"And so within your lifetimes, the theories of the universe will be proven or disproven, and I believe it will up to you all, either if you will be a future scientist, politician- or even a doctor or lawyer- to take away the data and apply it to make the world a better place. Thank you."

It was a warm evening at the amphitheatre, and the first night of the once a week "Lecture Under the Stars" that the camp did. Every Wednesday after sunset, our free time was exchanged for a special lecture by guests. Some I knew growing up and saw on science and history documentaries, and some who were not as photogenic as the bigger names but were as sharp as those popular names. Bubble, Crimson, and I were in the very last row, which had a nice view of the bay. Our lights were the lanterns we brought with us, and the stage lit by a line of incandescent light that gave it more of a campfire feel than the cold, dead lights that most lecture halls had. Twilight was where she usually was: front row, right next to the isle. She was the only one taking notes, asking questions… You know, acting like she was there to learn. Where we sat also let us see the port city that was on the edge of the bay, and the occasional firework exploding over the city. We stood and clapped as Slate Mind walked up and shook the lecturers' hand as they walked off the stage.

"Alright guys, that was your “Lecture Under the Stars” of the week. You have a few more hours before lights out, and snacks and drinks are in the game room!" Slate announced as he walked off the stage himself. Like a movie theatre at the end of the sellout, it took a while to get out of the amphitheatre. We inched along, rubbing elbows with our classmates and having a small talk as I mentally hyped myself up with the weekly dance-off with Bubbly at the ole Dance-Dance Revolution game and a round of billiards with some of the guys, looking badass to impress some of the girls. It never worked since we all were dorks, but man was it fun.

Twenty minutes later we were in the rec room. There was a small arcade in one corner, two rows of ping pong and billiards table into another, and tables and chairs for people to hang out and play cards. It was a relaxing feeling that night at the rec room. However, there was a bit of an argument between Mystral Serenity and the orange-skinned guy, who was always wearing his camouflage hat wherever he went, named Buckshot over who was better at DDR. So as Bubbly and I waited for our turn, I decided to go to the kitchenette for a bottle of tea. That was when I wasn't looking where I was going and physically walked right into Twilight.

I didn't say anything, just kept moving, hoping she wouldn't say anything that would-

"Why don't you pay attention like you were supposed to be doing at the lecture!?" Twilight scolded.

"Just fuck off." I replied.

"Excuse me!?"

"Yeah! I called you out!" I yelled.

We hurled insults at each other for what seemed like a lifetime. I didn't know what it was about her. Her arrogance? I didn't know. All I knew was she invoked a basic instinct to try to shout her down because I felt that it would be the only way to get her to stop. It didn't. In fact, it made things worse. Her constant nagging was too much that day. I puffed out my chest and had my arms out, inviting her to hit me. For the first time in my life, I contemplated hitting a girl that was not my sister. She saw my actions as hostility. She puffed her cheeks as if she were going to explode.

"Trivia-Off!"

The entire room gasped. Those two words struck something with my class. I was none the wiser.

"What?" I asked.

"You heard me. Thirty minutes, amphitheatre." Twilight hissed as she walked out of the room.

Everyone looked at me, giving me weird looks.

"What?" I asked.

"Dead man walking." I heard someone call out. Bubbly and Crimson walked up to me, concern written on their faces.

"Are you okay?" Crimson asked.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"Dude, she called you out on a Trivia-Off"

"And?" I asked.

"Well have you ever seen a lamb go to slaughter house? It’s basically the same thing." Bubbly explained.

"Y’all realize how stupid this sounds, right?" I asked. It was dumb they would act like that over a game of trivia. Besides, a trivia match? It was gonna be a piece of cake!

***

When I arrived with Bubbly and Crimson back at the amphitheatre, it was packed like it was an hour ago, minus the adults. Twilight was alone on stage, waiting for me to show up. Across from her was another wooden chair. I quietly walked down the aisle, whispers of 'good luck' and 'kick her ass' being heard. I knew everyone was pushing for me to win instead of Twilight.

It was a few minutes into the "Trivia-Off" and at that point, I was confused. Everyone in the stands was chatting, and someone had a notebook in hand, taking bets. From what the booker told Bubbly, I was the 10-point underdog, but the biggest bet. The safer one was Twilight, but I was the one people wanted to see win.

Twilight won the coin flip, and elected to go first. The match went like this: one person would ask a question of any subject that was academic, and when the person had the answer mostly right, that person would ask a question back. It would go back and forth until someone got it wrong.

It went back and forth between us; math, science, art, history. We went deep into our well of knowledge. I'll admit I struggled with my answers. It didn't matter what I threw at her; a date in which Starswirl the Bearded founded a theorem, to the date and casualty numbers of some pretty small battles of the equestrian civil war. I even questioned some of the art methods of some famous pieces throughout history. I gave it my all, but she was too much. Her questions esoteric, her answers difficult. But, I had a plan.

I knew about the Theory of Neighton, the theorist behind gravity. I knew the little-known fact that he named it after his dog, Gravitia.

"Round 32! Blue! You're up!" Bubbly announced.

I cleared my throat, and with a smug grin, I asked my question out of memory. "Who did Neighton name the concept of Gravity after?"

"Gravitia. Now, Blue: What breed was Gravitia?"

Fuck.

I mean, it was part of a nursery rhyme when I was a kid. But dammit, she had me good. Hundreds if not thousands of breeds of dogs existed around that time, so no chance of picking one out of the blue.

1600's Trottingham… If I had to take a guess, and half of the entire dog population of that area were Mastiffs. Oh, I got this. The numbers don't fail me.

"Bullmastiff." I answered.

A wave of groans echoed through the amphitheater. I knew something was wrong. I felt the churning in my stomach when I saw Twilight's smug grin.

"The answer is German Shepherd, Blue Comet." Bubbly announced on the microphone.

Twilight got out of her chair and jumped around, her fists in the air in celebration. "I told you I'm the best in this class. Now you know your place, Blue!"

She marched out of the auditorium as she continued her one-woman celebration while I was left to figure out what the hell just happened.

"Well, what the hell just happened?" I asked.

"Well, you made her worse." Bubbly said.

"Like?"

"Oh, just a bit more arrogant." She answered

As we walked out of the place, a familiar face caught my eye. Slate Mind was in the last row of the amphitheatre. His arms were crossed, and he gave me a glare as I walked away. In my mind, either he was mad that I enabled Twilight farther or that I actually challenged her.

Either way, I knew I was in for it tomorrow.

Author's Note

I have a skype group (was discord, but moving it back to skype) for fans, writers, and editors. If you want to join the madness here is the link https://join.skype.com/I1frSncTbUfN