'd take my lab equipment away." "And, there it is!" Indigo said, waving her hands. "Was that so hard, Sparkle? Well, now that that's out of the way, let's talk game-plan."