//------------------------------//
// Outside of Everfree Part 2: Conversion 
// Story: Equestria Girls: The Rubicon 
// by Jongoji245 
//------------------------------//

Not every school district follows the same schedule as each other. Crystal Prep had it's Spring Break at the start of March. One stormy morning had early bird students rush to the school. Among alumni arriving early, Principal Cinch held her head high as she walked the dark halls. The students that arrived early whispered as she continues her stroll. Since the Friendship Games, the students have gained more confidence to speak while Cinch was present. Some even formed their own rough and tumble cliques. Turning a narrowed eye one way or another, the principal found a trend going on. On the chest regions of many, the Shadow Bolt insignia was torn off and replaced with a violet wasp head. Doesn't matter to Cinch; with a word, she can send the students home and buy new uniforms. What did matter was in the vending machine that held this week's local newspapers; 



“Heroes stop freaks.” 



The headline read, displaying a group shot of the Rainbooms, the Crusaders, and the Maximals being honored by Officers Shining Armor and Clamp Jaw. Below the picture were the prison portraits of two of her staff members, Chrysalis and Sombra, and a young face she never can tell. Cinch could just as well remove them from office, but she would have to do it in such a way so as to not draw suspicion. Her reputation already tarnished before the school she fought for so long, Abacus Cinch walked up the stairs leading to her office.

“No more riff raff to tarnish this school any further.” She huffed as she opened the door.

“Do tell.” Said a male voice. The tall, mafia style chair she sat spun around, revealing a red-skinned boy wearing a black chest piece of armor. She knows of him quite well, Cogsworth. Having spent a two-week intensive study course to stabilize his grades, Cogsworth had every right to glare at his principal as he lifts his motionless legs onto the table.

“Now, see here!” Cinch heard the door slam behind her before she is grabbed and carried towards Cogsworth. Plopping her down at the diminutive desk chair, she fidgets her glasses as she found two of his cohorts, Darksteel and Skystalker walking over to their boss’ side and cross their arms. Being in the diminutive student chair sent chills down her spine as she fixed her glasses. “I have very little business with you, Mr. Cogsworth.”

“Predictably, you would say that, but when there is a little business.” Skystalker slaps a three-page file on the desk. Cogsworth places his fingers on the file and pushes it towards Cinch. With pursed lips, Cinch examines the file, narrowing her eyes even further as she looked paragraph after paragraph.

“What is this?” She demanded, raising a suspicious brow.

“By the end of this year, you will relinquish your duty as principal and removed from office.” Cogsworth's short answer was met with a lowered brow, so he had to clarify. “Take a look at the third page.”

In a haste, Cinch looks at the third page. Her eyes widened at the staggering amount of signatures spanning the paper. At the top of her head, three hundred twenty-seven student names, seventy-three percent of her students, Freshman to Senior, Andross to Zangief.

“This means nothing!” Cinch slaps the papers on the table. Skystalker and Darksteel draw their weapons, warming up the barrels as the Principal calmed herself. A moment's silence, the two draw back their weaponry. “If I am to be removed from office, who will take my place?”

On cue, the door opens again. It was the Dean, Cadence. Not yet able to Pony Up, she stood motionless at the sight of her supervisor being interrogated by some of her students.

“Whatever this is, I do not want-”

“We have no quarrel with you, Dean Cadence.” Cogsworth leans back on the tall chair, resting his chin on his fingers. “We were just about to nominate you to be principal.”

“Me, as principal?” Cadence wobbled a little before Rep emerged from the shadows, giving her a copy of the form given to Cinch. Seeing the situation at hand, she could've just called her fiancé here and now. But she isn't her counterpart, not yet anyway, and so she had to resort to talking her way out. “And what will happen to Abacus Cinch? Will you have everyone you rallied stone her? After clearing your name? You all aren't murderers!”

“No.” Another figure drops from the ceiling, landing on the table. It was Blackarachnia, looking at both dean and principal with her red eyes. “We aren't murderers.” In a flash of red fire, she transforms into Apple Bloom. “We aren't liars.” She transforms into Sunset Shimmer. “We are just like you, innocent children forced into a harsh world. Be glad” - in another flash of fire, the Changeling mutate becomes the femme fatale known as Midnight Sparkle - “you're not a freak!" - the Predacon's Midnight Sparkle form cackled as she points at Cadence. "You know what separates the freaks from the normals? Just one rotten day!” Blackarachnia pulls Principal Cinch by the collar, instilling a bit of fear from the shadow of the monster she helped create. “You had a bad day once, Cinch?”

Abacus smacked the demon hard, reverting Blackarachnia back to her usual state. The student bared her teeth and she crawled back to her boss. The Predacon leader lifts his legs from the desk. 

“My associates, my classmates, your students, have spoken.” Cogsworth placed both hands on his desk. “If you just let this, this, fraud continue, many others will be pressured to have their one bad day. If not for us, what about you? What about any future students of Crystal Prep? What about Twilight, the person you loved like a little sister?” He narrowed his eyes. “What about... your unborn daughter?”

Abacus Cinch turned around to see her Dean stagger back. It's true she and Shining Armor have been together for a while now, but to hear the news before she found told him. How did he know she’s expecting a child? X-ray vision maybe? Hacking into her medical files? The list can be endless. It took a moment of silence before she recovered and walked over to the table. Grabbing the ball point pen, she wrote:



“Mis Amore Cadenza”



She walks toward the door, stopping to look at her boss. “If you don't mind, I will be spending the rest of the day off.”

Rep turned the knob with his zygodactylous hand, bowing his head as Cadence leaves the office. Caterina and Porcina stood by the rails of the stairs, also showing their respect for the Dean. Inside, Cogsworth grabs the megaphone, announcing his presence with a loud whistle from the speakers.

“Good Morning, Crystal Prep. Principal Cinch has volunteered me to lead the morning announcement. The majority of our voices have been answered. For the start of the new school year, Dean Cadence has accepted her promotion to be principal. As for Abacus Cinch, I ask of you to bear no ill will against her. Her actions aren't great, but here we are still family. Those of you, who still bear the Shadowbolt insignia, and wish to bear it still, we will not force the change, for we have no quarrel with you.”

The classmates looking at the buzzers paid no attention to the anointed Cadence as she continues her leave. While looking tall and proud, she shed a small tear the closer the reached the door. The team that participated in the Friendship Games looks at each other, uncertain as to where this uprising will lead them.

“Fellow Predacons. I also ask of you to bear no ill will to those who bear your symbol, for they are also your family.” Cogsworth raises a syringe with a burning prod bearing the new Predacon insignia. He jabs it into Porcina, echoing the halls with her scream as the modified retromutagen took effect, transforming her back into a human form. She rubs her wound; no longer does she bear the insignia of the demonic ram, but the new wasp head. “We bear no hatred to each other, no hatred to our families, no hatred to Canterlot High. We will show the world what we really. We will show them that we are better than what we appear to be.” Pushing his legs off the table, Cogsworth initiates the transformation of his armor. His arms became armored to the fingertips, his legs became animate once more as the fiber cables connected the loose nerve cells. He stood up as the boll weevil mask encapsulates his head. He draws his blade, grabs the megaphone, raises it up to his mechanical snout.

“Predacons, transform and rise up!!”

At the same time Cogsworth finished his speech and Cadance left the school, the inside of the building echoed with the triumphant hollering of those who defected from the Shadowbolts. This will be her kingdom. This will be when a new age dawns. This is where he protects. This is the new home of the Crystal Prep Predacons.