Equestria Girls 3: The Friendship Games

Chapters

Prologue: Something Strange
Chapter 1: On Short Notice
Chapter 2: Of Archery and Dresses
Chapter 4: Missing
Chapter 5: Twilight Time
Chapter 6: Bet On It
Chapter 7: Race for 1st Place
Chapter 8: Win or Lose
Chapter 9: Investigations
Chapter 10: Shoot for Gold
Chapter 11: The Final Countdown
Chapter 12: From Midday to Midnight
Chapter 13: New Beginnings
Chapter 3: Twas The Night Before The Games

Prologue: Something Strange

Twilight Sparkle picked up the seismic reading that she had just calculated from her machine, and placed it up with all the other data she had collected from researching and observing the strange school.

This was the second time in a few months that she had gotten such strange readings, and she had now put her priorities into figuring out the mystery behind it all. The shooting rainbows, a part of the school being destroyed, and the interesting seismic readings were just to name a few of the disturbances.

"No doubt about it Spike, there's definitely something strange going on at that school," Twilight said as she looked up at all of her hard work.

Spike replied back to her with a bark, just finishing up his breakfast that she had laid out for him. Spike was Twilight Sparkle's favorite companion and pet. She had adopted him when he was only a pup, and he had grown up with her, so it was natural for her to feel a connection with the dog.

"Oh now only if you could talk to me, then I could know what you were saying" Twilight laughed, as she pet him. "But a magical talking dog? Only ever in my dreams. Or is it? Maybe I could find out how to build you a contraption that would allow such a thing. No no, I'm being silly. That can't be possible because you don't even know how to speak. But then again, you wouldn't need to know how if you just had a translator!

Twilight continued to ramble on, and Spike barked again to remind her of the task at hand.

"Oh yes yes, sorry. I should be focusing on this" She said, adjusting her glasses and once again glancing at the board of information she had gathered.

Twilight started to pace back and forth, trying to conjure up any logical train of thought that might give her an idea of what in the world was going on. There has to be some reasonable explanation for all of this. It can't be magic, that's just crazy. But how could I even explain all of this? The rainbows, the seismic disturbances, those bright lights. Those just aren't natural!

Twilight was soon interrupted by a loud, and considerably annoying, noise. She must have stayed up the entire night, because her alarm clock beeped, signaling that it was time for her to get ready to go to her school. Crystal Prep was the name, and Twilight had just started attending it last fall because her sister-in-law was offered a job there as principal.

Cadance was replacing the old principal, who was apparently doing some pretty horrible things with the students. Twilight had heard rumors going around that he had called them his 'My Crystal Slaves'. It all seemed pretty scary, especially since his name was as dark as 'Sombra'. But now Cadance had taken over, and the school was back to normal.

It was kind of fun going to a new school, but also quite scary since she didn't know anyone and wasn't considered the most socially active. She preferred to stay inside by herself instead of going places with other students. But it was fine as long as she got to see Cadance every day, and most importantly, get a good education.

Unlike other students, Twilight loved school, loved classes, and loved to learn. It was another one of the things that separated her from the other kids. All except for a small group of girls she could sort of call her 'friends'.

While going over what her plans were for the school day, she had remembered something that had been mentioned earlier in the week by a few kids. The Friendship Games. She was rivaling some school, though she forgot the name. Twilight just remembered that her school had a winning streak against them and that it was very important to the students that they won again.

"Twilight dear, are you still down there? Breakfast is ready, so come up soon. You only have a few minutes before you should leave, so don't be late!" Called down her mom, Twilight Velvet - whom shared part of her name with her daughter.

Twilight walked up the stairs from the basement, only then realizing how hungry she was. I guess staying up the whole night has that effect on you. But whatever, it was worth it, she thought as she sat down at the kitchen table. A nice breakfast of eggs and bacon.

"Please don't tell me that you were up all night again?" Asked Twilight's mom, only to get a guilty nod from Twilight.

Her mom shook her head and sighed. "Now honey, I have to leave for work early this morning, and your dad has already left, " said Velvet as she started to get ready for work. "Have a good day at school Twilight, and remember to make some friends!"

"You have a good day too mom," said Twilight as she hugged her mom goodbye.

She finished her breakfast just as her mom's car pulled out of the driveway, though wincing at her mother's last comment. Velvet had always wanted Twilight to make friends, as she thought it was 'important to a young girl's life' to do so. Twilight well, not so much agreed with her mom. Yes, friends were nice to have, but they weren't important and Twilight didn't need them to succeed. She could live a just as good life without them. And besides, she still had those girls from her school whom could be considered her friends.

Mulling over her thoughts, Twilight washed her dishes and began to head out the door. It was nearing the start of May now. Twilight was glad that she no longer needed a coat to go outside, as she hated cold weather. And for some other kids, it was great because May brought perfect weather to play their sports.

"Goodbye Spike, I'll see you after school!" She said to her dog, who barked in reply. Locking the door behind her, Twilight started her trek to Crystal Prep. It was about a twenty-minute walk, which was a downside from going to the school.

About halfway on her walk to school, Twilight waited at an intersection for the crossing light to switch on. It was just then that all of a sudden she randomly remembered the rival school's name which had been concerning her thoughts before. In a moment of quick realization, she stopped dead in her tracks, and almost shouted "Canterlot High! No. Way.".

Author's Note

I've decided to create a story of how I think that the new (yes its confirmed) EQG movie is going to play out. Keep in mind that this was created as of March 1 2015 and I only know small bits of information, so this will probably not be accurate to the actual movie.

Also, this chapter is going to be a lot shorter than the other chapters. Part of the reason is this just being a setting the scene chapter, like we have at the start of a traditional pony episode.

Please point out any mistakes or any ideas to improve my writing, as this is my first fic ever and I want it to be the best that it can be.

Chapter 1: On Short Notice

Dear Twilight

I don't really have much time to write today because school starts soon, so I'll make this quick.

I'm wondering if you have any time on your hooves to come and visit here soon. This time just to hang out with the girls, instead of fighting an evil that seems to be here every time you come. Of course since you're a princess now, I understand if you wouldn't be able to. But be sure to write me back if you can.

Looking forward to possibly seeing you soon,

Sunset Shimmer

Sunset Shimmer put away the book and walked over to where her friends seemed to be discussing something. It was early in the morning, and they only had about a few minutes before school started for the day.

"Hey girls," Sunset said as she approached the group.

"Oh, finally you're back. So is Twilight coming? Is she? Is she?" Pinkie Pie said excitedly, getting a little too close to Sunset.

"Whoa nelly, calm down," said Applejack as she pulled Pinkie away, giving Sunset a little space. "I don't think she was able to reply that fast, she is the Princess Of Friendship now after all."

"Thanks, Applejack. Though I do hope that she's able to come, I miss her."

"Darling, I think we all do. Though it's only been a few weeks" Said Rarity, picking up her stuff so they could start heading towards the school.

"Anyway, since Sunset interrupted me, I was about to tell you guys that I saw Fluttershy here doing archery yesterday. She was actually pretty good at it" Said Rainbow, making Fluttershy blush a little in embarrassment.

"Well I -" Fluttershy was cut off by Rainbow Dash

"Well, you were awesome! You should have seen her, she was like-" Then Rainbow started demonstrating random moves, that made her look pretty ridiculous to anyone that might have been watching her.

"I definitely wasn't-"

"You should like enter a competition or something! You'd smoke everyone else"

"I.."

"You could even rival Katniss Evergreen, you know, from The Hunger Lames," Rainbow said, oblivious to the fact that Fluttershy was starting to retreat into a corner.

"Ooh! Yeah, Dashie, we could throw her a huge 'Yay, you beat Katniss Evergreen' party! Oh, I can just see it now" Said Pinkie, starting to stare off into space imagining a grand party.

Fluttershy was now completely scared off into a corner, and the shy girl was hiding behind her hair.

"Call me crazy for saying this, but don't you think this you're um, scaring her a bit?" Sunset said, trying to get Fluttershy to come out of the corner.

"Oh oops! Sorry about that Fluttershy, I just get so caught up in parties!" Pinkie said, also helping Fluttershy out.

"Yeah, we might have gotten a little carried away," said Rainbow Dash, scratching the back of her head. "But still, you're pretty good at it"

"Um thanks, Rainbow. But I'm not sure that I'm near ready to compete in anything" Fluttershy said, just before the bell rang for the start of school.

The students were all told that they had an assembly for the first period of classes, so when the school bell rang, they all headed to the school's auditorium. Though they were never told what the assembly was for.

"Don't you think it's at least a little annoying that they simply couldn't bother to tell us what this was for?" Sunset asked, sitting down beside the girls at the rest of the students found their seats.

"Pfft, I don't care what this is for as long as we get to skip class. Math is a bore." Rainbow Dash said casually, putting her feet up on the chair in front of her.

Rarity gasped. "Rainbow Dash dear! Please put your feet down, were you raised in a barn?!" Rarity asked, before realizing Applejack was there and had grown up in a barn.

"Ah heard that" Applejack smirked.

"I mean uhh... Just get your feet off the chair, please."

"Nice save there Rares" Said Rainbow Dash, putting her feet down as Rarity had asked.

Trying to stop an awkward moment, Fluttershy stepped in and changed the subject back. "Well, I think as long as Principal Celestia has an assembly, then we must know that it's important"

Just then, Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna stepped onto the stage. They were barely noticed by half the students, who were still chatting loudly with their friends.

"Hi Celestia, hi Luna!" Pinkie Pie was waving her arms wildly to try to get the Principals' attention.

Luna gave a small wave, then tapped the microphone, which got most of the school to quiet down. Even managing to get Vinyl Scratch to take off her headphones, which she only did rarely.

Celestia began speaking. "As you know, we've gathered you all here for a short announcement of a very exciting event. Now what that event is, I assume most of you are wondering."

There was a small murmur in agreement in the audience before Celestia started speaking again.

"As you may or may not remember, Cantlerlot High is going to be partaking in an event with another school. A sports event, where we will be competing in various different activities against Crystal Prep."

Students looked around to each other, trying to remember what the event was. They could feel it on the back of their minds, but just couldn't put their finger on it.

"So, does anyone remember The Friendship Games?"

The students were so silent for a moment, that you could almost hear a pin drop. Then, the noise started. Some kids groaned, other kids cursed the event, while some even just downright yelled out. It was a pretty obvious fact that most of the schools' populous was not too happy about it.

Luna had to tap the microphone a few times again to get everyone to calm down.

"Yes, it is clear that we may not have won the last nine times. But my sister and I believe that this year we will be able to work as a team and take a shot at winning. We do believe that you will be able to do this with a bit of teamwork and determination."

Luna then passed the mic back to Celestia as she had an announcement.

"We've also selected a few special student leaders to help guide the school for this event. These girls should be able to make sure that Canterlot High has a clear path to winning this year. May Sunset Shimmer, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Rainbow Dash please come on stage?"

The six girls were quite shocked by the news of them being the leaders, as this was never mentioned before. But still, they regained their composure and walked up onto the stage with a small round of applause.

"The games will consist of multiple sporting events such as Hockey, Motocross, Soccer, Archery, Rollerskating and many other sports. It is not required, but highly encouraged that you sign up for an activity to represent the school."

"Sign up sheets will be posted outside the gym in the next few periods, so make sure you take a look and sign up for an event because we're counting on you!"

"The opening ceremony for the games will begin on Monday, so you have today and the weekend to begin preparing for your events. We wish you all luck!"

With that, the assembly was over, and the students started filing out of the auditorium. Though most of them were still not too happy about the whole event, as they never won, and the odds were that it would stay the same.

Everyone was going back to their normal period one class except the six girls on stage, which were asked to stay back and talk with the Principals.

Breaking the silence, Celestia spoke. "Now I know that this is very short notice, but Luna and I really think that you girls are the right pick to represent the Wondercolts and bring everyone together, as you've demonstrated before."

"I'm delighted and all but like, you couldn't have told us earlier?" Rainbow asked, receiving a nudge in the arm by Applejack.

"We'd be happy to, right Rainbow Dash?" Applejack said, covering up for Rainbow Dash's rude comment. Though they would of all rather known about this before, that was no reason to be rude.

She sighed. "Yes, Right."

"So when would you like us to start?"

"As soon as you can, but I am quite confident that you girls will all know what to do," Celestia said, handing over some sign-up sheets to the girls.

"In the meantime, we will need you to all sign up for an activity too. We've figured since most of the school looks up to you, if you all signed up then they would feel more prompted to do so as well" Luna smiled, as her and Celestia started leaving the auditorium.

"We'll let you miss the first period to plan, just this once." She said, before leaving the six girls alone to do their planning.

Author's Note

Yay Chapter 1 is now complete, moving forwards to Chapter 2! :pinkiehappy:

And for those who didn't know yet, Season 5 is premiering April 4th with a two parter. Only one month left to go.

Chapter 2: Of Archery and Dresses

Morning dawned at Crystal Prep, and it was a beautiful morning at that. The sun was shining, the temperature was just right, and students were milling about before the school day would start. For Twilight Sparkle, this was a perfect time to hop in and talk for a bit with her sister in law, Cadance.

Cadance had just become the school's principal recently, which is why Twilight even attended the school. Almost every morning, she would come in to her office to find Twilight waiting there to talk with her, and this morning was no different.

Twilight lit up as soon as she saw the principal walk in. "Cadance!"

"Oh Twilight, don't you have anything better to do than come in my office every morning?" Said Cadance, smiling as she came over to where Twilight was waiting, while putting down her stuff.

The two girls then proceeded to do their song. "Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hands and do a little shake!" Cadance had taught it to Twilight when she was really young, and it had carried on all these years as their own special greeting, shared with nobody else but them.

"How's your morning been Twilight?" asked Cadance, setting up a bit of stuff in her office.

"It was great." Twilight said, quickly answering. "Anyway, Cady, just wondering, do you happen to know anything about Canterlot High?" Twilight asked, eager to get some answers about the school.

"The school that we're versing for the Friendship Games?" Cadence thought for a second and tried to remember anything about the school. "Yes, I know a bit about them. Why do you ask?" Normally Twilight had a weird reason for some of her doings.

Twilight scratched her head, trying to avoid the answer. "Well, you see-" Luckily she was quickly cut off by a knock on the door, as two girls entered.

Twilight recognized them as a couple of the five girls that she would sometimes see at school. Their names were Indigo Zap, Sugar Coat, Lemon Zest, Sour Sweet, and.... Twilight had forgotten the last girl's name. All she could remember is that it had something to do with the sun. Sunny Blare? No. Wait, was it Sunny Faire?

"Hi, I'm Sunny Flare," The girl said as she and her friend walked into the office. She had pink and purple hair, blue skin, and pink eyes.

Twilight jumped a little at this, as it almost was as if the girl had read her mind.

The girl that was with her spoke up. "Well Principal Cadance, we-" she finally acknowledged Twilight and waved "Oh hi Twilight. Um anyways, we were just wondering if we could sign up for the events from the Friendship Games right now."

This girl Twilight remembered the name of. It was Sour Sweet, with her yellow skin and vibrant pink and blue hair which was almost always kept up into some hairdo. Today it seemed to be braided buns.

"Of course girls," Cadance smiled and went over to get the sign-up sheets for the games. "Here they are. We've added a few new events this year, just for the tenth-anniversary special."

"Yeah, and the tenth in a row winning streak for us," Sunny Flare laughed confidently as she and Sour picked up the sheets to take a look at them. This year, it seemed that they had added a few new sports, including motocross, roller-skating, and archery. Sour Sweet was good at archery, and Sunny was good at roller-skating, so this year had already looked great for them.

Cadance noticed that Twilight was just sitting there, not interacting with either of the girls, so she handed her a sheet too. "Here Twilight, why don't you look at something you might like? You know, just to do something different for once?"

"Well, I guess I could try archery if you want me to. Shining taught it to me way back when I was young, so I might be able to get back into it," she said, with a little bit of uncertainty in her voice.

"Actually Twilight Sparkle, I could show you how to do archery if you want me to," offered Sour Sweet.

"She's pretty good, you'll learn a lot from her," Sunny Flare said, complimenting Sour. "So, are you in or not?" Sunny Flare asked, trying to get Twilight to take the offer.

Twilight weighed her options. On one hand, she could not do it, and continue with her everyday life as normal. But, on the other hand, she could do it and potentially make friends with these girls and help the school in the games. She could also find out more about CHS by participating in the event.

"Fine. Sure, I'll do it." Twilight smiled, eliciting a small cheer from the girls. "Now, is there an instruction manual you want me to read, or something that I should research?"

This comment made Sunny Flare laugh a bit. "No books for you nerd. Just come with us. We should give these to the rest of the group later at lunch." She said as she picked up a few more sign up sheets and began to walk out the door.

"I'll see you after school Twilight," Cadance waved goodbye.

"Bye, Cadance!" Twilight said, still lingering in the office for a bit, to be pulled out by Sunny Flare.

Just then, the bell rang. Students started filling the halls, chatting and getting to their lockers. This left the hallway crowded, and the conversation had to be ended quickly before they were trampled or separated.

"Ok, so me and Sun here will see you at lunch in the cafeteria here okay?" Sour said as she started going away to her first class. "Remember, don't be late!"

Soon enough, it was lunch time at Crystal Prep. Hungry students were waiting to be served whatever food the lunch lady had provided for them today. Twilight sometimes wondered what the food was actually made of sometimes.

Today they were serving either a glob of mystery meat, which Twilight deemed too suspicious, or a fruit salad which looked pretty passable as everyday food. Taking the much more cautious and safe option, she took the fruit salad and headed off to where she said that she would meet the rest of the girls at.

When Twilight got there, she sat down next to who she thought was Lemon Zest, because of her yellow and green hair. She was staring of into space, daydreaming. The rest of the girls looked like they were doing some sort of shopping it seemed, because they were looking at some sort of dress on Lemon's phone.

"Hello?" Twilight asked, though the girls were still concentrating on the phone. "I'm here?" she half asked, wondering if any of them even noticed her.

A blue head looked up at her, Indigo Zap. "Your archery student is here," she said to Sour, examining Twilight closely. "But are you sure that it's her? She looks too-"

"-Oh hi Twilight, didn't see you there!" said Sour Sweet, cutting off Indigo Zap before she could say anything that she would regret.

"So we meet again." Said Sunny, greeting Twilight as well. She tapped Lemon Zest on the shoulder, seemingly waking her up from a daydream.

"Yes, Sugar Coat, I -" Lemon Zest finally woke up from her daydream. "Umm, I didn't say anything?" she said, trying to look as innocent as she could.

Sugar Coat looked up at the mention of her name and sighed. "I'm not even going to ask why I was in your dream because I do not want to know," said Sugar, making Lemon more embarrassed.

"Anyway, Twilight, meet the team," said Sunny Flare as she stood up and introduced everybody. "This is Lemon Zest," she said, pointing to the girl with yellow and green hair with pink skin. "This is Indigo Zap," pointing to the girl with gold hair and blue skin. "And this is Sugar Coat," gesturing towards the last remaining girl, with light blue hair and blue skin.

"And yes, I am going to teach Twilight Sparkle here archery for the Friendship Games." Sour Sweet smiled as she pulled out her bow from her backpack. "Also, Principal Cadance is letting whoever is participating in the games have last period to practice."

"Great then we can get started," said Twilight, now actually kind of excited about this archery thing. "So, what sports are you girls doing?" she asked the rest of them, who had their sign up sheets in front of them.

"Lemon Zest and I are doing roller-skating," said Sunny Flare.

"And Indigo Zap and I are going to do motocross this year," said Sugar Coat. "Though, I still wonder how that one was approved for a school games event."

"Well whatever event it is, I'm sure that we will be able to win it too." said Sunny Flare, doing a dramatic pose of triumph.

Everyone could agree on that one. Motocross was a dangerous sport, at least for a school event with no professionals. But still it provided another event for the Shadowcolts to win at, which everyone seemed so focused on, winning.

"That's good, I was worried we would lose," said Indigo Zap sarcastically, which triggered a laugh from the rest of the girls.

"That's the other thing about this place Twilight. Us Shadowcolts always win. And this year will be no different, right girls?" Said Sunny Flare.

"Right!" The five girls cheered back. actually, it was only four girls, as Lemon Zest seemed to be in her own world on her phone, looking at something.

Seeing that Twilight was looking at her, Lemon handed the yellow phone to Twilight, who simply looked confused as to what was going on. "What is it?" Lemon asked Twilight, just making her more confused.

"It's just a dress," Twilight said. She looked around the table, as the girls started giggling at her. "Is this some kind of joke? Because I don't get it."

"No, but what color is it Twilight?" Sugar Coat asked, leaning in to hear her answer.

This seemed like a stupid question to Twilight. Why would someone ask her what color a dress was? Still, it seemed like they wanted to hear an answer from her, so she said the color.

"Simple, it's white and gold."

Author's Note

Yay new chapter!

This was really fun to write the Shadowbolts crew, as they didn't really have any limits and I could imagine their personalities as I wanted. Hopefully that showed in my work this time.

I'll be going to Florida tomorrow for a week, so expect no new updates from now until next Wednesday, because I'll be hanging out with Mickey Mouse instead.

Oh and it's Black and Blue :pinkiecrazy:

Chapter 4: Missing

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 5: Twilight Time

"Yeah, she just went to the washroom." Sugarcoat said, looking weirdly at Sunset Shimmer, who was freaking out quite a bit. "I shouldn't technically care about you since you're on the other team, but are you okay?"

Sunset looked up at all of them, trying to keep a calm exterior. "I'm fine, er, I just have to go. See you all later!" she said, leaving quickly and confusing the rest of the girls.

She started running to wherever the washroom was, accidentally bumping a few people on her way, and getting some dirty looks from the students.

This is not good, not good at all! I need to find her before the rest of the girls do, especially since they thought that Twilight was coming anyway, so they might think she's pony Twilight. But then what do I do? she thought, finally getting to the school and entering the doors quickly.

She was too late though. Right as she entered through the door, she too had bumped right into Twilight, almost knocking her down.

Twilight looked up at her, annoyed. "Who are you people?" She pointed a finger at them, "And why do you keep on bumping into me and asking annoying questions?"

"OhmygoshsorryTwilight," Sunset said, still panicked from all of this happening at the perfect time.

"Wait," Twilight thought for a second, then turned to look at her again. "How do you know my name? I don't think Sunny Flare told me anything about you," she said, trying to recall any memory.

"Um duh!" Pinkie butted in. "You know us, silly billy! I'm Pinkie, this is Applejack, Sunny, Flutters, Dash and Rarity," she pointed at Twilight, "And you're Twilight Sparkle."

"Pinkie, she's not her" Sunset said, trying to signal to the other girls that this was not the Twilight Sparkle that they knew, but none of them seemed to pick it up.

Twilight was beyond confused at this point. How come all of these random girls knew her name? For all she knew, they didn't even go to her school, they went to Canterlot High. Wait a second, Canterlot High. That's why these girls are acting strange, they must know something that I don't. Hmmm.

"I think she's just messing with us," Rainbow Dash said, crossing her arms and giving a light chuckle. "Though I wouldn't think pranking is something Twilight would do, but maybe it's just a pony thing."

Unable to take their ignorance of what was going on, Sunset finally snapped. "Guys! This isn't Twilight!" Everyone gave her confused looks. "I mean the Twilight we know! It's not her!"

Finally figuring out what was going on, the rest of the gang slowly turned to look over at Twilight, who was still perplexed at all of this.

"Uhm, how much did ya hear us say exactly?" Applejack said, stepping back a bit, and helping her get back up.

"Well for some reason, you all seem to know me?" Twilight asked, receiving a nod from all of them. "And that I'm 'not me'. Then there was some thing about a pony?"

Everyone looked at each other, debating if they should tell her the truth or not. She could be trusted, right? After all she was Twilight Sparkle, and her pony counterpart was a Princess of Friendship. There seemed to be a silent debate, the girls signalling who they thought who should tell her.

"Well Twilight dear, you may want to sit down for this one" Rarity guiding her over to a bench in the school hallway. "You see darling, you are a uh, pony. At least in another dimension you are," she said, bracing for whatever was to come once Twilight processed everything.

Twilight looked shocked for a second, until her expression changed and she started laughing. "I have to admit, you got me good there, I almost believed you guys for a second. A pony from another dimension? That's not even possible!" She saw all their faces, not laughing with her. "Come on guys, I got it now! You can start laughing too."

Fluttershy sighed and went to sit down next to Twilight. "I know this is.. um.. hard to believe, but trust us please." she said, putting her hand on Twilight's shoulder.

"So you're telling me that if I ask someone, right now, that they'll say the same thing?"

"Well, yes." They all nodded.

"And if you're going to ask anyone, ask Flash," Sunset said, making Rainbow snicker a bit with her.

Twilight got up from the bench. "Fine! But when they have no idea what I'm talking about, you're going to have to tell me what's really going on."

Rainbow got up with Twilight. "I'll lead you to where Flash is," she said, trying to hold back a laugh, just imagining the wacky scenario that was about to unfold when they met.

The rest of the girl started walking behind them, until Rarity stopped Sunset and pulled her behind. "What was that? Now she's going to find Flash, and chaos is going to happen. Are you crazy?" she said, accidentally shaking Sunset too hard. "Oh, sorry dear."

Sunset brushed her off. "I have to admit, I partially did it because of that," she said laughing a bit. "But trust me, It'll be fine! She's Twilight Sparkle, her counterpart is trustable, so isn't she?" Rarity sighed in agreement. "Besides, when have one of my plans gone haywire?"

"Well, there was that one time when you tried to turn us all into mindless zombies," Rarity said, teasing her about it. "I'm just kidding dear. I'll trust your judgement."

Flash was casually sitting with his friends, chatting, when Twilight approached him. He instantly lightened up when he saw Twilight, and stopped talking so he could pay attention to her. "Hey Twilight, I see you're back just in time?"

Twilight smiled "Yes well, about that, where was I gone exactly?"

Flash laughed, thinking that she was just joking. "Equestria, it's called that right? You're a pony princess there. Wow, it still sounds really weird to say that."

Twilight was pretty scared, and started backing away slowly. "Ha ha, right. Well, see you later then!" she said, running out of there immediately, leaving a confused Flash behind, wondering why she had just ran off that quick.

The group was waiting for her back at their spot, and perked up when they saw Twilight running back. She looked like she was at a war with herself, probably looking insane to anyone who didn't know what was going on.

"So, whaddya think now?" Applejack sat down, ready for Twilight to explode, like she typically did in these situations.

"That's not possible! But it is at the same time!" she said, freaking out a bit. Twilight started pacing back and forth. "Apparently I'm some 'pony princess' from some place called Equestria?"

The girls all nodded at this fact, and Twilight tried to keep rambling on, but Rarity cut her off.

"We can tell you the rest later, if you would like us to," Rarity suggested, just to give Twilight some space to think. "Besides, the opening ceremony is to start anytime now."

Sunset stopped Twilight, ash she looked like she was going to leave. "But, you have to promise to not tell anyone, even your friends."

"Make a Pinkie Promise!" Pinkie Pie said, jumping in-front of Twilight. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Twilight repeated the action. "Okie dokie, you're good to go!"

A familiar face to Twilight appeared from the crowds. Sunny Flare. "Oh, there you are!" she said, pulling Twilight away. "We were wondering where you were."

A few metres behind them now, Pinkie reminded Twilight. "Don't break a Pinkie Promise! Or else!!!"

Sunny Flare looked at Twilight, as now they were out of range from the other girls. "What was that all about? Why were you over there making friends with the enemy for so long?"

Twilight looked away. "They aren't my friends. Besides, it's nothing important," she said, trying to hide the fact that she knew something. Problem was, that Twilight was not such a good liar.

"C'mon, you can tell me. We're friends, right?"

"Fine, I'll tell you, but you aren't going to believe me," she said. "It all started when-

Author's Note

Ooh dang! She didn't keep the Pinkie Promise! :pinkiegasp:

You also might have noticed that I put the 'Hiatus' thing at the bottom of the story, that's because I'll be taking a short break (2 weeks?) from this story. I'm going to be shooting out chapters really fast after that because I need to get this done before June!

Also just thought of a way I could write Flash into this (I hate him by the way) and actually develop his character. Hmmm...

Chapter 6: Bet On It

"You have to do this! Just think about it for a second, all of us will get exactly what we want. We'll win, quite literally." She had quite a bit of enthusiasm about her plan. It was perfect. Flawless even, just like everything she thought of was. Just like she was.

"I'm not sure about this, it feels wrong somehow. I really don't want us to get in trouble." Her friend said with worry in her voice, not wanting to get herself or her friends in trouble for it.

"Since when was a little shenanigans such a big deal? They'll never find out anyway." She pushed the idea upon her. She had to convince her to do it. Just needed to.

"Shenanigans? This is cheating. There's a big difference! I shouldn't have to spell it out for you to understand my point here." Who did she think she was? Ugh! The girl resisted the urge to flare out in anger. Calm yourself, just know that you're right and she isn't.

"Okay then, so what's your big idea?" She said. Her friend probably had no idea whatsoever.

"I.... I don't know really. I haven't thought about it." Typical. That just made it a whole lot easier to sway her to her side.

"Hah! The girl who always has all the ideas is stumped? Just admit it, you secretly want to do my original plan. But, you're denying it." Don't let her say anyth-

"But-"

"We're friends here, just trust me on this one. Please?" Please always works on anyone. An overused phrase, but it seemed to have some weird mind control, if that made any sense, on it. It had to work. She was running out of ideas soon.

"Fine." Yes! It worked. Well, it always did. She thought of herself as a pretty convincing girl. Everyone did look up to her, and she loved it.

"But.. only when it is absolutely necessary." There's always a catch. Whatever, still seemed good enough for her.

"That's a deal."

Principal Cadence was handed back the microphone from her husband, and Vice Principal, Shining Armor. She waited for the noise to quiet down, and for the suspense to build before she said her final statement to close off the opening ceremony.

"So, without further ado, let the 10th Annual Friendship Games.... begin!" She smiled proudly as the audience erupted into a loud chorus of cheers.

"Just a reminder, the track and field and motocross events are happening today, so make sure to be ready!" She said, stepping down from the large stage as students started to get up and out.

It was quite fascinating how big this school actually was, Sunset Shimmer thought. It had a full outdoor stage, a motocross course, a roller-skating track, and an archery range. That even was on top of the football field and track which snaked around the edge of it. To be honest, she liked this place quite a bit, save for the ugly uniforms that some students wore. She was sure that Rarity was on the same page with her at that one.

Rainbow Dash punched Sunset lightly in the arm, trying to get her attention. "Hello?"

It also gave her a Deja-vu type feeling. Probably because it had reminded her of Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. Both did have a considerably large campus size. It actually almost saddened her to think of her old school, and her old life. But she was here now, doing... whatever it was that she was doing.

No answer. She did it again, albeit harder this time. "You in there or what?"

Sunset blinked, then realized she was back in the real world, and out of la-la land. "Oh yeah, uh, sorry. Wait, where did everyone else go?"

"They all went along with Pinkie to the washroom. Turns out eating too many sugar packets and cotton candy have bad effects, even on Pinkie Pie." Rainbow snickered.

"But besides that, we have our motocross event today!" Rainbow Dash said excitedly. "It's going to be so awesome!" She jumped a little. "I mean, not to brag, but I think I might even place in first! But don't worry, you'll get second for sure." Her ego seemingly inflated the more she spoke.

Sunset rolled her eyes at Rainbow Dash's usual antics. "Good luck on that," she said, before a devious smile appeared on her face, and she turned to face her friend. "How about a bet?"

Rainbow Dash paused to look at her for a second. This wasn't normal Shimmer logic, but she was pretty unpredictable at times. Of course, she would get first and win the bet. She always got first, and that wasn't just her ego talking. Okay, maybe a bit of it was, but still. "What's the deal?"

Sunset contemplated it for a few moments, then began her proposal. "You think that you can win the race, right?"

Rainbow nodded in agreement. Typical her.

"Well if you're so confident about it, what if I get first instead of you?"

"Yeah, yeah, get on with it." Rainbow Dash motioned anxiously for her friend to continue.

"My proposal is that if I get first, you have to stand up in front of whoever is watching, and admit how I'm better than you. And if you lose, I have to do the exact same thing for you." Sunset said, crossing her arms.

"Hmm, seems fair enough, I'm in." She said, extending her hand out for Sunset to shake it. "Deal?"

"Deal."

Author's Note

Yeah, yeah. This is a short chapter. Kill me.

I make most of these little mini plots up on the spot, yet they seem to integrate so well into the storyline and moral I'm planning. Seriously, so well into what I'm thinking. You'll see.

Also, who is that mysterious girl in the first scene? Just who does she think she is? (You can guess if you want to, it shouldn't be too hard since I dropped a few hints)

Chapter 7: Race for 1st Place

Author's Note

Just before you read; all that I know about motocross comes from my own imagination and a few videos I watched on YouTube, so don't expect me to get everything right here.

Anyways, enjoy! :pinkiehappy:

Chapter 7: Race for 1st Place

Rarity sat down in the crowded stands, trying to make room for her three friends who would be watching with her. The motocross event was set to start in ten minutes, and Sunset and Rainbow Dash were competing together in it.

She was considerably nervous for the two of them, it was one of the first events of the entire games. Plus, she hadn't exactly talked to either of them before the event. Not her fault of course! She was just swept up in all the madness. Okay, maybe it was a little bit her fault, but they would be fine.

"Ya nervous too sugarcube?" Applejack said, choosing her seat next to Rarity.

"Yes, quite so," she looked down at the seats, frowning. "These are not helping either. Could they not invest in some cushions, or at least proper chairs?"

Applejack chuckled at her high-maintenance friend, quite the opposite of her. "It's fine Rarity. Ah'm sure that you'll survive the little while we'll be here. Oh, there they are!" She said, glancing over to the side.

Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were walking up to the stands, but Fluttershy was more wobbling than walking. She was carrying Rarity's purse, which was full of junk, and a ton of candy, probably Pinkie's. Pinkie waved, and Fluttershy made the mistake of waving too, her stuff almost falling all over the place.

"Thank you very much dear, do have a seat please." Rarity said, taking her purse from Fluttershy. She had left it when she was looking at the gift stand.

"Oh, it was absolutely no problem Rarity. It was something to get my mind off this race," she looked at the motocross course, and shivered a little bit. It was just like her to be nervous at these types of things.

Pinkie suddenly jumped from her seat in excitement. "Oh, I just can't take it anymore! I'm soooo excited!" she smiled extra brightly, exaggerating with her hands.

"You're not just a tad bit nervous about this?" Applejack looked at her skeptically.

"Um, noo!" Pinkie said, as if it was that obvious.

"Well then ah guess you're the only one there," Applejack looked at Rarity and Fluttershy, who nodded in return. "Lets just hope that they do a good job." Everyone hummed in agreement.

"You ready?" Rainbow Dash asked, standing with Sunset at the start of the motocross track. They were set to start in a few minutes, and the girls were all putting their helmets on.

Sunset rolled her eyes and chuckled. "For the fifth time, yes, I am ready." She buckled her helmet on, and traced her hands over the motorcycle. It was red, yellow and orange, all of her favorite colors. Rainbow Dash's was of course rainbow colored, and had gotten all of her friends to sign it, for good luck.

Rainbow buckled her helmet on too, and leaned against her motorcycle. "So, just wondering since you might know and all, do you think we might, I dunno, get that pony stuff again?"

Sunset stopped her tracing, and looked at Rainbow Dash, intrigued. "I really have no idea, but it might be possible. You'll just have to see."

A whistle blew near where they were, and holding it was Mrs. Harshwhinny. "Quiet! Girls, we start in two minutes. Please get ready, and remember, do your best!"

"I guess it's time then," Sunset said, hopping on to her motorcycle. "Good luck Rainbow. I still think I'll win the bet though," she added on at the end, smiling.

"Yes. good luck," a voice appeared next to Sunset. It belonged to the girl on the motorcycle beside her, Indigo Zap. She exchanged glances with another girl, then looked back at the two, grinning.

"Just who do you think you are?" Rainbow said defensively, turning to the girl.

"Indigo Zap," she pointed to her friend, "that's Sugarcoat. You can also call us the winners, right Sugar?" She looked at Sugar, who was barely paying attention to the conversation.

She looked up, and realized she was supposed to be talking. "Oh yeah, she's right."

Indigo Zap rolled her eyes, annoyed at her friend. "Are you still looking at that emblem on her motorcycle?" She gestured towards the star on the side of a girl's bike.

"I'm sorry, but it still looks really cool!" Sugar said this a bit too loud, and she lowered her volume down. "I just want one so badly! Do you think I could get one?"

"Ugh," Indigo crossed her arms. "What I want so badly is for you to shut up." She looked over to Rainbow and Sunset, plastering on a wide grin again. "Good luck! You'll need it!" She said in a singsong voice.

The whistle blew again, and an announcement blared over the system. "Welcome to the motocross event in this year's Friendship Games. We hope you all have fun spectating, and participating. Are you all ready?"

A loud chorus of 'yes' was yelled.

"Well then, let the games begin!" Everyone revved up their engines. On your marks. They all leaned forwards. Get ready. The suspense lingered in the air, for both the girls and the viewers.

"Go!"

Sunset Shimmer throttled forward, feeling the sudden rush of cool wind in her face. This particular event was simple enough; do five laps on the course, and get one of the three fastest times in your heat. You would then move on to the finals, something she was confident of either her or Rainbow Dash achieving.

She turned the corner, keeping a good stance at the front of the pack along with Rainbow and the two other girls. There was a small jump ahead, and she sped up, flying over it and landing perfectly back on the ground.

"Nice!" Rainbow Dash's voice was distorted by the rushing air, but she swore that she had said something else with it.

All of a sudden, she felt a bump to her left side. It was Indigo Zap, trying to avert her off of the course. She sped up, trying to get ahead of her, and out of dodge. Rainbow saw this as a challenge, and she too sped ahead.

"I'll get you next time!" The girl warned, fading back a few meters behind.

To be honest, she thought that this was quite dangerous for a school event. It would only take a small bump, and they could go spiraling out of control. Sunset had her own motorcycle, she was used to this. But she couldn't say the same for anyone else.

She took advantage of this, and pulled ahead of all the other girls. She was reaching where the stands were again, and swore she could make out her friends rooting them on.

Pinkie Pie had a bright pink sign, adorned with doodles of Rainbow and Sunset, and what she assumed to be a badly drawn motorcycle beside them. Rarity's sign was more reserved and elegant, with pretty flowers, and the Wondercolts symbol in the center.

Sunset was on the second last lap now, nearing the rough ragged terrain part of the track. She bounced over roughly, giving Rainbow time to catch up to her, as they were now neck and neck. For a second, Sunset could only pay attention to wining the bet with Rainbow. Yes, winning. That would be great.

Sunset saw a blue blur fly past, and all she noticed for a second was a noise in her vehicle. The engine was wearing out, right in the middle of the race. She looked over frantically to Rainbow, who seemed to have the same problem.

"We'll see you at the loser's party!" Sugarcoat and Indigo chorused, riding off far past them.

They had done something. Either in advance, or during the race, they had done something to their motorcycles. Cheated. Her motorcycle declined down to slower and slower speeds, along with Rainbow's.

This was it, she was going to lose. She was going to disappoint everyone, and they would all be mad at her again. There had to be at least some way that they could still win. She was smart, she had to try to think for a second.

"Rainbow Dash?!" She yelled over to her struggling friend, still trying to find a way to push forwards, as they were reaching the end of the pack.

"What now? We're done for," Rainbow admitted, feeling defeated.

"You know our pony transformations?" Rainbow nodded back. "Well, I've been studying them, and it seems that there might still be another way. We need to pony up."

"How?"

They were passing the four girls again, still cheering them on as always, not caring what place they got. They were the reason that they were racing, their friends, who stuck with her no matter what.

"Because, they care about us. To them, it doesn't matter what place we get, but that we tried. And we need to at the least try," Sunset started faintly glowing in a familiar way. "For them!"

She felt a sudden burst of speed, and of power. Rainbow and her started to zoom past the other competitors, receiving a wave of applause from the audience. The tingling sensation started in her head, as she felt ears start to grow. It moulded into her helmet, giving her quite the look, along with her growing ponytail.

They weaved in and out of the racers, nearing the front once again, close to Sugarcoat and Indigo Zap.

It was the final stretch, and the world seemed to slow. With one last energy bust, they shot ahead, still neck and neck. The two quickly passed an extremely shocked Sugarcoat, heading up to Indigo. The three were so close to each other, and so close to the finish line.

Zoom.

Chapter 8: Win or Lose

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 9: Investigations

Twilight slung her purple and blue bag over her shoulder and knocked on the door to Sunset Shimmer's apartment. She had been surprisingly invited there because she was now considered a friend to them. Twilight found this quite ironic.

The visit had been good for Twilight too, as she was dying to see any insight on what was really going on at Canterlot High. Maybe it was so that these girls were the key she needed to unlock the mysteries happening all around her. She had brought a few tools to investigate with, hence her purple bag.

Twilight had now been waiting at least half a minute, and the door hadn't moved at all. She knocked again, louder this time to get their attention. She heard a few giggles, silence, and then the door opened at last.

"Oh hello Twilight! We're so glad you were able to come." Fluttershy looked around the room, lost in time for a few moments. "Oh, sorry! Come in please." she gestured Twilight to come in.

Is this some magic cult or something? Twilight wondered when she first walked in the room. The girls were all gathered around in a circle, with something in the middle. "Um, what are you guys doing?" Twilight asked ignorantly.

Everyone looked up at her, and there was a loud laugh. "Nice one," said Rainbow Dash, moving over for her to have a seat with them.

She sat down, still looking at everyone confused. Twilight had never been to small parties or anything of the sort before, so she had no idea what was going on. "I'm not joking, I honestly have no idea what's going on here. Wait -- is this some sort of board game?"

Sunset supressed a giggle. "Yes, it's called Monopoly. Jeez, I've only been in the human world for about three years and even I know that." she started shutting the board. "Also known as the game that ruins friendships."

"C'mon! I was totally about to win that!" Pinkie crossed her arms, and gave a huge frown.

"And that is exactly my point here." Sunset packed the rest of the board into the box for later, and went to go put it away in the cupboard.

"Human world? Do you mean that you're also from the pony place? That's so fascinating! You seem quite normal to me, not like a pony or any other creature." Twilight got out her notebook and pen from her bag.

Applejack looked suspiciously at her notebook, then shrugged it off. "Yes sugarcube, she's from the pony world alright. Her and the other Twilight are both. Actually, speaking of Twilight, do you know if she has replied to you yet?" Applejack asked, getting the journal out.

"Dear!" Rarity smacked the book from Applejack's hand. "You can't just invade her property without asking! How unladylike of you." She took the journal from her. "Sunset, may we check if she has replied yet?"

"Sure," Sunset sat back down where she was. "I didn't see it buzzing though," she said skeptically.

"Ooh! Yay, she replied! " Pinkie yelled excitedly, pointing at the spot in the book where the Princess had written. "Let me read this in her voice. Ahem-"

Dear Sunset Shimmer,

Hello again! Sorry I wasn't able to reply, I was kept very busy with a lot of Princess Paperwork. (Thank you very much Celestia). But I must say, that is so fascinating that you met the other me! I have so many questions for you, I just can't help it! Does she look like me? Does she love reading and learning like me? I really want to meet her - but I don't think I can actually.

I'm not sure I'm going to be able to come over like you thought. Don't get me wrong, I want to and all, but I'm really busy with the map going off at random times, and I'm worried that if I might the other me, something bad might happen. The portal could rip, or one of us could fade from existence, or something absolutely crazy. I'm sorry but-

"-But I'm not going to be able to visit you guys right now." Pinkie said sadly. The letter was going downhill, and quickly. "I completely understand if you're mad at me, but I'm really sorry. Twilight Sparkle." The whole room went silent, except for Human Twilight still jotting down notes in her notepad.

"Well, that was surely unexpected." Rarity said, breaking the awkward silence, closing the book and placing it back down again. The girls looked down, disappointed. They had been looking forward to her visit for months.

Sunset seemed the most hard hit by this, as she was the one most in touch with Twilight. She looked up, and took a deep breath to calm herself down. "Excuse me for a second," she said, getting up. She wasn't mad, just disappointed. Really, really disappointed. If she was still the old Sunset, she would of blamed it on Twilight, but she was better than that. She just needed a moment to calm down.

Human Twilight looked up from her notepad, ready to ask more questions, until she realized the whole mood of the room had changed. "Guys, I'm really sorry about this."

Fluttershy put her hand on Twilight's shoulder. "It's not entirely your fault," she said reassuringly.

Rainbow looked at her. "Actually, it kind of is her fault!" She was annoyed at her too, ruining her friend's visit just like that.

Fluttershy took her hand off of Twilight's shoulder. "Girls! You all need to take a breath and calm down. Twilight didn't mean to do anything, and I think that's unkind of you all to put the entire fault of this on her alone." She said sternly. "How would you feel if we all blamed you for it?" There was a silence in the room. "Exactly."

"Well, ah agree with Fluttershy. We should all just forget this for the moment, and try to have fun." She pulled a few cans out of her bag. "I even brought apple cider with me."

Pinkie looked up after hearing the word apple cider. The sugar was calling to her, she need to have a sip or ten. "Thanks Applejack," she said, grabbing the can as her hair started to revert to it's original shape.

Sunset took a can from Applejack right after Pinkie. "I'm sorry for out bursting at you Twilight."

"Me too," chorused the rest of the group as they each took a sip of the apple cider.

Twilight took a sip of the juice, and was immediately hit with it's pure goodness. "Wow, this is actually really good," she said, taking another sip, and getting out her notebook again. "Anyways, is it okay if I ask you some questions about Equestria?" Everyone nodded back to her. "Ok, number one. How does the magic work when in the human world?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Sunset said, looking puzzled. "I tried investigating it before, but to no avail. All I did was just cause disaster. But I'm sure it has someone to do with activating the friendship or something cheesy like that."

Twilight scribbled this all down in her notes, fascinated. She wondered if she could also use the magic, to apply it on herself and others that might not be from Equestria. "Has the magic ever worked on non-Equestrians?"

"Well," Rainbow Dash butted in. "The rest of us are 100% human, and we still get these wicked ponytails and wings! I think it's pretty coolif you ask me."

"So, do you have to be Equestrian for it to work?"

The athletic girl thought for a few seconds. "Well since it works on us too, I guess not. It's the magic of friendship, as Twilight describes it. It should work on anybody. It enhances our performance, whether it be music or sports, or whatever awesome thing we're doing. and did I mention, it's super awesome?"

"No Rainbow, you've only said that about five times," said Rarity combing through her hair with her fingers. "Speaking of transformations, I still must get those earrings. But the magic effect doesn't last long enough I suppose. It ends right after we're finished." Rarity added.

Very interesting indeed, Twilight noted down. Her mind wondered if there was some way to enhance the magic, to research it and use it to it's full advantage, to see how long the effects would last. She would surely do this when she got home, but she still needed one more thing from each of the girls.

"Err.. how can I put this normally?" Twilight fidgeted. "Can I have a strand of each of your hair please?"

Author's Note

But later that night when all the girls had settled down, Sunset Shimmer took out her journal. Dear
Twilight Sparkle, she wrote. A lot has changed in my life because, when it comes to friendship, there’s a lot to learn and a lot to practice. Every day I discover something new about what it means to be a good friend. I have been wondering, however, about these little rainbows that appear sometimes.
Sometimes they happen when we are singing and sometimes they happen when we are having a good
time together. What kind of magic are they? Are they the same kind of magic as ponying up? Is there
anything I should know about them? Just curious. In an instant, the journal began glowing and Twilight Sparkle’s response appeared.
Dear Sunset Shimmer, Sometimes the magic really does happen, but you don’t have to understand
everything. Just be grateful for it, as I’m sure you are. Your friend, Twilight Sparkle.
Sunset Shimmer put down her journal. She was grateful for the magic, for the friendship, for
everything that had happened to her. Still. There’s nothing wrong with being curious, is there? she
wrote back.
The words materialized on the page. Careful, Sunset Shimmer! Careful!
- Sunset Shimmer's Time to Shine

Chapter 10: Shoot for Gold

Back in her basement laboratory, Twilight Sparkle pinned the DNA samples on her board. When she had compared theirs to her own, there was no noticeable link. She didn't get it, they were just as normal as she was, but they weren't. That's what troubled her.

Twilight knew there was something she was missing from all of this. If it wasn't in their DNA, where was it? Maybe she could hook something up to them that's attracted to the magic, and would be able to calculate and save some of it.

She grabbed a blank sheet of paper from her desk, and started scribbling her new idea.

The girls were sitting in the stands, waiting for Fluttershy's and Applejack's event, archery. They chose this time to sit as far away from the Shadowbolts in case they tried something again.

"Fluttershy, ah know you're nervous, but stressin' about it this much isn't going to get you anywhere." Applejack was trying to calm the shy girl down.

"But Applejack, what if I mess up?" Fluttershy said, almost on the verge of tears. "I don't want Junior Track camp to happen all over again. The people laughing, it was awful!" She looked up at all her friends, who wore worried faces. "I'm overreacting, aren't I?"

They all nodded. "Oh, I'm so so sorry, I'm just very nervous about this as you can see." She brushed a piece of hair out of her eyes.

Rainbow Dash put her hand on her friend's shoulder. "Even if you do badly, we won't be mad at you. I promise." Sometimes the occasionally brash girl had a heart full of gold. "You win some, and you lose some."

Sunset suddenly sat up right after remaining mostly silent in the conversation, and looked at Rainbow Dash. "Please don't tell me you just quoted her."

"Quoted who?" Rainbow looked confused, then remembered the previous two days. "Oh yeah, her."

As if on command, Indigo Zap popped right in on the conversation. "Who? Moi?" She tried to look as innocent as possible before flashing an evil smile like a pro.

"I mean, I always pop out of random places for no reason, but how did you get here? And why are you here?" Pinkie Pie asked her.

Indigo Zap stepped to push two girls in front of her, and slung her arms around the two, keeping them from trying to go away. "Relax, I'm here to usher the two winners down to archery -- and they will win, right?" She looked at both of them, and they nodded. "Good."

Twilight put her hand up as if she was still in class. "Indigo, I told you that was going to show them the thing first, right?"

"Fine, but me and everyone else are going to archery, so make sure to not be late!" She pulled Sour Sweet with her, and went to run over to the archery range.

Twilight looked back to make sure they were gone before turning back. "Sorry, they're just kind of pushy on me," she said sighing a bit. "Anyway," Twilight reached into her hoodie pockets and pulled out two wristbands, one yellow and the other one a light orange. "These are for you two, Applejack and Fluttershy."

The two girls took the bracelets, and examined them before Fluttershy finally asked. "What are these exactly?" She said, putting the device on her wrist.

"It's a magic radar and accumulator, it measures the intensity and statistics of your magic and applies it on to the database I set up." She pressed a few buttons to turn both of the bands on. "In short terms, it tracks and collects the magic."

Sunset looked at the band on her friend's arm. "Wow, how long did it take you?"

"I was up all night!" Twilight said, getting weird looks from some of them. "I mean like, I'm not obsessed or anything, but it might of taken that long."

"Do ya think perhaps we could get a move on to archery?" Applejack asked, moving her wrist around to get a feel for the new accessory. "I jus' don't want to be late."

"Sounds goooood to me! Let's go!" Pinkie zipped out of there in a few seconds, leaving behind a pink trail in the air.

The other girls soon followed behind her, leaving just Twilight and Rarity, who didn't want to ruin her shoes by running in them like she had the last time. "Twilight dear, are you going to come?"

Suddenly, Twilight stepped back a few feet from her, as if she was concerned about something. "No, no! You go, I'll just stay here and do stuff until it's my turn," she said, pulling her sleeve back down.

There was something peculiar going on, but Rarity couldn't put her finger on it. If it was a big concern, it would have been too obvious to miss. For having a keen eye to detail from all of her fashion designing, she was sure she wouldn't of missed something, even if it was small. Twilight was probably just nervous, and wanted to stay away until the last moment.

"Well, if you do change your mind, you can always come and find us at the archery course," Rarity said, waving goodbye to her before leaving.

Just relax Fluttershy. Do what you had always done in practice and just shoot the bow like normal. It was finally her turn after an agonizing twenty minutes of waiting. Applejack had already gone and done very well, she even ponied up for a moment. Fluttershy hoped she shared the same fate.

She picked up her yellow and pink bow, and stood sideways to the target. Picking one of her butterfly arrows, she latched it on to the bow string and put it in place. Slowly and carefully, she pulled back the string to her cheek. Breathe in, breathe out.

"Fluttershy! It's Rainbow Dash, and I know you can do this! Just focus."

Just focus, okay. She aligned the arrow with the bulls eye, and let go. It shot through the air, and right onto the exact middle of the bulls eye. She heard a cheer from her friends, plus groan from Sour Sweet as she now had done worse than both of the girls.

Getting through the rest of the four shots she needed was a breeze, as she easily flied through with expert shooting skills, even better than Applejack did. She got bulls eyes on all the rest of them, save for the last one when she got a weird jolt from the band as she started to transform.

Her transformation and performance now dying down, she stepped out of the spotlight to greet her friends. They all did a small group hug, and each gave a high five to Fluttershy.

"There, ah knew you could do it Flutters," Applejack said. "To be honest, ah think you even beat me," Applejack put her hat down an inch in a small bit of shame.

Next contestant, Twilight Sparkle. Please step up to the stand and claim your equipment. The announcement blared loudly.

Rarity looked over to the Shadowbolts, who were looking around frantically for her. "I told her not to be late! Why is this taking her so long?!" Indigo Zap panicked. Twilight had only one minute to step up or she was disqualified.

"There she is!" Lemon Zest pointed at what seemed to be nothing, but Twilight appeared about three seconds later from the exact spot. Lemon shared a keen eye to detail with Rarity, and also heard the sound of someone running.

"Your complete and utter weirdness saved us for once Lemon, thank you," Sunny Flare said, practically grabbing Twilight and placing her up there.

In a matter of a few seconds, Twilight picked up the bow, angled it, and had already shot the arrow straight into the bulls eye, similar to Fluttershy. The next three shots were aimed with the same absolute perfect precision, and also went straight in the red middle of the target. The six girls noticed she had built up a glow coming off of her as she finished, dropping the bow and running back to her friends.

Unlike the pony transformations, she kept glowing faintly even ten minutes afterwards, as they waited anxiously for the results. She was just kind of glowing, but like nobody else noticed, except her and the Shadowbolts.

Let's applaud all of our athletes here before I announce the winners. Ok, now for the moment you've all been waiting for... the winner of the girl's archery contest are the Wonderbolts!

All of Canterlot High cheered, hugging each other to celebrate their victory. They had won most events, and were winning by quite a long streak now. It had seemed the tables had turned from the previous years, and they were hoping to keep it that way.

Author's Note

I really only need about 2 scenes more after this chapter until the finale, so get excited! There's probably only one chapter until the climax then!

The final battle is going to be about 2x longer than any other chapter, because I want to make it the best quality I can.

Also, feel free to put your predictions down below. I'm sure we all know what's going to happen, but how will it start?

Chapter 11: The Final Countdown

Sunset Shimmer ran over to the snack shop to load up on more junk food, a grand delicacy of the games. They were selling rainbow cupcakes today, and they looked great! She would buy six, one for each of her friends. Wait, maybe she would get seven, so she could have two since she spent the time in getting them. Speaking of that, eight cupcakes couldn't hurt--the more the merrier, right?

"A friendly welcome to Friendliness Fredrick and Friends Friendship Frontier. What would you like to have today?" Spoke a very monotone voice, the very enthusiastic cashier at the snack shop.

"Wait Maud, you work here?" Sunset Shimmer said, she hadn't noticed the girl here before.

Maud blinked as if she was contemplating whether or not to reply. "I'm an unpaid intern. But they told me I'd be allowed to read one of my many poems in between events. It is going to be very exciting for me."

"Yes, very exciting!" Sunset Shimmer said, trying to see if the girl could ever crack a smile. Nope. "Anyway, I'll have eight of the rainbow cupcakes please," she pointed to them.

Maud picked up the cupcakes slow and emotionless as ever, and placed them inside the box except for one. "Do you mind if boulder has one? He's really--"

"Yes, just take it," Sunset said, grabbing the box of cupcakes and looking away as Maud cringingly shoved the cupcake at boulder. If the rock really was alive, she would of felt sorry for it. But it wasn't, and that made her feel better and worse at the same time.

Maud placed boulder and his cupcake back on the counter. "Do you also mind if I could read one of my poems to you to practice?"

Sunset turned back around. "Oh sure, what is it about?"

"Rocks."

And that is when she bolted out of there for the rest of the day.

Twilight Sparkle tried to distance herself as far as she could from the rest of the Shadowbolts. They lost again! Sunny Flare said that they never lost, yet here they were now. Lost in the midst of her thoughts, she walked right in to a Canterlot High tent. "Ooh, sorry guys!"

They all looked at her suddenly, and there was no movement. "Twilight is back!" One shouted, and that was when the frenzy began.

A group of students took it to them to lift her up in to the air, cheering in excitement that their favorite student was back, one that had saved them twice now. None of them had any idea that they were so wrong. "Twilight, Twilight, Twilight!"

Twilight Sparkle fidgeted around, trying to get down and break free from these lunatics whom were obsessed with her. Enough was enough. "Stop!"

Everyone stopped in their tracks. The four students slowly placed Twilight back on the ground, and looked down in shame. "Sorry, we were just so excited to see another pony."

"A pony? Oh, right!" Twilight said. "I am the most graceful pony of them all -- I guess. Right? Because I'm a pony, that's me!" She said awkwardly.

One of the students got down on one knee. "Yes you are, princess." The others followed suit, all surrounding her, bowing down to her almost. "I am so sorry we were to disturb you your highness. Is there anything we can do to make up for it?" She looked up, her eyes glowing a faint yet eerie green.

Everyone else looked up at her too, all in unison. Their eyes, green. Twilight looked around her, they were all the same. Frozen in the same position, with their horrible eyes.

Now that she was paying attention, she started to notice that the color was becoming bolder.

"Yay!" Fluttershy cheered, barely audible unless you were standing one foot away from her. The roller derby event had just started, and Pinkie was the jammer. She had to try to get around the track before the Shadowbolts did twenty times.

"I have to say, these are pretty good. Even though it creeps me out that they're Rainbow cupcakes," Rainbow Dash said, snatching another one from the stash. They ran back to get a couple more after demolishing the first seven.

"Ah honestly can't believe that out of us, Rarity would be doing this. It seems too-- rough and tumble for her." Applejack said, finishing off her own cupcake.

The day had been a blast so far, and Canterlot High was winning by far. Crystal Prep Academy needed a miracle to beat them at this point.

"Maybe she's trying to 'broaden her horizons' or something like that," Sunset said, laughing." At least when she comes back, we'll be able to see easily depending on her fainting on a couch or something." She imitated one of Rarity's dramatic episodes.

Woosh

Lemon Zest took the lead from Pinkie Pie, flying right past her. This match unlike some others had been relatively close, the two girls were on the same lap, and near each other. Pinkie was not to have this though, as she took a powerful glide.

"Woo!" She yelled excitedly, as her pony transformation started. She got her tail, and just like Sunset and Rainbow had in motocross, her helmet moulded perfectly to fit her new temporary ears.

Just as Lemon Zest was approaching the defense section, Rarity and Derpy slid in at the last second and blocked her, sending her sprawling to the ground. It looked like it would of hurt a lot if she didn't have her gear on, but it probably still did regardless. Yet Lemon still got up, brushed herself off and kept on skating.

"Well, let's just hope that they can finish before it rains," Applejack said, pointing to the clouds that were accumulating in the past ten minutes. "Speakin' of the weather, I thought they weren't even callin' for it today -- and I would know that."

Fluttershy shrugged. "I guess mother earth had a change of mind! Eep!" Fluttershy yelped as someone from behind poked her on the shoulder.

"Where is she?" Sour Sweet basically demanded, grabbing Fluttershy from the shoulders.

Fluttershy jumped back trying to pry Sour Sweet off of her shoulders, but to no avail. "Who... are you.. talking.. about?" She said, her voice shaking.

Sour Sweet stepped back, readjusting herself. "I mean, I'm usually the level headed one here -- but this is an emergency. We haven't been able to find Twilight for like, two hours!" Sour exaggerated with her hands.

"I'm sorry you're so obsessed with her or something, but two hours isn't that long!" Rainbow put her hands on her hips like a know-it-all. "Besides, she's not a toddler, I'm pretty sure you can't lose a sixteen year old girl!"

Sunset nudged Rainbow in the arm. "Actually, we kind of lost Pinkie Pie earlier this week."

"We all know Pinkie has her own set of rules," she said to Sunset, then turned back to Sour Sweet. "So why are you so suddenly worried about this?"

The wind started to pick up eerily, and Sour Sweet had to keep brushing her hair out of her face. "Ugh! And there's absolutely no reason why, I just want to make sure that she's -- safe!"

Rainbow laughed for a bit at Sour. She didn't have the same problem with her hair, it just seemed to magically stay in place when she needed it to, courtesy to hanging out with Rarity so often. "I have to say, nice hair you got there!" Sour tried to hide her hair behind her. "And why would you need to worry about her safety anyway? It's not like she's doing anything stupid."

"Other than hanging with you guys," Sunset added under her breath, getting a chuckle from Rainbow Dash.

Something flashed in the sky, and the girls all cast their glances towards the growing light near the other side of the field. There was a light, and it seemed to be glowing brighter by the minute. The dark clouds that were in the sky started to slowly spiral around it, like the eye of a hurricane.

"Actually, we might need to panic now."

Author's Note

The next chapter is going to amazing! And a bit creepy, just like the scene with Twilight which was just as strange to write as it was to read...

I'm also thinking of doing side stories, as I mentioned a few events in here that never happened or were never shown in the story. I'll either write them separately or as individual stories.

Chapter 12: From Midday to Midnight

Author's Note

This took forever for me to write, but I am so satisfied with this chapter now that I put all my effort into it, and it's done. My favorite so far!

The next and final chapter should come tomorrow.

Chapter 12: From Midday to Midnight

The next series of events happened suddenly in an insane downward spiral. The day, once a warm and humid spring day, turned quickly colder, the temperature dropping at least twenty degrees. The heat was rushing towards the center of the mess, spiraling around in a cone, a tornado.

It eventually rushed back to them, and everything was restored and normal for a moment -- if you could pretend there wasn't a bat-like girl floating over the top of the school. Or that it the sky had turned an unnatural empty black.

Rainbow Dash and others looked up in horror at the sight. "What the-- what the hell!"

"Dashie, no swearing!" Pinkie covered her friends mouth. "This is a kids' movie!"

Rainbow Dash was quick to move her friends hand out of the way. "Yeah, and there's a flying bat demon girl. Kids would have already been scared by now."

And, of course, the 'flying bat demon girl' was none other than Twilight Sparkle. Yet being transformed into some sort of monster, she looked horribly beautiful. She had a huge flowing gown, drifting in the violent wind she was causing. Twilight's hair had turned a few shades darker and extended just as the other's hair had. Her signature nerd glasses turned into a green mask, with a point representing a horn she would have had in Equestria.

Yet the main attractions were her new wings, which shone and sparkled in the otherwise inky black midnight. They extended, growing bigger and bigger, adorned with her signature cutie mark star.

"Students, please calm down, and quietly and orderly leave the premises. Remember to keep your cool, we must get everyone out of here in an orderly fashion. " Cadence said, using her megaphone.

The first scream was heard and soon followed a few more. Students finally realizing what was going on started to run around in circles, trying desperately to escape whatever monster had appeared again this time.

"Orderly fashion, please!" Someone knocked it out of Cadence's hands while they ran past her. "Who are we kidding, panic!"

The other missing Shadowbolt girls rushed back to Sour Sweet, who was still with the rest of the girls, and absolutely terrified at this point on. "What's going on?!" Indigo Zap asked rudely, grabbing Sunset Shimmer by the jacket.

"I.... I have no idea!" She threw Indigo Zap off of her. "I honestly have no idea what to do!" She seemed to be caught in a flurry of panic and started to pace back and forth.

"There, there Sunset... ah'm sure there has to be an.. uh.. easy fix to this sort of thing!" Applejack said, trying to stay positive. "How about -- ah got it! We can just power up those Elements of Harmony again and blast her with that ginormous rainbow. Just like how we defeated you way back when."

Sunny Flare jumped between the two girls. "Elements of Harmony? Defeated her? What the heck is going on here?"

Sunset brushed Flare off, ignoring her questions for time's sake. They can be answered later."No no, Twilight said she had to seal the Elements of Harmony away in some magical tree or something for the better." She frowned, trying to think of something else.

"Oh, oh!" Pinkie Pie said, raising her hand like she was in school at the moment. "How about we use our magical instruments and play another song like we did with the Sirens? Wouldn't that work Sunny?"

Sunny Flare looked up again. "Someone said my name?" She stepped in again, only for Sunset to push her out of the way again.

Sunset threw her hands up in frusturation. "Ugh! Sorry Pinkie, but that wouldn't work either. We don't even have our instruments here, and if we had to go back and get them, it would be too late."

They weren't the only ones trying to stop Midnight Sparkle in her tracks. A few students were already on the job, trying various - yet unsucessful- attempts to defeat her. In a triumphant throw, Maud Pie used her rock throwing skills to toss a small pebble at the monsterous girl.

"You will not win," Maud said with no expression, watching it hit her cheek.

Midnight flinched from the power of the pebble hitting her. It might of been a tiny thing, but Maud had to of had some otherworldy rock powers, not kidding. "Ow!" She brushed her cheek, eyes turning black as she turned to Maud. "You would of never gotten away with that anyway, it's too small to inflict any damage. You need a boulder. Look, I have one here," she levitated a pebble.

Wrapping it in a shadow magic, it rose into the air and grew larger and larger, the magic enveloping it. When the darkness was lifted from it, the rock once before tiny, was terrifyingly huge.

Getting ready to throw it at the girl, a figure jumped infront of Maud. "Do not worry, the Great and Powerful Trixie is here to save you from this abomination!"

"Abomination? How dare y-"

"Yes yes, it is true," Trixie spoke as if she was performing for just another magic show. "Trixie does have an array of great talents that will defeat you! Behold!" Trixie tried to form a fireball in the palm of her hand. "Err.. this was working before.."

In a patient phase, Midnight waited for Trixie to do something more. It was actually quite sad too see this, but humorous still. She would finish her off in time, but now to let this girl pretend that she was a real threat to her. "Y'know, I'm so scared for this grandeur trick," she said, laughing.

Trixie had only managed to get a small spark from her hand, which was actually impressive still. But this wasn't child's play for Midnight Sparkle. "Now if you're done, I'll go." She lifted both Trixie and Maud into the air, and gripped both of them in the dark oblivion.

When they opened their eyes again, they were black. She placed them softly back on the ground, and tested her two new creations out. "Bow down, if you will." They looked at her, and eerily bowed down, sitting on one knee.

The rest of the strange people she had met in the tent did so too. She spun happily around, relishing in all of her new talents and things she could do with this magic. It was amazing, she should have figured it out earlier, she would never live without it now. Never. Hahahaha -- hahaha!

The eleven girls were watching the whole exchange, horrified and taken aback by a seemingly harmless girl turned into this. Just like what happened with me then... Sunset Shimmer thought. Wait, that's it! "Guys, I think I know what happened!" She jumped a bit, excited that she had a bit of an answer.

"You.. do?" Sugarcoat took a step back from the girl, and suddenly avoided eye contact. The four other Shadowbolts did something similar, except of course Lemon Zest, who still was assessing the situation by herself.

Applejack raised an eyebrow at this. "Why? You seem to know something that we don't." She said, crossing her arms.

The four all looked at each other, silently fighting on who was going to be the unlucky one to spill the beans. After an awkward minute, Sour Sweet finally stepped forward.

"I'm so angry at you guys for putting me up to this!" She turned and stomped at her friends before regaining her composure. "Sorry. And to be the better man, I'll tell you guys what happened." Sour looked down at the floor. "We might of tampered with the bracelets a bit."

Everyone took in the shock. Rainbow Dash quickly jumped forward, defending her friends as if they would try and hurt them. "You what?"

"Well we-"

"Come on Twilight! We're losing and you know it," Sunny Flare said fiercely, stepping in front of her so she couldn't walk away again. "That was the deal, remember?"

Twilight looked to glance at the six girls on the bleachers. "Yes, but they're kind of my friends and.. it.. it doesn't feel right!" She frowned sadly at them, all laughing and talking with each other. I wish I had my friends like that.

"Yes, but you want us to win, and you want the magic, no?" Sunny Flare put on a sympathetic face and toned down her volume. "We're your friends, right? We only want the best for you."

Twilight looked at her, almost agreeing and giving in for a second until she turned stone cold again. "No. If you really wanted the best for me, you would have let me have my choice. Now excuse me, I'm going." She turned, walking away and leaving Sunny in the dust.

No, no. This wasn't how it was supposed to work! Everything was supposed to go as plan, but then she had to make those stupid 'friends'. Sunny Flare kicked over someone's drink in anger.

The girl looked at her. "What?!" Sunny shouted angrily, before storming off.

She had a duty to hold, and that was to keep her school's winning streak. And no matter what she had to do or sacrifice to get it, she would pull through.

"Then we asked Lemon if she could use her weird brain to tamper with the bracelet to transfer some of your magic to us. Since it's so powerful and seems to make you perform better as Twilight noted, we thought we could use it to win. But this is what happened.." They all braced themselves, ready to be shot down right away. Seconds passed, and nothing happened. They all opened their eyes and saw Sunset looking at them.

She took a deep breath in, and started to speak. "So don't get me wrong, I'm really mad, furious actually, at you for -- for all of this! But we need to understand what's going on, and then I'm sure that we'll deal with you later."

They all gulped, yet not taking their eyes off of Sunset.

"I'm thinking that maybe, just maybe, she happened to absorb all the dark magic we left on this school. Just like how the good magic stayed here with us."

Rarity put her hand on her friend's shoulder. "You mean that instead of just taking a bit of our magic, it started to take everything?" She looked around nervously.

"Yes." Sunset pointed at Twilight, now Midnight, and the other students whom were in a trance. "Doesn't it all seem familiar? She was using the same magic me and the Dazzlings used, just both of it together."

Midnight Sparkle used her magic and turned more and more of the students into her zombies, doing whatever she wanted them to do. Her brand new slaves to say. The pace she was doing so was frightening, she was getting stronger and faster.

Lemon Zest who had remained quit and fixated on the scene across from her turned her eyes to the rest of the group. "She has double the power then, for sure. We can't take down that kind of magic, it will be twice as hard as before." She said bitter-sweetly, solving an answer yet leaving another question.

"I think I have an idea. But it will involve everyone helping, especially you girls." the Shadowbolts all looked at each-other uneasily before sucking it up and nodding. "Ok, so the plan is-"

The ten girls were now hidden in the shadows, creeping alongside the wall. The dark of the midnight helped them to camouflage in, so they weren't noticeable. They stood in silence, waiting for the signal from Lemon Zest.

Meanwhile, Midnight Sparkle continued her reign of terror over the school, not stopping anytime to take a break. Really, it was unclear what her motivations were, but all the dark magic must have been getting to her head. There were only a few students left whom hadn't been affected; Canterlot High. Some were quite skilled in monster avoiding by now, as it had happened twice before.

She cornered in on the kids, ready to corrupt them too, when she heard an all but too familiar voice behind her. Lemon Zest.

"Hi... Twilight!" She said, watching as Twilight winced at her previous name for who-knows-why. "Quick, take this," She rummaged through her pocket, pulling out a half eaten Snickers bar. "You get a little weird when you're hungry, right?" Lemon Zest was nervous, this all had to be planned on time.

Midnight froze for a second, confused to why a Snickers bar would do anything to stop her. Her over-analytical brain was working over all the details and theories, giving them the perfect window of time to sneak in.

"Everyone, into formation," Rarity said, organizing the attack. They held hand in hand, just like their first attempt on the Sirens. Though this time, it was different, and had a chance at working.

"Over here, dummy!" Indigo Zap yelled out to Midnight, as she immediately turned her head around. One thing Twilight hated most of all, was her being called stupid or dumb. She was still taken aback by both of the attack on her, so they continued on while she was still weak.

"Yeah you! What do you think you're doing with our friend?" Sour Sweet said defensively, stepping forwards to get closer to her.

Midnight paused, then let out a genuine laugh. "Oh.. your friend, right! The friend you tried to make go against her own will for a stupid trophy? Sorry to burst your bubble, but I am her now."

Fluttershy suddenly broke free from the line of girls, looking very angry. "Of course she is our friend, and she is not you, because I know her now and know that she would never do such a thing!" Using her infamous stare, she tried to get through to the real Twilight Sparkle, yet still hidden deep inside of Midnight.

Sunny Flare stepped forward just after Fluttershy, looking at Midnight sincerely. "I.. I forced you in to trying to make us win, and now I'm really sorry. I'm sorry that I used your friendship and that magic with it for something other than what it is meant to be." Saying this, Midnight smiled a bit, before regaining her frown.

Lemon Zest was next, linking on to Sunny Flare's arm triumphantly. "And Twilight, I'm sorry for the time that I fiddled with the magic bracelet to make us win, I didn't know what we were dealing with." Midnight stayed speechless at these two girls. Right when she was about to say something, another one butted in, blocking her out completely.

Midnight tried to grip them with her shadowy magic, but they had some sort of field protecting them from her. She grunted, and unknown to her, the sparkles on her wings started to dissipate one by one.

Indigo Zap, Sugarcoat, and Sour Sweet joined the line of the Shadowbolts, linking each others arms. Individually they were nothing compared to Midnight, but together like this they were all a greater threat.

"We should have cherished the friendship that you had," Sour Sweet said, looking over at Sugarcoat "and listened to your concerns," Sugar said, smiling confidently.

"I know I can be mean and teasing sometimes, but listen to me. Is it you that really wants this magic, this power, this victory? Or is it..." She cut off looking down to the pavement in guilt. "Or is it us that put this whole idea in your head? Do you really want this?"

Midnight Sparkle's presence became less and less threatening to the girls, and to everyone. Her dark hair came back lighter to it's original color, and slowly but surely, her magic started to weaken from the formerly enslaved students at the school.

The six girls from Canterlot High finally joined arms with the other Shadowbolts, after giving them their own time to shine. "You may of taken away our magic, but we still have our original friendship that brought us together. Magic is not the true friendship, but friendship is the true magic." Sunset took of her bracelet, and the others followed suit.

"It was Twilight who showed them friendship, and them who showed it to me. We now gave it to all these new friends, and we're giving it to you now." The Shadowbolts waved at her awkwardly at the mention of them.

The night sky started to change back to the original blue color, and students started waking up from their previous trances, brushing themselves off and standing behind the eleven girls. "That friendship now, is shared with all of us, with those people behind there, standing up because of this friendship. Our world has no magic-" Every student now linked arms with each other. Derpy, Bon-Bon, Luna, Celestia, Lyra, Flash Sentry, even Lightning Dust and Trixie. A bond that could never be broken.

"But we have friendship!" Sugarcoat said, picking the final straw of Twilight's transformation.

The magic rushed out of Midnight Sparkle all at once, as it came apart in brilliant sparkles that exploded like little fireworks. Her purple wings started to shrink and shrink, until they were no more, no longer holding her up in the air where she was before. It took a split second to realize, but she was falling.

And falling quite fast.

Chapter 13: New Beginnings

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 3: Twas The Night Before The Games

Author's Note

Woah, this chapter is way longer than I though it would of been. I had originally though it would have been one of the shorter ones. I guess that means that I just went silly with this one :derpyderp2: which probably reflects in my writing.

Also if you hadn't already noticed, I removed the 'EQG: 3' part of the title because it looks more professional without it.

And if you're bored, play spot the reference. There are two references in here (one stated by the characters in the story) and the other one is much less obvious. Whoever can get both (or the much less obvious one) gets a digital cookie! ◍

*Update: Oh god, I went on to a popular text symbol website to get the cookie, and the example for the text art was a Sunset Shimmer art! Ponies are taking over the internet.

Chapter 3: Twas The Night Before The Games

Twas the night before the games, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The sleeping bags were laid in the room with care, in hopes that Canterlot High would win with flair.

"Pinkie, would you please stop narrating everything?" Rainbow Dash said, reaching over to the popcorn bowl which Sunset was holding.

The girls had arranged a sleepover at Pinkie Pie's house again to await the Friendship Games which stared tomorrow. They had planned for the event well, with quite a lot of kids signing up for it. But there was something missing. The participants were there, the events were there, but not the enthusiasm.

You couldn't blame them though. Nine years of the games had happened, and Crystal Prep had won each time. This left very little for Canterlot High to be excited and enthusiastic about. But, the girls had made it their mission to get the school involved and excited

"I think it's a lost cause, she's been going on for what feels like an hour now," Sunset said, just before stopping Rainbow Dash from taking more popcorn from her. "This is my popcorn. You can go and make your own."

"Ooh, sorry. But I'm just really, really excited!" Pinkie said, almost bouncing out of her bed. "I just really think we have a chance at it this year."

"Well that doesn't mean that you have to bug us all. You're actin' as crazy as a loon," Applejack said, waving her hands around to exaggerate how wild Pinkie Pie seemed to be tonight.

"Personally dear, I think you've gotten into the whipped cream stash again." Rarity laughed, getting a little giggle from the rest of the group. "But please, hopefully not."

Pinkie Pie lay on the bed, fast asleep, while the girls were watching her to see if this was all over. She had eaten way too much whipped cream, got a sugar rush, and had just passed out.

In her sugar high, she had managed to destroy an admirable amount of the room, running around and singing. Maud Pie, Pinkie's sister, who usually rocked at these kind of things, couldn't even manage to calm Pinkie Pie down from her craziness.

And now that it was all over, the girls were left with a destroyed room, a completely passed out Pinkie laying on the bed, and a funny story to probably remember at sleepovers later.

"Um, do you think she's going to be okay?" Fluttershy asked, breaking the silence.

"I think so," said Sunset, still wondering if Pinkie would all of a sudden get up again. "Though I swear, if this ever happens again.."

Everyone laughed at the memory of that new years eve sleepover. It was a complete disaster, yet still fun in a weird way.

"Or, she's been eating raw sugar packets again," Rainbow Dash said, joking and completely oblivious to what Pinkie Pie was actually doing right behind her.

Pinkie Pie looked up in-between opening up another sugar pack to eat. Guiltily, she stopped eating it and hid it under the pillow, trying to hide what she was doing. "Hey, no fair," she frowned.

"Well, if you don't mind me asking that is, can we watch a movie? There's been this one that I really wanted to see for a while now." Fluttershy said, going to turn on the TV.

"Sure, I'm up for a good movie," Said Rainbow, adjusting herself so she could be more comfortable. "So, how about an adventure movie? I heard the new Daring Do one is pretty awesome. I mean, I've only seen it like ten times."

"Actually Rainbow, how about we watch a romance movie?" Suggested Rarity, not wanting to watch Rainbow Dash obsess over her idol, Daring Do, for two hours.

"Or a comedy." Sunset added.

"Ah know, how about a western film? About apples!"

"Ooh, maybe I can find an adventure-romance-comedy-western-apples movie?"

"Um well, actually, I was thinking that we could watch a horror movie?" Fluttershy asked, soon seeing the very shocked expressions on her friends faces. "What?"

"Sorry Flutters, we just didn't think of ya as a, uhm, horror movie person," Applejack said, trying hard to imagine Fluttershy watching a horror movie, which seemed impossible for the shy girl. While doing this, Applejack was unaware that something was lurking in the shadows behind her waiting to pounce.

That thing being Pinkie Pie, trying to see if she could get a good scare out of any of the girls. She made her jump, but failed horribly and slipped on a makeover kit that Rarity had out, covering her face in various types of cosmetics.

Rarity gasped as soon as he saw the makeup kit land on Pinkie Pie, and immediately tried to salvage what was left of the thing, but to no avail. "Pinkie Pie, I swear I will get you for this! But first," Rarity fainted on a couch. The same fainting couch that seemed to always appear whenever she needed it.

"Uh, hehe?" Pinkie laughed as the girls, minus Rarity who was still laying down, were trying to help her get back up.

Sunset Shimmer face palmed at her friend, who seemed to always get into crazy troubles like this whenever she was around. She couldn't help but laugh a bit too, before sending her to get all of the stuff off of her face. While she, Applejack and Fluttershy tried to calm down a now traumatized and fainted Rarity.

"Jeez Pinkie, can you try to have just one sleepover where you don't do something crazy and fall down?" Rainbow Dash said, leading Pinkie Pie to the bathroom to get her face washed from all the makeup.

When they got inside the washroom, Pinkie laughed. "Wow, I kind of look like a clown!" Said Pinkie, examining her face in the mirror.

"Just maybe, that's because you are one," said Rainbow, before she realized Pinkie Pie was now giving her a frown. She immediately threw her hands up in defense. "I'm sorry! Just uh-"

"No its okay Dashie, I'm not mad at you," Pinkie said in her usual cheery voice, just before turning serious. "Or am I?" Then she turned back to happy. "Sometimes I don't even know! Hehe."

After a few minutes, Rainbow and Pinkie had managed to get most of the makeup off of Pinkie Pie's face, save for a bit on her cheek, which she had said was too ticklish to remove. During this time, Applejack, Sunset and Fluttershy got Rarity to calm down. Fluttershy, being most effective at this, reminding her that she had plenty of other makeup and that she could buy her a new one if she had really wanted to.

The girls were now settling down and getting ready to go to sleep, at least as much sleep as one could have at a sleepover party. Sunset and Pinkie had seemed to be discussing something in the corner, and soon enough, one of them spoke up.

"All right everyone, listen up!" Said Sunset, loud so they could all hear. "Pinkie Pie has, more or less, convinced me that she should do a pep talk to us, to get us ready for tomorrow."

Pinkie looked up, her face changing again from silly to serious. "Let's get this show on the road," she said, starting to pace back and forth in front of the girls.

"We want to win this thing right?" Pinkie asked, though she looked silly because she still had that bit of makeup on.

"So let me tell you something you already know. The world isn't all frosting and cupcakes. It is a very scary and mean place and I don't care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees if you let it. You, me, or nobody is going to hit as hard as life. But it isn't about how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. . It's how much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!"

Finishing the end of her speech, Pinkie Pie let out something like a battle cry to prove her point. Whilst, the girls were all staring at her, motivated sure, but laughing as well.

"Sometimes, I question my judgement of you Pinkie Pie. That was just, well, interesting to say the least," Sunset laughed, with the rest of the girls joining in except Applejack.

"Well Pinks, ah actually think that was a very good speech if ah say so myself," Applejack said, unknown that the girls were now staring at her, almost just like Fluttershy. "Is there something ah'm missing?"

"Darling, question, do you live under a rock?" Rarity said, confusing Applejack even more so than before.

"She's quoting Rocky, duh?" Rainbow Dash said, trying to ring any sort of bell in Applejack's mind. "Have you never heard of that before?"

Applejack stared, dumfounded, looking at everyone like she was some lost child.

"Or do you limit your interests exclusively to apples?" Rainbow said, making Applejack start to boil up in anger. They starting throwing petty insults at each other, and Rarity tried to stop it, just to accidentally get herself involved in the argument.

Fluttershy, who couldn't take this chaos anymore, stepped in. "Girls!" The room became silent, and everyone looked at her. "Please girls, stop arguing, it's not very kind. Besides, I am very tired and would like to go to sleep now."

"*Yawn* Yeah, I think Pinkie's right, we should get to bed," Sunset Shimmer said, looking over at the alarm clock, which had already read midnight.

"Yup, we're going ta need our best abilities for tomorrow," Applejack said, getting up and moving over to turn off the light.

"And I will need my beauty rest for tomorrow," Rarity said, just as the lights turned off. "Goodnight everyone!"

"Goodnight Rarity! And goodnight Sunny! And Applejack, and Fluttershy, and Das-" Pinkie Pie was cut off by Rainbow Dash's hand over her mouth, reminding Pinkie to be quiet.

Once she was sure that everyone was sleeping, Sunset got up and went over to her bag to get the journal. It had become a nightly routine that she write to Twilight about her adventures in the day, and also because Twilight had said she would surprise them with a visit in the next couple of days.

Dear Twilight,

Today I had another sleepover at Pinkie Pie's house, to celebrate that the games are starting tomorrow. She really seem to like sleepovers (and parties in general) and she's an absolute maniac (especially tonight). I wonder, is your Pinkie Pie like this too?

I saw in your last letter that map which you had mentioned, and wow, I didn't know that it could do that. You should probably look into it more, and see what else it can do. And you know, don't forget to tell me as well!

I told the girls earlier this week that you would be coming, but I didn't tell them exactly when, so it will still be a surprise, don't worry.

It's almost one in the morning now, and I have a big day today so see you tomorrow!
-Sunset Shimmer