Chapter 1
Crystal Prep Academy was one of the most studious schools around on a completely average day. Course loads were incredibly high, expectations even higher, and the entire student body was in an academic arms race to keep pushing the grading curve further and further to the right. Students rarely spoke to each other outside of class, largely because they just simply did not have the time.
But no matter how challenging the workload was at Crystal Prep Academy for most of the year, it was absolutely relaxing compared to when exam time rolled around.
During those few weeks of the year, there was no “outside of school”. There were no hobbies, no non-academic clubs, there was barely even sleep. Crystal Prep Academy became a fortress of studiousness, an academic gladiatorial arena that no one walked away from unscathed. Little things, especially insignificant things like “friendship”, were suspended until it was over.
At least, that’s how it had always been. But if you were going to make a serious effort at something, the Shadowbolts considered, you did not just discard it the moment it became inconvenient. That held true even for friendship, even if they had not quite gotten the hang of that yet. So, they resolved to make time for each other, even in the intensity of exam time at Crystal Prep Academy.
This...led to some interesting situations.
“Uh…” Rainbow Dash said, sitting at the rather large table in the Sweet Shoppe with a half-finished soda in her hand. “Are you guys..okay?”
“Fine. Need more coffee,” Sugarcoat said, buried deeply in her book and tapping the coffee cup next to her.
“What are you even doing here?” Indigo Zap said, quickly jumping between two books and speed-reading one page from each at a time. “Shouldn’t you be with your new girlfriend?”
“Told her I had to study. She understands. She made me cupcakes, and promised to throw me a, ‘congratulations on acing all your tests’ party when we’re done.” Sugarcoat pushed forward the cardboard box, filled with tiny cupcakes, offering them up to the group. “Help yourself, they’re really good.”
“Thanks,” Lemon Zest said, grabbing a cupcake and throwing it in her mouth as she flipped through her notes. “Does anyone remember what exercises we’re supposed to study for calculus?”
“Chapters eight through thirteen, odd numbered questions, and all word problems,” Sour Sweet said.
“Is this seriously what exam time is like at your school?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Pretty much,” Twilight said, not studying as frantically as her classmates, but still flipping through a textbook.
“I having to say, dearie, I fully support this new relationship of yours,” Sunny Flare said as she ate one of the tiny cupcakes Sugarcoat had offered.
“Yeah,” Indigo Zap said, “who knew you dating a baker would mean we get tasty study snacks?”
“Hey!” Twilight said, “I brought snacks to our last study session.”
“You brought carrot sticks,” Lemon Zest said, grabbing another cupcake. “And celery. I thought your pony doppelganger had replaced you, but no...that’s actually her idea of comfort food.”
“Healthy food leads to sustainably high brain power and performance,” Twilight said.
“Yeah, whatever. I’ll stick to coffee and chocolate until exams are over,” Indigo Zap said, throwing a cupcake in her mouth and washing it down with the rest of her coffee.
“I don’t know what you guys are so worried about. It’s not like you’re going to fail, right?” Rainbow Dash asked, and all eyes turned to her. “Uh...what did I say?”
“Rainbow Dash, dearie,” Sunny Flare said, snickering a little as she brushed back her purple hair and straightened her hairclip. “I think you may be missing the point.”
“We’re the top six students at Crystal Prep Academy,” Sugarcoat said.
“We’re not studying so hard to keep from failing,” Lemon Zest added.
“We’re doing it to WIN!” Indigo Zap yelled, pounding the table with her palms and startling a few nearby customers.
“Huh?” Rainbow Dash said.
“In almost every exam, we take the top six slots,” Sour Sweet said. “Ignoring a few of us who have...weak points…”
Twilight coughed and blushed awkwardly.
“So, we’re not really competing against the rest of the class. We’re competing against one another.”
Rainbow Dash blinked. “You guys compete over who’s the best student?”
“It’s not really ‘competitive’ seeing as Twilight always wins,” Sugarcoat said. “Despite certain subjects dragging her down.”
“Archery is hard, okay?!”
“But the rest of us, yeah,” Lemon Zest said.
“Think of it like the academic equivalent of a soccer tournament,” Indigo Zap said. That seemed to click in Rainbow Dash’s mind and she nodded.
“Alright...I get it, I guess...but you guys are helping each other study? Shouldn’t you be trying to undermine each other or-ow!” Twilight elbowed Rainbow Dash in the ribs. “What? I’m just saying, I don’t help an opposing team practice.”
“It’s a FRIENDLY competition, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said. “And friendly competition is a good way to nurture budding friendships. The book said so!” Twilight held up a purple book, which Rainbow Dash took from her hands and read the title of out loud.
“One-Hundred and One Friendship Lessons: From Learning How to Graciously Accept and Give Gifts to Saving the World Through Compassion.”
“I really don’t know where she keeps getting all these books from,” Sunny Flare said, scribbling down a note in the margins of her textbook.”
“Besides, we’ll all do better if we help each other cover our weak points.”
“Like archery,” Sour Sweet said, and Twilight sighed.
“The one test I’ve ever failed...ever!”
“It wasn’t that bad,” Sunny Flare said.
“It kinda was,” Indigo Zap added, causing Sunny Flare to ‘shush’ her.
“Oh my god, it was hilarious!” Lemon Zest said, dropping her headphones. Seriously, Rainbow Dash wondered, how did she listen to the conversation with headphones on. “She shot the teacher!”
“Wait…” Rainbow Dash said. “Are you serious? She...actually shot the professor?”
Twilight blushed a deep shade of red.
“Yup!” Lemon Zest said.
“Twice,” Indigo Zap added.
“She thought Twilight was aiming for her,” Sour Sweet added. “Principal Cinch stepped in and got her a makeup exam...which the teacher watched from behind a plate of bulletproof glass.”
“And I passed that one!” Twilight said, still red in the face.
“Barely!” Indigo Zap said, laughing.
“Why is archery even compulsory here?” Twilight sighed.
“Don’t worry, Twilight,” Sour Sweet said, putting an arm on her shoulder and speaking in a kind, nurturing voice. “I promised I’d help you with archery.” Then added, in a lower, growling tone. “Maybe we can get you to hit the target on your own this time…”
“Uh...thanks,” Twilight said, leaning away from Sour Sweet a little bit, and whispered to Indigo Zap, “Is she going to kill me?”
“If she didn’t kill you during the tricross relay, I don’t think she’s ever going to,” Indigo Zap said.
“So, how do you guys figure out who wins?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Do you just compare all your scores or what?”
“Our grading system’s a little different at Crystal Prep,” Lemon Zest said, taking a swig of soda. “Most tests aren’t graded on a hundred-point scale like other schools. There are usually more questions on the test than you could reasonably answer in the time given.”
“And the questions cover stuff you haven’t gotten to in class yet,” Sour Sweet added. “The tests start out pretty standard, but they get more and more difficult as you go along, until you’re dealing with stuff you wouldn’t normally be learning for a year or two.”
“Huh?” Rainbow Dash said, grabbing a cupcake from Sugarcoat’s box and munching down on it. “What’s the point of that?” she asked, her mouth full of pink frosting.
“To remove any ambiguity about who’s the best,” Sunny Flare said, dramatically flipping her hair. “If you’re smart enough, and studied enough, you can keep on answering questions and racking up more points. Harder questions are worth more points, but you get penalized if you outright skip any.”
“At the end, the whole thing’s graded on a curve, with whoever got the highest score taking the spot on the far right.” Twilight explained, taking some obvious pride in her clear and precise description.
Rainbow Dash nodded, apparently understanding. “So, kinda like a soccer game? There’s no limit to how many goals you can score in a game, so long as you do it in the time given?”
“Well…” Indigo Zap said, stretching her arms and cracking her knuckles. “Practically.”
“There are only so many questions on the test,” Sunny Flare added. “So, a sufficiently smart student could do the whole thing, if they were really motivated.”
All eyes turned to Twilight, who blushed again and smiled, a little embarrassed but clearly a little proud of herself.
“Wait, really?” Rainbow Dash asked, her jaw dropping and revealing a still half-eaten bite of cupcake in her mouth. “SciTwi, you actually finish those things?”
“A couple of times,” Twilight said, scratching the back of her head. “Those tests are built to be too long and difficult for the average Crystal Prep student to be able to finish in one period, but…”
“She’s not average,” Lemon Zest said, still jotting down notes in her notebook.
“Not even close.” Sour Sweet said, a little bitterness in her voice.
“They changed the tests after that,” Twilight added in a rushed tone. “They’re, like, twice as long as they were when I did that. Even I can’t finish a whole one in the time they give me.”
“The classes like archery or woodworking work similarly,” Lemon Zest said. “The entire class has a set amount of time to hit a certain number of targets, or to build something, and you’re awarded points depending on the difficulty of what you did, how well you did it, that kind of thing. Then, the points are compared, and everyone’s scored on a curve.”
“So, at any rate,” Indigo Zap said, twirling her pencil between her fingers as she spoke, “we don’t outright compare scores. We compare rankings.”
“First place in any subject gets you three points, second place gets you two, and third place gets you one,” Sugarcoat said, matter-of-factly. “Fourth or lower gets you nothing.”
“Pcht,” Indigo Zap said, flicking her fingers confidently. “I don’t even know why you guys bother to compete. We all know I’m gonna win.” All gazes focused on Indigo Zap, who rolled her eyes. “Okay. Discounting Twilight, I’m gonna win.”
“We’ll just have to see about that, dearie,” Sunny Flare said.
“I’m going to RIP YOU ALL TO SHREDS.” Sour Sweet said, grinning maniacally as she threw herself back into her studies.
“I feel quite confident that I can beat you,” Sugarcoat said, bluntly.
“Let’s. Get. This contest. ON!” Lemon Zest said, pumping her fist.
The first exam of the season was math. The gears of academia turn quickly at Crystal Prep, and in a few hours time the results were posted in the main hall for the entire student body to see.
“First place,” Indigo Zap read, pushing her way to the front of the crowd of students desperate to find where they had ranked in the school’s ultra-competitive hierarchy, “Twilight Sparkle.”
“No surprise there,” Sugarcoat said.
“Heh heh heh…” Twilight laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of her head. Twilight had never actually actively compared her grades before. She learned for the love of learning. Understanding and knowledge had always been her goal in the past, the fact that she was at the top of her class had always been at best incidental, and at worst a detriment when her classmate’s resentment inconvenienced her. But now that she had friends...well, it was kind of fun to show off her intelligence, she had to admit.
“Okay, second place,” Indigo Zap continued, “Lemon Zest.”
“Oooooohhhhh YEAH!” Lemon Zest yelled, sticking her arm up in excitement. “In your face...faces!”
“And third place...Sour Sweet.”
“But you all did super, super good too!” Sour Sweet said, grasping her hands together nicely, then adding in a whisper, “Not as good as me, though…”
“Can’t believe I lost,” Indigo Zap said, crossing her arms.
“Don’t worry about it,” Twilight said, putting a hand on Indigo’s shoulder. “It’s just the first test, you’ve got another chanc-Shining Armor?”
Behind the group of students, standing next to the pink-haired Dean Cadence, was Twilight’s older brother, Shining Armor. Tall, very pale-skinned, with blue hair, he stood out in the Crystal Prep Academy halls. Twilight ran over to him and hugged him.
“Twili!” Shining Armor said, a look of surprise on his face. The other Shadowbolts walked over, a few hands raised in greeting, and all eyes on him. “Er...nice to see you.”
“Everyone,” Twilight said, beaming up at her big brother, “This is Shining Armor, my B.B.B.F.F.”
“Huh?” Lemon Zest and Indigo Zap said in unison.
“Big brother, best friend forever.” The Shadowbolts exchanged glances.
“That’s…” Indigo Zap said.
“Really stupid,” Sugarcoat added.
“A little trite,” Sunny Flare said.
“The SWEETEST thing I ever heard!” Sour Sweet said. “It makes me sick…”
“What are you doing here?!” Twilight asked, brushing off her friends’ comments and clearly excited at her brother’s presence. Shining Armor’s eyes darted around, to Cadence, to the Shadowbolts, then back to Twilight.
“Uh...here to see my sister take top of the class again!” Shining Armor said. Five, simultaneous doubting looks stared down at him, and Cadence shook her head, smiling and rolling her eyes in amused disbelief.
“First place in math!” Twilight said, clearly proud of herself, and happy to be able to brag to her big brother (best friend forever). Shining Armor ruffled Twilight’s hair affectionately.
“That’s my little sister,” he said.
“So,” Lemon Zest said, raising an eyebrow in suspicion. “You came all the way here...to see your sister’s grade on a math test?”
“Uh...yes?” Shining Armor said, smiling uncomfortably.
“Shining Armor’s always interested in my education,” Twilight said, squeezing her brother a little tighter. “He got Dean Cadence to come to my house to give me private tutoring.”
Indigo Zap gave a knowing smile.
“And he picks me up after school whenever he can.”
“Question,” Sugarcoat said, raising a finger. “When you get out of class, is he, by any chance, talking to the dean?”
“Yup!” Twilight said. “They went to Crystal Prep together. It’s nice that they’re still friends.”
“Right…” Sour Sweet said, “‘Friends’.” She dropped quotes around the word so hard they almost cracked the floor.
“Listen,” Shining Armor said, a little visibly panicked, “I’ve got to get...back to work.”
“Yes,” Cadence said as Shining Armor nudged her. “And I...need to go also...to...grade some papers...in the same direction.”
“Okay!” Twilight said. “You’re coming back to the house for dinner tomorrow, right?”
“Yeah, I’ll see you then,” Shining Armor said, then added, “I’m very proud of you, Twilight.” Twilight smiled, tears swelling up in her eyes.
“Thanks B.B.B.F.F.”
Shining Armor and Cadence walked away and once they were out of earshot, Cadence whispered, “You can just tell her, you know.”
“You know what’s going on there, don’t you?” Lemon Zest asked. Twilight smiled and nodded.
“Shining Armor came to see me!” Almost in unison, the Shadowbolt sighed.
“How can someone this smart be so dense?” Sour Sweet asked.
“I’m a little worried about him, though,” Twilight said, placing her finger on her chin in a considering gesture. “All he does is work and spend time with Cadence and me. I sort of wonder if, you know...maybe he needs a girlfriend or something?”
“I...don’t think you need to worry about that,” Lemon Zest said, trying to hold back laughter.
“You think?” Twilight asked, tilting her head. “Why’s that?”
“Obviously because your brother is dati-hmmph!” Sunny Flare clamped her hand over Sugarcoat’s mouth before she could finish that sentence.
“She means that your brother can take care of himself, dearie,” Sunny Flare said, as Sugarcoat rolled her eyes.
“No, what I mean is-hmmmph!”
“Let’s move on, shall we?” Sunny Flare said. “Next exam isn’t too far behind.”
“What do you guys even need an archery course for?” Rainbow Dash asked, turning in place to admire the large field, filled with targets of various size and positioning. Some of the targets were attached to machinery that moved them in regular routes, others were behind obstacles that partially, or in a few particularly difficult cases, completely, covered them. Lines of easily distinguishable colors were painted onto the ground, indicating different levels of handicap for different difficulty shots.
“Crystal Prep prides itself on its archery team,” Sunny Flare said, sitting back on a bale of hay, dressed in her archery gear and loosely holding a bow. “When you want to be the best, you need the best equipment.”
“But this is so overkill,” Rainbow Dash said. “I mean, you have trenches you have to swing over to get to the target, a rock wall you have to climb to the top of to even get a shot off, a...tightwire you need to balance on to…” Rainbow Dash’s voice trailed off. “Nevermind, this is awesome, I wanna try it!”
Indigo Zap handed Rainbow Dash a bow and a quiver full of arrows. Rainbow Dash had just taken aim at her first target when a loud, “Woooo!” broke her concentration.
“Chemistry exam scores are in!” Lemon Zest called, carrying a piece of paper over to the archery course.
“Well, read ‘em!” Rainbow Dash said, “So I can get back to shooting pointy things into everything on this course.”
“Ah-hem,” Lemon Zest coughed, dramatically as she unfolded the paper. “In first place...Twilight Sparkle.”
“Yes!” Twilight said, a little surprised at her own enthusiasm.
“You can brag, when you’ve managed to HIT A TARGET!” Sour Sweet yelled, causing Twilight to jump with an ‘eek’. Sour Sweet immediately calmed down, then said, “Please, go on Lemon.”
“Second place, Indigo Zap. And third place, Sour Sweet.”
“Haha!” Indigo Zap said, pointing vaguely at the rest of the group. “In your FACES!”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Lemon Zest said, dropping the piece of paper with the grades onto the ground. “You’re still tied with Indigo and me.”
“And there are quite a few more tests to go,” Sunny Flare said.
“Ahhh!” Rainbow Dash yelled, causing everyone within earshot to turn to her. Twilight was frantically apologizing.
“Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,” she said, and it was only then that the others noticed that Rainbow Dash was holding another arrow.
“She shot me!” Rainbow Dash said, rubbing her leg.
“Seriously, Twilight, the target’s not even moving!” Sour Sweet said, extending both arms to the perfectly still target across from her and Twilight. Twilight was standing at the closest, very blue, line to the target. The bale of hay that the target was attached to was full of arrows, all of which had miraculously managed to avoid the target altogether.
“It’s tricky!” Twilight said, her hands trembling as she held the bow, drawn back and aiming in the general direction of the target. Raising an eyebrow, Sour Sweet shot an arrow without even turning to look, landing a perfect bullseye.
“Showoff,” Indigo Zap said, swinging her legs anxiously as Sour Sweet corrected Twilight’s stance.
“Like you’re one to talk,” Lemon Zest said, still listening to her music.
“This isn’t difficult, Twilight. Just shoot the arrow at the target!” Sour Sweet said, startling Twilight, who released the arrow and sent it soaring over the target, far into the distance.
“Ow!” Sugarcoat’s voice came from where the arrow had landed and she emerged, rubbing her head and carrying an envelope in one hand, and an arrow in the other. “Your aim is terrible,” she said, throwing the arrow onto the ground. “If these things weren’t blunted, you’d be in jail now.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Indigo Zap said, jumping forward, “Do you have the test results?”
“I do,” Sugarcoat said, unsealing the envelope and, without much build up, started to read. “In the subject of history, first place goes to-”
“Twilight Sparkle,” the rest of the Shadowbolts said in unison. Sugarcoat looked at them, then down to the piece of paper.
“Twilight Sparkle,” she read. “Second place, Sunny Flare, and third place...Sugarcoat. Me.”
Sunny Flare gave a confident smirk, and brushed back her bangs with one hand. “Was there ever any doubt?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Totally.”
“Yup.”
“Yeah…”
Sunny Flare gave a mock pout. “Et tu, Twilight?”
“Sorry…”
“Okay, let’s lower our standards a bit,” Sour Sweet said, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Let’s not even worry about hitting the target. Let’s try to get a shot off without injuring anyone.”
“Hold on,” Indigo Zap said. “Helmets on girls!” The Shadowbolts secured green, military helmets and gave a thumbs-up. “Okay, now you can go,” Indigo Zap said. Twilight released the arrow, instinctively closing her eyes as she fired, and after a long whistle of a falling arrow died off into the distance there was a loud ‘crash’.
“Was that…?” Twilight asked, too scared to look up.
“Principle Cinch’s office? Yeah,” Indigo Zap said, shading her eyes with her hand to get a better look. “And she does not look happy.”
“Oh no…” Twilight cringed.
“But did she hit anyone in there?” Lemon Zest asked.
“Doesn’t look like it,” Indigo Zap said.
“There, progress,” Lemon Zest said, shrugging.
“Did someone put a curse on you when you were a kid?” Sour Sweet asked Twilight. “Like, an archery-hating witch or something?”
Twilight sighed. “I’m gonna fail…” she said.
“Probably,” Sugarcoat said, then her phone dinged. She picked it up and checked her messages. “Literature results are in.”
“Well, don’t keep us in suspense,” Sunny Flare said. “Who won?”
“Twilight got first. Again. Sunny Flare came in second, and Lemon Zest came in third.” Sour Sweet clenched her hands in frustration.
“How can you be so good at all these classes, but be so BAD at archery?!” she yelled in disbelief. “It’s not that hard! You just shoot! At! The target!”
Seeing that Twilight was almost collapsing from her frustration, Sunny Flare stood up and put a hand on her shoulder. “Twilight, dearie, you don’t need to worry. You’ll get the hang of it. And Sour Sweet...do you remember when Twilight tried to explain math to us? How she…”
“Was terrible at it?” Sugarcoat said.
“I was looking for a more tactful way to say that, but yes. She was terrible at it because it comes naturally to her. She can’t explain it in a way the rest of us can understand. The same goes for you and archery. Maybe someone else should give it a try.”
“Ooo! Ooo!” Indigo Zap cried, raising her arm. “I can do it!”
“Worth a shot,” Sour Sweet said, sitting down. “Maybe you’ve got better luck than me.”
“She is absolutely UNTEACHABLE!” Indigo Zap yelled, swiping her arms in a ‘no’ gesture. Arrows littered the course, stuck in just about every conceivable surface that did not have a target drawn on it.
“This is remarkably bad,” Sugarcoat said.
“Is it just me, or is she getting worse?” Lemon Zest asked.
“I’m gonna fail,” Twilight said, kneeling on the ground and clutching her head. “I’m gonna fail, I’m gonna fail, I’m gonna fail…”
“You’re not gonna fail,” Lemon Zest said, then looked around the course. “...you’re probably not gonna fail.”
“Principal Cinch won’t let her prized student fail based on one archery test,” Sunny Flare said.
“She helped me last time, but after what happened at The Friendship Games...I don’t think I can count on that.”
“Okay, okay, quiet,” Indigo Zap said. “Test results are coming in. Woodshop. First place: yours truly.” Indigo Zap gave a proud grin. “Second place-and only two points behind, I might add-Sugarcoat. And third place, Lemon Zest.”
“Twilight didn’t even rank?” Lemon Zest asked. Twilight blushed.
“Woodworking’s not my strong suit…”
“She’s still in the top six...technically.”
Twilight shot another arrow, which, to its credit, managed to avoid hitting anything fragile, but also flew far to the left of the target. “I’m gonna fail, then get expelled, then get thrown back to kindergarten…”
“That’s very unlikely,” Sugarcoat said.
“But...not impossible,” Indigo Zap said.
“Not helping!” Sunny Flare, Sour Sweet, and Lemon Zest scolded in unison.
“Come on, Twilight,” Indigo Zap said, dragging Twilight away from the archery course by the arm. “You’ve been at it for three hours. Take a rest already, and let’s check the Home Ec grades.”
Twilight groaned, but let herself be led back to the campus, catching up with the rest of the Shadowbolts at a slight jog. “I can’t believe I’m this bad at this…”
“Yeah, me either,” Sour Sweet said, then added as she was glared at by the surrounding girls, “But you’re super, duper talented at so many other things! What does it matter that you’re not good at this one?”
Twilight scoffed and pouted a little. “Besides the fact that I’m gonna fail? I don’t like knowing that there’s something I can’t do, even if I put my mind to it.”
“I’m afraid that’s life,” Sugarcoat said, shrugging. “No one’s great at everything. And everyone has things that they’ll be bad at, even if they really wish they weren’t.”
“Home Ec grades!” Lemon Zest read out loud from the board. “First place...Sugarcoat. Second place, me. Third place, Sunny Flare.”
“I call shenanigans on that!” Indigo Zap said, shaking a fist at Sugarcoat. “She’s dating a baker! That’s not fair! It’s like having the answer sheet in your pocket!”
“Talking kind of tough for a girl who didn’t even rank,” Sugarcoat said, smiling a little, though it was unclear if it was at Indigo Zap’s frustration or the memories of spending time in the bakery with Pinkie Pie.
“Home Ec isn’t a real class anyways,” Indigo Zap said, throwing her blue hair back confidently. “We shouldn’t even count it.”
“Well, we do,” Sour Sweet said. “Guess cooking isn’t your strong suit either, Twilight?” Twilight shook her head.
“I get the theory, but my execution isn’t as good. Kind of like archery…”
“I don’t get it,” Lemon Zest said, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall. “You got a bullseye at The Friendship Games. It took some help, but you pulled it off. Why are you choking now?”
Twilight shrugged meekly. “I don’t know...I guess, when Applejack was explaining it to me...I don’t know. It calmed me down. But now, all I can think about is failing, and letting everyone down, and-”
Twilight’s phone buzzed and she picked it up. Displayed on the screen was a single, one-line message.
Good luck tomorrow! You can do it!-SS
Twilight read the message. Twice. Three times. Then, after a long pause, during which the rest of the Shadowbolts exchanged confused looks, she took a deep breath, and spoke.
“I can do it.”
“Okay, last test!” Indigo Zap said, pushing her way to the front of the crowd to read the results that were posted on the wall. “In the subject of archery, we have, in first place...the one, the only...Sour Sweet!”
Sour Sweet tossed her ponytail in triumph.
“Yeah, there’s a reason she got the archery slot in The Friendship Games,” Lemon Zest said. “Read the rest!”
“Second place-as if there was any doubt-is me! And third place goes to Lemon Zest!”
“Wooo!” Lemon Zest yelled, pumping her fist.
“And how about Twilight?” Sunny Flare asked. Twilight stood there, her hands clutched anxiously, as Indigo Zap moved her finger down the list. Very far down the list.
“Twilight Sparkle came in…” Indigo Zap came to a stop at the end of the posted list. “...NOT last place!”
“Alright!” Sour Sweet said, patting Twilight on the head. “I knew you could do it!”
“Uh...how far from last place was I?” Twilight asked, clearly nervous. Indigo Zap quickly maneuvered herself between Twilight and the board, blocking her score.
“Far enough to not fail,” Indigo Zap said, “and isn’t that what really matters?”
“Alright eggheads, enough with the mushy stuff,” Lemon Zest said, pulling out a piece of paper. “It’s time for the final score. First place: Twilight. Like, by a lot. A whole lot. Like, an uncomfortable amount. So much that-”
“We get it,” Sunny Flare said, rolling her eyes. “Can you move on?”
“Right,” Lemon Zest said, clearing her throat. “In second place, me and Indigo Zap are tied. Sugarcoat’s one point behind us, and Sour Sweet and Sunny Flare are one point behind her.”
“Close,” Sunny Flare said.
“If you don’t count Twilight,” Sugarcoat added.
“Well, yes, obviously.”
“Yeah, but, I still won!” Indigo Zap taunted.
“Again, if you don’t count Twilight,” Sugarcoat said.
“Hey, you tied with me,” Lemon Zest said.
“Still, it was a good run, and we all did super well!” Sour Sweet said. Then, her pupils shrunk and she glared at the rest. “You’d better watch your backs for the next exams! I WILL break you!”
Sugarcoat turned to Twilight, a slight smile on her face. “So. What was that text you got the other day? The one that turned your archery performance around so quickly?”
Twilight blushed, scratched the back of her head, and was mumbling an answer when suddenly a pink blur rushed through the hall, stopping next to Sugarcoat.
“CONGRATULATIONS ON ACING ALL YOURS TESTS!” Pinkie Pie yelled, firing her party cannon and scattering confetti across the halls of Crystal Prep academy and drawing the attention of every student within eyesight.
“Gah! Pinkie!” Sugarcoat said, coughing up a bit of the inhaled confetti. “We’re in a school!”