The Friendship Games Begin
The bell soon rang, signaling the end of the school day. A barrage of students began to head for home, the rest remaining for a meet and greet between CHS's and Crystal Prep's Friendship Game participants. Ruby and Cadance were the ones leading the students through the halls, soon arriving at the gym where Ruby told them to stay there as she and Cadance went to check on something.
Seeing this, Flash and Twilight were now staying in the hallway corner, both showing glum frowns on her face. They were both thinking about the past few hours, mainly due to the energy they had seen at the statue...and those strange girls. Flash then glared at the Twilight's scanner, the girl fiddling with it as he asked, "Hey uh...think that thing is okay?"
"I...don't know." Twilight replied, watching the scanner stay silent despite the amount of energy it had just absorbed, "I just wish I was at my lab right now so I could examine this."
"No kidding. I got a real bad feeling about this."
"Hey," the two teens turned to see Lightning and his friends, "You two okay? You look like you've seen a ghost or something."
"It's...or something," Flash replied, scratching the back of his head at the time, "This school's starting to...creep us out. At least, I think that's the best word for it."
"Why?" Gorgenia asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well-"
"Lightning!" yelled a sudden voice, making them turn to see Grand as he walked up and patted Lightning's shoulder, "Good to see you lad."
"Hey gramps," he replied before gesturing to his friends. "You've met Script, Wild and Gorgenia, right?"
"Yes," the man held out his hand, "Good to see you all again. Thanks again for keeping him out of trouble."
"The honor is all ours," Script replied while shaking his hand, "Though I don't understand what you mean by that."
"Agreed. He hasn't really gotten into any trouble," Gorgenia added.
Wild nodded in agreement, "Though that doesn't mean he doesn't know how to have a blast!"
Grand laughed at this, only to see Lightning gesture to two others. And as he turned to them, his eyes went wide in shock. The expression immediately made Flash sigh and shake his head as he asked, "Let me guess: you know our names without anyone telling you them, right?"
"Err..." was all Grand could say, gulping as he glanced between Lightning and his friends. Lightning was almost as shocked, knowing he had never seen his grandfather speechless before.
"Thought so," Flash grumbled with crossed arms.
"How...how are you..."
"Gramps? You okay?" Lightning asked as he put a hand on his shoulder, "What's wrong?" Grand didn't get an answer as in that moment, the doors opened to reveal Cadance and Ruby.
"Alright everyone, time to...Grand?" He turned to her as Ruby shined a big smile, "Grand, it's so nice to see you again." She then started to blink as she saw the shock on his face, "Are you alright?"
"I'm..." he did one last glance at Flash, "Fine. I...I gotta get going. Work to do, you know."
"Of course. We won't keep you." Grand nodded and ran off, the rest of Crystal Prep students now staring at the fleeing janitor.
"Wow. Your grandfather is obviously senile," Sunny Flare told Lightning. "Is it even safe for him to be working in that condition?"
"Gramps is perfectly fine," Lightning barked back before looking back, "But something's spooked him. It's like he saw a ghost." He then turned to Flash and Twilight, "Are you sure you've never met him before?"
"Definitely," Flash replied.
"And he's not the only person here who seems to know Flash and me," Twilight added as she twiddled with the scanner in her fingers, "Everyone here seems to know us, and I don't just mean they know our names. They're acting like they've met us before and spent time with us."
"That is strange," Script commented, "Why would they act like that? You've never been here, right?"
"No. We've never been here before-"
"Everyone, please come along! Its time for the meet and great." Cadance interrupted, the students turning before walking into the gym. It was here they saw that it was well decorated, a banner reading the words 'Welcome Crystal Prep' hanging above the stage.
And as they walked inside, Flash and Twilight quickly saw some teens to the side, Lightning zipping over to them with a smile on his face, "Iron!"
The teen turned to smile at him, the two bumping fists before pulling each other into a guy hug. "Lightning! About time you showed your ugly mug!"
"Oh ha ha," he replied while rolling his eyes, "So First and Heather didn't enter, did they? Figured they wouldn't. Though I'm a little hurt they didn't join just to see me."
"You'll get to see plenty of them later."
"True." Lightning laughed before staring out at the gym, "Say, any of the guys in here that new guitar player that took my spot?"
Iron's eyes shrunk at this, "Well uh..." He stopped as he saw Flash walk up, Lightning following his gaze and raising an eyebrow.
"What is it with you guys? First gramps and now you. What, did Flash run over your puppy or something?"
Iron quickly shook his head, "NO! It's...complicated. Like...really complicated." Iron then began to backpedal, Lightning and Flash sharing a glance before glaring at the slowly moving teen.
Meanwhile...
"What do ya mean the portal's gone?!" Applejack yelped as the Rainbooms walked through the halls to the gym, most having changed into some fancy wear Rarity had prepared for them. They were running late due to running into First and Heather, talking about the Flash and Twilight counterparts.
"I mean it's gone," Sunset answered with a slight growl, "It's closed. It's not there anymore!"
"How'd that happen?"
Sunset let out a long sigh, "I...I don't know. But it has something to do with the Flash and Twilight from this world."
"Girls!" They turned to see Grand running up, "We got a problem!"
"Flash and Twilight?" they all responded in unison, making Grand come to a stop.
"You know?"
"We ran into them earlier, but they're not the Flash and Twilight we know."
"They're the ones from our world!" Pinkie cheered, making Grand blink before his brain caught up.
"I see...and they're students at Crystal Prep, aren't they?" he got a volley of nods in response, "Alright...I'll accept that since you the whole, magic thing, though you girls will want to be careful. This Flash seems to be suspicious of everyone here, not that I blame him. If I suddenly showed up somewhere and found everyone knew my name, I'd be suspicious too."
"I'm more worried about what the Twilight's doing," Sunset added, soon explaining what had happened to Grand. But before he could reply, they arrived at the gym, now spotting Twilight wondering around with her scanner in hand. As she did this, Flash reached out and caught her by the back of her shirt, pulling her away from running into a bunch of balloons.
"What in tarnation is she up to?" Applejack asked, watching Flash now stopping her from backing into Indigo Zap.
"Leave this to me." Sunset responded before strutting across the gym floor, quickly getting in front of Twilight, Flash tensing up at the slight glare on her face, "Twilight?" the girl spun around, now seeing her as she continued, "What have you two been up to?"
"Me?" Twilight asked while pointing at herself, Flash about to step as she stuttered out, "Oh, I was just uh-"
"Who wants to know?!" Indigo yelled as she suddenly appeared, glaring at Sunset before Rainbow joined her. "You think you can just spy on our teammates."
"We weren't doing that, we were just-"
"You were!" Indigo interrupted, Applejack now getting between them.
"Now hang on there ya'll. Let's not get too competitive before da games even start."
"The games aren't really competitive since we've never lost," Sugarcoat added as her and the rest of the Crystal Prep girls appeared.
"That's not a very nice thing to say," Fluttershy muttered out.
"Sorry dearie," Sunny Flare growled, "But these games aren't about being nice."
"Well, you could at least use a little tact." Rarity added as Flash kept turning his head from one group to the other, trying to keep up as they glared at each other.
As that happened, Twilight started backpedal, only to feel herself bump into something behind her. She slowly turned around, now seeing a grinning cotton candy haired girl, "Hi there, I'm Pinkie Pie!" She held out a hand.
"Oh uh...hi." She shook said hand, "I'm um...Twilight." The next thing she knew, Pinkie was shaking her hand up and down so fast that she was scared it would be pulled out of its socket.
"I know!" The force of her shaking made Twilight's hair fall out of its bun, her glasses now hanging off one of her ears. "You look just like my friend! Her name is Twilight too!"
"That's er…" Twilight repositioned her glasses and fixed her fair as she stuttered out, "Um uh...weird." As she pulled her hair back into a bun, Pinkie leaned over and pointed at Twilight's scanner around her neck.
"What's that?"
Twilight looked down at her scanner, Flash noticing their conversation as she explained, "It's uh...sort of a spectrometer. I built it to track EM frequencies, but it can also contain anomalies." She glanced back up at Pinkie, now seeing a blank expression on her face, "It measures things."
"Like the party?"
Twilight raised an eyebrow, only to slightly nod, "Yeah, let's go with that. Though uh...it doesn't look like much of a party to me."
"Tell me about it," Flash added, "I saw more happy faces at your great aunt Vivian's funeral, though that might just have been because everyone was happy that grumpy old bat was finally gone." Twilight laughed at that while Pinkie looked around, now seeing all the grumpy faces in the gym.
"Something is definitely missing." She then snapped her fingers before grabbing Twilight's arm, "Come on!"
"Eep!" Twilight yelped as she was dragged off, Flash running after them. As that happened, Sunset broke away from the argument, trying to go after Twilight.
But as she did this, the sound of a cough could be heard behind her. "Hello Sunset." She spun around, now coming face to face with her ex-boyfriend, her heart completely stopping at the sight.
"Oh...Lightning..." Sunset's face turned the same shade of red as her hair, "Uh...hi. How....how you been?"
"Good," Lightning said with a straight face and crossed arms, "You?"
"I um-uh...er...I-I-I am...okay?" she squeaked out, doing a long gulp before standing in silence. And as a minute passed, Sunset started to speak normally, "Listen Lightning, I'm...I'm sorry about what I-"
"Stop." Lightning interrupted, flashing a palm, "I'm not mad."
"You...you're not?" Sunset gasped, her eyes going wide before saying, "But-"
"Its fine." Lightning looked slightly away as he continued, "To be honest, getting kicked out of school was the best thing that ever happened to me. It made me think about how I'd been acting, always skiving off class or playing pranks. I realized I wasn't acting like the band I tried to remake."
"Yeah...I guess that's true," Sunset muttered out, letting out a small hum, "I mean, they were known as one of the pillars of the school back then."
"Eh, don't worry about it. Besides," Lightning pointed to his friends as they talked to Iron and some other Wondercolts, "I got to meet them. That's something I'm grateful for."
"Well, I'm glad things turned out good for you. Though I uh...I really am sorry for what I did. I'd like to make it up to you sometime," she then spotted Twilight and Flash following Pinkie out of the hallway. "But that'll have to wait," she turned back to him. "Do you have any idea what a pair of students named Flash Sentry and Twilight Sparkle are up too?"
Lightning raised an eyebrow, "You wanna tell me why everyone at this school seems to know them?"
"It's-"
"Complicated? Iron already said that." He replied, giving her a deadpan stare before sighing, "Well...I do know Twilight's been detecting some strange energy readings coming from this school."
This made Sunset's eyes shrink, Lightning seeing this as she asked, "When...did she start detecting it?"
"A while back-"
"Around the time of the Fall Formal?"
Lightning paused, only to hum, "Um...I think so? She then picked up another a few weeks later."
"The Battle of the Bands..." Sunset whispered.
"What was that?"
"Uh..." Sunset stuttered out, only for Celestia to walk up to the stage as everyone turned to her.
"Hello, everyone! I'd like to take this opportunity to greet all of our visitors from Crystal Prep Academy and welcome them to CHS."
As she said this, Pinkie, Twilight and Flash came back to the gym while pushing a pair of large birthday presents, the girls pushing one while Flash pushed another. Flash got his in first, panting as he turned to see the girls just behind him. Twilight grunted, "what in the world is in these?"
Pinkie shined a huge grin, "Party cannons of course!"
"Party...cannons?" Flash yelped before jumping away from the box he had just pushed, "Are they...legal?"
"I have permits," Pinkie replied before walking away, "I gotta get something else, be right back!"
"And lastly," they heard Celestia say. "I would like to recognize the twelve students that CHS has elected to compete. I don't think we could have chosen a better group to represent the excellence, sportsmanship, and friendship the games stand for."
As she said this, Pinkie zipped around the gym, Flash watching the act in pure surprise while Twilight was still panting in exhaustion. Pinkie quickly replaced the salad plates and cheese dishes with hundreds of brightly colored cupcakes, then ran over to a large switch on the wall, pulling it so the ceiling lights would go off before a disco ball came down. Flash could only blink at the sight, "What the-where did she get all this stuff?!" He then heard new music begin to play, Pinkie suddenly appearing in front of them before opening the boxes to reveal the cannons.
"Um...are you sure that's a good idea?"
The look on Pinkie's face said the same thing she was about to say, "Absolutely!" With that, she pulled the cannon's cords, firing confetti over the gym. The force sent Twilight flying back, Flash catching her before she hit the ground. They both stared out at the gym, now seeing everyone from both schools now all suddenly beginning to dance and sing along to the music.
"Wow. She just-" He tried to say, only for a blast of pink light to appear, interrupting his attention. They now turned to see Pinkie ponying up, a pink aura covering her as she began to lift off the ground.
"Ooh, floaty!" she cheered, quickly dancing in midair.
"What in the-" Flash muttered out, only to hear a buzzing sound, making him look down at Twilight's scanner. The device suddenly started floating, pulling Twilight before opening and sucking the aura right out of Pinkie.
As it did this, Pinkie felt herself fall like a rock, "Ow!" She moaned as she hit the floor, the aura now completely drained as her hair limped over, "Oh wow...I am party pooped."
While this happened, Flash and Twilight were more focused on the device, the energy it had drained out of Pinkie now mixing with the others. As it did this, a single spark shot off the device and flew through the bleachers, the duo looking through the gap before gasping, "Whoa!" he yelped as the spark exploded before morphing into a pink spiral, slowly opening up to show a floating midair hole. Inside was what could only be described as oddly shaped trees, the sight making Flash turn and glare at Twilight, "Twi, what the heck did you just do?!"
Twilight just stared at her scanner before trying to push the scanner shut. Flash quickly tried to help, only for a sudden burst of orange sparks to fly out of the portal, striking Flash's hand. He hissed at the pain, staring at his hand as he saw the energy flow into his body and make his arm go numb. It was here that Twilight got the device closed, which also closed the portal. The girl began to pant, now turning to see Flash rolling up his sleeve to survey the damage done to his arm. Surprisingly, his arm was completely fine, the numbness now fading while also not showing a single burn or scar anywhere.
"Are you okay?" Twilight asked.
"I'm fine," Flash replied as he shook his hand, "Say uh...what the heck was that?!"
"I um...I don't know," Twilight responded as she looked back down at her scanner, now seeing that it was completely silent. She would have said more, only for the screeching feedback of a microphone to echo through the halls as both the music stopped and the lights came on.
Everyone turned to the stage, seeing Principal Cinch, "I'd like to thank Principal Celestia for her unconventional welcome." She took off her glasses to clean them, "It's been four years since the last Friendship Games, but it feels as though nothing has changed. Canterlot High continues to pick its competitors in a popularity contest and Crystal Prep continues to field its top twelve students. It is a comfort to know that even after so many years of losses, your school remains committed to its ideals, however misguided they may be. I wish you all the best of luck, regardless of the inevitable outcome."
The whole time she'd been saying this, the Crystal Prep students had put down their party food and moved away from the CHS students. All of them had a downcast look as they parted, the speech ending with the two schools standing on opposite sides of the gym. The Rainbooms all frowned at this, Pinkie walking over to Applejack with an exhausted look on her face.
Applejack, mistaking this for sadness, put an arm around her. "Ah'm sorry, Pinkie. Ah thought your party additions were really swell."
Fluttershy did a small nod, "They definitely broke the ice."
"Yes," Rarity added, "If only that Principal Cinch hadn't frozen it again."
"Yeah...she's awful." Pinkie moaned as she slumped over, Sunset walking up and patting her shoulder.
"Pinkie, are you okay? What happened to you?"
"I don't know." Pinkie replied as she sat down, "Everyone started having fun after Flash, Twilight and I fired the party cannons and I ponied up."
"Of course you did," Sunset sighed, rolling her eyes with a smile.
Pinkie let out a sigh, "But then the magic just drained right out of me."
Sunset went stiff at her words, "Wait, what do you mean drained out of you?!"
"Hey, uh..." Applejack tapped Sunset's side as she asked, "Does anybody see that other Flash and Twilight?"
"Oh, they're right..." Pinkie pointed to a now empty part of the gym, "Uh...well, they were right there."
Just outside of the school...
Twilight and Flash were now panting again, having rushed out of the gym before anything else could happen. Spike's head was now popping out of Twilight's bag as they both turned to each other and began to yell.
"We have to start studying this energy/we have to get rid of that energy!" The two raised an eyebrow at the other's words.
"Twilight, this thing is way more than some weird energy readings! This is...I don't know what it is, but its obviously very dangerous!"
"How can you say that?!" Twilight yelped while clutching the scanner, taking the necklace part off while staring at it, "You saw what happened in there! I need to figure this thing out now! I have too!"
Flash pointed at her hands, "No, you don't! You saw what that thing did! You looked like you were about to drain the life out of that girl!"
"I wasn't hurting her!"
"You were!" Flash barked back, this time swiping his hand and snatching the scanner with one quick motion. "We gotta get rid of this thing!"
"No we don't!" Twilight yelled as she tried to grab it from him, Flash keeping it out of her reach, "I need to know what that energy is! I need it for my research!"
"Twilight, this thing is dangerous!" He then held out to her, only to yank it away as she tried to grab it again, "Twilight...I know I'm an idiot compared to you, but you've got to admit I'm right here!"
"Well you're not!" Twilight replied as she was able to grab the scanner this time, "This energy needs to be studied. If its dangerous, I'll figure out how to make it safe. You know I'm smart enough to be able too."
Flash was about to yell, only to take a deep breath, "I know you're smart Twilight, but I really don't like this. You need to get rid of that thing. Its not worth it."
Hearing these words made Twilight's heart sink, now remembering Cinch's earlier words before she let out a sigh. As she did this, she replaced her face with a calm stare, "Flash...I can handle it. I'll be careful when I study it, I promise."
"Twilight-"
"I've got this!" Twilight interrupted as she put the scanner necklace back on. Flash just glared at her, Twilight putting a hand on his shoulder, "Please...just trust me." She walked off, Flash following after her.
The next morning...
Flash couldn't convince her. He had tried everything, but nothing got Twilight to give up her research, him knowing it was impossible as she had rushed into her shed lab and locked the door as soon as they got home. She even changed the digital locks to make sure he didn't sneak in, quickly keeping her distance in any way she could.
A few hours later, they found themselves back at CHS with the rest of their class as Vice Principal Luna's voice echoed over the P.A. system, "Good morning students, I'm sure you're all thrilled to start the first day of the Friendship Games. Our competitors will face off in every aspect of the CHS curriculum, culminating in the elimination equation finale."
The twenty-four students then met in the hallway, Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Cinch and many other students all waiting for them. Both teams stood on opposite sides, staring each other down as Cadance spoke up, "Welcome to the first event, the Academic Decathlon! You'll be scored on chemistry, home-ec and everything in between. But remember, only the six students from each team with the most points will move on to event number two. Good luck!"
And with that, the games began.
Flash swore he could hear battle music begin to play while competitors and teachers headed to the science lab, ready to show off their skills. Flash was the first one to go up for chemistry, the judges telling him what they wanted. Now remembering the unending lectures from Twilight, he quickly mixed the liquids, making a purple chemical for the judges. Celestia, Luna, Cadance and Ruby nodded as they wrote down the results, Flash getting the second-best score with how fast he managed to make it. The only one that did better was Rarity, though that result was quickly beaten by Twilight, and Flash was pushed into third.
Those three remained the top three as everyone else worked on their concoctions. Surprisingly, one of the CHS girls caused an explosion with the mixture despite there being no explosive materials. After this was the cooking event, Flash knowing he was no cook. Twilight teamed up with him for this one, though they were only able to get through it because she realized that Flash had opened the book to the wrong recipe.
Their final product wasn't anything that good, though it was edible. The judges gave passing scores, only to turn to Gorgenia and Wild as they showed off a cake that had their school's colors along with an S logo. The look on the judge's faces showed they considered it the best cake so far, Gorgenia and Wild high fiving at the sight before they turned to Pinkie and Fluttershy's cake.
When they cut it in half, the exact image of the Mona Lisa could be seen inside. Everyone from Crystal Prep froze at the sight, the judges quickly declaring them the round's winner as Cinch glare at all her students for losing.
Next up was carpentry, something Flash and Twilight could easily do. The duo had experience in making rooms for Twilight to do her research, Flash doing the heavy work while Twilight did the measurements and outlined the wood. Flash quickly cut up the lumber, Twilight guiding him to make a small basic birdhouse due to her slow perfectionist nature despite Flash wanting to do something fancier. The house was covered in blue lightning bolts while the roof had Twilight's highlights running around the edges. They then added a tiny birdbath to the bottom, Twilight helping Flash carve it out so it looked natural.
But their work paled in comparison to Sugarcoat and Indigo's double-decker house, complete with flame patterns and a balcony. The sight of it made the judges drop their clipboards.
Flash sighed as he watched the two give the CHS students mocking looks, especially a pair who's birdhouse had collapsed. He saw the glasses wearer look depressed, but his partner threw an arm around him, saying something that made him smile. The sight made Flash smile, getting a small feeling he would be friends with them if he went to this school.
Math, history, geography, spelling...these were all tested next, the CHS students doing surprising well, most on the same level with the Crystal Prep students. The scores were tied, meaning the winner of the next event would win the first round. It all hinged on the elimination equation finale.
The top-scoring student from both teams would be the one to compete, that turning out to be Twilight and Sunset. Flash watched as his best friend walked up onto the gym stage, Sunset going up the other side. A pair of blackboards stood side by side, both having the exact same equation that the girls needed to solve.
Flash watched her calculate, Spike popping his head out of her bag that was currently on his lap. Both schools were there, watching them with prying eyes as they wrote out their formulas. It might have been his imagination, but he swore he could hear everyone in the gym whispering the exact same thing, "Can she do it? Will she make it? Who will win it? Who will take it? Can she do it? Who will take it? Did she win it? Did she make it?" Both girls finished their calculations and stepped back from the board, Cinch walking up next, "Who's the winner? Who's the reject? How did she answer?"
Then, Cinch pointed to Sunset and announced, "Incorrect!" Sunset's eyes went wide before the sound of a camera snap made them turn to a CHS student that was carrying a camera.
On the judge's table, Luna tallied the score and nodded. "That means the winner of the Friendship Games first event is Twilight Sparkle and Crystal Prep!"
Twilight turned back to her school's section of the gym, expecting a large round of applause...only to get claps from Flash, Lightning, Script, Gorgenia and Wild. The rest of Crystal Prep all cheered half-heartedly, many sighing as they did. Twilight could barely smile as she saw this, only to hear someone speak up.
"That was awesome!" She turned to see the Rainbooms gathering around Sunset, Rainbow throwing an arm around her.
"Truly amazing!" Rarity told Sunset, who seemed just as surprised by this treatment as Twilight was.
"But we didn't win!"
Applejack patted her shoulder, "Eh, that was as close to winnin' as Canterlot's ever been." The others all nodded in agreement as Cadance walked onto the stage, Flash, Sour Sweet, Sugarcoat, Sunny Flare and Lemon Zest following her. Flash then turned to see Indigo Zap glare at him, remembering that his chemistry score allowed him to just edge her out of the top six Crystal Prep students.
He stood next to Twilight and patted her shoulder before handing her bag, Cadance speaking up next, "After a careful tally of the points, we'd like to present the students moving on to the Friendship Games' second event." The Rainbooms all cheered at this, Twilight sighing as Flash showed her off stage.
"Hey," they then looked up to see Iron, Heather and First waiting for them at the bottom of the stage. Heather gave Twilight a kind smile as she said, "Great work out there. No wonder they picked you for this."
"Um...thanks."
First turned to Flash and reached out his hand, "We have yet to be formally introduced. My name is First Aid."
"Uh...name's Flash," he replied, weakly shaking it.
"Charmed," he gestured to his friends, "You know Heather and Iron, of course."
"Hello,"
"Sup."
"Hey there," Flash responded, barely waving back, "It's er...nice to meet you all."
They all nodded before Heather asked, "So, how are you liking CHS so far?"
"It's...nice?" Twilight added.
"It sure is different from Crystal Prep," Flash finished.
"Is different good?" Iron asked with a raised eyebrow, only for his answer to be dashed as Twilight's device starting buzzing, drawing her attention.
"I'm sorry, excuse me," Twilight replied as she suddenly ran away, the others staring at her before looking back at Flash.
He let out a low nervous laugh as he slowly backpedalled, "Sorry about her. She's very...laser-focused." He then turned around, "See you later."
The teen quickly sprinted down the hallway he thought Twilight had gone down, only to find nothing. "Twilight? Where did you-" he said to himself as he walked down a corridor...only to come to a halt. His eyes went wide as he saw a new sight. On a hallway wall was a case filled with photos of CHS's previous events.
But it was one image that made him freeze up entirely. It was a photo of himself, or at least someone who looked just like him. The person had shorter hair, but it was definitely him, standing on stage while playing the guitar alongside the students he had just been talking to.
"What in the-" He muttered as he turned to another image, this one showing him dancing beside a girl that looked just like Twilight. This one had her hair down and wasn't wearing her glasses, but the sight made his blood chill as he began to look at the other photos. There were ones of him, Twilight and those six girls from before. There was even one with him, the band, and Lightning's grandfather together.
"What is...I don't..." he began to hyperventilate as his eyes shifted over all the photos, "What the...who is..."
"Flash?" He turned to see Grand staring at him, a boiling point now striking. Before Grand could react, Flash grabbed him and slammed him into some nearby lockers, "Gah!"
"That's it! Something is happening at this school, and somehow me and Twilight are involved, so you're gonna start giving me some answers!" Flash roared, his eyes red in anger, "Tell me! Why am I in those photos?! Why?!"
"Flash...calm down lad."
"Don't talk to me like you know me! I don't know you!" Flash screamed as steam flared from his nostrils, "This school...why is it so blasted crazy?!"
"You're right. I'm sorry."
"I don't want your apology! I want answers!" He pulled him over to the photos and pointed at them, "Who are those two?! Why do they look so much like me and Twilight?!"
Grand then pulled himself free, putting his hand on Flash's shoulder, which the teen swatted away, "Flash...you need to calm down. Then I'll try to explain."
"Alright...alright...I'm sorry. I just...I'm really freaking out right now." Flash took a long deep breath, closing his eyes before glaring at Grand, "Now explain. Please. Mainly before I freak out again."
"Well it's...complicated."
Flash leaned over with a growl, "Tell...me...now."
"Lad, its very complicated."
"I'm smarter than I look, so don't patronize me. There's something going on here, and me and Twilight are somehow at the center of it."
Grand sighed again, shaking his head, "I'm not really the best one to explain it. Sunset and the girls are the ones you want to talk too."
"They don't seem to care about giving us answers." Flash grumbled while crossing his arms, "Talk."
"Alright..." Grand started to fumble as he tried to think of the right words, "Well uh, do you know anything about...I guess you would call it parallel worlds."
Flash raised an eyebrow, "That's a weird start, but go on."
"Well, they're not just a theory or something made up for movies and tv. They're real, and there's one world that's connected to ours by the statue outside. The Flash and Twilight in those photos are from that world."
Flash blinked at his words, his eyes turning to the photos again before lookin back at Grand. He could tell he wasn't lying, especially at his tone. "So...that statue leads to another world?" Grand did a small nod, "And those girls we met earlier, they're from this uh...other world?"
Grand shook his head, "No. Well, one of them is, but the others are all humans from this world."
Flash gave him a deadpan stare in response, "Last I checked, humans don't suddenly sprout extra-long ears and start floating for no reason."
"That's why I want you to talk to them. They understand this more than I do."
"Right..." Flash looked back at the photo again, "So you want me to talk to that Sunset girl, right? I'm guessing that since what she did in the gym earlier, she's super smart like Twilight." He glared back at Grand, "But why them? Why can they do that...weird stuff?"
"That's uh...even more complicated. All I know is a while back, an item from that world fell into ours. It had great magical power, and would have been dangerous if it stayed here. That's why the Flash and Twilight from that world came here, to retrieve it before it caused any trouble. But despite getting it back, some of the magic was left behind and those girls were all...affected by it." Grand looked away for a second before continuing, "And if that sounds crazy, I understand...but I've seen way too much of it to deny it. Trust me on that."
Flash's brain was now working on overtime, most of it already fried as he tried to reply, "So...magic's real?"
"Err...I haven't really asked much, but according to Sunset, there is magic in the other world. As for our world, its really...strange. As in, the girls only transformed like that when they played music." Flash raised an eyebrow at this, "I don't get it either, but I do know that they're now transforming at random."
The teen gave him the longest stare, "You do realize what you're saying, right?"
"I do. And I don't like accepting it, but its the truth." Grand replied, now placing a hand on his shoulder. However, Flash didn't swat it away this time, Grand's calm voice now fully going into his ears, "Flash, please listen to me. Whatever you and Twilight are doing, stop. You're messing with forces you don't understand. I've seen what magic can do when used recklessly and it's not pretty. You could end up doing some serious damage and hurting someone, possibly even yourselves."
Those words sank into Flash's brain, the mental image of Twilight sucking up more magic before her scanner exploding now popping into his head. His eyes went wide, "Oh no..." Flash spun around before running off and yelling, "Thank you!"
"No problem." Grand said back before shaking his head and whispering to himself, "Oh boy...I hope this doesn't turn into a mess. I don't know if this school can take much more."
It wasn't long till Flash found himself outside, looking around for Twilight. As he did this, he walked up to the school statue, patting the stone pillar, "Is this really a portal? Sure doesn't feel like it..."
His question didn't get an answer as a bright yellow light appeared in the corner of his eye. Turning to it, he saw it was coming from some nearby bushes. He then walked over, his eyes going wide as he saw Twilight, Spike and Fluttershy. Fluttershy was the source of the yellow light, the girl floating in the air like Pinkie. Her hair began to lengthen as her ears grew pointed before suddenly sprouting a pair of wings.
He gasped at the sight, only for his eyes to pull away when he heard Twilight's scanner buzz. Turning to the other teen, she was dumbfounded by the sight of Fluttershy as the device lit up and sucked the yellow energy away from Fluttershy. And as this happened, a bunch of sparks shot off the scanner, morphing spirals that opened up into a portal, surprising everyone. It was here that a creature that looked like a brown rabbit with horns came out, Spike growling at the bunny.
He then leapt out of Twilight's arms, scaring the rabbit thing as he tried to chase it. The creature quickly hopped into the portal, Twilight yelping as she tried to catch her pet as Flash went through the bushes to help her. But as he did this, Spike leaped into the portal as the gateway shot out a bolt of energy, hitting Flash in the chest, making him fall back while his body starting glowing.
"FLASH!" Twilight screamed as she saw him suddenly collapse, only for another bolt to fly out. Spike then flew out the portal, following Twilight's voice as he tried to go back to Twilight...only to run into the stream connecting Fluttershy to Twilight's scanner. This seemed to electrocute him as Fluttershy fell over, the puppy now falling into her arms while also being enveloped by the yellow light. "SPIKE!"
It was here that Flash tried to get up, groaning as he then saw Twilight pushing the scanner shut again. "Come on...stop that!" she yelled as she kept pushing on the device, Flash blinking turning to Fluttershy and Spike. A click happened next, Twilight shutting the scanner, which made the portals disappear.
"What in the-" Flash tried to say before shaking his head, this time going over to Fluttershy as she slowly lifted herself up with Spike, "You okay?"
She did a small nod before giving Spike to Twilight, only to fall over a second later. Flash quickly caught her, the girl gasping as she said, "Thank you."
"Sure." Flash replied as he helped her sit up, "Are you okay?"
"I'm...okay..." she moaned, panting as he turned to see Twilight hugging her puppy.
"Are you okay Spike?"
"Um, I think so." Spike replied, Flash and Twilight's eyes going wide as their brains just processed what just happened. That is, till Spike then asked, "Are you okay Twilight?"
"AAAAH!!!" They both screamed, Twilight dropping Spike before shuffling back, only to jump up and sprint off, screaming the entire time.
"Twilight, wait!" Spike yelled as he began to chase after her, leaving Flash and Fluttershy.
"What the heck?!" Flash yelped, turning back to Fluttershy as she continued to stay slumped over. He kneeled down and helped her over to the school wall, laying her near the brick surface, "You okay?"
"You...should go." Fluttershy muttered out, "I'll be...okay..."
"What? No way! You're obviously hurt and-"
She shook her head, making him shut up as she said, "Go...help her. Don't worry...I understand."
Flash bit his lip at this, only to sigh before saying, "Thanks." He then spun around and ran off, reentering the school as he heard Spike's new voice.
"Twilight, come on! Wait for me!" He followed the voice until he arrived at a dead-end corridor, finding Twilight with her back to him saying something to Spike.
"Or my talking dog!" He heard her say as he got in earshot.
"Yeah," Spike replied while scratching his ear. "Weird, right?"
"More than a little weird." They both turned to Flash, Twilight holding a hand over her scanner as he got closer. "I knew something like this would happen. I told you this was dangerous Twilight, and now it's affecting Spike!"
"Now's not the time for the 'I told you so' dance," Twilight barked back before turning to Spike and crouching down. "Are you okay? How do you feel? What happened? Where did you go?" She stopped when Spike licked her nose.
"Hey, one question at a time! This is pretty new to me too."
"Sorry."
Spike put a paw to his chin as he answered, "All I know is I chased that pointy rabbit through the glowy thing and then I was somewhere else. Next thing I knew, I was back in that nice girl's arms and I could talk! I don't really understand why I couldn't before. I mean, it's so easy."
"The magic must have affected you," Flash added as he leaned down, Spike and Twilight turning to him with raised eyebrows.
"Magic?!" Twilight asked, "What are you talking about?!"
"I had a little talk with Lightning's grampa. Turns out that weird energy you've been tracking is actually magic from another world. I'm starting to think that's where these portals are leading too."
"Don't be ridiculous," Twilight stood up and adjusted her glasses, "Magic doesn't exist Flash. Surely I've taught you enough science to teach you that."
Flash crossed his arms, glaring at the teen, "The two glowing girls, portals and Spike beg to differ. Twilight, you know this all makes sense."
"But it can't!" Twilight barked back, "There has to be a scientific explanation for this, as that's why I'm studying it. A long time ago, people thought that fire was magic and the moon was magic. Whatever this is, it'll have a scientific explanation."
"Really?! Well didn't you also teach me that scientists thought the world was flat and that the sun revolved around the earth? You guys got that wrong big time, didn't you?"
"That's different. Magic...it goes against the laws of physics."
"Maybe in our world, but this magic's from somewhere very different." He then pointed at the scanner, "And you just saw how dangerous it is! You hurt that girl!"
Twilight held down tightly on the scanner, almost backpedaling as she tried to reply, "But that's-"
"Twilight?!" said a new voice, both recognizing it as Cinch's voice. "Are you over there?!"
"Oh no, not her right now!" Twilight yelped as she opened a nearby locker. "Quick, hide in here Spike! We'll be in big trouble if she sees you!" Flash nodded in agreement before helping her put Spike inside, Twilight then going around Flash as Cinch turned the corner to see them both. "Hello Principal Cinch....you were looking for me?"
"Indeed." Cinch nodded as she started to pace around, "Quite a coincidence that the CHS students moving onto the next event are the same nice girls who were so interested in you, don't you think?"
Twilight rubbed her arm, "I'm uh...not sure."
Cinch spun around to give her a sly smile, "Perhaps you should get to know them after all.
This made Twilight and Flash exchange glances, Twilight replying, "But I thought you didn't want me to do that."
Flash did a small nod of agreement, "Yeah, why the sudden change in heart? Don't tell me you're starting to get worried."
"I never worry," Cinch hissed, glaring at him, "Let's just say I'm covering my bases."
"You mean you saw how close CHS was to take the first round and are getting scared." Flash replied, only to feel Twilight elbow him, the look on her face telling him not to insult her.
"I have no fear of losing to this school Sentry. I simply wish to understand how it was able to change from a hopeless institution, to actually being able to challenge us. If we learn the secret to Canterlot High's newfound success, it's possible we can implement it into our own education and allow Crystal Prep to soar to new heights."
"She's obviously never heard the story of Icarus," Flash whispered to Twilight.
Twilight elbowed him again before doing a small gulp, "Um...I dunno Principal Cinch. Spying feels kind of...wrong."
Cinch nodded and turned away, "Well, it's your decision Twilight." She then glanced back at them, "Just remember everything that's on the line if we should lose." Both her and Twilight's gaze shifted over to Flash for a millisecond, Twilight understanding instantly what she meant.
With that, Cinch walked off, leaving Twilight as she just stood there and shook the scanner in her hands. Flash turned to ask what she mean, only for another voice to speak up, "Man, she's awful." They looked back to see Spike somehow walk out of the locker, "What are you gonna do Twilight?"
"She's gonna do nothing," Flash replied, "We don't need to spy on these girls to win. We'll just keep doing what we've been doing. Besides," he turned back to point at Twilight's scanner again, "We have more important things to worry about, like figuring out what to do with that magic."
Twilight did a long sigh as Spike leapt into her arms, barely responding as she said, "Okay...you might be right Flash. I'm sorry."
"Its fine, I forgive you." Flash the patted her shoulder, "Come on, let's look like we're doing Cinch's bidding by asking those girls about that magic. Shall we?"
Twilight did a small nod, the trio soon leaving the corridor as they began their journey for the truth.
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Too much knowledge can lead to greed, greed can lead to corruption, corruption can lead to doom.
You can't convince her Sentry, she may be smart but she is stubborn as a baby in a super market.
Told ya.
Not to mention the bat bomb plan of the military, the 'Who me' project that was supposed to be used, but was quickly cancelled due to the bombing of Hiroshima. And the idiotic plans of the CIA in which the agent installed a camera and a microphone on a cat that which cost the government millions of dollars, only for the same cat to be ran over by a car. Science is amazing is it not?
Things are sure heating up now, that part between EQG Flash & Grand sure was tense!
Wonder how the reunion between them & the CHS girls will go next time around, looking forward to that.
Some highlights :
It's a little more complicated than that Flashie!
Famous last words Twi!
Whoa take it easy with Grand there Flash!
Looking forward to the next chapter, keep it up Banshee!
Wow, a lot of interesting stuff happened here.
Sunset and Lightning finally meet again, and I was honestly surprised that he forgave Sunset so easily. I guess what she did to him made him rethink his life for the better. So, nice job Sunset.
I also liked Flash confronting Grand after the first round of the games and Grand explaining what he knows about the magic to Flash. I think those two have the potential for the same master-student relationship their pony versions have.
The second round is looking like it will be interesting, especially with Flash officially replacing Indigo Zap.
Oh yeah, that felt like foreshadowing to what happens in the climax. I wonder if Flash will be able to do anything to stop that from happening to Twilight in this version?
I see that the plot is starting to diverge quite significantly from the source material.
Things are a-becoming stormy.
Um.. this reminds me of Ro994's Fire Pit one shot. Not the red iris, that's straight up Sombra, no the idea of Flash being the one to transform, yeah I am expecting Flash to pull or force Sci-Twi away from the explosion of magic and him being the one infused with it.
10104117
Yeah, I'm expecting something like that to happen too. At the same time, something about a situation like that doesn't quite feel like something Banshee would write. Then again, I'm also heavily biased towards Ro's story, and I don't think Banshee can pull off something like that without looking like he straight up ripped it from the original story.
By the way, Flash has been subtly absorbing magic everytime he has direct contact with it. Does that make Flash more of a ticking time bomb than the spectrometer or is that supposed to be a good thing?
10104131
No idea
Fear my new avatar! The black and white version of the image I posted weeks ago!