Spike was sitting in his desk as he prepared for homeroom class. Before class started, the intercoms turned on and caught everyone's attention.
"Greetings students and faulty of Canterlot High," Vice Principal Luna said through the intercoms. "I want to remind everyone that the annual Friendship Games will be coming up very soon. Principal Celestia and I will start picking who will take part in the competitions. The results will be displayed at the school's bulletin board by Friday. That is all." When the intercoms turned off, Spike notice that his classmates and Cheerliee looked bummed out. Spike was uncertain on why everyone started to act this way for these Friendship Games.
Spike's class was over and he made his way to the cafeteria to meet up with his friends. The girls and Spike sat in their usual table while discussing about how things have been.
"So what are the Friendship Games?" Spike asked. This cause some of the girls to look down with annoyance.
"It's just a series of games that Canterlot High usually participates in." Twilight explained.
"Oh, that actually sounds fun." Spike responded with a smile.
"It's not so fun when we have to compete against Crystal Prep." Pinkie said while pouting.
"What's Crystal Prep?" Spike asked.
"It's a prestigious school where the 'best' students attend." Rarity explained. "They think they're so much better than Canterlot High."
"It's not technically a boast if they win every year." Applejack added.
"All of Canterlot High just got used to losing to Crystal Prep." Fluttershy said. Rainbow got up and banged her hands against the table.
"Not this time!" Rainbow said with confidence. "I know Canterlot High will win and finally beat Crystal Prep!"
"You keep saying that and we always lose, Rainbow." Applejack said bluntly.
"It will be different, you guys!" Rainbow barked. "Remember when we almost won last year?"
"Can we not talk about that, please?" Twilight said as she looked away in shame.
"Why not? You almost won the mathematic portion of the competition against that other student." Rainbow said.
"Only because I messed up one of the equations and costed CHS a win." Twilight replied as she looked down.
"But we didn't blame you, deary." Rarity said as she placed a hand on Twilight's shoulder. "We cheered for you for trying your absolute best." Twilight looked at Rarity with a smile.
"I'll help out in any way I can." Spike assured to Rainbow. "I know my brother and I transferred here some time ago, but it feels like we really belong here."
"See! Spike is totally on board!" Rainbow pointed out.
"We'll have to see when Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna pick out CHS's team members." Twilight said.
"How does Celestia and Luna pick the players out?" Spike asked.
"It depends on the grades and skills each student has." Twilight replied. "If the sisters think that you're capable of competing, you're in." Spike felt a bit nervous as he wasn't sure if he would be qualified for the Friendship Games.
Friday finally arrived and the list of the team members were finally displayed. Several of the students were gathered to see who made it on the team. Spike and the girls moved closer to also read the list.
"I made it in!" Rainbow cheered as she pumped her fist.
"Of course I'm also in." Twilight said while feeling a bit proud.
"Me too!" Pinkie added while bouncing.
"Wow, I'm also in the games." Rarity said as she found her name.
"Oh my, I'm also on the team." Fluttershy said nervously.
"Looks like Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna wanted us since we're a great team." Applejack said as she found her name on the list. Spike kept looking through the long list of names until he finally found his name.
"I'm on the team!" Spike said in excitement.
"That's great! Welcome aboard, Spike!" Rainbow said as she patted Spike on his back. "Now that we got our team, it's time to think of strategies."
"Oh, and the welcome party!" Pinkie added as she started running off. "I got to prepare for the welcome party!"
"Welcome party?" Spike said in confusion.
"It's a party that CHS sets up for Crystal Prep for when they come here." Twilight explained. "The purpose of the party is to introduce ourselves to Crystal Prep. But it's more like seeing who the competition is." Rarity was next to leave the group.
"I better prepare us some proper outfits for the party. I don't want Crystal Prep to think we dress like slobs after all." As Rarity left, the other girls also went their separate way to prepare for the Friendship Games. Spike was the last one standing and he started to feel a bit nervous. He wanted to help CHS win, but that changed when he started to remember how CHS just got used to losing to Crystal Prep.
'Scales would definitely tell me to not back down.' Spike thought as he made his way to his next class.
After school, Spike decided to head to the hospital to check up on Scales. Spike didn't feel as bad as the previous times he visited since he had the support of the girls and his other friends. A nurse led Spike to Scales's room before the nurse had to take care of other matters.
'Scales is probably still asleep.' Spike guessed as he slowly opened the door. Spike entered to see Scales up from the bed while eating a tray of food. Spike stood frozen in shock to see that Scales was up after all this time. Scales swallowed some food before he turned to see Spike at the door.
"Bro! It's good to see you." Scales said with a smile. Tears formed from Spike's eyes.
"Scales!" Spike said as he tackled Scales to give his big bro a tight hug. "I'm so glad you're awake!"
"Sorry about worrying you, bro." Scales replied.
A week had passed and it was the day of Crystal Prep's welcoming party. Spike and the girls were making their way to the gym where the party took place. The group also wore some formal attires that were made by Rarity.
"I'm so glad to hear that Scales is alright!" Twilight said to Spike.
"I know! But Scales still needs to stay at the hospital for a little longer to heal up some more."
"I'll swing by the hospital to throw him a surprise awake party!" Pinkie cheered.
"I'm pretty sure he'll get more stress from that, Pinkie." Applejack said.
"He won't be once I use my new party poppers when I surprise him!" Pinkie said with a sinister smile.
"Enough chatter, everyone." Rarity said. "We have arrived." The group stopped when they reached the double doors to the gym.
"Remember everyone," Rainbow said in a serious tone. "We're going to meet our competition. So try not to act so friendly around them." The girls automatically nodded in agreement. Rainbow opened the double doors and the group entered the gym. The gym was covered with colorful party decorations and a banner that read: Welcome Crystal Prep. One thing that stood out was the students of CHS were standing on one side of the gym while another group of students was standing on the other side. The other group of students wore dark purple uniforms and they didn't look so friendly while looking at the CHS students. Spike couldn't help but gulp as he could tell that the Crystal Prep students weren't seeking a friendly competition. He then noticed Twilight was looking at the group of Crystal Prep students as if she was trying to avoid getting noticed from them.
"Oh my," Fluttershy said as she shook in fear.
"I agree," Rarity nodded. "Those Crystal Prep students look more fierce than last year."
"They'll be sorry once we wipe the floor with them." Rainbow said as she smiled with confidence. Principal Celestia was on stage as she tapped on the microphone to get everyone's attention.
"Hello everyone, I just want to welcome the students and faculty of Crystal Prep to our small celebration. The Friendship Games may be about competing, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't introduce ourselves to each other. I will now let the principal of Crystal Prep say a few words of encouragement before we start this party. Please put your hands together for Principal Cinch!" As Principal Celestia stepped back while clapping her hands, Principal Cinch made her way to the microphone. She was a tall woman with short, purple hair that was tied in a bun. Her eyes wore a pair of red half rim glasses that made her look completely strict. Principal Cinch's outfit was made up of a blue suit jacket and a dark blue long skirt that completed her strict look.
"Thank you, Principal Celestia." Principal Cinch said before she spoke through the microphone. "I would like to remind all of Canterlot High that Crystal Prep has improved so much ever since the previous Friendship Games. This will result in another definite win for Crystal Prep while Canterlot High will remain in second place. Although some students of CHS may think that they can win this year, I say good luck for trying." As Principal Cinch was done speaking, the entire room was silent. Some of the CHS students started to look discouraged while some of the Crystal Prep students smirked. The party then resumed with the CHS and Crystal Prep students separated from each other.
"Wow, I'm all about honesty but that was just brutal." Applejack admitted.
"At least that principal is letting us try." Spike said in attempt to lift some spirit.
"That Principal Cinch will see another thing coming." Rainbow growled in anger. Twilight looked and suddenly flinched.
"Uh oh," Twilight said as she gulped in fear. Spike turned to where Twilight was looking to see one of the Crystal Prep students walking towards them. The student was a girl with long red and yellow hair. Her light green eyes were glaring at Twilight. The girl's uniform was the same as the other Crystal Prep students. When the girl was finally close to Twilight, the girl suddenly smiled.
"Twilight, it's so good to see you again." The girl said in a cheerful tone. Before Twilight could say anything, Rainbow moved in front of Twilight.
"What do you want, Sunset?" Rainbow said as she glared at the girl.
"I'm just saying my hellos to Twilight and the rest of you girls. Isn't that the purpose of this party?" The girl then noticed Spike among his friends. "And I see that you have a new friend in your group." The girl offered a hand to Spike.
"The name's Sunset Shimmer. I go to Crystal Prep if my uniform isn't a dead giveaway." Sunset said.
"Oh, hi. I'm Spike." Spike said as he shook Sunset's hand. Spike was suddenly pulled away by Rarity and Fluttershy.
"Get your hands off of Spikey-Wikey!" Rarity said as she growled. Sunset only glared at Rarity before Sunset took a deep breath and smiled again.
"My mistake, I'll try not to be so friendly around you girls. I think it's best that I head back to my classmates and strategize for our victory. As Principal Cinch said, good luck for trying." Sunset then turned to Twilight. "That goes for you too, Twilight." Sunset then walked back to the crowd of Crystal Prep students. Rainbow and Rarity growled in anger from everything Sunset had just said and did. Spike turned to Fluttershy.
"Um, Fluttershy, how does Sunset know all of you? Specially Twilight?" Spike asked.
"Well, Sunset was always the leader of the Shadowbolts, Crystal Prep's team for the Friendship Games." Fluttershy explained. "She had won against Rainbow and most of us during the games. So we have a long history with Sunset. The reason Sunset knows Twilight well is because Twilight almost beat Sunset in a math challenge." Spike then realized that the student Twilight almost beat last year must've been Sunset.
"My guess is that Sunset must be really determined to defeat Twilight for almost winning last year." Rarity said. Spike looked at Twilight as she was really nervous from seeing Sunset again. Spike now understood that the Friendship Games were more serious than he thought.