Author's Note

~~Since the Friendship Games aired yesterday, I have lots more information about CPA.~~ ~~Minor spoilers!~~
I need to start updating this thing.

Thursday Thoughts

Frosty's house, 5:49 a.m.

"Girls? It's time to wake up now." Frosty's mother rapped on her bedroom door.

"Huh?" Frosty rubbed her eyes. Pushing her sleeping bag out of the way, she groggily sat up. Next to her, Ginger was sitting in a twin sleeping bag. Meanwhile, Taffy snored away on Frosty's bed.

"Taffy, we have to wake up!" Ginger said, poking Taffy's foot.

"Huh?" Taffy sucked in her drool and opened her eyes. "Hello friends," she mumbled before emitting a large yawn. "Last night was productive, wasn't it?"

"If still having no one to replace me counts as productive, then yes," Frosty snarked, tossing a pillow at Taffy. Lucky for her, Taffy dodged the attack. Frosty continued, "Get up, we have to eat breakfast!"

"Fine," Taffy groaned, rolling out of bed.

"We texted fifty nine people and reviewed seventy classmates," Ginger commented as the girls walked into the kitchen.

"And still not one of them seemed eligible enough for Principal Cinch and the Shadow Five to accept," Frosty added, sitting down at the table.

"Of course, we might just have high standards," Taffy pointed out.

Certain that wasn't the case, Frosty shook her head. "Principal Cinch has high standards."

"Who's ready for pancakes and orange juice?" Frosty's mother, setting down a plate of microwavable pancakes in front of the friends.

"Me!" Ginger's hand shot straight up into the air.

The girls all ate up their pancakes, got dressed, and Frosty's mom drove them to school.

"I have two days to do this," Frosty commented, staring up at their large school.

"We'll be right here by your side," Ginger commented, stepping up beside Frosty.

On Frosty's other side, Taffy snorted.

"This isn't an adventure novel," she chided. Nevertheless, she stared at Crystal Prep Academy with the other two. A soft morning breeze floated through their hair. At that moment, Frosty felt invincible. If the past week had been a movie, this moment would be the poster.

The atmosphere was shattered by random students walking past.

"Well, let's walk in now," Ginger said solemnly. Frosty, Taffy, and Ginger strolled through the doors of Crystal Prep.

"I'm headed to the bathroom," Taffy said immediately, dropping her backpack on the floor. "I'll be back around third period."

"I'm going to the art classroom," Ginger told Frosty, staring blankly into the distance. "It's first period for me."

"That's on the way to my locker," Frosty realized, picking up Taffy's backpack. "We'll walk there together."

Frosty and Ginger walked down the hall, as they turned a corner, a girl with aquamarine skin ran into them.

"Hey!" she squealed. "I was looking for you!"

"Hi, Melon Mint," Frosty said politely.

"I thought her name was Melon Smoothie," Ginger commented.

"I thought her name was Melon Twist," mentioned a passing student.

"It's Melon Mint," the girl in questioned clarified, curling her lips in distaste. "Frosty and Ginger; I heard that you two were looking for someone to compete with Sour Sweet in the Friendship Games."

"Uh, yeah," Frosty agreed, albeit uncertainly. "What about that?"

"I'd like to be that replacement!" Melon proclaimed, flipping her beautiful salmon hair. "I was the winner of the last Games, you know. Me and Crystal Lullaby and Marco Dafoy. We creamed the Wondercolts, and guess what? We were only in eighth grade! But they let me in because I had already decided to go to Crystal Prep and they needed someone for the-"

"Let's go," Frosty whispered, pulling Ginger down the hallway.

Melon continued blabbing on about her achievements, hardly noticing her audience had left.

"Why can't she replace you?" Ginger asked.

"Because-" Frosty paused. Her original sentence would have been Because she talks way too much and could never concentrate on the actual events with that ego of hers.

Melon's competed before, why can't she compete again? How would Principal Cinch react to that? Frosty wondered. She flashed a grin at Ginger. "I changed my mind. Melon Mint will do just fine."

Frosty marched back to Melon to inform her of the situation.

"-After I beat that twerp Mystery Mint in soccer, I just knew I could whoop her butt in all the other competitions!" Melon was saying.

"Melon Mint, you're accepted," Frosty told her.

Melon stopped rambling and stared at Frosty. "Really?"

"Really!" Frosty confirmed. "We just need to see Principal Cinch and find out if she approves."

"I'll take your bags to your lockers for you," Ginger offered.

"Oh, no thanks. I don't want to give out my locker combo," Melon told her.

Ginger blinked slowly and answered, "I have your locker combination. I know everyone's locker combination."

A look of undisguised horror crossed Melon's face.

"Uh, why don't we go see Principal Cinch right now?" Frosty suggested, steering Melon Mint away from Ginger.

Frosty and Melon scampered through the hallways. All the while, Melon chattered on about her achievements. At one point, Frosty stuck her fingers in her ears and tried to block the bragging out.

"Principal Cinch?" Without the green light from the receptionist, Frosty burst into Cinch's office anyways.

"Miss Orange." Principal Cinch lowered her paperwork and stared at Frosty, looking thoroughly bored already. "I assume you've found someone to meet the requirements?"

"To replace me, I selected Melon Mint. She was a participant last Friendship Games, which I think qualifies her!" Frosty exclaimed confidently. Stepping aside, she allowed Melon Mint to walk into the office.

"Principal Cinch!" Melon Mint exclaimed. "Would you want to listen to even more of my qualifications?"

"Unfortunately, Melon Mint's grades aren't good enough to allow her to participate in the Games," Cinch snapped, lacing and unlacing her fingers. "If they had been, Melon Mint would have been chosen ages ago."

"You never mentioned grades were an issue!" Frosty gasped. "Is there anything else I should know?"

"We want the best," Principal Cinch told her, fixing a cold glare on Frosty that caused her skin to tingle. "Find me the best. Anyone on a scholarship might do. Though we have very few of those."

Frosty narrowed her eyes.

"See ya around, Cinchy," she commented, walking out.

"That's Principal Cinch to you!" called the principal. "Address authority figure properly!"

Frosty slammed the office door.

"So that's a no go?" Melon asked, following Frosty into the hallway. "Drat! I knew I should've studied for that math test!"

"Ya snooze, ya lose." Frosty shrugged. "Don't waste time worrying about it now."

"Fine. Whatever you say. See ya around, Frosty." Melon Mint left.

Frosty pulled out her phone to text Taffy the bad news. No go with melon. Her grades arent good enough.

After that was sent, Frosty walked back downstairs to retrieve her stuff. When she opened her locker, Frosty grabbed her French books. in her pocket, Frosty felt her phone ping with a response from Taffy.

Shoot. try asking Sour Sweet for advice?

As she read the text, Frosty's face brightened.

Sour Sweet would know better than anybody who would fit the position to be her partner in the Friendship Games! Frosty thought as she walked down the hall. And best of all, Sour Sweet was in her French class!

Now I just have to get her to talk to me, Frosty thought.

A couple freshmen skipped past her, singing something about the magic of dance or whatever.

"Shut up, I'm trying to think!" The words were harsh, but Frosty didn't really mean it. Detention? No, Sour wouldn't talk to her. Maybe the could go to the bathroom and talk it out? She'd run the risk of exposing Taffy's business. Wait until lunch? She might run the risk of seeing Indigo...

"You!" Frosty pointed to one of the aforementioned freshmen.

"Y-yeah?" he stammered, backing up against the wall.

"Tell me I'm being a coward."

"You're a c-coward?" the boy sputtered out.

Frosty rolled her eyes. "Not like that!" she exclaimed. "Say it like you mean it! I won't get made at you, I swear."

The boy straightened slightly. "You," he began in a matter-of-fact tone, "are being a big, fat, coward. So snap out of it, soldier."

"Thanks!" Frosty patted him on the shoulder. "You'll go places, kid."

Frosty sprinted off down the hall. Confidence intact, she skidded to a halt in front of the French classroom. Peeking inside, she saw that most of the students were already inside, including Sour Sweet. Sour sat at the back of the classroom, and she was examining her nails, a look pf boredom etched across her face. Frosty marched in and plopped her books on the desk next to Sour's.

"Hey!" protested the boy sitting there.

"Move it, Peter," she told him. "I have business with Sour Sweet."

"It'll have to wait until after class," Sour Sweet responded nonchalantly. "I'm totally focused on my grades." After a moment, she added, "Even though this class is the dumbest idea ever. I'm never even going to go to France."

"Grades over the Friendship Games?" Frosty said breezily. "That's fine."

Sour scrunched her face until she looked like a shriveled lemon. The magnitude of her internal conflict was evident. To concern herself with grades or the biggest event of the school year?

"Spill," Sour muttered finally.

"I decided if I'm going to find a replacement to be your partner, you'd know better than anyone the best qualities in a partner."

"You make a good case," Sour admitted, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "Okay, sweetheart, I'll make a list and give it to you after class! Does that sound good?"

"Thanks," Frosty told her, smiling slightly. Sweetheart? Is she trying to pretend to be nice? Shrugging off the weird nickname, Frosty turned back to face the French teacher, who had begun to lecture.

As the class dragged on, Frosty doodled in the corner of her notebook. Her current drawing was of a small kitten. In all honesty, it looked like a raccoon instead of a cat.

"Pay attention!" Sour Sweet hissed. Frosty looked up into Sour's dagger-like eyes.

"You want to pass this class, don't you?" Sour queried in a nicer tone.

"Okay," Frosty responded quietly, flipping her notebook to a blank, kitten-free page. Best not to get on Sour Sweet's sour side, right?

Frosty tried to concentrate on the teacher's lesson about verb conjugation. Honestly, she did. But language couldn't hold her interest for very long. Instead, her thoughts drifted to a certain hot-headed Shadowbolt.

Frosty had been trying to push Indigo out of her mind since yesterday. She simply didn't want to think about Indigo's punk ear piercings, or her sharp wit and loud opinions, or her sparkling tangelo eyes.

I bet indigo's having a grand old time somewhere, Frosty thought sourly. Probably thinking about me and how she got off with an easier punishment than I did. Dumb Cinch and her favoritism.

At long last, the bell clanged, and French class was over. Frosty stood up and yawned, glad to be free of that class.

"Here you go." Sour Sweet handed over a piece of paper. Frosty took it and began to examine it, but Sour Sweet snatched it back.

"Look it over during break, not during class," Sour Sweet instructed. "Hopefully this will help you. I really appreciate all you're doing for this cause." Sour Sweet nodded, her wide eyes and petite smile the epitome of sweetness.

"Okay, sure." Frosty grabbed the paper back, swung her backpack over her shoulderr and walked out the door. "Thanks again, Sour Sweet!"

Physics class was after French. However, Ginger took physics with Frosty. Hopefully she could skip it and Ginger would cover for her. Say that she was sick or something.

Frosty strolled into the bathroom, looseleaf in her hand.

"Taffy!" she hissed.

"Over here." Taffy's hand popped up over a stall door. Frosty walked over.

"What are you doing?" asked Frosty, trying to peek in the stall.

"Ew, don't look!" Taffy snarled. "Had some stale gum. Not good for stomach."

"Oh. Well, it could be worse. Your stomach could be infested with millions of parasites," Frosty told her. "Feel better soon."

"You're terrible at comforting people, you know that?" Taffy deadpanned. "What did you find out from Sour Sweet?"

"Sour Sweet is looking for-" Frosty looked down at her piece of paper. "-'someone who can aim. They have to be able to run quickly, and be fearless. Do whatever it takes to win. Be able to roll with the punches. Maybe someone smart to calculate angles and shoot the arrow.' Then she scribbled a drawing of a small koala."

"Wow. So maybe someone taking advanced courses? They're smart, and fearless. You'd have to be fearless to face all that hard math." Taffy shuddered. "Maybe the kids in your physics class?"

"Melon Mint is out of the question, and so am I. Ginger is probably out. I barely know some of the boys in my class. Fleur is a possibility."

"Do you think she would run quickly?" Taffy pointed out. "She's a bit of a fashionista. Maybe she'd be overly concerned about her hair."

"I don't have time for options." Frosty jotted down Fleur's name. "How big is this school? Even after all the calls we made last night there's still a bunch of students we haven't gone over."

"Focus, Frosty." Taffy snapped her fingers. "Who are the fastest kids in school?"

"Crystal Lullaby? Marco Dafoy?" Frosty suggested. "Pokey Pierce? They're the ones in the athletic department."

"Yes, but Marco doesn't want to participate," Taffy said. "He had had enough at the last games, apparently. Something about a broken nose."

Frosty wrote down Crystal Lullaby and Pokey Pierce. As she racked her brain for other candidates, Twilight popped into her head.

"Twilight Sparkle? She's the smartest girl in school."

"No offense to her, but she looks like a wimp," Taffy scoffed. "She couldn't handle the pressure, I guarantee it."

Frosty frowned and nodded, but, since Taffy was on the other side of a stall door, she added Twilight's name to the list anyways.

A few minutes later, Taffy and Frosty had run out of ideas. Now it was time for some field work.

"See ya later, Taffy," Frosty said, tucking her pen behind her ears. "I hope your stomach feels better."

"Thanks, Frost," Taffy answered.

Frosty pushed open the bathroom door and slammed straight into another student.

"Hey!" she exclaimed indignantly. "Sorry!"

Frosty looked up and immediately stiffened. Rigidly, she looked the other girl straight in her amber eyes.

"Hello, Frosty Orange!" Indigo said, folding her arms. Her voice was cheerful, but her narrowed eyes indicated she felt otherwise.

"Hey, Indigo," Frosty answered, backing up against the bathroom door.

"How's your search been going?" Indigo asked casually.

"None of your beeswax," Frosty retorted.

Indigo smirked. As she stared at Frosty, she began to fiddle with her earrings. "Can you move out of the doorway? I need to go the bathroom," Indigo barked.

"Oh. Alright." Frosty moved out of the way. Indigo began to walk past her. On an impulse, Frosty stuck her foot out right in front of Indigo. The second girl didn't notice the movement.

"Woah!" Indigo tripped and face-planted onto the bathroom floor.

Frosty's hand flew up to her mouth lest her giggles leak through.

"Hey!" Indigo got up immediately, ready to retaliate. "Quit it, punk!"

"No way!" Frosty laughed. "See ya later, Indigo! I'm late for class!" Flashing a "L for loser" sign at Indigo, Frosty darted away before the Shadowbolt maimed her.

Lunchtime

The cafeteria was bustling with the chatter of Crystal Prep students. Taffy had gone home sick, so Frosty and Ginger opted to sit with Crystal Lullaby, Pumpkinlocks, and Melon Mint.

"What a lovely day," Ginger commented randomly, staring at her mashed potatoes as if they possessed the secrets of the universe.

"Lovely?" Pumpkinlocks wrinkled her nose. "This food is not lovely." To emphasize her point, the curly-haired girl shoved all her food onto Frosty's plate. "It's hardly fit for divas like me."

"Gross!" Frosty exclaimed, making a face. "I don't want to eat any more mashed potatoes and carrots than I have to!"

"This is why I bring lunch from home," Crystal Lullaby scoffed. She picked up her crust-less gourmet sandwich and daintily took a bite.

"So Frosty, what do you think about the state of the economy?" Melon Mint asked. "Wanna hear my opinions? Personally, I think we're in a crisis!" Melon Mint blabbered away, once again happy to share herself with the world.

"Ugh." Frosty pushed her lunch tray across the table. Why are the Crystal Prep students so crazy? "I'm going to get a drink from the water fountain to wash the taste out of my mouth. Be right back!"

"See you later, Frosty," Ginger answered as Frosty got up.

Frosty took her drink, but when she began to walk back she noticed something peculiar. A lone figure was walking down the halls of Crystal Prep. The bizarre part was that this stranger was wearing a hoodie and jeans.

"Why are they not in uniform?" Frosty muttered. On an impulse, she decided to walk after the figure. "Hey! Who are you?"

The hooded person glanced behind, got a look at Frosty, and immediately sprinted off.

"Come back!" Frosty shouted, increasing her speed. "If you're going to break the dress code then let me, too!"

The person showed no signs of slowing, so Frosty had to think quick.

"If she's going to leave school for some reason, I could cut her off outside the school gates," Frosty muttered. Trusting this hunch was the difference between catching the girl and letting her escape. Frosty decided to roll with it.

The hooded figure ran down one hallway, but Frosty took a short cut. She sprinted down a narrow corridor and through the gymnasium doors. At the other end, Frosty ran out of a second door, which led her out into the sunlight. Frosty kept near the school walls; she was almost in front of the school. Frosty wiped her brow, panting, as she turned the corner.

She ran up the school's front steps. At that moment, the front doors opened, and the hooded figure burst out. Both girls slammed straight into each other.

"Ow!" Frosty cried as her back fell against hard pavement. A set of glasses bounced on her chest.

"Dang it." As she groaned, the other girl's hoodie fell off to reveal herself as-

"Twilight?" Frosty asked, blinking.

"It seems like you love to get in the way of my experiments," Twilight mumbled, snatching her glasses. "To make fun of me, I guess?"

"Oh, I'd never make fun of you," Frosty assured her, pushing herself off the ground. Twilight sniffled and rubbed her eyes.

"Right," she answered. "Sure."

"Oh! What's that?" Frosty asked, pointing to a round pendant that hung from Twilight's neck.

"This?" Twilight's hand flew to her pendant thingy. "It's um, a prototype. I'm designing a spectrometer, which measures things, but I need something to measure first, so I'm off to find it at Canterlot High- don't tell anybody, they might call me a traitor and make things even worse- but for now, I've only designed and built a rough draft."

"Sounds cool." Frosty smiled at Twilight. Apparently her smile was ugly, because Twilight didn't smile back.

"I have to go now." Twilight, still clutching the "spectrometer", dashed off, leaving the campus. Frosty watched.

"She's a fast runner when she wants to be," Frosty observed.

Behind Frosty, the school doors open.

"Look who's lying on the ground," sneered a familiar voice.

"Indigo!" Frosty rolled over to face Indigo, who looked even more intimidating from Frosty's perspective on the ground. Frosty's shoulders tensed as Indigo drew closer.

Instead of harming her, Indigo extended her hand to Frosty. Frosty hesitated before accepting the help.

"You're not gonna beat me up or anything?" Frosty asked as Indigo pulled her to her feet.

"I kinda thought it over," Indigo answered, toying with her bracelets. "If your decision leads us to victory, then I shouldn't be breathing down your neck, otherwise you'll get stressed and not make the best decision." Indigo folded her arms. "But I still want to win. Got it, Orange?"

"Loud and clear, Indigo," Frosty replied.

Indigo nodded. "Maybe if you hadn't tripped me earlier, we could be friends."

"Sorry about that." Frosty smirked. "Or not."

Indigo rolled her eyes. "Sure, whatever. I have to get back, class is starting soon." Indigo opened the door and returned inside. Frosty stared at the doors, thinking about nothing in particular.

"I think," she realized slowly, "I know who could help."

Frosty Orange slammed open the door of the janitor's closet. She was immediately confronted by the site of Twilight Sparkle and-

"Is that a dog?" Frosty gasped. A lavender puppy sat on the floor next to Twilight's chair.

"Huh?" Twilight jerked her head to the side and looked up at Frosty.

"You could get in so much trouble, you know," Frosty pointed out, leaning against the door frame.

A look of fear flashed across the other girl's face, but her expression quickly hardened. "Spike is the closest thing I have to a friend. I couldn't finish all my research without him."

"Spike? Cool name," Frosty replied, smiling at the little dog. Spike whimpered.

"I love your sarcasm." Twilight rolled her eyes. "Can you stop following me around?"

I wasn't trying to be sarcastic! Frosty silently protested. But she didn't have time for that. "Twilight, I need you to participate in the Friendship Games!"

Twilight blinked, unsure how to respond. Then, slowly, she began to chuckle. "Good one. I know you've been out to get me lately, but you'll have to try harder."

"Twilight, Principal Cinch insisted I find someone to replace me after Indigo and I had a scuffle," Frosty replied, stepping closer to Twilight. "And I tried some people, but their grades weren't good enough! Who has the best grades? You do!"

Twilight sighed. "Even if I could take you seriously..." Twilight's voice suddenly became very small and timid again. "You all hate me. I'm bad at physical activities. I am the least qualified person you'd want in the games."

Frosty sighed. She had a brilliant idea, and the one person she needed was crushing it.

"Fine, Twilight Sparkle," Frosty glared daggers at the other girl. "Principal Cinch is going to murder me, and it's all your fault!"

"Wait!" Twilight stood up, her purple eyes wide. "I didn't mean to make you-"

Frosty slammed the door shut. When she heard Twilight make no attempts to come after her, she sighed.

"Congratulations, Frosty, you let your temper get the best of you again," she muttered, running her fingers through her cloud-colored hair. Frosty cursed silently and set off for the bathroom.