The Tournament Of Friendship

by FourShadow

Chapter 8: Metal And Meetings

Author's Note:

FINALLY, it's done!!! Ahh... *flops*

Enjoy!

Friday came. And close to the end of the day. The entire student faculty as well as the students of the school gathered in the gymnasium for a special announcement. Some of them sat in chairs that displayed in the middle of the gym, while others would sit up high in the bleachers. Regardless of where they stood, Principal Luna's voice echoed throughout thanks to the microphone mounted on the stage.

"Good afternoon students. As I'm sure you're all aware, the final results for the CHS team to compete in the Friendship Games has been completed!"

Everyone let out a cheer at that announcement, and then stopped so she could speak.

"And now, here is the official competitors who have made it for the CHS roster," Principal Luna said, holding the clipboard. She cleared her throat and spoke. "In the first half, we have Flash Sentry. Micro Chips. Sandalwood. Muffins. Lyra Heartstrings, and Bon Bon Drops."

A massive outbreak of applause echoed through the auditorium, with smiles all around. Lyra and Bon Bon blushed a bit, feeling like all the attention was suddenly on them, a bit of embarrassment included.

"Great job girls!" Curly Winds shouted from down below. "And rock on guys!"

"And in our second half, we have Normal Norman, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie."

An awkward silence hushed over the crowd. If a record could scratch, it'd be the moment that announcement was made. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. And all glaring eyes turned around to the Rainbooms who sunk in their spots on the bleachers.

"Why are they here again?" Cherry Crash asked, rolling her eyes.

"I thought they weren't participating in the Friendship Games," Curly Winds huffed.

"Someday I swear, someone's gotta put em in their places," Cherry muttered, looking back to the principals on the stage.

"Anyways," Principal Luna said, interrupting the awkward silence. "As I'm sure you all know, the Friendship Games are starting next week. Which is why I called you all here. With it being Friday, I thought maybe we could spend the last hours of the school day preparing for the games by setting up a party for the arriving Crystal Prep students. Some of you may not be able to stay after school and that's fine. But I believe if we begin now we can get as much done as possible! So with that said, lets get to work!"

Right away, students started to prepare. Packages of streamers and balloons were deployed and opened up. Students began working on some banner, combining their creative ideas and techniques together. Some stood up to go get some food while others just kept working. The Rainbooms went to work as well, but immediately felt dread. Every time one of them stood up, left the room, got food, grabbed different supplies, they were constantly glared at. They didn't need help reading the room.

"You ever feel like they're a bunch of tigers waitin' to pounce ya?" Applejack whispered.

"Exactly how I'm feeling right now," Rarity shivered.

"It's not that bad," Pinkie Pie said with some optimism. That is until the Rainbooms eyes glared at her. "Okay, never mind, it's worse!"

"Wait, what about Fluttershy?" Rainbow nudged, looking to the punk girl who was wandering to another group.

One of the students was busy painting over a letter until a shadow covered their work. Looking up, they saw ole Fluttershy, hovering over them like a vampire.

With as much effort as she could, she cleared her throat and forced herself to put up a friendly smile. "You... want... some... help?" She asked, trying not to sound mean.

The girl blanked. "Yeah, no thanks, I think we're good."

"Oh. ... okay."

Shrugging, she just turned away walking back to her own group. She sat back down with the others, her face still sullen in her permanent deadpan expression.

"What?"

Back with Trixie and friends, they were busy working on a banner. All the while, Octavia and some others were setting up some band equipment on the stage for the next week.

"Oh, Trixie, have you heard back from Adagio or her sisters yet?"

"Mmm? Oh yes, I did. Though it was a little odd," Trixie said with some worry.

"Why's that?" Amethyst asked. "... her job doesn't require doing something illegal, does it?"

Trixie's face expressed massive disturbance. "Nooo... what do you think she's doing?"

"Um... what was so odd?" Amethyst asked trying to get back to the subject at hand, clearly embarrassed.

"Well apparently the studio she and her sisters are interning for, apparently there have been a lot of weird things going on set. Mostly seems like accidents," Trixie nodded.

"Accidents?"

"I'm just repeating what she told me. Stuff like scaffoldings' collapsing, prop malfunctions, stuff like that. I'm hoping it's just minor accidents, that's all," Trixie smiled.

"Oooh, did she ever meet Chestnut Magnifico?" Vinyl asked with some excitement, hands up like a little girl.

"She did, said she was kind of... huh. I don't know, she described her as nice but also a bit nuts. And apparently some girl who's the niece of the film's director apparently has keys to every door in the studios."

Bon Bon's head slowly raised up and looked at her friends with a deadpan expression. "I see nothing bad or horrible giving someone that much power whatsoever."

"Someone's in a bad mood, aren't they?" Octavia asked.

"... No. I was being sarcastic," Bon Bon rubbed her head.

Octavia giggled. "Eh, nothin' to worry, luv. Though I wish I was with them, I've always wanted to see what it's like to work in the Hollywood studio set."

The girls were so focused on their chat, no one noticed the guitar sitting on the stand on the stage was shaking and clattering. It started to shake even more, rattling against it's place, all on it's own.

"Oh, Octavia, can you get my paint bucket, it's just sitting right there, I meant to carry it over for the project," Lyra asked.

"Of course," Octavia smiled, walking over to get it. As she walked over, the guitar rattled and shook some more, sending the entire stage in a rattling state. Octavia ducked down to pick up the bucket, not even hearing the whoosh above her head and the loud slam against the ground. Confused, she looked to what was thrown; a guitar was laying on the ground, broken.

"What the heck?"

And before she could even act, it was too late. A pan that was resting on the catering table flew off from it's stand and started flying right towards Octavia. The moment she spun around, she was met with hard metal slamming against her face.

"OW!"

And down she went like a sack of potatoes. She grabbed her face, feeling the hard pain she felt from the out of nowhere assault.

"Oh my gosh, Octavia are you okay?" Trixie asked.

"No, someone threw kitchenware at my face! I swear, if one of those Rainbooms threw it at me, I'll--" She glanced over and to her surprise, the Rainbooms were found still in their own cluster. All of them were standing in shock, but there wasn't any clue as to why that was. Even everyone around them was standing with some confusion.

"What are you lot staring at?" Octavia barked.

"Octavia? They didn't throw anything at you," Flash said.

Octavia blinked. The rocker turned to the guitarist with a confused look.

"What?"

"I'm serious. None of them threw that pot at you."

"Pan."

"Look, I saw what happened, they didn't throw it at you. And I'm not sure if I'm going crazy, but I think that just moved on it's own," Flash said.

Octavia wanted to say he was crazy. But his face, his serious tone, his borderline straight demeanor did not give her any indication that he was joking.

Her eyes narrowed on the fallen pan, focusing. With 100%, she kept her gaze at the kitchen instrument, trying to see if she could get it rising just like before. Everyone gathered around, and waited. Now their curiosity had been piqued. They watched carefully, and sure enough, something was happening. The pan started to rattle and shake again, but this time, it started to slowly rise up into the air as if it was levitating.

Octavia's jaw dropped at the sight, eyes widened. And without even expecting it, the metal necklace around one the students necks floated up, removing itself from the students neck and stuck to Octavia's jacket like a magnet. And then a loose screw came up and attached itself too! Soon metal forks and knifes flew up and stuck to her body, a phone, a set of keys, paperclips, scissors, and last of them all... the dreaded hard pan.

The pan came flying up again and smacked Octavia in the face again, jabbing her back to the ground. Everyone hissed at the sudden attack from the inanimate object, surrounding the girl. Trixie and her friends looked with a complete amount of shock, but also some excitement.

"Octavia, I don't know how to say this but... I think... I think you have superpowers!"

"I need a doctor!" Octavia cried.

---

After a day at work, Shining Armor had returned home. He had plenty of time to himself, mostly to get some mundane tasks done like sorting out the laundry or starting up the dishwasher. But as he was about to check the news on the couch, he could hear his cellphone buzzing. He picked it up, looking at caller ID. A familiar-looking number, even if he hadn't called it, or been called by it - in a while.

"Hello?"

A feminine voice came on the other line. "Hello? Shining Armor?"

Shining stopped. "Cadence?"

"Yes! Yes, it's me..."

Shining Armor could sense something in her voice. He frowned, feeling a bit concerned.

"Uh, hi, Cadence. How's it going?"

"I'm all right... thanks for asking. I wanted to ask -- I know this is sudden, but..."

"What is it?"

Cadence paused for a moment. "I want to talk to you. A-about Twilight."

Shining frowned again, only this time more in thought. "...Oh." He glanced over to an old picture of Twilight and him, memories resurfacing again.

"Please?"

Shining sighed. "All right. Sure. Uh... how about we meet at the diner in town? That work?"

Cadence's voice was filled with relief. "That's great. Thanks."

"Okay, I'll see you then." He was about to swipe his finger to hit 'end call'--

"Wait! Shining?"

"Yeah?"

Cadence hesitated. "...It's nice to talk to you again."

Shining smiled wistfully. "Yeah. You too."

---

Shining arrived at the diner he and Cadence intended to meet at. The place was at a comfortable level of business - not too crowded, not too empty, and it felt just right. Cadence was already present when Shining Armor arrived, with drinks on the table. Dressed in casual business clothing, and Shining can't help but briefly stare, before composing himself.

"Hi."

Cadence smiled faintly. "Hello, Shiny."

Shining blanked. "You haven't called me that in a while."

Cadence's smile faded. "Well, we haven't talked in a while." Shaking the thought off, she then said, "How are you?"

Shining sat down across from her, taking a quick sip of the drink in front of him. "I'm all right, thanks. But you also wanted to know about Twilight."

Cadence's face fell at the mention of her name. But gently speaking, she asked, "How is she, Shining Armor?"

Shining went silent for a minute, before shaking his head and sighing. "She's not okay. Not at all."

Cadence looked at him, sadly, as he continued to talk.

"She's just... distant. All the time. And she doesn't do anything outside of her research. And even that doesn't seem to make her happy. It's just... work to her. All she does is work. She doesn't talk to anyone at school, she barely talks to me... and I'm really afraid. Twily's my little sister, I'd do anything for her... and I feel like she doesn't even trust me."

Cadence, sorrowful, put a hand to her mouth. "Oh, Shiny... I'm so sorry. This is all my fault..."

To her surprise, Shining Armor reached over and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

"Don't say that. I don't blame you for what happened."

Cadence looked up at him, trying to smile but failing. "But Twilight does. And after what happened..."

Cadence's mind slowly started to wander. The memories of so long ago flashed in her head, remembering the times that Twilight was bullied. Sounds of yelling, anger, sadness, frustration, pain, all echoed, leaving her in a blank state. She remembered trying to step in, trying to help in some way, wanting desperately to help her but with no success. The anger from the little girl hit her right in her heart.

"Cadence?"

Cadence blinked rapidly, waking up from her blank-out. "Oh, sorry."

"Well, there is some form of good news I can honestly say. I talked with Principal Cinch, and she said Twilight's going to help the Crystal Prep team in the Friendship Games."

"What's the good news?"

"Well, Cinch talked to me about it, she thinks maybe Twilight might actually make a friend by being part of the games. Maybe it won't be from Crystal Prep, but maybe someone from CHS might be her friend. Or friends."

Cadence wasn't so sure. "You think it will work?"

"Well... I don't know. But we can only hope for the best. Maybe this will get Twilight to open up. And maybe she'll have a real friend. She needs one."

Comments

[The Bricklayer]

Oh, Shining...

Also, Four? A suggestion? Maybe you should step away from this story a bit, I don't want you to suffer a burnout and to be quite frank you seem to be very close to getting one of those. Just step away from writing for a while, okay?

[Scholarly-Cimmerian]

The wait was most definitely worth it. I got a kick out of the scene with Octavia and the others at the start... and as for that scene with Shining and Cadence... I feel sorry for those two. There's definitely something sad going on in their past, and whatever happened with Twilight.

[sonicfan05]

Okay, now I'm really curious as to what happened between Cadence and Sci-Twi.

And it looks like Octavia has magnetic powers! Neat!

[Machine]

Is it bad that I want CHS but the Rainbooms to be in pain?
Good chapter.

[diablo4000]

Twilight was bullied?I want to know of what happened, and such. Seems she blames Cadence for it for some reason.

[Twilight_Shimmer]

I dont see the games ending well for ole Sci Twi. I see her losing her patience (not that she really has any) with it, and just going nuts