The next morning, Flash was the first to arrive at the school's hallway near the entrance. He leaned against the wall by the door, waiting as more students showed up for the events of the friendship games.
Flash yawned loudly.
He never slept well from the night before because he couldn't stop thinking about Twilight and her behavior from yesterday. The conversation he had with Lyra and Bon Bon was still fresh from his mind. He was aware that Twilight is from Crystal Prep. That is a fact. However, even after knowing that, something's still not right about that. And he couldn’t remember why.
Flash recalled the time when he was dancing with Twilight during the Fall Formal many months back.
The music from DJ PON-3's booth was blasting within the auditorium of Canterlot High on the night of the Fall Formal. All the students were having a good time as they were dancing their night away. Flash was swaying back and forth with the rhythm of the beat until he felt someone bumped into him. He turned to see an embarrassed Twilight Sparkle with a rosy blush on her cheeks.
"Sorry...I'm not that great of a dancer," Twilight shouted over the loud music.
Flash chucked with amusement. "Don't be, I'm not a good dancer either. Last year, I was in a dancing contest to compete with the other dancers. The moment when I performed next, I was immediately taken to the nurses office, because they all thought I was having a seizure."
Twilight laughed loudly. "What? That's horrible!"
Flash scratched his chin with a blush, but formed a small smile. "Yeah... but I knew dancing was not my thing, which is why I decided to play the guitar for my band instead."
Twilight stood a little closer to Flash, trying to hear him better despite the loud music. "Is playing music is what you wanted to do for your life?"
Flash shook his head. "Nah, music is more of a hobby thing. What I really wanted to do is to join the police force and protect our town from danger just like my dad."
"Your dad's in the police force?" Twilight asked, despite not knowing what a police force means.
Flashed smiled. "Yeah, he's my inspiration since I was little. He risked his life everyday helping other people no matter how big or small the issue was. He's my hero and I wanted to be just like him."
Twlight smiled warmly, feeling more respect from the teenage boy. "Wow, that's really cool! I bet you do great!"
Flash gave her his appreciated smile. "Thanks! So what about you?"
Twilight blinked in surprise then pointed at herself. "Me?"
Flash nodded. "Yeah, I would like to learn more about you, especially that you're the only person in school who is not afraid to go up against Sunset Shimmer."
Flash frowned slightly when Twilight bit her lip and not meeting his eyes. It looked like she was debating with herself on how she should respond to him. After a moment of hesitation, she sighed and met his gaze again.
"Flash... I'm not sure how I'm going to say this but...I'm not really a… normal girl."
Flash was confused on what Twilight was talking about until his memory played back on the video that Sunset released about Twilight from online this morning.
"Oh you mean from that 'campaign video' Sunset posted about you? I don't care about that. I'm not letting that garbage change my opinion about you."
Twilight shook her head. "No it’s not that, it’s..."
Twilight struggled to finish her sentence, too nervous to speak. Seeing the poor girl in that state, Flash placed both his hands on her shoulders and gave her his kind smile as he waited patiently for her to speak. That seemed to help calm Twilight a bit as she sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, mentally prepare for what she was about to reveal to him.
"You see…"
“Hey, you okay dude?”
Flash was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard someone calling out to him. He turned his head to see a guy with green hair and a grey skullcap who was giving him his concern look.
“Oh hey Sandalwood, when did you get here?” Flash asked.
Sandalwood stared at Flash strangely. “Um dude… I was trying to say ‘hi’ to you for like, ten minutes. You were just standing there like you were in a trance man.”
Flash eyes widened. Whoa, was I in deep thought for that long?
Flash placed his hand on the back of his head as he chuckled awkwardly. “Sorry about that, I… had a lot in my mind right now.”
Sandalwood gave Flash his knowing smirk. “Oh I get it dude. It was about that Sparkle girl wasn’t it?”
Flash blushed furiously. “W-what? No I-”
“No worries dude,” Sandalwood chuckled. “I totally understand. Seeing that the girl you really like are with the Crystal Prep group must of make you feel totally confused. Like a squirrel, realizing that it ate a walnut instead of an acorn…and it wasn’t sure what to make of it.”
Now it was Flash turn to give Sandalwood his strange look. “Okay I don’t even know what you were talking about, but yes, it was about Twilight. But it wasn’t about her hanging with the Shadowbolts that bothered me.”
“Then what was bothering you dude?” Sandalwood asked.
Just as Flash was about to answer, he heard Dean Cadence from Crystal Prep begin her announcement by the school’s entrance. Both Flash and Sandalwood joined in the crowd to hear the rest of the Dean’s words. Flash wasn’t paying attention to the speech as he stared across to his rival team, specifically at the lavender-haired girl. To him, she didn’t appear to be excited or smug about the upcoming games like her peers. Instead, she looked unhappy, nervous and shy, which was the opposite of how she acted from her previous visits. He wanted to talk to her about why she avoided him, why she didn’t tell him about that she is a Prep student, but most importantly, to check to see if she’s okay. Sadly, he wasn’t able to do that at this time when Dean Cadence finished her speech and officially begin the games. He sighed longingly as Twilight walked away with the rest of the students to get ready for round one.
Twilight…
After a couple hours of duking it out against the Shadow Bolts, the first round of the Friendship Games was over, with Crystal Prep the victor, thanks to Twilight Sparkle. He was bummed that his school lost the first round, but that didn’t matter to him. He was happy and impressed that Twilight did so well at the mathematics battle against Sunset, even though she was from the other team.
He frowned when the Shadowbolts clapped half-heartily to Twilight’s performance, despite that she won the first round for them. He continued to frown when he saw a brief dejection on Twilight’s face, but was changed quickly when Dean Cadence announced the picks for round two.
Disappointed that he had not qualified for the next round to compete with Twilight, he’ll at least congratulate her for her performance. He figured now is his chance to talk to Twilight, letting her know that he’s still her friend and the fact that she’s from Crystal Prep, doesn’t change his views of her.
He approached Twilight just as she was coming down from the stage.
“Congratulations, you were really great!” Flash said with a smile as he gave her his cool pose.
Unfortunately for Flash, Twilight’s locket made some noises again and Twilight adverted from his gaze to her locket. “I’m sorry, excuse me.”
Twilight turned away from him as she quickly walked out through the auditorium’s door with her locket as her guide, leading her outside.
Flash just stood there awkwardly as Twilight disappeared through the doors, leaving him alone.
“…okay then.”
Flashed sighed dejectedly again.
The second round of Friendship games was almost ready to begin. The bleachers was completely full of students, but divided from two different schools. The Wondercolts from one side of the stadium and the Shadowbolts from the other side. Both sides where eager for the upcoming event, hoping there representative team crush there opposing team.
Except for one.
Flash signed sadly while slumping on his seat from the top row. I can't believe she left me hanging again and acted like I'm not there! Did she purposely wanted to avoid me? Was she...lying to me this whole time? About forgiving me? About our possible date? That she really is...one of them?
Before he had time to think this further, someone called out to him.
“Hey Flash, you okay?”
Flash turned and saw his two friends Lyra and Bon Bon approaching him and then sat down next to him.
“Yeah, you looked like you’ve been dumped by your girlfr-OW!”
Lyra was interrupted by Bon Bon who jabbed her in the arm with her elbow with a glare.
“What?” Lyra whined, confused by her friend's actions.
Flash sighed. “Might as well be, I never had the chance to talk to her. When I did approached her, she just ignored me and leave me in the dust!”
“I’m sure she doesn’t mean to," Bon Bon said with a look of sympathy. "She’s probably stressed out about the Friendship Games she’s participate in.”
“Or maybe she was just toying with you since she’s with the Shadowbolts after all-OW!”
Lyra once again received a jab in the arm from her best friend for the remark. Bon Bon decided to scold her friend later and decided to change the subject.
“Is it just me or is this whole setup a bit overkill?” Bon Bon commented as she surveyed the entire arena from her seat.
“Who cares Bon Bon!" Lyra cried in excitement. "They’ve got motorcycles! This is going to be awesome… though I wish I was the one who gets to ride a motorcycle!”
"They're actually called motocross," Bon Bon deadpanned.
"But the motorcycles sounds cooler!" Lyra remarked.
Bon Bon rolled her eyes.
"Welcome everyone to the Friendship Games Tri-Cross Relay!" Dean Candace announced from the speakers.
“Well, it looks like they’re about to start,” said Bon Bon said loudly over the cheering crowd.
After Dean Candace introduction, she used a blow horn and the second round begins. The yellow-skinned girl with freckles and magenta and mint green striped hair from the Shadowbolts was in lead, jumping hay stack after hay stack with ease while Fluttershy slowly climbed over them. She then quickly snatched the bows and grabbed on to the rope then swing across to the platform. As soon as she landed on the platform she rolled over to pick up the bow and then quickly shot three arrows at the moving target and only one of them hits the bull's-eye.
“Oh no, one of the Shadowbolts already got the first bull’s-eye!" Bon Bon exclaimed with worry. "If Twilight hits the next bull's-eye before Fluttershy, we won’t be able to catch up!"
As soon as Bon Bon finished her sentence, Twilight took off and jumped over the first hay stack...
...only to trip over it and landed on her face.
Lyra smirked. “I don’t think we’ll have to worry about that.”
Twilight recover from her fall and continued to make her way to the platform. She wasn't nearly as fast as her partner and she stumbled along the way. Every time Twilight messed up throughout the race, it made her partner more and more angry. By the time Twilight reached the platform, Fluttershy already hit the bull's-eye and Applejack quickly made it to their platform. Applejack hit her bull's-eye with ease and the second team of the Wondercolts began their speed skating race, earning their early lead.
“Yes, we made it to the speed skating race!" Lyra cheered. "We’ll win this round for sure!”
“Yeah but…look at Twilight!” Bon Bon said with concern as she pointed at the girl in question.
Poor Twilight was struggling with her bow as she was trying to aim and shoot at the target. The more she missed, the more pressure she felt. It didn't help that her partner was yelling at her for messing up while she tried to hit her mark. It got even worse when she was hearing many nasty jeers and insults from the students of the Crystal Prep from their bleachers.
"Loser!"
"You suck Sparkle!"
"You're pathetic!"
"Just hit the target you dweeb!"
"I can do better than that!"
"We're gonna lose because of you!"
Tears were leaking from her eyes for being mocked by her peers as she tried to steady her bow and arrow but failed due to her trembling arms.
"Typical Sparkle, always screwing up!"
"You're a disgrace to our school!"
"You're nothing like your brother!"
All the students from Canterlot High were both upset and outraged as they all watched poor Twilight suffered from the verbal assaults from the Crystal Prep students.
“Oh man…she may be a Shadowbolt, but…I feel so bad for her.” Lyra said softly.
"I can't believe they would trash talk her like that, even though she is on their team!" Bon Bon growled while glaring at the bleachers where the Crystal Prep students sat.
"You should've stay in the sidelines and read a book like a worthless nerd you are!"
"A loser like you shouldn't even be here!"
"You're not a Shadowbolt and you never will be!"
Flash was burning in rage.
Ever since the second round had started, he didn't paid any attention to it at all. His main focus was on Twilight the entire time. He seen her struggling throughout the race. He knew that this obstacle course was not her strung suit, but he knew she was trying. His heart was broken when he saw tears in her eyes as she was desperately shooting her arrows at a target while continued to get mocked from her classmates.
“You’re really bad at this!”
Words cannot described how angry he was for hearing all these terrible insults at Twilight all while he was sitting up in the bleachers and couldn't do a thing about it. His fists tightened at the thought of punching the faces of these jerks from Crystal Prep to teach them a lesson. A lesson that you should never make a wonderful girl like Twilight cry...
...just like how he did months ago.
“Hey, what is Applejack doing?”
Flash snapped out of his 'rage mode' when he heard Lyra said something about Applejack. Sure enough, there was Applejack, standing right next to Twilight.
“Is she…helping her?” Bon Bon asked but mostly to herself.
They don't know what Applejack was saying to Twilight, but whatever she said must of helped Twilight to calm down. However, they saw Twilight's partner say a few words too, no doubt it was anything but helpful.
Bon Bon let out an anger grunt. “Ugh, I wish Twilight’s obnoxious partner would shut up! She offered nothing but insults to the poor girl!”
Both Lyra and Flash nodded in agreement.
They watched as Applejack guiding Twilight along the steps of using the bow and arrow. Twilight took a deep breath and stood still for a moment until she finally let go of the arrow. Time slowed down as the arrow was launched into the air at a straight line towards the empty wall. They all watched with anticipation, not daring to make a sound. Just before the arrow was going to hit the wall, the moving target appeared right in front of it. With a loud 'thunk,' the arrow hit the center of the target.
All the students from the Wondercolts section cheered loudly for Twilight while the Crystal Prep students gawked silently from Twilight's archery performance.
“She did it!" Bon Bon shrieked happily!
"Go Twilight!” Lyra cheered!
Both girls watched Applejack who was about to give Twilight a high five but received a warm hug from her instead.
“Aww, she's hugging Applejack!" Bon Bon gushed happily. "Her behavior and what she goes through proves that she is not like those Shadowbolt creeps at all!”
Lyra nodded in agreement. “Yeah…I feel so bad for doubting her earlier. Different or not, she’s still a sweet person. What do you think Flash?”
Flash didn't hear his friend's question as he was staring at the display in front of him. He was amazed at Twilight's archery skill, despite some bad shots due to unnecessary pressure from her peers. He felt his heart repaired when he saw Twilight's smile returned to her lovely face. While he wished that he was the one who came in and saves Twilight from her classmates verbal abuse, he was grateful that someone was able to help her, even though they were from opposite teams. As the two girls hugged, Flash smiled warmly at them.
Thank you Applejack!
Suddenly, Flash saw an orange glow surrounding Applejack. Pony ears popped out of her head and her hair grown as long as a pony's tail.
"What the..."
He was not the only one who noticed this.
"What's going on here?" said Bon Bon, shocked at Applejack's transformation.
"Is she...using her pony powers again?" Lyra asked but mostly to herself. Then she smiled widely. "Awesome! Now this is gonna be epic!"
Bon Bon frowned worryingly. "But I thought she wasn't allowed to use her-"
Bon Bon was cut off the moment when Twilight's locket levitated into the air, opened its lid and then drained Applejack's magic from her. Needless to say, the three teens were shocked of what they just saw.
"No way!" Lyra exclaimed. "Twilight is stealing her magic?"
Before either of her friends answered, they saw Twilight tripped backward into the ground after her locket stole Applejack's magic and then the locket landed in the middle of the track, caused it to open again. Shortly after that, the two Shadowbolts competitors skated by and unknowingly knocked the locket off the road and onto the grass. However, that sudden impact caused some magic to release, opening some portals. Just when things couldn't get any worse, strange plant creatures emerged out from some of the portals. Panicked, Twilight ran towards her locket to retrieve it, only to be blocked and attacked by vines that suddenly appeared from one of the portals.
"Twilight!" Flash screamed in fear of her safety.
Before any of his friends stopped him, Flash immediately got up from his seat to make his way down from the bleacher. Unfortunately, the students blocked him from making his way down to Twilight, so he roughly shoved them and apologized to each student along the way. He wasn't paying much attention to his surroundings, but he heard screams from other students both in awe and fear. Probably because they now noticed the plant creatures that appeared in the middle of the race.
By the time he made it down, he heard Dean Candace urging everyone to go to the gym immediately through the loud speakers. Flash chose to ignore her in favor of saving Twilight but then he was suddenly grabbed by his arms, preventing him to run further.
"Hold it Sentry," a familiar voice said from behind him.
He turned to see it was none other than his teacher, Miss Harshwhinny.
"You should head to the the gym with the others now!"
Flash tried to struggled his way out of Miss Harshwhinny's grasp. "Wait, Twilight's in trouble! We need to-"
"She's fine Sentry!" Miss Harshwhinney said with a grunt. "Those plant creatures are gone now and everyone who compete at the games are safe!"
Flash stopped struggling and turned to face Miss Harshwhinny. "Even Twilight?"
"Yes her too." Miss Harshwhinny huffed while re-straightening her suit. "Now quit being a hero and head to the gym now! I'm not telling you again!"
"I need to see Twilight!" Flash cried desperately. "Can you at least let me check up on-"
Flash pleas was silenced by Miss Harshwhinny's hard glare, telling him that her orders are final and not to pester her further.
Flash sighed dejectedly and he reluctantly followed his classmates towards the gym. He took a quick glance to see Twilight walking towards the Rainbooms. While he silently relieved that Twilight was safe from harm, he couldn't help but frowned that he never had the chance to talk to her again. He still have questions for Twilight, including what he and his friends just saw before the attack of the plant creatures.
Oh Twilight...