Sunset and Twilight had later found out about the fight between Dash and Zap during lunchtime when conversing with the other girls on what they thought of the new students. The cafeteria, as usual, was teeming with teenage life as the cliques would do their usual thing or even converse with other cliques. The six girls were on a table that was at the edge of the cafeteria where they would meet during lunch period.
Sunset was confused on what happened and why the fight started, but when she found out how Zap acted around potential athletic rivals and what she knew about Dash then she knew this was gonna be an ongoing thing. When Sunset asked about how the others felt about the new students; they had these words to say about them:
"Well, darling. Sunny Flare was nice, but I feel like she was using more of a facade and forced herself to say things than anything else. I don't know what the dear is thinking, but I kind of don’t want to find out."
"Zesty was very cool. We became insta-best friends. She actually wants to listen to some of our music; which I said she could. Ooo, and we are totally hanging out after school at Sugarcube Corner. It’s gonna be so FUN!"
"Um... Sour Sweet was a, uh, a bit scary at first but she said she is gonna try to be a little more nice. She even said that she'll teach me to be more assertive and I can't wait for it."
"I think Sugarcoat is a bit... different from what I was expectin’ but that’s what I felt about Maud so I think we can get along."
After all their inputs, Sunset didn't know what to think because Twilight had told her about them and from what she could gather from her, they were mean, excluding Lemon Zest. Twilight also told her that they were all extremely competitive in their old school. Sunset shrugged and figured that maybe they learned to be a bit more nice through the events that had transpired during the Friendship Games.
At a different table across the lunchroom, the four new students were talking about were holding a similar conversation to theirs. They chose this place to congregate because it was a bit abandoned. Sunny Flare had wiped off the table to remove any remaining germs before she allowed the rest of the girls to sit there.
"Rarity has something about her that I don't like, but I think I'll benefit from having her as a friend."
"Well dudes, I think Pinks is totally awesome. We're gonna hang out at Sugarcube Corner after school and I am pumped! Now, if you'll excuse me, I gotta listen to some of this awesome tunes she let me borrow!" exclaimed Zest as she put her headphones over her ears to listen to said tunes.
"Fluttershy is nice... too nice, but maybe my 'assertiveness training' will change that a bit... if she successfully passes."
"Applejack is an okay person to get to know."
"Well, dearies... I vote we should take this as an opportunity and befriend them. They might prove useful to be successful here!"
The others agreed, though Flare had to nudge Zest to get her to agree even though she didn't know what they were agreeing to. Flare told them it would be best to try to enhance their new 'friendships'. Flare shuddered a bit at her own plan. Something about Rarity still bothered her; yet there was still no reasonable explanation. She also worried what Sour Sweet's 'assertiveness training' would do to Fluttershy. She always found that the Iron Will guy that Sour Sweet based her training off of as a pretentious brute.
-R&SF-
Sunny Flare thought the best way to get to know Rarity was to see her in her natural habitat aka a place Rarity had named 'Carousel Boutique'. Rarity had glowed an extra bit when Flare asked her about her workplace since it was a place she practiced her speciality and had would show everybody for them all to enjoy. When they walked to the store, Sunny Flare's weird feeling kept bothering her and it grew as she got closer and closer to her destination. She was ranked the 5th best in Crystal Prep and was known for her very helpful instincts and it was painfully obvious that her instinct were telling her something. She was wondering why she was why her instincts were acting this way, but it was answered as soon as they arrived and the two fashionistas entered the Boutique.
It was filled with fantastic dresses and outfits. It took all her willpower to stop her jaw from dropping at the sight. Of course, she realized, Rarity was actually in the way of Sunny's want to be the best fashion artist she had dreamed of ever since she was a little girl. Rarity was a big potential rival, a threat, and the only way to remove a threat was to challenge and beat it. She had to do it professionally of course, unlike the callousness of her other friend, Zap.
"These dresses are okay, but I've made way better. These are seriously B-grade and as y'know, the fashion industry are looking for A-grades," Flare ‘professionally’ taunted.
Rarity was dumbfounded at the remark. The girl had the nerve to disrespect and criticize her hard work she would usually slave over for weeks. She knew this girl was putting on a facade and now with it broken, Sunny Flare's true personality shined in a dark and twisted way. She instantly knew that Sunny was indirectly challenging her and she was going to deal with this newfound situation with ladylike poise.
"Darling, are you sure about that! A lot of famous people like Sapphire Shores have come here, bought from me, and have positively commented on my brilliant work, but a lady doesn't like to gloat!" Rarity pointed out, putting her hands on her hips.
"Listen dearie, if I had opened a store like yours right next to you; you wouldn't be having those customers, those sales, and those comments." Sunny Flare said while imitating Rarity’s pose.
"Oh, I doubt that!" said Rarity as she smiled her alluring smile of hers.
"Fine then, you and me; a fashion duel! We can set up some of the kids at school as judges. I'll prove myself to you as a beat you!" challenged Sunny Flare, very ‘professional’ like.
"That sounds like fun. Alright, I could use a nice, friendly fashion competition. It could add a boost to my business. We've had competitions in practically everything else so why not one such as this."
"Good, but let’s make this more a professional competition. We don't wanna look like Zap and Dash and be completely unprofessional."
"Yeah, me too. We should get to work on our dresses shall we not. Hope you can find the appropriate materials. See you later, and best of luck!"
"Back to ya!" Sunny said as they professionally shook hands and Flare exited the shop. Both were excited at the opportunity to strut their stuff at that fashion competition. It wasn’t what Rarity was expecting, but she would deal with this challenge. She thought of asking her friends for help, but decided against it. She was going to beat this smug girl all by herself.
-PP&LZ-
Lemon Zest was actually excited to meet Pinkie Pie at Sugarcube Corner. She never found much enjoyment in her friends; or practically anything outside music. She had barely made the Friendship Games' roster, rating at the 12th best student in Crystal Prep. She thought of herself to be very lucky to even reach the Tricross Relay after the Academic Decathlon. She was actually glad that she was kicked out of Crystal Prep as CHS was a lot more fun and forgiving plus the people were a lot more nice. It was her parents that forced her to go to that school anyway and man they were angry when she was expelled. She didn't care though because she considered being besties with Pinkie Pie was worth it. Sure; she liked her other four friends just fine, but Pinks was the only one not to call her plans stupid and didn't consider music as a complete waste of time. Heck, Pinkie was a fan of music too, even if it was a bit more broad than Lemon's tastes.
When she finally entered the Corner, she slammed into a guy she knew as Flash Sentry. Her headphones fell off of her and fell to the ground; causing them to break. Flash quickly apologized as he helped her up and retrieved her broken headphones for her.
"Yet again... I am so sorry. Wasn't watching where I was going," Flash apologized yet again. It was then when Pinkie bounded out of nowhere and scolded Flash, somehow knowing of the events that had transpired.
"First Pony-Twi, then Sci-Twi, and now Lemon Zest. You really gotta pay more attention to your surroundings!" she playfully scowled as Flash smiled a bit, a blush forming on his cheeks from embarrassment.
"It's okay, Pinks. Too bad my headphones have been totally rekted; I hope Vinyl has a new pair or something."
As Flash left, Pinkie said in a bit of a sad time, "Aw! Don't get frowny! I'll get you something that'll cheer you up in a jiffy!"
Pinkie Pie zoomed off into the back of the bakery and Zest shrugged and picked a seat. She looked around and saw two adults working at the counter. She looked around the room and saw that this place was packed. She quickly got bored without her music and/or besties to entertain her. She twiddled her thumbs, hummed a couple of tunes, sang softly to herself and even pretended to rock out! Soon, Pinkie finally came out and plopped a lemon meringue pie in front of her much to Lemon Zest’s surprise.
"Woah dude; how's ya know that I love Pie? Scratch that, how's ya know that lemon meringue was my favorite?!" she asked Pinkie as she shook herself out of her bewilderment.
"Because of the pie art on your headphones. For how I knew your favorite type of pie was just a hunch!" Pinkie answered as she shrugged her shoulders as she scooted into the seat across from her new friend.
"Woah! Thanks dude, I gotta know how to make Pie sometime! Especially lemon meringue!" exclaimed Zest as she was about to remove a slice with a fork and knife that appeared suddenly beside her on the table.
This statement caused Pinkie to gasp, firmly grasp Zest's shoulders and shoved their faces close together; a giant smile spreading over her face. Zest blushed at the close proximity of their faces and nervously smiled.
Pinkie whispered to her, "I could teach you how to bake."
Lemon studied Pinkie's face for any hint that she wasn't telling the truth. No one had offered to teach Zest how to do anything, except teachers but they were payed to do that. Finding nothing that could prove Pinkie was lying to her, she lightly pushed Pinkie away from her and smiled as she answered with, "That would be awesome!"
-F&SS-
Sour Sweet had picked the perfect place to teach Fluttershy to be more assertive and less shy as a part of their deal. It was in the middle of a park barely anybody would come to for reasons unknown. There were many trees and there was a straight path that ran right through it. It was a sunny day with barely any clouds in the sky. She knew Fluttershy loved nature so she decided it would be best to put the girl in a familiar environment to make things a bit easier.
She couldn’t wait to train Fluttershy with her assertiveness techniques. Today, she was a pushover; tomorrow she'll be a force to be reckoned with. If Iron Will's assertiveness techniques could work for her; it could work for this shy girl. At Crystal Prep, she was the most feared student and it was rightly so. She was the third best student at there too for her smarts and her speed/agility. She was so scary, she even intimidated the fearless Iron Will into letting her not pay for his assertiveness training. She used her sweet side to lower other's defenses and provide a false sense of security before she sourly intimidated them. She also used it to play innocent in front of adults to avoid suspicion. She did the switches so frequently that it became 2nd nature in her personality and would even occur involuntarily. But now after this training, she would be forced into using her Sour side because of her promise to be nicer. She could easily remove the habit, but needed a way to deal with the involuntary switches.
She tapped her foot as she awaited for the girl to arrive. It was fifteen minutes before Fluttershy arrived. The girl was slowly walking over, extremely nervous. Sour Sweet smirked; hoping to see these actions no more from her new student. Soon, that girl will exude with confidence and authority just like her.
"Fluttershy, it’s so great you made it!" she sweetly exclaimed.
"T-thanks," Fluttershy stuttered.
All of a sudden, Sour Sweet sourly shouted, "STOP STUTTERING!"
Fluttershy instantly cowered at Sour Sweet's outburst; not expecting it. She looked over at Sour Sweet and saw the girl's innocent posture and smirk.
"Your stuttering may be a bit adorable..." she sweetly started before dropping into her sour tone, "...but it's NOT gonna be helping into making you look and sound assertive."
"O-okay," Fluttershy stuttered again, removing her hair from her face.
"STOP IT!"
"Okay."
"Good! Now we can finally start!" exclaimed Sour as she clasped her hands together out in front of her and put on an adorable face.
"What's the first thing?" asked Fluttershy, trying her best not to stutter so she wouldn’t be yelled at again.
After a couple hours and lessons, Sour Sweet declared that they were done for the day. Fluttershy felt a little guilty to what Sour did to those kids for her assertiveness training so she gathered some gall and asked, "Did you have to be mean to those people?"
"Hey. They did volunteer and they knew exactly what was going on and what I was planning!" Sour Sweet tried to point out even though that was a complete lie.
"Why? Who would want to volunteer for that?"
"I dunno," Sour Sweet shrugged, but the truth was that she intimidated them to do it. Just like she was taught to.
"Okay then... Are we done?" asked Fluttershy, wanting this lesson to be over. She wasn’t prepared for what Sour had showed her and was hoping she would be for their next lesson.
"For today! Tomorrow will be your first test so you better study for it..." she sweetly started before sourly continuing, "...because you don't wanna know what happens if you fail!"
Fluttershy gulped at both the venomous statement and the sour expression on Sour’s face. To Fluttershy, Sour Sweet was absolutely terrifying. When her sourness wasn't directed at her, she would be only concerned for the person it was targeted at. When it was, it had scared her more than anything else ever did in her entire life. Maybe taking these lessons were a grave mistake.
-A&S-
Sugarcoat watched and listened to Applejack as she explained the history of Sweet Apple Acres, the farm they are on, and how to properly take care of the orchard and farm while she was picking apples and tossing them in buckets. Sugarcoat would, at times, would input a question or a blunt statement; to AJ's joy and grief. The joy was from Sugarcoat actually seem interested in something even if she couldn't tell it from her facial expression and grief at her slightly annoying blunt statements that felt like unnecessarily harsh criticism. Sugarcoat noted this and tried to tone down her bluntness, but she would fail as it was a fibre of her being. Sugarcoat was the 2nd best in Crystal Prep, but it would look like she didn't care. At Crystal Prep, she was the head of the student council. She had straight A's, but she knew and acknowledged that Twilight Sparkle was smarter than her. She did enjoy learning and studying, but she didn't like to physically express her emotions a lot. Pinkie Pie had tried repeatedly to try to get the girl to smile or even grin a little, but it would always fail.
"...so yeah! Ya wanna give it a shot?" AJ asked.
"No."
"Why?" asked Applejack as she turned around to face the girl who was sitting on a tree stump next to her.
"Because I am not strong enough nor do I want to."
"Why?" questioned AJ, wanting to know how this girl ticked so she could try to be a better friend for her blunt companion.
"Because I don't like physical activity."
"But why did ya participate in that motocross event then?" asked AJ as she raised an eyebrow. Man, this girl was seriously making Applejack’s brain hurt.
"Because technically, motocross isn't that physical of a sport."
"Well, I guess I can't argue with that there logic, but then why did ya come here if yer ain't interested in any physical activity?"
"Because we can both benefit from 'hanging out' together," she answered like it was the most obvious one.
"What are those benefits?" asked AJ, genuinely intrigued in what the girl was saying this time around.
"Too many to list."
"Well, we got the time," AJ pointed out as she looked at a tree’s shadows. From what she could tell from it, it was getting close to noon and AJ did kind of want to know Sugarcoats opinions on how they could benefit from being friends.
"What about your chores and taking care of the orchard?" asked Sugarcoat as she crossed her arms out in front of her.
"Don't ya worry none. We are already stocked for the approachin' winter," AJ assured the blunt girl.
"Okay then, do you think we can find a comfortable place to sit?" she asked as she got up from her uncomfortable ‘chair’ and brushed off her legs before readjusting her glasses.
"What's wrong with standin'?"
"I don’t want to and that tree stump is getting uncomfortable," Sugarcoat answered as she sniffed.
"'Kay then we'll just head over ta the barn over there," AJ said as she pointed towards the big red barn that was a few yards away from them.
"Okay then."
So AJ and Sugarcoat walk through the army of trees to the big red barn to talk about potential benefits of their friendship. When Sugarcoat recited her list; AJ found herself nodding in agreement to some of the expressionless girls' points. Maybe they will be great friends in the later future.
-RD&IZ-
Indigo Zap was glaring at the rainbow-hair girl next to her. Unfortunately, the girl was staring right back in a challenging way. Indigo never encountered a person who could swing wicked punches before and seeing what Dash could do both excited her and worried her. Zap may not be the best at academic stuff, but she was an expert at sports. She was ranked the 5th best student in Crystal Prep roster. She always had a high intolerance to losing and was determined to best the girl at everything. Unknown to her Rainbow Dash was thinking the exact same.
They, after being yelled at by Vice-Principal Luna and scolded by Principal Celestia, were sent to a freaking counselor's office. They had waited 15 minutes, but neither of them shifted even slightly until they heard the door open. A tall black woman entered the room; her flat dead gray hair looking completely unwashed and messy. Her big buggy green eyes having a spark that the other two girls couldn't place. She walked over and sat behind her desk. Her desk was nearly spotless, excluding the picture from her wedding night as she and her husband were completely covered in black while torches of blue flame wavered in the background. The flowers she were holding were dead for some reason and her husband was draped in shadow.
"Mrs Chrysalis... you're the councilor!" gasped Rainbow Dash. "I thought you were a famous couple's therapist, what're you doing here?"
"Well, let's just say some... controversial stuff happened and my husband said it would be a great idea to come and be a part of his school as a student counselor," Mrs. Chrysalis said while giggling to herself mysteriously. Ah, the wonderful memories of being an influential celebrity.
Indigo raised her eyebrow and asked "Who is your husband?"
"Oh, the disciplinary officer you will be having your in school suspension with on Monday," Chrysalis said playfully while smiling darkly.
"Oh no, I had after school detention with the guy, he's creepy and he loves to keep his room dark all the time," Dash groaned.
Dash failed to miss the new dark expression that was showing on her counselor’s face as she growled, "Hey! That's my husband you're talking about!"
"Sorry," Dash apologized as she saw the woman’s look.
Upon hearing Dash’s apology, Mrs. Chrysalis lightened up a bit, though barely and asked, "Okay then, let's get started! Why did you two fight each other at the school entrance earlier today?"
Both opened their mouths, but Zap beat Dash to the punch. "We're competing to find out which one of us is the most athletic in this school!"
"Yup, that was just the first event. We might even hold an Iron Athlete Competition me and AJ had freshmen year," Dash happily added to Zap’s statement.
"That sounds totally radical! We should definitely do that!" Zap gasped as she looked at Dash, never hearing about an Iron Athlete Competition before.
"Huh, well you gals go do that. This rivalry just needs to be toned down a bit. You shouldn't do anything that disrupts class nor easily injure one of you," Mrs Chrysalis said with a mock facial expression showing fake concern. She knew these girls were not going to follow her advice, but knew things were going to get a bit more exciting if they keep this up. She loved to see the principal’s feathers get rustled from time to time.
"Okay Mrs. Chrysalis. Sounds cool!"
"Yeah Dash, can't wait for the Iron Athlete Competition. We should do it on Friday next week to get some training for it!"
They got and fistbumped and laughed as they exited the counselor's office; with a deviously smiling Mrs. Chrysalis still inside. Once they were out of the counselor's listening range; there happy smiles were quickly replaced with serious glares as they exited the school. What they didn't know was that this weekend was gonna be pretty eventful and not just for them either.