Hundreds of students clamored amongst themselves as they awaited the arrival of the principals so that they could bring the new year of school in. Not that any of the students cared about school. All they wanted was to finally have revenge against Crystal Prep. And since the smartest student that any of them knew was in the opening game, none of the students at Canterlot High had any doubts that they would win.
The talk died down slightly when Celestia and Luna entered the gymnasium, walking onto the stage and holding up their hands to silence the rest of the talkers. While the students finished what they were saying, Celestia lowered a large screen down over the stage and asked for the lights to be dimmed.
"Hello students of Canterlot High and welcome back to school. Did you all enjoy your break?" Celestia asked. The crowd cheered in response, getting Celestia to smile as her sister walked up beside her with microphone in hand.
"Now as you know, things have been a little weird around here, but we assure you that that will not stop us from teaching you to-"
"Just get on with the competition already!"
"Thank you, Flash," Luna muttered before gazing around at all of the students, shaking her head slightly when she figured out that none of them wanted to hear her talk about anything other than the competition. "Alright, since that seems to be the only thing any of you care about, I will get on with the competition. As I assume all of you know, Principal Cinch wasn't happy with how the last games turned out. So, she selected three events for our schools to compete in so that it could be decided who the real winners are."
"The first event is a trivia competition, with Twilight Sparkle being chosen to represent us," Luna continued. The crowd began to mutter, some of them wondering if Twilight truly had changed sides or if she would take a dive for the other school. "This event will also be taking place at Crystal Prep. But for those of you who are worried about Twilight's safety or that Cinch might try to cheat, worry not. We sent Diana over to keep an eye on things."
A good chunk of the student body got a laugh out of her statement. "It was agreed on by both Cinch and my sister that Diana will be there to support our students during these events, since my sister and I are unable to. We believe that we have chosen well in that regard. In fact, I am certain that we stand a very good chance of winning these games. Perhaps this will be the first time we hand Crystal Prep their first loss."
The crowd of students lost it at those words, causing them to cheer and stamp their feet while chanting for the show to start. "I know how important winning is to all of us, but I would like to remind you all that these games were created to help strengthen the bond between our two schools," Celestia cut in, raining on the parade of the students. "This competition is about being friends with one another and enjoying good sport. It shouldn't be about simply winning or losing."
Every student in the crowd, and even her sister, gave Celestia a look that showed that they weren't buying what she was selling. Celestia saw these looks and let out a small sigh before handing the mic back to her sister. "Fine, you go ahead and talk to them. I've got paperwork I'm going to do," she muttered to Luna before leaving the stage.
"I believe that you have all waited long enough!" Luna called out to the crowd, who roared in response. The roaring got even louder as the screen came to life and showed another gymnasium that was filled to the brim with students in different uniforms. The students of Canterlot High began to boo at the sight of the students, but the boos turned to cheers when the camera turned to Twilight.
Twilight was shaking like a leaf and the amount of sweat that was dripping from her face caused her glasses to keep slipping down her nose, so every few seconds she had to push them back up. Beside her stood Diana, who had a look upon her face that was akin to a war face. She glared with strength and confidence over the Crystal Prep crowd, who remained silent under her stern glare despite it being their home turf.
The Crystal Prep crowd then began to applaud when Cinch walked into the chamber, but surprise quickly rippled across the students' faces when they saw that it was not Agatha with her, but instead Crystal. "I apologize for such a late change to the contest, but I have had to remove Agatha from this event due to...reasons," Cinch explained to her students, who were just as confused as the Canterlot High kids.
"Do not worry, Agatha will be competing again in the next event, but for now, let us cheer on Crystal. And do not worry about the sudden change, no student at Crystal Prep would ever lose to a student at Canterlot High...even if that student used to be one of our own." The Crystal Prep crowd hissed at Twilight, who seemed to shrink down as she hid behind Diana. In contrast Diana seemed to grow even larger in the face of the booing and she glared down each student in the audience until there was silence again.
"Never the less, I know that none of you will be happy until we crush Canterlot High and prove to them just how superior we are," Cinch continued, but none of the crowd cheered for her words. Instead, every student in the room glanced at Diana, who had now turned her attention to the principal. "And I assure you that today our victory is as certain as the sun-"
"Perhaps we should begin the contest," a powerful voice said softly, as an even more powerful hand placed itself onto Cinch's shoulder. Cinch slowly turned her gaze around to find Diana glaring down at her, a cold yet powerful stare upon her face. "It seems that the students are eagerly anticipating the match."
"Er, yes, you are completely right," Cinch agreed, straightening her glasses when Diana let go of her shoulder. "Students, to the podiums, if you please." Both Twilight and Crystal walked up to their respective podiums, one of them shyly glancing at the crowd while the other glared down her foe with a smirk of victory already upon her face.
"Now then, let the competition, begin!"
=wWw=
The cheers and roars of the students in the auditorium distracted her every once and a while, but after a few screams Sunset was able to tune the students out completely. She knew that what was going on with Twilight versus Crystal Prep was huge for both schools, but at the moment she had more important matters to attend to. So she sat alone in the empty hallways of her school, staring down at a list of dozens of students with confusion wracking her brain.
'There's just too many,' she eventually decided while letting out a sigh and slamming her head back into he locker behind her. 'Too many that I don't even know where to begin. This seems so hopeless.'
"Sunset? What are you doing out here all by yourself?" Sunset glanced to the side to see Fluttershy sitting down beside her. "Shouldn't you be with the others, cheering Twilight on as she fights against her old school? She'll really need your support if she hopes to win this."
"She has Diana with her, she has more than enough support," Sunset replied before showing a list to Fluttershy. "What I'm doing is going through a list of students that I think would hate me more than any of the other students that go here."
"Um, why would you be doing that...?" Fluttershy asked.
"Applejack told you about the creature that attacked me and her, right?" Sunset asked, getting Fluttershy to nod in response. "Well, from the way it talked to me and how it chose to go after me, I figured that maybe it knows me. And then Diana suggested that maybe the reason it went after me was because it harbored a grudge against me. So I've been putting together a list of all the students that might hate me enough to use magic to try and attack me."
"It's a pretty extensive list...wait a second, you told Diana about a magical creature?" Fluttershy asked with some fear in her voice.
"I tell Diana about a lot of things. And there's no point in trying to keep it a secret. Diana told me she figured out we were magical within the first week of school," Sunset said with a laugh. "She saw one of our fights against a manticore. Remember that rock that came out of nowhere and saved us? That was her."
"Oh...that makes sense, I guess. But I don't understand this list," Fluttershy continued. "Who would want to hurt you? All the students here love you now." Sunset's face fell at Fluttershy's words and she pulled her legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them.
"Pain and hurt doesn't go away as easy as some might think. And I hurt a lot of people when I first arrived in this world," Sunset said in a near whisper. "I was cruel and mean and took my own pain out on anyone that would stand still. In fact, I made you cry not that long ago when I forced you to give up Twilight's crown. I wouldn't be surprised if one of the students I've hurt wanted revenge on me. I'd deserve it. And that is something that Hades would take advantage of."
"What was that last bit?" Fluttershy asked, not able to hear the final part of Sunset's sentence. When Sunset didn't say anything, Fluttershy's gaze softened. She slid her backpack off of her shoulders and placed it before her, unzipping it and reaching inside. "You're right, Sunset. You were really mean back then. But that's not who you are anymore."
As she said this she pulled out a kitten from her bag, who mewed softly as Fluttershy tucked it in close and began to poke at its nose. Sunset found she couldn't help but smile as the kitten began to paw at Fluttershy's finger, and for a long time the two watched the cat play.
"You're a good person, Sunset. And whatever mistakes you've made, I have no doubt that you've made up for them," Fluttershy comforted. "And I am also certain that the students here have also forgiven you. I don't think any of them could think badly of you anymore. At least, not enough to try and kill you." A warm smile crossed Sunset's face as Fluttershy's kind words touched at her heart, but the feeling was replaced by realization as something else Fluttershy said made her think.
"Fluttershy, I think you might be on to something there!" Sunset exclaimed as she took the list back from Fluttershy.
"What would that be?"
"I was thinking too small. Yes, I offended and hurt a lot of people here, but like you said most of them seem to have forgiven me," Sunset began as she started to write down more names upon the paper. "But these weren't the only students that I came into contact with when I was a colossal jerk. Remember when we had that joint field trip with Crystal Prep a few years ago?"
"How could I forget? That was the field trip where you sent half of their class to the wrong place and it ended with most of them covered in mud and...you think that the creature that attacked you was a Crystal Prep student?" Fluttershy asked as her eyes widened.
"It would make the most sense. I haven't made up with any of them for my crappy attitude back then, and most of them hate me anyway, thanks to Cinch," Sunset explained as she started to scan the list of names. "But which of them could it be? And what did I do to them that would cause them to want to kill me?"
=wWw=
"Why did you pull me from the contest?" Agatha asked Cinch as she stood in the principal's office. Cinch didn't answer in response, but instead slid a paper across her desk to Agatha. Agatha took the paper and glanced over it quickly, surprise on her face when she saw what was written upon it. "Why am I facing Sunset in the obstacle course? I'm not exactly the most physically fit student here."
"Believe me Agatha, you would not be my first choice to take on Sunset," Cinch agreed before the sounds of students groaning could be heard coming from the gym. "Seems that Twilight will be winning this contest after all. I knew that I should have let Boulder compete instead of Crystal."
"Back to Sunset."
"Right. See, while I would never send you up against her, one of our benefactors, a very wealthy man that has been very generous to our school, was not happy with the lineup that we had to face Canterlot High. So he asked that I change the lineup a little and have you face Sunset instead of Crystal," Cinch explained. During her explanation Agatha had become increasingly nervous, a feeling that she knew who this person was creeping in the back of her mind.
"And as he has donated a great deal of money to this school, I gladly did as he asked. In fact, it was on his suggestion that you and your two friends were sent to Canterlot High in the first place. He said something about wanting you to get to know your enemy before you had your final battle with her."
'Hades. You've been playing this game from the beginning,' Agatha realized as a cold sweat dripped out across her face. "D-did this donator of yours say anything else when he contacted you?"
"Yes, he had a message for you. He said that this was your last chance to do him proud or else he would take back the gifts that he gave you." Agatha's heart nearly stopped at those words. "And he also asked me to tell you that if you do fail him again, he will have no choice but to send in his most powerful competitor. Now I do not know what he means by that and I do not care, but if I were you Agatha, I would not fail him in this next competition...or me for that matter."
Cinch stood up and walked out of the room, making sure to give Agatha a cold stare one last time before leaving. When she left Agatha clutched her hands to her heart, fear starting to course through her body while she tried to figure out what Hades meant by his message.
'Whatever he meant, I know that I cannot fail him again. He might take away this power...I need to find out how Sunset is communicating with the other world and put a stop to it. And beating her in the obstacle course wouldn't hurt. But alone I'm no match for her.' Then Agatha placed her finger onto the blade hovering over her palm and slightly pushed it in. She felt strength course through her body, but a smile crossed her face when she saw that she didn't transform.
'But I'm not alone. I've got a god in my corner. The most powerful god of them all.'