A new challenge will make Sunset return to the place she left behind. Old friends vs new friends, and one new challenger, there can only be one winner. -Sequel to Sunset Among Shadows-
The Anon-a-Miss era is over, and Sunset is happy in her new life with her new friends.
But a new challenge will make her return to the place she left behind, and face those who were her friends, and a strange but well know person.
The GAMES are going to start, and there can only be ONE winner.
Update 20/12/2021 Now the story has been edited by my good friend 'Arthor2017'
A beautiful spring day. The cold winter has been left long ago, and now the sun regains its throne within the sky. Down on earth the flowers sprout, filling the city environment with colors and aromas.
At Canterlot High School a new school day is about to begin. One by one, the young students arrive ready to start their classes.
Few, and none, notice a girl standing in front of the school statue. This girl looks up at the school’s symbolic steed.
“Canterlot High. It is my third school this year. I wonder if…”
Her voice is just a whisper to herself, and she then turns around to enter the school.
Meanwhile, inside the building – in the principal’s office – we see Celestia herself, sitting at her desk. Her face is calm, but there is a slight tension in her body.
She opens her eyes just a little, and leads them to a document sitted to one side. Separated from so many others on her desk, her gaze is focused upon the writing on top.
"Transfer request"
Those words give her a slight chill for some reason, and her mind goes back in time to a week ago.
The transfer request is dropped on her desk in a rush, altough with an orderly fashion. Celestia picks it up and takes a look at it, she allows herself to reread the writing on the papee a couple of times; and even so, needs a moment in silence to think.
After several minutes that felt too long, she looks at her younger sister and fellow colleague Vice Principal of the school, Luna.
“It’s this a joke?”
Luna raises an eyebrow but her face remains as serious as usual in her.
“We have known each other for more than thirty years. Do you ever recall a moment where I made a joke?“
Her voice is serious as ever. And Celestia tries to say something, but her voice catches in her throat.
Neither of the sisters speak again. Celestia is still surprised and thoughtful; Luna, on her part, although remains calm she doesn’t seem sure about what to say.
Finally it is the younger sister who breaks that awkward silence.
“In any case, I have already confirmed the documents and academic record. There is no reason to deny the request… at least not a formal one.“
The older sister rests one arm on the desk and touches her forehead with her fingers, her head seems to hurt suddenly.
“Of course we aren’t obliged to accept it either. Do you want me to call and say that- “
“No.” Celestia interrupts the Vice Principal dryly and straightens up in her seat.
“We cannot reject a student just due of personal emotions.”
“This is a bit more complicated than that.”
Celestia decides not to speak anymore and simply picks up a stamp in green ink, pressing it on the request. Luna doesn’t speak or do anything about said action. That stamp, and a signature, fill in the spaces of the document.
“Done.” “Are you sure about this?”
“Honestly Luna, I haven’t been sure of anything for a long time.”
The Vice Principal doesn’t respond, she just takes the paper and turns to leave. At the door, she turns back slightly to say a few last words.
“A new chapter is about to begin in our school. We better be ready.“
With that, the ‘dark’ woman leaves. Her sister is only silent with her thoughts. Seeing herself alone she falls into her seat.
“I’m ready for it to end …”
That strong and vivid memory in her head makes her almost shudder. She forces herself to leave her body motionless from hers, refusing to show any trembling.
“Have I made the right decission?” Celestia wonders internally. Of course, no one can give hee an answer.
A couple of minutes pass in silence, the woman still preparing for what is to come. And it is then when a knock is heard at the door.
Celestia allows herself a second to calm her breathing, straighten her back and shoulders, keep a calm and mature expression on her face. After that, she speaks.
“Come in.” A second passes, then another, and then Celestia sees the doorknob move. The door opens, neither fast nor slow, it just opens. And someone enters.
Celestia feels her shoulders tense, but she forces herself to lower them and not be nervous. She clears her throat so that her voice does not fail her, she puts on a gentle and calm smile.
“Good morning, welcome to Canterlot High School. I am Principal Celestia.“
~ * ~ * ~
The bell rings to start the day’s clases, each students take their places. Among them is the recognizable quintet nicknamed the ‘Rainbooms’.
The five friends don’t usually share the same class at the same time, so it is a unique day for all of them.
There are a couple more of conversations and greetings between all the students, until the teacher is seen entering the room.
“Good morning students. I know everyone is eager to start class.“
The teacher’s tone has a slight hint of joking sarcasm, which prompts a few giggles from some students.
“However, you will have to calm your cravings as I have an announcement. Today a new student will join us at the school.“
The news wins the expected responses. There is surprise, some confusion but a lot of interest, and in some even emotion. The girl with the fluffy pink hair has a lot of the latter. The murmurs and questions among the young people don’t take long in coming, and the teacher only lets them be for a moment before resuming his role as the authority of the classroom.
“Allright, allright, enough of all the whispering. This young woman came to our school from Trottingham School. I trust everyone here will give her a warm welcome and make her feel comfortable at our school.“
All the teenagers smile, their interest in the new student is still present and seems to be increasing.
“Well, let’s not dwell on the matter any further. Let’s welcome our new classmate. Please come in.” He speaks towards the door.
It opens and a figure walks into the room.
At first all are smiles of interest but soon these fall, leaving in their place looks of intrigue, and some of surprise.
The five friends open their eyes full of shock, unable to believe what they are seeing.
This girl, the newcomer, walks calmly until she is in front of everyone. She wears dark sneakers with a symbol adorning it – a small white and gold sun. Her legs are covered up to mid-thigh by an orange skirt, which is adorned with the same symbol and a similar one: a red and yellow sun. In her arms she carries some school books and wears a soft purple blouse with purple stripes, a small cream-colored bow hangs around her neck.
Her red and yellow hair flows calmly as she walks. Behind of the pair of thick black glasses, her turquoise eyes shows a lively but calm glow, just like her smile.
All the teens in the room are stunned, surprised, some almost bewildered. Our renowned quintet are the ones who are the most shocked.
All eyes are on that girl, who just smiles and waits a moment before finally speaking, always keeping a smile.
“Hello, good mornig to everyone! My name is Sunset Shimmer, and it’s a pleasure to meet you.“
A new day begins at Crystal Preparatory. Young students are getting ready for their classes. However, the atmosphere feels different.
Not long ago Crystal used to be a cold school. The students were apathetic and disinterested in each other. Each one looked out solely for their own interests.
But now the students walk the halls greeting each other, giving and sharing smiles. They can been seen meeting in groups to talk and share experiences.
This is everything that the newest student at this school, Sunset Shimmer, sees.
The dimensional foreigner came to Crystal two months ago, and although it seems like a relatively short time she had to live endless experiences. Good and bad alike.
Our dimensional girl takes a deep, calm breath with a smile as she walks into the hallways of her new school.
“Hey Sunset. “
“Hello Sunset!”
“Glad to see you.”
“How are you?”
Are heard from several students who greet Sunset when they see her. She returns the greetings with a hand wave and a friendly smile.
“~ SUNSITEEEEEE!~”
At the scream, Sunset can only smile with some grace before feeling enveloped by a pair of arms, and something bit heavy falls on her back.
“Ha ha, Sonata!” The young woman with flaming hair laughs amused as she turns her gaze to see a girl with blue hair, who smiles happily at her.
“Sunsite! Hello!” Sonata greets her.
“Hi! How are you?”
“Super excited!” Sonata exclaims. “Today is-“
“Taco Tuesday, I know.” Sunset responds by rolling her eyes but smiling gracefully.
Sonata screams excitedly. “YAY! I’m glad they accepted my request!“
“Actually, we presented the signatures from almost all the students to Dean Cadence.” Sunset answers still smiling. “Although it’s quite surprising they accepted.”
“YAAAAAY, TACOOOOOS!”
Our foreigner can only laugh when she feels tight in the embrace of her friend and dimensional partner.
It was fun, in an ironic sense, as the girl who was once a staunch enemy is now one of her best friends. But Sunset can’t complain. Sonata knows how to make people love her.
After her meeting with the centennial girl, Sunset crosses paths with another student: a girl with short purple hair, adorned with a sunflower brooch. Her posture and her gait are graceful, and somewhat presumptuous.
“Sunset, honey, nice to see you.” The girl greets with a soft smile.
“Sunny Flare, good morning.” The Equestrian returns the salute.
Sunny Flare is another of Sunset’s best friends. Although it’s difficult – even for her – to understand how she came to be like this, Sunny has done a lot for Sunset. She is a girl with eccentric character, to speak so, but nice.
“Oh Sunset, your jacket is badly buttoned.” Sunny speaks to her in a slight scolding tone.
Sunset is surprised and looks at her clothes, realizing there is indeed a button misplaced wich leaves an opening in the air that is out of place. “Oh. I didn’t notice it.”
Sunny frowns slightly and doesn’t bother to ask before starting to fix our acquaintance alien’s jacket.
“Good heavens Sunset, sometimes it surprises me that you can be so careless with yourself.” The elegant girl comments in a worried tone, and slightly scolded. “A young woman as beautiful as you should take better care of her image.”
Sunset looks away with some humor. “Tch. Damn Sunny, you act like my mom.“ Our young lady speaks with a certain grace in her voice.
“Is it a crime to worry about our friends?” Sunny asks with an air of false offense. “Seriously Sunset, I wish you could care about yourself in the same way you care about others. You would be much more than you are now.“
Sunset purses her lips a little. “Not that it has much to do with myself. I’m fine.”
“Very well then. If you are not going to worry about yourself, I’ll do it; I’ll make sure you take care of your appearance and your health.“
“No, seriously, now you look like my mom.”
“Call me as you want, I’ll be watching you.” The lilac-haired girl gives a semi-warning.
Sunset just rolls her eyes with some grace, but she smiles gratefully for the young woman’s care.
After saying goodbye to Sunny Flare, Sunset goes to her locker where she exchanges some books and notebooks for her classes.
“Sun-Shim! Sun-Shim! Sun-Shim! SUN-SHIM!“
Suddenly, Sunset hears an accelerated voice. As soon as she turns her head, something bright and colorful is almost stamped on her face.
“Look, look, look!” That same voice repeats.
Sunset must wait a few seconds before she can see what is on her face, which turns out to be a phone, and thus be able to visualize the girl with wild green hair who was calling her.
“What is it, Lemon Zest?” Sunset asks, exchanging her gaze between the girl and the phone she is holding in front of her face.
“LOOK!” The green haired girl repeats one more time. “Our channel on HoofTube has already reached 5,000 followers!”
Sunset Shimmer must take a moment to understand what the teenager is saying, and looking at the phone screen she sees an image from a website. At the top, the words ‘Sunset Among Shadows’ stand out; in one corner sees a small but notorious number which, as Lemon said, reaches 5.000 and exceeds it by a couple of more figures.
“Wow,” says Sunset somewhat surprised. “That is amazing.” She adds smiling softly.
“It’s MORE than amazing!” Lemon exclaims. “It’s RADICAL! We are web stars, Sun-Shim! ROCK WEB STARS!“
Sunset can’t help but smile at such an attitude.
Lemon Zest is also one of the best friends of hers. A too energetic and cheerful girl who one day appeared, and since then didn’t left. She somehow convinced our girl and her other friends to form a rock band, and since then … … Well, Sunset had no choice but to love her.
Lemon continued for a while to focus on the subject of the band and its fans, and how they looked ‘radical’. Sunset can’t help but smile and shake her head.
As Sunset keeps walking, she keeps a smile on her lips.
Much has changed in her life within a relatively short time. Sunset can’t help but feel happy … … Although.
Looking back and seeing each student concentrating on her issues, Sunset clears her smile and she suddenly seems to turn thoughtful.
It doesn’t last long, as she resumes her walk until she finds a door. At first glance it has nothing special, just a door like almost any other door in the school. Still, she opens it without thinking, and inside…
… Multiple machinery distributed around the place, most of which are computers but there are some whose functions may not be entirely clear. A couple of fairly bright lamps allows to see inside that dark room. There is also a table with test tubes and flasks with hard-to-distinguish liquids. Also a second table with messy papers, plus two chairs.
And among all this, there is a person dressed in a white coat. Her purple hair, adorned with pink bangs, is tied up in a high bun. She is focused on something, little sparks are seen jumping from the table in front of her.
“Hello Twily.” Sunset speaks by way of greeting, gaining the attention of that person who turns around. A pair of thick black glasses greet her.
“Sunset Shimmer! You arrive on time! I’m almost done with this.“ Twilight announces her before going back to work.
“What are you planning now?” Sunset asks closing the door after entering.
“I want to correct the spectrometer, adapt it to detect signals of denser energy.”
“Are you sure you know what you are doing?”
“It’s just a detector, Sunset. It does nothing.” The scientist girl talks while connecting some cables to each other.
Sunset is not convinced. “Okay, but be careful. You’ve already seen the magic on your own.” Our teenager says while she takes and puts on the second robe that was hanging on the door of the place. “You know it’s too unpredictable.”
“That’s why I have you.” Twilight declares, still working. “I know you will avoid any foolishness I try to do.”
“Well, what can I say? I have to take care of my kitty.“ The ex - equine speaks in a mocking tone as she rubs the other girl’s hair. Which is not funny for this one.
“Don’t tell me kitty!”
Putting the joke aside, both girls continue to work with Twilight fixing her device and Sunset supervising the other components on site.
Eventually both manage to mount a small circular device, which gives off a curious light.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
It is noon, and therefore lunch time at Canterlot High School.
School students meet for lunch. Some seek a comfortable place at school, while most prefer to use the cafeteria. And it is there, at one of the tables, where we see our distinguished and colorful quintet of girls.
The five of them eat their lunch in silence. Normally they would accompany their meal with a casual chat, but this time, everyone seems to be… eager. They look at each other with a certain intensity, almost waiting for someone to break that awkward silence.
Each one can only hear their own chewing sound, until finally it is the freckled blonde who dares to break the silence.
“So …” The gazes of the other four are focused on her the instant Applejack utters the first syllable. It takes her a few seconds to follow her sentence, seconds when everyone looks at her expectantly. “Is anybody going to point out the elephant in the barn or-“
“Huh? An elephant? Jackie, do you have an elephant in your barn?!” The pinkiest girl in the group asks happily. “Can I see it?! I like elephants, they have very funny noses that do… “
To everyone’s surprise - but not too much - the party planner imitates an elephant using her arm as if it were the trunk. The funny thing is how she perfectly imitates the animals sound.
“… and they have huge ears that flap like that!” This time Pinkie stretches her ears to emphasize her phrase. Next, she takes the lunch bread pieces and deforms them into a curved look and then places them in the corners of her mouth. “And some teeth-“
“Pinkie, darling, is an expression.” Explains the fashionista. “Applejack meant to say there is an important matter to talk about.”
“… … … Oooooooooh.”
There is another moment of silence before the most colorful of the group lets out a growl.
“Ugh! Yes, Ok! We all saw who came to school. The question is… what do we do with her?“
The Rainbooms look at each other. Some seem to want to respond, but none do. Rainbow speaks again.
“Should we do something? I mean, it’s not our Sunset-“ Dash cuts the sentence and retracts. “She is not the Sunset we know.” Corrects herself.
Applejack agrees with her. “Yeah … but Sunset is gone, and Ah don’t think she’s comin’ back.”
They all look down at the comment.
Rarity recovers and talks to everyone. “Now girls. We shouldn’t think like that. This… um… ‘new’ Sunset,” she says although unsure about such a definition. “She doesn’t have to affect us this way.”
Despite Rarity saying this, her gaze makes it clear that she is not entirely convinced.
The calmest of the group speaks, although with a very soft voice as usual. “I know it’s not Sunset… the one who was our friend. And I know I shouldn’t think badly but… it’s hard to see her and not feel this.“
The girls seem to share that feeling.
A slight surprise comes to them when they see the source of their conversation. Sunset Shimmer, the young woman in the fuchsia blouse and orange skirt with black glasses on her face, stands in the middle of the cafeteria looking at the different tables. A couple of times her gaze meets the ones of others students, but then everyone looks away from her, as if they don’t want to see her.
That seems to depress her.
Rarity thinks for a moment before talking to her group. “I think it is the moment to decide. We can talk to her, or just… leave her.“
Applejack seems to get frustrated with her thoughts. “Ugh… this is very difficult. Ah mean, Ah don’t want to judge her. She doesn’t seem like a bad person.“
Fluttetshy worries. “She must be scared. Poor thing, it must be frightening to be new to school. I don’t even want to imagine it.“
Rainbow becomes unusually serious and thoughtful. Totally different from her usual behavior. “Sunset said we should forget about the bad… not keep it. Besides, we don’t know her; she could be nice.“
“Yes! Surely if we try to get to know her we will discover that she is super friendly!” Pinkie exclaims, being the only one who has no doubts about it. “Even though she’s not our Sunsie, she’s still Sunsie and she sure loves making friends and hanging out with them! Oh! Do you think she likes strawberry cake? It was Sunsie’s favourite. or maybe she likes the raspberry one! Or blueberry!“
They all can’t help but laugh at her party friend’s crazy comments.
Silently, but with small smiles, they see each other sharing a nod. Rainbow stands up.
“Yo, new girl!”
The scream draws the attention of several students from the place, but that adjective can only be for one person.
The young woman with reddish hair and black glasses looks curious, and somewhat surprised, by the girl who has obviously called her.
Rainbow, already having her attention, waits a few seconds and then her smile widens a bit. “Come here! Sit with us!“
At that phrase, the girl with the glasses smiles happily and approaches the table.
The Rainbooms finish letting go of their nerves when they see her approaching, and soon welcomes the new girl with a smile each.
They smile at each other, but at the moment neither speak, so it all gets a bit awkward. Then Rainbow decides to sit down, somewhat hastily, and invite the new girl again.
“Well, sit down. Come sit down. “
“Um… excuse me. Thanks.” Says the new girl taking a seat. She sits next to Rarity and Fluttershy, having Pinkie and Applejack on the other side and Rainbow on one end.
Rainbow is silent for a moment before speaking. “Err… alright then. Ahem! I’m Rainbow, Rainbow Dash. The best athlete and star of the school’s soccer team.“
Sunset smiles. She seems interested, but doesn’t say anything letting the soccer star speak.
Rainbow seems to get flustered, but she forces herself to ignore the sensation and heads to her left. “And they are my friends. Rarity and Fluttershy… “
“Nice to meet you, darling.”
“Um… I … hi… and… err… Eep!”
“I can tell who’s who, heh heh.” The girl with the glasses laughs subtly.
Rainbow takes a little more confidence and keeps up with the introductions. “… and they are Applejack and Pinkie Pie.”
“Howdy parter.”
Pinkie says nothing but gives a big smile and an energetic wave with both hands.
Sunset smiles happily after meeting them. “A pleasure to meet you. My name is Sunset Shimmer. I come from Trottingham.“
“Yes, you said it in class.” Rainbow responds calmly and with a smile.
There is a brief pause with no one knowing what to say next.
Rarity makes the move to break the silence. “So, darling, what brought you to Canterlot?”
Sunset takes a moment to think about her response. “Well… nothing special actually. I just wanted to change schools. I felt Trottingham wasn’t the right place for me.“
“Did ya have a problem there, sugarcube?”
“No, no! No problem.” Sunset answers quickly. “Trottingham is great. Just… well, I felt like I didn’t fit in well there.“ Saying that, her expression changes to one of melancholy. The others look curious.
“I’m sorry, you sure don’t understand what I’m saying. It must sound weird…“
“Oh no darling, not at all. It is normal that sometimes one does not feel comfortable in a school.“
“Flutter and I went to elementary school in Cloudsdale, but then we came to Canterlot. It’s not really that weird.“
They all smile softly, allowing the new girl to smile as well.
Applejack clears her throat before chatting. “Well … um, tell us ‘bout yourself.”
Sunset gets thoughtful. “Okay, what would you like to know?”
Pinkie is suddenly excited. “Oh! Me! Me! What is your favorite cake flavor? “
“Oh, Raspberry.”
Pinkie’s mouth formed a big ‘O’, but soon returned to her usual smile. The others can’t hide a little laugh, which baffles the new girl a bit.
“Uh… did I say something funny?”
“Ha ha, no. Well yeah, but… nah, don’t mind it.“ The teen with multicolored hair says. “It’s nice to meet you Sun-“ she cuts the sentence there, feeling her tongue lock.
“Sun … Suns-se … S …”
Sunset is surprised by Rainbow Dash’s attitude. Looking at the others, she notices they seem to have suddenly become depressed.
“… Is something wrong?” Rarity tries to defuse the situation. “No darling, it’s just … You see-“
“Sun … set … URGH!” Rainbow groans in frustration.
“Does my name have something wrong?”
“NO!” Rainbow exclaims hastily. “Just… Sun-see… Aurgh! Sorry. I know it’s stupid but… it’s hard for me to call you that.“
Both Rainbow and the others seem somewhat lost and a bit sad.
Intrigued, yes. Worried, quite. But Sunset didn’t want to cause problems on her first day, so instead of delving into the subject, she preferred to think of a solution.
“In Trottingham they called me ‘Sunseen’. If you want … sure, I wouldn’t mind.“
There is a little silence as they all look at the new girl, and seem to think about what she said.
“'Sunseen',” Rainbow muses for a second. “Hmm … Yes, that can work!”
“Sunseen sounds like pudding to me!” Pinkie Pie says suddenly. “Oh! Sunseen Pudding! It sounds sticky and delicious!“
Sunseen seems lost at such a phrase.
Applejack smiles to downplay the matter. “It’s just Pinkie bein’ Pinkie, ya’ll get used to it. So, Sunseen, like Rainbow said it’s nice to meet ya.“
The blonde extends her hand. And the one with her glasses, after a slight surprise, extends hers and narrows it. With that, the conversation is over and they start eating. The new girl of the school smiles happily.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
In Crystal Prep.
Sunset walks, a little worried, with her gaze focuzed on her scientist friend, who is also walking but her eyes are placed on the small device that now hangs from her neck.
“Twilight, you’re starting to scare me.”
“This is fascinating.” The scientist girl is exasperated without hearing her friend’s comment. “The spectrometer reacts to fluctuations in energy. And it can track sources. It’s just as I expected.“
Twilight is surprised when she feels a little tug on her shoulder that stops her. When she turns around, she realices that Sunset is the one who took her by the shoulder. And when she comes back forward again she sees her foot in the air, right on the ladder. Instantly Twilight retracts it and takes a small step back.
“That’s great Twily, but you better keep this…” Sunset removes the ‘necklace’ from Twilight’s neck and places it inside her own pocket. “… until you are in a place that doesn’t have high floors.”
“Heh, sorry. I think I got a little excited.“ The scientist confesses with a bit of shame.
Sunset laughs and then they both go down the stairs. “I understand you are excited about this investigation, it is your way of being. But you must be careful Twi. Magic in this world is very unstable. It doesn’t work like in Equestria, it can be dangerous.“
Twilight meditates for a second about it. “I know, I know. But the thing is… that’s exactly why we should investigate it! If we can figure out how it works, we could use it to change the world.“
“Or to destroy it. Most people use it for that.“
“Yeah… I know there have been problems, but for that I appreciate your help, Sunset. I know that you will prevent me from doing anything stupid.“
Sunset laughs a little. “Heh. Yup, I will do what I can. Now come on, Lemon will freak out if we’re late for the band’s practice.“
Twilight smiles and holds her breath pulling the spectrometer out of Sunset’s pocket. “It’s true! When playing we release a flow of magical energy! With this, we can discover its inner source and perhaps study her!”
She speaks enthusiastically, but she wipes the smile from her face when Sunset stares at her with crossed arms and a stern look.
“… Being … very careful, of course.” Twilight smiles innocent and a little nervous.
Sunset keeps her gaze on hers before smiling, shaking her head, and wrapping her shoulders before they both leave for practice.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
At the last bell, students leave their classes and go home. Or in the case of some, they prepare to attend their school clubs.
For our well-known quintet, and their now new acquaintance, they go to the room where they practice their music. Upon entering, Sunseen looks surprised.
“Wow! You really have a band!“
“Did you think we were lying?” Rainbow asks smiling.
“Oh no. Well, I wasn’t expecting such a complete equipment. I thought you would have guitars and, I don’t know, harmonicas.“ Sunseen says and laughs a bit embarrassed.
“None of that. We play Rock!“ Rainbow picks her guitar and plays a chord that resonates in the room.
Applejack takes her own instrument as well. “Do ya play too, sugarcube?” She asks the new girl.
Sunseen is somewhat surprised. “Eh? Me? Oh no, I’ve never played an instrument.“
“How about a song? Sing us something!” Rainbow exclaims and throws a microphone at her, the new one barely catch es it.
“Oh no. Actually I… music is not my thing. Sorry.” Sunseen hands the microphone back to the multi-colored haired girl.
“But I would love to hear them. If there is no problem, of course.“
“Pfft, problem? Get ready for a show like no other. Girls! To your positions!“
The rest of the band take their instruments and prepare, although there is some doubt in their eyes.
A deep breath and Rainbow speaks softly. “'The past is not today.'”
They all repeat the same thing, in a small whisper. One more moment and they begin to play.
🍎 Once upon a time You came into my world and made the stars align 🍎
💎 Now I can see the signs You pick me up when I get down so I can shine 💎
🌈 🌈 🌈 Shine like rainbows Shine like rainbows Shine like rainbows Shine like rainbows 🌈 🌈 🌈
⚡ Friends, you are in my life And you can count on me to be there by your side ⚡
🎈 🦋 And when the music comes alive We sing our songs to lift us up so we can shine 🦋 🎈
🌈 🌈 🌈 And the sound that we hear in our hearts makes a crescendo And the light that ignites in the dark, it makes us all glow
And shine like rainbows We shine like rainbows Shine like rainbows We shine like rainbows 🌈 🌈 🌈
At the end of the song, they receive applause from their audience.
“That… was… BEAUTIFUL! I loved it!”
“Heh heh, and it’s not even our best song.” Rainbow speaks with some arrogance.
“You are splendid.” Exclaims the new girl. “I would love to hear more.”
“Ya can come whenever ya like,” says AJ. “We practice here almost daily.”
“Oh, but I don’t want to bother you.”
“Bother us? Please darling.”
“Sunseenie! You are our friend! You don’t bother us. “
Sunseen is shocked, for more than one reason. “Sunseenie? … Friend? Are we really friends already?“
“Of course we are. I mean … if you want, of course“. Fluttershy smiles her usual shyness but looking happy.
Sunseen smiles, somewhat embarrassed, but she smiles at the Rainbooms and they smile back.
Rainbow asks once more. “Sure you don’t want to try playing? I can teach you some simple notes.“ Chant a couple of notes to emphasize the offer. Sunseen denies it again.
“Oh no, music is not my thing. Really.”
“Don’t push her, Rainbow. If she doesn’t want to, you don’t have to force her.“ The fashionista lightly scolds.
“I don’t force her, I just don’t want her to get bored while listening to us.”
“Don’t worry. I would love to watch and hear you play, if it’s really okay for you to want me stay here.“
Friendly smiles are the only answer girls need to give Sunseen.
Rainbow resumes her apparent command of leadership. “Well. Let’s see, what do we play today? Flutter, any new songs?
“Um. I’m working on one, but it’s not ready yet.“
“Let’s take a look!”
They all get together with the shy girl and look at some notes in a notebook she brought.
“Come on, sugarcube! We won’t force ya to play, but ya don’t have to stay out.“
Sunseen smiles and approaches, although somewhat shyly but joins them.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
After practice, the Rainbooms and their new friend leave the room.
“Do you want to go to Sugar Cube Corner?”
The pink girl’s offer sounds good to the group and they set off. But her new friend is left behind.
“Are you coming, sugarcube?”
“Come on! I’ll buy you a slice of the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness! I call it the 'MMMM'!“ The young pastry chef says and licks her lips when she mentions the name.
Sunseen smiles with amusement. “Thanks for the offer. But I better go home. I didn’t tell anyone I would be staying at school longer, they must be wondering where I am.“
The five friends understand this and only say goodbye before parting ways with the new student.
“Okay, it will be for another time then.”
“See you tomorrow, darling.”
“See you tomorrow, Sunseen.”
“I’ll save you a slice of MMMM for tomorrow!”
Sunseen laughs again and waves goodbye. Seeing herself alone, she drops her shoulders and her smile as well. Her gaze turns a little melancholy and she looks around her.
There are few students left in the school.
Sunseen closes her eyes, relaxes her shoulders, and then trudges over to her locker. It takes her a couple more minutes to settle her things, but with her backpack on she’s ready to go.
In her head she reviews the day’s events.
“It was fine for the first day, I guess. At least I already know some people and… they seem like kind girls. They are nice.”
She pauses for a moment and sees her reflection in the glass door from one of the classrooms. Her reflection gives her a faint look; when she sees herself, her eyes reflect a certain regret.
“But still … I still don’t feel like I fit in.”
Sunseen starts walking with downcast eyes.
☀️ So many places I could see
And so many people I’ve met
~ Uh oh oh ~
There’s nothing I can’t do
I give my best in each class
With the others, I am kind
I feel empty
And I don’t know why ☀️
As Sunseen leaves school, she gazes up at the sky wistfully singing her voice to the heights.
☀️ There is something I am missing
And I do want to find it
There is something I am missing
I want to see that light ☀️
The new student continues walking with her eyes downcast, the doors of the school are closed.
……
Crystal’s classroom door opens and Sunset walks out. She walks the hallways, greeting all those who see her and smile at her.
🔥 Everyone here likes who I am
I see smiles everywhere
~ Uh oh oh ~
Joy and friendship I have again 🔥
Outside the school, Sunset sees a clear, bright sky.
🔥 Shadows of yesterday
I left them far away 🔥
As she sings a large cloud covers the sun, turning off its light.
🔥 But still I feel
That this is not my way 🔥
……
Sunseen walks down the sidewalk. In a trophy shop, she observes awards of all kinds.
☀️ I know if I want this way
I can reach everything
But there is something I’m missing
What is missing inside of me ☀️
…….
Sunset walks down the driveway, paying no attention to anything in particular.
🔥 There is something I am missing
But I don’t know what it could be
There is something I am missing
The joy it could give me 🔥
On her phone, Sunset sees the picture of her friends. All smiling and crowding to fit into the picture.
🔥 I know I have friends here
I’m not saying I don’t love them
But there is something I am missing
So I can feel complete again 🔥
Sunset puts her phone away and keeps walking.
……
Sunseen arrives at a park, and in the middle of it she starts to look around her before almost yelling at the sky.
☀️ This world is so big indeed
But I don’t know where my place is ☀️
……
Under a tree, Sunset can look up at the shining gold star. Her mind fills with images from another world.
🔥 In this world or beyond
Is there something to wait for? Is there something for me? 🔥
……
Once again, as she walks, Sunseen clenches her fists and picks up her pace decisively.
☀️ There is something that I am missing
A force to keep moving ☀️
……
Standing in a corner, Sunset continues to look up at the sky.
🔥 There is something that I am missing
I will be right if I looking for it? 🔥
……
Both Sunset are surrounded by a light, which only exists for them. Intoning their voices sing in unison.
🔥☀️ And I know the happy smiles
The sadness I know how feels
But there is something I am missing
And is waiting for me ☀️🔥
With firm and determined steps, both walk in opposite directions as if wanting to reach each other.
🔥☀️ I will always keep looking
I will make my way ☀️🔥
They stare at each other getting closer until being able to raise their hands, and touch one palm to the other.
🔥☀️ There is something that I am missing
And I will find it one day… ☀️🔥
……
Sunseen watches her reflection in the glass of that door, touching it with her palm. Her reflection mimics her by lowering her head and softening her voice.
☀️ … I will find it one day... ☀️
Thus, the girl with glasses simply opens the door and enters that house leaving the rest of the world behind.
……
So did our already known Sunset upon entering her apartment. She flops onto her couch with a sigh, and begins to doze off.
Nearby – on the wall – there is a calendar hanging that doesn’t actually show any notes, or any marked events…
……
… Unlike the calendar in the office of Abacus Cinch, Principal of Crystal Preparatory.
The woman stands in front of the almanac, observing a date marked with a few written words which read: ‘Friendship Games’.
“The day is coming. Sunset Shimmer, it’s time to show yourself what you’re worth at this school.“
The new day at Crystal Prep begins with a meeting of the students in the auditorium. The young people introduce themselves and take their seats in an orderly fashion as Principal Cinch appears in front of everyone.
Sunset goes down the steps slowly, looking around her as well for a seat or her friends.
“Hey Sunset, come sit here!”
Sunset hears the call and when she turns around sees the sporty girl with googles, Indigo Zap, pointing to a free seat next to her. Sunset smiles and decides to sit there.
It only takes as long as all students take to settle in for Cinch to begin speaking into the microphone located on the pedestal.
“Welcome everyone.” Says the woman. “Perhaps you are wondering why this meeting. Others, on the other hand, are surely already imagining it.“
The woman pauses, although none of the presents try to speak.
Sunset, by her side, is confused but intrigued; more when she sees Indigo nod.
“The reason is obvious. The Friendship Games against Canterlot High School are very close.“
The principal’s announcement gets some responses, as well as short whispers from everyone. On her side, Sunset raises an extremely confused eyebrow.
“Silence.” Order Cinch. “Everyone knows this contest is held between our schools every four years. And Crystal Prep always shows the best of itself. This year I don’t expect the exception. “
As Cinch continues what looks like a prerecorded speech, Sunset covers her mouth slightly to whisper to her goggle partner.
“What are the Friendship Games?”
Indigo is surprised by such a question.
“Are you kidding? It’s one of the most important events of the school.“ Indigo whispers with some indignation. Cinch, oblivious to the conversation between the two, continues with her speech.
“And everyone expects great feats from our institution, for we have a reputation to uphold…” The woman emphasizes that word, but Sunset and Indigo continue whispering to each other.
“Every four years, Canterlot and Crystal meet at the Friendship Games.”
“Seriously? I didn’t know anything about that.” Sunset confesses after hearing the information.
“… And that is why I have made a decision regarding this year’s competition.” Cinch announces as she looks around her among the students.
Indigo looks incredulous. “You came from Canterlot, how you didn’t know it?!” She continues whispering, but denotes it was an exclamation.
“I’ve never heard of that, what kind of competition is it?” The former equine question. Nevertheless …
“Sunset Shimmer!” Suddenly the principal exclaims.
“Huh?”
A light is turned on, illuminating the girl with the flaming hair. She is surprised, then scared, and in a reflex action stands up and remains rigid.
“Please, come to the stage.” The principal asks, although it sounds more like an order.
Sunset is taken back. “… Me?”
Cinch doesn’t bother repeating herself. She only looks at the girl, who after a few seconds of trying to understand the situation has no choice but follow the request. As she descends the steps of the place and approaches the stage, Sunset is surprised with a couple of applause and the occasional exclamation.
“Yeah, Sunset!”
“Go Sunset, GO!”
“Cheer up, Sunset!”
“Rock her socks off, Sunset!”
The words only confuse our girl more, but she smiles at the encouragement that others want to give her.
Upon reaching the stage, she climbs the steps and approaches the principal, who is waiting for her. Cinch hands the red-haired girl a second microphone, which is wireless. Sunset hesitates, confused, but she accepts it.
“Sunset Shimmer, with the Friendship Games so close, our school needs to prove its worth and we must uphold our unblemished reputation.” The principal’s comments aim to the young woman. “Even if you have been in our institution for a short time, I am sure you understand it and that the school can count with your collaboration.”
Sunset lingers a bit, seemingly trying to understand where this conversation is going.
“Um… yeah! Sure!” Is the only thing she manages to answer, even though she feels insecure.
Abacus Cinch ignores her attitude and keeps talking. “In this short period you have shown great worth and have become one of our most promising students. The school has full confidence in you.“
Sunset wanted to answer, or ask, but she couldn’t as she received several applause and a couple of ovations from some of the students.
Cinch continues. “That is why from now on I name you captain of the team at the Friendship Games.”
At the moment the woman pronounces that, almost all the students in the place makes a celebration of cheers, applause and exclamations of the name of Sunset.
“I what?!” Sunset exclaims, not without first putting a hand on her microphone so they don’t hear her.
“Sunset Shimmer, I am confident that you will contribute to the victory of Crystal Prep.”
“Principal Cinch, wait,” Sunset says still covering her microphone. “I don’t know anything about these Friendship Games. I can’t participate.”
Cinch breaks away from the microphone to speak to Sunset alone. “Nonsense. Sunset Shimmer, you are one of the most promising students academically. You have good physical and artistic dexterity. Besides, the school seems to be counting on you.“
At that comment, Sunset turns to the students who continue to applaud and congratulate her.
“The students have confidence in you. I am aware of what your presence in these games can mean for many of them. You sure don’t want to disappoint them, do you?”
Sunset can’t argue, as several praise her name. She gives the principal a somewhat suspicious look but then smiles at the other students. She speaks into the microphone once more.
“Uhh … we’re going to win!”
There is doubt in her voice due the situation, but nobody seems to care because the applause don’t take long to come. Cinch keeps a satisfied smile on her face.
Sunset notices it and looks at her suspiciously.
“Cinch … what are you up to now?” She thinks to herself looking at the principal.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
The meeting ends shortly after the announcement. Sunset stays a bit behind, waiting for the other students to come out.
There is a slight scare when Indigo Zap appears from behind her and wraps her neck to bring her closer.
“WOW Sunset! That’s something I wasn’t expecting! To think they would name you the captain of the games! That’s great.”
“… If you say so…”
“What’s the matter? Why the long face? “
“That is something offensive to my species, you know? ”
“Just tell me what worries you.”
Sunset sighs deeply and speaks with slight sarcasm. “I don’t know? Maybe because it doesn’t make sense that Cinch wants me to participate in this Friendship Games thing.“
“Pfff, what are you talking about? Sunset, you are a star student of the school! You beat Trottingham in sports competition! … “
“Technically, that was Lightning Dust.”
“… and you formed the best band in school! …”
“That was Lemon Zest.”
“… discovered your Internet stalker and brought him to Cinch…”
“That was Suri Polomare.”
“… and when Jet Set wanted to reveal about your magical pony world, you put him in his place! …”
“That was Lightning. Again.”
“… and the best of all! When you grabbed Cinch and yelled in her face that you weren’t going to be her bitch!“
“… well, I guess that was me.”
“You have high grades, you are athletic, coveted, and the school loves you! It’s normal for Cinch to want you in the games. The school wants you in the games!”
Sunset gives a half-growled sigh and breaks free from the google girl’s grasp. “But I don’t know ANYTHING about these games. I didn’t even know they existed until 15 minutes ago. And Cinch wants me to be the captain, I don’t even know what a captain is supposed to do!“
“Well, I’m the captain of the sports team. And I guess the first step is to put together the team for the games.“
“How am I supposed to put together a team for a competition I don’t know about?!”
“Don’t worry Suns, your old friend Zap will help you with that!” The athlete says this and takes the dimensional visitor by her shoulders as she begins to walk.
“These will be the best Friendship Games of all time!”
“… I should have gone to Trottingham.”
~ Friendship Among Games ~
As Crystal’s principal makes her way to her office, the dean of the school calmly but firmly approaches.
“Principal Cinch, can I have a minute please?”
“What is it Cadenza?”
“Well, I just wanted to say I was a bit surprised when you named Sunset Shimmer the team captain for the Friendship Games.”
“Do you think I made a mistake?” The older woman asks turning her head a little, just enough to see the younger woman.
“N-No! Not at all. I’m just saying that I was surprised, usually you are in charge of choosing a team. “
Cinch doesn’t respond, so Cadence decides to keep talking.
“But it certainly seems like the right decision to me. By allowing students to form a team, certainly encourages them and develops teamwork; it will help them during the games.”
“That is precisely the idea.” Although that should sound positive, Cinch’s tone of voice seems to sound strange.“Sunset Shimmer has made a reputation for herself in our school,” the principal emphasizes that word. “I am confident that her presence will motivate the other students to win. And in turn, the contestants will motivate Sunset Shimmer.“
That seems to serve Abacus Cinch to end the conversation, as she continues on her way without saying anything else. Cadence is a bit confused, but she keeps going back to her work.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
Indigo Zap stands in front of a blackboard that she has written on, and drawn (¿) a couple of not so really clear stuff.
“Alright! The Friendship Games are a competition that is divided into two parts. The first part consists of an academic decathlon where different school subjects are evaluated… “
Sunset is sitting in a chair, with a notebook and a pen, paying attention to the explanation of the girl with the googles.
“… the teams from each schools are made up of a total of twelve students.”
Sunset begins to move the pen over the notebook.
“The twelve students from both teams compete at the same time; and depending on the results of each test, they are assigned a certain number of points. At the end of the ten events, the 6 students from each school with the highest number of points goes to the second round. “
“And what are the events of the second round?” Sunset asks, putting her notebook down for a moment.
“Nobody knows, the directives of both schools change it every year. It’s a complete secret.”
Sunset is intrigued and continues to do something in the notebook.
“Since you were named captain, you are the first member of the 12 students. So your duty will be to evaluate and assign the other eleven competitors.“
Sunset is still focused on her notebook.
“Now. The decathlon consists of several events that include intelligence tests, physical dexterity, chemistry tests, art, among others. “
Sunset just nods and takes care of her affairs while the other girl walks from one end of the board to the other with a decisive and somewhat thoughtful demeanor.
“Therefore, we must look for students who can excel in different fields. Always maintaining a balanced profile between physical strength, intelligence, artistic ability and wit.“ Announces the athlete with determination. “Did you understand all that?”
“Um …” Sunset looks at her notebook, which has a stick drawing of Cinch being struck by lightning and herself to the side laughing uproariously. “… Yes, perfectly!”
“Excellent! So now that we have it clear, we need to look for ten more students.“
“Ten? I thought it would be eleven.”
“There are two of us right here,” Indigo announces. “Because I’m the best athlete in school.”
As she speaks, puffs up her chest with pride. “It is evident you choose me to win the physical tests. And if you allow me the suggestion, Lightning Dust is also an excellent option. “
“Um… that makes a lot of sense. Okay.” Sunset picks up the notebook and this time begins writing ‘Indigo’ and ‘Lightning’.
“And with you, there are three of us. We need nine more students,” Indigo explains again. “We'll need brains, we must go with Sugarcoat.”
“Sugarcoat?”
“She is the second best student in the school. Close to Twilight.“
“I suppose. What about Twilight? She is the best, isn’t she? We should ask her too.“
“Hmph, if you want to try. Without the intention of offending your little friend, I don’t think that girl will do well in games. She’s very… how to say it without sounding rude… isn’t good for competition.”
Sunset thought for a moment. Considering the character of her friend, Twilight clearly wasn’t interested in showing off her accomplishments. Sure, she can be proud of them, but only because she wants to outdo herself and not others. So...
“I guess so. Twilight is not a competitive girl, but I’ll still ask her. Maybe she wants to do it for fun.“
“Fun? This isn’t fun, Sunset! The Friendship Games are serious stuff!“
“… Really?”
“Of course! This is one more opportunity for the Shadowbolts to demonstrate our superiority over the rest of the schools! Especially Canterlot High School! ”
“What’s wrong with Canterlot?”
“Eh? Oh! Ha ha… I forgot you came from there. It’s not that they have something wrong, it’s just here at Crystal we are the best. “
“… that seems a bit dumb to me.”
“It’s not dumb! This competition is serious!“
“If you want to get serious, you should look for a name other than ‘Friendship Games.’ That sounds very cheesy. “
“Well, enough chatting! Let’s find Sugar and the rest of the team! We have only a few days to gather them and prepare! LET’S GO SHADOWBOLTS! “
A loud ‘Shhhhhhh’ is heard from all the students, and from the librarian, at the scene. And they are both in the school library.
Indigo regrets it and apologizes with a smile. Sunset just snorts, resting her chin on one hand and her elbow on her knee.
“This will be a long day …”
~ Friendship Among Games ~
The first thing our girls did was find Lightning Dust, who was in the hallway.
“Hey, Light!” The teen with google calles for her.
“What’s up Zap?”
“Suns and I are gathering the team together for the Friendship Games. Are you joining or what? “
“… Wow, how straightforward.” Sunset comments quietly.
“Sure! I wouldn’t miss the chance to humiliate the Losercolts. “
“The what?”
“Neat! With you and me in the team, victory is assured!” Indigo comments without realizing what the Equestrian said.
“Please, victory was assured from the beginning.” Lightning says no more. She just walks away to get on with her stuff, Indigo smiles and does the same. Sunset follows her.
“Why the offense against Canterlot?”
Indigo seems to get a bit uncomfortable. “Err… it’s nothing personal Suns, it’s just that Crystal always wins against Canterlot. It’s been like this since before we got to school. “
“And does that mean you must gloat like this?”
“Um… yeah?” Indigo doesn’t seem sure about what to answer.
Sunset only looks at her partner but doesn’t touch the subject again, she directs her gaze on the notebook in her place. “We still need nine people. If we go with Sugarcoat, we will have eight to go. Who could they be? “
Indigo thinks about it for a moment. “Hmm… it won’t do us any good to think like that. We need somebody. “
~ Friendship Among Games ~
“Why do you want all the student records for?”
Asks the freckled young woman sitting on the front steps. Indigo and Sunset are standing in front of her.
“Well Sour Sweet,” The google girl begins to narrate. “As you know Sunset was elected captain of the Friendship Games, and to form the team we need to see what our students are made of.”
“~ Awww, that sounds so interesting ~” Sour speaks in a sweet tone, then changes it to a rude one. “But I’m busy, so don’t bother.”
That said, she goes back to her textbook. Indigo insists.
“Come on Sour! Help us! You have access to the student’s records, just let us see which are most qualified. It’s to make Cinch happy, she will be angry if we don’t make the best team.“
Sour grunts and clenches his teeth. “Fine! Let it be clear that I do it so both of you stop bothering me.”
She gets up and walks inside the school, followed by the two teenagers.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
When it’s lunchtime, Sunset sits alone at a table. Her head resting on a palm, her elbow on the table as she looks at the large number of papers in front of her passing them one by one, taking a quick glance at each one.
From time to time moves her hand to wrap a little pasta on her fork and bring it to her mouth.
“Sunsite! There you are!”
The dimensional traveler looks up and sees her closest friends. Sonata and Twilight sit across from her, each with their lunch tray.
“Hi girls.” Sunset greets her friends.
“Sunset, where have you been?” A curious question came from the violet-haired scientist. “Sonata and I haven’t seen you in all the morning- and those papers?”
“Sorry. With Cinch getting me into the Friendship Games, Indigo Zap has been helping me put together a team for the competition,” Sunset explains as she lightly looks at her papers in front of her.
Sonata seems interested. “Oh! Sounds like fun!”
“It’s not…”
“Owwww.”
Twilight worries a little. “Is there a problem?”
Sunset releases a sigh. “I have no idea which students to choose. Indigo Zap and Lightning Dust are already in and, well, Cinch made me captain. But I need twelve people to participate. So I asked Sour Sweet to give me the student records to try find the fittest.“
Suddenly Sonata jumps out of her seat. “UH, UH! What about me?! I’m in shape! I can do many things, like put a whole orange in my mouth! Watch!“
The siren takes an orange from her lunch and begins to put it in her mouth. Both Twi and Sunset try to stop her but keeps going until she succeeds and takes the whole orange to her mouth. Sonata raises her hands and shows her as if celebrating and demonstrating her feat.
Her friends see her a little worried, but in the end they only laugh at the already known attitude of the siren.
“That’s nice Sonata, but…” Sunset thinks about how to finish her sentence. “… I don’t think you can participate in the competition.”
Sonata seems depressed at that. With her mouth covered she lets out a disappointed sound.
“Sorry. I need others to participate. But if you want, you could cheer us on. Do you want to play as… uh… a cheerleader?"
That seems to animate the siren and she begins to ‘speak’, but since she has the orange in her mouth nothing is understood.
“Secondly. Twi, will you join?“
“Eh? ME?!” The scientist is scared by that question.
“Well yes, you are the best student in school.” That explains our fire-haired girl. “With you, we would pass the intelligence tests without any problem.”
Twilight gets totally flustered. “Oh… sorry Sunset, but competitions are not my thing. I… I don’t think-“
Sunset notices her nervousness and stops her. “It’s okay. I was already expecting for it, but I had to ask.“
Neither of them is aware of it, but that talking is overheard by some of the students sitting at the table next to them.
Feeling a bit bad about such a conversation, Twilight thinks of something to contribute to the cause. “Do you want help evaluating students?”
“I would like it.” Sunset smiles gratefully at the idea.
Twilight smiles and so does Sonata, although the latter, seeing the orange still in her mouth, tries to remove it. She doesn’t get it, so she pulls harder but in the end she tightens her stomach with the Haymlich maneuver. Sunset and Twilight seem to want to stop and help her, however the siren pressed so hard that the orange flies through the cafeteria.
Shortly after, Jet Set’s scream is heard.
“OUCH! My eye!”
Although they try, none of the three girls can help but laugh.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
The rest of the afternoon, Sunset took advantage of every moment outside of class trying to assemble the team together for friendship games. Sour Sweet was at her locker when Sunset walks up to her.
“Sour Sweet.”
“Urgh, what do you want now?”
“I just wanted to thank you for your help with the student records.”
“Yes, yes, it doesn’t matter.”
“And also… “
“AURGH!”
“… I wanted to ask you to compete in the Friendship Games.”
That seems to take the freckled girl by surprise. “Me?”
“You are an excellent student, you have high grades in all subjects and you have the best record in archery.”
“Do you think part of the competition is ‘playing Hawkeye’?”
“Well, I don’t know. According to Zap, part of the competition can be anything.“ Our girl from another dimension meditates for a moment, the sooner she returns to the important topic. “But the fact highlights your athletic performance; you’re amazing and I think you’ll be great on the team.“
“~ Oh, you’re so sweet ~” Says the freckled girl in her sweet voice.
“So, will you participate?” Sunset asks, concerned by that tone of voice.
Sour’s sweet smile returns to her hostile nature. “Okay, whatever.”
“Great! Thank you very much Sour Sweet.“
There is no further response from the freckled one. She just gets on with her doings and Sunset takes it as the end of the conversation so she just walks off.
Sour watches her go and frowns. “Gosh. Sunset Shimmer, you always get me into weird things.“
One more look at the teenager keeping a calm frown from her. Although she doesn’t say anything else, Sour Sweet just walks away.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
“Your grades are excellent and you excel in art and math. Plus, you have an artistic eye.“ Sunset explains.
Sunny Flare just smiles. “You flatter me, honey.”
Both ‘sun’ girls chat in the backyard of the school.
“So, what do you say?” Sunset asks. “Are you joining the team?”
Sunny gently straightens her hair. “If you ask me, I cannot refuse.”
They both smile at each other and each continues with their own thing.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
Sunset sees Lemon walking down a hallway, moving with a certain rhythm.
“Lemon, would you like to participate in the Friendship Games?”
“Oh yeah! Bring it!” The girl with the long hair responds very animatedly.
Sunset just smiles and keeps walking. Lemon takes a few seconds but sees her go and takes off the headphones.
“Oops, I think Sun-Shim told me something … Oh well, it wasn’t something important.”
Lemon puts the headphones back on and keeps walking, and dancing a bit.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
The time change bell rings, and Sunset calmly waits in front of a door. Inside it is noticeable that it is a room for cooking classes
“Miss Shimmer?”
“Suri!” Sunset pronounces when she hears and sees her youngest friend at school. “I was waiting for you.”
The aforementioned approaches and feels surprised, and somewhat nervous. “E-Eh? For me?!”
“Yes, I wanted to ask you to join the Friendship Games team.”
“M-Me? … Join? … Are you … are you sure?”
“Of course!” Sunset responds confidently. “I checked your academic records, and I saw you have advanced classes in art and math. That’s awesome, I mean, not just anyone can take classes at a higher level. You are very smart.”
Suri blushes quite a bit and clasps her fingers down in shame. “Heh. I just do the best I can.”
“That’s why I think you would be very good for the team. What do you say?” Our exequine asks again.
Suri looks nervous but happy. “Oh, I … if you’re the one who asks me, I can’t say no.”
“Hey Suri, do you want to hurry?” A third voice is heard.
Both turn and see another girl at the door of the classroom, Suri’s age. Her gaze is somewhat furrowed, with partially closed eyelids revealing her makeup. Her hair is purplish with a whitish fringe; adding to these details, she shows off a high quiff and two loose half-cuffs.
“The teacher wants to start class.” The newcomer comments.
“Upper Crust!” Suri exclaims with a smile, and without further ado she takes the young woman and brings her closer.
“Hey, what are you doing?!”
“Miss Shimmer, this is Upper Crust. She is my classmate, in fact we share many of the advanced classes. She is very smart and skilled. “
“Oh, nice to meet you Upper Crust.” Sunset greets Suri’s friend.
The newcomer – or it would be said pulled out against her will comer – lets go of the other teen’s grip and looks at the older student. “The pleasure is mine. I suppose.”
“You should include her in the team as well.” Suggests Suri. “The truth is that we usually work together in class.”
“I see, that sounds good. Do you want to participate in the Friendship Games?”
Upper Crust seems to think about it for a second. “Well, I don’t know-“ her response is cut off when she receives a stomp from Suri. “OUCH! I mean … sure, I would like that. “
“Fantastic.” Sunset exclaims, ignoring what just happened. “Your help will really do us good.”
Both youngsters smile, and the older one smiles back. Ending the conversation, the latter leaves.
“What the hell was that?!” Upper complains to her partner.
“Sorry Crust, but I would have been very uncomfortable being the youngest of the team.” Suri apologizes and explains.
“Bah! If you ripped my shoe, you’re going to buy me a new one!” Upper Crust complains, but then folds her arms and looks thoughtful. “On the other hand, being in the games will be beneficial. It is my opportunity to show my superiority over the rest of the students. I will impress the principal so much that she will want to promote me to a degree. Everyone will know how superior I am.”
Suri doesn’t care much about this ‘self-promotion’. “Yeah yeah, just try to don’t make me look bad. Especially in front of Miss Shimmer.”
“Pfff, you don’t need help to look bad.”
“Excuse me?!”
Their talk/squabble could have continued if it hadn’t been for the teacher who appeared at the door and gave a loud yell.
“YOU TWO, ENTER THE CLASSROOM BEFORE I DECIDE TO COOK YOU!”
“SORRY!”
They both run in.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
“Jet set!”
The boy wearing his jacket slung over his shoulders turns around when he hears his name, but his gaze frowns as soon as he sees our blonde-red haired girl
“Sunset Shimmer, what do you want?” He asks her with clear annoyance and venom in his voice.
Sunset approaches him. “Jet Set, I was looking for you. I wanted to ask you to join the team for the Friendship Games.”
The boy is intrigued by this, but he continues to look at her in annoyance.
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, you know Cinch made me captain.”
“Yes. And you feel very special about that, don’t you?"
Sunset is a bit stumped. “Mmm… ¿no?”
Silence falls when Jet simply follows his stern gaze on the girl. Sunset picks up another word after a moment. “Um … well … the thing is, I’m making the team and I’d like you to join.”
Jet is very suspicious and follows her gaze, turning completely to look at our girl. “What are you up to, Shimmer?”
“Uh… up to?”
“Is this a trick? A trick to make me look bad?
“What? No! I really want you to join. I went through your class records and you are amazing at chemistry and physics. You would definitely help out in any lab competition. “
“Oh oh! Ho ho ho, I get it. That is your plan. “
“My plan?”
“You want to place me in the competition, to make me look bad in front of the school!”
“Huh?! NO! I want you to join us to help- “
“I will not fall into your trap, Shimmer!” He aggressively interrupts her. “You will not ruin what I have accomplished in this school.”
Without saying anything else and without giving our Equestrian time to speak, the young man only leaves with a firm and hurried step.
Sunset stares at him for a while, her shoulders droop and she blinks.
“… oh well. I suppose Neon Light and Trenderhoof can handle it.“ With that thought out loud, she takes the notebook out of her and jots something down. Sunset turns around and keeps walking.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
“I’m gathering the team for the Friendship Games and I want you two to participate.” Our girl from Equestria explains. “Trenderhoof, you are excellent at chemistry; and Sugar, you are the best student in school along with Twilight. “
Both students, Trenderhoof and Sugarcoat are standing in front of a hallway door with Sunset in front of them explaining the situation.
Sugar adjusts her glasses and talks to Sunset in her casual tone, devoid of emotion. “To be fair, Twilight Sparkle is the top student at Crystal Preparatory. I am in second place. However, it isn’t a matter of which I am interested.”
“Um, yeah. Still your grades are quite excellent,” Sunset speaks not really knowing what to say to that. “You will join?”
“I must say I was expecting this event. And with the reputation of the institution at stake, I am not in a position to refuse.“ Sugarcoat’s tone of voice makes it impossible to tell if she accepts with pleasure or spite, but Sunset takes it positively in the same way.
“Well, I will participate too.” Announce the present boy. “I must say that I am honored to be chosen.”
Sunset smiles at his response too. Then Trenderhoof gestures toward the door.
“Don’t you want to join us? We are about to start a meeting of our academic society”.
Sunset gets a little nervous and shakes with both hands. “Ahh… No, no thanks. I already have plans, but thanks for the invitation.“
With that, our girl says goodbye, and with a bit of a hurry she leaves the place. Trender and Sugar look at the door for a moment.
“Well, it seems like Sunset is taking the role of her captain seriously.” The blond boy comments.
“It seems.” The silver-haired girl responds with her typical nonchalance. “I just hope she understands what her role entails.”
“What’s the matter Sugarcoat? Don’t you trust her?“
“Confidence or lack of it is irrelevant. But knowing the principal, Sunset Shimmer will need more than a good team to get through this event.“
The blond young man is left in doubt, as the silver-haired lady turns and walks into the room. He does the same.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
Sunset finishes talking to Neon Lights and walks down the hall, looking at the names of the team members in her notebook.
“Nine, ten, eleven… Huh. I thought I had counted well, but I’m missing someone else.“
As she thinks about it, her footsteps lead her to the small laboratory that shares with her scientist friend. As she enters, Sunset is intrigued to see that same friend sitting in a chair with her face somewhat downcast and pensive.
“Twily? Are you okay?”
Hearing the voice of her first interdimensional friend, Twily is shocked and stands up. “Sunset!”
“What’s wrong Twi? You seem concerned.“
Twilight doesn’t seem sure how to answer. Sunset takes her by the shoulder and looks at her.
A couple of minutes pass while the girl with glasses explains the current situation.
“Cinch did WHAT?!” The expression on Sunset’s face denotes her anger.
“The principal said if I don’t participate in the Friendship Games, she will have Everton reject my transfer request.” As she explains this, the young scientist appears to be depressed.
Sunset lets out an angry growl. “Uggggh, that filthy bitch!” She screams annoyed, although soon becomes intrigued by something. “What is Everton?”
“A school,” responds our scientists. “A college of advanced studies that has an independent study program.”
Sunset seems a little lost. “Independent study program?”
“It means that each student can study on their own, without specific classes or teachers,” explains Twily. “Each student has their own classroom to study on their own.”
“Oh… Ow.”
Suddenly, Sunset’s face twitched a little. With one hand behind her neck, she looks away. “I didn’t know you were going to switch to a school like that …”
Twilight gets flustered and looks away, embarrassed. “Well… that was before I met you. I just, well, I had nothing else to do here. The classes here… I mean, I have a perfect GPA in every class. I felt there was nothing left for me to learn. So I wanted to go to a place where I could continue studying on my own.“
As she explains all this, Twilight gets more and more nervous, she felt like as she was confessing some kind of crime.
Although it sounded absurd, she didn’t stop feeling guilty.
Sunset is still nervous, and only looks at the back of her friend with glasses. She bites her lip and tries to not make her voice shaky when she speaks. “That… makes sense. Heh, you’re too smart for this school. “
Twilight blushes a little but her denials continue. “Hehe… thanks.”
Twilight keeps avoiding looking at Sunset, rubbing her hands nervously, and even fearful.
Sunset seems totally lost in her words. “So… I mean, if it’s what you want, you know I support you. Although I would miss you, but you have to see the best for you and your studies- “
“I don’t want to go anymore.” The girl with glasses interrupts the exequine.
Sunset is shocked and falls silent when she hears it. “What?”
Twilight takes a few seconds and repeats herself. “I don’t want to go to Everton anymore.“
One could tell Sunset wants to ask, but her voice doesn’t come through.
After a few more seconds, Twilight speaks again. “I wanted to go because I had nothing here at Crystal. But now … I have friends. “ Finally, as she says that, she turns to the dimensional girl. “I have you. And Sonata, Lemon, Sunny… I don’t want to leave anymore, I want to stay here with you.“
“Twily…” Sunset’s gaze trembles and crystallizes, touched by the young scientist’s words.
“Before I met you I was alone and I thought there was no place for me, a place… where I could be happy. But now…”
She doesn’t seem to know how to finish her sentence. Instead, she hurriedly approaches her friend from another world, who upon seeing Twilight reflectively raises her arms a little, joining them both in a deep embrace. Twilight rests her head on Sunset’s shoulder and Sunset rests her chin on Twilight’s, clinging to the other.
“I want to stay with all of you… with you. Now I feel like I have a place.“
Sunset feels a tear fall from her eye, but she rubs it against Twi’s hair to wipe it away.
“You always will, Twily. With me. With everyone.”
The scientist smiles and allows herself to rub her face on her friend’s shoulder. Sunset also plunges into the embrace, both of them strengthening her bond over each other.
After a moment that felt longer than it did, they parted long enough to see each other smiling. The girl with glasses seems to have a funny idea and, without saying anything, leaves a soft brush of her lips on those of Sunset’s and then departs with a giggle.
Sunset laughs a little. “Hey, why did you do that?”
“Why wouldn’t I? He he.”
“Oh Twily, ha ha ha. Well back to the point, since you don’t want to go to Everton then I assume you told Cinch that you don’t want to participate in the Friendship Games.”
Twilight suddenly clears her good mood and looks down. “Actually … I’m going to participate.”
Sunset is shocked. “What?! But you said- “
Twilight cuts her off softly. “Principal Cinch threatened me with Everton. And although I don’t want to go there anymore if I refuse to participate, she will surely use another method to force me. Just like she wanted to do with you.“
That brings to Sunset’s mind the memory of when she first confronted Cinch. When the woman wanted to use her ‘influence’, pointing out she could prevent Sunset from applying another school.
Such memory made our fiery haired girl gnash her teeth and stifle a growl.
“She’s like that… she always gets what she wants.” Twily says with little encouragement.
“Well, she won’t.” Sunset exclaims. “Twi, you don’t have to participate if you don’t want to.”
“Yes, I do. I don’t want to go to Everton, but I want to go to a good college after I graduate, and I don’t want Cinch to screw it up just because I ignored her. “
“Twilight! You do not have- “
Twilight cuts her off silently. “It’s fine I understand it. The truth is I planned to go to the Friendship Games, only this time I will have to participate.“
Sunset seems to want to say more, but only a sigh is what she manages to blurt out. After that, she frowns and the image of Cinch burns in her mind.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
It was almost dark when Sunset was released from her chores and she was able to get out of school. With a sigh, she relaxes her body and mentally reviews the events of the day from the moment she was named ‘captain’ for the ‘Friendship Games’, and then mentally reviewed each student she decided to include in the team.
As she focused on it, she thought of Canterlot.
Sunset remembered what she experienced during her last moments at said school. And the times that followed after that.
With a groan she tries to erase all those memories from her mind and tries to return to the current topic, the Friendship Games.
Sunset goes over the team again. She already has it set up, she just has to wait for the day of the competition to arrive. Speaking of which, she almost by chance came up with the idea of who they would be up against.
Canterlot has some pretty smart students, a good sports team, and creative youngsters. Would Crystal have a problem with any of them?
As she thinks about it, Sunset hears a sound in her pocket. It’s her phone that plays a soft melody. When she takes it out sees that a message has arrived; her phone recognizes the number by giving a name, a name that makes her raise an eyebrow with some suspicion.
Still, she opens the message and begins to read it.
“Hi Sunset, how’s everything going?
Look, I know you told us not to talk to you if you didn’t do it first, but… “
The message is cut there, with a uniform ellipsis. Odd, but Sunset doesn’t pay attention, the message continues in another dialog.
“… The Friendship Games between Canterlot High and Crystal Prep are near. And I don’t know if you will come, but in case you do… well, there is something you should know… “
There it ends up again, gaining some intrigue from our bi-colored haired girl.
For a moment Sunset Shimmer seems thoughtful, slightly tapping the screen with her finger as if she wonders how, or even if she should answer.
Luckily for her – or too bad – she doesn’t need to make a decision, as a notification arrives: a new message with an attachment. The phone asks a question.
- Do you want to open this file? -
Once again, Sunset raises an eyebrow. She thinks about it for a second and responds.
She opens the message and a picture appears.
Sunset opens her eyes a little, raises her eyebrows, separates her lips a little while she looks at that image. A normal picture where shows those five girls she used to call friends meeting, smiling, posing together for said picture.
But what stands out in that photo is the image of herself, with an almost pink blouse and a happy look behind thick black glasses smiling with all of them.
There is silence.
Everything is motionless.
Sunset doesn’t move, she doesn’t react. The world around her stops.
Her mind is focused on that photo, that image. That little portion where she can see her own face … but isn’t hers.
Little by little her mind seems to work again, she feels part of the world again, hears the sounds around her again and feels the gentle spring wind.
Her eyes are still focused on that photo until, in a kind of reflection, her fingers write a response.
A very extensive mathematical equation. Sunset Shimmer, or Sunseen, solves it almost without a problem, gaining the approval of the teacher and the surprise of the students.
Rarity, who is among them, is surprised but smiles and starts clapping. The act is soon followed by severa students, and Sunset feels embarrased.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
The History teacher gives the reports to each of the students. Applejack sees hers as an approved note; she feels satisfied, but when turns around she sees Sunseen’s smile that she got a perfect grade. The farm girl doesn’t avoid giving an impression hiss.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
In the chemistry lab, Trixie Lulamon pours a drop on her chemical mixture but in doing so it evaporates and creates a cloud of smoke that leaves her disheveled.
Pinkie, on her part, seems to be having fun pouring as many colored jars as her hand reaches into a container. The result is a gigantic mass of pink foam that grows to cover her completely. Still the pink girl just laughs in amusement. Tough she is more amused when next to her Sunseen uses tweezers to heat a test tube over a mini flame; when the content begins to boil she pours it into a bottle mixing it with another substance, changing color, giving a small sparkling cloud and remaining stable.
Pinkie forms an ‘O’ print, the Chemistry teacher smiles and writes down the good work. Sunset just smiles.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
In literature class, Fluttershy looks away from her book for a moment to see Sunseen who is standing reading aloud from the book in her hands with the other students, and also the teacher, following her reading with their eyes.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
In gymnastics, the students do a few laps around the running track, then a couple of push-ups, and it’s up to the group of girls to play volleyball.
Rainbow is focused on the game, although she can’t help but notice Sunseen who moves around the field quite agilely. A sports band holds her glasses on.
Sunseen runs through her area and hits the ball quite hard even though she looks tired, but continues.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
Walking alone through the corridors, Sunseen sees Micro Chips carry a large pile of books in his hands. Making it impossible for him to open the classroom’s door, she rushes to open it for him which Chips thanks with a smile, although somewhat nervous.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
At lunchtime, as the hottie lines up for her and carries her tray, Sunseen notices that she gets the last muffin for dessert. When taking it she hears a worried little voice; turning to her side sees Ditzy Doo, who is sad because there are no more muffins. Sunseen just smiles and doesn’t hesitate to give her the last one, which surprises the blonde but makes her very happy. Sunseen can only laugh at the sight of her.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
While looking for a book in the library, out of the corner of her eye Sunseen sees Bon-Bon sitting at a table. She apparently has a hard time solving a problem; slowly but without embarrassment she approaches, and surprises the caramel-haired girl a bit by sitting next to her. Sunseen begins to help her even though Bon-Bon seems uncomfortable at first, however she soon smiles at her gesture.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
The last bell of the day rings, and some students head home. Not so the Rainbooms, as they go to their practice room with their newest member accompanying them.
“Damn girl,” Rainbow exclaims suddenly. “You’ve been here less than a week and you’ve already earned the whole school!”
The athlete talks to the new girl. It seems like a complaint, but her slightly teasing and friendly tone shows that it isn’t.
Sunseen, by her part, looks at Rainbow somewhat confused. “Umm, earned the school? What do you mean?”
“Ya've mastered all the classes, sugarcube.” Says our well-known farmer girl.
“And you are winning the affection of all.” Adds the fashionista.
“Affection?… I’m just trying to be nice.“ The new girl comments wanting to downplay the situation.
“More than nice you are charming.” The dressmaker confirms again.
“You’ve been helping a lot of people,” adds the animal caretaker. “That’s very kind of you.”
Sunseen looks away, embarrassed and flushed. “I just want everyone to like me. At first, it seemed like they were avoiding me, so… I want to show them that I’m not a bad person.“
That phrase surprises everyone and leaves them in silence. Lowering their heads, the Rainbooms look thoughtful.
Sunseen sees their expressions and concerns. “W-what? What happen? Did… did I say something wrong?“
The girls take a while to answer her.
“No sugarcube, it’s not ya. It’s just …“
They all observe at each other as if they share a single thought. And although it would hurt them to touch the subject again, their new friend had the right to know.
Thus began the story for what seemed like hours, but it will have been only a few minutes. Among all of them they told in a way, as briefly as possible, everything that ‘Anon-a-Miss’ caused and meant for the school. And for themselves.
They decided to omit, for the moment, the true identity of the protagonist of that story. It is better to tell it at another time.
Sunseen didn’t interrupt except to ask an occasional question, to clear her doubts. But at all time she was focused on listening to them, on learning and understand that undoubtedly important event she didn’t experienced.
Rainbow Dash finishes the explanation. “To make it shorter: after a long time, feeling bad, she came and told us we had to leave the matter behind. That holding it back would only do us more harm.”
After all the explanation, they all seem to relax as if each one is shedding a weight.
Sunseen seems thoughtful about the situation. “And her? Your friend… your ex - friend?”
Rarity answers. “She is still at her new school. She made new friends there, and well… “
“She decided to stay, I don’t blame her.” Rainbow Dash finished.
Applejack takes the word. “At least we've been able to fix things. To a large degree.”
There is silence until Pinkie decides to make her happy spirit work for her.
“Well, enough of the sad stuff! We have to cheer up! Let’s play something that encourages us!“
Rainbow perks up. “Yes, I vote for that. Are you sure you don’t want to join Suns?“
“No thanks. I like music, but not to play it.“
Without further drama, the group begins to play with the flamed-haired girl attentively enjoying their songs.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
The school is almost empty, but although classes are over the principal’s work is still active.
Celestia keeps busy in her office like she couldn’t be otherwise: checking, signing, reviewing and filling out forms. Maintaining order, or whatever is within her ability, of the school.
She hears a knock at her door. Before she could answer, it opens. It cannot be other than her younger sister and viceprincipal, who leaves some documents on the desk that the older one takes and reviews.
“Here I have ready the loan forms to the bank. If everything goes well, we will finish the payments before the end of the year. “
“Well, let’s pray that another magical being don’t show up to destroy our school.” Her voice is a bit sarcastic but at the same time quite serious. She keeps the newly received papers in her desk drawer.
There is silence between the two sisters. Celestia notices that Luna is looking at her, a shadow of curiosity in her eyes.
“Alright, anything else you want to tell me?”
“Well, I know you don’t want to touch on these topics but…” Luna pauses for a little, which leaves the older sister quite interested in whatever subject they are going to talk about. “The Friendship Games, sister.”
She says that simply, and Celestia is slightly surprised but at the moment lowers her head with some sadness.
“It is a tradition that we have maintained since you became the principal.” Something reminiscent of the younger sister. “And I’m sure Crystal Preparatory is already getting ready.”
Celestia remains silent, not looking at her sister. She just sighs.
The younger sister keeps talking. “I know. We haven’t gone through the best moments, but we had left it behind us sister. The school is fine now. “
Celestia takes a moment to catch her breath before speaking. “I know that.”
There is silence for a moment. Celestia finally looks at her younger sister. “Tell me Luna, do you think it’s okay? The Friendship Games, I… wanted to do something in order to bring the students together, to create bonds between our school and Crystal Prep. We all know how it has worked so far. “
“You can’t blame yourself for that.” Declares Luna. “Everyone knows that Crystal Prep is not a ‘friendly’ school.” She makes a quotation mark with her fingers on the last word.
Celestia stifles a sigh. “I know, but it’s just… Urgh, the Friendship Games always end up being an unpleasant competition; it completely fails in the spirit I try to give. Students are always depressed, and I don’t want to see school like this again.“
The younger sister takes the older sister’s shoulder with her hand, a way of supporting her.
“I understand you, sister. I don’t want that either.” Luna walks away from her and lets out a light sigh. “I know that you always do the best you can for this school, that’s why you are the principal. No matter what you decide, I know it will be the right thing to do.“
There is no more conversation, both sisters only look at each other in silence for a moment, until the youngest decides to withdraw leaving the older one alone with her thoughts.
Celestia sighs, turns her chair, and looks out the window. And it is then she distinguishes in the statue of the school the most unique and colorful group of her students. In every sense of the word.
The Rainbooms chat with each other animatedly, they looks happy. Even the newest member laughs as she talks to them.
Celestia’s heart falls softly at the sight of them. She feels her breath soften and her shoulders drop slightly.
The image of those girls, to her mind come the bitter memories of a very short time ago where they were perhaps the most hurt and withdrawn.
Now, they are almost as radiant as they always have been.
It felt like an eternity to look at them, but only a few minutes later they all said their goodbyes and parted ways. Even so, they still looked happy and radiant.
The principal stands up.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
Celestia decides to go down and approach the statue of the steed. A majestic creature that was always been strong, always firm, always with its forehead high.
In this powerful creature, Celestia saw her entire life reflected. Her student days, her younger sister’s bitter nightmare, the so warm reunion with her, and her students throughout her life as a teacher and principal.
The last memory of hers, a memory that made her enraged, clenching her fists until almost cutting off her circulation. She saw herself falling into depression, plunging into a dark well with nothing but tears, and alcohol.
Such a memory made Celestia feel sick, she held her stomach and for a moment thought she was going to throw up. But she looks up the statue again.
The steed, the powerful representative of the the school’s spirit.
Her cherry eyes erased that soft countenance usually attributed to her, replaced by determination – by decision. Celestia knew what to do.
“But I’m going to need help.”
~ Friendship Among Games ~
The next day.
Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Applejack were surprised to find themselves all being called to the principal’s office.
With everyone gathered, Celestia spent a minute with her fingers interlocked, her head lowered, and her eyes closed.
Apparently she ponders what she wants to say.
“I thank you for coming.” Begins to say the woman with the aurora hair. “And I apologize for calling you so rudely.”
The friends are silent for a moment, Applejack is the first to speak.
“No problem, Principal Celestia.” Says the young farm girl, although uncertainly.
An insecurity that accompanies the rest.
“Yeah, um… what did you call us for, Ma'am?” The athlete asks the question that everyone is thinking about.
Celestia allows herself a deep breath, which she lets out through her nose. “I need your help.”
That is quite surprising for the young women.
“You should know that the date of the Friendship Games is approaching. The event that unites Canterlot High School and Crystal Preparatory every four years.”
The girls’ surprise and bewilderment is slowly replaced by what looks like pity, mixed with annoyance.
Applejack is the first to speak again. “Honestly, we'd almost forgotten 'bout it.”
“I do remember!” Announce the party planner. “Because I wrote it down on the calendar of school events and parties!”
That said, she shows a calendar that has each day marked with various colored crayons or fibrons.
“Why is everything marked?” Asks the Rainbow haired girl, straying from the topic at hand for a moment. “We don’t have many events.”
“Most are free spaces for possible surprise events.” Explains the pinkiest girl in the group. “Like the Marmot’s Open Season. Or the search for the school’s old lost treasure!“
Rarity chooses to ignore the comments from the pink member of the group and turns her attention back to the principal.
“Principal Celestia, you will forgive the question. Why exactly do you need our help?“
Once again, Celestia needs to think for a few seconds before speaking. She then stands up to get a better look at her students.
“The Friendship Games are an event to promote unity and good ties between schools. But I’m aware the spirit of the school has declined a lot lately. “
“That’s not enough to say…” The athlete girl speaks with a soft, low voice complaint.
“But I want to change that,” Celestia continues. “I want the school to shine again, that these games can restore the spirit it once had.” The woman’s gaze falls into regret. “But I can’t do it myself… that’s why I need you girls.”
Again, surprise and bewilderment on the part of all the girls.
“If anyone can bring the spirit of friendship back to the school, it’s the five of you.”
The principal takes the shoulders of Rainbow and Applejack, who were closest to her.
The latter seems to be very undecided. “Principal Celestia… Ah don’t know if we can do somethin’ like that. This was our fault. “
“You bring friendship to others.” Announces the aurora haired woman. “You can make these games different.”
Neither girl seems sure of those words.
Celestia smiles like she’s pulling an ace up her sleeve. “What do you think Sunset would do?”
That surprises the Rainbooms and leaves them pensive.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
Later, the five friends met in her practice room.
“Hmm… the Friendship Games.” A comment that comes from the group’s dressmaker. “Is it wrong to say I’m not excited about that?”
“I don’t know if I want to see the games…,” says the animal lover. “I would rather play at home, locked in my closet, with my plush doll.”
The more she talks, the more our shy pink haired girl shrinks into herself.
“Ah don’t agree with the idea either.” The young farmer admits. “With everythin’ we’ve been through, gettin’ crushed by Crystal at the games is not something Ah want to bear up with.”
“Maybe this time it will be different!” Mentions the party girl of the group. “Maybe we win!”
Although she says it with good spirits, it doesn’t infect her friends. Even she deflates, not literally.
“Yeah, I know…”
Raimbow Dash was a little removed from the group, her mind deep in thought. The principal, the school, Sunset …
Her mind flies to the last encounter with the once a friend of hers.
“I’m sorry darlings, but I don’t think the school is in a position to deal with this.”
“And what are we supposed to say to Principal Celestia then?” The blonde asks a new question.
“Let’s do it.” Finally, the athlete of the group speaks, earning the eyes of others with interest. “Principal Celestia is right! We must make the school participate in the games.“
Her friends look at her with intrigue mixed with surprise.
Applejack is the one asking a question. “Rainbow … do ya really think that’s a good idea?”
“It’s like Sunset said! We have to put the past behind us and move on!“ Rainbow responds decisively. “Anon-a-Miss is gone! It’s over! Sunset got over it, so did we! And it’s time for the school to do it too!“
There is a moment of silence while the others seem to think about what Rainbow Dash said.
“But … how can we do that?” Fluttershy asks. “To tell the truth, I still feel a little sad…”
“We all feel the same way, darling.” Rarity confesses.
“Well, we won’t let that stop us,” Rainbow states still determined. “Sunset didn’t want the school to keep sadened. And without her here, it’s our duty to fix this! “
Applejack asks again once more. “And how we'll do that?”
Rainbow seems to think about it for a moment, and it’s when she hears what sounds like an orchestra that she has an idea.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
Outside, in the schoolyard, a group of students is seen. They all carry instruments such as drums – small and large – trumpets, cymbals, among others.
And in front of all of them, a girl with a bun hairstyle holding a cane that moves animatedly. Is she who guides the music produced by all.
“ALRIGHT! Let’s carry on like this, troop! This school is not going to cheer itself up!“ The young woman announces to the band as they play.
At that moment Rainbow Dash comes running and calls the girl.
“Baton Switch!”
The bun haired teen turns and smiles at the school’s star athlete.
“Hey Rainbow! Let’s rest guys!“ She announces to the others and they instantly stop their instruments.
Rainbow and Baton reunite.
“What’s up, D?”
“Baton, I need your help! You know, the Friendship Games are coming. “
“Of course I know! That’s why we rehearse, to animate the competition. “
“Thats what Im looking for! The games are coming up and the school is not ready. We need something to encourage the Wondercolt spirit! “
“Encouraging the spirit is what I do,” Baton emphasizes her phrase by twirling the staff in her hands and turning it around on her feet. “Tell me what you need, D.”
Rainbow puts a hand on her chin and thinks for a moment, something seems to come to her.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
Thus, the next day, with the students gathered in the gym, the principals announced the Friendship Games; and when the time comes, Rainbow and Baton begin their great act.
⚡We’ll always be Wondercolts forever
And now our time has finally arrived
‘Cause we believe in the magic of friendship⚡
As the music and song are sung, the members of the band throw the characteristic ears and ponytails at the students, who motivated by that spirit put them on and join in their singing.
⚡And you know, at the end of the day, it is we who survive⚡
Rainbow’s friends smile and catch it just like everyone else.
⚡At the end of the day,
It is we who survive⚡
The clapping of the students accompanies the great chorus that sounds throughout the place.
Sunseen, although somewhat removed from her classmates, observes everything with a smile.
~ Na, na, na-na-na-na ~
~ Wondercolts united together ~
Sunseen is a bit cut off from everyone else, and she doesn’t join in on singing. But she still claps her hands smiling at the music and everyone’s joy.
~ Na, na, na-na-na-na ~
~Wondercolts united together~
Celestia looks at her students, her face and her eyes shine with pure joy to see them so happy. She loves to see them, and her sister only allows herself a smile.
⚡We’ll always be Wondercolts forever
And now our time has finally arrived
‘Cause we believe in the magic of friendship⚡
Suddenly Rainbow’s body begins to glow. The ears, tail, and wings emerge from it.
~ And you know
At the end of the day,
It is we who survive
At the end of the day,
It is we who survive! ~
The song ends with Rainbow raised above the stage and a burst of applause that overshadows the Rainbooms’ surprise, which in turn is changed by amazement and joy at seeing her multi-colored haired friend and her magic.
But among so much joy and spirit there is a face that only shows amazement and confusion.
Sunseen looks at Rainbow intently, her face reflecting her disbelief.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
Baton and Rainbow congratulate each other backstage after the end of the show. And when the athlete’s friends approach, the leader of the band moves away from her to let them talk.
“Rainbow Dash! That was amazing. Even I felt that we can win.” Contrary to her shy attitude, Fluttershy is very upbeat. Even her voice is louder than usual.
The others seem to share that same emotion.
“I feel like my pride in the school is stronger than ever!” Rarity exclaims, trying hard to not yell too much.
Only Applejack remains calm and doubting about a certain fact that happened. “Anyone else wonderin’ how Dash transformed? I thought we didn’t have magic anymore since Sunset left.“
“Well, it looks like we’ve got it back. Maybe it’s because I’m awesome!” Rainbow is proud of herself.
“WHAT WAS THAT?!”
A familiar voice exclaims and they all turn to see her new friend. Sunseen’s eyes are wide open behind her glasses and her entire body is stiff as she approaches and almost corners Rainbow.
“What was that?! You started to shine! And then your ears… and those wings!“ The new girl practically sticks her face to Rainbow’s and demands an answer. “What did you do?! How did you do it?! TELL ME!”
“Wow, Wow, calm down Suns.” Rainbow responds disturbed by such attitude.
Applejack takes the new one in the group by her shoulders and gently pulls her away from her.
“Calm down, sugarcube. Everything is fine.”
“Fine?! Why aren’t you guys surprised?! … don’t tell me. YOU ALREADY KNEW IT?!“
“Of course we knew! We were transforming like that aaaaaall the time.” Pinkie answers, notoriously unaware of the situation.
“You WHAT?!”
Everyone’s surprise increases when Vice Principal Luna approaches them. “It’s not my place to get involved, but I can’t help but notice there are things that our new student hasn’t been told yet.”
Sunseen is incredulous. “Does the vice principal know about it too?! What kind of school is this?!“
“Calm down darling,” Rarity gently requests. “We didn’t want to tell you yet, so as you didn’t get scared.”
“Tell me what?! What are you hiding?!“
Luna, seeing the situation, decides to withdraw. “I will leave you to update her. However, I want to ask something before: be careful with the subject of magic. Principal Cinch can be very extreme, and if she sees you transforming… well, she could bring trouble to the school. And for you five.“
The vice principal gives a warning look, mixed with concern at everyone; and then she retires.
Sunseen takes a few seconds before speaking again. “Okay, I want to know what’s going on and I want to know now!”
~ Friendship Among Games ~
The explanation was more complicated than they expected. Summarizing the whole story from Sunset to Princess Twilight, going through the Sirens and trying to explain something that they themselves didn’t know, ended up robbing them almost all day.
And Sunseen was no better than when they started.
“Urgh. Portals and worlds… and ponies… you must be kidding!” The girl with glasses exclaims with some frustration. “Is there a hidden camera in this place?”
She looks around the practice room in hopes of finding something similar to a camera.
Applejack speaks softly. “Ah know it sounds crazy, but it’s true.”
“To be fair, we’re not sure about all of this either.” Rarity confesses.
“And are you supposed to have magical powers from another planet that have all of you become into magical ponies?” Sunseen asks, she seems frustrated but at the same time intrigued.
“Exactly! Well, we used to…” Rainbow confesses looking away.
Pinkie gets a little depressed. “Ever since Sunsie left, we thought we had run out of magic.”
Sunseen takes a moment to order her head. And she asks something.
“Since who left?”
The five friends look at each other with doubt. In the end they all seem to speak with their glances, and to agree.
Then Rainbow decides to go ahead and explain it. “Do you remember that friend we told you about, who went to another school?”
Sunseen doesn’t answers and Rainbow just walks over to show her something on her phone.
Her turquoise eyes show amazement, the dim light from the phone slightly reflecting off on the glasses. There are no words, the only sound she hears comes from the phone itself, which shows a musical video.
The flamed haired girl can’t take her eyes off the device’s small screen, from the image of a fiery hair and a very similar face.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
“Alright, last record of the day.” The former equine says at the same time she writes down in a notebook. Her best friend is sitting in front of one of the computers inside that little research room of hers.
“Very well. Flows remain stable. There seems to be no change. “
“That is good.” Sunset comments as she records the results. Her voice and her expressions are calm.
“Yeah, I guess …” Unlike her friend, Twilight looks a bit disappointed. “… But, I think we’ve gathered all the magical data that we could gather here on Crystal. And yet we aren’t close to deciphering it.”
“One step at a time Twily, you won’t expect that in just a few days we can discover everything about a force that in principle shouldn’t exist here. Not even the great researchers of Equestria have been able to decipher all the secrets of magic.“
Twilight throws her chair back and sighs softly. “I know, I know. It’s just… ” She takes the pendant from her and watches the little device flicker softly. “We have all the necessary tools. But it seems that we don’t have a stable data source. The magic we have… is scarce.“
Sunset looks at her friend for a moment. She seems to want to speak, but doesn’t know what to say, so she follows the record.
“A greater source of magic … wait!” By reflex, Twilight gets up from the chair and looks at her friend with a smile. “Canterlot! That’s it! The portal to Equestria is there! And the school has hosted magical events! That place-“
“No!”
Sunset suddenly interrupts Twilight. There is seriousness in her voice as she leaves her records and gets up to approach Twilight.
“We cannot research the magic in Canterlot. It’s very dangerous.”
Twilight is surprised by the change in her attitude. “B-but… but it’s our best chance! Canterlot is without doubt a superior source of magic. We can discover things-“
“No!” Sunset interrupts her again. “Canterlot’s magic is dangerous. Not only had magical girls, it has been in contact with evil magic. We already have doubts about our own magic, trying to do something in Canterlot would be too dangerous.“
“B-but …”
“Twilight,” Sunset puts her hands on her friend’s shoulders and looks at her seriously but gently. “Magic in this world is unstable; if we aren’t careful, the consequences could be dire. We are not ready to take such a big step.“
The girl with glasses bows her head sadly. Sunset takes her hands, placing the device between violet’s palms.
“Twi, do you trust me?”
Twilight takes a few seconds, but she speaks honestly. “Yes … I trust you more than anyone, Sunset.”
“Then look at me.”
The violet-eyed girl looks up, meeting the emeralds in Sunset’s eyes. Who smiles at her.
“We'll discover the magic, together.”
Twilight takes a second, but smiles. Sunset removes the smile from her and speaks seriously.
“But now, I want you to promise me that you will leave Canterlot out of this study.”
They look at each other, Sunset remains serious and Twilight somewhat dejected.
“… Okay, I promise.” Finally Twilight says with her eyes closed and her head bowed.
“Good girl.” Sunset smiles upon hearing her and kisses Twilight on the nose, which makes her laugh.
“Well, I have to go with the principal to properly assemble the team. I’ll you in the parking lot.“
This time Sunset kisses the teen’s cheek and winks at her as she leaves.
“Be a good kitty.”
“Don’t call me kitty!” Twilight complains but Sunset is already gone. The scientist snorts in annoyance, although is short-lived and she smiles softly.
Similarly, her smile dies when she looks back at her pendant, the spectrometer on her neck it’s still flashing.
The day on the calendar shows a key date, marked with a one-sentence note:
‘Friendship Games'
Meanwhile, in Canterlot, students gather at the gym to listen their principal.
“Good morning students, the day has come. Today, we will host Crystal Preparatory to celebrate the Friendship Games.”
There is quite a bit of enthusiasm in the applause from the students.
“This year our team has been elected by all, through voting, thus choosing the students who best represent the spirit of friendship in the school.”
Principal Celestia raises an arm in introduction, and immediately several students take the stage to be greeted by cheers and applause.
They are Sandal Woods and Microchips, followed by Ditzy who greets everyone. Vinyl makes into the stage with her head to the beat of hee headphones, Baton Switch turns hee cane and Flash comes up waving something embarrassed. And there is no shortage of Sunseen, followed by the Rainbooms.
Before everyone’s encouragement, Sunseen salutes nervously.
“Heh heh … I can’t believe I was chosen for this.”
“You silly! Of course yes!” The pink party girl exclaims. “The school loves you!”
“She’s right sugarcube, ya’ve made yourself loved pretty fast at school.” Applejack adds with the honesty that characterizes her.
Sunseen looks down slightly. “I have a feeling it’s only because of my face…”
Her friends look at her somewhat worried and support her.
“No long faces, ladies.” The girl with the team’s bows speaks when she sees the face of the new girl. “We need to show good spirit to win today.”
Sunseen tries to forget her thoughts and smiles again, although she still feels nervous.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
Taking her backpack, Crystal’s young scientist packs a few things for the trip. After a minute of preparation she sees her pendant sitting on the table. She gets up, and touches it gently.
“I promised Sunset I wouldn’t search for magic in Canterlot.” She talks, looking at the device. She touches it with her palm and the object shows a small pink light moving along the edge.
Twilight remains silent for a few seconds until she speaks again.
“But… even if I don’t investigate the magic, it doesn’t mean I can’t gather some data.”
Smiling to herself, she puts the pendant on and hides it under her clothes.
“I'll only gather some data to compare later, I won’t touch anything from the school. What could go wrong?“
Happy with her thought, Twilight grabs her backpack and walks out the door.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
In the preparatory’s parking lot there are two buses ready to take students. Young people line up to get into the vehicles.
Sunset is about to go upstairs, but her eyes catch a too singular sight.
“Helloooooo Sunsiiiiiiiite!”
Says our former equine’s blue friend. Sunset returns the salute by raising a hand, but she is unable to speak due the surprise to see Sonata and her sisters dressed as cheerleaders.
“Not a single word, Shimmer.” The violet siren threatens.
Sunset doesn’t speak, she’s too focused on the uniforms. She recognizes them. The same uniforms that her friends wear for the soccer competition. The only difference was the pompoms, one being yellow and the other purple.
“Sonata.”
“Yes?”
“What?!” It’s the only thing Sunset can say because there’s no way to express her bewilderment.
“Well, you said I could help by cheering for the team at the games! And I brought Arie and Dagie to help us!“
Sunset seems to process the information.
“What?!”
There aren’t more setbacks and within minutes the Preparatory buses leaves filled with students heading to Canterlot High School.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
At Canterlot High.
The Rainbooms take advantage of their free time to play something. Sunseen is with them, but she just sits off to the side enjoying the little show.
When she finishes playing, Rainbow exclaims animatedly. “I hope there will be a music competition at the Friendship Games, because we would certainly blow it away!”
Applejack looks at her a little serious. “Ah doubt that’s the case. Maybe we should try to prepare for the events we do know about.“
Rarity smiles confidently. “Well, then you’ll be glad to know that I anticipated it already.”
Her voice seems semi sing-song as she smiles. This of course arouses everyone’s curiosity.
“Rarity, what did you do?” Question the farm girl.
In some incomprehensible way, Rarity starts putting up racks full of sports clothes… too much clothes. Her friends are almost buried in so much fabric.
“I had some free time, and since we don’t know what events will be at the Friendship Games, I made some uniform choices!”
Not caring about education, Rarity dresses Rainbow in a apparently soccer uniform.
“You… you shouldn’t have done this …” The athlete with the multi-colored hair speaks in a low voice.
“I know.”
Applejack picks up a couple of hangers and sees the uniforms hanging from them. “No, you really shouldn’t have done this.”
“I know!”
Rarity doesn’t notice, or ignores, the dissatisfaction of her friends and she just smiles delighted by her good work.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
It’s only left few minutes until Crystal’s arrival at Canterlot.
All the students and Principal Cinch get out of the vehicles. Principal Celestia greets Crystal’s principal warmly; the visiting one seems uninterested, but she acts politely.
Contrary to her, when Luna and Cadence meet they are greeted by sharing a hug.
“Cadence, always a pleasure to see you.”
“The same for me Luna. How have you been?”
“Oh, you know: signing forms, helping unruly students, fighting demons from another world. The usual.”
Cadence lets out a little laugh that hides behind her hand. “Always with your witticisms.”
Luna also laughs, but with a certain sarcasm. “Ha ha yeah… Well, how are things going at Crystal?”
“Honestly, WONDERFUL!” The dean exclaims with great joy in her voice, and even she clasps her hands in charm.
This is very surprising to the vice principal, who dubiously asks. “Really?”
Oblivious to the two adult female duos, the young students are getting off the buses.
When Sunset comes down she stares at the school carefully. Twilight, who comes down behind her, sees her a little worried.
“Sunset?”
Sunset is silent for a few seconds before speaking. “Funny, isn’t it? I mean, in an ironic sense. I always end up going back to the place I left behind.”
She smiles, but shows that it is a somewhat hurt smile.
Twilight worries and wants to talk, but before she can do it hears an exclamation.
“GO Shadowbolts! YAY!”
The blue siren waves her pom poms as she jumps in glee, her joy catching the attention of everyone around her.
“Could you stop doing that?!” Aria asks in a scolding tone. “It’s already humiliating to come here dressed like this.”
Adagio downplays her sisters, and instead looks toward the school.
“Who would have thought we would return to this place.”
“It still stinks like good boy. Makes me sick.” The medium siren complains.
“It’s not that bad. And there will be games, I’m sure it will be fun.“ Sonata speaks with the desire to improve the atmosphere.
Sunset doesn’t avoid looking at the sirens; and when they exchange glances the Dazzlings seem to share some kind of thought, as Adagio smiles.
“It seems like you look almost as out of place as we do.”
“Meh, you guys are always out of place.” The ex – equine answers with a certain mocking tone.
“Excuse me? Would you like to repeat that, pony girl? “
“Don’t be bitter, little mermaid.”
Without warning Adagio wraps her arm around Sunset’s neck and applies a wrestling lock to her, which instead of causing her pain makes the fire-haired girl laugh.
“You will stop teasing after I’m done with you.”
“Hey!” Aria affirms. “I also want to strangle her.”
“Yes! Fight!” Yells the younger sister.
Thus, the three sisters begin to torture their staunch enemy. Of course, such a scene attracts more attention.
“Our leader is in danger.” Indigo Zap exclaims. “This is Sparta!”
Lemon follows her. “Protect the queen!”
Scream both girls going to the rescue of the captive.
Sunny follows them. “Stop doing that! It’s all fun until someone gets hurt!“ She tries to stop them, but the bloody battle continues between laughter.
Twilight, by her part, can’t help but laugh at such a scene. But stops when she feels a vibration in her chest. Cautiously, she takes out the spectrometer and sees how the device reacts itself.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
Guided by the device, Twilight enters the school and walks down the hall. She is a bit surprised by how several – or all the students – greet her animatedly, as if they knew her.
So focused on her path, and confused by the greetings, she ends up colliding with someone as both of them falling to the ground.
“Twilight? I didn’t expect to see you.“
A young talks to her man and helps Twilight to stand up, but without her glasses she can’t tell who she is.
He sees the glasses on the ground and takes them. “Oh! You are that Twilight, I mean… the Twilight… I mean, you are… Twilight.“
At the comments, our scientist doesn’t avoid laughing. “I don’t need my glasses to recognize that eloquence.”
The young man carefully places the glasses on the girl, she finally sees him and greets him.
“Hi Flash. I’m glad to see you.”
“Glad to see you too, Twilight. I suppose you're coming to the Friendship Games.“
“That’s how it seems.” She responds, but at that point the device redials a signal. “Ah, excuse me Flash. Can we talk later, yes?”
With that, the young woman follows that signal again, leaving the somewhat confused boy behind.
“Ah, alright yeah .. Hey, is Sunset here too-“
Flash doesn’t finish his question because she was already a little away. He just sighs and takes care of his affairs.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
Meanwhile, in their practice room, the Rainbooms continue to wear outfits and uniforms imposed by the group’s dressmaker. Who is measuring and testing all kinds of suits.
The blonde farmer looks worriedly at her friend. “Rarity, the outfits are great, but why did ya put so much effort into clothes that we might not wear? Ya'll be exhausted before the competition.“
Rarity snorts mockingly. “Ah pf kh ts! Don’t be silly, darling! Making clothes is what I live for, and spending time with my friends FILLS ME WITH ENERGY!“
The fashionista exclaims with a big smile, and her whole body glows. In seconds her hair lengthens into a tail, and her ears are swapped for pony ears.
The others are surprised and amazed when they see her friend shine and float in front of her eyes.
All except Sunseen.
“And magic …”
What no one can see is how Rarity’s magic begins to flow, passing through the closed door to the outside. There is Twilight, and she is surprised when her device opens by itself, then that strange flash is absorbed by the spectrometer.
Meanwhile, inside the room, Rarity begins to lose strength, stops glowing and descends to the ground.
“Actually Applejack… now that you mention it… I think I could use a break…”
Before she could finish speaking, the dressmaker had already lost the strength of her legs and had fallen to the floor. Luckily, Applejack was there to catch her.
“Ah told ya.” She gently scolds Rarity, but holds her up and lets the fashionista lean on her.
Outside, Twilight looks at the spectrometer seeming to try to understand what she just saw.
“Twilight? What are you doing?”
A voice frightens the scientist and she rushes to hide the spectrometer under her clothes. Turning around, she sees Sunset looking at her curiously.
“H-Hey Sunset, um, what are you doing around here?” She asks nervously but trying to divert the scene.
“Well, I actually come to see certain people.”
Saying that, and to the confusion of her friend with glasses, Sunset advances to the door; after a deep breath, she opens it.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
There is a somewhat tense moment, seconds in which everything stops when the former student’s gaze meets those of her former friends.
Sunset gives a smile, albeit a small one, and raises her hand to say hello. “Hi girls.”
“Sunset!”
“Sunsie!”
The Rainbooms cheer up but approach cautiously, except for Pinkie Pie who doesn’t take long to wrap the former student in a hug.
Sunset rolls her eyes but smiles, counts to three on her head and pushes the pink girl away. “Okay, enough.”
“What are you doing here?” Rainbow asks. “I mean, sure you came for the games, but – I mean – you come here to… where we… are.”
It can see the nervousness of the girl as she talks, Sunset crosses her arms and while she maintains a smile the equestrian seems to think about how to answer.
“I wanted to see that you guys were getting through things.” She finally responds. “Take a weight off my shoulders. And from what I can tell, the school looks much better. “
The five friends smile, some more animated than others. But there is someone else in her group who, far from smiling, is paralyzed.
It didn’t take long for Sunset to make out a reflection of herself, standing next to the rest.
Two turquoise and two emeralds intersect, and before they can fully absorb the moment, they both see their reflection face to face.
Sunset keeps a serene but interested face, while Sunseen only keeps her eyes and mouth slightly open; she’s too shocked to speak.
After what seems an eternal silence, our Sunset takes the first step.
“Hello.”
“WAH!” The red-haired girl with glasses screams and her body jerks, but she stands tall and forces herself to respond.
“… Hello…” is the only thing she can say.
Sunset can’t help but smile nervously, yet also forces herself to keep talking. “You must be Sunset Shimmer. A pleasure.”
Sunseen still hasn’t come out of her astonishment. “… I am… Sunset, you are… me… I am… Sunset… oh God…”
The girl seems about to faint, so the visitor Sunset takes her by the shoulders and speaks to Sunseen in a calm voice.
“Hey, hey, relax. Make some little breathings.“
The resident with the flaming hair listens and takes a couple of deep breaths.
“Easy, I know this is weird.” Says our Sunset.
“Weird… you… this is more than weird!” She excaims at the other. “IT’S CRAZY!”
Sunseen exclaims clutching her head and has to take a deep breath to try to calm herself.
“Okay, you’re here. You are real! … Are you real?“
Without any interest in education, the one with glasses takes the face of her twin in her hands, beginning to touch and move her. It lasts a moment until she lets go.
“Yes, you look real. So… pony world?“
“Pony world.”
“Magical portal?”
“Magical portal.”
“… And magical pony princess? Sirens? Raging She-Demon?“
“Yes, yes, and yes… although that last one could have been omitted.” Sunset says in a reproachful gesture to the Rainbooms, who smile nervously and some cringe in grief.
Sunset just shakes her head but smiles. “Anyway, you will have some questions.” She tells to her double.
“I have TOO MANY questions.”
“I know. Perhaps it would be better to speak in private.“ Our exequine suggest before moving on to the Canterlot quintet. “Rainbooms, can I borrow your friend a few minutes?”
The five friends look at each other for a moment, but they all answer affirmatively.
Sunset takes her counterpart’s hand and urges her to follow her. Sunseen is surprised by both.
“Let’s go. Let’s talk elsewhere.“ Says our girl. She begins to walk and the other follows her almost by reflex.
Before leaving, Crystal’s Sunset talks to her friend. “I’ll be back in a minute Twily, don’t miss me. And don’t be jealous, okay?“
Says the latter almost jokingly and almost seriously. Twilight only responds with a mixture of a smile and an annoyed look.
The two ‘twins’ leave the room. And suddenly, there is an awkward silence.
The Rainbooms and Crystal’s scientist look at each other for a moment. There is some tension.
Finally Rainbow clears her throat to try to speak. “So… Twilight! How is life at Crystal Prep?“
The Rainbooms look curiously at Twilight, and smile softly. The scientist, on her side, looks at them doubtfully for a moment, and then frowns.
Twilight looks away and speaks curtly. “It’s better I should go too.”
To everyone’s surprise, Twilight heads for the door without saying anything else. It is Pinkie, who to the surprise of the scientist, stands between her and the door to speak her in good spirits.
“Wait! We haven’t introduced ourselves yet! I’m Pinkie Pie! And I like parties! You like parties? What is your favorite cake flavor?“
The enthusiasm of the pink girl doesn’t infect the one with glasses. Instead, Twilight sees Pinkie Pie with a contemptuous demeanor.
“Can you move please?”
Pinkie clears her smile and instead looks at Crystal’s girl in intrigue. The others come a little closer.
“Okay… I feel a bit of tension here.” Rainbow says.
The comment makes Twilight turn her head to see them, still derogatory.
“Any problem, sugarcube?” AJ asks.
The scientist only keeps her gaze on them for a moment, before closing her eyes and turning her head forward.
“No, no problem at all!” Twilight answers in a somewhat high tone and prepares to leave. “Please get away.”
She asks the party girl again, and this time Pinkie does leave a clear path for Twilight to open the door. The young scientist manages to step outside, before being stopped once more.
“Wait Twilight!” Says Rainbow. “Okay, you’re upset, we can see it. But could you tell us why?”
Twilight’s hand squeezes the door handle, her gaze is hidden by the glare from her glasses and her head remains lowered.
“Why? Do you have the nerve to ask me that?“ Twilight spins just enough to face everyone, her gaze showing only anger and contempt. “Sunset has told me everything. Everything you five did, the way you abandoned her.“
Those memories provoke lamentation around the Rainbooms.
“You guys aren’t not good people. Sunset maybe let it go, but I didn’t! You hurt Sunset, and also attacked Sonata.”
The latter resents the most on Rainbow Dash, who bites her lip and ducks her head.
“I don’t want anything with you. I’m leaving.”
That said, Twilight doesn’t let two seconds pass before closing the door with some force, disappearing from everyone’s sight.
The Rainbooms lose the emotion they had, they get depressed.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
Twilight, after closing the door, quickly walks away from it even though she feels the wind passing over her.
“Ugh, this school is too windy.”
Ignoring the wind she goes on her way
~ Friendship Among Games ~
Meanwhile, the flamed haired ‘twins’ are together in one of the corridors where few students pass. There, they can speak more calmly.
Sunset remains upbeat, smiling to keep the mood.
Sunseen, on her side, is still somewhat insecure but very interested. “Ugh, I have trouble processing all of this.”
“This was also strange to me the first time I arrived.” Sunset answers.
That comment gains some interest from Sunseen. “How have you lived in this world? I mean, if you come from another… “
Sunset removes the smile from her and shows a thoughtful gesture. “I’m not proud of my beginnings here. It wasn’t easy, I had to… resort to extreme measures to survive.“
Sunseen is very interested, but the expression on her twin makes her see that it is better to ask something else.
“And now? Where do you live? How do you live? What do you eat? How do you get into the school?”
Sunset can’t help but laugh lightly. “Ha ha, let’s go slowly. I currently rent an apartment, not far from here,” she begins to explain. “It’s not very big, but it’s okay for me. I have an online job and recently also started working part time at a sushi restaurant.“ She continues under the gaze of her doppelganger. “It doesn’t make a lot of money, but it works for my accounts.”
Then she thinks for a moment. “About what I eat, well, if you remember I was originally a pony you’ll understand that I don’t eat meat, I’m a vegetarian. I’ve had sushi lately though, and it’s not bad.“ After this, her expression fell slightly. “From school… that’s more complicated, but basically I tricked the principal of this place into signing me up. Like I said, I’m not proud of some of the things I’ve done.“
The spectacled Sunset pays close attention, her arms slightly crossed under her chest. She seems to be analyzing what she hears.
Her expression falls slightly, and she looks down.
“You … I mean, wow … you really surprise me.”
Our dimensional Sunset looks curiously at her twin.
“To think that you could have achieved all that. I… I don’t know what I would do if one day I found myself on another planet. I’d probably be terrified.“
Sunset thinks about this. “Hmm, don’t get confused; of course I was afraid. When I walked through the portal, the first thing I saw was this school, and I realized that I was in a strange place.“
“This school?” Sunseen asks. “Wait, the portal brought you here? To Canterlot?“
“Well, yes.” Answers Sunset, a little unsure. “Somehow, the portal is connected to the statue in front of the school. Don’t ask me how, it’s something I haven’t been able to figure out.“
Canterlot’s Sunset is extremely interested. However, the conversation is interrupted by a uniformed group of Crystal.
“Sunset! There you are!” Indigo Zap’s voice is heard. “We were – WOAH!” The goggle girl interrupts her own sentence surprised to see both Sunsets.
And she is not the only one. The rest of the group also appears, except for the scientist.
“Hey girls, do you know Sunset Shimmer yet?” Crystal’s Sunset speaks in a slightly teasing tone. “Sunset, these are my friends: Sunny, Lemon, Indigo and-“
“THERE ARE TWO SUNSETS!” The blue haired siren exclaims and rushes to confront the Sunset Shimmer she doesn’t know.
“… and Sonata.” Sunset ends up a bit surprised, but amused.
Sunseen becomes extremely nervous when the siren girl stares at her, her face too close to hers.
“You are just like Sunsite! But with glasses! Uuuuuh, it’s like with the princess and TwiTwi. Does everyone here wear glasses like that?! Kyaaaah! Will I have a twin with glasses? What will she look like? Can I borrow yours?!“
Without waiting for an answer, and to the surprise with some annoyance of the girl from Canterlot, Sonata snatches her glasses.
“Hey!” Sunseen complains
Sonata puts on the glasses. “How do I look? Do I look smart? Woah, I can’t see anything.“ Sonata begins to wave her hands in front of her and when she touches the Sunset that she knows, hits her face. “Sunsite, is that you?”
“Give me my glasses!” The other red-haired girl demands the siren.
Crystal’s Sunset hides a laugh and takes the glasses from her doppelganger. Sonata smiles when she can see well again, and Sunset only returns the glasses to her owner, who puts them on.
“Sorry,” Sunset says still somewhat amused. “Sonata is usually impulsive.”
“She looks like a blue, less fluffy version of Pinkie Pie.” Sunseen responds with some irony.
Our red-haired girl can’t resist a laugh at such a comparison. “You’re right there.”
Indigo returns to speak again. “Okay, okay, time out. Should we ask what the hell is going on here?“ The young athlete questions with some demand.
“Sunshim! You have a twin.“ Says the rock girl. “I know! It’s like Twily and the Twiliencess.“
Sunny looks confused. “Twilen-what?”
“Twliencess,” Lemon repeats “’Twi’, ‘alien’, ‘princess’. ‘Twiliencess’ “. She explains part by part.
“Ugh, I shouldn’t have asked.” Sunny speaks holding her forehead.
Laughing slightly and choosing to ignore the topic, Sunset picks up on what’s important. “Okay, yes. They know I come from Equestria, and this here is my self from this world.“
Everyone’s gaze falls on the fire-haired girl with glasses, much to her discomfort. “Um. Uhh… hi, is a… pleasure?”
Indigo and Lemon come closer and begin to ‘examine’ this ‘new’ Sunset with their eyes. The discomfort of Sunseen increases.
“Well yeah, she looks like you Suns.” Indigo says.
Lemon seems to think. “Hmm, but she looks weird. She shakes a lot as if she is going to fall. Is she sick?“
Sunny Flare tries to separate the companions a bit from her “You two, stop that. You are scaring her.“ Then she smiles kindly at the new girl. “Sorry darling. Like Sunset said, my name is Sunny Flare. No problem.”
Sunseen still looks uncomfortable. “Um, me too.”
Lemon whispers, but loud enough to be heard. “Look at her, do you see why I say she looks weird?”
“Lemon!” Our ex – equine scolds the rocker.
Indigo decides to skip the topic. “Well outside of that, it’s great to see our otherworldly star double. I’m Zap! Indigo Zap, Crystal Prep’s best athlete. You do sports? Our Sunset is like a star athlete!”
“… she is?”
“I only played once. It wasn’t a big deal,” says Sunset trying to downplay it.
“I’m Lemon Zest! And I like to rock!“ Says our green haired girl. “You may have seen our band on the internet.”
“Um… I don’t think so?” The girl with glasses hesitates.
“Well, it’s your fault. Look for ‘Sunset Among Shadows’ and get ready to enjoy!“
“Sunset Among- what?”
Sunset has to laugh again. “Yeah well, we have a band and a HoofTube account.”
“A band?” The Canterlot girl is still intrigued.
“It’s not a big deal.” Once again, Sunset tries to downplay it.
“Maybe not yet. But one day we'll be the best band on the entire planet!” Our rock girl exclaims.
“Yay!” Our siren utters.
“And if we’re lucky, maybe we can go to that pony world. That way we’ll be the best band on TWO planets!“ The rock girl says again.
“Double YAY!” Our siren says again. The Canterlot girl walks up to her counterpart and whispers to her subtly.
“I don’t want to offend or anything, but … why are you hanging around with these crazy people?!” She exclaims but still in a whisper.
Once again, Sunset can only laugh. “They are very nice once you get to know them.”
Sunny decides to speak. “Well, it was nice meeting you but…” she heads to the Sunset that she knows. “Sunset honey, we have to go.”
“Oh, it’s true!” Says Indigo. “Sunset! We have to go sign up for the competition! The dean will be upset if we are late!“
Sunset thinks about this for a second. “Uh, okay. Sunset, it was good to finally meet you.” She talks to her double.
Sunseen doesn’t respond with words, but she smiles softly and nods her head.
There is a little goodbye between all of them and the girls from Crystal leave. Indigo almost pushes Sunset to hurry up.
Sunseen watches them go and her mind fills with thoughts that engulf her counterpart. Her attitude, her way of being, that calm character. The little but impressive that he learned from her.
Sunseen’s gaze drops.
She thinks about what her dimensional self said, about how Sunset managed to survive and succeed in a world that is strange to her.
For a moment Sunseen tried to imagine herself in that situation, but she had to push those thoughts away because they gave her chills.
Finally, she thinks for a moment about the comments of her doppelgangers’ friends.
“She … is different from me.”
Lost in her thoughts, she begins to walk.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
Sunseen went out to the school entrance to relax a bit.
Meanwhile, just a few meters away, Twilight feels the spectrometer react again. Watches Sunset who is busy with Cinch and some of the team, and she follows the signal.
Sunseen walks up to the statue, Twilight too. The scientist looks at the signal for a moment, only to panic when the artifact reactivates.
“Is there really a magical portal here?” Sunseen doesn’t question anyone while she looks at the base.
Curious, she places her hand on the base, more terrified to see that her palm is enveloped by what looks like flames. And although she tries to remove her hand from the base, it doesn’t yield.
“Let-me-go!” Sunseen demands as if what has trapped her can understand.
Twilight, instead, sees how the spectrometer absorbs that flash of light inside it, just like moments before. With effort, the scientist manages to close the device, and thus frees both of them who end up falling to the ground.
Sunseen gets up staying sitting and looks at her hand in terror, she is relieved to see she didn’t suffer any damage. Still looking ahead, she can barely see Twilight recovering from the fall as well.
“You! What are you doing?”
Twilight is discovered and rushes to get up and hide the spectrometer from her. The moment is interrupted by the voice of Crystal’s Dean.
“Twilight, you must register together with the others.”
Looking past her, Twilight notices Sunset looking at her in bewilderment. The scientist rushes to go to her school and hide.
Sunseen, on her part, takes a few steps back. Sees her hand, sees the base, sees Crystal’s students, and with a scared expression she runs towards Canterlot High.
The Canterlot gym, for a change, is groomed and decorated. This time, the purpose is to welcome the students from Crystal Preparatory.
The two schools come together, and while some of the Canterlot students are willing to be friendly and hospitable, Crystal’s have little interest. There is a lot of tension between the two institutes.
The Rainbooms and their new friend head to the gym. But far from being happy, they are focused and somewhat concerned about the issue at hand.
“Can you repeat what happened to us again?” Rainbow asks her new friend.
“I put my hand on the statue, where the portal you’re talking about is supposed to be,” Sunseen explains. “But instead of a portal, there were some strange flames that stuck my hand to the wall!” She exclaims showing some fear when remembering it. “For a moment I thought it would rip my skin off or something.”
Applejack thinks for a moment. “Well, the portal should be closed by Princess Twilight.”
As they continue to discuss the matter, they all walk into the gym.
“I don’t know anything about ‘Princess' Twilight,“says the spectacled girl from Canterlot. “But I think THAT Twilight has something to do with it.”
Sunseen emphasizes the phrase as she looks away at the scientist Twilight trying to check her pendant without others noticing.
“I’m going to find out what happens.”
Decidedly, Sunseen walks over to the scientist and watches her.
“Twilight, what are you doing?!” She demands to know, and Twilight recoils at the tone of her voice. More before she can speak or act, Lightning Dust appears and confronts the fire-haired girl.
“Who wants to know?!”
Now it is Sunseen who backs down intimidated but Rainbow Dash returns the attack.
“We are!”
Applejack steps between the two athletes and tries to calm them down. “There, there. Ya don’t have to get competitive before the games.“
Sugarcoat walks up to them. “The games are not competitive because we have never lost.”
Surprisingly, Fluttershy speaks. “Saying that is not very kind.”
“~ Ow, guess what sweetheart ~,” Sour Sweet says in a sweet voice. “These games aren’t kind.” She ends the sentence alternating with her aggressive voice.
Rarity decides to reply, “This is no excuse for not showing politeness.”
Feeling intimidated by the tension between both groups, the two girls with glasses back off and Sunseen runs into Pinkie.
“Did you discover something, Sunseenie?”
“Um, not really, but I can tell she keeps looking at that thing on her neck. I hope I’m wrong, I think that is a spectrometer.”
“Uuuuuh specters! Does it look after ghosts?“
Sunseen is somewhat intrigued by such a question. “Um, no. A spectrometer detects electromagnetic energy signals that-” She interrupts herself when notices that the pink teen’s smile means she isn’t understanding here. “Measure, some things. But no ghosts.“
“Then maybe it measures the party!”
“Yeah, why not? Not that there is much to see at this party.“ The Sunset Shimmer of Canterlot comments seeing how the surrounding environment, in addition to being tense, is calm. Bored.
Pinkie also notices and begins to think. “You’re right, something is missing. Ah! I got it!”
The pink girl comes up with an idea, and before Sunseen can even scream she had already been pulled by the party girl out of the place.
For her part, our Sunset notices the agitation among the groups and approaches.
“What’s going on here?”
“Your little Crystal friends happen!” Rainbow replies still annoyed. “They’re being assholes.”
“Excuse me! Bacon Hair was the one who started.” Strikes back Lightning Dust.
“You started it!”
“You two, enough!” The equestrian girl orders extending her arms to separate them from each other. “There won’t be more fights between you. If you have problems, solve them in the games.“
Rainbow Dash crosses her arms but stops arguing. Lightning, by her part, gets angry.
“You don’t give me orders, Shimmer.”
“Actually, she can.” The googles athlete comments approaching with some seriousness, behind her come Sunny Flare and Lemon Zest. “Sunset is the captain of the team, you have to do what she says.”
Lightning crosses his arms and turns his gaze from her. “She’s only captain for the games, she won’t tell me what I can’t do.”
“Come on Light, don’t be grumpy.”
There is silence as the blonde athlete and the indigo haired girl look at each other for a moment.
“When did you go soft, Zap?”
There is no answer, just curious looks. Finally the blonde athlete retires, and both Sugar and Sour decide to do the same and each go to their own way.
Rainbow lets out a snort before looking at her former friend. “Damn Sunset, how can you put up with people like her?”
Sunset is a little nervous, unsure. “Lightning isn’t that … bad.”
“Meh, you have to know when to stop her. That’s all.” Indigo says with a shrug to downplay the matter.
Sunset turns to her acquaintances in Canterlot. “Sorry about that, girls.”
“It’s not your fault, sugarcube.” Applejack assures her.
Rarity seconds her. “Yes, Crystal students always act uneducated.”
“Not all of them.” Sunny slightly defends crossing her gaze with the Canterlot’s fashionista.
The two groups separate without further incident. Sunset stays with her friends.
“Hey Indigo, thanks. I didn’t want to get into a fight with Lightning Dust.”
In response, Indigo gives her a playful pat on the shoulder that Sunset must rub herself. “Don’t thank me, Suns.”
“Ouch.”
“The truth… I thought about what you said earlier,” mentions the athlete with glasses. “We’re better than Canterlot, but that doesn’t mean we’re bad winners, does it?”
Sunset is shocked for a moment, but then rolls her eyes with a smile. “Yes, of course. I’m glad you understood.“
Indigo wraps her arm around Sunset’s neck and smiles broadly.
The Canterlot principal takes the stage and officially welcomes the rival school. She likewise introduces herself to the team members.
And as this happens, Pinkie and Sunseen each return pushing a huge box decorated as a gift inside the gym.
“Ghhhh! What is supposed to be in these boxes?“ Asks the girl with glasses, tired and a little sore from the effort.
“Party cannons, of course!”
“Party What NOW?!”
The principal follows her welcome talk and introduces the participants in a general way. Meanwhile, Pinkie changes the sandwiches on the tables, the lighting of the place, and even she infiltrates Vinyl’s DJ booth to give her a music CD.
The young woman with dark glasses doesn’t question anything, she only plays on the CD.
Instantly the atmosphere changes, the lively music and the low lights make a much more festive atmosphere, even there begins to be interaction between the students.
Crystal’s scientist looks around slightly in amazement. “What happened?”
Sunset laughs a bit before answering. “Pinkie Pie, that happened.”
The comment makes the young woman in glasses turn and see the party girl in the doorway, with two large cannons.
She would have questioned something had it not been for the spectrometer to start working again; and seeing that Sunset wasn’t looking, she decides to investigate.
Meanwhile the other Sunset looks at her friend behind those colorful explosive weapons, “Pinkie, are you sure about this …?”
“Sure I am!”
Her gaze and her voice, instead of the typical childish joy, are charged with security and determination. And she fires the cannons.
There is a shrill, comical sound when the cannons fire. The impact causes Sunseen to fall, and when she looks up sees colored confetti and streamers raining down virtually all over the place.
The students begin to dance and enjoy the new party. Crystal’s Sunset friends are the first to enjoy the dance floor; and as if they were following the example, the other students follow them. Both schools start dancing together.
That image of everyone happy awakens the magic of Pinkie who transforms, shines and floats.
“Oooh, they all float!”
Sunseen gazes at her friend in the air. That, until she spots Twilight standing nearby.
The spectrometer does it again, Pinkie’s magic is sucked into the center of it and leaves the energetic girl very tired.
Pinkie Pie stops shining, floating, and with a look of exhaustion she falls against the wall. “Uh … I think the party got spoiled…”
Twilight struggles to close the device, and she doesn’t notice some kind of spark leap from it, falling under the steps of the gym.
Sunseen stands up and rushes over, causing the scientist to flee.
The fiery-haired girl stops when Twilight loses herself among the crowd, however she notices a glow under the bleachers. And when she looks closely, sees a vision of an unknown place.
“Magical world? …”
Not another minute passes, and the atmosphere is virtually destroyed by Principal Abacus Cinch.
The music cuts out. Sour Sweet, next to the DJ station, is holding the music CD and the lights seemed to have been turned on again by Sugarcoat.
Next, the bitter principal begins her own speech where she chooses to discredit Canterlot and its ways.
This annoys Celestia and Luna a lot. And even more so Sunset, who frowns at her with strong contempt for her own principal.
Despite her frustration towards the woman, the interest in our flamed haired girl quickly shifts to her known group of hostesses. Seeing Pinkie’s state, she worries and approaches them.
“What happened? Pinkie, are you okay?”
Pinkie still looks dizzy. “Ouch … I don’t know … everyone started having fun, then Sunseen and I fired the cannons and then I transformed …”
“Heh, that doesn’t surprise me.” Sunset comments with a slight smile.
“… but then I felt weird, like something was drawing my magic …”
Sunset’s smile fades. “What do you mean by ‘drawing’?”
Applejack looks around for a moment. “Pinkie, ya said that Sunseen was with ya. Where is she now?”
Pinkie looks around her for a moment. “Ah well… I don’t know. She was, right here.“
They all look around for her. Sunset looks concerned and talks to herself.
“Twilight isn’t here either.”
~ Friendship Among Games ~
Shortly thereafter, the voice of the Crystal Prep’s dean can be heard throughout the school.
Cadence calls the students teams from both schools to meet at the entrance. It is time to start the games.
“Welcome to the first event, the Academic Decathlon!” The youngest adult woman in the place announces to all the students who had gathered. “The constestants will compete in the fields of Science, Art, Biology, Athletics and Literature, ending with the Elimination Equations competition,” explains Cadence in front of the watchful eyes of everyone present. “But remember, only the six members with the most points from each team will advance to the second round.”
As the dean explains, the teams look at each other. Some are with a defiant attitude and pose, there are a few who seem scared, the rest look at each other with rivalry.
But it’s Sunset and the Rainbooms who cross glances the most.
There is a mixture of tenacity, rivalry, and tension between the six girls. Even Twilight and Sunseen look somewhat concerned by such a scene.
Finally, the games begin.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
Both teams are taken to the school laboratory.
“First event! Chemistry!” Crystal’s Dean announces. “Each student must individually prepare a sample of the solution written on the board.”
There are a number of tables, all set up with elements of chemistry, as well as protective gear. Each student rushes to take a seat, adequately protects themselves, and goes to work.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash are noted to have trouble, more at reading labels than anything else. While Rarity and Fluttershy can be seen to cope more easily at the event.
Pinkie, on her side, seems to have chosen to ignore the board and just be Pinkie.
Micro Chips and also Sunseen seem to be the ones with the most facility.
And Ditzy, for her part, her mixture ends up exploding and leaving her disheveled. Also, with her face somewhat smoky.
Celestia, Luna, and Cadence are in charge of evaluating and grading each student.
Contrary to Canterlot, all of Crystal’s students work at almost the same level. Some are doing easier than others, but all show dynamism, care and concentration.
The only exception is Lightning Dust, who doesn’t seem very focused, mixing with little care.
Sunset allows herself a look at the whole team, some of them sees her and give their captain a sign of success. The fired haired girl smiles when she sees everyone well.
From the other side, Sunseen sets her mix ready and gazes at his doppelganger with keen interest.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
In the next event, the students still in the laboratory had to assemble an electrical device which lights a lamp.
This time both teams are showing slight problems, both Canterlot and some Crystal students take time to assemble their devices.
Only half of Crystal’s lamps are on. Still, there are some in Canterlot that look more unarmed than when they started.
There is a significant difference in Crystal’s lead on both tests. Upon exiting the lab, Crystal’s team is greeted by their cheerleaders.
“Crystal Crystal, hoo-ray! Crystal will win! YAY!“ A very lively Sonata exclaims, waving her pom-poms.
Aria and Adagio mimic her movements, but the pigtail’s face shows her frustration. “Aurgh! How did I end up here? “
“Don’t complain Aria, just thinks it’s to help Canterlot fail.” Her older sister says to cheer her up.
The thought wins the interest of the violet siren. “Go Crystal, wuuu!” She raises her voice to cheer, although her face is still quite rough.
The cheerleaders do her job, to a large extent. Lightning and Indigo are pleased to have cheerleaders, and the guys in the group enjoy them just as well.
Sunset, on her part, slaps her forehead with her hand, she almost looks embarrassed. Her friends cheer her on.
On the side of Canterlot’s team is surprised to see such cheerleaders.
“The Dazzlings!… Cheerleaders?! It’s .. That’s… why don’t we have a cheerleading squad?!“
“Is that yer biggest concern?” Applejack questions Rainbow Dash.
“But they have cheerleaders!” The rainbow haired girl repeats the obvious.
“They … they won’t try something bad … right?” Fluttershy asks notoriously concerned.
Applejack answers by looking just as concerned. “Ah don’t know, sugarcube.”
Flash looks at the girls, then the Dazzlings, and seems to want to talk but he doesn’t. By her own part, Sunseen is intrigued by everyone’s reaction.
“Sirens … are they …?” The fire-haired girl from Canterlot thinks for a moment about what her friends had told her earlier.
“Shit!”
“Rainbow Dash!” The dressmaker scolds the multicolored young woman.
“Now where do we get cheerleaders from?” The athlete interrogates without caring about her scolding.
Suddenly, Baton Switch cuts through the group with her wand in hand turning it around. “We don’t need cheerleaders, we have something much better!”
~ Friendship Among Games ~
No one knew how or when, but soon the Canterlot’s Orchestra had arrived and began to play.
“Ooooooh yeah! That’s what I was talking about!“
As the team, and the Canterlot’s students, feel their energy renewed by the music, Crystal’s seem to get frustrated.
“Where did they get an Orchestra?!” Indigo asks with the same frustration Rainbow showed earlier.
Lightning groans, but responds disinterestedly. “Tch, does it matter? It won’t do them any help.”
Sonata seems depressed when she sees her dull truncheon, Aria is as she usually is, and Adagio is calm but impressed.
“Come on girls. No one has ever eclipsed us.“ Mention the leader of the Dazzlings.
“Except Sunset and her friends.” Sonata corrects.
Adagio rolls her eyes and Aria becomes more frustrated.
“Except that time. Come on, Canterlot won’t beat us again!“ The leader is determined, and her sisters seem motivated by it, so they start their cheer again but this time with more enthusiasm.
Other students join the cheers to rival the Canterlot’s Orchestra.
The venue principals and judges are a bit surprised by the ‘impromptu competition’ that has just emerged.
Celestia and Luna are truly amazed to see Crystal’s students cheer on their team in such spirit. Cadence, on her side, smiles brightly; her face almost seems to glow with joy.
“I haven’t seen Crystal so … happy?” The vice principal comments.
“I KNOW! Is not wonderful?!”
The dean’s joy is compared to the spirit of the students. And the principals of Canterlot are still surprised – and intrigued.
Cinch stays away, saying nothing or expressing emotion. She just watches her students.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
The next competition it’s here.
This time it’s cooking. The teams are divided into pairs.
Pinkie, being in her element, wears the oven mitts as if they were boxing, throwing punches into the air.
From Crystal’s side, Cinch watches the team closely. Especially Sunset.
Sunset pairs Suri and Upper Crust. Both are confident.
Teams get started, some more easily than others. And the results are mixed too, Canterlot and Crystal have ups and downs.
Both Suri and Upper smile at their perfect Shadowbolt-themed cake. They even dare to deliver a slice to each judge, who doesn’t hesitate to try it.
It is, however, when they turn to see the duo of Pinkie and Fluttershy that the Canterlot pastry chef shows the most confident smile – and even conceited they has ever seen – with a cut in half of her cake showing its inside: the colors and shapes simulate the painting of the Mona Lisa.
Sunset’s eyes widen in surprise and the judges drop cake plates at such an impression.
“Let’s go, WONDERCOLTS!” The Canterlot High students exclaim excitedly by such a victory.
Sunseen is with the team, sharing that joy, yet notices how on the other side the young girls of Crystal mourn the defeat. Worse still, they are terrified when Cinch gives them a stern look.
Suri’s hands are shaking, and that causes her to drop the rest of the cake on the ground. Abacus Cinch grabs the bridge of her nose, and resisting a growl from her just walks away from them.
Both girls are depressed, until Sunset appears and with a hand caresses the head of both congratulating them.
That encourages them, even Suri gets hearts in her eyes, but Sunset doesn’t notice it because her attention is won by the piece of cake that Upper Crust has, and without a doubt she decides to take it and bite it willingly.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
New event, this time the teams in pairs must make a house for birds. Fluttershy is happy at the idea, and Applejack with her tool belt looks ready for work.
On the other hand, Crystal’s team looks attentively at her captain who seems to meditate for a moment; after a review from her notebook, she pairs Indigo Zap with Sugarcoat.
The googles girl raises her palm to her silver haired partner. Sugar shows no emotion, she only agrees to her request by joining her hand with Indigo’s — but only a touch, not a shock.
While some in Canterlot seem unsure of how to put together a bird house, Crystal has a detailed blueprint.
Although it doesn’t work out well in the end, the apparent lack of experience makes both teams pretty much the same.
Micro Chip and Sandal Woods have the most deplorable, which is broken with a single touch.
It’s Fluttershy and Applejack who improve the streak, showing off a well-built and solid birdhouse.
The judges score everyone’s performance, and when it is Indigo and Sugar’s turn they leave their work behind a cloth, which when revealed shows a bird house twice as high with surfaces surrounding it as if it were a balcony, on the sides containers for seeds, and at the bottom a small surface of water that makes a source.
The judges drop their notebooks shocked by such work.
Sunset along with the entire team gather to exclaim. “Let’s go, SHADOWBOLTS!”
The team celebrates. The cheerleaders keep cheering for them. Even Cinch allows herself a very faint, pleased, but somewhat sinister smile.
Meanwhile, the Canterlot students mourn their defeat. Micro Chip and Sandal Woods are especially down, but Fluttershy and Applejack cheer them on.
From the very part of her, Sunseen looks at her team; instead of sharing her sadness, she becomes more interested in her counterpart as her team seems to congratulate her.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
Cadence takes the stage in full view of everyone. “Welcome to the fifth event. Interpretive Dance!“
The school gym is given up this time, and all the students are curious about such an event.
“Dance? What does that have to do with these games?“ Indigo Zap asks.
For some reason everyone sees Sunset, who just shrugs.
Cadence proceeds to explain. “The teams can choose the number of members they want, they must choose a music and perform a dance according to it. Skill, creativity and coordination will be assessed. Good luck to you all.”
Both teams are somewhat uncomfortable with the description.
“So, what can we do now?!” Indigo asks again, this time desperately. “We haven’t prepared anything related with dances!”
Lightning crosses her arms. “Is there even someone here who knows how to dance?”
Between all looks at each other, but there isn’t a real answer. Trenderhoof looks at the team captain. “Sunset, what do we do now?”
“Yes ‘captain’, what is your plan?” Lightning interrogates with some suspicion.
Everyone awaits the fire-haired teen’s answer. Sunset, on her side, looks at her notes for a moment; then she concentrates trying to think. At one point, she turns her gaze and notices the cheerleaders accompanying them.
Sunset snaps her fingers. “I have an idea!”
Meanwhile, Canterlot also seems engrossed in strategizing. Rainbow puts a hand on her chin. “Okay, dance … um, does anyone here know how to dance?”
There is no immediate answer.
“I am a musician, not a dancer.” Flash answers in a low voice.
Fluttershy shrinks into herself. “Dancing in front of people terrifies me…”
“But ya dance at parties.” Applejack says.
“Yes, but only because people aren’t looking at me. And therefore, if I make a fool of myself, no one will notice.”
Rainbow looks around the team. Ditzy Doo smiles and improvises a few moves.
“Err, we will need something better than that.”
Pinkie raises her hand. “I can dance! I know the hound dance! The chicken dance! And the Tasmanian dance!“
As if wanting to prove it, she begins to spin to the point she turns into a pink tornado.
Rarity meditates for a moment. “We need a type of dance that we can all do. Dancing at a party is not the same as doing a dance performance.“
The group is thoughtful.
Baton Switch takes the staff out of it and turns it around a bit. “Well, maybe I can do something. I just need you to follow in my footsteps and some good music.“
It doesn’t take two seconds for the whole team to see Vinyl, who shakes her head in time at her headphones. She doesn’t appear to have heard the conversation. Still, when she notices everyone looking at her, she smiles and gives them a thumbs up.
Students gather in the bleachers and seats placed in front of the gymnasium’s set-up stage, the lights slightly dimmed for a more elegant atmosphere.
The three judges are behind of some makeshift desks, ready to evaluate.
Sunset looks at the stage and then turns around.
“Alright, are you… ready… girls…?”
Sunny is wearing a slightly fitted short skirt in purple and embroidered with glitter, her left arm has a sleeve up to the wrist, but her right arm has a short sleeve. Something curious is that the dress has decorations, studs.
Lemon wears tight maya pants as well, a purple dotted blouse, and the highlight is a green fur jacket, which she matches with her own hair.
“Where did you get those suits from?”
“They’re cute, right?!” Sonata asks appearing next to her and scaring her a bit. “We were saving them for a special occasion. We wanted to use them after conquering the world, but since you stopped us in the Battle of the Bands, we couldn’t.“
Sunset blinks a few times and lowers her shoulders and decides to not ask any more.
“Right…”
“Sunset! The competition is about to begin! Is everything ready?“ Asks the girl with googles as she rushes towards the group.
“I think so. Um, hey, what about Sugarcoat?”
“Don’t be agitated, pony girl.” The lead siren answers when she approaches, and Sugarcoat appears behind her.
The silver-haired girl wears dark boots up to the knees, pants that go only to her thighs, and a light purple top decorated with triangles, which extends to her thighs as well. A gold-colored belt decorated with a moon that matches a ribbon on her chest. A dark jacket on top of everything. But in addition, her hair was left down, and arranged to look wavy and spread to the sides.
The image of the silver haired teen surprises everyone.
“I was just fixing her hair. It looks better that way, doesn’t it?“ Adagio ends with a somewhat smug smile.
“Wow, Sugarcoat, you look… different.” Says Sunset
Sugarcoat gets close enough and keeps her expression emotionless as she speaks. “This isn’t the image that represents me, but on the advice of our questionable experts, I have agreed to wear this outfit.”
Sunset laughs a little nervous.
“You look beautiful…”
It’s a soft voice from Indigo, loud enough for some of her to hear and turn to see it. That makes the indigo hairy girl blush and shake her hands nervously.
“I mean great! Great, yes! As the star of Amarerican Idol and… that…“
“I appreciate the compliment. Now, it is not feasible to waste time.“ Sugar heads to the stage, but before going upstairs, she takes off her glasses, and hands them to Indigo who is closest to her.
“Can I trust you to take care of my glasses?”
“Uhh… Ah, yeah! Sure! I take care of them, don’t worry. “
“Very well then.”
Without saying more, the silver-haired girl takes the stage without noticing, or ignoring, the attentive look that the girl with goggles gives her.
Sunset is surprised by the athlete’s attitude but decides to return to the topic.
“Yeah, well. Dazzlings, ready?“
“Ready!” Sonata says.
“Yes, yes, whatever.” Aria responds.
“Sunny? Lemon?”
Sunny smiles and nods and Lemon strikes a military pose.
“Alright! On stage, everyone!” Sunset orders, but smiling and the girls go up, although Aria does it with a frown almost annoyed.
“I do it because I want to, not because you order me to.”
Sunset can’t help but laugh, but she stops when Adagio hands her a microphone. By reflex she takes it.
“Here, you will sing.”
“Eh?… EEEEEEEEH?! Me sing?!”
“We need a third voice, and I don’t have the magic to do it.”
“B-But I-“
Her complaint dies when the leader of the sirens hands her a sheet of paper.
“There’s the lyrics, just keep up with the others.”
“But… but…”
Sunset cannot argue anything because Adaigo has already taken the stage with the others.
Stage’s lights focus on Sugarcoat in front, Lemon on the left, and Sunny on the right; outside the lights, Sonata, Aria, and Adagio stay close to them, and settle in with each other.
The music begins to play, Aria and Sonata sing their voices, while both – and also Adagio – raise their hands at the same time describing an arc. Around the same time, Sunny, Lemon, and Sugar mimic their movements.
🎵Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh
You didn’t know that you fell🎵
As Aria and Sonata sing her song, Sunset looks at the sheet in her hands and brings the microphone to her lips.
🔥🎵Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh
Now that you’re under our spell🎵🔥
🔥🎵Blindsided by the beat
Clapping your hands,
Stomping your feet
You didn’t know that you fell🎵🔥
While the music is intoned the Dazzlings continue to dance partially hidden by the shadows, they move their arms and waists with delicacy and elegance; the three dancers watch them attentively, and imitate each movement
🎵Oh-whoa-oh-oh-oh
Now you’ve fallen under our spell🎵
🔥🎵Oh-whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh🎵🔥
The music becomes more intense, as does the movements of all the girls.
🔥🎵We’ve got the music,
Makes you move it
Got the song that makes you lose it
We say “jump”, you say “how high?”
Put your hands up to the sky🎵🔥
🔥🎵We’ve got the music,
Makes you move it
Got the song that makes you lose it
We say “jump”, you say “how high?”
Put your hands up to the sky🔥🎵
They roll onto their side, point at the audience, stomp, and lean over, then extend a hand upward in one swift motion.
🔥🎵Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh
You didn’t know that you fell
Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh
Now that you’re under our spell🎵🔥
Sunset follows the letter on the paper carefully.
🔥Listen to the sound of my voice🔥
🎵Oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh🎵
🔥Soon you’ll find you don’t have a choice🔥
🎵Oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh🎵
🔥🎵Captured in the web of my song🎵🔥
The entire audience watches carefully and is surprised. The Wondercolts and all of Canterlot are in awe of that dance.
🔥🎵Oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh
Soon you’ll all be singing along
Oh-whoa-oh🎵🔥
The other Shadowbolts grin in amazement, but the show cheers them on, there are even some phones that take photos. Principal Cinch herself observes the dance that is shown with great attention.
🔥🎵We’ve got the music,
Makes you move it
Got the song that makes you lose it
We say “jump”, you say “how high?”
Put your hands up to the sky🎵🔥
At this point Sugar, Sunny and Lemon dance almost reflexively following the movements of the Dazzlings in an astonishing imitation.
🔥🎵We’ve got the music,
Makes you move it
Got the song that makes you lose it
We say “jump”, you say “how high?”
Put your hands up to the sky🎵🔥
🔥🎵Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh
You didn’t know that you fell🎵🔥
Sonata and Aria subtly guide Sunny and Lemon to approach. Sugar, who imitates Adagio, remains standing moving her body in the same place.
🔥🎵Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh
Now that you’re under our spell🎵🔥
🔥🎵Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh
You didn’t know that you fell
Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh
Now that you’re under our🎵🔥
🔥🎵Spell… 🎵🔥
Guided by the sisters, Sunny Lemon and Sugar are almost united in a final pose with Sugar extending her arm, while Lemon and Sunny are subtly supported by her.
With the music finished, the three judges applauded enthusiastically before recording the results.
Crystal’s students clap cheerfully and some cheer at three. While Canterlot doesn’t avoid feeling insecure after that act.
The six girls walk off the stage and are immediately approached by their teammates, congratulating them.
“GO AWAY! You’re going to hit me with your friendly bacteria!” Aria exclaims annoyed as she yells at them making everyone back up and she takes the opportunity to walk away from the group.
Neon Light watches her go. “What’s her problem?”
Sunset can only laugh a little nervous. “Heh, she has a difficult character. She is cute once you meet her… I think?”
Indigo sees Sugar coming down the stairs and shakes her hand to help her, then hands over her glasses and the silver haired girl puts them on.
“You were amazing Sugar! … I mean, you three were amazing.”
Sugar looks at the girl for a moment and then they both rejoin the entire group.
Trenderhoof also congratulates the captain. “That was a good strategy Sunset. Risky, but it worked.”
Neon seems intrigued. “What do you think Canterlot will do now?”
Indigo seems confident. “Pfff, what does it matter?! There is no way they can overcome that.“
Sunset looks to hee side, sees how the Canterlot team seems to prepare. “I wouldn’t be so sure.”
Despite Sunset’s doubt, the team continues to congratulate her teammates, and especially the team’s cheerleaders.
“You girls were great too!” Indigo exclaims. “I didn’t know you could be able to dance like that!”
“Neither do I! Sonata, why didn’t you tell me you and your sisters knew how to dance?” Lemon asks the younger siren. “I’ll make you dancers for the ‘ Sunset Among Shadows’!”
“Forget it, I don’t want to mix with you.” Aria says in annoyance.
“Come on Arie! It will be fun! We can sing together like before!" Sonata says very happy.
Aria closes her eyes and looks away from her, but that doesn’t put anyone off. Instead, all the Shadowbolts start cheering for them.
“Dazzlings! Dazzlings! Dazzlings!“
Sonata is thrilled to be acclaimed, and Aria can’t help but smirk.
Sugar, despite her stoic appearance, is pleased with the threesome. Sour and Lightning smile slightly as they look at them.
Even Sunset, seeing the rest of them, can’t deny her own smile and join the others. “Dazzlings! Dazzlings!”
The three sisters enjoy the moment. More Adagio’s smile dies, when she feels something on her neck.
Vinyl looks at her mini console for a moment, and after thinking for a second she smiles. She takes a record that spins on her finger before letting it play.
Instantly the music begins to play with an almost electric echo.
The light on the stage reveals Baton Switch with her orchestral costume, and the characteristic baton in her hand. She herself begins to march, raising and lowering the cane in her hand.
With a twist of it in both hands she steps to the side and introduces Rarity, who is wearing a purple ball gown with sparkles.
The song resonates from the speakers.
Where have all the good men gone
And where are all the gods?
With the music playing Rarity begins to move smoothly, but firmly waves her arms and waist slightly following the rhythm.
Where’s the streetwise Hercules to fight the rising odds?
Isn’t there a white knight upon a fiery steed?
Almost as if it were a play, the purple haired girl shows her dramatic gifts with poses that simulate despair and concern.
Late at night I toss and I turn
And I dream of what I need
Rarity’s movements are accompanied by the strong step of Baton who marches around her marking her act.
And then, she moves to her side revealing Applejack behind her dressed in a cowboy-style outfit, yet elegant and shiny.
I need a hero!
The song resonates as Aplejack and Rarity meet their gazes.
I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the end of the night
He’s gotta be strong
And he’s gotta be fast
And he’s gotta be fresh from the fight
While the music is playing, the girl with golden strands takes the other by the hand and brings her closer and then both dance with a certain elegance, without losing the rhythm of the song.
Rarity spins around and then Applejack grabs her by the waist and pulls her closer.
I need a hero
Baton places her staff between them and that seems like a signal for both of them to separate.
Rarity spins again until she is out of range of the lights.
I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the morning light
He’s gotta be sure
And it’s gotta be soon
And he’s gotta be larger than life!
Applejack remains the central focus and Baton approaches, waving her cane, pointing at the cowgirl. Applejack begins to lift her knees, hitting the ground with her boots in a fast-paced country dance class, as Baton again signals her with his cane which way to move and turn.
I need a Hero!
Baton walks backwards away from Applejack and sticks her arm out of the lights. When retracting it, it’s Pinkie Pie who appears dressed in a characteristic disco costume from the 60s, even her fluffy hair was more fluffy than ever simulating an afro.
I’m holding out for a hero ‘till the end of the night
He’s gotta be strong, and he’s gotta be fast
And he’s gotta be fresh from the fight
The pink girl shows steps according to her outfit, steps that are coordinated with the Baton Switch’s own movements.
I need a hero
Finally, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie gather under the lights, each dancing a different style.
I’m holding out for a hero ‘till the morning light
Rarity moves gracefully, waving her gown that glows in the light.
He’s gotta be sure, and it’s gotta be soon
Applejack looks unsure as she improvises some moves.
And he’s gotta be larger than life
Pinkie doesn’t leave a part of her body still, shaking from her feet to her hips, arms and even her neck.
I NEED A HERO
The music ends with the three girls together, each in a final pose and Baton raising her cane and head high as she balances on one leg.
The applause and cheers doesn’t take long in coming, all the Canterlot students celebrate them.
The judges do the same and then score.
From the other side, Crystal’s team watches with some disdain and suspicion.
“Damn, Canterlot is playing tough this year.” Indigo Zap comments.
“They won’t get a chance in academic competitions,” Sugarcoat adds with her stoic gesture. “But they seem to excel at artistic acts.”
“Please, as if goofing around will accomplish something.” Lightning says before retiring.
The team looks pretty frustrated. Everyone except for Sunset, who actually allows herself a small smile as the dancers rejoin the rest of their team.
“That. was. AWESOME!” Yells the star athlete of Canterlot.
“You were amazing!” Flash congratulates them.
“I got so excited that I think I’m going to scream. Yay.“ Fluttershy screams, although the scream is the same volume as her normal voice.
Applejack lets out a small sigh before looking down at herself. “Ufff! Ah really still can’t believe you had this outfit, Rarity.”
“Well, we could have had a competition that required it.” The dressmaker comments. “Besides, it looks very good on you, darling.”
“And all thanks to Swichie! Yay!!” Celebrates our party girl.
They all smile at the bun girl, who just smiles. “It was nothing, I just thought that each one could dance to her style and try to make it look good.”
Rarity looks at her farmer girl. “Applejack, I must ask, where did you learn those steps?”
“With mah uncles Orange, ya know I lived with them fer a few months in Manehattan.” Explains the blonde girl. “Ah guess some of the things I learned stuck with me.”
“Oh ho ho, so next time there’s a dance you’ll be my partner.” The elegant girl says in a somewhat mocking way as she takes the blonde by her arm affectionately.
“Don’t say that, it makes me looks embarrased…” The farmer answers a little blushing and looking away, earning the laughter of everyone around her.
Suddenly Flash detects movements. “Hey! It seems like the principals are about to announce the winner.“
Both the Canterlot’s principal and vice principal, as well the dean, take the stage with the oldest of the three taking the microphone.
“After analyzing both submissions, the winners of this event are… the Canterlot High School’s team!” Celestia’s voice is more upbeat than usual, and instantly she wins colossal cheers from all the students.
Everyone on the Canterlot team congratulates and hugs each other. The other students cheers.
The school’s principal cannot hide the bright smile and look that come from seeing her students.
So much that her younger sister, smiling, takes the microphone herself to continue speaking.
“With this, we reached the middle of the academic decathlon. Crystal Prep has won three events, against two Canterlot’s victories.” The vice principal says. “We will have a thirty minute break before the next event. You can retire.”
The lights turns on, and almost instantly each student begins to move out of the room.
Meanwhile, the Shadowbolts walk still mired in their talk. Indigo is a bit serious. “Team, I won’t lie, I was hoping this would be easier but Canterlot is being tough in this competition. We need a different approach.“
Lightning speaks in an almost annoyed tone. “Well, you have to ask the leader what she intends to do about it.”
That serves to turn all eyes to Sunset, who takes a step back in surprise.
Lightning crosses her arms and looks at her suspiciously. “Come on Captain, what plan do you have to not make us lose? I imagine you have something to help us.“
“Lightning.” Our sportswoman with googles gives a soft claim to her teammate.
Sunset looks away uncertainly, is silent for a moment, then sighs. “Sorry, I was just trying to accommodate the fittest for each event.”
“And that’s good!” Indigo encourages her. “It’s the right thing to do.”
Lightning shakes her head. “We still end up losing.”
“Are you going to keep complaining?”
“As a matter of fact, yes.”
Sugarcoat decides to speak. “While I don’t endorse Lightning Dust’s behavior, I do confirm that we need another plan of action if we hope to outperform Canterlot.”
Trender joins. “Well, that’s why we have our captain for.”
Sunset sighs again and looks at her notebook. “Well … considering the remaining fields: Biology, Gymnastics and Literature, we can imagine what events there will be.”
“Well, it’s clear that Light and I will have the victory in gymnastics.” Indigo says confidently.
“And if we can win one more event, we will be one step ahead.” Sunset concludes with a small smile.
“’One more event’?” Lightning complains. “How come you can’t make us win every event? What a failure of a captain.”
Her tone is dismissive, and although Sunset seems annoyed, she doesn’t respond. She just folds her arms and looks away, somewhat hurt.
“Lightning, what’s wrong with you?” Indigo Zap claims. “We are wining! And you behave very aggressively.”
“It’s YOU who is being very soft, Zap.” The blonde athlete answers. “Maybe Canterlot hasn’t beaten us, but they still have a chance. We need something, SOMEONE who can assure us victory. “
Indigo is about to reply, but Sunset stops her by touching her shoulder.
“It’s okay. Yes, I failed. I accept it.”
Sunset’s friends are surprised by what she says.
“But we musn’t lose the objective. We are leading the way, and the best we can do is make sure that stays that way. Indigo and Lightning will be needed in athletics, while Sugarcoat and Twilight will be our bet for the other events.“
Her attention is gained by the four mentioned, and there are different reactions to that. Twilight, in particular, gets nervous.
After that the team is divided and each one goes to their own thing.
Sunset sighs and sees Adagio approaching.
“Not bad, pony girl. You stayed calm despite the pressure. You seem to have a natural talent to be a leader.“
Sunset looks away from her for a moment before answering. “I just do what I can so there are no problems.”
“I can see why you dominated this place earlier.” Before finishing speaking, Adagio allows herself to pass by Sunset so she doesn’t see the malicious smile on her lips. “You know? You were right, you deserved what Celestia denied you.“
That phrase affects Sunset, her face fills with something like panic, but she doesn’t say or do anything as she watches the main siren walk away from her.
Twilight sees her friend’s reaction and makes a move to get closer to her, but stops when she feels the spectrometer burn on her chest.
She hurries, backs up and moves away from the group to get it out and see how the device reacts with force showing a glow. Such sight frightens her and she moves away almost running from her team.
Sunset seems to calm down a bit, and turning her head she sees Twilight disappear around a corner. That replaces her panic with intrigue, but she can’t do anything since her other friends accompany her to rest.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
While the Canterlot team is encouraged by the result, Sunseen doesn’t share the enthusiasm. Her head is centered on her otherworldly double.
Unlike her, her double had had a difficult life; she could only imagine the kinds of things Sunset had to do to support herself.
Still, she looks so confident in herself, and the students at her school show they have confidence in her.
Sunseen never had a problem relating to others, but her other self was different. She isn’t part of a group, she is the center of that group.
She also shows that she is smart- both are- and was always smart, so her other self should be too. But… there was something else… intellect, knowledge, experience? There was something, in Sunseen’s other self, that she felt different.
“Why? If we are the same person, why does she feel… like she is better?… ” Her thoughts are filled with that.
Sunseen compares herself to the other teen in all fields, and in all of them she feels that she is losing.
Somehow the other Sunset was better.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
Students are not the only ones taking advantage of the break.
The Canterlot’s principal moves away from everyone else and allows herself to lean against a wall in an empty hallway.
A deep sigh escapes from her, and looking up into nothingness reviews the image of her students in her memory.
She sees them smile, lean, laugh, be united.
She sees the Rainbooms leaning on each other, and the rest of the team doing their best. And she thinks of the rest of the students who support and encourage her school.
A smile and a melancholic look are drawn on the woman’s face.
Closing her eyes and lowering her head she continues to smile.
“Wow, I haven’t seen you smile like that.”
The sudden voice scares Celestia away and she forces herself to swallow a scream as she turns, finding a familiar fluffy orange mane.
“A … Adagio …”
“Hello, Celly. Long time no see.”
The lead siren looks at the adult woman with a knowing smile, though her smile fades when she realices the woman is staring at hee cheerleader uniform.
“Yes, yes, I know. Sonata made me wear this. Since it was to help Canterlot lose the games, I really couldn’t refuse. “
“Um … help Canterlot… lose?”
“Don’t take it personally, I just have a grudge against this site.”
The older woman is lost in words by the scene. In the end, she smiles but it can see the doubt in her smile.
“Oh well, I get it… I guess. Um, it’s … nice to see you. “
“Same here. And I see that your maternal crisis is resolved.”
“… I think so.”
Although not very sure, Celestia’s smile softens and is sincere.
“I was afraid these games would reopen the wounds and go back to school the way it was. But… it seems to be working for the better, everyone looks very optimistic and… I feel like the spirit of friendship is picking up.“
“Yeah right. I’m sorry if that friendship thing makes me sick. But, I’m happy for you.”
Celestia can only smile. She seems to want to say something, but the siren wins the word.
“Another reason I agreed to come was to chat with you. I really miss seeing you at the bar.“
Now the woman is surprised by that phrase.
“Um, I …”
“Don’t get it wrong, I’m glad to see that your maternal crisis has been solved, and I mean it. But it was good talking to somebody grown up, for a change.”
The older siren stretches a bit, placing both arms behind her head in an almost weary gesture.
“It’s hard to be a mature, responsible, and beautiful woman, isn’t it, Celly?”
“Um, I … I guess.”
“Of course. We both know what it is like for others to depend on you.”
Celestia can’t help thinking about her students, the Rainbooms, and her sister. Like Adagio thinks of Aria and Sonata.
“Well, someone has to make that sacrifice, right?” Adagio still ends with a soft smile.
Celestia looks thoughtful, but an understanding smile appears on her face.
“Hey, if you ever want to chat, you know where I live.” Says Adagio. “I would like to have someone to talk to about adult problems with.”
After saying that she gives it a subtle twist, winks at the principal and leaves without saying anything else.
Celestia just watches her go, she lets out a sigh that she didn’t know she was holding back and seems to relax as she watches the siren go without looking back.
She felt strangely calm, remembering in her head the multiple encounters with Adagio in that bar.
Those memories brings her up mixed feelings.
Her thoughts break when she feels someone behind her. When Celestia turns away it’s her younger sister who looks at her with arms crossed and a look that seems to scold.
The older sister is confused and silent for a while.
“… What?! I was just… chatting with her. She is my friend… “
The two sisters look at each other; one intrigued, the other somewhat puzzled. But the oldest decides to break the moment and she just walks past the youngest.
Luna keeps looking at her sister, still very curious about such a scene.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
Our Crystal girls hang out in the school’s backyard, soda cans in their hands as they hang out. But Sunset is not animated, she finishes her soda and after throwing it into a trash can she leaves the group.
She walks by the side of the school without paying attention to her path, and almost trips into someone. Fortunately she stops in time, and looking up, distinguishes her principal.
“Principal Cinch …”
“Ah, Sunset Shimmer. Just the one I was looking for. “
Before Sunset can ask a question, Cinch continues speaking.
“I’m worried, Miss Shimmer.” The woman speaks with disdain. “Very concerned and disappointed by the performance of our team in this competition.”
“But Canterlot is close to matching us,” Cinch adds in a dismissive tone. “You should know, Miss Shimmer, Crystal Prep has never lost a competition to Canterlot.”
The woman emphasizes the phrase while her gaze seems to close more on the young woman. Sunset percieves that, and for the first time, she feels intimidated by the woman.
“I trusted you to lead the team to victory.” Cinch continues. “I was certain that your guide would deliver a certain defeat against Canterlot.”
Sunset frowns and clenches her teeth. She seems to want to talk, but she doesn’t; instead, Abacus Cinch continues.
“Does this have something to do, with your family member?”
The question erases the anger and instead Sunset is now confused. “Family member?”
“The student who shares your appearance and name.” Cinch explains. “I have to intuit you are sisters. Or am I wrong?”
Sunset had to think about it for a moment. Really, there was no reason to explain the situation to her principal, and Sunset didn’t want to share that information with her either. So she just agreed to let her continue to believe her theory.
“I can understand, more in a person in your situation, that family ties can obstruct performance.”
Sunset had to look away from her and purse her lips.
“But I hope you understand how important these games are to our institution. Our reputation is at stake.“ Cinch emphasizes again. “And there is no place for family matters.”
Sunset looks at the woman silently for a moment, then she answers.
“I understand, Principal. I assure you it has nothing to do with the games.“ Sunset responds by trying to make eye contact, though her gaze shows her own doubts.
“Then, I expect a better performance from now on.” Cinch’s tone changes to a more authoritative one. “For your teammates it is important to obtain victory. You, as the team leader, are the one who must provide them. I don’t think you want to be responsible for a possible defeat.”
“That won’t happen!” Sunset assures with a mixture of concern and security.
“Good. So I’m confident that we will win, you don’t want your teammates to be disappointed if we don’t win.“
Cinch doesn’t give a reply, as she hurriedly turns and stalks off.
Sunset must clench her fists and teeth as she watches the woman’s back drift away.
“That… bitch…” she whispers to herself, almost choking on her own voice. Even so, images of her companions, her friends, sad and dejected come to her mind.
She imagines the look of the students - full of resentment - looking at her, blaming her.
Lightning Dust’s words echo through her head.
Sunset imagines her school beated, sad, looking at her with contempt and accusation …
… Just like Canterlot once did.
Her pupils dilate, she clutches her head and bends her knees, clenches her eyes and teeth trying to suppress those thoughts.
Sunset feels a few drops seep into her eyes and there she forces herself to straighten up and shake her head, throw those thoughts out.
She breathes agitated for a few seconds, recovering a little air, wipes the tears from her face and hits her own cheeks to make herself react.
With a sigh she puts on a determined look, and walks. The equestrian doesn’t realice that her behavior was seen by a person.
Flash sees Sunset leave, and he worries.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
The teams from both schools are now meeting in the biology room.
In front of each student are a series of bones made of plastic. On a blackboard in front of everyone, a diagram describing the equine skeleton and its parts.
Cadence begins the explanation. “It’s time for the second part of the decathlon. The first event is Biology, and it consists of assembling a scale model of a steed skeleton.“
“What’s Canterlot obsession with horses?” Indigo asks quietly, receives a light elbow tap from Sunny Flare and a laugh from Lemon Zest.
“Each member must assemble their own model. The team that collects the most skeletons correctly assembled, and in the shortest amount of time, will win. Get started.“
With the order, all the students begin to move.
Most take bone by bone, and looking at the blackboard they begin to see where it belongs.
Only Sunset remains motionless in her place, without touching her elements. Cinch’s words and visions of a defeated Crystal Prep flash through her mind, and annoys her.
“… I won’t fail. No more games.” She thinks to herself and without even looking at the diagram begins to review and assemble each bone, putting the parts together.
The three judges look at everyone, and all three are a bit surprised to see Sunset.
Not only them, because some students stop for a minute or two to watch Crystal’s fire flamed teen take each bone and begin to join them without any hesitation. Her skeleton is taking shape.
Sunseen watches more intently, slightly assembling her own skeleton but with her attention rather on her double. Hee eyes tremble in amazement and she feels her hands clench, almost breaking the plastic bones as Sunseen sees her twin perform her action with precision and confidence.
The Canterlot team, seeing that, try to speed up their pace.
Crystal’s team is shocked, but many smile.
Minutes pass, but in no time, Sunset joins the skull to the rest of the body; the skeleton is fully armed. Small, about the size of a student’s torso, but quite detailed.
The three judges don’t avoid approaching to evaluate it correctly, and they are impressed by the work smiling all while recording the result.
Sunset allows herself to release the breath she was holding, and then turns to her companions. Trender and Neon give her an affirmation and a thumbs up. Her friends smile at her. Even Sugarcoat, despite her unchanging expression, gives her a soft look.
The trio of cheerleaders cheer for the girl in a subdued way, except for Sonata who shouts her name with enthusiasm.
Sunset relaxes her shoulders, her smile lingers for another minute before erasing it. She stays serious, but she calms down.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
The competition ends not long after. Applejack, Fluttershy and Sunseen denote very precise assembly, while Baton and Vinyl end up with various errors. The rest have intermediate results.
Crystal is similar, with Sugarcoat and Twilight getting a correct set up in no time. Indigo and Lemon have poor precision, the rest is fair. Except for Lightning Dust, whose skeleton is very loosely armed with even bones that weren’t included and are left out. The girl doesn’t seem to care, though.
“I’m here to win the sports competition. I won’t bother about anything else,” the blonde tells herself.
Minutes later. Cadence argues with the other judges and then speaks. “After the count, I must announce a draw in this competition.”
“A draw?!”
The announcement wins surprise, amazement and in some students disgust.
Celestia takes the word. “For this reason, it has been agreed to award a victory to each team. This leaves Canterlot with 3 wins and Crystal with 4. “
The news doesn’t make anyone happy. Instead, everyone seems upset. But it doesn’t last long as most decide to accept it and prepare for the next event.
Sunset, on her part, is still surprised and concerned as she leaves her position ready to leave the room after her team.
Lightning Dust’s voice stops her.
“A draw is a waste of time.”
“… Go to complain to the judges. I don’t put the qualifications.“ Sunset answers somewhat annoyed.
“Maybe not, but it’s your duty to give us victory. If we lose- “
“It won’t happen!” Sunset exclaims turning to the blonde with a serious gesture. “We won’t lose. Not while I’m here.“
They both look at each other. Determination and seriousness in her eyes.
Lightning breaks eye contact and walks away. “I hope so. I want to believe in you, Shimmer. You gave us victory a long time ago and I want to think that you can do it again. I hope you don’t disappoint me.“
That word chills Sunset. She feels a chill run through her body, and again her head fills with bad images.
Sunset grabs her head and stifles a growl to try to push them away. Somehow her whole body feels cold but she resists.
With sheer determination in her gesture, she prepares to continue. “We aren’t going to lose.”
Cadence stands in front of both teams to make her announcement.
“We will start the first decathlon sporting event.” She declares the dean of Crystal before all the students gathered in the gym.
“The first sports competition will be…”
She leaves a little pause before announcing it.
Rainbow Dash crosses her fingers and smiles. “Please, be soccer. Please, be soccer.“
“Tennis!” Dean Cadence finally breaks up.
“OH, COME ON!” Yells Rainbow.
Cadence continúes. “Each team must choose up four players to participate. The team that wins 2 out of 3 games will win the competition.”
With that she finishes the explanation and the teams meet to discuss the matter.
Rainbow is not happy. “Tennis? TENNIS?! Why not better play golf? It’s even more boring.“
Rarity speaks to her. “Come on Rainbow Dash, it’s not too bad.”
“Urgh! I hate tennis. I can’t play it … “
Applejack raises an eyebrow. “Rainbow Dash can’t play a sport?”
Rainbow crosses her arms. “I can’t play something that doesn’t amuse me! And tennis is boring! You have to run in a small square hitting a ball with a rope paddle. It’s… just… stupid!“
“Isn’t it like baseball?” Pinkie asks curiously.
“Of course not! In baseball, the harder you hit the ball, the better. And you have to run a much greater distance before they catch you,” explains Rainbow. “It’s more challenging.”
Sunseen decides to speak. “Well, boring or whatever, the thing is we have to play it, so… does anyone play tennis?”
The whole team looks at each other and is silent.
Meanwhile, on Crystal’s team, Indigo seems excited. “Oh yeah! This is what I was waiting for! Time for action!“
Lightning seconded her. “I’m not excited about tennis, but it doesn’t matter as long as we win.”
The team seems to agree, but Sunset looks very thoughtful placing a hand on her chin.
“We'll win!” Indigo assures. “Lightning! You and I will team up and crush them!”
Sunset then speaks. “No. You musn’t.“
The team captain receives looks from everyone.
“What? What did you say Sunset?“
“I don’t think you and Lightning should enter this competition.”
Lightning frowns and looks annoyed. “Are you an idiot or are you playing being idiot? We are the best athletes in school. It’s obvious that this is our moment.“
Sunset takes a second to think before speaking again. “Dean Cadence said this is the first sporting event,” Sunset puts a bit of emphasis and gets everyone’s attention. “That means there will be more.”
Lightning crosses her arms and looks at Sunset with some annoyance. “So what?”
“You’re right that you guys are the best athletes.” Sunset continues. “And for that, we need both of you to be fit to participate in sports games.”
There is a brief pause where Lightning raises an eyebrow. The rest of the team is interested in what their captain says.
“It’s more than certain after tennis we should participate in something else, and therefore it is not recommended that both play tennis. You will be too tired to participate in the next event.“
The reasoning reaches several members of the team.
Trender comments softly. “That may be true.”
“That’s bullshit.” Lightning gets angry. “Zap and I can handle anything. We could win the rest of the competitions without problems if they were all sports.”
“I don’t doubt it’s possible,” says Sunset. “But we won’t take risks. Indigo, can you play tennis?“
“Pff! Even with my eyes closed.” Our girl with googles assures.
“Then you will compete now. Lightning Dust, we’ll save you for the next competition.“
“It is a joke?”
“No. It’s the captain’s order.“
Sunset is very serious and clashes glances with the blonde athlete. Lightning lowers her shoulders and huffs in annoyance.
“As the captain orders then.” The blonde speaks with annoyance and some sarcasm.
That ends the matter. Except for…
“Well, who else will play then?” Neon Light question.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
It doesn’t take long. A net is placed in the center of the gymnasium playing field.
On one side are Indigo Zap and Neon Lights, with Crystal Prep’s sports uniforms
On the opposite side, Vinyl and Flash, also dressed in the Canterlot’s sports uniform.
The Canterlot gym teacher is the referee.
The dean announces “Let the game begin!”
The teacher’s whistle starts the meeting.
Indigo is the first hitter, sending the ball straight into Canterlot’s field.
The rebound is barely stopped by Flash, but when he returns the ball Indigo has no problem stopping it and sending it back where it came from. Both teens from Canterlot try to stop it but are unsuccessful.
“15 – 0!” The teacher announces and the audience begins to get excited.
Flash takes the ball and seeing Indigo ready, decides to launch in the opposite direction, attacking the side of Neon Lights. He manages to return it, Vinyl runs and returns it, but again is Indigo who with a shot gets another point.
“30 – 0!”
Both Canterlot students mourn silently. In the stands, their teammates – although worried – seek to cheer them on.
Crystal’s stands are beginning to get excited, and there’s no shortage of the cheerleading trio waving their cheers.
The game goes on. Although Flash and Vinyl make an effort, they end up losing the first match.
There is joy on Crystal’s part and regret with Canterlot. Flash and Vinyl return and apologize to their team. They try to cheer you up.
Indigo and Neon are back with their gear as well, the indigo haired girl drinks a nearly full bottle of water before exhaling in good spirits.
“I told you this would be easy. Canterlot doesn’t have a chance in sports.“
Sunset is keeping a bit serious. “Don’t be overconfident. Canterlot hasn’t use Rainbow Dash yet. She is the best athlete in school.“
“Pfff! Nobody is better than me. Neon, ready for the second round?“
The young man sitting on a seat in the place wipes his face with a towel and exhales wearily. “I don’t think so … I’m very tired.”
“Oh come on, it was just a game. How little you can take.“
“I’m not very athletic, I am more of practical work.”
Sunset speaks. “Don’t worry, we will make a change.”
After a short break to settle the pairs, both teams prepare to play again.
This time Indigo is accompanied by Sunny Flare. While Canterlot changes to Applejack and Rarity, who instead of sports suits wear uniforms made by the dressmaker.
This time, Applejack takes the first hit to start the game. Indigo receives it and returns, Applejack manages to return it and Sunny Flare hits. Rarity receives it and returns it. Both pairs trade strikes a couple of times before Indigo hits home and scores.
“0 – 15.” Pronounce teacher and refer.
Applejack gets frustrated, Rarity gets discouraged. The rest of Canterlot is beginning to really worry. While everyone at Crystal is happy and confident.
A few minutes later, another entry from Crystal is seen.
“0 – 30.”
At this point almost everyone present was sure of the result. With a pretty exhausted Canterlot, and a Crystal smirking and a little arrogant.
Rarity on the field looks down, but out of the corner of her eye sees Applejack crestfallen with a look full of pain, clutching the tennis ball in her hand.
The fashionista approaches the farm girl and takes her hand in hers.
“Applejack…”
Applejack relaxes at Rarity’s touch but she’s still worried.
“… Ah really thought we had a chance this time Rarity … but Ah think Crystal will always be better than us.”
“Applejack, don’t worry about it. The games aren’t over yet.”
The seamstress tries to cheer up her southern friend with a smile, but it shows in her voice that she is worried too.
“Ah thought that with this we could overcome what happened before. But… what if we lose… what if the school gets depressed again?…“
Rarity squeezes Applejack’s hand and they both stare at each other. The dressmaker swallows her concern and smiles, this time sincere.
“Then we will have to cheer it up again.”
The farmer looks up a bit more to her.
Rarity continues. “It’s like Sunset said, we can’t worry about the past. You just have to keep going. And if we can, we can help others in the same way.“
This time Rarity sounds more confident in her words.
Applejack seems to relax, and Rarity squeezes her hand a little tighter and smiles more encouragingly.
“Cheer up, darling! Whatever happens, we will get through it together.“
That makes the farm girl smile, and she calmly drops her shoulders. Sunny Flare, from across the field, gives the couple a curious look.
Applejack prepares to take out again. One last look and smile shared with her partner, and she throws.
The ball bounces from one field to another for a few minutes. While Indigo is in her element, Sunny Flare seems calm but Applejack and Rarity are more determined.
A missed shot that hits the net allows Indigo to throw a serve from his side. She gets into position and so doed Applejack and Rarity, both more than willing to face the athlete.
Indigo gets more serious, throws the ball and kicks into the opponent’s court.
Both, fashionista and farm girl, rush to stop the shot. They brandish their rackets at the same time, and manage to stop the ball, together, overlapping one racket over the other.
Both shine for a moment, and that shine covers their rackets; they fire in unison giving a powerful shot. Sunny Flare sees the ball but she can’t even react, Indigo barely sees a flash of light fall on her field, and even though she tries, she can’t stop it.
“Annotation! Canterlot scores,” says the referee. “The score is 15 – 30.”
Such a scene surprises everyone. Both Crystal and Canterlot remain static, and soon there is a soft but firm celebration from the seconds.
Applejack and Rarity smile, look at each other, and then hug.
Both Indigo and Sunny are stunned, and see their opponents in surprise.
The game continues, and after that first point Rarity & Applejack begin to play with more courage, managing to catch up with the athlete with goals.
Both teams stay even, and the mood of both schools changes. After a match that felt longer than it was, AJ and Rarity make the final point. All of Canterlot explodes with joy, while Crystal seems annoyed.
Indigo Zap, in particular, throws her racket to the ground and stomps on it in frustration much to Sunny Flare’s concern. The purple haired girl then turns to her opponents, sees them congratulate each other with jumps and an effusive hug, again there is that curious look on her face.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
The playoff game is held. Indigo forces herself back onto the court, and now Sunny steps out to make way for Neon Light.
On the side of Canterlot, Rarity is tired, so she goes to rest and Flash returns to cover her.
Indigo plays with ferocity and dedication, but as time goes by, she becomes clearly tired. Applejack goes through the same situation, little by little she is exhausted so are the two boys who begin to take control of the field.
Finally, after much effort and tension in place, the referee blows the last whistle.
“Set and match, the winners are Canterlot High School!”
There are shouts of joy from the school and congratulations and hugs from the team. Between which Crystal is frustrated and dissatisfied with the defeat.
Sunset, arms crossed, lowers her head and Lightning Dust gives her a stern look.
“Great plan, captain.” Says in a whisper but with a voice full of sarcasm as she walks away from her. Sunset looks hurt and affected, although Sonata and Lemon try to comfort her.
For their part, all of Canterlot celebrates, although Rarity doesn’t avoid noticing Indigo Zap who departs from her group; her body trembles and she shakes herself in annoyance. Worried, the dressmaker goes with her.
“Um, excuse me, hi?”
Indigo listens to her and turns to see Rarity with a firm frown.
“And what do you want? Do you come to gloom your victory in my face?”
“Gloom? No, darling. I just… I noticed that you are affected.“
“Oh, what a news,” Indigo says sarcastically. “In case you didn’t notice, I just lost! Worse, I lost in a sport! I’m good at sports! I’m THE BEST in sports! How can I lose?!“
Rarity tries to speak but she seems to have a hard time putting together a new sentence.
“Darling, don’t be like that. Losing doesn’t make you less than you are.“
“Of course it does! I’m the captain of the sports team! I must win for them! So they can win! But if they see me lose…“
Indigo’s self regretting stops when Rarity takes her hand in hers.
“Indigo, even if you lose, that doesn’t make you less in front of others. You strive for yours. You are generous and as long as you keep trying, others will too.”
Indigo is silent looking at the fashionista.
Rarity just smiles at her. “If you want your team to be strong, you must be now. Don’t let yourself be defeated, keep going.“
Indigo is surprised, and feels calm at her words.
“… you were friends with Sunset, right?”
Rarity smiles wistfully and some sadness. “Yes. I learned from her that I have to keep pushing myself to get through the bad times.”
“Heh… yeah, it sounds like something she would say.”
There is a silence between the two for a moment. Rarity smiles kindly, Indigo is just a little shocked.
“Hey, why are you helping me? We are rivals here.”
“Please darling, the fact we are competing doesn’t mean lacking in education and respect.”
“Heh, Sunset said that too. I guess so.”
Rarity keeps smiling, Indigo looks embarrassed but calmer.
The scene is watched by Applejack, who smiles at the act of hee friend. Until she sees Sunny Flare approaching her.
“Congratulations on your victory, honey.”
“Uh… thanks. It’s nice of ya.“
“You deserve it. I thought we were going to win, but you and that girl make a good team.“ “Heh, Ah guess so.” The farmer speaks somewhat sadly.
Sunny suddenly gets a little serious “Tell me, is that girl your girlfriend?”
Applejack blinks in confusion. “WHAT?!” Applejack can’t help but blush and freak out at the question.
Sunny is intrigued. “You will excuse my meddling dear, it’s just that I saw you so close. I couldn’t help but think how cute you look together.”
Applejack gets pretty mad. “Y-Y-Yer wrong! Rarity and Ah just… we’re friends!” Answers the blonde still flustered and her blush rising.
Sunny from her side gives an almost conspiratorial smile. “Mh, are you sure of that, dear?”
Applejack seems to be sweating. “Of-Of course!… “
Sunny keeps smiling “Well, I don’t want to intrude. But you guys seemed so close, anyone can see you have a special bond.”
Applejack calms down and seems to think for a moment. “… Rarity has been mah friend since preschool. It’s normal fer us to be close.”
“That’s so sweet.” Sunny exclaims, she seems happier. “Honey, you shouldn’t hide your feelings like this.”
Applejack is puzzled. “Hide mah… what are ya talkin’ about? Ah-“
“No, please don’t say it.” Sunny gently interrupts her and sees her with a soft smile. “You don’t have to hide it, honey. It is important to be honest with yourself.” A small nostalgic smile is quickly followed by a friendly one. “I tell you from experience.”
Sunny is called by her team and after a gentle farewell to the farmer, she goes with them.
Applejack stares at her in surprise, and confused. “Honest … with mahself?”
~ Friendship Among Games ~
There is a very short break but immediately the next competition begins.
Pinkie Pie and Lemon Zest position themselves at the exit of the race track, the former drinking a milkshake and both carry a small green cane in their hands.
They look at each other with defiance but a smile of excitement. Pinkie tosses her already empty glass and gives a little burp that makes Lemon start to laugh. Pinkie joins in said laugh.
Cadence makes the announcement. “The next event, the Relay Race, is going to start. Runners, on your marks.“
Both, pink haired and green haired, stop laughing and get into position with a confident smile.
“Ready. Go!”
No signal to wait and they begin to run quickly down the track. At first they are quite matched but then Pinkie feels something in her stomach, and she smiles.
“Uh uh, that double fudge shake with whipped cream is working!”
Lemon looks at her strangely. “What-“
“Here I gooooooooooo!”
Out of nowhere, Pinkie’s stomach makes a deep sound and something runs through her body, Lemon is a little scared to see her start to shake as she moves forward and then.
“SUGAR!”
To everyone’s surprise, Pinkie Pie accelerates by moving her arms and legs at superhuman speed, causing her to cross the track at high speed.
Both Lemon and everyone at Crystal are amazed by what they see.
At the starting line they are now waiting for Trendehoof on Crystal’s side, and Baton Switch on Canterlot’s.
Baton smiles confidently when she sees the pink girl approach and gets into position to run, holding out her hand towards Pinkie.
Pinkie immediately hands her the green cane and the bun girl starts running, although Pinkie runs alongside her without being able to stop. But she promptly veers away from her and ends up lying on one of the bleachers, falling asleep on a pillow, and Fluttershy covers her with a blanket.
Baton doesn’t stop her race and advances as fast as she can. Trender is concerned and turns to Lemon who is approaching.
“Come on Lemon!”
“I’m coming!”
Lemon forces herself to go the extra mile, and accelerates to give the baton to her partner who then goes out to try to catch up with his opponent.
Lemon needs to stop in place to catch up air, and in that she sees Lightning approaching. They look at each other for a moment, the blonde girl is extremely serious, and Lemon gets a bit uncomfortable.
Lightning says nothing, she just turns her back on Lemon and stands idly watching Trender trying to catch up with Baton who had a considerable advantage.
Rainbow Dash also approaches and sees the attitude of the girl, she looks at the green haired girl for a moment but she only returns with her team. Rainbow’s brow furrows more she doesn’t say anything.
In the race, Baton still has the advantage and listens to the spirits of the school and of her fellow band members. She is so motivated that she starts waving the cane like a baton encouraging herself.
Trender struggles to catch up with her, but he already looks tired.
Rainbow smiles when Baton approaches and as she is about to receive the staff she looks at Lightning.
“See you at the finish line.”
As soon as she says that, Baton hands her the wand and the multi-colored haired girl lives up to her name, running at high speed leaving Lightning behind.
Baton breathes and drops, raising her arm to join in the cheers that are now from her colorful partner.
Trender finally manages to get closer and seeing Rainbow already doing a great distance he talks to his partner.
“Lightning Dust! We depend on you!”
The blonde reaches for the cane and bends her knees. “I know. As usual.”
She wastes no time and starts running.
Both Rainbow and Lightning surprise everyone with their speed when running. Rainbow Dash turns and notices that Lightning runs catching up with her, so she puts more effort into accelerating.
Lightning Dust doesn’t give up and she accelerates too. They go so fast that they almost seem to leave a rainbow and a lightning behind them.
Rainbow Dash sees Lightning quite close to her, close enough that her competitive spirit overpowers her.
“You think you are faster than me, right?!”
Lightning is serious, but then puts on an arrogant smile. “No! I KNOW I’m faster than you!”
To emphasize her statement, she accelerates and almost catches up with Rainbow.
“WE’LL SEE ABOUT IT!”
Rainbow also accelerates and they both stay close to each other, with Lightning still behind Rainbow.
“They don’t call me ‘RAINBOW’ and ‘DASH’ for nothing!”
“Well, I’m Lightning Dust, and I’ll make you bite my ‘dust’.”
To Rainbow’s surprise and anger, Lightning manages to catch up with her just during the final turn toward the finish line.
“You will not win!”
“I always win, not like you and your school full of losers!”
“I never lose! And we don’t lose to you! Not this year!“
Lightning smirks. “Your school only knows how to lose, just like when you lost Sunset.”
Hearing that causes Rainbow to lose focus, stumbling, and completely losing her balance, falling to the ground.
Rainbow can only hear the blonde’s laugh and see how she runs away from her at high speed, reaching the finish line. Right away she is greeted by cheers and applause from her school.
“Crystal wins the Relay Race!” Cadence announces.
The announcement only fuels the celebration. But from her side, Rainbow’s friends approach her as she gets up.
Fluttershy is the first and speaks in a surprisingly high tone for her. “Rainbow! Are you alright?”
Applejack joins them. “Did you hurt yerself, sugarcube?”
Rainbow doesn’t seem to hear them, she just glares at Lightning and suddenly runs towards her. Everyone notices how the Canterlot’s athlete prepares to hit Crystal’s, fortunately Flash manages to take her wrist and stop her. Although Rainbow tries to let go he holds her under her arms.
“YOU’RE A MISERABLE CHEATER!” The chromatic girl accuses, the only thing she wins is a mocking laugh from the other.
“Why is my fault you fell like this? It’s normal for a loser to lose.“
That only provokes another attack attempt from Rainbow, so Flash and now helped by Sandal Woods hold her down.
Immediately, the principals of both schools approach the place and stop the fight.
“It’s enough!” Celestia exclaims. “Conflicts are not allowed.”
Cinch speaks with a stoic but stern gesture. “Your students are too aggressive, Celestia. They lack discipline.”
“Not like yours are better,” Celestia whispers with a frown so Cinch won’t hear her.
To everyone’s surprise, the Canterlot’s party girl suddenly appears with a tray of cupcakes.
“Hey! Instead of fighting, let’s have cupcakes! Who wants cupcakes? I want cupcakes! Have cupcakes!“
Without waiting for any response, she hands out a cupcake to everyone present, including the principals.
Rainbow keeps looking at Lightning, but she just ignores her and walks away from her, eating the cupcake Pinkie gave her. The other Wondercolts gather together and Rainbow huffs in annoyance, then eats her own cupcake.
Pinkie Pie smiles seeing everyone happier.
“Do you always give people cupcakes?” Lemon asks coming over and eating her own cupcake.
“Cupcakes make people happy!” It’s the pink girl’s answer.
“Mmh, you’re weird. I like you! I’m Lemon Zest.“
“Pinkie Pie!”
They shake hands, but Lemon is surprised when Pinkie shakes it hard.
“Wow. Okay, you are cheerful. I realice.”
“I like to be happy and make others happy! It’s what I live for.”
“Heh, I get it. I like to have fun, although I don’t always find something to share with others.”
“Sometimes it happens to me, not always everyone likes my parties. But I always try to make people laugh.”
“Heh, that’s what I’m trying too. I like you Pin-Pie.”
“YAY, A NEW FRIEND!”
The green haired girl is surprised to find herself hugged by the pink haired girl.
“Meh, okay, it’s not that Sonata doesn’t do this often.”
In those moments, Cadence grabs everyone’s attention.
“Attention please, the penultimate event of the decathlon is about to begin!”
~ Friendship Among Games ~
Just minutes later, both teams are on the school stage in a Spelling Bee.
Most are removed quickly, so it doesn’t take long to get a result. Twilight being the winner on Crystal’s side, and Sunseen as the best on Canterlot’s side.
Thus comes the last event.
Crystal’s principal talks to both teams. “The last event of the decathlon is, as everyone should know, the Elimination Equations,” says Cinch. “Both schools will select a student, who will go to the front to solve the formula presented at the indicated time.”
As the woman finishes explaining the event, both teams are already meeting and deciding who will take the stage.
“Alright, who do we send?”
Sandalwoods looks at his fellow tech genius. “What about you Micro Chips? You are very technological, surely you are good at math.”
Micro Chips shrinks a bit on himself. “Ehh, not so good. In fact, I almost always guide myself with my pocket calculator.” He shows said item in his hands.
Flash thinks a bit. “Well, um, what about you Sunset?”
Sunseen is somewhat surprised. “Uh, me?”
“Well, yeah. You always get the highest grade on everything.“
Rainbow seems to agree. “It’s true. You are definitely the smartest on the team.”
“Do ya think ya can do it, sugarcube?” Applejack asks quietly.
Sunseen seems to think about it for a moment. Subtly, she turns to see Crystal’s team, especially her doppelganger.
After a brief silence, the girl with glasses answers. “All right, I’ll go. If everyone trusts me."
“Of course we trust!” Exclaims the colorful athlete. The team supports each other. But Sunseen still focuses on Sunset.
“If we are the same … they will probably choose her too.” Sunseen thinks to herself.
Just minutes later, the two chosen students are called to the stage.
Sunseen climbs on Canterlot’s side, and Twilight climbs on Crystal’s side. The fire-haired girl is surprised to see the scientist, and turns her eyes subtly towards her twin, who remains with her arms crossed and a rather serious look.
“Why isn’t she? What does it mean?”
She frowns and looks at her opponent. Twilight remains calm, but serious.
“Is it she can’t do it? My double doesn’t know if she can win this competition?” Sunseen wonders internally. “And if I succeed, will it mean that… I’m better?”
Both girls with glasses exchange glances and there is determination in both.
Both teams cheer on their representative and immediately the event begins.
They both take a piece of chalk and begin to write the formula that gives the solution to the written equation.
Twilight looks extremely focused as she writes. Sunseen, from her side, looks away from her opponent and then looks at her reflection who remains focused on her friend.
Sunseen grits her teeth and her hand trembles slightly but forces herself to continue solving the equation.
All students are attentive and expectant to the result. By the end of time they both have finished their equation. It is Crystal’s principal who is in charge of controlling the results, and this is…
“Incorrect!”
The woman announces dryly and seriously, pointing at Sunseen.
The fiery-haired girl is shocked, and is seen to become extremely depressed.
The Canterlot’s vice principal takes the floor.
“That means the winners of the first round of the Friendship Games are Crystal Prep!”
There is immediate shouting and applause from Crystal’s students, and almost the entire team goes upstairs to congratulate and celebrate her fellow scientist. Twilight turns very red from embarrassment, but she can’t help but be happy.
Sunseen from her side looks down, yet her Rainbooms friends approaches to her with great encouragement.
Rainbow is the first to congratulate her. “That was incredible! Good job Suns!“
“What? But… I didn’t win.“
“Canterlot has never been so close to winnin’.” Applejack says, refusing to compliment.
The four directives meet and start talking to each other. Cadence is the one who speaks to the students.
“After counting the points, we have the students who will go on to the next round. From Canterlot High, Sunset Shimmer.”
Later, her friends hug the girl with glasses making her laugh.
The dean continues. “Pinkamena Diane Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack.”
The Rainbooms reinforce her hug and celebrate together.
“And on Crystal’s side. Twilight Sparkle, Sugarcoat, Sour Sweet, Indigo Zap, Sunny Flare, and Lemon Zest.“
The six girls remain on stage and congratulate each other as the rest of the team get off it.
From the other side, Sunseen is surprised to see Sunset descend.
“What? She… she didn’t qualify?“
Her question is not heard by anyone, and as Sunset lets out a sigh she meets Flash, then they both start talking. Sunseen seeing her friends still celebrating, decides to follow her double and the boy when they walk away.
Twilight, by her side, feels a heat in her chest and realices that it is her spectrometer reacting. She subtly withdraws herself from the rest, and also steps off the stage.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
Flash and Sunset walk down the hall while chatting calmly.
“Congratulations on winning, Sunset.”
“Thanks, Flash. However, I don’t know if my team agrees with it.“
“Why do you say that?”
Sunset takes a moment to answer. “Crystal is very firm about winning, they aren’t happy with the fact we have lost some events.”
“That’s dumb.”
Sunset lets out a soft laugh. “I suppose. But, they want to win, and they elected me captain. They expect me to do my best and… I can’t seem to.”
“Don’t say that. You are winning, you crushed us in almost every competition.“ Realizing his words, Flash feels uncomfortable. “Which is really bad. For my team, of course, but for you, that’s great!… Right?“
Sunset can’t help but laugh at the words of her blue haired friend.
“The point is, you’re doing great. You always do your best for others. You improved school after Anon-A-Miss.“
The memory of that time forces Sunset to look away from her. “It was me who made it worse.”
“No Sunset, you saved us! When you told us not to focus on the past.”
“Um, when did I tell you that?”
“Huh? Ah well… you actually did tell the girls and, then, they spread it to the rest of the school.”
Sunset rolls her eyes in amusement.
“The thing is, without you, the school would still be sad and cold. You always help others, Sunset.“
Sunset smiles and touches her friend’s arm with her fist. “Thanks, Flash. I’m glad to have you as a friend.“
“Whatever you need. You know I’m here to help.“
“Yes, you were always there for me. I’m sorry we parted ways long ago.“
“That’s not important anymore. We are here now.”
“Yeah, it’s nice to have someone so loyal. Hug?”
“Eh? Oh, sure.”
They both hug for a moment and then share a laugh.
When they part, Flash turns around and goes back the way he came. Sunseen, who was around the corner, rushes against the lockers and pretends she is touching them. Flash doesn’t notice her and just keeps going, Sunseen looks back at Sunset who had already moved away from her.
Her countenance becomes quite serious.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
Outside of school, Sonata is alone practicing her cheer as she walks around waving her pom poms.
“Crystal Crystal yay! Crystal Crystal… ah, what rhymes with ‘yay’?“
A sound like a soft laugh behind some bushes of the place attracts her attention. Curious, she walks through the plant and finds the shy Rainboom playing with her animal friends.
“Hey!” The hairy blue girls calls and the pink haired one is scared a little, taking her little cat in her arms. When they look at each other Sonata smiles.
“I know you! You are the sweet Rainboom. Not sweet in the sugar sense, that’s the pink one. You are the sweet one, of character.“
Fluttershy seems shy, more than usual. Sonata notices.
“Oh, right. I guess you don’t want to see me. I’m leaving now.”
The young siren is about to leave, but Fluttershy stops her. “Wait!”
Sonata is shocked by the call, even Fluttershy shocks herself. She is silent for a moment while the shy girl looks away, unsure.
Sonata looks at her without saying anything. The little animals seem to sense the environment and approach her human friend to caress her, as if encouraging her.
“I’m sorry…” Fluttershy finally says.
Sonata looks confused. “Um, why are you apologizing?“
“I, because … I want to apologize for what happened before.”
Sonata doesn’t understand what Fluttershy means. “Um, before?”
“When Rainbow was about to… well …”
Sonata seems lost for a while, but she finally gets the point.
“OH! When your friend of many colors believe I was magically controlling Sunset?“
Fluttershy can only nod silently.
“Ah well, it doesn’t matter anymore! I already forgot what happened.”
“Aren’t you mad?”
Sonata just shakes her head, smiling.
Fluttershy smiles softly, and Sonata widens her own smile. The kitten next to Fluttershy meows and they both look at him. Fluttershy thinks of something.
“Do you want to give him a treat?”
Sonata just smiles and dares to get out of the bush to sit next to the pink haired girl. The kitten looks at her and she starts to pet him.
Fluttershy smiles when she sees her, and speaks softly. “You are not as scary as I thought. Actually, you are not terrifying at all.”
Sonata looks offended. “Hey! I can be scary if I want to. Look!”
Sonata tries to make a scared face in front of the kitten, but he just meows and rubs her purr. The blue girl can’t resist hugging him.
“Owwww, how cute … I think I should apologize again.”
Sonata leaves the kitten and walks away from her to play with the other animals. “Really? And now for what?“
“For thinking badly of you. I thought you were a bad person but, the truth is, you are very kind.”
“I can be bad!” Sonata says as if she has received an insult. “I’m a siren! … Although, I haven’t done bad things in a long time.”
“Do you want to do bad things?”
Sonata is silent for a moment. “Well, not really. I guess…”
There is a slight silence, but Fluttershy smiles again. “Maybe you did bad things before. But you are not a bad person, there is good in you.“
As she says that, Fluttershy hands Sonata a small white rabbit, and Sonata takes it. She looks at the smiling animal and soon she is smiling too.
“That is why I say you are the sweetest of the Rainbooms.”
Fluttershy just shows a kind smile. And soon her body begins to glow. Her hair spreads, her ears change, and her wings magically emerge from her back.
“WOW!” Sonata is more than impressed with the scene.
Inside the school, in one of the hallways, Twilight follows the trail of her pendant, and looking out the window she can see Fluttershy floating slightly.
Her surprise at the image of her is overshadowed by a slight terror when her artifact is activated, she tries to stop it, but soon the device begins to take the magic of Fluttershy.
To the surprise of both girls outside, holes open around them through which another place can be seen. From plants to small houses.
Sonata sees the portals and is surprised. “What’s going on? Is that… is that…?”
Little by little Fluttershy loses her strength, descends until she is standing, and if not for Sonata she would have fallen to the ground.
Inside the school, Twilight’s artifact takes all the power and the girl is finally able to shut it down. Instantly those holes disappear.
The girl with glasses watches in horror as the animal lover is exhausted, and her singing friend holds her as she looks everywhere for help.
Sunset is passing by and hears Sonata.
“Help! Someone!”
“Sonata?”
The flamed haired girl rushes to the place and immediately sees Fluttershy leaning on her siren friend. She hurries over and helps her.
Her gaze turns around in bewilderment, but she doesn’t see anything.
In the hallway, Twilight freaks out and quickly runs away just before Sunset turns and sees the now empty window.
Twilight runs through the corridors clutching her head trying to get what she just saw out of her mind.
When she stops she takes and looks at the spectrometer for a moment.
“Ough… Enough! Sunset was right. I shouldn’t have messed with Canterlot’s magic.“ Says to herself as she removes the pendant from her neck. “I’m just beginning to accept magic! What was I thinking about when I wanted to study it?!“
Twilight shows her desperation as she talks and scolds herself.
“I’ll get rid of this.” It’s what she sets out to do, but looking around her, she doesn’t seem sure what to do. “… and how am I going to do that?…”
She first pretends to throw it in the trash can, but a cartoonish image comes to her mind that someone might find it.
She then sees the door to the bathroom. Now, in her mind, a cartoon of herself trying to flush the device down the drain resulting in a flood.
Twilight growls in frustration and in desperation she is about to throw it to the ground.
“Twilight.”
A voice scares her and she turns, leaving the spectrometer hidden behind her back.
It is Cinch who approaches her with a somewhat intimidating gesture.
“Twilight, what are you doing?”
Twilight gets extremely nervous. “Ah… stretchings! Yes, to keep in shape. For… the next games.“
Her explanation is unconvicing, and shows Cinch hesitating.
Twilight tries to change the subject. “Um, did you want something, Principal Cinch?”
Cinch still looks doubtful, but she answers. “Indeed. I have noticed an interesting detail. The Canterlot girls who have advanced to the next round seem to have an interest in Sunset Shimmer.“ The woman explains, puzzling the student. "You and Sunset are close, don’t you know why?”
Twilight seems too awkward and hesitant to answer. Cinch keeps staring at her, waiting for an answer.
Finally Twilight forgets her nerves and puts on a more determined look. “No! I don’t know why. But Sunset used to study at this school, I think it’s normal for her to attract their attention.“
Cinch doesn’t seem satisfied with that answer. “That’s possible. However, I still think the matter is worth investigating.“
“Excuse me, are you suggesting that I should spy on them?” Twilight asks and seems upset.
“Of course not. I just think we have to fill our bases,” explains the principal. “It could give us an idea of how Canterlot has improved so much.”
Twilight frowns, and now she appears upset. “Yeah, well, you will have to ask someone else, Principal. I don’t like the idea of spying on people.“
To end that conversation, Twilight walks past the headmistress without looking at her.
Abacus Cinch watches her walk away from her, her gaze becomes sharp but she calms down and speaks calmly again. “It will be as you wish. Just don’t forget, your academic future is at stake.“
Twilight stops, remains silent with her gaze a little downcast, her hands clench into fists clutching the spectrometer in one of them. Her eyes grow harsher, and she doesn’t bother to turn to answer.
“My future is mine. And only I decide it, Cinch.“
Without saying more, she quickens her step to get away from there.
Cinch watches her go and although she tries to keep her face calm from her, she gradually turns into genuine anger.
“Sunset Shimmer. You have contaminated my best student. If we lose this competition, you’ll see what awaits you.” Cinch tells herself and then goes her own way. With a hurried step, the accelerated sound of her heels denotes the feeling of her.
On the other hand, having already calmed her own anger, Twilight looks back at her pendant with concern.
“I’ll get rid of this when I get back to Crystal. No more research for today!“ She says this and puts the pendant under her clothes again, then keeps walking.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
Sonata approaches Fluttershy with a soda.
“Do you want to have a drink?”
Fluttershy looks up and smiles accepting the soda. “Thanks.”
They’re in the Rainbooms practice room. Fluttershy is sitting in a chair lounging, and Sunset is also present on the side with her arms folded puzzled. The rest of the Rainbooms are present as well, concerned for her friend.
Rarity walks over to ask. “Are you all right, darling?”
“Yes, I feel better now.”
Sunset decides to go over and ask the question. “Fluttershy, what happened to you?”
Fluttershy looks worried for a moment. “Oh my, I don’t know. I was talking to Sonata outside, and suddenly I transformed. Then, I felt as if something was taking away my magic, and I felt exhausted.“
“Portals also opened out of nowhere.” Adds Sonata. “Sunset, I think I saw Equestria in them.”
Sunset is shocked, and then worries upon hearing all of this.
“The same thing happened to me today!” Pinkie Pie suddenly exclaims. “When Sunseen and I prepared the party, I turned into a pony and then felt like my strength was running out.”
Rarity also speaks. “A similar situation happened to me, it was shortly before you and Twilight found us in the morning.”
Sunset puts a hand on her chin and she looks very thoughtful. “Something strange is happening.”
Sonata looks worried. “Sunset, do you think someone wants to steal your friend's magic? Someone besides me and my sisters, of course. It’s not that we want, I mean, we could want, but we cannot. Altough…”
Sonata gets a little nervous stumbling over what she wants to say.
Sunset doesn’t pay attention to her stumbling over words. “I don’t know Sonata. But if someone or something is taking the magic of all … Flash, I must go with him, to inform Princess Twilight about this. See you later!“
Without saying more, the red-haired girl rushes out of the room and leaves.
As soon as everyone sees her go, the gazes of the five friends go to Sonata, and she in turn looks at them all.
Silent falls, and one can see the discomfort in the environment.
Nobody says anything, for a while.
Rainbow tries to speak. “So…”
“Do you want to go eat something?” Sonata asks without a trace of doubt surprising everyone, the sooner they smile.
“Sure!”
“Sounds good to me.”
“I agree.”
“I’m hungry!”
They all leave the room.
“I hope they have tacos.”
There is a slight laugh between all of them.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
The moment arrives, and both schools head out to the back field of the school to discover that the venue had been set up for the final event. A motocross field is what stands out the most.
Sunset looks at the place with great bewilderment. She then turns to her team. “Okay… right, the competition is in pairs, so …”
The girl hesitates for a moment while the participants wait for her decision.
“Now Indigo Zap and Sugarcoat will be doing the motocross part.”
“YES!” Zap exclaims. Sugar doesn’t give an answer.
“Lemon Zest, Sunny Flare. The skating rink.“
Both girls clap their palms.
“Well Sour Sweet, it seems we need your bow skills after all.” Sunset explains, with a bit of amusement.
“Very funny,” says the freckled girl teasingly. She then turns to her last partner. “Sparkle, you better not screw it up.”
“I won’t, for real…”
Sour gives Twilight a 'I’m watching you' gesture, then she walks away from her. Sunset walks over and puts her hand on Twilight’s shoulder.
“Are you okay Twilight?”
“Sure. I just… I really hope I can do it. “
“You will do it. I’m sure you will.“
With her arm, Sunset reaches out to Twilight to rub her cheeks and make her friend laugh.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
Finally it is time to start the event. The four principals sit in a small booth at the site, from where they can see the entire track.
Cadence takes the mic. “Welcome everyone to the Triple Relay Race.”
The audience cheers with enthusiasm.
“In this event, the participants will compete in archery.”
Applejack and Fluttershy are seen on the field, and on the other side are Sour and Twilight.
“Speed skating.”
On the skating rink are Pinkie and Rarity, and Sunny with Lemon.
“And finally, motocross.”
On their bikes, Rainbow and Indigo look defiant. On her own side, Sugar remains unstoppable and Sunseen somewhat lost.
“When I got my driver’s license, I didn’t expect to use it to ride motocross. Is this even legal?”
Cadence finishes explaining the rules, and then a horn sounds signaling the start of the race.
Sour Sweet jumps over obstacles, Fluttershy goes after her but she’s not that agile. The bipolar girl takes the arrows and bow from her; after jumping into the mud, she rushes to shoot arrows hitting one of the targets.
Cadence sounds a second horn signaling clearance for Twilight to start running. Unfortunately, the scientist is not athletic at all and she ends up tripping several times. Which makes Sour Sweet desperate.
From her side, Fluttershy tries a couple of misses, but swallowing – almost literally - her insecurity shoots one more arrow, which hits the mark.
That allows Applejack to run, proving that her work on tje farm has paid off. Obstacles are no problem for her, and when Twilight manages to catch up with Sour, the farm girl does the same.
The scientist needs to adjust her glassed and tries to calculate her shot.
“Don’t screw it up, Sparkle!” Sour screams.
Looking at her partner, Twilight gets nervous and shoots an arrow, which misses.
From her own side, Applejack sees what happened but says nothing; instead, she breathes and prepares for her own shot. When she releases the arrow, it flies and hits the target.
The exit light comes on for Rarity and Pinkie, and they waste no time skating.
Sour sees that and gets more angry. “What did I just tell you?! Shoot and don’t miss!“
Twilight’s nerves get on edge, she tries to calm down and take aim.
“SHOOT NOW!”
The scream scares Twilight and when she releases the arrow, she misses again.
The Canterlot skaters made their first lap, causing all of Crystal’s students to freak out. Some even get angry.
Sour begins to growl and tremble with anger.
“Twilight, if we lose I swear I’ll …” A growl from her mouth stops her from finishing her own sentence, and Twilight can’t answer. She tries to take another arrow but it slips and falls to the ground.
From the highest point of the track, Indigo sees her friend worrying about her, while Sugar just looks indifferent.
“You are really bad at this!” The silver haired girl speaks loud enough to be heard. Indigo looks at her somewhat annoyed, even Rainbow gets angry.
Twilight looks extremely sad, and Sunset looks at her worriedly.
“Twi-“
“Don’t listen to her!”
Equestria’s fire-haired girl is cut off by the farmer when she raises her voice speaking to the scientist.
“Don’t listen to what they tell ya!”
“But…”
“Ya can do it! Yer Twilight Sparkle! Ya can do it all!“ The blonde assures in a confident tone.
Fluttershy also cheers her on with a soft smile. “We believe in you, Twilight.”
Twilight is incredulous when listening to them. “Do you believe in me? But… we are rivals… “
“It doesn’t matter,” AJ assures him. “Am really telling ya the truth. Ya can do it!”
Hearing those words from her makes her smile. Her face reflects a new confidence, enough to take one more arrow, prime it, take a deep breath, and shoot.
All her eyes are focused on the arrow as it flies, hitting the right center of the target. Which illuminates the exit light allowing Sunny and Lemon to rush out.
“WELL PLAYED, TWI-SPARK!”
“Well done, honey!”
“THAT’S OUR GIRL! WO-HOO!”
Lemon, Sunny and Indigo yell at their friend with glasses.
The cheerleaders from Crystal’s team start cheering on the girl with glasses, and the students in the stands cheer on the whole team.
Twilight smiles, genuinely happy for the whole scene. Looking at her rivals, they are just as happy as everyone.
“See? Ah told ya.“ Our farm girl says, and suddenly her body lights up. Her ears change and her hair spreads. She is surprised herself, but she smiles.
Twilight, on the other hand, is terrified. “Oh no!” The pendant floats out of her clothes. “Oh no … no no no no NO!”
The spectrometer opens and then Applejack’s magic begins to be absorbed.
“What are ya doin’?!” AJ asks feeling weak.
“I don’t know … it’s not …”
Desperately Twilight tries to pull the spectrometer to stop it, but she can’t. Turning her eyes, she notices that Sunset, standing several meters away, can see what is happening.
Applejack loses her strength, falls to her knees, and Fluttershy leans in to help her. When it finishes subtracting the magic, the pendant closes and because of her own struggle, Twilight ends up falling backwards off the platform and to the ground.
The fall causes her to drop the device and it bounces to the skating rink.
Sunset is shocked by what she sees, but quickly scowls at her and heads over to the place.
At the skating rink, Rarity and Pinkie continue their race, with Sunny and Lemon managing to make up a couple of laps.
Sunset approaches the artifact, but she must stop when sees the girls rushing closer. These hit the pendant and send it to the side, causing it to open.
Twilight sees it and tries to take it, but she is stopped when a spark opens a hole in the air, from which a strange vine comes out.
The skaters finish the race, and both teams allow their last competitors to start at the same time. The four girls start their engines and shoot out onto the motocross track.
Twilight is caught by that vine. But Sunset takes her from the arms and pulls her free from it.
“Twilight! What’s going on?”
“Sunset … I …”
Soon there are more portals opening across the field, and more vines spring up from them.
A particularly large one appears on the motocross track, and a plant with a huge mouth emerges from it.
Moving it vines covers the track, causing Sugarcoat to slide out of control.
Sunseen is terrified by the sight of that plant and tries to brake, but skids and falls out of her vehicle.
Indigo Zap is surprised, and cannot stop before her motorcycle climbs over that plant, and accidentally uses it as a ramp managing to overtake Rainbow Dash who was in front.
Such a vision makes Rainbow turn her head, and see her friend with glasses on the ground plus that plant stalking her.
“Sunset!”
The multi-colored girl stops her motorcycle, turns around and accelerates to catch up with Sunseen.
Indigo Zap also turns around, and seeing what happens wastes no time. She skids her bike for a half turn and returns to where she came from.
Sunset looks up, and sees how that plant had caught Sugacoat’s motorcycle in her mouth. The silver haired girl in question was hanging from the motorcycle, her stoic face had disappeared, showing the fear of seeing herself at that height, and clinging to a monstrous plant.
The plant destroys the motorcycle in its mouth, causing the girl to fall, hitting the stem a couple of times until she falls to the ground.
The plant, after eating the motorcycle, sees Sunseen and prepares to attack her but Rainbow manages to reach her, manages to grab and put her on the motorcycle before the plant catches her.
Indigo Zap also arrives at the scene and stops next to Sugar.
“Let’s get out of here!”
The silver-haired girl gives no objection, she gets on with the athlete and turns on her vehicle again to get away from it at full speed.
From her side, Sunseen regains her surprise and looks at her friend.
“Rainbow Dash, you saved me!”
“Of course! No friend of mine will become plant food!“
When she gets far enough away, stops the bike, gets up, and takes off her helmet. Soon her ears, tail and wings appear in a brilliant flash.
Such an event is seen by all eyes present. The amazement in Crystal’s youth is more than clear. Also from the principal of them, who then looks suspiciously at the principal of Canterlot.
Celestia is nervous.
“Go ahead Suns! We can still win!” The now winged girl cheers on her friend, starts the motorcycle and takes off the race.
As the race continues, Twilight and Sunset escape the surrounding vines.
On the track, Indigo drives fast with Sugar clinging to her.
A plant appears right in front of them and forces them to stop. Rainbow notices the plant ready to attack, so she flies towards it and knocks it away from them.
Indigo sees this and then sees how Sunseen passes them, so she accelerates and seeks to catch up.
As they both drive, Rainbow notices another plant chasing them from behind. She rushes in and manages to hit it before the plant can reach them.
Sunset resists the vines that tried to catch her, and Twilight manages to take the spectrometer.
The final stretch, both lead at the same time. Ultimately, is Sunseen who manages to cross the finish line first.
“And… Canterlot wins.” Cadence announces, very unsure. Cinch, on her side, is clearly upset.
Twilight manages to close the device, and in doing so all the portals disappear, along with the plants. Sunset needs a moment to catch her breath, and then turns to see her friend, upset.
“Twilight … WHAT?”
Twilight shrinks into herself.
Then the Rainbooms hurry up. Applejack is the first to speak “Sunset! Are ya all okay?“
Rainbow comes down from the air and screams excitedly. “Better than okay! We won! Did you see that?!”
Twilight tries to get away from her, but the spectrometer reactivates. “No…! No! Please!”
Everyone can see how the spectrometer begins to take the magic of Rainbow Dash; and again, Twilight tries and fails to stop it.
Sunseen is still on the motorcycle, her helmet on the ground and she, leaning on the vehicle, tries to recover from what happened. When she hears the commotion turns around and can see what is going on in the group.
“Twilight! Stop!” Sunset clearly demands annoyed.
“I’m trying! But… I don’t know how!” The young scientist cries out in despair.
Above them a large crack opens, and they all observe a starry sky.
“TWILIGHT!” Sunset screams angrily. Twilight is on the verge of tears.
“I-I’m sorry! I do not know what’s happening! I-“
“Of course you don’t know!”
Sunset interrupts her and takes the spectrometer in her hands. She makes an effort and manages to close it. The portal disappears, and Rainbow almost falls down very tired; she is helped by the others.
Sunset gives a yank, and with it cuts the cord that hung around Twilight’s neck.
Sunseen watches all of that, focusing especially on the device now in the hands of her double.
“I told you to not bring the spectrometer here! WHY DID YOU BRING IT?!” Sunset’s voice and face reveal her anger. Twilight can’t help but shrink back.
“I-I’m sorry … I just wanted to understand magic!”
“I told you it was dangerous! I told you to forget about the investigation! Why the hell you didn’t listening to me?!“
The more she talks, Sunset seems to get angrier. Twilight starts to shake and tears start to fall from her eyes.
The others see the scene but none of them know what to do.
“Magic is unstable and we don’t know what it’s capable of! I told you it could be dangerous, I can’t believe you were so stupid!”
Twilight is clearly scared. Her body trembles and she continues crying without being able to say anything or move. “I … I …”
“You’re supposed to be smart but you put everyone’s life in danger! The next time I tell you to stay out of something, DO WHAT I SAY DAMN IT!”
Twilight can do nothing but cringe and try to silence her sobs. Sunset turns around and growls furiously.
“URGH! I’m going to get rid of this thing before it hurts someone.“
She doesn’t say anything else, she just turns around and walks without looking at anyone.
Twilight just keeps sobbing, reaches out to her friend, but she makes no attempt to follow. Crystal’s Twilight friends approach, and like the Rainbooms, they look at her friend with concern.
Twilight breaks down in tears and turns to run and leave the place. Her friends follow her, while the Rainbooms are left in the place not knowing what to do.
Between all that happens, the principals of both schools are mired in their own conversation.
“Principal Celestia!” Cinch exclaims. “It seems to me that you owe us an explanation about all this.”
The woman’s voice is more authoritative than usual. And Celestia cannot comply with the request.
“You see, Principal Cinch-“
“Principal Celestia. I’m not going to question how you got those mechanized plants or whatever. But I must know why such element wasn’t informed to me.”
Celestia changes her nervous demeanor to surprise and bewilderment. “Um, yeah, well…”
Cinch continues with her claim. “More important. Using external elements during the competition is an unacceptable tactic.“
“Uhh … external elements?”
“Flying students?!” The strict woman questions the aurora-haired woman. “I don’t understand how you did it, but it is a serious breach of the regulations. No element that gives an advantage to a student is allowed.“
Celestia is speechless. “… sure, it’s true.”
“This race violates the established rules and cannot be counted as an official event.” Cinch claims with authority.
Celestia rubs the back of her neck, too confused. “Well, Principal Cinch, things got out of hand. Maybe it would be better if we cancel the games and declare a draw.”
“DRAW?! What audacity of yours, Celestia. Your illegal tricks will in no way succeed in giving you that satisfaction.“ Cinch exclaims, regaining her serious and firm gesture. “We will continue the games. And we'll win, even against your tricks.”
The woman says nothing more. She just walks away. Cadence crosses glances with Luna, then with Celestia, and in the end she retreats following her superior.
The Rainbooms are approaching and they also look very concerned about the whole situation.
A cold wind begins to blow, bringing dark clouds into the sky.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
Inside the school, Sunset walks briskly, her back slightly hunched forward, shoulders straight, and clenched fists intoning her angry and frustrated gesture.
“Ugh…! These things always happen to me.” As she walks, she shakes hands and speaks in a semi squeaky voice. “Win the Friendship Games, Sunset! Research the magic, Sunset! FIGHT WITH GIANT CARNIVORE PLANTS, SUNSET! Why does magic have to ruin EVERYTHING I DO?!”
To retaliate, she hits a locker in the hallway, a blow that echoes throughout the room.
Sunset takes the pendant and looks at it. “Uff, I’ll get rid of this thing, and then … then I don’t know what I’m going to do…”
The exequine keeps walking, and enters a room. She doesn’t notice that, behind her, someone takes the fire extinguisher on the wall.
Sunset enters the woodworking room. Without bothering to turn on the light, she goes to the tools and takes a hammer. She drops the spectrometer on a table and with a firm frown prepares to hit it.
PAM!
A heavy blow to her head knocks Sunset unconscious on the ground.
A silhouette behind her drops the fire extinguisher, and sees the now unconscious girl. Then, walks over to the table and takes the spectrometer.
The sky was covered by black clouds that deny the light, turning the environment dark and gloomy. A cold breeze begins to blow.
At the front of the school, the students had gathered. Canterlot and Crystal are in bleachers on opposite sides of campus. No one present seems to be in high spirits.
From the school entrance, Celestia, Luna and Cadence are standing. It is the vice principal who shows in her hand two flags with the symbols of the teams, while she speaks through a microphone.
“With both teams tied, it’stime for the final event of the Friendship Games. The flags of both teams are hidden somewhere on campus. The first team to find their respective school’s flag and bring it here will be the winner.“
Cadence takes the floor and begins to explain the rules of the last competition, but neither student is very attentive. Especially the Canterlot team.
“The truth is, I don’t feel like being in the games.” The shy girl says in a voice sure enough to be her.
Applejack agrees with her. “We're two now, sugarcube.“
Rainbow tries to cheer them up. “C’mon girls! For the first time we have a chance to win! We can’t give up!”
Rarity looks as downcast as the others. “Rainbow Dash… sorry to say this, but with all the magic theft I’m no longer feel motivated.”
“But… but we must win! For the school!”
Rainbow’s cherry eyes turn to the bleachers where the students are. There is a certain sadness and concern on her faces.
“Just look at that! The others are getting discouraged, again… “
The Rainbooms look at their teammates.
“We’re barely get over with Anon-a-Miss. If we lose now, the school will… “
None of them can speak, they all look down extremely concerned.
The pinkiest girl in the group notices a certain absence. “Hey, what about Sunseenie?”
From their part, Crystal’s side doesn’t look any better. Everyone is silent except for the whispers made talks of what happened previously.
Several in the stands look concerned, a few others look upset.
In the lower part, the blue cheerleader is seen trying to keep her spirits up.
“Crystal, Crystal, for the win!”
“Sonata, can you put that down?” The purple cheerleader asks about. “This isn’t a good time to cheer.”
“But everyone is sad! We are cheerleaders! We must make them happy!“
The orange cheerleader speaks. “Face it, Sonata. These are no longer games. Something strange is happening with the magic of this place.“
The three cheerleader sisters are silent.
“I liked disasters when we caused them.” The one with pigtails comments.
“But it’s no fun if they hurt our friends.” The least evil Dazzling finishes.
The siren leader closes her eyes and turns thoughtfully. “If we had our magic…”
No one knows what else to say, they just stay apart from the others.
Meanwhile, Crystal’s team listens to her principal’s words.
“Canterlot thinks they had the upper hand by breaking the rules of the event,” Cinch says in her normal stoic gesture. “But they are wrong. It is necessary to show this school that defeat is not an option for our institution.“
Between the principal ‘cheering’ on her team, Lemon, Indigo and Sunny get together to talk.
“Where is Twilight?” The short-haired girl asks.
“No idea.” Answers the girl with unruly hair. “She ran off saying she wanted to be alone and… I don’t know where she went.”
“This isn’t fun anymore…” The girl with the wild green mane comments.
“Tell me about it. Our best friends are mad at each other, and the games got dangerous.“ The athlete girl looks down, hurt. “I can’t believe what I’m about to say, but I’m not interested in winning this anymore.”
“Neither do I.” The elegant young teen seconded her. “I just want it to end and that we can fix this. To continue being friends.“
Cinch’s voice pulls them out of their conversation.
“Sunny Flare, Lemon Zest, Indigo Zap.”
“Oh! Yes, Principal Cinch?” Asks the girl with googles.
“Where are Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle?” The woman interrogates with some severity.
“Um, about that…”
Sunny Flare responds. “I’m afraid we don’t know, ma’am.”
Cinch’s gaze turns sharp and poisonous, the three of them get a little intimidated by that.
“Twilight Sparkle has been failing our school lately, and now she isn’t showing up for the final event. I’ll have to have a serious talk with her when we get back. As for Sunset Shimmer, her leadership in these games has been little more than pitiful. She seems like she isn’t up to her own demands.”
Cinch turns and walks away from the group, deep in her own thoughts.
The three girls look at her quite annoyed by her comments, although they quickly go back to worrying about her friends.
On their own side, Sour Sweet and Sugarcoat are separated and silent. Both with an impatible face, but constantly looking towards the other three of their team.
Neon Light approaches with the principal of her school. “Principal Cinch, what will we do if Twilight doesn’t make it to the competition?”
“Move along.” It is the woman’s response. “Those who are left behind aren’t worth our time. Twilight Sparkle was a promising young woman, but she is now very downcast. We musn’t let it drag us all away. We will continue without her.“
Again, the three friends get angry when they hear her.
“Urgh, that miserable witch should…” Indigo whispers clenching her fist, but Lemon and Sunny hold her so she won’t try anything else.
The whole team is silent.
Not too far away, in the statue of the school - hidden by the base of the steed - Twilight is sitting with her body resting on the base. Her legs bent, her arms resting on her knees and her forehead on them thus hiding her face.
She just stands there, an occasional shaking of her shoulders accompanied by sobs, overshadowed by the gust of the wind.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
Inside the school, Sunset begins to react. She grunts in pain and tries to get up. She falls again when feels a sharp pain in her head.
She moans as she reaches up to touch the sore area, then looks at her hand with concern, and finally manages to get up.
She holds the area of the hit and gradually realices where she is. Looking at the table, realices that the spectrometer disappeared. Sunset forgets her pain instantly and begins to look for the device, she bends down to see under the table and among the tools on it.
After looking back at the scene, she sees the fire extinguisher dropped on the ground. Sunset takes it, touches her head, and so she realices what happened; she drops the fire extinguisher again and rushes to run out of the place.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
Outside, a silhouette moves under the Canterlot bleachers, approaching the Rainbooms.
The five friends look around, looking for someone.
Rainbow crosses her arms in bewilderment. “Where did Sunseen go?”
“I’m here.”
They all turn when they hear her voice. They see her come out from under the stands holding their support with one hand, while the other is hidden behind her back.
“Hey, where were you?” The rainbow-haired athlete asks.
Sunseen remains calm, but there is something strange about her gaze. “Nowhere.”
Everyone looks at their new friend a bit confused.
“Are yah feeling good, sugarcube?”
Sunseen doesn’t answer right away, but instead walks over to everyone and gives them a dismissive smile. “Very well. In fact, I think I’ve never felt better.“
Despite the apparent confidence with which she speaks, her friends aren’t convinced.
Rainbow decides to speak. “Okey. I know we met you recently, but it seems like you’re acting strange.“
“What? No! Not at all.” Assures the fiery haired girl with that smile still on her face. She slowly turns around to walk past the group and head toward the center of campus.
“How about we continue? We have one more game, right? There is something I want to try.“
The five friends look confused, but Sunseen just keeps moving forward. Of course this gets everyone’s attention.
Cinch watches as the girl approaches the center and calls her team.
“Canterlot has started to move. Everyone, forward.” The woman gives the order. The team is unsure, and it takes a few seconds before moving forward.
Students from both schools see the movement and begin to cheer on their teams.
Hearing everyone’s call, the five friends decide to follow Sunseen.
The principals see the teams approach each other and get ready to start.
Luna begins the announcement. “If both teams are ready…”
Inside the school, Sunset runs through the hallways to the school entrance. She sees the directives on their backs and rushes to move at their side to see what is going on out there.
Sunseen stops, staying right in the path between the school and the statue. There, she takes what is on her back and holds it in her hands.
Cadence follows Luna’s announcement. “The last event of the Friendship Games begins…”
The Rainbooms freak out, the Shadowbolts stop, and Sunset freaks out as soon as she sees the spectrometer in Sunseen’s hands.
The new girl from Canterlot holds the spectrometer, slowly opening it with both hands.
The Shadowbolts, the Rainbooms, and also Sunset all run towards her to stop her.
“Now!”
“Sunset, no!!!”
The moment Sunseen opens the spectrometer, an energy wave is released and pushes everyone back. His glasses fly off.
The wave crosses the entire campus, everyone feels it and immediately falls silent without knowing what is happening. It even reaches Twilight, who looks up in surprise and in bewilderment gets up watching from the corner of the base what happens.
The spectrometer falls from Sunseen’s hands, but the energy within is blazing, causing the girl to rise above the ground.
Rainbooms and Shadowbolts look at this in horror. Sunseen herself is shocked, fear reflected in her gaze.
She rolls her eyes to see Sunset on the ground, and she looks at her in awe and panic.
The energy in Sunseen’s hands grows, everyone stands up and continues to look at her in terror.
Twilight, from her hiding place, is also terrified at what happens.
Sunseen sees that energy, reflexively trying to move her head away as it grows and begins to consume her body. Her scream of terror and pain is the last heard before her entire body is consumed by energy.
The silhouette of the girl is distinguished in that sphere of light, and then… explodes.
Sunseen feels her body float in the void, her sight blinded. She can only feel a scorching heat, burning flames crossing and burning her skin turning it bright red.
The embers cover her body transforming into a suit, high boots, gloves up to her elbows; a fitted dress in a flame design with a meandering ponytail. She feels her back tear and the pain of her flesh as two sinister wings of red plumage emerge.
Finally, the fire rises up her forehead creating a broken horn of red energy.
Her hair rises like flames, and when she opens her eyes the embers surround her gaze forming something like a flaming mask.
All witness the aspect of this new being, which remains motionless in the air staring into nothingness.
Vinyl Scratch adjusts his glasses as he watches. “… Wow.”
The being doesn’t move, it doesn’t say anything. It just stays there.
The girls around them recoil in fear. Sunset can’t move, too engrossed in what she sees.
After a few seconds, the being looks down, looks at her hands, looks at herself. She looks at her hand and clenches it into a fist. The horn on her forehead glows, lights up as if on fire and an energy runs up her arm, thus launching a beam of energy in the direction of the school statue.
Twilight, who is still there, rushes to jump back just before the steed statue blows to pieces.
The creature looks at the result of her attack, remains silent. She then forms a smile with her lips and starts laughing.
“BHA HA HA HA HA HA! THIS IS... “
This being speaks with a female voice equal to Sunseen’s, corrupted by an infernal echo.
“…This is magic!!!”
As she rejoices in her act, there is more surprise when from the base of the statue a fissure emerges that opens a view to another world.
Adagio and her sisters sees it.
“Equestria.” It’s the only thing Adagio can pronounce without being able to get out of her current shock.
The cracks run from the statue through the ground, one of them heading towards the Rainbooms. The evil being sees this and sends a beam of energy against them.
The five manage to jump to avoid it, but the impact creates another fissure towards Equestria.
The cracks spread along the ground and release sparks that open gradually growing fissures in the air.
Chaos and fear doesn’t awaits. The young people start running looking to get away from the place.
The being sees the base of the statue and centers her two hands on it. By extending them causes a huge crack causing it to expand to the sides, spreading around the entire campus.
The students trying to escape see how the ground literally opens in front of them making their escape impossible.
The former equine screams desperately. “Sunset!”
Our teenager approaches and screams desperately at her former twin.
“Well, it’s my magical double.” That demonic cresture speaks with a voice from beyond the grave.
“Sunset! You must stop!”
“And why would I? There is a world to discover!”She raises both hands, charging them with energy. “AND IT’S FULL OF MAGIC!”
Once again, sends her energy to open more rifts.
Sunset avoids a rift that opens near her. “But you are destroying THIS world!”
“SO WHAT?!” She asks to her ex - twin with a wry smile. “This world is of no value to me! Now I understand, I never belonged here! No matter where I went, I knew I didn’t fit in.“
Suddenly Sunset feels trapped by a force she doesn’t see, and she is thrown up being right in front of the fire being.
With a look that borders on the sensual and the evil, the creature’s hand caresses Sunset’s cheek.
“Then you came, and I realized the truth. Why we were so different.“
Her touch changes, grabs Sunset’s face with both hands, her long nails prick Sunset’s skin like they want to rip it off.
“IT’S THE MAGIC!” The winged being yells with a mad smile. “Magic has made you what you are! AND IT’S WHAT I WANT NOW!“
Sunset looks terrified but tries to speak. “Sunset …”
“I’M NO LONGER SUNSET SHIMMER!” This being screams with confidence and madness. “Starting today, I will be known as DOOMSDAY SHIMMER!”
With her name echoing through the scene, the chaos continues. The ground keeps cracking.
The portals open under the feet of the students and they begin to back up to avoid falling.
Cadence runs around the place trying, and failing, to get the attention of those present.
“Everyone! Please be calm! Everything will be fine, I need you to… calm down!“ Although she screams and tries to call them, no one listens.
The students are too scared to hear it.
Luna decides to go over and take her by the shoulder. “They won’t listen to you Cade, they are so scared.”
“But … but we must do something!”
“We can’t do much. For now, let’s take the students inside. So we can have them safe.”
Cadence nods and runs to keep trying to get everyone’s attention. Luna turns around and prepares to do the same, but stops when she sees her sister standing in the middle of the mess, with a lost look.
“Celestia? Celestia! What’s wrong with you?!”
The Canterlot’s principal doesn’t respond, her eyes lost on the campus, seeing the students running. Reality itself literally falling apart.
“CELESTIA!” Luna takes her sister by her shoulders and shakes Celestia to make her react. “Snap it out! You have to help the students!“
The older sister looks at the younger, her face is neutral, without emotion. For a moment she doesn’t say anything, but then she lowers her head and whispers.
“… I failed …”
“W-what?”
“I failed… I… failed, Luna…” The woman hugs herself as her eyes begin to form tears. “It’s my fault… I just wanted… to take care of my school, and now-“
Her words are muted when she feels a slap on her cheek. It takes a few seconds for her to assimilate what happened, and when she turns to her sister sees the vice principal with her hand raised, a sign of her attack.
“This is not the time to pity yourself, sister.”
Celestia is speechless, she just looks at her younger sister with trembling eyes.
“If you want to aid the students, help me getting them inside. They will be safer than here.”
They look at each other for a moment longer, and then the youngest rushes to look for the students. Celestia remains standing there, but she finally wipes her tears and goes by herself.
Students run around the place, desperately seeking to escape the holes that open under their feet and above their heads.
The ground in the center of the campus literally begins to fall creating a portal that leads to the sky of another world. The students desperately search for an area to avoid the fall.
The Rainbooms waste no time trying to rally their companions. Rainbow holds up a student who was about to fall, and she forces herself to pick him up. At that Lightning Dust walks over and, to Rainbow’s surprise, helps her lift the boy.
Rarity is about to fall, but Indigo arrives and grabs her hand in time to avoid it. She then struggles to pick her up, and Lemon wraps Zap around her waist to help her out.
Flash, along with a group of students, see a crack widening towards them. Then, they all run and climb Crystal’s steps to escape, but the crack begins to grow under the structure.
Sunny Flare holds onto Upper Crust when she slips into a crevasse. She pulls her to avoid the hole, then brings her closer to Suri and sends her to Cadence who was gathering the students.
However, a crack reaches Sunny’s feet, and when it opens catches her leg.
Flash sees this and immediately goes down the stairs, from these jumps to a solid floor space in the hole, and from this manages to jump on stable ground. From there, runs until he reaches Sunny and tries to free the girl by pulling her; the hole in her leg enlarges, Sunny almost falls but thanks to Flash holding her pushes up and they both move away from it. However, they are soon surrounded by cracks that begin to open. Both are holding the other in fear.
Sunset, caught in midair, sees all the mess and tries to move. She struggles, but it is impossible.
The fire being, Doomsday, looks around with an evil, almost manic smile. Moving her hands causes more cracks that gradually open, the ground and the sky are filled with views of Equestria.
“Sunset! Please! Ugh… you must stop…” Pleads our equestrian acquaintance.
“Why would I stop?” Doomsday asks to the one twinwho was her twin. “There is a whole world waiting for me. A world that will give me EVERYTHING I could wish for!“
Sunset screams in despair. “No! It won’t! Trust me, I was in the same position as you. I thought magic would give me everything I wanted, but it didn’t!“ As she speaks, the girl tries to loosen up and looks at the evil young woman in despair. “Somebody made me see the truth, that misused magic would only cause me pain.”
“Pain? What do you know about pain?” Doomsday leans closer until her nose brushes Sunset’s and she looks at her. “YOU have EVERYTHING! You have many friends, You’re popular! You’re strong! You’re smart!” Doomsday’s voice becomes more aggressive. “The world loves you wherever you go! YOU HAVE A PLACE TO BELONG TO! AND YOU ARE NOT EVEN FROM THIS WORLD!“
Sunset is shocked by what she hears and, although tries, she cannot answer.
“But I… I have lived my life without knowing a real place. I have NEVER felt accepted. Even when the people around me are kind, something in me was still empty.“
Everyone present hears Doomsday’s confession, even as they struggle not to fall into the holes.
“YOU found your place. Now, I want to find mine.“
Sunset can’t answer, her mind is lost from Doomsday’s words.
With a wave of her hand, Doomsday throws Sunset toward the ground at high speed.
The equestrian girl would have hit the ground hard, but Sugarcoat & Sour Sweet manage to run and catch her, although all three end up on the ground.
Sour is the first to speak. “Are you okay, Sunset?”
“Ugh… yeah, but…”
Sunset looks at her former counterpart, and Doomsday just spreads her hands out to her sides and her eyes sparkle.
“I will find a place for myself, or create ONE!” With that scream, her horn ignites and the cracks widen.
Students huddle around the edges of the place. The stands make the appearance of falling, terrifying the students who had climbed. The directives had led some inside the school, but now the main door was surrounded by the large hole, impossible to enter or exit.
Flash and Sunny Flare hold each other in a hug, as they watch the scant soil at their feet collapse, leaving too little space.
Sonata and her sisters climb the side of one of Canterlot’s bleachers, aided by the students to avoid the spreading rift. And the Rainbooms, along with the Shadowbolts, are surrounded by holes along with the students who have helped.
As a couple of students run around the place to avoid. The growing rift, the spectrometer on the ground is kicked a couple of times arriving at the base of the school, where Twilight is hidden looking at everything.
The young woman with glasses looks to the ground, the spectrometer dropped, she looks up seeing everyone at the mercy of Doomsday. She hesitates, but soon her gaze turns determined.
With the artifact in hand, she climbs with some effort to the base where the statue was. Looking at the terrain she needs to take a few breaths, and steel herself, before screaming.
“DOOMSDAY!”
The scream not only made the corrupt girl turn, but everyone present.
“It’s enough! This is not the way! I know what you feel! I know that feeling… the feeling you fit in nowhere. I… I have felt it too…“
Everyone, especially her friends, looks at the scientist with surprise. Her friends seem to care about her words.
Doomsday, on her side, says nothing. She just looks at her with a serious expression.
“But this is not the way!” Twilight exclaims and her gaze trembles and crystallizes. “You can’t force things your way! It’s not right! You will never be happy like this!“
Doomsday gives a cheeky smile. “Oh, you are wrong. With this power, I will have the world I want, EVERYTHING I want!”
“IS NOT TRUE!” Twilight screams almost desperately. And clutching her chest, Twilight seems to force herself not to cry. “Even with all the power, there are things you can NEVER have.”
Twilight opens the spectrometer and holds it with both hands. Immediately it begins to glow. Her friends see her surprised, and Sunset especially worried.
“You won’t have the loyalty of someone who supports you at all times.”
Suddenly, Flash feels the heat in his body. Both he and Sunny are surprised to see it glow and energy flows from him.
“The honesty of someone who is not afraid to express her feelings.”
Again there is surprise when Sunny Flare shines and her energy also flows from her feeling
“Someone to share their laughs with you.”
Lemon straightens up when she feels that heat, and her energy flows.
“The generosity of those who give themselves for others.”
Now Indigo shines and her energy flows.
“The kindness of those who learned to love.”
Aria and Adagio are shocked when Sonata shines like everyone else and her energy flows.
Five pillars of light. Five sources of magic that soar, then head straight for the scientist.
The spectrometer takes all that magic and shines brightly making the girl holding it start to rise.
“I understand you Sunset, and I may not understand magic.” As she talks and floats, Twilight’s eyes fill with hope. “But I CAN show you which is the most powerful magic of all!”
Closing the spectrometer she takes it in one hand, and without a trace of a doubt she throws it against the base, smashing it to pieces thus creating a wave of magic that looses her hair and removes her glasses.
The magic expands and covers her completely.
The light expands and mixes with the small tears that fall from Twi’s eyes. High boots, a short wavy skirt dress and a cloth train; wristbands on her arms, a choker on her neck, and a star-shaped brooch fastens her hair in a ponytail. All in a silver crystal color that shines and dazzles with its own light.
On her back, aces of violet light form wings, and a flash on her forehead simulates a horno. Finally, the same light surrounds her eyes creating a kind of mask.
When the light dimmed, she was hovering above the base at the same level as Doomsday.
With a calm and soft voice that resonates with a mystical echo, she speaks once more.
“The Magic of Friendship.”
Her friends smile. The Rainbooms smile. Aria, Adagio, Lightning, Sour and also Sugar.
Doomsday is shocked.
Just by raising her hands Twilight sends her energy into each crevice and immediately closes them, removing all traces of their existence.
Doomsday sees this and gets enraged. She lunges at Twilight and she answers as well. Their shock creates a wave that shakes all the air and a light forces everyone to close their eyes.
Doomsday flies away and prepares a fiery energy in both hands, then launches a reddish beam towards Twilight. The young woman responds by joining her hands and her pink energy to launch her own beam.
Both energies collide and fight causing a slight tremor in the place.
Twilight struggles to maintain her strength, but Doomsday almost roars and strengthens her attack.
The scientist tries harder to resist it, Doomsday laughs as she sees herself taking the lead.
On the ground, Sunset and the others look on with concern.
“SHIMMER!”
Sunset turns to Lightning and sees her with her back to Doomsday, both hands down, together. Recognizing that position, Sunset rushes to run towards her.
With a jump, Lightning catches Sunset’s foot and forcefully throws her into the air. Sunset also propels herself and with that she rises, managing to reach Doomsday and grab on to her waist.
This makes the corrupt girl turn to see her double clinging to her.
“Sunset Shimmer!”
Twilight sees the opportunity, gathers all of her power and throws it into Doomsday.
She is seen to be surrounded by the girl’s magic.
“NOOooo …!”
~ Friendship Among Games ~
…
……
Everything turns white.
Twilight, Doomsday and Sunset are seen floating in an infinite place, full of light.
Sunset is still hugging Doomsday’s waist and Twilight gently walks over to her. Doomsday looks scared, her body shrinking when she feels cornered by both of them.
Sunset grabs her hug, but keeps it soft and speaks calmly to her.
“There is a better way, Sunset.”
Twilight walks over and smiles softly, as she wraps Doomsday’s shoulders as joins in that hug.
“Let us show you.”
Both Sunset and Twilight lean on the shoulders of the girl they hug.
Doomsday is silent, unable to move, pain is seen on her face as tears fall from her cheeks. Her shoulders drop, her body relaxes and she leans on Twilight’s shoulder, taking refuge in their embrace.
All three are covered by an ace of light that rises from their feet to cover their entire body.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
A pillar of light can be seen in the center of the campus. Inside, the silhouette of the three girls slowly descends as the light begins to fade.
When the light is extinguished, the teens are seen engulfed in its embrace. They remain like this for a few seconds until Sunseen opens her eyes and breaks her embrace to see towards the base, the remains of the shattered statue.
She looks around, there is no sign of the portals or the damage they caused, but everyone is watching her warily.
She looks back at the base.
“I … I did that …?” Sunseen asks.
They doesn’t give time for any response, then tears begin to form in her eyes.
Sunset takes her by the shoulder and speaks to her softly. “It wasn’t your fault.”
Despite her doppelganger’s words, Sunseen puts both hands on her chest and begins to cry. “I’m sorry… I… I don’t know what happened to me. I just … I just wanted … “
Sunset approaches her without letting go her shoulder, and Twilight takes one of Sunseen’s hands in hers.
“… I thought if I had magic, I would be like you … that I could be as good, and as strong as you…” Sunseen spoke in a cracking voice. “I never wanted this to happen,” she exclaims softly.
Sunset looks at her pityingly, but soon smiles at her. “I know. And speaking from my own experience, everyone will forgive you.“
Sunset decides to hug her doppelganger again by her waist, and joins her cheek with hers.
Twilight also joins in and hugs Sunseen sticking to the other cheek.
Sunseen smiles, tears fall, but she accepts the hug.
Their friends soon get closer. And Sunseen is surprised when Rainbow hands her a certain item.
“Hey, Sunseen! I have your glasses.”
Sugarcoat does the same with her own set of glasses. “Sparkle, I think this is yours.”
Both girls receive their glasses, and put them on. However, as soon as they do, they blink in confusion; then they look at each other, laugh at the same time, they take off their glasses to hand them over to the other putting them on again and smiling together.
In one corner, emerging from under the bleachers, Principal Cinch already looks at everything calm and frowns.
Celestia hurries from the entrance to the girls but Cinch gets in the way.
“Principal Celestia!” Cinch exclaims in frustration “You and your school have broken the competitive rules of the Friendship Games! I demand that you quit the competition and hand over victory to Crystal Preparatory!“
“FINE!” Celestia screams quite annoyed. “Keep your stupid victory. Now, get out of my way!“
To Cinch’s surprise, Celestia pushes her aside and ignores her to run towards the three girls.
“Sunset! Twilight! Sunset!“
The aurora-haired woman walks up to them.
Celestia hugs Sunset making her feel embarrassed. “Are you alright?” Celestia leaves Sunset and hugs Twilight, confusing the scientist. “Are you hurt?” Leaving Twilight, the woman takes Sunseen by her shoulders and looks at her with utter concern. “Sunset! Does something hurts you?”
Sunseen is too perplexed “Ah… no, no. I’m fine, really.”
To the girl’s surprise, the woman hugs her tightly. “Oh, I was so worried. Are you three okay?“ Celestia asks, letting go of Sunseen and looking at the teenage girls.
Sunset, although nervous, answers to the woman. “We are doing well, Principal Celestia. Believe it.”
Twilight nods her head.
Celestia continues to look at them worriedly and then hugs the three teenagers, squeezing them a little, to their slight pain.
“Err… does she do this often?” Asks the Sunset with glasses.
Her twin laughs nervously, though gracefully. “Oh, you’ll get used to it after a while.”
Celestia continues to hug them for a moment, and then lets them go looking at them with joy.
“I’m glad to know you are all safe.” Suddenly, Celestia changes her happy attitude to an angry one and scolds them like a mother would. “Don’t do something like that again!!”
Sunset laughs, Twilight is still confused, and Sunseen seems sorry.
“Principal Celestia … I’m sorry … I didn’t want any of this to happen…”
Celestia clears her expression of annoyance and looks at the girl with empathy.
“I'll understand if you want to expel me now…” Sunseen says this in a broken voice and tears begin to fall. But Celestia walks over and puts a hand on her shoulder.
“Sunset, don’t be silly. This school will always have a place for you.“ As the woman speaks, she wipes Sunseen’s cheek and fixes the young woman’s hair behind her ear.
Sunseen looks at her in surprise. Celestia just smiles at her and cries again, but smiling.
On her own side, Cinch gathers some of her students together and looks at them with a proud smile.
“This year’s Friendship Games haven’t been what we all expected, but I am pleased to announce that we have obtained another victory. Crystal Prep thriumps over Canterlot once more.“
The woman says all this with a smile, but none of her students share it. They look at each other, the students who are further away also heard her but remain stoic.
Eventually they all seem to ignore her and separate to go pass her side.
Cinch watches them leave and is surprised to find herself alone.
Crystal’s students begin to get closer to Canterlot’s. They begin to talk, to laugh. An atmosphere of friendship and peace fills the air as all the students talk, smile, and interact with each other.
Cadence watches the scene. Her eyes shining and shaking as if she were going to cry, but the smile on her mouth couldn’t be bigger.
Luna walks over with her, also smiling at the sight. “Your school has changed.”
“I know! Is not wonderful?!”
Cadence’s joy forces her to hug her managerial friend. Luna can only smile, roll her eyes at the dean, and hug her too.
Sunset, the Rainbooms, Sunseen, the Shadowbolts, the Dazzlings, Flash and also Lightning are gathered. All smiling softly at the image of both happy schools.
“So, these are the Friendship Games? It was fun! When do we repeat it? “
The dimensional foreinger’s question wins a couple of hits, not too hard, but everyone laughs together.
Crystal Preparatory’s students begin to board their buses. Many of them give a gentle but kind goodbye to the Canterlot’ students and they answer to the goodbye themselves.
Not far from the base, now absent from a statue, a large group is gathered. Sunset, her friends, the Rainbooms and Sunseen – even the Dazzlings are there – with Flash joining them.
“So, I guess you’re leaving now.” Rainbow talks to the Crystal Prep group.
Indigo is the one who answers her. “Yes, but it was fun to come. Even if it almost killed us.”
“And it was good meeting you. And your school.” Sunny Flare says sincerely.
“Likewise, darling.” Rarity responds. “We are happy to hear that Sunset is in good hands.”
Indigo surrounds the former equine by her shoulders and draws her closer. “Rest assured. This girl is safe with us.”
Sunset rolls her eyes humorously. “Suuuure.” She breaks free from Indigo’s grasp to speak. “Anyway, it was good to see you all. I mean it. And it was good to see the school is better now.“
They all smile at each other. Except for Sunseen, who seems distant, keeping her arms crossed and her gaze lowered with a sorrowful expression.
Sunset notices her and immediately walks over to her.
“Hey, it’s okay. What happened wasn’t your fault. “
Sunseen looks up, just enough to meet Sunset’s, and her eyes tremble slightly.
“It’s just… now… I don’t know what to do. The principal isn’t going to expel me, but…” Sunseen speaks quietly, notoriously embarrassed. “How could I go back to school after what happened? Sure everyone here is going to hate me… “
As she speaks, her voice begins to break and forces herself to wipe her eyes to avoid tears. Sunset smiles softly and fixes a lock of her hair
“Trust me. If there is a place where a teenage girl who was corrupted by evil magic and tried to destroy the world can be safe, it’s here.”
Both fire-haired girls look at each other for a moment. Then the visitor turns to the resident students.
“Rainbooms.”
She calls out to them and the girls give her their undivided attention.
“Long ago, Princess Twilight entrusted you with my care.” Our Sunset speaks seriously. “Now, I want to do the same and entrust you with the care of my counterpart.”
The five girls smile, and approach both of them. Fluttershy stays next to Sunseen smiling at her, Pinkie wraps her part in a hug.
Rarity stays with Applejack near them. Rainbow stands in front of her former friend, smiling with a shaky but confident look.
“We will,” Rainbow Dash assures. “And we won’t fail this time.”
Sunset smiles. She looks at everyone, and they smile emitting their feelings.
“Well, I’m counting on all of you then. Don’t fail me.“
“Never again.”
Rainbow and Sunset hold hands, and the two pink-haired girls hug her newest friend.
Sunseen smiles but feels like she’s about to cry again.
Sunset talks to her twin again. “Sunset, you said earlier that you haven’t found a place to belong. But you know, when you were Doomsday, and you said those things to me, I realized.“ Sunset pauses before continuing. “That I have everything I could want, and to have it I just have to accept it.”
Sunseen is shocked, and seems a bit puzzled. Sunset puts a hand on her shoulder.
“You’ve looked for a place to belong, but it’s not about being accepted. But to accept it.“
Sunseen thinks about it, tears threaten to fall, and she just smiles in agreement. The three remaining Rainbooms join the hug.
The others present smile at the scene. Except Aria, who gives a gesture of wanting to throw up.
Indigo decides to speak now. “Well, I think we better go. The bus drivers are able to drop us here if we don’t hurry.”
Crystal’s students, and her fellow cheerleaders, agree and prepare to leave. Sunset pauses another minute to turn to the only male friend of hers in the group.
“Flash, the message to the princess?”
Flash reacts to that, from his backpack on the floor he takes out the diary and opens it. “There’s no answer…”
Sunset is intrigued, but in the end she smiles. “Well, it doesn’t matter. Just let her know everything is fine now, okay? We don’t need to worry her anymore.“
“Sure, I’ll do it right away.”
They smile at each other and a call from her friends makes Sunset rush to the bus.
All Canterlot’s students bid their enthusiastic and friendly farewell to the boys and girls of Crystal. Likewise, Crystal’s students return the farewell.
There are greetings and good wishes from both parties. Soon the buses start up.
The Rainbooms run around the near a bit, to see the vehicles fading into the horizon of the street.
They all smile, feeling the sun and heat cover them completely. Cover the entire school.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
Inside one of the buses.
Sunset and her friends are sitting in the back rows. Like all students, they are immersed in their talks about everything that happened.
As they talk and laugh, Twilight, sitting next to her exequine friend – close to the bus’s wall – doesn’t share the spirit; she only limits herself to gazing at her friend.
Sunset follows her talk, but when she turns around, notices Twilight’s gaze. She clears her smile, Twilight immediately turns to the other side to avoid making eye contact.
Sunset continues to stare at her, Twilight doesn’t dare look up. She is seen to become more depressed.
Sunset looks down at the ground, takes a deep breath, and releases it. Then, with a serious look, she starts talking to her friend with glasses.
“Twilight.”
The girl doesn’t dare to turn around, but is startled when she hears her call.
“I’m not going to apologize for what I said. You were wrong to carry the spectrometer, and even more so without telling me what was happening.“
Twilight bows her head, her eyes trembling on the verge of crying.
“But, I want to apologize for yelling at you.” Sunset dares to take one of Twilight’s hands in hers. The scientist stiffens at the touch.
Finally her eyes roll enough to meet Sunset’s eyes.
“I was upset, and even more, scared by what had happened.” Sunset says calmly. “But it wasn’t right for me to talk to you like that … I hope you can forgive me.”
Releasing the girl’s hand, bringing it to her cheek and caressing her gently, Twilight relaxes from that touch managing to turn her entire head to face Sunset.
“I’m so sorry…” Twilight finally speaks. “I didn’t mean… I didn’t think something like this would happen…”
“I know. And I forgive you, if you forgive me for having spoken so ugly to you.“
Twilight just smiles and leans against Sunset’s man, feeling relaxed. Sunset puts her arm around the girl’s back.
“… We… we’re still friends, right?” The one with glasses still asks fearfully. Sunset laughs softly and smiles cheerfully as she gently pinches her friend’s nose with her free hand.
“Sure, silly. The fact I get mad from time to time won’t make me love you less.”
Twilight widens her smile and leans more on Sunset.
There is a soft sound in the form of a… purr?
“Owwww, how cute you look like that.”
Neither of them realized their talk had been heard, and seen by everyone around. Not just her friends; other students had turned to see the scene and are currently smiling, laughing, and some even taking pictures of the two hugging.
They both grieve and Twilight rushes away from Sunset and hides her totally red face against the wall.
After that, she bursts out laughing inside the bus.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
Back at school, Principal Cinch carefully places the new Friendship Games representative prize in the trophy’s case of her office. She gives it a light step with a bandana and then closes the window; next, she begins to speak without turning around.
“I must say, Sunset Shimmer,” Cinch finally turns and looks at the girl’s back sitting on the bench. “I expected more from you. Your performance during the games was weak.”
Sunset only hears the woman behind her. Her left leg crossed over her right, and both arms crossed under her chest; her face is a firm neutral frown but her eyes show her annoyance.
“Stop complaining Cinch,” Sunset answers heavily. “We won, we gave you your precious victory. And your ‘reputation’ is intact.“
Sunset says all this in a condescending voice, lacking in respect.
Cinch starts walking closer to the girl. “But we were a few steps away from NOT achieving it. I trusted in your judgment, and your guidance in these games, Miss Shimmer.“ The woman’s voice is quite severe, but at the same time calm. “However, our school had severe setbacks. I must say that you have disappointed me, and you have disappointed our institution.“
Sunset looks away and moves her mouth to the side in disgust. “Yes, what about that? Are you going to send me double homework for ‘almost not winning’?”
She says the last sentence in an almost sarcastic way while she faces the woman with some disrespect.
“I’m going to ask you to monitor your performance, Miss Shimmer.” Cinch speaks more calmly, but with bitterness in her voice. “This school, and the students, have a special interest and trust in you. They see you as a leader, and the successes as well the failures of a group depend on its leader.“
Sunset looks seriously at the woman, narrowing her gaze a little.
“What are you up to, Cinch?”
“What do you mean, Miss Shimmer?”
“Since you included me in the games, you has been prodding me to help the students, but they don’t need my help. They would have won the games even without me.“ Sunset pauses for a bit before continuing. “Why did you put me in this for?”
Cinch adjusts her glasses and maintains her firm and calm, but serious, character. “I wanted to favor the students. Having you as captain would give them security and motivation.“
Sunset sharpens her gaze with a serious and annoyed expression. “Just like the motivation you gave Twilight?”
Cinch falls silent and meets the girl’s gaze. “I don’t understand what you mean.”
“Quit pretending Cinch,” Sunset says dryly. “Twilight told me everything. You threatened to deny her request to Everton, and even to influence the managers to never allow her to enter.“
Abacus Cinch, still with her stoic face, looks at the girl. “That is a serious accusation from your part, Miss Shimmer.”
“I’m not accusing you. I’m just repeating what Twilight told me.“
“My business with Miss Sparkle is none of your concern.”
Sunset is silent for a moment. They both look at the other with frowns and almost venomous looks, full of contempt.
“You’re full of shit Cinch,” our equestrian girl finally says. “You think you can use the students at your convenience.”
“What I do is promote the development of each student in this school.” The woman responds now by looking angry. “Each one of my actions is only in favor of all.”
“I don’t see how denying Twilight a college entrance favors her.”
“Twilight Sparkle’s participation in the Friendship Games was necessary. We couldn’t face this competition without making use of our best student.”
“That doesn’t justify you forcing her.” Sunset is more angered by the older woman’s behavior. “Twilight is not a pet that you can leash wherever you want.”
Cinch’s patience wears out with every word he hears.
“Twilight Sparkle was a promising young woman who brought pride to my institution, but she has recently become corrupted with a rebellious impulse.” Crystal’s principal speaks in an almost poisonous tone. “And it’s clear that you are the reason for this. You, Sunset Shimmer, have contaminated my illustrious establishment and my students with your arrogant and arrogant attitude.“
“Well, why don’t you kick me out? Oh, right! You already tried that.“ Sunset makes a gesture of looking at her nails as she smiles at the principal. “But you couldn’t.”
Such behavior, and her words, make Cinch almost lose her composure.
“You should watch your attitude, Miss Shimmer. You won’t want to see me angry.“
Sunset clears her smile and gives Cinch a stern and defiant look.
“And you don’t want to see me angry, Cinch.”
They both start a kind of silent battle, looking at the other with contempt.
~ Friendship Among Games ~
Sunset leaves the office, allows herself a moment to breathe, and leans against the door to calm her nerves.
After that, she smiles. A confident smile and a certain malice. Taking her phone and looking at it for a moment, she puts it back, retiring with a confident step.
~ Friendship Among Games~
On a clear night, the moon and her fellow stars shine softly in the sky.
At Canterlot High School, a party is held.
Balloons, streamers, tables full of sugary snacks. And a banner at the top that announces: ‘Friendship Games Party’
Young people from Canterlot, and also from Crystal, are hanging out.
Some dance to the music, courtesy from could it be otherwise than Vinyl Scratch. Others chat while enjoying the sugar sandwiches.
Sunset pours herself some punch and notices her friend Twilight coming over to do the same.
“Hey Twilight! We saw your video!“
“I didn’t think you were cool, but now I do!”
“You are so badass!”
Some boys talk as they pass near them. Twilight, hearing them, can only shrink into herself, blush, and try to swallow her embarrassment with a sip of punch.
Sunset spots her and taps her elbow gently as she smirks.
“Should I be jealous about you being so popular now?” Our fiery haired girl asks jokingly.
“Shut up Sunset.” Twilight answers annoyed, but at the same time in a good mood.
Sunset can only laugh.
“I don’t think they recorded what happened,” Twilight says suddenly. “Really. The world was falling apart, literally speaking, and did some people think it was a good idea to record it?“
“That’s the way people are, Twily.” Answers her friend. “Cheer up! Now you are a hero to everyone!“
Lyra, Bon-Bon, and Octavia suddenly pass by and greet them.
“Hey Twilight!”
“We saw you on the net.”
“Thank you for saving us all.”
Canterlot’s three friends talk and Twilight can’t help but blush and try to hide behind her punch glass.
“Tell me this will end soon!”
Sunset can only laugh. “Easy, you’ll get used to it.”
Sunset can only smile and put an arm around Twilight and then walk with her.
Elsewhere, Aria is with Sonata at the snack table.
“I can’t believe we’re back here, again!”
“Come on Arie! It’s a party!” The blue siren tries to cheer up her sister.
“Pfft! I hate parties. There aren’t even lemon candies in this place.“ It’s the violet siren’s response.
But out of nowhere Pinkie Pie appears with a tray of cupcakes decorated with lemon-shaped candy, and she hands them to Aria with a big smile.
The girl with pigtails growls but takes one and eats it.
“Thanks.”
Aria says it somewhat rude, and with the bite in her mouth.
Sonata smiles but then looks around her. “Hey Arie, where’s Adie?”
“Don’t know, don’t care.”
~ Friendship Among Games~
Outside of the party, in the school principal’s office, Celestia is sitting at her desk looking at a small but tall bag on the cabinet.
“Why did you ask me to come here?” The aurora-haired woman asks. “I must supervise the party.”
“Don’t stress so much. Your boys & girls know how to take care of themselves. Besides, your sister and your niece or whatever she is are there.“ Adagio answers.
Then she pulls out of that bag a bottle adorned with a gift bow, one that Celestia recognizes and pushes her back a bit.
“I wanted to bring a gift. I thought maybe you could use it to calm your recent nerves.“ Says the orange Dazzling with an almost malicious smile.
Celestia gets a little nervous. “I … thank you, but … I already left those things.”
“Come on, I’ve had to watch you drink many times.” Says Adagio without removing her smile. “But I never had the opportunity to share with you.”
To some surprise from the woman, the girl takes a couple of glasses from the bag and opens the bottle to start serving.
“I don’t think it’s okay.”
“Of course not. But the wrong things are always better.“
Adagio hands her one of the glasses, Celestia hesitates, but she takes it. She looks at the drink still very unsure. Adagio sits in the chair at the other end of the desk, and smiles.
“Now. A toast, to our friendship.“
Adagio slightly extends her glass for a toast. Celestia smiles subtly, and they both touch her glasses gently. The soft sound resonates a bit in the room.
~ Friendship Among Games~
Back in the gym.
Vinyl continues to play her music. Many students are seen dancing on the dance floor.
In the gym bleachers, there is a group of young people gathered watching Indigo Zap, who is standing in the bleachers. Lemon and Sunny are next to her watching her on a sort of show.
“… then the Canterlot’s twin turned into a monster and she wanted to destroy the world!” The athlete with goggles is exasperated.
The audience in front of her listens carefully.
“Everything seemed lost, not even Sunset had the power to face it! But suddenly Twilight stood up and said: ‘You will not destroy my planet!’ ‘Force of Friendship’!”
“It’s ‘Magic of Friendship’.” Corrects Sunny.
Indigo looks at her indignantly. “Hey! Who is telling the story?!“
Sunny can only smile and shrug. Indigo continues with her story.
“Then there were glitters, and stars, and a lot of cheesy stuff. Twilight emerged with a super cool, if super cheesy transformation, and fought the demon girl hand-to-hand.“ To emphasize the narration, she began to swing her fists in a blow and the audience got quite excited.
“Look! There she is!”
A guy in the audience announces when he sees Twilight and Sunset approaching. In seconds both girls are surrounded by students and they begin to ask questions of the heroine.
“Twilight! Did you really fight a monster?!“
“What was your dress like?”
“Do you think I could have one like that?”
“Twilight, weren’t you scared?”
Twilight has no way of answering. “Bah… bah… I…”
“Guys, guys, please. Don’t drown her so much.“ Sunset asks as she extends her hands to push people away causing them to calm down, but she knows they won’t stop asking the newest heroine of the moment questions. “One at a time.”
From their place in the stands, the three friends see them with smiles.
Lemon is the first to speak. “Twi-Spark became super popular all of a sudden.”
“It makes me a little sorry,” says Sunny. “The poor thing is not used to so much attention.”
Indigo shrugs. “Meh, she’ll get used to it. Something tells me we’re all going to have to get used to the strange ‘Sunset Brand’ things around here.“
Both girls nod their heads.
~ Friendship Among Games~
The sight of all the students interacting together is observed by the two ‘minor’ directives of each school. Luna and Cadence stand to one side of the party each with a glass of punch.
“Who would have thought. Crystal and Canterlot, coming along together.“ Luna smiles almost wryly. “I never believed it would come to this day.”
Cadence smiles very excited. “I know! It’s wonderful! Everybody is happy!”
Crystal’s dean exclaims, indicating the party with an arm to all the tenes who enjoy the place. “Thank you for making this party.”
“It was the girl’s idea.” Luna answers. “Mostly Pinkie Pie’s. Apparently, even though we lost the games, I think we all won something.“
Cadence nods and can’t stop smiling at the sight of all of her students.
“I wish this would continue like this,” Cadence says in a dreamy tone. “May the school continue to be happy. But… I’m afraid Cinch might do something to ruin it.“
Luna looks at her friend and thinks for a moment.
“Maybe you can’t do much at school. But you could try to take care of them out of it.“
“Eh? What do you mean?”
“You can try to keep them together, outside of school.” Explain Luna and then think for a moment. “Do I recommend something? A summer camp.“
“Summer Camp?”
“There is a camp Celestia and I have known from our school years,” Luna comments and smiles at her friend. “We were thinking of taking a trip this year. Perhaps you can do the same.“
Cadence becomes interested, thinks about it for a second, and then smiles.
“A summer camp… a summer camp! It’s an excellent idea! What camp is it?”
Luna just smiles at the excitement of her friend.
~ Friendship Among Games~
The party feels enjoyable for everyone, although for one girl in particular it seems uncomfortable.
Sunseen appears withdrawn as she wanders around the party not wanting to make eye contact with anyone.
At one point he sees a particular group at a table. Lyra, Bon-Bon and Octavia are standing, talking and eating cupcakes.
It is the caramel haired girl who notices Sunseen and greets her. She returns the greeting shyly, and Lyra upon seeing her invites her to come closer. Sunseen is shocked, but does it.
“Hey Sunseen!” Lyra greets with a smile. “Do you want cupcakes?”
“Um, sure.”
Sunseen smiles sheepishly and the mint-haired girl hands her a cupcake from the table, which she silently begins to eat.
“Why the long face? I thought the other you was the horse.“ Lyra comments in a slightly teasing tone.
“Lyra! That was rude.“ The candy haired friend scolds her.
Sunseen is very uncomfortable. “Um, it’s nothing…”
Bon-Bon walks over to her and puts a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, you don’t need to be shy. You can tell us; sure, if you want.”
Sunseen hesitates, but all three of them smile at her and she speaks. “It’s just … I’m afraid of what the school will start to think of me…”
“Why?” Lyra thinks for a second. “Oh! The magical she-demon thing? Eh, you aren’t the first Sunset to do that.“
“But-“
Bon-Bon gently squeezes the girl’s shoulder with glasses. “Don’t worry, I can assure you no one at school thinks badly of you.”
“Even if they do, you should ignore it,” Octavia adds, joining the conversation. “The past is not today.”
“And you aren’t a bad person.” Bon-Bon seconded.
“Yes! Quite the opposite. You’re great.” Lyra ends in a good mood.
Ditzy Doo suddenly appears next to Sunseen, showing a basket of muffins. “Muffins?”
The blonde girl offers it smiling, her eyes a little averted. Sunseen smiles and accepts a muffin after finishing her cupcake.
Lyra walks over and takes one too, both Octavia and Bon-Bon take one when the adorable blonde offers it to them.
~ Friendship Among Games~
“A toast!” Crystal Prep’s athlete says. “For the least worst team in Canterlot!”
Indigo exclaims with her punch glass held high. Sunny, Lemon, Sour, and Sugar are next to her; also the Rainbooms, who give the goggle athlete a contemptuous but amusing look.
“Cheers!”
They all exclaim, some more enthusiastic than others, before drinking all of their punch.
Rainbow takes the floor. “And another toast, to Crystal’s less obnoxious team!”
Three of the five girls laugh at that, the fourth gives a sarcastic but mocking look, and the last one doesn’t change her neutral countenance.
“Cheers!”
They repeats the toast and drink again.
Pinkie Pie speaks very excited. “These have been the best Friendship Games of all time!”
Lemon supports her in that. “Hell yeah! Carnivorous plants, a murderous magical demon, and the near destruction of the entire world! It was crazy!”
“Meh, nothing new for us.” Rainbow comments in a gesture as if downplaying it, although she shows her teasing tone.
“I always thought your school was bland and boring, but it turns out it’s pretty cool!” Indigo speaks after another gulp of her drink. “We must get back to competing soon.”
“Sure! But next time we will do a sports decathlon! And I’ll crush you all!” Rainbow exclaims confidently.
Both athletes bump their fists in defiance while smiling at each other.
Rarity takes the floor. “If I must be honest, I also had a bad image of your school.”
“We all had it,” Applejack seconded. “But now that we know yah all, yer very nice.”
Sugar speaks in her stoic and emotionless tone. “Our school is superior academically, but artistically, we aren’t up to par. I can recognize and respect your virtues.“
“That’s very kind to say.” Fluttershy says, not caring about the lack of emotion in the silver-haired girl.
Sugar speaks again. “Don’t get too used to it. But thanks for this party, it’s fun doing something like that for a change.“
“Don’t you have parties at your school?” Questions the animal caretaker.
“Our school doesn’t usually organize events like these. Our priority is learning.“ Sugar continues to reply in her trademark tone.
“Well, if you ever feel bored you can come with us.” Rainbow happily invites. “We’ll have fun, Canterlot style!”
The five from Canterlot clink their glasses in agreement.
All five Shadowbolts smile, even Sugar wipes her serious demeanor for a moment.
The Canterlot’s vice principal walks over and signals for the Rainbooms, and they immediately say goodbye before heading in the same direction towards the stage.
Shadowbolts also split. Although Sugarcoat looks at Indigo for a moment as she goes to the snack table.
“Indigo Zap.”
“Yes, Sug?”
“I haven’t had a chance to thank you for what you did during the motocross race.”
Indigo takes a bite of a sandwich as she looks curiously at her partner. “Mh? The race?”
“When you came back for me after the attack of that carnivorous plant.” Explains the girl with the pigtails.
“Oh, that!” Indigo says and swallows her bite “Heh, you don’t have to thank me.”
“Yes I must. The situation was critical, and the risk of harm was enormous. Without your assistance, I could end up hurt. Or in the worst case, eaten by a vegetable.“
“Hey, I did it because we are-“ Indigo stops not knowing how to finish her own sentence. “Uh, well, because we are partners.”
“I owe you.”
Indigo seems to be embarrassed and at the same time, she seems to think of something. “Um, … you can pay me by accepting a dance for me.”
Sugar looks at Indigo, who smiles at her, although she seems flustered.
“Fair request, I accept it.”
“Really?” Indigo is shocked, but she gathers herself. “I mean… great. I mean, good. Uhh… yeah, that. “
“Do you want to do it now or do you want to wait for a particular moment?”
“Ah no, it’s okay now. Shall we?”
Indigo offers her hand, Sugar looks at it for a second before accepting. She takes Indigo’s hand, and they both set off for the track.
At this point the vice principal takes the stage and asks the electric-haired DJ to stop the music. Vinyl listens and lowers the volume until it’s completely turned off.
Luna begins to speak. “Good evening, and thank you all for coming to what I hope is the first of a new tradition: The ‘Friendship Games Spirit’s Union Party’. Name subject to change.“
The last thing she says is nothing more than a whisper into the microphone, but no one pays attention as those present exclaim excitedly.
Between all of them they also see Celestia and Adagio arriving, who are with her sisters.
Sunset and Sunseen meet and greet each other.
“After the last games I can say our schools have never been so close,” Luna speaks with a much happier tone than is usually seen in her. “And that’s cause for celebration, so I want to introduce you the Rainbooms!”
The woman steps aside and there is applause and cheers as the five girls appear on stage with their instruments; in Pinkie’s case, she goes after her drums.
Rainbow takes the microphone. “HELLO CANTERLOT!”
There are screams from all the resident students of the school.
“HELLO CRYSTAL!”
This time, it’s the invited boys and girls who return the greeting.
“ARE YOU READY TO ROCK?!”
The answer comes from everyone at the same time, encouraging them to start, and that’s how they do it.
Sunseen looks at her friends, and in a kind of instinct she runs on stage. Sunset sees her smiling.
The Rainbooms start to play with Vinyl assisting them.
Sunseen goes up on stage and when her friends see her they all smile at her cheering her on. The fire-haired girl approaches her, and along with several accompanying applause, she takes the microphone.
☀️ ~ I spent so much time searchin ‘
Lookin ‘for somethin’ more
Diggin ‘holes too deep
And opening every door
And when you stand too close
Yeah, the picture’s never clear
And when you look too far away
It all but disappears ~ ☀️
⚡ ~ And it was right (right) there in front of me (Oh-oh, ah-oh-oh) 💎
🍎 Just too close for me to see (Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh) 🦋
💎 Sometimes the things you want🎈
🦋 Are not the things you need🍎
🎈 And it was right there in front of me~⚡
All present fill the dance floor following the song.
Sugar conceeds and dances alongside Indigo. Again, her stoic gesture breaks to show a slight smile that illuminates the one of the athlete.
🔥 ~ There was a time before
I didn’t know where I belonged ~ 🔥
There is an explosion of applause as the other red-haired girl takes the stage with her own microphone.
🔥 ~ I thought I needed more
And that I couldn’t get along ~ 🔥
🔥~ But who I am☀️
Was all I ever needed
And when I faced that test
☀️ I finally succeeded ~ 🔥
During the chorus, both ‘twins’ hug each other by the shoulders while singing.
⚡ ~ And it was right (right) there in front of me (Oh-oh, ah-oh-oh) 🎈
🍎Just too close for me to see (Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh) 🦋
💎Sometimes the things you want
🦋Are not the things you need🍎
🎈And it was right there in front of me💎
Oh whoa-oh, oh-who-oh ~ ⚡
Celestia and the Dazzlings dance as a group. So does the rest of the Shadowbolts, with Twilight and Lightning.
🔥☀️ ~ And it’s all I’ll ever need ~ 🔥☀️
⚡🍎💎🦋🎈 ~ Oh, whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh ~ ⚡🍎💎🦋🎈
Luna and Cadene dance together.
Flash, Ditzy, Lyra, Bon-Bon, all Canterlot.
🔥☀️ ~ And it was right there in front of me ~ 🔥☀️
⚡🍎💎🦋🎈 ~ Oh, whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh ~ ⚡🍎💎🦋🎈
Canterlot and Crystal enjoy the music.
🔥☀️ ~ And it’s all I’ll ever need ~ 🔥☀️
🔥☀️⚡🍎💎🦋🎈 ~ Oh, whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh
And it was right there in front of me-ee-ee
Oh oh oh
All this time
It was in front of me ~ 🔥☀️⚡🍎💎🦋🎈
Everything is applause and laughter inside the school.
But outside, an almost ghostly figure stirred the surroundings … until it disappears.
~ Friendship Among Games~
THE END
…
~ Epilogue ~
On a quiet day, the Rainbooms – accompanied by Sunset and Twilight – have a picnic in front of the school.
All of them sitting in front of the base. Somehow, Rainbow had allowed Rarity to fix her hair. Fluttershy and Applejack chat quietly with Twilight. Pinkie, on top of the base, has some sandwiches and fruit juice. And Sunset and Sunseen are talking.
They all stop what they are doing when they hear a singular sound coming from the base; just a second later, stunned and somewhat tense, Princess Twilight appears.
“I’m very sorry to be late! I didn’t get the message until now because I was trapped in this space-time vortex that stirred reality. And I swear, it’s the strangest thing that has happened to me in my life!“
Her explanation ends, her eyes and mouth widen when she sees the two fire-haired twins sitting in front of her. They all watch the scene curiously and in silence.
Both twins greet her and smile at her. One calmly and confidently, and the other clearly shy.
In the end the princess smiles, also shyly, and speaks.
