Canterlot High's gymnasium was decorated for a welcome party for the Friendship Games to help everyone get along. But despite CHS students like Flash Sentry, Sweetie Drops, and Lyra Heartstrings trying to be friendly to their rivals, Crystal Prep students like Sour Sweet only snarled at them to show that the contest was just something to win later. As tensions in the gym continued, the Rainbooms were in new outfits that Rarity made for the party as they talked with Fragment Hunter. "What do you mean the portal's closed," Applejack asked in concern.

"I mean it's gone. It's closed. It's not there anymore," Sunset Shimmer said as she opened the door to the gym for everyone.

"How'd that happen," Rainbow Dash asked.

"Sci-Twi's amulet popped open and something came from the portal when it did," Azalea explained what she saw with Vinyl. "It was like it was absorbing whatever was flying out."

"Well then, we should ask her about that amulet," Sunset Shimmer said as she pointed to Twilight. The girl was looking at her amulet and not paying attention to where she was walking as she bumped into objects and students. Accidentally making Indigo Zap spill her drink, Twilight backed off as the Crystal Prep student snarled at her and returned to investigating her amulet. "Leave this to me," Sunset Shimmer said as she headed over to Twilight to question her.

"Well, I'm getting some punch," Azalea said as she went to the drink table and Fragment Hunter went around the gym. After getting a drink for herself, she saw that a few of the girls she encountered at Crystal Prep were getting into an argument with the Rainbooms while Pinkie was talking to Sci-Twi. As Pinkie shook Twilight's hand hard enough to shake her, the girl's glasses and hair fell down enough to resemble Princess Twilight's look. Azalea laughed a little and quickly managed to take a picture with her Scroll before Twilight fixed herself up. As Azalea headed off to look around, she bumped into someone by accident and spilled her drink. "I am so sorry," Azalea apologized as she saw the person she bumped into was a Crystal Prep student.

"Oh, it's no problem," they said in a sweet voice as they turned around. Azalea saw it was the Sour Sweet girl that Rua nicknamed 'Cranberry'. "Unless you're a dumb dairy cow," Sour Sweet said harshly. As she said that, everyone heard her and the room was completely silent. The argument between the Rainbooms and CPA girls stopped as the former remembered what happened with the Dazzlings.

Almost immediately, Fragment Hunter all gathered around Sour Sweet and were pissed. "WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL HER," the eleven teenagers shouted. Some Crystal Prep students tried to intervene, but one look from the members of Fragment Hunter had them cowering in fear and backing away for safety.

"What's going on here," a deep voice asked as the room looked at the source. Terracotta was walking toward Fragment Hunter, but his horns were hidden from sight thanks to Vixen's illusions being used on him. Both CHS and CPA were shocked to see a very tall, muscular man that was covered in scars enter the room. Seeing the teenagers ganging up on one girl, Terracotta shook his head in disappointment. "We're here as guests. I shouldn't have to remind you that just like at Beacon, any physical confrontation before a contest is looked down upon and will be severely punished," he said in a calm and professional manner.

"Sir," Slate said to get Terra's attention. "She called your daughter, 'Dairy Cow'," he said as he pointed to Sour Sweet.

"Kick her ass," Terracotta said in the same tone as before without missing a beat.

But before Fragment Hunter could do anything, a few students came running into the gym screaming. Following after them, a large monster made of scrap metal came through the open door. It resembled a knight with armor in bad condition, complete with a sword that was poorly maintained. Everyone was scared to see the monster except for Fragment Hunter and the others who came from Remnant. "A Geist," Lapis exclaimed. "How did that get here?!"

"Doesn't matter. We need to deal with it before anyone gets hurt," Sunset ordered. "Azalea, you and Vinyl take care of it while we keep everyone safe."

"Roger that," Vinyl said as she prepared her Hard Light Projection Braces.

"Let's take it outside and fight it there," Azalea suggested before rushing at the golem of scrap metal. Tackling the armored monstrosity through a door that lead outside, Azalea pulled out her Multi-Action Dust Baton, Gladion, for the battle after she backed away from it. "I'll keep it busy, then you go for the kill," Azalea said to Vinyl. Her friend gave a thumbs-up in agreement as she used her weapon to create a katana made of blue light and held it in her hands. "Hey, ugly! Let's duel," Azalea shouted to the Arma Gigas.

The scrap metal knight gripped its sword and faced against Azalea before swinging its blade. Azalea rolled out of the way and jumped onto the blade to shove it further into the ground. As the Arma Gigas' sword was pinned for a little, Azalea began to smack the Grimm's 'face' repeatedly with Gladion. Punching Azalea away, the knight managed to get its sword back out of the ground before the Huntress stared the Geist down. The two opponents clashed with each other again and locked weapons. Azalea jumped back and decided to change her weapon's Dust setting to give herself an advantage for Vinyl. Running toward the golem of scrap again, Azalea avoided its sword swing and counterattacked by hitting the Arma Gigas' arms and legs.

With each strike, the monster's limbs became heavy and it was pinned by its weight so that Vinyl had a clean opening. Vinyl's braces began to play music and the color of her katana changed from blue to gold as it began to vibrate. With one swift move, Vinyl slashed the Arma Gigas from its head to its left leg, effectively bisecting it with one cut and killing the Grimm. "That was fun," Vinyl said as she turned her weapon off. "Unexpected, but fun."

"You think something happened with the portal to bring that Geist here," Azalea asked as she put her baton away. Vinyl only shrugged in response. "Well, let's check on the others. With that 'Cranberry' girl insulting me and the Grimm suddenly showing up, I'm sure that everyone's moods could use some improvement," Azalea said as she and Vinyl headed back into the gym.

Azalea was right about everyone needing to be cheered up, as Pinkie Pie was already sneaking around the gym and setting things up to improve the party while Principal Celestia was speaking to everyone. "Hello, everyone! I'd like to take this opportunity to greet all of our visitors from Crystal Prep Academy and Beacon Academy," Principal Celestia welcomed the guests. Terracotta nodded his head in acknowledgement as Ivy waved hello and the Celeste Sisters did the same.

"I know that you needed some help with cheering everyone up, but what's with the big presents, Pinkie," Slate asked as he and Sci-Twi helped Pinkie move two large gift-wrapped boxes.

"Yeah," Twilight grunted as she helped Slate move one box into place. "What in the world is in these?"

"Party cannons, of course," Pinkie said with a smile.

"Like that drum you had in the Battle of the Bands," Slate asked in surprise.

"Yeah, but bigger! Since the Fall Formal, I wanted to have a cannon that could set up parties in an instant," Pinkie explained. "Now, I have two of them! Thank you, internet!"

"And lastly, I would like to recognize the twelve students that CHS has elected to compete. I don't think we could have chosen a better group to represent the excellence, sportsmanship, and friendship the games stand for," Principal Celestia concluded her speech as she gestured to the Rainbooms and a few of their friends in their class around the gym. As she said this, Pinkie and Azalea replaced the snack table's trays with platters of cupcakes that Pinkie made herself. After that, Pinkie rushed over to a lever and pulled it to reveal a disco ball being lowered. As everyone was surprised by the change in the lights, Pinkie went over to DJ Pon-3 and gave her a CD to play.

As the DJ got to work with her mixer, everyone got into the music and the atmosphere of the party as Pinkie improved it. Students from Canterlot High and Crystal Prep began to speak to each other on friendly terms and even danced together to the music. As the people in the gym were getting more cheerful, Pinkie lifted the boxes to reveal her party cannons. "Um, are you sure this is a good idea," Twilight asked nervously as she, Slate, and Azalea all backed up a little.

"Absolutely," Pinkie Pie said with a determined smile and matching look in her eyes. Pulling the strings of her cannons, confetti shot into the air as the cannons gave off a fun-sounding squeak. As confetti rained down over the gym, Fragment Hunter, Canterlot students and Crystal Prep students all started to head over to the dance floor. As everyone was having a good time, Pinkie smiled brightly as she began to pony up to the surprise of her helpers. "Ooh, floaty," Pinkie said as she saw that she ponied up.

Suddenly, Twilight's amulet floated toward Pinkie and opened up on its own, surprising Twilight, Slate, and Azalea. The amulet seemed to drain Pinkie of her magic and she floated back down to the ground. As Azalea went to get her mother to help Pinkie, Twilight and Slate saw something leak out of the amulet when it stopped absorbing Pinkie's magic. The two peered into the bleachers and saw that a bright light created a swirling purple rift that lead to a forest clearing. "What the heck is that," Slate asked before Twilight went to close her amulet. As he turned to see what she was doing, neither of them saw a second rift open just near the first one.

Unlike the one that just opened, it was colored similar to the rift near the statue that brought the Geist to the school. And just like that one, a new Geist flew from the rift before Twilight closed her amulet and closed the rift she saw earlier. The new Geist was slightly different than the one that first showed up as the bony spikes it had were bigger and covered more of its body. Before anyone could notice it, the Geist flew away from the gym and decided to bide its time until an opportunity to strike.

While Twilight and Slate were confused by what was going on and everyone else was mingling, Principal Cinch walked up to the microphone and tapped it to get everyone's attention. The feedback from it startled everyone and the lights were turned back on before Cinch spoke. "I'd like to thank Principal Celestia for her unconventional welcome and unexpected guests taking part in today's events. It's been four years since the last Friendship Games, but it feels as though nothing has changed. While I do not know about these... visitors and how they chose their participants, Canterlot High continues to pick its competitors in a popularity contest and Crystal Prep continues to field its top twelve students. It is a comfort to know that even after so many years of losses, your school remains committed to its ideals, however misguided they may be. I wish you all the best of luck, regardless of the inevitable outcome."

"NOBODY CARES, YOU HAG," Rua shouted at Cinch. Everyone from Canterlot and Crystal Prep gasped at Rua's behavior before she continued. "You think that you'll win again and that's what I can't stand about you. News Flash: This time is different with how you have two teams to compete against. Last I checked, that makes Beacon capable of kicking your butts," Rua declared as she punched her palm with a grin on her face. Fragment Hunter all agreed and rallied behind their friend as Terra, Aurora, and Nocturne all smiled at the students.

Cinch only scoffed at Rua's outburst. "It seems as though these newcomers are all in need of some discipline if that's how they behave," she said in disdain before walking away.

As the atmosphere of the gym changed back to before Pinkie's improvements, the girl approached her friends and Fragment Hunter as she moaned and held her head. Her hair was slightly out of place, but it was hard to tell with how frizzy and curled it normally was. "I'm sorry, Pinkie. I thought your party additions were really swell," Applejack said to cheer Pinkie up.

"They definitely broke the ice," Fluttershy and Azalea mentioned as Ivy began to use her healing Semblance on Pinkie.

"Yes. If only that Principal Cinch hadn't frozen it again," Rarity remarked.

"Yeah, she's awful," Pinkie, Ivy, Azalea, and Slate agreed.

"Good thing that Rua tried to break down that ice queen," Rainbow Dash said as she and Rua smirked to each other.

"Pinkie, what happened to you anyway? Why is Mrs. Holstein healing you," Sunset Shimmer asked.

"I don't know. Everyone started having fun after me, Twilight, Slate, and Azalea fired the party cannons and I ponied up," Pinkie replied.

"Of course, you did," Shimmer and Blaze commented as they both rolled their eyes with a smile.

"But then, the magic just drained right out of me," Pinkie said.

"Wait, what do you mean 'drained out of you'," Shimmer asked.

"Twilight's amulet opened up and it seemed to absorb her magic and stored it away in itself," Slate explained what he saw. "After that, Azalea went to find her mother and something happened."

"What," everyone asked.

"Me and Twilight saw this purple rift that showed a forest clearing. We fight giant monsters for a living, but that was just weird," Slate said.

"Hey, where is that other Twilight anyways," Applejack asked. Everyone looked around and saw that Sci-Twi wasn't around the gym anymore.

"We'll see her later," Cereza said as she adjusted her glasses. "For now, let's get ready for the games in a bit."

Author's Note

Done with the first Grimm battle of the chapter! And next up, I'll be doing my version of the Academic Decathlon. With a third team in the games, the song will NOT be used. Instead, I'll be showing what each character is doing for the scenes in the montage and how Fragment Hunter does in comparison to them.

And if you're wondering about that second Geist that showed up, it'll be around for the later chapters of the story. Just wait and see.