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// Chapter 3 - It's all in good fun - Part 2 
// Story: An unexpected friendship 
// by Shadow SSS 
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	It’s just a competition. It’s just a FRIENDLY competition. Why does a simple competition like the friendship games… should actually ruin a friendship? Why did something so trivial like a victory had to get in the way of two people trying to be friends and get to know each other? It just made no sense to you, where did all this come from? Where did it go? What would it take them? Maybe that is why students on this schools barely had friends at all. They are such close minded, only focusing on one thing, and one thing only… to be the very best, like no one ever was.

Only those who are strong prevail here, only those who have the strength to stomp on those who fall down are the ones who keep on walking forward. Only those who stop thinking about others can be accepted in this school…

If that was the price you had to pay, then you will not be part of it.


Only one day after the small discussion that you had with Lemon and things turned upside down. All the progress you made with her, all that time you spent with her, despite being so little, it was thrown to the trash. It almost felt like you have never talked to her in the first place. Like if Indigo and Sugarcoat had teased you to ‘ask her out’, like if you had never stumbled upon Sour Sweet, making your lunch fall all over her back. 

One would think that a small discussion like the one you had would just go away with time. That eventually, Lemon would realize her mistake and just go to apologize to you about how competitive she got, but that time never came. Instead you were there, looking down at your food in your usual table, pushing a piece of meat from one end of the plate to the other with the fork. You had not even had one bite and you felt full. You had no hunger, no motivation. This was easily the worst week, if not day of all your time here in Crystal Prep.

More and more students began swarming the cafeteria. It was bound to happen, and eventually, Lemon and her friends walked inside, laughing and talking, at least most of them. Lemon and Indigo were most likely teasing each other, giving hell to each other. Followed behind was Sunny Flare shocking her head with a small smile next to Sour Sweet who was pretty much glancing around with a frown making sure no one would dare get close to her and spill all their food on them… so she was basically aware if you were nearby, and last but not least was Sugarcoat, who’s cold and serious face was hard to deduce. You were not sure if she was happy about her friends, annoyed at their constant teasing, or worried for Sour Sweet. Maybe all three at once? Maybe that is the reason why she was serious all the time, she had too much going on in her head that she showed no emotions whatsoever.

It was too late to ask that now, you were probably not going to find out any time soon, or at the very least, not until this whole Friendship Games Nonsense is over, and even then it is not certain you can attempt to talk to the girls again. As far as you know they could hate you with their very soul right now, and you are not far from that. 

Only a few seconds later, Lemon eventually spot you in your usual table, but instead of waving or even offering a smile, she just frown and quickly avert her gaze. Their friends quickly caught up on her sudden mood change and all looked at you for a moment… Many times you wished for people to notice you, to pay you a little attention, but not like this. Not with death glares nor hate, but sadly that is all you got. Indigo and Sour Sweet narrowed their eyes at you followed with a frown. Sunny Flare only granted you a roll of eyes and quickly looked away. Sugarcoat for once showed emotions, although you wish she just remain cold and serious at the moment. Instead, you could feel her staring into your soul with an angry face. It almost felt like she was trying to crush your skull with her mind.


Despite all the chatter in the cafeteria, you could still hear them loud and clear. You were not that far, and unlike other schools, students here tend to be more quiet while eating so no one gets in conversations they don’t belong.

“Ughhhh, I can’t believe I actually thought he was cool” Lemon protested as she picked up her tray of food and form up on the line to get her lunch.

Indigo followed her shortly and laugh “I told you he looked lame, but you did not listen to me!”

“As far as I recall, you thought he looked cool as well” Sugarcoat interrupted making Indigo glare at her and frown. 

“Shut up Sugarcoat”

“Girls, girls. Calm down. Let’s not fight over a guy who clearly doesn’t know what’s he doing nor talking about okay?” Sunny Flare was always the voice of truth and the one to keep the heat as low as possible between her friends… of course Sour Sweet was not going to remain silent despite Sunny’s request.

“I TOLD YOU HE WAS TROUBLE. I BET HE RUINED MY UNIFORM ON PURPOSE!” She was still pretty pissed at the accident of a few days back, maybe she will never let it go, especially now that Lemon seem to have given up on you.

“Please Sour Sweet, I already told you, it’s already fixed. I will give it to you tomorrow first thing in the morning” Being the stylist she is, Sunny Flare would never let one of her friends just have their cloths ruined, either uniform or personal cloths “Besides, he is already gone, don’t worry about him, I really doubt we will be seeing much of him”

“We share three classes and we will all be going to the friendship games in a few days. We will see him again” Sugarcoat remarked casually gaining a glare from all her friends “I was just stating the facts”

“Can we please change of topics?” Lemon blurted out a little annoyed with a hint of sadness on her voice.

Sunny quickly caught up to this “Oh Lemon dear, he was just a lost cause the moment he showed up. I mean seriously, who would dare ruin such fabulous uniforms? And I’m not just saying it because I designed them or anything”

“Yes. Yes you are” Sugarcoat did not hesitate to say.

“That’s not the point. The point is that we all make mistakes. I personally think we should just move along and forget this has ever happened. I mean, it’s not like he is going to be of any sort of influence in our lives now, is he?”

Sour Sweet, Indigo Zap and Sugarcoat all agreed with Sunny Flare, but Lemon just remain silent and went on to get to their table to eat. As soon as they left, you were no longer able to listen to what they were saying anymore.

Part of you insisted on giving up. Part of you was telling you to give it a break, start fresh once the friendship games were over. Sure Lemon or the girls would probably rule out, but there are more fishes in the ocean right? Maybe you could try to talking to Twilight Sparkle again? Treehugger? Maybe join one club after class and make friends there? That would be easy, but what could you join without running into this five girls? 

Music? No you would probably meet Lemon there.

Tailoring? You would be surprised if Sunny Flare is not part of that club already.

You are pretty sure Archery is pretty much lead by Sour Sweet.

Maybe one sport? Though it will be pretty hard to find one where Indigo is not part of.

Sugarcoat is most likely going to be in almost any and every academic club there is, so those are pretty much ruled out as well.





Your train of thoughts was quickly cut by someone tapping your shoulder and bringing you back to reality. As you turn over, you could see who it was.

Standing by your side, a purple skinned girl stood with her backpack hanging from her left shoulder, holding a small tray of food with both hands with big black glasses to aid her with her vision along with a shy smile drawn across her face. Considering how harshly she turned you down not long ago when you approached her, it was hard to tell what she wanted with you. Maybe you had something stick to your back and considering how kind hearted she is sometimes, she wants to warn you?

“May I sit with you?” She asked pointing at the empty seat next to you.

“I’m sorry, what?” Was this really the girl who harshly turned you down a few days ago when you approached her?

“Oh, I was just wondering if this seat was taken, but I can just look for another one if you want” You could easily tell the disappointment and sadness on her voice when she thought you were rejecting her. Considering that pretty much every other seat was already taken and all the tables filled with students you could not turn her request down, besides, you would be lying if you said you didn’t want some company right now. 

With a smile, you scotch over to give her a little more space for her to seat down next to you “Don’t worry, you can sit down, it’s free, my name is Anon by the way”

“Twilight Sparkle” She introduced herself as she sat down, set her tray down before reaching out with her hand as she looked straight into your eyes with kind smile “Thanks… I don’t know where I would have eaten if this place was taken”

You shook her hand and soon after went back to eating your pasta. One would think that school food is usually bad, sometimes not even worth buying, but not in Crystal Prep. Everything was freshly cooked, with top quality products. It was a nice touch for such an expensive Academy. You are lucky that your parents can support you financially or you would not be anywhere near this school.

You could feel the silence growing between the two of you, neither of you was looking at one or other. All that could be heard was the gossiping of other students elsewhere “So Twilight, eager for the friendship games?” You asked trying to be friendly and break the ice since it doesn’t look like she will.

This question made Twilight a little uncomfortable since she was now fidgeting on her seat “N-not really. I mean, everyone is taking this too far… I heard that some students are planning to mess with Canterlot High horse statue just to make the Wondercolts mad or something like that”

Messing with the school statue and mascot, did not sound so… friendly, considering what this games are supposed to represent “That is so stupid, I don’t get why people do this”

“Wait, you are not like the others?” Twilight asked a bit confused and surprised. No other student has ever shown this much disinterest in messing with the Wondercolts before other than you two. 

“Do you see me gossiping and planning stuff with other students?”

“I… I suppose not” She admitted with a shy but relieved smile.

“Exactly, I’m not popular at all to do those things, and frankly I am not interested in this mischiefs even if I was popular and what not” You explained with a sigh looking at your food. You did not want this whole rivalry thing in your life, you just wanted to make friends and have a good time.

“I know how you feel… but I thought that you were friends with Lemon Zest, Indigo Zap and Sugarcoat. I’ve seen you talking with them this couple of days” You could not really blame Twilight for not knowing, since well, it was not her life, but yours. Only you know the truth.

“Well, I did try to make friends with them, but as soon as I said winning is not that all important, they kinda… pretty much ignored and avoid me after that” It was sad and hard to explain feeling the weight on each word. If only you had just roll around with it and said nothing, maybe things would be different.

Twilight looked down in silence as she hold her skirt and tug on it “Oh…” 

“Everything alright?”

Still looking down at her lap, Twilight hold her hands together and frowned “Despite me… being the smartest girl in school, no one wants to be friends with me because of what you just said”

Even though you already knew that, or at least assumed that, you remain silent and just listen to her “They would always push me to think of ways to do harmful things to the other school, but I don’t want any of that. I just want to graduate and go to college, have a happy life… not make someone else’s life miserable”

You hesitated for a moment thinking that the right thing was to hug her, but you did not want to be too forward or anything “Yeah… that is pretty much what I’m aiming for. I just want to make friends, enjoy life and live a happy life”

After that, silence grew back once again. Things soon get too awkward to the point that it was just uncomfortable to be around her, you had to do something fun.

“We could be friends?” You suggested with a smile.

“What?” Twilight asked confused as she raised her gaze and meet your eyes.

“I said we could be friends… you know, if you want? I mean, I am trying to make friends after all” You said happily with a wide smile.

Quickly looking away, Twilight played with her food and smile “I… I would like that”

While it was not the way you had imagined you would make friends, it did work. Turns out you had to have a little fight with someone else before you could make a friend for real, or at least begin a stable friendship “Awesome!”

Twilight giggled and finished eating her food before standing up “Okay, well… I have to go now. It was nice talking to you” At least you could make one person happy today. Her smile was beaming all around the place feeling you with hope and confidence… if you could make one friend, then maybe you could make more?

After waving goodbye at your new friend, you looked down and thought for a while. This was actually pretty easy… in order to make a friend, or at least begin a friendship, you just need to find something in common with that other person!





The day went on normally after that, as soon as all your classes were done, you decided you would give friendship another go… hopefully the person you were walking towards to right now would be a little more… open and friendly this time.

Just before this person could exit the school doors, you tapped their shoulder making them turn around to see who was calling for them.
As soon as Lemon turned around, her smile quickly fade away and it turned into a frown. She was not wearing her headsets yet luckily so maybe she would listen to you? Or so you thought before she quickly turned around to walk away.

You quickly stopped her by grabbing her arm softly “Lemon wait please. Can we just talk for a moment?”

Jerking her arm off from your grip, the musical girl turned around once again and folded both of her arms over her chest, glared at you still frowning “What do you want?”

You could almost taste the spite in her words, but pushing that feeling away, you decided to take a deep breath and looked down “Look I know that you said that winning was important and all, but would you consider giving me a second chance? You are cool, pretty and fun a girl to be around, I would regret my whole life if I don’t stop you right now and let you walk away”

The pretty part made a small blush appear on her face but she quickly shrugged it off and looked away as she thought. After several seconds of thinking, she finally let out a sigh and looked at you dead in the eyes once again “Don’t make me regret this. Fine we can be friends… for now” She said with a defying glare at you.

You almost felt threaten, and maybe that was her intention at first making you quite nervous. You could feel how the sweat had begun running down your head with fear just thinking she is doing this to mess with you, but she wasn’t luckily.

“Besides, you are cool, fun and you look cute when you are nervous like now” She finished with a smile and tapped your shoulder “See ya tomorrow”

Before another word could be spoken, she quickly turned around and began walking away with a steady and fast pace leaving you speechless. Did she just say you look cute? She did, you were not imagining things. 



Well this was going to be interesting…