Friendship Games: Another Story

by ArcanaMaverick7

Stroke of Midnight

Dark clouds covered the sky as all three schools got ready for the final event of the Friendship Games in the courtyard. The Wondercolts, Shadowbolts, and Fragment Hunter all prepared for the last round as Dean Cadance and Vice Principal Luna started to explain the rules. "Since the score's tied, the final event will determine the winner of the Friendship Games. We will be playing 'Capture The Flag'," Cadance told everyone.

"Somewhere on campus, a pennant from each school has been hidden. The first team to find their school's flag and bring it back wins," Vice Principal Luna explained as she held up three pennants with the logos of Canterlot High, Crystal Prep, and Beacon Academy.

"And as soon as our teams are ready, we'll begin," Cadance said.

However, most of the Rainbooms were feeling as gloomy as the current weather as Fragment Hunter all approached their friends. "I don't feel like playing these games anymore," Fluttershy stated as she looked uncomfortable. Azalea placed a hand on the girl's shoulder to try and give some silent support.

"But we have to play. This is the last event," Rainbow Dash said as tried to convince Fluttershy to continue.

"It's a little hard to focus with all the magic stealing and portal opening," Rarity countered with a scoff.

"Don't forget the Grimm," Cereza mentioned. "Honestly, this is all starting to become one big headache for each of us. Especially for our little doppelganger over at Crystal Prep," Cereza said as she looked in the direction of Twilight, who was making sure Spike stayed hidden in the bushes as she held onto her amulet.

"I feel awful about what I said to Twilight," Sunset Shimmer sadly stated.

"Especially since she obviously didn't mean to do all the stuff she did. She's actually really nice," Fluttershy reminded as she stood up for the girl. However, Sunset Shimmer buried her face in her hands again as she continued to feel guilty about making Sci-Twi upset.

Fragment Hunter and the other Rainbooms all stared at Fluttershy for her comments. They knew that Fluttershy didn't mean to be insensitive, but reminding everyone that Twilight wasn't doing anything involving magic on purpose wasn't helping. "Flutters, maybe you should go pet Dante," Azalea said as she pointed to the dog sitting next to Ivy and Ventus by the Canterlot High stands.

"Let's just get through this last event and prove we're not a bunch of cheaters. Then you can go over and apologize," Applejack suggested as she put a hand on Shimmer's shoulder. Hearing some sound advice from her friend made Sunset's mood improve a little bit as she smiled.

"And if we find Twilight during this round first, then you can apologize to her then," Sunset Blaze mentioned. The Rainbooms and Fragment Hunter all agreed to the suggestion as they got ready for the event.

Meanwhile, Principal Cinch was talking to the Shadowbolts about how the other teams seemed to have advantages over them. "I know I'm asking you to beat two teams that aren't playing fair, but Canterlot High must be made to understand that even with magic at their disposal, beating Crystal Prep is simply not an option," Cinch addressed her school's team.

"What if they grow wings again? Or if more of those monsters attack," Sugarcoat asked.

"Fair questions, Sugarcoat. Though I believe we can now fight fire with fire," Cinch replied as she approached Twilight. "I've seen what your device can do, Twilight. Containing magical energy is fine, but have you considered releasing it?"

"But I don't even understand how it works," Twilight said.

"But you'd like to," Cinch tried to appeal to Twilight's curious nature. "And since our opponents have already used it to stay competitive, I see no reason why we shouldn't do the same," she reminded Twilight of the events during the Tri-Cross Relay. "Unless, of course, you have no interest in Everton. Though, honestly, I think there's more knowledge packed in that little device than any independent study program could offer," she told Twilight, who only held her amulet with anxiety written all over her face.

"W-what do you mean," Twilight asked. Several members of Fragment Hunter had a bad feeling when they saw Twilight looking more nervous than before and they snuck over to the Crystal Prep stands using their abilities.

"I know that you've always been an outcast, Twilight," Cinch stated as she started to circle around Twilight. "Nobody appreciates your genius. Throughout my years as an educator, I've seen only a small handful of students with potential like yours. However, they always disappear before I can even blink," she said to Twilight as the other Shadowbolts stepped forward. "Now, I understand you have your reservations about this. But I must remind you about our arrangement from before about if we do not win the Games," Cinch reminded Twilight about the blackmail as the latter pushed her glasses back in place.

"If we lose, you're to blame," Sour Sweet said as she glared at Twilight.

"Yeah, unleash the magic in that thing," Indigo Zap told Twilight.

"They used magic earlier, so why don't we use it ourselves," Sunny Flare stated.

"Exactly," Sugarcoat and Lemon Zest agreed.

"Call it whatever you wish, Twilight," Principal Cinch said. "But if we lose, it will still be a tragedy for Crystal Prep and for yourself. Even if we lose because we didn't use magic ourselves, the more important loss will be the knowledge of what it could have done. Isn't a chance to discover and understand something new like this worth the risk? Because it will likely never happen again," Cinch stated to try and tempt Twilight's curiosity. Twilight's teammates soon surrounded her as they began to explain that none of them were friends and that they only want to beat Canterlot High. "What I'm suggesting is very simple and it's a win for all of Crystal Prep. You want to learn about the magic you've obtained and the rest of us will get what we deserve. The school will win once again and my legacy will endure for the years to come," Cinch told Twilight as she shoved Twilight toward the center of the courtyard.

As the Shadowbolts all urged Twilight to unleash the magic she stored up in the amulet, Fragment Hunter, Spike, and the Rainbooms all saw that Twilight was about to give into the peer pressure of her school. Twilight removed her necklace and looked at it as she talked to herself about what would happen if she listened to Principal Cinch and the Shadowbolts. "Imagine everything I could learn by opening this. Everyone wants me to win the Friendship Games. There are so many possibilities if I use what I have here. But all I want to see is what happens when I actually open this myself," Twilight said as her eyes briefly turned a light blue instead of their regular purple color.

"Twilight, no," Fragment Hunter, Sunset Shimmer, and Spike all called out as Twilight began to open the amulet.

When Twilight opened her amulet, the collected magic was shaped into a ball and began to surge as it was released from its containment device. Sparking like electricity as it was unleashed, the magic burst outward as it knocked off Twilight's glasses and her hair began to flow freely in the wind that blew around the courtyard. Soon, the magic started to surround Twilight before it collected into another ball that appeared in front of her and looked out of control. Everyone watching looked on in horror as they saw Twilight drop the amulet and was lifted into the air. Twilight herself was worried as she turned back to see Cinch and the Shadowbolts slowly backing away. The ball of magic in front of Twilight began to expand and it soon started to engulf her, leaving Spike horrified as the others were all worried about what was happening. Twilight felt the overwhelming power of the magic she unintentionally stole and it was painful. "Heeeeeeeeeelllllllp... meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee," she cried out as she reached for anyone from Crystal Prep.

"PUNK ROCK! UNDERGROUND," Sunset Blaze called out as Fragment Hunter all saw Twilight's team wasn't coming to her rescue. Azalea, Vinyl, and Rua all sprang into action as Vinyl used Rhythm Scratch to create hard light disks to use as platforms and a wall while Rua teleported herself and Azalea onto the closest platform.

Rua and Azalea grabbed at Twilight's extended arm and tried to pull her free from the sphere that was engulfing her. "Twilight! Hold on! We'll save you," Azalea called out as she and Rua each placed a foot on the hard light disk wall and tried to get better support, but they couldn't pull the girl free. Soon, the magic orb surged again and the force knocked the two Huntresses away, fully enveloping Twilight.

As Twilight and the sphere of magic floated above the courtyard, Twilight began to transform as the sphere surrounded her. When the magic orb disappeared, the newly transformed Twilight floated in its place. Her skin was a darker shade of purple and her uniform was replaced by a new strapless dress, a choker with a purple star, new boots, and a pair of long fingerless gloves. She sprouted ominous dark wings and magical energy gathered on her face to resemble a luminescent gnarled horn as well as a mask of magic flames that looked like a pair of glasses over her now cyan and mulberry eyes. The new Twilight terrified most of the crowd below her with Cinch and Spike as the most scared, but for different reasons. Cinch was horrified because Twilight now looked like a monster that could easily annihilate her, but Spike was scared because Twilight no longer looked like who he knew her as. Twilight began to laugh evilly before she turned to Sunset Shimmer below her. "You were right! I didn't understand magic before, but I do now," she declared as leered at Shimmer and her horn began to glow.

Twilight extended a hand toward the Wondercolt Statue and destroyed the stone horse with a beam of magic that caused it to explode. As the Rainbooms and Fragment Hunter shielded themselves from the wreckage of the statue, they saw a purple rift form where the blast occurred and saw a village with colorful ponies walking around. "Equestria," Sunset Shimmer said as she recognized the landscape from her original home.

Twilight had an evil grin on her face as she blasted open another rift, but this one was the same red and black portal that brought Grimm to Canterlot High. Fragment Hunter saw the rift reveal a forest full of red leaves and they were surprised at what they saw. "Remnant! That's the Forever Fall Forest," Layla exclaimed as she saw another Ursa make its way through the rift. As everyone watched Twilight begin to open up rifts to Equestria and Remnant, they saw that the portals created cracks that traveled on the ground. Crystal Prep and Canterlot High were shocked to see the alternate worlds, but Fragment Hunter and the other visitors from Remnant just stared down Twilight.

As the chaos went on, Sunny Flare and the Shadowbolts all saw Cinch sneaking away as Twilight continued to force open more rifts around the school. "Hey! Where are you going," Sunny Flare asked Principal Cinch as the latter was starting to flee.

"Anywhere to avoid that... monster," Cinch said. "And I suggest you do the same!"

"Which monster," Rua asked as she teleported in front of Cinch's path and blocked her exit with a scowl on her face. "I don't think you've noticed, but we've got more that just Twilight to handle," Rua said as she pointed to the various Grimm that Fragment Hunter began to fight as they emerged from the red and black portals. A few more Usra, some Creeps, a small number of Night Crawlers, a pack of Beowolves, and new Grimm began to show up. The first type was a large primate-like Grimm that resembled a gorilla with black skin and fur, bone-like plates of armor, and glowing red eyes that left a trail of light whenever they moved their heads. The second was a giant avian creature with black feathers, claws on its wings, and a crested bone-like headpiece that revealed two red eyes on each side of its head. The visitors from Remnant knew them as Beringels and Nevermore respectively. "If you think that you can just weasel your way out of here, you're going to be Grimm bait the moment you run away scared," Rua stated.

"This is all your fault anyways," Azalea stated as she approached Cinch with Gladion out and extended. "You knew Twilight was being bullied and did nothing! You only wanted her to try and secure a victory for your dumb prep school and your stupid reputation! You didn't think about the idea of Twilight not being able to do well in the physical events! And worst of all, YOU BLACKMAILED TWILIGHT INTO HELPING YOU BECAUSE YOU ARE SUCH A BITCH," Azalea ranted and screamed the last sentence as her eyes changed from their usual vibrant green to a bright ruby red.

"You WHAT," Cadance exclaimed angrily as she overheard the last part of Azalea's rant. Ventus was quick to slash away at any Grimm that approached Cadance in her current rage.

"You're not going anywhere," Azalea snarled as she set Gladion's Dust setting to Ice and swung it on the ground. As the baton hit the pavement, ice covered Cinch's feet and left her stuck in place. "Dante, defend," Azalea called out to her dog and the hound took a post near Cinch. "We heard you're allergic to dogs, so you better deal with the fact that you're being protected by one," Azalea said as she and Rua began to return to the main fight and Dante only growled at Cinch.

Twilight continued to open rifts to Equestria and Remnant as Sunset Shimmer tried to talk to her. "Twilight, you can't do this!"

"Why not?! There are whole other worlds right there, and they're just filled with magic," Twilight exclaimed as she powered up again and blasted a rift open in front of the entrance to CHS, forcing Luna and Cadance to flee. A red and black rift opened up and a Grimm poked its head through the rift. It resembled a large elephant with black skin, large tusks, a bone-like mask with red markings, and burning red eyes. The monster began to swing its trunk around to try and hit something, but everyone kept their distance from the Grimm.

"But you're destroying this world to get them," Sunset Blaze told Twilight. "And that Goliath is going to kill everyone if it can get through that rift!"

"So what? There's more magic there, and I want to understand it all," Twilight said as she gained more altitude and blasted the ground beneath her. The rift she opened created a portal to Equestria that began to crack away at the ground nearby, making it bigger as pieces of reality chipped away like falling stones. Sunset and the Rainbooms had to dodge as the blast and Shimmer slid toward where Twilight's amulet landed. Seeing the device, she grabbed it and wondered if she could do something to help Twilight in her current state.

Twilight soon blasted another rift open just by the street, but this one was rainbow-colored with a silver border. Slate kicked away a Creep that got too close to him and Terracotta soon punched it hard enough to kill it in one strike. They soon looked up at the new portal and saw what lied beyond it. The two men saw a statue of a pair of warriors standing victoriously on a rock outcropping with a Beowolf underneath. "Beacon," Slate said to himself before he got an idea. "Luck, don't fail me now," he said aloud as he pulled out his Scroll and put in a six-digit code just as one of the Nevermores began to swoop down on everyone. As the monstrous bird approached, something shot out of the rainbow-colored portal and struck at the Grimm. Everyone turned to see that a locker seemed to have hit the Creature of Grimm and Fragment Hunter realized what happened. Soon, they, Terracotta, Aurora, and Nocturne all took out their Scrolls and input their own codes as the Grimm bird began to get up.

More lockers shot through the rift and crashed into the Nevermore, forcing it back to the ground. Each locker opened up to reveal weaponry for each Huntsman and Huntress. The warriors all approached the lockers on the Grimm's back and collected their equipment. Armed with guns, swords, knives, spears, extra ammunition and all their other gear, the Huntsmen all prepared for battle. Vixen stopped her illusions on herself and Terracotta, Silver revealed his tail from under his jacket, and Azalea swiftly removed her bandanna to reveal her horns. As the Nevermore began to move, Terracotta stabbed the Grimm with his main weapon, a claymore with a hilt and crossguard that resembled a metallic bull skull that he called 'Sarangay'. With blinding speeds to everyone from Canterlot High and Crystal Prep watching, Terracotta easily injured the Nevermore through its armored mask and decapitated the beast just as fast. As the monster's corpse began to evaporate, Terracotta only said one thing to the other warriors without turning around. "Hunt's on, everyone!"

Author's Note:

And with this chapter, we now have Midnight Sparkle going crazy and opening up rifts to both Equestria and Remnant. With Grimm everywhere adding into the chaos, most of Fragment Hunter and the professional Huntsmen are going to have their hands full protecting everyone. However, this also means that I'm going to have a BLAST writing up the action scenes for the next chapter or two!

BTW, we never heard the characters call Twilight's overwhelmed transformation "Midnight Sparkle" in Friendship Games, so I'm going to give a small scene of how she calls herself that while she talks with some of the Fragment Hunter members confront her. I'm also going to be putting in several songs for fight scenes in this climax because I have so many options for them, but I've got a special one in mind for Midnight Sparkle battling against Fragment Hunter and Sunset Shimmer.