The day of the Friendship Games came and Fragment Hunter was talking about what to do about Twilight as they sat around the Canterlot Wondercolt Statue. "With that Cinch woman blackmailing her, what are we supposed to do to help Twilight," Celadon asked.

"Maybe if we take those preppy competition freaks down a notch, we can figure something out," Rua said as she cracked her knuckles.

"I don't know... I think we should stick around here and help out before the games start," Sunset Blaze mused.

"This world's Twilight could use a few friends that care about her," Azalea mentioned as she played with a strand of her hair. "Maybe some of us can go over to Crystal Prep to keep an eye on her? Besides, a school like that has got to have a few bullies picking on her like Team JADE did to me when I was in combat school."

"Good point, Freckles," Blaze agreed. "You, Rua, Slate, Silver, and Celadon go check up on Twilight while the rest of us stick around here for some last minute preparations."

"Got it," Azalea said before she reached into her pocket and pulled out a bandanna. Tying it around her head to hide her horns, Azalea could now pass as a human while Silver wrapped his wolf tail around his waist like a belt to hide his Faunus identity. "Rua, if you would," Azalea asked before the five teenagers disappeared in a flash of light.

Meanwhile, Twilight was packing a bag before she had to leave for Canterlot High. As she held a sweatshirt in her hand, Spike began to pull on the article of clothing in protest of Twilight leaving for the Games. "Come on, Spike! I was always planning on going to Canterlot High for the Friendship Games. The only difference now is that I have to compete in them. Besides, it's not like Principal Cinch is giving me a choice with my Everton application on the line," she said to her dog.

Spike whimpered sadly until Twilight began to pet him and scratch his chin. "I know, Spike. I don't like it either. I probably won't be able to collect anywhere near as much data as I thought," Twilight said as she held her pocket watch-like device that she built from her scanner. Pondering for a second, Twilight soon got an idea on what to do. "But, maybe I can still get some," she said as she turned her device into a makeshift necklace. With a new 'amulet' around her neck, Twilight was about ready to leave when Spike whimpered again and placed a paw on Twilight.

"Spike, I wouldn't leave without you," Twilight said as she hugged her dog. Seeing that her backpack had enough room, she picked up Spike and placed the puppy inside. "Just remember to be quiet. And try not to shed. Don't want Principal Cinch to find out about you from that," Twilight warned before closing her bag and left her lab.

As she left for the parking lot, Twilight was unaware that Azalea and the others were following behind her. As they approached one of the buses, Dean Cadance was looking over the list of students and who was assigned to be at which bus for the trip. Twilight approached Cadance and didn't see that she cut in front of two other girls, who glared at Twilight behind her back. "Dean Cadance, I'm not really sure where to go," the outcast said to her teacher.

Cadance was still looking at her clipboard and left to check on some other students. "One second, Twilight," Cadance said before she walked over to another bus to check on the students there.

"You could try the end of the line," one of the girls said in a sour tone.

Twilight turned around and straightened her glasses as she looked at the girl. "What did you say?"

"Just that someone as smart as you should definitely go first," the girl said in an apparently sweet tone.

As Twilight stuttered and tried to defend herself, Rua stepped between them. "Maybe you should zip it before I do it for you, Cranberry," Rua stated with a deadly glare on her face.

"'Cranberry?' My name is Sour Sweet. Who are you to help that girl out," Sour Sweet said to Rua.

"Name's Rua Amaranth. And I like to call myself a 'bully hunter'. Looks like you're my latest find," Rua said as she popped her neck and grinned at the girl in front of her.

"You're just going to get in trouble with Dean Cadance if you pick a fight here," the second girl stated before she noticed Rua's clothes. "Why aren't you in uniform?"

"Cat got to it. Used it as a bathroom. Couldn't find anything else, Sunshine," Rua quickly lied with a neutral expression.

"Sunny Flare," she corrected Rua.

"Don't care," Rua stated before turning to Twilight. "You okay?"

"Y-yeah... I just didn't mean to cut in front," Twilight said as she eyed Rua in confusion.

"Well, it's too late now," Sour Sweet said harshly.

"Can it, Cranberry," Rua countered as she pointed to the girl behind her without looking away from Twilight.

Cadance started to return and saw Twilight speaking with a girl that wasn't wearing a uniform. Looking at the other students, she saw the 'Slate' boy from the other day and recognized the teenagers with him as the ones she and Shining Armor saw as he left. Before she could speak with them, she turned her attention back to Twilight. "This is the right bus, Twilight. Go ahead," she said to the girl before turning to Slate. "Who are you and why are you five here," she whispered to Slate.

"We're here for the Friendship Games. Some of our teachers already spoke to Principal Celestia about letting us join," Silver explained. "We decided to see who our competition was and came here. Let me tell you, Miss... These people are pretty bad. But, that's just my opinion."

"Personally, I blame Principal Cinch for having them focus on maintaining a reputation of always winning. It wasn't always like this, though," Cadance commented. "If you want a ride to Canterlot High with us, go on ahead."

As the bus doors opened, Twilight went inside with Rua and Azalea following behind her. As they stepped in, a girl wearing goggles on her head was excited for the Friendship Games and expressed it to Twilight. Loudly. "Are we gonna win," she shouted.

As Twilight, Rua, and Azalea recoiled in surprise, Twilight was the first one to answer. "I... I don't know."

"Wrong answer!! Try again," she said to Twilight. "Are we gonna win!?!?"

"Not with that obnoxious level of excitement," Rua replied. "You might want to dial back the volume and expectations for who might win."

"You're dealing with two schools as your opponents instead of one, Goggles," Silver mentioned as he stepped onto the bus.

"It's Indigo Zap," the girl said to Silver.

"Besides, it's just that I heard CHS is doing well now. With their reputation. And, I mean, it's not better than ours, of course. But, we can't let them do it, you know? Win, I mean? Right," Twilight answered awkwardly.

As the other Crystal Prep students eyed Twilight in confusion and refused to let Twilight sit with them, Azalea guided her forward to an available seat. "Come on, Sci-Twi. Let's grab a seat," Azalea said.

"'Sci-Twi'," Twilight asked in confusion.

"Me and my friends know a Twilight already, so it's easier to give you a nickname to avoid more confusion," Azalea replied with a friendly smile. "Besides, you look like you're a science lover."

As the two took a seat at the back of the bus Twilight said hello to a girl named Sugarcoat. "That was a really bad speech. You should consider not speaking in public," Sugarcoat quickly and bluntly stated.

"Well, I can see your name is ironic," Azalea commented as she saw Twilight's feelings were hurt. "Don't worry, Sci-Twi. If none of these jerks are going to be your friend, I will," she said to cheer up Twilight.

"Thanks... I didn't catch your name, though," Twilight said.

"Azalea Calla Holstein. You can call me 'Lea', if you want," Azalea answered.

Twilight smiled a little before unzipping her backpack to see Spike looking at her. "At least I have you too, Spike," Twilight whispered before her dog saw Azalea. Twilight saw the girl had a knowing smile on her face and just mimed a zipper over her lips. Twilight sighed before she, Azalea, and Spike noticed a girl wearing headphones to Twilight's right.

She was banging her head to the music and saw Twilight sitting next to her. "Dude, you've got to hear this," she said loudly over her music before putting her headphones on Twilight. Sci-Twi recoiled at the sudden loud noise before Azalea took the headphones off and listened to the music for herself. "What do you think," she asked Azalea as the bus started off toward Canterlot High School.

"Not bad," Azalea admitted. "But, one of my friends has an enormous music library herself and we're in a band together."

"Really? Cool," the girl said as Azalea handed her headphones back to her. "I'm Lemon Zest. What's your band's name?"

"Azalea. Me and my friends are a group called 'Fragment Hunter'. We play all kinds of music, but it's mostly rock genre," Azalea said.

"Why does your name sound so familiar," Lemon Zest asked.

"Flower names aren't all that common," Twilight guessed.

"No, that's not it," Lemon Zest said before she snapped her fingers and pulled out her phone. "Now I remember! You're on the internet," she exclaimed as she showed Twilight and Azalea a video. Azalea's eyes widened as she saw something she knew from her first visit to Canterlot High. On Lemon Zest's phone was a video of her and three other girls in a fist fight with Pinkie Pie acting as an announcer. "This video's got millions of views already!"

"SOMEBODY POSTED MY FIGHT WITH THE DAZZLINGS ON THE INTERNET," Azalea screamed out in surprise. Her yelling caught everyone's attention as they looked at the girl. "Who even managed to record this? With everything going on at the time, the only ones who could've done it are... Oh, I'm going to have to talk with Pinkie when we get to CHS," Azalea stated as she realized who possibly recorded the video.

At CHS, the rest of Fragment Hunter finished helping with a few pieces of equipment that were brought in for the new event that Principal Celestia agreed to. "Well, that's done. Let's go wait for the others outside," Lapis suggested as she wiped her hands on her skirt.

"Righteous," Vinyl said in reply.

As Fragment Hunter waited by the Wondercolt Statue for a few minutes, they saw buses stop by the school and let off Crystal Prep students. However, the first ones off were Azalea and the other members of Fragment Hunter. "Welcome back, guys. The gear for the second event is all set up thanks to Vinyl and Sunset," Cereza said.

"No big deal," Vinyl replied.

"How's the Twilight situation," Blaze asked.

"Couple of bullies, but we helped her out with a few of them," Slate mentioned. "Now we just need to find a chance to explain everything to her in private." As they saw the principals talking with each other before Celestia gave Cinch a tour, Fragment Hunter saw that Dean Cadance and Vice Principal Luna got along perfectly well as if they really were friends.

Soon, Fragment Hunter saw Twilight peek out of the bus and try to exit with dignity. Unfortunately for her, Indigo Zap tackled Twilight out of the way in her excitement and Twilight lost her balance. Fragment Hunter winced as they saw Twilight fall on top of Sunny Flare. "Seriously," Sunny Flare exclaimed bitterly to Twilight. The girl stormed off as Twilight tried to apologize, but ended up bumping into Celadon.

"That's no way for a lady to act. Twilight lost her balance and landed on you by pure chance," Celadon scolded Sunny Flare.

"I don't need to listen to somebody who's going to lose the games to Crystal Prep," Sunny Flare argued before stomping away.

"Off all the nerve," Celadon muttered before turning to see Twilight looking at the amulet she wore. Holding it in her hands, Twilight started to wander around as she looked at the device. "Come on, let's follow her," Celadon said to the rest of Fragment Hunter.

As Twilight followed the amulet's tracking system, several students greeted her like they knew her before. Even though she was confused by how they seemed so casual with her, Twilight still replied nervously to the other students she encountered. Not looking where she was going, she bumped into someone and they both fell to the ground. Fragment Hunter saw who Twilight bumped into and chuckled a bit. "Even with another Twilight, this still happens," Vixen snickered as she saw Flash Sentry notice the girl who knocked him over.

"Twilight? I almost didn't recognize you," Flash said as he helped Twilight to her feet. Seeing Twilight pawing around blindly, Flash looked down at the floor to see a pair of glasses. "When did you start wearing glasses," he asked.

"Um, like, since forever," Twilight answered as Flash kneeled down to pick up her glasses.

"Oh, so how long are you here for," Flash asked as he stood back up.

"Just for the Friendship Games," Sci-Twi answered as she massaged her temples.

"Right. Of course. We'll totally win with you here," Flash said as he helped put Twilight's glasses back on her face. As they looked at each other, Twilight's amulet began to beep and act up again. Turning her attention to the device, Twilight said she had to go and left Flash behind. "Uh, okay. Bye," Flash said awkwardly. Flash covered his face as a student nicknamed 'Derpy' consoled him.

Fragment Hunter walked by and they all patted Flash on the back to try and cheer him up. "One day," Azalea said to Flash before paying attention to Sci-Twi. "Is she heading to the band room," Azalea asked.

"One way to find out," Rua said before all twelve teenagers vanished in a flash of rainbow-colored light.

Author's Note

And with this, we have Crystal Prep at Canterlot High. We also have the Shadowbolts and Sci-Twi interacting with some of Fragment Hunter in preparation for the events. I've got something special planned for the new second event. It takes place between the Academic Decathlon and the Tri-Cross Relay, so there will be more for the characters to participate in.