After classes ended that day, our four protagonists all piled into the gym for the pep rally. Needless to say, the amount of doom and gloom they saw in everyone's faces was enough to stun anyone.. unless you happen to be Cato and Cameron, that is. Those two didn't even seem to be fazed by it, as compared to the other two, they had a lot more motivation than the other two, although combined, all four had more motivation to compete and beat Crystal Prep than anyone else in the school. Walking on over to their friends and girlfriends, the four Careers sat down and began talking to each other.
"Talk about dooms-ville" Urchin stated.
Cameron nodded his head. "Agreed, dude. Guessing it's really hurt hard. Time to change that this year" he says, causing almost everyone in the room to turn and stare at him with a look on their face that basically was asking if Cameron was out of his mind. Cato just smirked, because he knew his adopted younger brother like the back of his hand, and he knew for a fact that Cameron wasn't out of his mind. His family's trademark defiance of the status quo was at it again, and he knew it. He didn't mind it at all, since right now, he was feeling the same way. Then, Bobby Santiago stopped by. He was Lori's friend since Lincoln and Ronnie Anne, Bobby's younger sister, had hooked up in the aftermath of the Fall Formal incident.
"Hey Cato, Hey Cameron" he said, and the two boys waved back. "Up to something again?"
Cato gave a nod, and Bobby sat down by Lori, knowing that things were about to get moving. Then, Principal Celestia walked into the gym, and all attention immediately shifted to her.
“Welcome, everyone. I am here now to choose who will represent Canterlot High in this year’s Friendship Games.”
Nobody showed any positive emotion, except the four Careers, Flash, and Bobby. “Well then. Now, I will draw names out of a bucket. If your name is called, come down and stand by me. Of course, anyone can volunteer to take someone’s place” Principal Celestia continued.
As she talked, the four Careers whispered to each other. “So, which one of us is going to volunteer?” Marvel asked, causing Cameron to smack him on the back of the head. “Ow!” he groaned quietly.
“All of us, Marv. Isn’t it obvious?” Cameron retorted, as Celestia stuck her hand into the bucket and pulled out a little slip of paper.
“Micro Chip-“ she started, but then everyone heard something remarkable.
“I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!” Cameron shouted out loud, shocking nearly everyone in the room. In the history of the Friendship Games, no one had ever volunteered in Canterlot High before. Getting picked to be in the Friendship Games there was regarded by the student body as like a death sentence. No one in their right mind would ever think about volunteering. But now, in a instant, Cameron had broken that trend all by himself. It took a second for Principal Celestia to even recognize that Cameron had volunteered, and she then called him down to stand by her. In the next couple of minutes, Cato, Marvel, and Urchin all volunteered, surprising every one even more. After that, the only volunteer that even stepped up was Lynn Jr, which wasn’t surprising. Rounding out the lineup was Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Sunset Shimmer, Clove, Adagio, Bobby and Flash. Needless to say, the four Careers volunteering had an effect on the students, who start cheering them on and brightening their moods, just as Cameron hoped they would.
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And it was so that Canterlot High was finally having a sense of hope that they could finally beat Crystal Prep on the eve of the Friendship Games. Whether neither side knew, even as the Crystal Prep team entered Canterlot High the next morning, was the events that were about to unfold or the series of events and revealed secrets that would follow for 2 years after this fateful day.