> I Just Wanted to Say, I'm Confused > by sonicfan05 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was a very busy morning here in Canterlot High. All the students were busy setting up for the big event, The Friendship Games. Some students were setting up banners, sweeping the hallways, cleaning the windows, etc. They were trying to keep their school tidy before the arrival of their most hated long-time rival, the Shadowbolts from Crystal Prep. The Wondercolts have been rivals to the Shadowbolts for years. Every four years, the Wondercolts competed against the Shadowbolts, only to be beaten by them every time. It wouldn’t be so bad, except the students of Crystal Prep were not the friendly bunch. The Shadowbolts would contently reminded the Wondercolts that they are better than the Wondercolts and like to rubbed their wins against the students faces of Canterlot High. They even went as far as disrespecting the Wondercolts by messing up their horse statue as a prank. But this year, they’ll have a fighting chance! It was thanks to the motivation speech by Rainbow Dash that their spirits were up and felt confident that they can beat the Shadowbolts this year instead of the other way around. If they can overcome a She-demon at the Fall Formal and the Sirens hypnotic spell during the Battle of the Bands, no doubt they can overcome the Shadowbolts at the Friendship Games. Flash was walking down the hallway with his guitar case, ready to head to another class. He was thinking about what kind of games will there be at the Friendship Games and who will be picked to compete. But the one thing, or someone he was thinking about the most, was her. He sighed as Twilight’s angelic smile appeared in his thoughts. It was months ago during the Battle of the Bands was the last time he saw her. He didn’t remember much during the event, but what he did remember, was a lot of cruel things he said to her. And he made her cry. He frowned when he recalled the things he said and accused her for things Twilight did not do, all because of those three Siren’s spell. He still felt guilty for what he did and would beat himself over it every time he remembered that awful moment. But then he quickly smiled when he remembered what happened afterwards. He remembered giving her a brief hug after they beat the Dazzlings. He remembered caught up with Twilight and apologized to her for his behavior during the time of the Dazzlings spell. To his amazement, he remembered Twilight forgiving him and did not hold any ill feelings towards him. He even remembered…Twilight giving him a peck to both of his cheeks and promised him that they will go out for milkshakes at the Sugar Cube Corner Café the next time they’ll meet again. Flashed smiled softly at that particular memory. As his memories were playing in his mind, he didn't payed attention to someone coming towards him. As a resort, they bumped into each other and then they both crashed into the ground. Flash groaned as he was lying on the ground. He turned his head so he could identify the person he crashed into. His heart suddenly stopped beating and his eyes were wide. “Twilight?” He quickly got up and helped Twilight off from the ground until they were both standing. “I almost didn’t recognize you!” Flash said with a smile. He frowned in confusion when Twilight eyes were squinted for some reason and moved her arm around as if she was trying to find something. Flash looked down on the floor behind him and found a pair of glasses. He cocked an eyebrow at it before turning to Twilight. “When did you start wearing glasses?” he asked before fetching her glasses. “Um…like since forever,” Twilight replied awkwardly with a shrug. “Oh,” Flash picked up Twilight’s glasses from the floor. “So how long are you here for?” “Just for the Friendship Games,” Twilight answered. Flash smiled wide in realization. “Right, of course! We’ll totally win with you here!” Flash gently slid the glasses back on Twilight face. Flash smiled softly at her. It didn’t matter to him if she wore glasses or not, Twilight is still the most beautiful girl to him. They were both staring at each other for a moment until they heard beeping sounds from Twilight’s strange looking locket. “Uh…I gotta go!” Twilight said quickly before she ran off down the hall, away from him. “Oh okay…bye?” Flash called out to Twilight’s retreating figure. He sighed dejectedly while covering his face. He felt someone walked up behind him and patted his back. He uncovered his face to see it was none other than the most ditzy, yet likable blonde girl, Derpy Hooves. “Was I too strong? Was I too close to her? Did I said something…wrong?” he asked her quietly. Derpy shrugged with a look of sympathy, causing Flash to sigh again. Did she forgot...about our promise? He thought sadly. During the party, Flash was sitting on the bleachers along with the two girls, Lyra and Bon Bon. Those two have been friends since forever and it’s pretty rare to see one separated from the other, except when they had to head for their own classes. The trios were still seething at the two Shadowbolts students for the way they acted towards them earlier; despite trying to give them their welcoming smile. “Those two are horrible!” Lyra spat. “It just makes me questioned why are we here with these people, even though they don’t want to be in the same room as we do!” Bon Bon grunted. “From what I heard, the main purpose of Friendship Games was to get along and make friends with them.” “How ironic,” Lyra muttered, rolling her eyes. “Well, we’re not gonna let those Shadowbolts creeps psych us out before the games start,” Flash said with determination. “This is the year we’ll finally beat them!” Lyra raised her eyebrow skeptically. “And how are we gonna do that? Especially that your girlfriend is competing with them?” Flash blushed. “H-hey! She’s not my—” Flash suddenly turned to Lyra with his eyes widen in shock. “Wait what!? Twilight’s with the Shadowbolts?” Bon Bon frowned. “You mean, you didn’t know?” Bon Bon received her answer when Flash's gave her his blank look. Bon Bon buried her face into her hand and sighed. “I swear, you’re a real dense sometimes Flash.” Flash frowned deeply. “Now what does that supposed to mean?” “Lyra and I were outside by the front entrance earlier to hang out,” Bon Bon began, ignoring Flash’s statement. “And that’s when we saw her heading into the school building. We tried to say hi to her, but she was in deep thought to hear us. I was about to call her again until I noticed her uniform. It was the same uniform that the Crystal Prep students were wearing!” Lyra frowned. “At first, we thought that maybe our eyes were playing tricks on us, until we see her again outside, talking with Principle Cinch. THE Principle Cinch from Crystal Prep!” Flash shook his head. “That can’t be right! Just because she’s talking to the Principle of Crystal Prep, that doesn’t mean she’s from Crystal Prep!” “I’m afraid it’s true Flash,” Bon Bon said solemnly. “I even talked to the other students who were there when the Shadowbolts arrived. They confirmed that the bus Twilight came out of was exclusively for Crystal Prep.” Flash was stunned, progressing everything what he just heard. The two girls looked at the other with their concerned looks, feeling guilty for being the ones who told him the news. Then they turned back to Flash. “So…what are you going to do now?” Lyra asked hesitantly. Flash snapped out of his thoughts. “W-what?” “What are you going to do now?” Lyra asked again. Flash said nothing for a moment, trying to come up with a right answer. Finally, he replied, “I’ll still compete in the Friendship Games as originally planned.” Lyra cocked her eyebrow. “And Twilight?” “I’ll still talk to her and give her my support, even if she’s from another team.” Flash answered without hesitation. Both the girls eyes widen in surprised, nearly dropping their jaws. “Are you serious?” Lyra exclaimed. “Twilight comes from Crystal Prep! Are you saying you rather support our enemy instead of us?” Flash eyes narrowed. “First of all, I never said, I’ll support the Crystal Prep. I said I’ll support Twilight! I’m still going to compete for the Wondercolts so don't you worry! Second; yes, Twilight is from Crystal Prep. So what? Just because she goes to that school full of jerks, that doesn’t mean she's also a jerk. Even this morning, she’s still the same Twilight I know months ago!” “I don’t know Flash,” said Bon Bon, not meeting Flash’s gaze. “What if Twilight put on an act this whole time, just to spy on us and feeding the Shadowbolts information?” “Did you seriously just said that?” Flash said hotly in anger. “Twilight would never do that! She risked her life for us, twice! I’m sure no one at Crystal Prep cared about what’ll happen to us. But do you truly think, that Twilight, the same girl who saved us from a She-Demon and three magical Sirens, is a spy?” Lyra and Bob Bon looked down in shame. “No, we don’t,” Bon Bon said quietly. “Please don't take this the wrong way Flash," Lyra pleaded. “We’re just so confused about her. She’s a Crystal Prep student, that’s a fact. But then we remembered how friendly and nice she was to us when she visited us. It’s like we’ve been friends for a long time. But...” “But?” Flash pressed. “But…the way she's acting now...is odd.” “And by odd, we mean she’s a bit more anti-social and distant, than how she was the last time she visited. We know what we saw is Twilight, but at the same time…she’s also not Twilight.” Bon Bon finished. Flash gave them his confused look, as if they grown two heads. “What do you mean she is and not Twilight? That doesn't make any sense!” Just before they can answer, they heard Principle Celestia started her speech about welcoming the Crystal Prep students for coming to their school. She went on about the Friendship Games, then she mentioned they picked out the twelve best students that represents the sportsmanship of CHS (and Flash did a sly pose on that cue). But for the most part of Principle Celestia’s speech, he really didn’t pay much attention to it. He was busy thinking about Twilight again. Is the reason why she did tell him that she’s a Crystal Prep student because she’s afraid that he’ll hate her? If it was because of how he acted to her last time, he won't hold that against her. If that was the reason, then he'll let her know that the fact that's she's a Crystal Prep student won't change anything in between them. But, what if that's not the reason? Then he thought about what Lyra and Bon Bon had said to him, something about what they saw is and not Twilight. This all sounded crazy to him, but as he played back the memories of Twilight’s visits again, something does seem…off about her. He remembered Twilight was very shy and awkward, but also nice and cute girl. When he later went to the Fall Formal with her, he learned that’s she’s also fun to hang out, very caring, a very bad dancer, but overall, she’s a great person. On her second visit, after the Battle of the Bands fiasco, he felt that they had gotten closer than before after he made that apology. But this time, she acted…differently. She barely said hello to him, wears glasses for some reason, acted like she doesn’t remembered him and ran off before he have a conversation with her. It was odd to him because she wasn’t acting like the Twilight he knew last time. It’s almost as if he was speaking to…a different person. This whole Twilight thing was really starting to confuse him. Before he thought of this further, the lights were suddenly went off and the music started playing. Everyone in the auditorium, both CHS and Chrystal Prep students, went on the dance floor and started dancing together, forgetting about their diversity. He also noticed that disco lights were on, a huge tray of cupcakes mysteriously appeared on the snack table and confetti suddenly went off out of nowhere. Flash shook his head in amusement. Looks like Pinkie Pie had struck again! This party looked pretty fun, so he decided to come down from the bleachers and started dancing with the others. He wasn’t exactly the best dancer in the world, especially the way he awkwardly stepped back and forth with both of his fist held up like he's some kind of boxer. He didn’t care though; he was having a good time! He kept on dancing until he stopped the moment he saw Twilight standing by the bleachers. She looked stumped as she was inspecting her locket that was resting on her hand. Flash smiled at the sight of her. This was the perfect opportunity to talk to her and figured out what was going on. Just as he was approaching her, the lights in the auditorium suddenly turned back on, the music stopped playing and a very loud echo sound came out from the microphone. He than turned to see Principle Cinch who did her own speech, something about "this doesn’t change a thing," and "the CHS should prepare for the inevitable outcome," or whatever garbage that was coming out of her mouth. Flash paid no mind to Cinch and look around for Twilight, but to his dismay, she disappeared. As both the CHS students and Crystal Prep students stood at opposite sides of the auditorium away from each other, Flash's mind went back to Twilight again in concern. Twilight, what’s going on with you? > Chapter 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The next morning, Flash was the first to arrive at the school's hallway near the entrance. He leaned against the wall by the door, waiting as more students showed up for the events of the friendship games. Flash yawned loudly. He never slept well from the night before because he couldn't stop thinking about Twilight and her behavior from yesterday. The conversation he had with Lyra and Bon Bon was still fresh from his mind. He was aware that Twilight is from Crystal Prep. That is a fact. However, even after knowing that, something's still not right about that. And he couldn’t remember why. Flash recalled the time when he was dancing with Twilight during the Fall Formal many months back. The music from DJ PON-3's booth was blasting within the auditorium of Canterlot High on the night of the Fall Formal. All the students were having a good time as they were dancing their night away. Flash was swaying back and forth with the rhythm of the beat until he felt someone bumped into him. He turned to see an embarrassed Twilight Sparkle with a rosy blush on her cheeks. "Sorry...I'm not that great of a dancer," Twilight shouted over the loud music. Flash chucked with amusement. "Don't be, I'm not a good dancer either. Last year, I was in a dancing contest to compete with the other dancers. The moment when I performed next, I was immediately taken to the nurses office, because they all thought I was having a seizure." Twilight laughed loudly. "What? That's horrible!" Flash scratched his chin with a blush, but formed a small smile. "Yeah... but I knew dancing was not my thing, which is why I decided to play the guitar for my band instead." Twilight stood a little closer to Flash, trying to hear him better despite the loud music. "Is playing music is what you wanted to do for your life?" Flash shook his head. "Nah, music is more of a hobby thing. What I really wanted to do is to join the police force and protect our town from danger just like my dad." "Your dad's in the police force?" Twilight asked, despite not knowing what a police force means. Flashed smiled. "Yeah, he's my inspiration since I was little. He risked his life everyday helping other people no matter how big or small the issue was. He's my hero and I wanted to be just like him." Twlight smiled warmly, feeling more respect from the teenage boy. "Wow, that's really cool! I bet you do great!" Flash gave her his appreciated smile. "Thanks! So what about you?" Twilight blinked in surprise then pointed at herself. "Me?" Flash nodded. "Yeah, I would like to learn more about you, especially that you're the only person in school who is not afraid to go up against Sunset Shimmer." Flash frowned slightly when Twilight bit her lip and not meeting his eyes. It looked like she was debating with herself on how she should respond to him. After a moment of hesitation, she sighed and met his gaze again. "Flash... I'm not sure how I'm going to say this but...I'm not really a… normal girl." Flash was confused on what Twilight was talking about until his memory played back on the video that Sunset released about Twilight from online this morning. "Oh you mean from that 'campaign video' Sunset posted about you? I don't care about that. I'm not letting that garbage change my opinion about you." Twilight shook her head. "No it’s not that, it’s..." Twilight struggled to finish her sentence, too nervous to speak. Seeing the poor girl in that state, Flash placed both his hands on her shoulders and gave her his kind smile as he waited patiently for her to speak. That seemed to help calm Twilight a bit as she sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, mentally prepare for what she was about to reveal to him. "You see…" “Hey, you okay dude?” Flash was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard someone calling out to him. He turned his head to see a guy with green hair and a grey skullcap who was giving him his concern look. “Oh hey Sandalwood, when did you get here?” Flash asked. Sandalwood stared at Flash strangely. “Um dude… I was trying to say ‘hi’ to you for like, ten minutes. You were just standing there like you were in a trance man.” Flash eyes widened. Whoa, was I in deep thought for that long? Flash placed his hand on the back of his head as he chuckled awkwardly. “Sorry about that, I… had a lot in my mind right now.” Sandalwood gave Flash his knowing smirk. “Oh I get it dude. It was about that Sparkle girl wasn’t it?” Flash blushed furiously. “W-what? No I-” “No worries dude,” Sandalwood chuckled. “I totally understand. Seeing that the girl you really like are with the Crystal Prep group must of make you feel totally confused. Like a squirrel, realizing that it ate a walnut instead of an acorn…and it wasn’t sure what to make of it.” Now it was Flash turn to give Sandalwood his strange look. “Okay I don’t even know what you were talking about, but yes, it was about Twilight. But it wasn’t about her hanging with the Shadowbolts that bothered me.” “Then what was bothering you dude?” Sandalwood asked. Just as Flash was about to answer, he heard Dean Cadence from Crystal Prep begin her announcement by the school’s entrance. Both Flash and Sandalwood joined in the crowd to hear the rest of the Dean’s words. Flash wasn’t paying attention to the speech as he stared across to his rival team, specifically at the lavender-haired girl. To him, she didn’t appear to be excited or smug about the upcoming games like her peers. Instead, she looked unhappy, nervous and shy, which was the opposite of how she acted from her previous visits. He wanted to talk to her about why she avoided him, why she didn’t tell him about that she is a Prep student, but most importantly, to check to see if she’s okay. Sadly, he wasn’t able to do that at this time when Dean Cadence finished her speech and officially begin the games. He sighed longingly as Twilight walked away with the rest of the students to get ready for round one. Twilight… After a couple hours of duking it out against the Shadow Bolts, the first round of the Friendship Games was over, with Crystal Prep the victor, thanks to Twilight Sparkle. He was bummed that his school lost the first round, but that didn’t matter to him. He was happy and impressed that Twilight did so well at the mathematics battle against Sunset, even though she was from the other team. He frowned when the Shadowbolts clapped half-heartily to Twilight’s performance, despite that she won the first round for them. He continued to frown when he saw a brief dejection on Twilight’s face, but was changed quickly when Dean Cadence announced the picks for round two. Disappointed that he had not qualified for the next round to compete with Twilight, he’ll at least congratulate her for her performance. He figured now is his chance to talk to Twilight, letting her know that he’s still her friend and the fact that she’s from Crystal Prep, doesn’t change his views of her. He approached Twilight just as she was coming down from the stage. “Congratulations, you were really great!” Flash said with a smile as he gave her his cool pose. Unfortunately for Flash, Twilight’s locket made some noises again and Twilight adverted from his gaze to her locket. “I’m sorry, excuse me.” Twilight turned away from him as she quickly walked out through the auditorium’s door with her locket as her guide, leading her outside. Flash just stood there awkwardly as Twilight disappeared through the doors, leaving him alone. “…okay then.” Flashed sighed dejectedly again. The second round of Friendship games was almost ready to begin. The bleachers was completely full of students, but divided from two different schools. The Wondercolts from one side of the stadium and the Shadowbolts from the other side. Both sides where eager for the upcoming event, hoping there representative team crush there opposing team. Except for one. Flash signed sadly while slumping on his seat from the top row. I can't believe she left me hanging again and acted like I'm not there! Did she purposely wanted to avoid me? Was she...lying to me this whole time? About forgiving me? About our possible date? That she really is...one of them? Before he had time to think this further, someone called out to him. “Hey Flash, you okay?” Flash turned and saw his two friends Lyra and Bon Bon approaching him and then sat down next to him. “Yeah, you looked like you’ve been dumped by your girlfr-OW!” Lyra was interrupted by Bon Bon who jabbed her in the arm with her elbow with a glare. “What?” Lyra whined, confused by her friend's actions. Flash sighed. “Might as well be, I never had the chance to talk to her. When I did approached her, she just ignored me and leave me in the dust!” “I’m sure she doesn’t mean to," Bon Bon said with a look of sympathy. "She’s probably stressed out about the Friendship Games she’s participate in.” “Or maybe she was just toying with you since she’s with the Shadowbolts after all-OW!” Lyra once again received a jab in the arm from her best friend for the remark. Bon Bon decided to scold her friend later and decided to change the subject. “Is it just me or is this whole setup a bit overkill?” Bon Bon commented as she surveyed the entire arena from her seat. “Who cares Bon Bon!" Lyra cried in excitement. "They’ve got motorcycles! This is going to be awesome… though I wish I was the one who gets to ride a motorcycle!” "They're actually called motocross," Bon Bon deadpanned. "But the motorcycles sounds cooler!" Lyra remarked. Bon Bon rolled her eyes. "Welcome everyone to the Friendship Games Tri-Cross Relay!" Dean Candace announced from the speakers. “Well, it looks like they’re about to start,” said Bon Bon said loudly over the cheering crowd. After Dean Candace introduction, she used a blow horn and the second round begins. The yellow-skinned girl with freckles and magenta and mint green striped hair from the Shadowbolts was in lead, jumping hay stack after hay stack with ease while Fluttershy slowly climbed over them. She then quickly snatched the bows and grabbed on to the rope then swing across to the platform. As soon as she landed on the platform she rolled over to pick up the bow and then quickly shot three arrows at the moving target and only one of them hits the bull's-eye. “Oh no, one of the Shadowbolts already got the first bull’s-eye!" Bon Bon exclaimed with worry. "If Twilight hits the next bull's-eye before Fluttershy, we won’t be able to catch up!" As soon as Bon Bon finished her sentence, Twilight took off and jumped over the first hay stack... ...only to trip over it and landed on her face. Lyra smirked. “I don’t think we’ll have to worry about that.” Twilight recover from her fall and continued to make her way to the platform. She wasn't nearly as fast as her partner and she stumbled along the way. Every time Twilight messed up throughout the race, it made her partner more and more angry. By the time Twilight reached the platform, Fluttershy already hit the bull's-eye and Applejack quickly made it to their platform. Applejack hit her bull's-eye with ease and the second team of the Wondercolts began their speed skating race, earning their early lead. “Yes, we made it to the speed skating race!" Lyra cheered. "We’ll win this round for sure!” “Yeah but…look at Twilight!” Bon Bon said with concern as she pointed at the girl in question. Poor Twilight was struggling with her bow as she was trying to aim and shoot at the target. The more she missed, the more pressure she felt. It didn't help that her partner was yelling at her for messing up while she tried to hit her mark. It got even worse when she was hearing many nasty jeers and insults from the students of the Crystal Prep from their bleachers. "Loser!" "You suck Sparkle!" "You're pathetic!" "Just hit the target you dweeb!" "I can do better than that!" "We're gonna lose because of you!" Tears were leaking from her eyes for being mocked by her peers as she tried to steady her bow and arrow but failed due to her trembling arms. "Typical Sparkle, always screwing up!" "You're a disgrace to our school!" "You're nothing like your brother!" All the students from Canterlot High were both upset and outraged as they all watched poor Twilight suffered from the verbal assaults from the Crystal Prep students. “Oh man…she may be a Shadowbolt, but…I feel so bad for her.” Lyra said softly. "I can't believe they would trash talk her like that, even though she is on their team!" Bon Bon growled while glaring at the bleachers where the Crystal Prep students sat. "You should've stay in the sidelines and read a book like a worthless nerd you are!" "A loser like you shouldn't even be here!" "You're not a Shadowbolt and you never will be!" Flash was burning in rage. Ever since the second round had started, he didn't paid any attention to it at all. His main focus was on Twilight the entire time. He seen her struggling throughout the race. He knew that this obstacle course was not her strung suit, but he knew she was trying. His heart was broken when he saw tears in her eyes as she was desperately shooting her arrows at a target while continued to get mocked from her classmates. “You’re really bad at this!” Words cannot described how angry he was for hearing all these terrible insults at Twilight all while he was sitting up in the bleachers and couldn't do a thing about it. His fists tightened at the thought of punching the faces of these jerks from Crystal Prep to teach them a lesson. A lesson that you should never make a wonderful girl like Twilight cry... ...just like how he did months ago. “Hey, what is Applejack doing?” Flash snapped out of his 'rage mode' when he heard Lyra said something about Applejack. Sure enough, there was Applejack, standing right next to Twilight. “Is she…helping her?” Bon Bon asked but mostly to herself. They don't know what Applejack was saying to Twilight, but whatever she said must of helped Twilight to calm down. However, they saw Twilight's partner say a few words too, no doubt it was anything but helpful. Bon Bon let out an anger grunt. “Ugh, I wish Twilight’s obnoxious partner would shut up! She offered nothing but insults to the poor girl!” Both Lyra and Flash nodded in agreement. They watched as Applejack guiding Twilight along the steps of using the bow and arrow. Twilight took a deep breath and stood still for a moment until she finally let go of the arrow. Time slowed down as the arrow was launched into the air at a straight line towards the empty wall. They all watched with anticipation, not daring to make a sound. Just before the arrow was going to hit the wall, the moving target appeared right in front of it. With a loud 'thunk,' the arrow hit the center of the target. All the students from the Wondercolts section cheered loudly for Twilight while the Crystal Prep students gawked silently from Twilight's archery performance. “She did it!" Bon Bon shrieked happily! "Go Twilight!” Lyra cheered! Both girls watched Applejack who was about to give Twilight a high five but received a warm hug from her instead. “Aww, she's hugging Applejack!" Bon Bon gushed happily. "Her behavior and what she goes through proves that she is not like those Shadowbolt creeps at all!” Lyra nodded in agreement. “Yeah…I feel so bad for doubting her earlier. Different or not, she’s still a sweet person. What do you think Flash?” Flash didn't hear his friend's question as he was staring at the display in front of him. He was amazed at Twilight's archery skill, despite some bad shots due to unnecessary pressure from her peers. He felt his heart repaired when he saw Twilight's smile returned to her lovely face. While he wished that he was the one who came in and saves Twilight from her classmates verbal abuse, he was grateful that someone was able to help her, even though they were from opposite teams. As the two girls hugged, Flash smiled warmly at them. Thank you Applejack! Suddenly, Flash saw an orange glow surrounding Applejack. Pony ears popped out of her head and her hair grown as long as a pony's tail. "What the..." He was not the only one who noticed this. "What's going on here?" said Bon Bon, shocked at Applejack's transformation. "Is she...using her pony powers again?" Lyra asked but mostly to herself. Then she smiled widely. "Awesome! Now this is gonna be epic!" Bon Bon frowned worryingly. "But I thought she wasn't allowed to use her-" Bon Bon was cut off the moment when Twilight's locket levitated into the air, opened its lid and then drained Applejack's magic from her. Needless to say, the three teens were shocked of what they just saw. "No way!" Lyra exclaimed. "Twilight is stealing her magic?" Before either of her friends answered, they saw Twilight tripped backward into the ground after her locket stole Applejack's magic and then the locket landed in the middle of the track, caused it to open again. Shortly after that, the two Shadowbolts competitors skated by and unknowingly knocked the locket off the road and onto the grass. However, that sudden impact caused some magic to release, opening some portals. Just when things couldn't get any worse, strange plant creatures emerged out from some of the portals. Panicked, Twilight ran towards her locket to retrieve it, only to be blocked and attacked by vines that suddenly appeared from one of the portals. "Twilight!" Flash screamed in fear of her safety. Before any of his friends stopped him, Flash immediately got up from his seat to make his way down from the bleacher. Unfortunately, the students blocked him from making his way down to Twilight, so he roughly shoved them and apologized to each student along the way. He wasn't paying much attention to his surroundings, but he heard screams from other students both in awe and fear. Probably because they now noticed the plant creatures that appeared in the middle of the race. By the time he made it down, he heard Dean Candace urging everyone to go to the gym immediately through the loud speakers. Flash chose to ignore her in favor of saving Twilight but then he was suddenly grabbed by his arms, preventing him to run further. "Hold it Sentry," a familiar voice said from behind him. He turned to see it was none other than his teacher, Miss Harshwhinny. "You should head to the the gym with the others now!" Flash tried to struggled his way out of Miss Harshwhinny's grasp. "Wait, Twilight's in trouble! We need to-" "She's fine Sentry!" Miss Harshwhinney said with a grunt. "Those plant creatures are gone now and everyone who compete at the games are safe!" Flash stopped struggling and turned to face Miss Harshwhinny. "Even Twilight?" "Yes her too." Miss Harshwhinny huffed while re-straightening her suit. "Now quit being a hero and head to the gym now! I'm not telling you again!" "I need to see Twilight!" Flash cried desperately. "Can you at least let me check up on-" Flash pleas was silenced by Miss Harshwhinny's hard glare, telling him that her orders are final and not to pester her further. Flash sighed dejectedly and he reluctantly followed his classmates towards the gym. He took a quick glance to see Twilight walking towards the Rainbooms. While he silently relieved that Twilight was safe from harm, he couldn't help but frowned that he never had the chance to talk to her again. He still have questions for Twilight, including what he and his friends just saw before the attack of the plant creatures. Oh Twilight... > Chapter 3 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It’s been a half-hour since the craziness of the second round and all the students from both schools were glaring at each other, not saying a word while Harshwhinny and Cranky Doodle surveyed the CHS gymnasium like hawks. Earlier, they were at each others throats; the students from the Crystal Prep accused CHS for cheating with their strange magic and the students of CHS accused Crystal Prep for being hypocrites and not being respectful to them and to their own teammates, especially to Twilight Sparkle. Ms. Harshwhinny had to step in and divided the group to two different sides of the gym before things get out of control. There was nothing but tense and awkward silence within the gymnasium. Flash, who was standing from the back of the CHS group, huffed in frustration. After those strange plant creatures came out of nowhere, he wanted to see Twilight right away, only to be forced to come here by Ms. Harshwhinny. It wasn’t fair that he couldn’t see her, especially when she was standing right there in front of him. She and the rest of the girls who were competing were not here in this gym. Worse of all, they were told that the final round will began in the next half hour. Why would they continue after an event like this was beyond him, but he betted that Principal Cinch has something to do with this. Whatever the reason, he won’t be able to leave this room, not as long as Ms. Harshwhinny and Mr. Cranky stood in front of the doors. “Hey Flash,” someone whispered from behind him. Flash turned just in time to see Lyra and Bon Bon walking towards him. “Everything okay Flash?” Bon Bon asked in her hushed tone. Flash sighed. “Not really, this whole competition has been a big mess!” “Yeah, tell me about it,” Lyra scoffed. “First small portals popping out at random places, then Sunset’s group grew wings and ears and now plant creatures came out of nowhere and attacked us. What’s next, someone end up turn into a monster and our world hangs into balance?” “Lyra!” Bob Bon snapped quietly. “What? It’s not like it's gonna happen!” Lyra said defensively. “Anyway,” Flash trailed off, getting back on topic. “After those plant creatures showed up, I wanted to go and check up on Twilight, but Ms. Harshwhinny stopped me!” Lyra smirked. “Figures. Our lover boy here is worrying for his girl-” She was interrupted by a sudden jab in the rib by Bon Bon who was glaring at her. Once she knew for sure that her friend wouldn’t make another remark, Bon Bon turned to Flash. “Flash, I know you’re worried about Twilight, and so do we, but there’s nothing we can do about it until after the final round of the Friendship Games.” “But if I wait any longer, I won’t have a chance to talk to her!” Flash argued. Lyra shook her head. “Look dude, you worry too much! The buses show up at three, which is a half hour after the end of Friendship Games. Twilight won’t go anywhere, so you still got time!” Flash held his chin in thought. On one hand, Lyra had a point. He may still have some time to catch up to Twilight and talk to her before she returned to Crystal Pep. On the other hand, half hour is only a small amount of time to catch up to Twilight. This could be a gamble, but if he is fast enough to get to her as soon as the games ended, then he may have a chance. Just then, the doors near Harshwhinny opened. Principal Celestia, Vice Principal Luna, Dean Cadence and Principal Cinch entered the gym. All eyes were on them as soon as Principal Celestia made her announcement. “All right everyone, I know the event of the previous round was…unusual, we are still investigating this as we speak.” Flash heard mumbles from the Crystal Prep students about how CHS is now covering themselves, much to his annoyance. He could’ve sworn he saw Principal Cinch narrowed her eyes at Principal Celestia in suspicion. “In the meantime, we have everything prepared for the final round to break the tie,” said Dean Cadence. “Please follow us outside at the front of the school.” As everyone led out of the gym in the orderly fashion, Flash followed along with his determined look. Please wait for me Twilight. As soon as the Games are over, we really need to talk. It was dark and cloudy at the front of Canterlot High. All the students were already on their seats for the upcoming final round of the Friendship Games. As usual, the Canterlot students took the bleachers on one side of the field while Crystal Prep students used the bleachers on the other side. Each side was cheering for their own teams as they waited for the final round to begin. As Vice Principal Luna and Dean Cadence explained the rules through their megaphones, Flash Sentry just sat on the bleacher in deep thought while Lyra and Bon Bon sat next to him. “This is really tense,” said Lyra, surveying the scene from her seat. “The final round haven’t even started yet and I’m already at the edge of my seat!” “Well let’s just hope nothing bad going to happen like what happened at the previous round,” Bon Bon said with her worried frown. Lyra turned to her friend with her confident smirk. “No need to worry Bon Bon, nothing’s gonna happen, except our team kicking the Crystal Prep butts!” Bon Bon frowned. “How can you be so sure? What if those strange magical portals and creatures came out of nowhere like last time?” Lyra waved off Bon Bon’s concerns. “Then our girls down there will use their ‘pony powers’ or something and protect us like before. What can go wrong? Flash blinked. Magic? Pony? Suddenly, his memory from the night of the Fall Formal came flooding back into him. With a sigh, Twilight opened her eyes and looked directly at Flash. "You see…I'm actually an Alicorn princess…well…I was originally a unicorn and then recently turned into an alicorn, from an alternate world of ponies which is Equestria and…I came to this world because Sunset came into mine, which is also hers, and stole my crown which is actually has a magical element within it, which powers up the other elements and I won't be able to protect my world without it and my crown somehow ended up as a prize for the Fall Formal event and I need to win it back so it doesn't fall into the wrong hands and I need to get it before the end of tonight, otherwise I'll be trapped in this world for another thirty moons!" Flash blinked a few times with a blank look on his face, making Twilight nervous. After a minute of awkward silence, he finally spoke. "Twilight...did you drank some of Pinkie's punch?" Twilight was taken back. "What? No! I- Look, I know it all sounds crazy but-" Suddenly, they heard Principal Celestia over the loudspeakers. "Up next for our music performance, give it up for Flash Drive!" "Hold that thought Twilight,” Flash said quickly. “We’re needed on stage. We'll talk after we're done okay?" As he walked away towards the stage, leaving a distraught Twilight behind, he scratched his chin in thought. Twilight? As a pony princess? Okay, she either drank too much of Pinkie's punch and was pulling my leg or...maybe she really is a- Flash shook his head out of his thoughts when he finally arrived on the stage, grabbed his guitar and started playing the dance music with his band. No way… Flash just sat there in shock. He was too busy focusing on trying to meet with Twilight, he had completely forgotten about the magic that’s been going on in school since the Fall Formal, including where it’s from. He nearly slapped himself in stupidity for not realizing this before, especially with all this happened in front of his face. But then this raises his ultimate question. This whole time, the Twilight I was chasing after turned out to be-? “Hey, what are those Crystal Prep girls doing to Twilight?” Bon Bon asked out loud, snapping out of Flash’s thoughts. He watched as the Shadow Bolts were circling around Twilight, berating her about something while Cinch was standing there with her arms crossed, leering down at her. Lyra’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t know what they’re saying to her, but it looks like they’re putting a LOT of pressure into her.” Flash frowned further as Cinch leaned over to Twilight’s ear and whispered something to her. Judging by Twilight’s expression, it doesn’t look anything good. Cinch then slowly lead Twilight towards the center of the field and shoved her away. Flash scowled. I hate that woman more by the minute! I don’t know what she said to Twilight, but she better not make Twilight do anything drastic! Flash continued to watch Twilight as she was slowly walking towards the middle of the field while removing her strange locket from her neck. Flash was starting to feel nervous when her locket began to glow bright purple as Twilight slowly opened it. Before he or anyone had the chance to stop Twilight, a glowing white ball from within Twilight’s locket exploded, temporarily blinded everyone in the area. After a minute of blindness, Flash regained his vision, only to gasp when he saw Twilight floating up in the air helplessly with the energy ball in front of her. The ball slowly grew bigger and consuming Twilight into it. Twilight tried to struggle herself away from the ball but she couldn’t move at all, save for her head. In her last despite attempt, she pulled her left arm out and reached out to her classmates. “H-HELP M-MEEEEEE!” Twilight cries snapped out of Flash and was abruptly stood up from his set and make his way down from the bleachers. By the time he made it to the ground, he was already too late when Twilight was completely consumed by the ball of light and then it exploded, blinding everyone. After Flash recovered his eyesight, he looked up in horror to see that the sweet, kindhearted bookworm he grown to love was now turned into a dark winged monster. Bon Bon turned and glared at her friend which made Lyra raised both her hands up defensively. "Hey don't blame me! I was kidding when I said that!" The purple she-demon cackled as she was hovering over the school. “You were right!" She said maniacally as she was looking at Sunset Shimmer. "I didn’t understand magic before…BUT I DO NOW!” Twilight summoned her magic from her hands and then blast a magic beam at the school's statue, destroying it. In its place, a portal grew out from the statue's remains, reveling a section from the pony's world. As the portal increased its size, cracks from underneath the portal grew bigger and longer on the ground. Almost everyone started running away from danger but Flash just stood there both in shock and fear as Twilight continued to bring out more portals from the other world. He never been in a scary situation since the Fall Formal, only it was Sunset who transformed instead of Twilight. He couldn't remember what happened during the event of Sunset's rampage, what he did remember was what happen afterwards. Flash slowly opened his eyes in a daze like he woken up from a long nap. "W-where am I?" Flash mumbled. His vision was blurry at first as he surveying his surroundings. When his sight became clearer, his eyes widen when he sees the front entrance destroyed and a huge crater appeared in the middle of the school grounds. "Whoa, what happen here?" he exclaimed loudly. One of the student with a stunned look, pointed towards a section away from the crater. Flash turned his head towards the student's direction and he was shocked of what he saw. There were six teenaged girls lying on the ground, including the purple girl with a pink dress at the center of the group. "Is that...Twilight?" he thought. Flash was about to run up to her to see if she's okay, when something else caught his attention. "Where did she get those wings... and her pony ears from!? Is she wearing a costume?" He was snapped out of his thoughts when he witnessed Twilight and five other girls stood up and headed towards the crater. Curious, he followed them and looked down into the crater. There, kneeling on the ground was his old girlfriend and bully of the school, Sunset Shimmer. Sunset was known to be heartless and never felt bad for the things she had done, hurting others just to get what she wants. Even after breaking up with her, not once she ever felt remorseful for using him just to get herself popular. But when he saw her quivering and crying for her actions, he was stunned. Despite many emotions he felt towards the bacon-haired girl, he couldn't help but to feel sorry for her. What surprised him further was when Twilight reached out to Sunset and offered her to start over and make friends with the other students, despite all the bad things Sunset had done to her. No one would ever give a reason to help Sunet (including himself) after all of this, but Twilight was willing to forgive her and help her lead her to a better path. This only made him admired Twilight more. Twilight... This is an ultimate déjà vu. Twilight continued to terrorizing the school by shooting beams and releasing more portals all around the area. Flash felt himself trembling. He was scared both from her and for her. He wanted to run away, but at the same time he couldn't bring himself to. He wanted to do something to snap out of Twilight and save her, but he doesn't know how. He was suddenly shook out of his fear when he heard someone shouting. "Hey, where you going?" He turned to see one of the Shadowbolts calling out to Principal Cinch. "Anywhere to avoid that...monster! And I suggest you do the same! she said before she ran off. Flash gritted his teeth. That no good coward! Flash then heard another voice calling out to Twilight. "Twilight, you can't do this!" Sunset pleaded. "Why not?" Twilight said with her maniacal grin. "There's a whole nother world out there, and it's just filled with magic!" Twilight summoned her magic again and then blast her beam at the school entranc, creating another portal in its place. "But your destroying this world to get it!" Sunset cried. "So what?" said Twilight. "There's more magic there, AND I WANT TO UNDERSTAND IT ALL!" Twilight summoned more of her magic and then released her biggest beam in the middle of the schoolyard. The ground instantly turned purple with cracks in it before it shattered, reveling another world from above. Most of the students managed to back away before the hole appeared, however some students were caught off guard and tried to hang on for their life. "SOMEBODY HELP ME!" Flash quickly turned to the source to see his friend Bon Bon desperately hanging on to the ledge of the hole while Lyra tried to help her. "Hang on Bon Bon, I'm coming!" Flash cried as he ran towards them. Lyra continued to struggle to keep her friend from falling. "Geeze Bonnie, how the heck are you so heavy!? Just how many sweets did you eat?" "Lyra, now's not the time for jokes!" Bon Bon cried out frantically. "But jokes is what keeps me calm!" Flash made it to his friends and helped Lyra pulled Bon Bon up to safety. With some struggle, they both successfully got Bon Bon out of the hole. "Whew, that was close!" Lyra exclaimed. "You alright Bon Bon?" Flash asked with concern. "I think so," Bon Bon answered, but winced painfully. "But I think I twisted my leg in the process from my falling." "This isn't good!" said Flash. "We need to take you to safety!" He turned to Lyra. "Lyra..." "On it!" said Lyra as she was helping Bon Bon stand up and hold her from the right side. "Like you had to ask!" "Thank you two much," Bon Bon said gratefully. As Lyra help guide Bon Bon away from the area. Flash turned when he heard Sunset's voice. "This isn't the way!" Sunset called out to Twilight again. "I know you feel powerful right now, like you can have everything what you want! I've been where you are! I've made the same mistake your making! I've put on the crown and just like you I was overwhelmed by the magic it contained! I thought it could get me what I wanted!" Twilight seemed to be listening at first before she broke out her huge grin with a chuckle. "Oh you are wrong. Unlike you I CAN HAVE EVERYTHING WHAT I WANTED!" "No you can't!" Sunset argued gently. "Even with all that magic and power, you still be alone!" Sunset then raised her arm with Twilight’s amulet that she somehow possessed it. "True magic comes from Honesty," Applejack suddenly began to glow and her hair floated into the air. "Loyalty," Like Applejack, Rainbow Dash also glowed and her hair rises up. "Laughter, Generosity, Kindness!" Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Fluttershy were also glowing with their own hairs raised to the sky. The glowing lights from each girls were linked to the amulet that Sunset was holding. Sunset slowly floated into the air as she continues to speak to Twilight. "I understand you Twilight and I want to show you the most important magic of all!" After she gathered enough magic, she snapped the amulet shut and then threw it to the ground beneath her. Then a white glowing ball appeared and consumed Sunset like it did to Twilight, but the only difference is unlike Twilight’s, Flash could sense...warmth and hope. When the bright light died down, Flash eyes widen when he sees Sunset in her pink and white dress that goes down to her legs, flaming sun symbols on her elbows, feet and neck, golden boots a red eyeliner that only covered around her eyes, flaming wings and a glowing horn that appeared on her forehead. Her overall appearance is a mixure of a princess and a goddess. "The magic...of friendship!" Sunset concluded. Flash as well as everyone else smiled from Sunset's speech as Sunset used her magic to remove all the portals Twilight created until there are none left. Twilight, angered that her portals are gone, charged towards Sunset with her one fist glowing with magic. Sunset also flew straight towards Twilight with her fist full of magic in front of her until her and Twilight collided with a huge magical light exploded in the background. The two girls recalled from each other as the light died down and Twilight summoned her magic from both of her hands before combining them together to release her huge magical beam straight towards Sunset. Seeing her opponent's attack, Sunset quickly summoned her own magic and blast it towards Twilight’s beam. Both girls were now having a beam tug-of-war between the two of them as the students watched on from the sidelines. Flash could hardly breathe as he watched on. He was hoping for Sunset to help Twilight whatever means necessary, but he also did not Sunset to harm Twilight, even if she transformed and lost her mind. He was both relieved and nervous when Twilight’s beam pushed Sunset's back away from her. Just when Twilight has the upper hand, she heard someone calling her from below. She looked down to see her faithful companion giving her his pleading eyes. For a moment, Flash thought he heard her say his name in her low voice. This gave Sunset the opportunity to use up all her power on her beam and plows right through towards Twilight. Flash heart stopped when the beams hits and consumes Twilight as she screamed out in agony. The whole sky engulfed in bright white light but he hardly paid attention to it as he slowly sank onto his knees. "Twlight...no," he whispered as he felt tears coming into his eyes. Flash then slammed his fist on the ground. She can't be dead! Sunset...why? I thought you're going to save her! As much as Flash wanted to blame Sunset for her demise, but he knew it wouldn't be fair to do that to her since she was trying to help Twilight. Truth was that he blamed himself for being useless while everyone else helped her out. He blamed himself for not trying harder to get close to her so he could protect her from this. He blamed himself for failing his own promise to not see Twilight get hurt again. Even if she turned out to be her doppelganger. As he continued to beat himself up, he heard someone yelled, "Look, up in the sky!" Flash slowly looked up and he let out a soft gasp. There, he saw two silhouettes slowly descending to the ground. He slowly stood up as he continued to watch the figures getting closer to the ground. When they finally landed and the lights are clear, he nearly cried out in joy as not only Sunset reappeared back to her original attire, but Twilight is also back to normal; alive and well! Oh thank Faust! he sighed in relief. He watched as Twilight stepped back from Sunset with tears began to leak from her eyes. "I am so sorry," Twilight said tearfully. "I didn't mean for this to happen." Seeing Twilight crying in front of him really broke his heart. He knew she didn't do it on purpose. She was corrupted by the magic she gathered from her amulet. He then heard Sunset spoke up. "I know," Sunset said softly before giving Twilight her warm smile. "And going by my own experience, they'll forgive you." Flash nodded in agreement. Heck, he thought there's no need for forgiveness for something she can't control over. Granted, she was pretty scary after she transformed, but he knew deep down that the good Twilight is still there just waiting to be rescued. Just like how she (or was it the other Twilight?) rescued Sunset. How ironic. As he watched a touching display of Sunset and Spike cheering her up. He heard an unpleasant voice from the sidelines. “Principal Celestia,” Principal Cinch called out as she was approaching towards Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna. Flash frowned, eyes narrowing. Oh great, what does she want now? “On behalf of Crystal Prep, I demand that you forfeit the Friendship Games!” Is this woman for real? Flash exclaimed in his mind in disbelief. We were all in danger, and our world were nearly destroyed and the first thing she cares about is to get us disqualified!? What's wrong with this woman?! “Clearly, CHS has had unfair advantage for quite some time,” Cinch continued. “And it’s certainly obvious that your students have been using magic for their own benefit.” “I’d like to think saving the world benefits us all,” Celestia replied with her coy smirk. “At least they didn’t manipulate Twilight into unleashing the stolen magic, turning into a power-crazed magical creature that tried to rip the world apart just to win a game,” said the girl from Crystal Prep at the same speed as Pinkie Pie. There was silence for a moment as everyone glared at Cinch who was crossing her arms with her indifferent expression. “Wow...that’s a lot to take in when you say it all at once,” said Pinkie. “That’s ridiculous!” Cinch denied with a glare. “Nope,” said Spike from Twilight’s arms. “That’s pretty much what happened.” Flash was fuming. So she’s the one who caused Twilight to release the magic and transformed into a monster just so they can win!? THAT B- Suddenly, something clicked in his mind. Wait a minute…Twilight's dog can talk? Flash turned to the dog in question who was still in Twilight’s arms. But that’s impossible! I thought the Spike I know is with- “Obviously, my students have been infected with your magic,” Cinch snarled, interrupting Flash’s thoughts. “But I plan on taking this all up with the school board!” Principal Celestia smirked. “Good. I’m sure they’d be very interested in hearing all about the magical students with wings.” “Oh, and the portals to different dimensions,” Luna added with her amusing smirk. “And don’t forget to tell them about the talking dog,” said Cadence with a chuckle despite trying to act professional. “Because that would never ruin your reputation,” Spike said with a grin, while Twilight and Sunset smirked at Cinch in unison. As Cinch looked around her, she noticed all the students including her own from Crystal Prep were either smirking or giving her firm looks. Flash however gave her the nastiest glare that would even made Fluttershy's stare run for its money. Flash saw her began to shake, like she was ready to explode, but then she quickly calmed down and tryed to act professional again. With no other words to say, she calmly turned and walked away from the school. Flash smirked at Cinch’s retreating figure. Not so high and mighty when things don’t go your way, eh Cinch? “Well I know these Friendship Games haven’t been what any of us expected," Celestia began. Ya think? Flash deadpanned in his mind. "But given what we all just been through, I think it’s fair to declare us ALL winners!” Everyone including the Crystal Prep students, cheered at the announcement. For the first time in history, both the CHS and Crystal Prep tied at the Friendship Games and there are no bitterness from either schools. Flash smiled at the display and turned towards Twilight, who were a few feet away from him. Now that all the craziness is over, he can finally go and talk to Twilight. Just as he was stepping towards her, he felt a slap on his back. He turned to see Lyra with a huge grin on her face. "That was something eh Flash?" Lyra said excitedly. "This is without a doubt the best Friendship Games ever! I mean how many games we have that has girls with pony powers, plant creatures and a student who was turned into a monster that nearly destroyed our world? None, that's what!" Flash blinked. "Um, I'm not sure how our world nearly destroyed would make this the best-" "And did you see a glimpse from another world?" said Lyra, cutting Flash off. "There are actually ponies! Ponies who are civilized! If I wasn't so scared, I would've jumped in to meet them. Oh, are their any counterparts of us? Do they talk like us? Do they sit on benches the way us humans do?" "Listen Lyra," Flash interjected. "I hate to interrupt your...excitement, but shouldn't you be helping Bon Bon?" Lyra’s eyes widen. "Oh crap, I forgot! I gotta take her to the nurse's office! Flash do you mind helping me take her to there?" Flash took a glimpse at Twilight for a moment who was with the other girls. As much as he wanted to check up on her and to see if she was okay, those girls are already did the job for him. He was sure he had time to meet her later. Besides, he wouldn't want to keep his friend hanging especially if she was asking for help. He turned back to Lyra with a smile. "Sure thing Lyra." > Chapter 4 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The two teens sat on the visiting chairs of the nurse's office as Red Nurseheart was busy putting on some finishing touches on Bon Bon's wound. After nurse Redheart bring down the swelling of the bruise with ice and put on an ointment on Bon Bon's wound, she wrapped Bon Bon's ankle up with a bandage, keeping it tight but comfortable. "There you go Bon Bon, your ankle is all wrapped up!" Nurse Redheart said with a smile. "Just stay off of it for five to fourteen weeks and you'll be good as new." Lyra sighed in relief. "That's great, thank you so much Nurse Redheart! You are a real life savior! I just don't know what I'll do without my Bonnie." "Lyra, it's only a sprained ankle." "Yes, but a sprained ankle nearly cost your life!" Lyra exclaimed. "I shuddered to think what would've happen if we we're there to save you." Bon Bon rolled her eyes. Flash smiled as he stood up. "We'll I'm just glad that the world is saved from monster attacks and that nobody is hurt. Thank goodness Sunset managed to snapped Twilight out of it before things gets worse." Lyra turned back to Flash with a smirk on her face. "Speaking of Twilight...are you gonna check up on your girlfriend and see if she is okay?" Flash stammered with a blush on his cheeks. "She is not my-" "Sure she isn't," Lyra cut in with her huge smirk. "Lyra, don't tease the poor boy!" Bon Bon scolded. "Not after he helped you carried me to the nurse's office." Bon Bon turned to Flash. "But seriously, are you gonna see Twilight?" Flash scratched his cheek with a blush. "Well...yes, but-" "Then go! Go see her! I'll be fine, now that my ankle's been taken care of," Bon Bon insisted while waving Flash away. "Yeah Flash, go see your girlfriend!" Lyra insisted. "And don't worry about miss little sweetie drops, I'll take care of her!" After clearing his throat, Flash gave them his sincere smile. "Alright girls, catch you later. And take care of your leg Bon Bon." As Flash was leaving out the door, Bon Bon turned to Lyra with a raised eyebrow. "Lyra...did you call me...Sweetie Drops?" "Yeah, that's my little nickname I just came up for you. Why?" Lyra replied. Bon Bon turned away from Lyra with a nervous chuckle. "Oh...It was nothing." Flash walked outside through the front entrance and of the school and down the steps. He was still amazed that an hour ago, the whole area was covered with holes and portals to another world, only to disappear like their never there, all thanks to Sunset. The only damage that was left by the aftermath is the horse statue, now with only the tips of the hooves remained. This will take awhile to repair the whole statue but at least the rest of the school remained intact. Speaking of which, Flash decided to head towards the statue since he knows that's where the Rainbooms normally hangs out. Even if he somehow missed the other Twilight, they can at least help him find her. As he was getting closer, he noticed all the girls were sitting on a blanket near the statue, except for Sunset and Twilight with Twilight's back facing him. Excited that Twilight is still here, he rushed over towards her. As he gotten closer to them, he was unprepared with what he saw in front of him. There, in front of the statue was another girl. But not just any girl, it's the girl that he recognized with the same outfit from the Fall Formal and Battle of the Bands. That girl...is also Twilight. Flash's eyes widened. He rubbed his two eyes for a moment to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. When he looked again, he realized what he was seeing now is real. There's not just one, but two Twilights! He theorized that there's another Twilight, but seeing them together is a complete different thing. He was starting to get dizzy as his vision started to spin. With his eyes rolled to the back of his head, Flash fell backwards to the ground. The girls crying out to his name was the last thing he heard before he lost conscious. After the crazy event with Sunset Shimmer, the Fall Formal is back in full swing. All the students danced the night away with smiles on their faces, having fun the first time since before Sunset Shimmer was first crowned as the 'Princess of the Fall Formal.' Everyone performed their own dancing style to DJ PON-3's music including the recent crowned 'Princess,' who had her eyes closed, tongue stick out and constantly touched the floor with one hand while sticking her leg out in the air. To most people, it looked like Twilight was having a spaz attack in the middle of the dance floor, but to Flash, not only it was a amusing sight, but he also thought it was pretty cute. Not to leave her hanging, Flash decided to performed the same exact dance moves as Twilight. Despite the strange looks they're getting from their peers, the two of them were having a wonderful time. Suddenly, the music was abruptly changed to a much more slower pace. The two of them were frozen as they looked around to see some of the students were slow dancing with their partners without a care to the world. The both looked at each other with a blush as if they've been standing for an eternally until Flash stick his hand out to her with a small smile, silently asked her to dance with him. Despite her blush was more redder than before, Twilight nodded back to him with a smile on her own before she grasped his hand. The two then slowly danced around the floor with their eyes not leaving the other in a comfortable silence. They were dancing with each other for about ten minutes before Flash finally decided to break the ice. "So...having fun?" he asked awkwardly. Twilight giggled. "Yeah, I'm having a great time! This party almost made me forget the reason why I was here in the first place!" Flash hummed in agreement. They continued to dance for another few minute before Flash decided to address Twilight about what was on his mind from what happened from the battle with Sunset earlier. "So...are you really a pony?" "Um...yeah," Twilight answered quietly. "I guess my wings and ears kinda give it away huh?" "Yeah that...and the fact that I was mind controlled by my former girlfriend who was turned into a she-demon helped too," he joked. Seeing Twilight's somber state, Flash cleared his throat. "I guess you weren't kidding when you said that you’re a princess from another world." Twilight looked up to Flash with a nervous look. "Does...that bother you?" "No, not at all!" He said softly without hesitation. "I'll admit, this is a lot for me to take in. But knowing that you stopped Sunset with a help of your friends and then gave Sunset another chance despite what she had done, you were pretty...awesome!" Flash's glanced away as a pink rose appeared on both of his cheeks. "Plus, those wings and ears look really...cute on you." Twilight blushed but her smile wiped her frown away. "Oh...well um...I'm glad that you still accepted me, despite that I'm actually a pony." Flash gripped her hands tightly as he looked right into Twilight eyes. "Twilight, I don't care what you are. Whether you're a human or pony, to me, you're an awesome but sweet girl with a heart of gold who cared about other people, even to someone who doesn't like you." Twilight gave Flash her genuine smile with glistening eyes, touched from the words he said to her. "T-thanks Flash. I don't know what to say." They continued to stare at each other until Twilight glanced at the clock on the gym's wall that said 11:45 pm. Twilight silently cursed herself for nearly running out of time, despite wanting to stay and dance with him longer. When she turned back to Flash, Flash was giving her his look of concern. "What's wrong?" he asked. Twilight sighed sadly, not wanting to end their moment so soon. "Well...now that I got my crown back, I had to return to my world now so I can protect it along with my friends...from Equestria I mean." Flash eyes widen. "So soon? But we just started getting to know each other!" "I know," she said somberly with her eyes downcast. "I want to stay longer, but I'm running out of time and I'm needed back to my home world." He couldn't believe this. This amazing girl that he just met is going to return home to her world now. And he may never see her again. He wanted to persuade her, he wanted to plead with her, he wanted find a way to buy them some more time for her to stay longer. But as much as it pains him, he knew there was nothing he could do about it. Flash sighed sadly. "So...is this goodbye?" Twilight placed her palm on Flash's cheek. "I'm afraid so, but, I don't think this is a goodbye forever, it's just a goodbye til next time." Flash cocked his eyebrow. "Really? What make you so sure?" "I'm not sure," Twilight admitted. "But...I had this feeling that even though we'll be apart for a while, I knew deep down...we'll see each other again." Flash starred into her eyes for a while. While it felt like this would be the last time they will see each other, something about what Twilight said gave him hope that they would one day see each other again. After about a minute of starring, Flash give Twilight his gentle smile. "Well...if that's the case then...I'll look forward to your next visit." The two teens continued to stare at each other until they both closed their eyes and they slowly leaned towards each other faces. Right before their lips made contact, they were snapped out of their trance when they heard Spike called out to Twilight. "Twilight, we have to go or else we're stuck here for another thirty moons!" Before Flash could comprehend that Twilight's dog is talking to them, he felt Twilight turn his head around towards her. "Well...I'll see ya around...Flash," she whispered quietly before she turned and walked away. Flash let out a long sigh as he looked down on the floor. While it pained him to see her leave, at least he had a chance to get to know her and danced with her before her time was up. Just when he was about to head out of the party earily, he heard someone called out to him. "Flash?" As Flash looked up, he was surprised when he felt Twilight's gentle lips on his cheek as she kissed him. Twilight stepped back and gave him her sweet smile with a blush on her face. "Thanks again...for clearing my name and for the dance." Twilight said softly. "See you around!" Twilight turned and rushed out through the gymnasium doors towards outside along with the other five girls. Flash just stood there with a stunned expression and a rosy blush on his cheeks. He blinked a few times before he slowly raised his right hand and touched on his cheek where Twilight kissed him. He slowly smiled as he leaned his cheek on his hand. He sighed happily, feeling like the luckiest guy in the world. "She's one of a kind." "Flash? Flash, are you alright?" Flash groaned as he was slowly waking up from his memory of the Fall Formal. His vision was too blurry to make out the face in front of him, but he recognized the shape and the color skin of the person who he was facing. "Twilight?" Flash answered weakly. As his vision was finally crystal clear, the girl who looked down on him with her worried look turned out to be Twilight. His Twilight. The one from Equestria. The one without the glasses. She's here with him now. Twilight smiled. "Yes Flash, it's me." Flash immediately sat up and gave Twilight a hug. "Twilight! It's so good to see you!" He then broke his hug and looked all over her. "You are the same Twilight I met months ago, right?" Twilight giggled. "Yes Flash, the very same." Flash raised his eyebrow. "Wasn't there another Twilight or is my eyes playing tricks?" Twilight laughed sheepishly. "Yes, there's another me. Turns out, there's another me in your world." They turned towards were the girls were standing who were giggling at them while the human Twilight looked away with a blush on her face. "Honestly, I'm still surprised to meet with myself after I just stepped through the mirror. It's like looking at my own reflection...except with a mind of her own." Flash frowned. "Why didn't they tell me that there is another you?" Twilight cocked an eyebrow. "Would you believe them if they told you that there is another me in your world?" "...good point," he admitted. "Well...at least the world didn't blow up for meeting a human version of yourself," Flash joked. Twilight turned back to Flash as they both stood up from the ground. "You okay Flash? You looked like you've seen a ghost before you passed out." Flash had a look of guilt on his face. "Sorry for worrying you Twi. How long was I out?" "About five minutes." "Ah." Flash rubbed the back of his neck as he looked away. "This whole day is not only crazy, but also confusing for me. Our rival team from Crystal Prep arrived for the Games, plants came out of nowhere, portals popping everywhere and on top of that, a girl showed up who I thought it was you, turned out to be your double from Crystal Prep and then turned into a monster and attacked the school. It's all thanks to Sunset for saving you- er I mean, the other you from her corrupted magic." Twilight frowned. "Do you resent her for being a student from Crystal Prep and attacking your school?" "Of course not!" Flash answered without hesitation. "It wasn't her fault that she was out of control. Her Principle was the one who made her that way." He spat at the word 'Principle' before calming himself. "Besides, I told the other students long ago that it doesn't matter if she's from Crystal Prep. I knew for the fact that she is the same nice but smart girl as you- well she is you but not exactly you, but she acted the same as you but there are some differences and- UGH my head hurts!" Twilight giggled. "Don't worry, I know what you mean. I'm glad that you don't think Ill of her after everything what happened here." Flash shook his head. "Oh trust me Twilight, we're nothing like how those Crystal jerks treated her from earlier...well most of them." Twilight frowned. "Yeah...I heard. Twilight looked down. "I wondered if that's would've been like if I haven't met my friends?" she muttered to herself. "What was that?" Flash asked. "It was nothing," Twilight said quickly as she looked back up to Flash. "It seems like the me from this world could use a few friends. It must be because she was alone this whole time." "Say no more," Flash interjected. "I will definitely try to befriend her, even if she's at another school at the other side of town." "Actually, they told me that she's transferring here to Canterlot High," said Twilight. Flash blinked in surprise. "Really? You serious?" Twilight nodded. Flash looked away with an unsure expression on his face. Noticed this, Twilight decided to speak up. "What's wrong?" Flash was hesitant for a moment before he finally answered her. "Well...I'm happy that she's be moving in here and I mean what I said but...I think this might be a little awkward trying to befriend a girl who looked exactly as another girl from another dimension who I had a crush on." Twilight nodded in understanding. "I see what you mean. But as you said earlier, while she is technically me, but at the same time, she's not me either. Just treat her as a different person and try to get to know her. Just think of it like hanging out with my long lost twin sister." Flash blinked. "Huh...Well it's weird, but if you put it that way, it kinda makes sense." Flash then frowned. "But what about the rest of the students on this campus. Some thought your double is you...if you know what I mean." "I already told the girls to take care of that and they're filling that in with the other me of what happened months before," Twilight explained. "As for the other students, I wouldn't worry about them too much. They're already aware about the magic at this point and I'm sure they won't tell anyone. Even if they did, I doubt anyone outside of school would believe them." Flash pondered her words for a moment before he nodded in agreement. "Yeah, good point." Flash then gave Twilight his hopeful smile. "So are you staying?" Twilight sigh with a look of regret. "I love too...but I had to get back. I only came here because I just received Sunset's message about magic going out of control in this world after I was thrown into multiple time loops by this mare who is now my new student for friendship." Flash blinked. "Time loops?" "It's a long story." Flash looked down as he placed his hands in his pockets. "Well...will I see you again?" Twilight smiled. "Of course, after everything settled down at my end, I'll be coming back here to visit. We still have a lot to catch up on, including that date I promised we'll go to." Twilight gave Flash a quick smooch on his cheek causing him to blush. Ignoring the giggles from her friends, Twilight smiled softly at him before giving him a wink. "See ya next time!" She said before turning around and head back to her friends. After a quick goodbyes to her friends, Twilight stepped through the statue and disappeared. Flash stood there with a stunned look on his face before he smiled and place his hand on his cheek where Twilight kissed him. "She's one of a kind," he sighed dreamy before he suddenly blinked out of his dream like state. "Whoa déjà vu!" "Um...excuse me?" Flash turned slightly to see another Twilight with glasses and Crystal Prep uniform, looking slightly away from him in a shy manner. "Um...you may not remember me- oh what am I saying, of course you do! We met twice and I blew you off. I musta cause you so much confusion since I looked exactly like her- well ninety-five percent like her anyway." The human Twilight noticed Flash was starring at her blankly. Twilight cleared her throat to break the awkward tension. "What I'm trying to say is...I'm sorry for my behavior and for all the confusion I've caused. I didn't mean to give you a bad impression...as well as hers." "Oh...that's okay," he reassured softly. "It was all a misunderstanding. Besides this isn't the first time we get strange things happen at our school." "So I heard," Sci-Twi said with a smirk before she changed to her serious expression. "Anyway so you know, I'm aware that you have...feelings for my double. While I'm okay with this, but it does feel a bit weird for me. Don't get me wrong, you seemed like a nice guy, but please remember that while I may look like her, I'm not her either. I am my own person." Flash nodded. "I understand. I'll admit, I felt weird about this too. But I'm hoping that in time...we can be good friends. That is...if you want to." Twilight smiled softly. "Actually...I would like that." She then extend her arm towards him. "Let's start over, I'm Twilight Sparkle...well, I'm sure you knew that already. What's yours?" Flash stared at Twilight for a moment. He knew this will be difficult and this will take time for them to get use to each other before becoming friends. This will also take time for him to get use to the fact that this Twilight is separate than the other Twilight from another world. It will be a long road for the both of them, but it's a start. Flash smiled and reached out to shake Twilight's hand. "I'm Flash...Flash Sentry."