The Friendship Games
The rest of the day passed by smoothly, and The date had come and gone. Rumble spent half the time boasting about how his brother was in the Friendship Games, and the other half talking about the new Applebloom. I literally didn’t get a word in edgewise, and the second topic caused a surge of pain.
I remembered AB had been replaced or something, I wasn’t quite sure, and then the old one -new one?- came and took the current AB’s spot. To be honest, I wasn’t completely sure what had happened.
But the ‘date’ could have been worse. At least now I have a gauge on where we’re starting, and now I know the Friendship Games are tomorrow.
Well, now today. I sighed in frustration as I toned out Cranky’s monotone voice. I stretched out across my desk trying to think of something to do. Glancing to the side, I noticed Sweetie was picking at her nails, and the imposter Applebloom was paying rapt attention to the teacher. Another inconsistency. I’d been noticing them all day with her. The imposter’s actions didn’t even match the normal Bloom’s, and yet AJ just pretends it’s her.
With a snort, I turned my gaze away from her and back to the clock. I was practically counting down the seconds as it ticked. One minute left. 30 seconds. Now 10. I started mouthing the numbers as it ticked towards freedom. 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…
The bell didn’t ring. In anger I sat up, staring at the clock as my face twisted. That blasted thing! I opened my mouth to yell at it when the bell rung and the class cheered. We raced out, and I barely squeezed by fast enough to pretend to ignore the imposter’s cries for me to stop. So bossy!
I ended up stopping, though, ‘cause Sweetie’s cries mixed in with hers. They got out of the classroom with time, right after Cranky, and I was practically shaking with the anticipation.
“Come on!” I complained, making an effort not to whine. Cool kids don’t whine. “There’s no way Rainbow Dash didn’t make it into the final six, and I don’t want to miss her performance!”
“Well you’re stuck waitin’ for me, Scoots, and we’re goin’ ta be there when Ah get there.” The imposter started her bossy insistence that we stay with her, and god forbid we ever forget it. It’s like a whole other Diamond Tiara!
When we finally got to the stands outside, the seats were practically filled, and I sighed.
Stiffening, I looked around, feeling eyes on me, and then relaxed as I saw them belonging to Applebloom, I turned to Sweetie, who was being ranted at by the imposter, and mouthed that I would meet her by the stands. She rolled her eyes, and I took that as a sign of agreement.
As I made my way over to the real Bloom, I noticed a popcorn stand and surreptitiously stole a bag off the stand. After that little detour, I managed to get to Bloom just as Sweetie did.
“My word, that session with Cranky was boring.” I put a little emphasis on boring, drawing it out and tasting it as we walked up to Bloom. “That must be what detention is like!”
Sweetie shook her head. “No, I’d imagine it’s worse.” She pointed towards the other side of the stands, where we had decided to leave Bloom for the Games. Unfortunately, the imposter was expecting to sit with us during it, so we had to leave Bloom alone. “We need to go around the back to find ‘The Spot in Question.’”
I glanced at Sweetie with a confused look before rolling my eyes at her choice of words. “There’s no way anyone near us cares where we’re going, Sweetie.”
She shushed me. “Can’t be too careful.” I snorted, but left the topic hanging, preferring to ‘sneak’ my way around the back of the stands first in order to scope the place out.
Unfortunately, the spot we wanted was being used by the Wondertones. “Uh-oh,” was the only thing I got out before they noticed us, and Big Mac’s eyes blazed.
“What’re you doin’ here, imposter?” He practically roared, his deep voice growling at Bloom. How’d he know who was who, anyway? They look practically the same to me, and I spend the same amount of time around them as he does. More so, now!
Rarity, noticing us and seeing the look on Mac’s face, started lecturing her sister. “I thought I told you, sweetie, I want you nowhere near that creep!” The disgust in her tone made me shiver.
Thankfully, Sweetie was used to her sister and jumped right back at her. “She just wants to watch!”
Never mind. That was pitiful. Feeling the urge to help out in some way, I butted in. “Is that too much to ask?”
Big Mac, unfortunately, was unswayed by our pleas and stared down Bloom. “I strongly advise you to scram!” He intoned, forcefully bashing us with his words.
I looked to the other Wondertones, and it felt like someone flicked my head. I smirked at them and played a card I’d held in reserve for a while. “If you keep quiet about my friend here, you can sing at my mom’s birthday party. How does that sound?”
The pause was excruciating, but then Torch Song tapped Big Mac’s shoulder, and his shoulders slumped.
“Sure,” he rumbled, holding out the note.
Toe Tapper was next. “Sure.”
Torch Song’s giddy, “Sure!” Was slightly warbly, but fixed itself by the time Rarity joined in.
“Sure.” She sighed out the note, and for a second I was somewhere else, listening to Nicki’s favorite group live while she squeezed my hand. I shook my head, and I was back, the four-part harmony making me want to clap as it ended.
When I was back, Sweetie had started off, and the Wondertones had left. Bloom was talking. “...myself. Just go and enjoy yourselves.”
Despite wanted to protest and say this is where I wanted to be, I followed Sweetie. “Sure thing, Applebloom,” I muttered just loud enough for her to hear.
As I walked around the back of the stands, not bothering to catch up to Sweetie, the imposter decided to come to find us. She caught sight of Sweetie at the corner of the back, and stomped over, arriving just after I did.
“Where have you two been?” She demanded, and I just knew something bad was going to happen.
Sweetie, being the terrible liar she is, got stuck in the middle of explaining. “We… er…”
With a slight grimace, I pulled out the popcorn. “Had to get popcorn,” I finished, Sweetie, smiling at me in thanks.
The imposter eyed the bag, before snarling and stealing it. “Well yer late!” She said, stomping away.
With a sigh, I followed her, mourning my lost popcorn. “Yes, Miss Bossyboots.” I flinched at her glare, but she spun around again and we headed back to our spots.
The Wondertones came up to the stage, putting on a good show, though it seemed like the imposter disliked it, which made it all the sweeter as I listened. After bowing to a round of applause, they walked offstage, and a teacher from Crystal Prep stepped up to the microphone.
“Good afternoon, students!” she started, and I grabbed a number one finger from the guy in front of me. “For today’s Tri-Cross Relay, our contestants will have to compete in three seperate sections.”
She motioned for silence, then waved her hand at the track. “First, they will need to brave the Obstacle Course and land two bullseyes on the moving targets.” Applejack and Fluttershy waved to use, and Sweetie and I waved back, the imposter just settling for sitting there sullenly.
The imposter snorted. “That’s easy. Ah could do it in mah sleep.”
I ignored her prideful babbling and looked hard at the contestants from Crystal Prep, seeing something familiar. I nudged Sweetie, “Hey, doesn’t that look like one of Rainbow’s friends? What was her name, Starburst Twinkle?”
She looked towards where I was pointing and gasped. “That’s Twilight Sparkle! But what’s the princess doing on the other side?”
“It’s not-” the imposter's words were drowned out by a loud horn, and we turned our attention back to the race. Fluttershy fell behind, and as she got to the shooting point, Twilight tripped over a hay bale. “Clumsy,” the Imposter stating in a low voice, “you’re never gonna win if you keep that up.”
“Shut it, Bloom.” I snarled, wishing I didn’t have to say AB’s name when talking to her.
After a second miss, Fluttershy sucked in a breath and let go of her third shot, hitting a direct bullseye. “Yeah!” the huge white guy behind me yelled, and I turned around to see him flexing his arms. My headache came back, and I recognized him as Bulks Bicep, the biggest softie in the high school.
“Yeah, Twilight!” Sweetie’s cry brought me back to the race, and I turned around just in time to see Twilight hug Bloom’s sister. I smiled as Applejack ponied up, but then a mist started flowing from her to the pendant around Twilight’s neck.
“No…” I stood up suddenly, my hands to my head as the pain flared. I remembered this! But it hadn’t happened yet. I shook my head to try and stop the dozens of thoughts swirling inside it,
And one jumped to the front.
“Sunset.” I breathed, and took off, jumping over the students sitting in front of me and off the stands. They yelled in surprise, and I think I clipped my foot on one, as I tumbled when I landed. Totally wasn’t my fault.
“Sorry,” I called out as ran to the spot under the stands I had stashed my scooter. I had just gotten it back since I lost it from my stint in the Nurse’s Office, and I knew it would suck when I lost it again, but Sunset was more important.
I looked around to take stock of the situation and saw the pendant fly open, portals opening with it. Taking off, I made my way around on the grass, my dread overshadowed a bit by the euphoria of riding fast, even on bumpy ground. I snapped myself out of it and practically flew over to where the portals were densest: right in front of the Motorcross. As I got close, Sunset’s bike crashed, and she covered her head as it came crashing down.
I screamed. “No!” I jumped over the front of my scooter and flipped, my body remembering the form from dance class. This time though, I tightened my arms and used my body to throw it hard into the side of the plant head, pushing it to the side and bending the frame scooter.
I didn’t have any time to mourn, though as Rainbow came up from behind and noogied me. “That’s my girl!” she crowed, and I felt myself blush at the praise.
Sunset rushed over too, examining me. “You’re not hurt, are you?” I shook my head and she smiled, relieved.
“Of course she’s not! She’s my little sister!” Rainbow laughed, pulling me into a hug. I froze in shock before remembering the promise Aunty Lofty had pulled out of her. I mumbled something into her chest, Rainbow practically choking me. Rainbow let go of my head and I came up for air. “What’s that, Squirt?”
I took a big gulp of air before I repeated myself. “We could still win!”
Sunset ran to Rainbow’s bike as the girl herself turned to look at the track. Her gaze locked on to one of the plants nearby. “Sorry, Squirt, gotta go!” she took off, ramming into a plant as it shot towards the remaining Crystal biker. Sunset took off, and I dodged to the side as a plant shot towards me.
I decided to take my gaze off of the race and focused it on the plants, dodging them as I made my way back to the stands. I reached the stands, panting, and Sweetie pulled me over the side, the imposter right there too. For once, she looked scared. “Now why’d ya go an’ do a foolhardy thing like that?” she cried out. “We almost- I almost lost ya!”
Sweetie glared at her, but the imposter ignored her. I was about to respond when I noticed the portals closing, and I turned in time to watch Applejack kick her sister. “Applebloom!” I cried out, trying to get off the stands, but a strong grip kept me there.
“Oh no, ya don’t, Scoots. Ya didn’t answer my question.” The imposter curled her lips at the sight of her double get chewed out by AJ, what might have been mistaken for a smile if I hadn’t known her. No, this? This was an evil smirk.
“But AJ just-” the double grabbed my hair, taking the time to interlace her fingers in it so it really held, and I found myself yet again wishing for a different length of hair.
“Just nothin’. That fake is getting just what she deserves. Now, answer me, are ya ever gonna make me feel that way again?” the imposter clearly wanted a no, and I couldn’t muster up the strength to fight back. I turned my gaze away, trying to catch a glimpse of Bloom, but her fake in front of me shook my head, pulling my gaze int her eyes. “I said, are ya gonna do somethin’ like that again?”
I mumbled out an answer, and she smacked me, hard. I whimpered and managed to choke out a quiet, “no.” she smiled, her teeth gleaming. I suddenly had the impression of staring into the face of a shark, and I shivered when she let me go. I slumped to the ground, defeated.
“Come on, let’s go.” I got up, my shoulders slumped, and looked back, seeing AB crying and being comforted by Twilight. I stopped, and the imposter grabbed my arm. “Come on,” she growled, and I let her lead me away, officially hitting my lowest point I’ve ever felt.
I didn’t really pay attention to anything after that, only mumbling responses to questions asked. Not even Rainbow could pull me out. I vaguely heard a harpsichord and Twilight shouting a phrase that struck a chord, triggering another headache. My vision flipped for a second, and I looked on as demon Twilight fired into the air and… opened a portal? I shook my head and stood up, watching as she fired beams of light out of her hands.
Then she turned to me, and I scrambled to the side as a blast flew past me, passing right through my arm. I looked at it to check to see if it was okay, and saw a tanned caucasian arm slowly fade from existence back into mine. Right on cue, my headache hit again, and this one came with fairly obvious flashing memories, invading my head. It felt like it was overflowing, and the memories flew by too fast to really register. Then it stopped on one. It was a picture of me looking into a mirror dressed in my current outfit. Only, it wasn’t me. It was a taller, older girl, tan, not orange.
The pain started to descend, and I opened my eyes, only to see Applebloom fall through a crack in the ground. My eyes rolled up into my head, and my last thought was how much of a horrible friend I was, and how I didn’t even get to say goodbye.
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Hey you are closer to the front than me, I'm writing the Gym Teacher Tempest Shadow who is still all the way back before Equestria girls
9312612
That, I'm afraid, is JimmyHook19.
9313302
We're all playing catchup, it seems.
9313308
I thought you were leading the charge
9313314
I find myself having to jump backwards and forwards in order to bring everything into alignment.
9313314
Ah, but Sweetie's rolling like a bulldozer through her chapters. I wouldn't be surprised if she had a double release soon again.
9313316
By the way my character and Lyra had a bit of a scuffle on Discord
9313318
I saw that. Sheesh.
9313317
How much time does that girl have on her hands?
9313320
I wonder when the Lyra story turns up if she's going to actually be like that cause that will be interesting
9313324
Please no!
9313326
Well the question is how did they stick to their character in that exchange, must admit we kinds of put mr Storm King in an uncomfortable scenario two powerful beings spitting insults at each other. Still if she goes that way Tempest will fight her to be sure.
9313320
Tempest and Lyra will tone it down as long as they are not left alone together.
9313331
They most certainly didn't. I pushed it, admittedly.
9313333
That is crucial.
i am having trouble keeping up with applejack's side of things. so far I have her in the cafeteria with scarletRhine's oc Rainbow Rose eating lunch.
Why in the blue balls is the clearly fake Apple Bloom somehow seen as the real one, with the "real" one seen as fake? What in the hells is even going on in this?
9504628
Hmm, from what i can tell you're having trouble with the whole '2 AB's thing.' The Apple Bloom that i believe you're calling 'fake' spent a good deal of time in the human world as 'Tom,' while Tom spent that same amount of time in EQ as what you seem to be calling 'the real Apple Bloom.' seeing how Tom changed rather drastically because of his- er, her surroundings, it stands to reason that the original AB changed about as much getting stuck in Tom's world. so the 'real' AB would be the original Tom, while the 'fake' one is the original that traded places with Tom. I hope this long nonsensical spiel helped a little.