"Guys?"
When Sunset Shimmer the glorious overlord spoke, everyone stopped and listened.
"Why are we still in high school?" Sunset asked, looking at the ten girls that surrounded her. "I mean, I should be in college by now. The Dazzlings are independent enough to get working class jobs. And Silver Arrow-" she gestured to her human friend who was actually a goddess "-is Cupid. She doesn't need schooling."
Sonata raised her hand. "I only come for the tacos."
"I come to seduce boys with my enchanting appearance." Adagio grinned.
"You invited me to become part of your friend group at the end of the friendship games," Silver Arrow pointed out, twirling a curl of pink-turquoise-white hair around her tan finger. "So do you just want me to leave?"
Sunset suddenly felt claustrophobic like the time Celestia had accidentally sat on her as a foal. (It didn't help that her highness had just eaten twelve tons of cake.)
"How many friends do we have in our group?" she asked.
"I can count!" Sonata supplied, raising her hand. "I learned in math! There's me, Sonata, and then Aria, Adagio, Applejack, Silver Arrow, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Glasses, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Sunset Shimmer! That's eleven!"
"Very good Sonata." Rarity and Adagio clapped approvingly.
Sunset felt sick. "This isn't good."
"Why?" everyone asked in unison.
"I had a vision last night." Sunset shut her eyes, trying to remember her dream. "A tall giant man named Hasbro insisted that there can only be eight characters in the next movie. But what does that even mean?"
"It's probably just the illuminati," Applejack suggested, holding up an apple with the sacred eye on it. "Don't worry about them."
"May I suggest that you're delusional?" Glasses asked, taking out a notepad.
"Maybe Sunset means we're in a reality tv show," suggested The Dasher, as she had taken to calling herself. "It has 20% better ratings because I'm in it."
"OH MY CELESTIA!" Sonata shrieked, jumping up. "I JUST REMEMBERED ADAGIO AND ARIA AND I RECEIVED A SCholARSHIP TO THE TOP FASHION DESIGN INSTITUTION IN A-MARE-ICA!!! KJGHBFBGFVJNLJIEURHIFOV!!"
"How do you pronounce KJGHBFBGFVJNLJIEURHIFOV?" Fluttershy asked, furrowing her brow in confusion.
Aria started strangling Sonata. "HOW DARE YOU LOSE THE ENVELOPE AND NOT TELL US THERE WAS A WAY OUT OF THIS MISERY?!"
"Girls! The bus is here!" Adagio called, dragging Sonata and Aria away screaming.
"Sorry!" she called apologetically before the bus pulled away. "I'll write!"
The group of eight sat quietly at the edge of Canterlot High.
"So, are we gonna brutally kill each other to find out which seven get to stay?" Glasses asked pleasantly. "If so, I have an algorithm-"
"No!" Sunset proclaimed. "I think it's pretty obvious who needs to leave."
"So," Silver Arrow said, "what's next?"
The Cupid-girl sat in a circle with Sunset, Glasses, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and The Dasher in the music room.
"Hey, here's an idea," suggested The Dasher. "We should totally visit my old stompin' grounds over Fall Break!"
"Your old 'stomping rounds'." Rarity made air quotes, clearing unimpressed.
"Yeah, Camp Everfree," the Dasher elaborated, pulling out a convenient map. "Everfree is north west of Canterlot."
"Strange, it's the other way around in Equestria," Sunset commented. "Let's do it!"
"Do you think I'll meet cute little bunnies?" Fluttershy asked hopefully.
"Of course not," The Dashed answered. "The Everfree is filled with bugbears."
As soon as bugbears left her lips, Bon Bon and Lyra charged into the room.
"We're coming with you," Bon Bon demanded, striking a heroic pose.
"Don't try and stop us!" Lyra added.
"Who are you two?" Glasses asked. "I literally know the names of seven students here."
Bon Bon looked her dead in the eye. "I'd tell you, but I'd have to kill you."
"Her name's Bon," Lyra supplied. "Bon Bon."
"Mine was better," Bon Bon grumbled.
"I'd let you guys come with, but we're only supposed to have seven friends on the trip," Sunset said, looking to the girls in concern.
"We'll just be supporting characters, then," Lyra suggested. "We'll go separately and only show up in the background from time to time."
"Sounds good," Sunset conceded. "Alright, you're in."
"Hey, Glasses, remember when I said you should get us a van and I might call you awesome?" The Dasher asked, dragging five backpacks behind her. "Well, you're awesome!"
"I finally get the reference." Glasses grinned as her friends loaded up the trunk of her parent's old van.
"Do you think this is enough make-up?" Rarity asked anxiously, checking over her bags.
The Dasher cackled as she patted Rarity on the back. "Who has time for make-up when you're running from bugbears?"
"I take that as a challenge, The Dasher," Rarity answered. "I guarantee you I can apply eyeliner to look 'on fleek' while running from a monster.
"Especially if it's one as ugly as you," added the self-proclaimed lady.
Everyone oooohed.
"Do you need some ice for that burn?" Pinkie taunted, throwing a water balloon in The Dasher's face.
"Quiet!" The Dasher scowled, her cheeks blazin' hot. She picked up the last few bags and violently tossed them in the trunk.
"If we're all ready, let's head out!" Glasses grinned as her friends climbed on board. Glasses was driving. The Dasher had called shotgun; Pinkie and Silver Arrow sat together, as did Rarity and Sunset Shimmer. The last pairing was Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy.
Glasses floored it, and the girls were off.
A few miles away, an old farmtruck rumbled to life.