Twilight Sparkle grimaced as she slumped to the ground, her back against the locker, following the tri-cross relay event wherein CHS triumphed over Crystal Prep for the very first time since the inception of the Friendship Games.

“What am I going to do?” she asked herself helplessly. She had just received a disturbing ultimatum from her principal: find out the origins of Canterlot High’s recent success or else her application to the Everton independent study program would be denied by Cinch’s hand. The odds were stacked well against her and she was in a tough bind.

“What are you going to do?” Spike asked curiously. Twilight stared at him as her brain continued to process the fact that her test subject (read: puppy and faithful companion) had recently picked up the ability to talk due to some errant contact with that same energy. At the back of her mind, she vaguely wondered how long this would last in the hopes of getting some semblance of realism injected into the situation.

Dean Cadance is busy with coordinating the final event with Principal Cinch and the others and Shining Armor’s not around so maybe talking to Spike will give me some new perspective as ludicrous as that sounds. It’s not like this day could get any crazier than it already has…

“Twilight?” Spike spoke up as he hopped onto her lap, having noticed Twilight’s eyes glazing over in that state of perpetual panic. Even before he knew how to talk, he had a strange knack for being able to tell how his owner was feeling at any given moment. It had been both strange and incredibly useful.

Plus it earned him brownie points with her family and that was to say nothing of snuggles. Oh snuggles… how he loved them so…

Moving on…

“I don’t know, Spike. I don’t know,” Twilight shook her head sadly. She silently picked up the small dog and held him tightly in her arms for several moments.

“Um… Twilight?”

“Hmm…”

“You’re hurting my windpipe,” he managed to choke out.

“Oh! I’m so sorry Spike! I’m still getting used to being able to understand you,” Twilight replied, slackening her grip.

“Don’t worry too much about it,” Spike replied. “But since I can talk now, I’ve always wondered what the point of the Friendship Games were. I mean, I’ve heard that they’re about making friends with people from other schools but doesn’t having them compete against each other kind of y’know, defeat the purpose?”

The question made Twilight pause. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that this entire competition was a farce. Sure, the medals looked nice: if they weren’t just gold plated pieces of copper. In hindsight, that really shouldn’t have been surprising given that while Crystal Prep had a very generous budget to work with, purchasing medals made of actual gold, silver, and bronze was simply too expensive.

Plus solid gold and silver tended to be heavier by comparison.

And that was to say nothing of the bitter rivalry between the schools for years; a rivalry she didn’t even understand, having never participated in the games in prior years in favor of spending her time doing her own research. Besides, the students like CHS seemed like nice enough people if that pink haired girl with the adorable bunny had been indication so Twilight didn’t really see the point of continuously taunting them like her teammates had.

Teammates… calling the other people on the team her teammates was a bit of a stretch. As far as Twilight was concerned, they were just people that just so happened to be on the same team as her and naturally cared little if they succeeded or failed. It was clear that the feelings were mutual if the previous event was any indication.

“That’s a really good question Spike,” Twilight admitted, snapping herself out of her thoughts. “Besides, I don’t really get how this boosts Crystal Prep’s reputation. Shiny says we’ve beaten CHS every time we compete against them so I don’t really see how competing against them continuously will maintain it. I honestly think that we would be better off competing against a bunch of different schools. At the very least, we might be able to learn something from them and that could help Crystal Prep’s reputation more…” She shook her head.

Spike shrugged helplessly. Or as helplessly as he could manage, being a dog and all.

“Also, why are you so dead set on this Everton program?” Spike asked. “I mean, I get that you’d get to work in all those fancy labs…” Spike could barely proceed before Twilight cut him off, citing having the ability to focus entirely on her own math and science projects without having to worry about other people getting in her way or slowing her down.

Spike then questioned why Everton specifically; surely there were tons of independent study programs out there: why didn’t Twilight look into any of those? Did she even check out the Everton campus to see if the labs there were as good as they claimed to be or did she make assumptions based on what she read online? And what kinds of projects did she have in mind once she got there?

Assumptions… Also known as Twilight Sparkle’s Achilles heel.

“Those are actually really good points,” Twilight admitted. “I’ve been so focused on getting that I haven’t even considered what kind of projects I’d like to do once I got there…”

“Plus wouldn’t you need someone to make sure you don’t end up hurting yourself while conducting those experiments?” Spike pointed out. “So calling it an independent studying is kind of a lie, right?”

“I suppose so,” Twilight shook her head. “It’s really an independent study so far as I wouldn’t have any classmates working with me.”

“I’m no scientist,” Spike shook his head, “but it isn’t almost impossible to run a lab entirely by yourself? I remember you talked about all those great scientists working together to make all those breakthroughs…” Twilight stared at Spike in surprise. She hadn't expected him to remember any of their conversations let alone ones about science.

Spike's sharp memory aside, Twilight did recall those, at the time, one sided conversations. She remembered gushing to Spike about the latest scientist and their nobel prizes in their respective fields as their lectures played on her computer.

Some people liked to watch sports for fun. Others preferred soap operas.

Nobel Prize lectures were Twilight’s metaphorical cup of tea.

She had since worked hard to make similar breakthroughs especially since there was nothing left for her at Crystal Prep; after all, she’d already learned everything that there was to learn there. As far as she was concerned, it was time to put this phase of her life behind her and move forward.

But the more that Spike talked about it, the more that she realized that working an entire lab entirely on her own would be exhausting and she couldn’t make the incredible breakthroughs that scientist won nobel prizes for by being wearing herself out such that she wouldn’t be able to make those discoveries.

“Huh…” Twilight uttered, placing a hand on her chin thoughtfully. “I never thought about it like that. I mean, I’ve been doing lab work entirely on my own but now that you bring up those nobel prize scientists… I guess it wouldn’t hurt to start branching out and meeting others, would it?”

Spike shook his head.

“But that still raises a couple issues: if I don’t do what Cinch says and she gets the admissions committee at Everton to deny my application, where will I go from there: after all, that’s been driving me to do all of this in the first place and then there’s this…” she pulled up the pendant she’d designed to measure EM frequencies… not to steal that so-called magic from that statue.

This thing’s what caused those carnivorous plants to pop out of nowhere and attack everybody. She clutched it tightly as the pendant’s image reflected off of her glasses; the memory of how her device flew open and triggered the incident that occurred during the previous event. I really should just destroy this thing and try a different topic for my independent study. On the other hand, after all the work I put into this… it seems kind of wasteful to just destroy it.

Well, it’s not like it’s measuring anything… but then that raises the question of what’s stored inside here. Is it magic, like Sunset Shimmer said it was, or some new form of energy that could potentially be used to make the world a better place…

Twilight shook her head to turn her attention to the issue at hand: what to do with the pendant. It had caused her more than a little grief both in its construction and how it’d been stealing energy. While that in and of itself would have been unsettling, Twilight would have had the benefit of being able to ask about it. Granted, she had a feeling that those girls would have preferred to keep this all a secret.

“So Twilight, what are you going to do?” Spike asked as he struggled to keep pace with his friend as she jogged down the hallway. As an afterthought, he asked, “do you have any idea where you’re going?”

“No clue!” she replied from over her shoulder as searched for those girls: she’d failed to find them in the gym, the cafeteria, any of the classrooms.

The music room… that’s where I met them the first time… Maybe they’ll be there! Sure enough, lady luck smiled down on her as Twilight pushed the door open to find six pairs of eyes on her. Overall, the reception was lukewarm at best. Twilight, for her part, was just glad that they bore little ill will for what had happened even though they'd been trying to keep the magic as far from the games as possible.

“Actually, that’s why I came to you for help: I want to return the ‘magic’ that this thing stole from the Wondercolt statue but the problem with it is that when I originally built it, it was only meant to measure, not extract the EM frequencies outright,” Twilight explained sadly. “I really didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”

The six girls exchanged dubious looks before nodding and walking toward her.

“Well,” Sunset began, gesturing to a table nearby, “if we’re going to extract that magic, we’re going to need to reconfigure this device to do that.”

The five watched on as the geniuses of the respective schools came together for the first time in an attempt to solve this problem.

* * *

“Okay,” Sunset scratched the back of her head half an hour as she stared down at the device which had since been dismembered in every possible way but had refused to give up the prize that they’d be aiming for. She pointed to a nondescript piece uncertainly, “I think this is the core that’s been holding all the magical energy…”

“You think?” Rainbow asked dubiously. “Just how many cores are in this thing?”

“I installed two for safety’s sake in case one shorted out prematurely but from what I can see here, it looks like they had a cross reaction when it came in contact with the energy so I guess the device responded by absorbing it,” Twilight frowned. “I didn’t even know that those cores could do that.”

“You don’t think they could have been faulty do you, dear?” Rarity asked, peering over Twilight’s shoulder to inspect the fragmented device skeptically.

“I don’t think so,” Sunset shook her head, it just looks like coming in contact with the energy caused one of the cores to short out, causing the other to go completely haywire…”

“So how’d you reckon we go about gettin’ the magic back?” Applejack spoke up.

“My first thought was simply smashing the device,” Twilight began but noticing the alarmed looks on the girls’ faces, she quickly went on. “But I quickly realized that breaking a device containing some unknown energy would be a monumentally stupid idea which is why I came to you for help. Like I said, I want to return the magic this thing took. I only meant for this to be a research project for an independent study program I’m applying for.”

“Truth be told,” Sunset spoke up, “I’m out of my depth here. I’ve never seen half of this stuff, much less know how it all works.” She shot a meaningful look at her friends.

“I think we’re going to need some backup here.”

“You can’t mean,” Rainbow started but Sunset cut her off.

“We don’t have a choice, Rainbow Dash,” she said firmly, whipping out her cellphone and dialing a number.

* * *

Principal Abacus Cinch had decided to do her own investigation in just what had caused CHS's transformation into a competitive school the likes of which Crystal Prep had never seen up until that point. So far she’d had no luck in finding anything substantial: the only thing she’d noticed was the open exchange of dialogue between CHS peers. Of course, they’d quieted considerably when she passed, their eyes narrowed coldly before turning back to their idle conversations.

Let them talk she thought snidely. Once my faithful pupil unravels the secrets of this school. Crystal Prep’s reputation can only improve from here!

As she passed by the music rooms she heard the familiar voice of her prized pupil. Of course, she’d mentored many pupils as they passed through the hallowed halls that made up Crystal Prep Academy but none of them had impressed her more so than Twilight Sparkle.

She would have gone on a whole mental spiel about how great a pupil Twilight was: in that she obeyed Principal Cinch’s word like it was the word of a queen herself. In any case, she had caught the voice of her pupil and found herself peering into the music room where she spotted those girls that she had witnessed during the previous event. She could see her pupil working with Sunset Shimmer as they poured over something that she couldn’t make out from where she was standing. It was clear that Twilight had taken her words to heart and had already started to win the trust of the students of CHS.

She wasn’t really all that surprised: with how socially awkward Twilight had been known to be, she was certain that her pupil would be able to win their trust with her social ineptness.

And that was to say nothing of how well known Twilight appeared to have been the first time she came to CHS. That could really only work to her advantage.

Well it seems that my pupil has been doing her job and doing it well Cinch thought triumphantly as she silently stepped away from the room and returned to Dean Cadenza.

There was much to be discussed once the games ended.

* * *

“So you’re looking into the Everton study program huh?” Sonata Dusk spoke up as she, Sunset, and Twilight examined the core. The youngest siren had been called in to help with situation as she was the only person they knew that had any sort of background in such devices.

“Um… yes?” Twilight asked uncertainly as she watched Sonata pull out a some expensive looking equipment from her bag and stared as Sonata prodded the active core with what looked to be a pair of sensors. She watched in fascination as wisps of energy were emitted from the core and flew towards the statue outside of the school.

It took Sonata a few minutes to discharge the trapped magic but eventually the magic had been diffused from the device and all the magic that had been sealed within had since been returned to where it belonged. From there, they had reassembled the device in record time after which, Twilight had gone on to apologize profusely while agonizing over her crumbling dream of being able to participate in the Everton independent study program.

“You know,” Sonata started as she stuffed the white lab coat into her bag. While it helped her concentrate on what she was doing (outside of music, of course!), she’d always thought it pretentious of her to wear the thing outside the lab. “If Cinch won’t let you into that independent study program, I think I have an alternative that I think you might like.”

“Really?” Twilight said eagerly as Spike’s head popped open from her open backpack.

“Yeah! Here’s what I can do for you: I can talk to a couple of the professors over at Hayvard University and get you an interview with some of them,” Sonata started. “I can tell that it took a lot of hard work and talent to be able to build such a thing and I think you’d fit in great over there!”

“That’d be a really big relief!” Twilight asked eagerly. “I always heard that Hayvard was the most selective school in the entire country so I didn’t even think that I’d have a chance of getting in so I tried for something more reasonable.”

“Well, I can at least promise you an interview with their admissions committee and a good word from me,” Sonata smiled brightly. “Besides, it’d be nice to have someone younger than me at the lab.” She pouted, her cheeks puffed. “They always treat me like some child every time I go in.”

Twilight felt her hopes rise and couldn’t quite help the giggle that escaped her throat as she and Sonata laughed together as Sunset and her friends led the way to the third event. From there, they had split up: Sonata had moved to the stands to watch but close enough to be able to hear what was being said: Aria and Adagio had told her that they’d be a while and Sonata had been bored being alone at home and figured this would be a better investment of her time.

Especially with the jumbo-tron that had been flown in to allow the spectators to watch the action via a live feed as it happened.

Meanwhile, Sunset and her friends had wished Twilight good luck as they split to their respective sides of the field.

A tap on the microphone and a high pitched noise was enough to attract everyone’s attention as they listened to Vice Principal Luna explain the objective of the final event. Apparently, this task required both teams to scour the school in search of their school’s flag. The first team to find and return to the start point would be declared the winner of both the event and the Friendship Games.

Twilight listened from the sides as Principal Cinch gave her half-baked pep talk with no real encouragement behind it. She had since tuned them out in favor of mentally reviewing the quickly improvised plan, she, Sunset, Spike, and Sonata had come up with.

* * *

“So we’re all in agreement about how this is all going to go down?” Sunset had asked as the three girls plus one puppy stood in front of the doors where the final event would be held.

“Yup!” Sonata nodded. “My part’s pretty simple. Once Twilight here opens the pendant and nothing happens, I can walk down from the stands all dramatic like we do on stage and confront Cinch.

“Same here,” Twilight had nodded in agreement. “I mean… all I’d have to do is jump open the device and when nothing happens, we can transition to you and Sonata.”

“...I understand you've applied. You see, one of the advantages of having a reputation is a certain amount of influence in such things. So, let me offer you a deal. In return for contributing your agile mind to these games, I will use my influence to guarantee your application is approved. Though, I suppose I could also have it... denied. What do you think I should do?” [

The three girls stared at the dog sheepishly. “My bad.”

“Well that’ll definitely be helpful in discrediting Cinch,” Sunset admitted once they had gotten over the shock of the confession.

“I didn’t even know that my datalog had been recording at the time!” Twilight had exclaimed, staring at the device in wonder.

“Well, then that makes my job a lot easier,” Sunset stated. “I was just going to confront her on the sheer ridiculousness of these games and keeping up a rivalry like this in light of everything that’s happened.” She paused before turning to Twilight.

“I’m really sorry for yelling out you early, Twilight. I guess the pressure of trying to figure this out and simultaneously making sure that it didn’t get out of hand during the games really got to me and I ended up taking out on you,” Sunset said sadly.

“Apology accepted, Sunset,” Twilight replied without missing a bit. “In retrospect, I guess I can’t really blame you given what happened during the last event.”

“Yeah, but I shouldn't have taken my frustration out on you,” Sunset allowed a small smile to cross her face as the four of them met up with the rest of the girls before heading out.

* * *

Twilight frowned as Principal Cinch confronted her about her so-called magic device. She along with Twilight’s teammates had gone so far as to sing an entire song explaining why opening the device was a good idea. They’d cited such instances as if they have it, we should have it to, and similarly ridiculous excuses.

Besides, it wasn't like this event was televised or anything and no one really talked about the Friendship games after the fact so if no one would know whether CPA won or lost.

Twilight blinked as they all started to pressure her into opening the device.

Twilight stared down at the device, a tiny mischievous grin on her lips. If they really want me to do this, then who am I to say no?

The shadowbolts grinned greedily as Twilight opened the device… only to learn that nothing had happened. Those greedy grins quickly morphed into outraged scowls and those students quickly rounded on Twilight for an explanation. Normally, Twilight would have been intimidated… and she was… to a point but the footsteps of the other girls had gone a long way of assuaging Twilight’s fears.

“Why isn’t anything happening?” Cinch demanded, glaring at the device and then at her pupil.

“It’s simple,” Sonata stated brightly as she approached the stupefied shadowbolts. “I removed the energy trapped in there especially since letting that energy loose was what caused the plant incident during the previous event.”

“And just who are you?” Cinch asked, sizing her up. Sonata was not oblivious to the implied attempt at intimidation.

“I’m Sonata Dusk! I’m a research fellow over at Hayvard University!” she stated, her tone uncharacteristically bright as she offered a hand for the faculty member to shake. Cinch stared at her as though she couldn’t believe her eyes. If what she said was true and if Twilight had acquainted herself with this Sonata Dusk, then her leverage against Twilight was moot.

“Besides, would it really be worth putting students in danger just to win a contest against a school that you’ve consistently beaten in the past?” Sunset spoke up, moving to Twilight’s side and resting hand on the girl’s shoulder in support.

Cinch had to bite back the growl that had been surging from her throat. It simply wouldn’t do to lose her composure to some snot-nosed students. Even if said snot-nosed student happened to have rivaled her pupil in the academic decathlon. But still, she had to reluctantly admit that the fiery haired girl raised a good point.

“Also, I found out how the Canterlot High’s reputation improved so drastically,” Twilight spoke up. “The answer is a lot simpler than you might think.”

That had caught Cinch off guard as she wrapped an arm around her student, performing a sudden 360 shift, commending her on learning that piece of information.

“Now tell me: what is it,” Cinch leaned forward greedily. This was something that she’d been trying to learn but for some reason, everyone pointedly ignored her whenever she asked around.

“Friendship,” Twilight explained simply. “I asked Sunset while we working together and she told me it was thanks to the bonds of friendship that formed ever since the previous Friendship Games that brought them closer together.”

* * *

“Um Sunset?” Twilight started awkwardly as she and the fiery haired girl next to her went to work dismantling the device in search of the stolen energy.

Sunset had looked up from her work in askance, prompting Twilight to continue.

“I was wondering: Seeing CHS has been doing really well during the Friendship Games this year, I was wondering how it all happened?” Twilight asked nervously. She wasn’t doing this for Cinch but now that Cinch had raised the issue, Twilight had found herself more than a little curious and couldn’t help but raise the question if only to sate her own curiosity.

Sunset glanced her friends who shrugged. It was clear that they didn’t harbor any ill will toward Twilight in particular. Besides, Princess Twilight and Spike had asked them to spread the message of friendship and now was as good a time as any to start.

“Friendship,” Sunset stated simply. When Twilight’s response came by way of a dubious expression, Sunset went on to explain. “If we hadn’t broken down the walls that divided us and come together as a united school, I don’t think we would have ever been able to improve as significantly or as quickly as we did.”

“And it’s not just that,” Rarity added from her perch atop the grand piano, “but having friends in a variety of social circles had brought about collaboration the likes of which CHS has never seen before! Why, I myself have gotten all sorts of ideas for potential designs simply by talking to some of the other students that I wouldn’t have considered talking to before and it’s not only made me a better person for it but it’s also helped my fledgling business flourish.”

“And that’s to say nothing of how helpful it will be to have those friends last even after we graduate from here,” Fluttershy added helpfully. “I mean, the world is a really big place it’s hard to make out there on your own. Not that’s it’s impossible… but um, it’s just a lot easier when you have friends there that will catch you when you fall.”

“I don’t know a whole lot about CPA but it looks like you guys practically hate each other or something,” Rainbow stated. “It’s like Fluttershy said, it’ll be hard to get far in life, working entirely by yourself so it’s really thanks to everyone working together to get our act together and make our school the very best that we can be!”

A resounding cheer of agreement met that statement as Twilight watched on as the girls engaged in what looked like the biggest group hug she’d ever seen. Granted, it was the only group hug she’d ever seen as Crystal Prep had never been anywhere near as touchy-feely in favor of crisp and cold professionalism.

But the more that Twilight thought about both what these girls told coupled with what she and Spike had discussed before looking for them, found Twilight having an epiphany.

* * *

Cinch found herself slackjawed at Twilight’s recount of events but her prized pupil was nowhere near done yet.

“And ever since Sunset and her friends explained it to me, I came to realize something really important about myself: if I want to succeed, I need to have an open mind and be more willing to work with others so go ahead, withdraw my application to the Everton program.”

If Cinch wasn’t surprised before, she certainly was now.

“This is preposterous!” Cinch lashed out angrily. “I refuse to believe that mere friendships brought about Canterlot High’s newfound success! After all, the world is a cruel place where you will be stabbed in the back for befriending someone! I guarantee it!”

“Perhaps,” a new voice spoke up. The girls jumped at the sight of Principal Celestia walking over. “But it is simply not fair to label everybody the same way just because of a single person that may have wronged you, Abacus.”

“This has nothing to do with me,” Cinch hissed. However, it was clear that small cracks had started to form in her cool and aloof teacher persona.

It was a telltale sign that it had everything to do with her.

“Abacus, listen to me,” Celestia said gently, taking the older woman’s hands into her own. “Nobody should ever have to go through life without a friend.”

At that Cinch cracked as she covered her face with her hands and had to fight off the urge to weep as she stared at the frowns on the faces of her students and found herself reflecting on everything she’d done up until that point especially now that Twilight had brought about Canterlot High’s secret to success.

“Abacus, how did this all come about in the first place,” Luna spoke up from her place next to her sister.

“Well…” Cinch trailed off awkwardly.

* * *

It was a snowy day at Crystal Prep where a younger Abacus Cinch had been enthusiastically decorating the classroom alongside her friends who had decided to divide and conquer to decorate the school more quickly.

“What do you think you’re doing, Ms. Cinch?” Abacus jumped at the sound of the voice, spinning around to find one of the school’s professors standing behind her, a disapproving scowl complete with matching glare and greasy hair galore.

“I-I was just decorating the classroom for the holidays,” Abacus replied nervously yet enthusiastic all the same.

“You said you wanted to be a successful young woman, correct? One that would do Crystal Prep proud?” He asked sharply. Abacus gulped as she nodded. As he asked how she intended to reach that goal, she replied that she intended to work, learn as much as she could, network as effectively as possible and then utilize all her skills to make the world a better place.

“And how do these,” he gestured to the ornaments, “help you to achieve that end.” Before Abacus could get a word in edgewise, he had gone on, stating that the ornaments were useless but then backpedaled in what was intended to be a subtle way to force Abacus into studying harder than ever before and eliminating the idea that friendship was critical to success.

“It’s your call,” he said grimly, standing over the intimidating girl not unlike a tower looming over a person almost as though it would fall on her at the slightest gust of wind. “You could spend your time learning to become a powerful woman and make history… or you could play with your decorations and make nothing of yourself.”

He stepped out the classroom, leaving a conflicted Abacus Cinch behind as her eyes drifted miserably from the decorations she’d hung up to the textbooks sitting on her desk.

Midterm examinations were coming up soon and she’d need to keep up her grades if she wanted to maintain the generation scholarship that the school’s administration had offered. Besides, her teacher wasn’t entirely wrong. She would need to work hard to reach her endgame goal…

“Surely the others will understand right?” she whispered, pulling the textbook toward her. With a pen and a pad of paper at her side, she had quickly gone to work on her studies, drowning out her friends’ invitations to spend time together along with the worthless chatter of her peers…

* * *

“That’s how it started,” Cinch stated uncomfortably. “And my teacher was correct, as a result of his teachings, I was able to accomplish a great many things critical to improving Crystal Prep’s reputation but...” she gestured to the crowd of students. “I feel that I’ve lost sight of my overarching goal of making the world a better place…” And that was to say nothing of how her students treated each other. If the reports from Dean Cadance had been indication, change would definitely be needed. If nothing else, they'd would never learn to network post-graduation.

“Well,” said Principal Celestia in an impressive display of wisdom. “It’s never too late to get back on track. Principal Cinch, you and I could work together and usher in the renaissance that CHS has been blessed to have and bring our schools closer through the bonds of friendship forged here today just as the founders of the Friendship Games had intended. The road ahead will be tough but so long as we all stand together, there’s nothing we can’t do.”

“I’d like that,” Principal Cinch stated, a small but genuine smile on lips as she accepted Celestia’s proffered hand. All the students cheered as the two principals shook hands before promptly declaring the games this year as a double victory. Students from both teams cheered unabashedly, congratulating each other irrespective of the schools while Sunset and her friends watched on, stunned.

“Wow…” Sunset stared as the two principals distributed medals to the participating team members. Much like her, her friends were just as surprised with how the games played out.

* * *

“Um… Twilight?” Spike spoke up from his place next to his companion as they watched the crowds. It was clear to him that while Twilight had befriended those nice girls they’d met earlier, she was still wary of large crowds and opted to keep her distance. “What’re we gonna do now?”

“Well,” Twilight leaned back as she stared up at the late afternoon sky. “I’m aiming to work with Sonata at that lab in Hayvard and learning about friendship from Sunset and her friends at the same time.”

“Are you sure you can handle it?” Spike asked dubiously. “I’m just worried that you’ll have a breakdown from the stress.”

“Aww… Spike. That’s really sweet of you to care,” Twilight briefly nuzzled the dog happily before setting him onto her lap. “But it’s like you, Sunset, and Sonata have been telling me all this time: friends will be there to help you up when you fall and with their help, I’m sure that there’s nothing I can’t do either. Besides,” she grinned, pulling out her datalog with the information of Cinch forcing Twilight to compete in the Friendship Games, "at least we didn't need to rat Cinch out with this. Can you imagine how badly things would have gone for her had this gotten out?"

"Very bad," Spike nodded. Twilight then pointed out that if weren't for Cinch forcing her to compete, she would have ultimately missed out on a plethora of opportunities. So in retrospect, Twilight was glad that she had the chance to compete.

“We finally found you!” She looked down to find Sonata flanked on either side by the Wondercolts and Shadowbolts. The latter had immediately apologized to Twilight for pressuring her into unleashing a potentially dangerous energy into their world. Twilight had accepted their apology. After all, she felt no need to maintain any bad blood between them.

“Come on! Everybody’s waiting for us at the Sweet Shoppe! We’re throwing a party to celebrate the greatest Friendship Games ever!” she exclaimed. Twilight allowed a small smile to cross her lips as she stood up and moved to meet her new friends where they were.

Yes… the future was looking bright for everyone.

Author's Note

So this brings us to the end of Talking is Magic: Equestria Girls. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. It was certainly a different experience as opposed to writing the main antagonists if only because of the primary setting being a public high school as opposed to Equestria so that was certainly an interesting change of pace.