Author's Note

Because One Wasn't Enough...

XIV - Another Brand New Problem

TWENTY-FOUR HOURS EARLIER

"What do ya mean it's gone?"

"As in somebody just shot dead an entire universe, gone."

The Rainbooms made their way to the gymnasium for Crystal Prep's welcoming party. While on their way there, Sunset and Noah explained to the other Rainbooms what happened hours ago, and Sunset was in a terrible mood.

"Well," Rainbow Dash began, "How'd that happen?" They entered the gymnasium and Sunset pointed. "We don't know, but it has something to do with that Twilight." Said Twilight was following that same compass-like device for something she'd picked up. She walked into a wall.

"What in tarnation is she up to?" Applejack questioned, confused, and Sunset raised a fist. "Leave that to me." She began towards Twilight and the others raised an eyebrow at Noah. "What?"

Rarity scoffed, "Aren't you gonna stop her?"

"What, is she my responsibility now or something?"

"Noah, you're the only one who can get through to her more than we can."

Noah groaned, "Fuck me." He speed-walked over to Sunset before she did something she'd regret, but he was a little late as his phone lit up.

"Twilight," Sunset called to her. Anger and suspicion in her voice. "What have you been up to?" Twilight started to sweat in slight fear and startlement, "Me? Oh, I-I uh..."

"Who wants to know?" A girl with short dark and light-cyan hair with goggles on top stepped in front of Twilight and brought a finger to Sunset's chest. She wore the same outfit as her, only differing in wrist gauntlets and rolled up sleeves.

"Um, we do." Rainbow Dash stepped forward, bringing her own finger to the girl's chest and pushing her back. This only angered the girl more as she furrowed her eyebrows.

Applejack stepped in between the two pushed them away from each other. "Alright y'all, let's not get too competitive before the games even start."

"The games aren't really competitive since we've never lost," Another girl replied. She wore the same outfit, red glasses, and her hair was formed into two white ponytails with faint blue accents.

"Well, that's not a very kind thing to say," Fluttershy replied. "Sorry deary," another girl began, "But these games aren't about being nice." The girl wore the same outfit and her hair was cut short and colored lavender. "Well, it might require a little tack," Rarity replied.

...

"Holy crap, you guys are here." Noah approached a table and took a seat. It was his friends’ , Manex, Jain, CJ, and Fall. Jain shrugged, "Well, we thought if we were gonna be here a little while longer, might as well lay some pipe."

"Yeah," CJ added, "I've been checking out that girl with blonde hair and the weird eyes." Noah turned behind him and spotted her. It was Derpy Hooves. She was talking to some orange-haired girl with a carrot in her hair like a flower. And her signature look was showing, not like she couldn't change that.

"Yeah, I've been tryna tell CJ this whole time that she must be disabled. She sounds weird when she talks and can't see properly, why would you wanna hit that?"

"You wanted to fuck that Siren girl with the puffy hair, and she tried to fuckin' kill you! You ain't in no position to tell me who I can and can't fuck."

Noah raised an eyebrow, "You wanted to fuck Adagio?" Jain shrugged, "W-Well, it was before I knew she had an agenda of world domination and destruction!"

"Besides, now I wanna hit that DJ girl." Noah's eyes bulged and he leaned back, "You wanna fuck Vinyl?" Jain shrugged, confused. "Well, why not?"

"She's a goddamn mute! She's probably fuckin' deaf!"

"So?"

"Why would you want that?!"

"Hey, you want to fuck that girl that bitched us for years, you can't talk shit nigga."

"I don't wanna fuck Sunset!"

"So why you always around her?"

"Because we're best friends!"

"And that just so includes going legit everywhere together?"

"... no..."

"Lying ass nigga. How you tryna play the game, and then you gon' lie about it?"

"Whatever nigga, Manex, who you tryna hit?" Manex chuckled, "I'm tryna get behind that." Manex pointed over to the stage and the boys' jaws dropped.

"You tryna get behind Vice Principal Luna?!"

"Even better..."

"You wanna fuck the principal!?"

Manex nodded slowly while continuously staring. Noah looked at CJ, CJ looked at Jain, Jain looked at Noah, and Noah looked at CJ. He ran a hand through his hair, "You're a mad man, you know that Manex?" He chuckled, "Whatever you say. What about you Fall?"

Fall shrugged, "I'm just here for these donuts." Noah scoffed, "Fall, c'mon. Surely there's some girl you tryna hit here. Almost everyone here's a girl, and you can't think of one to get at?"

"Well..." Fall's eyes darted to someone but returned quickly. Noah turned around to maybe see who he was glancing at, but he couldn't tell. "Okay Fall, we'll remember that," Noah replied, and Fall chuckled. "I bet you will."

Noah perked up and turned around to find his other friends and some Crystal Preppers had engaged in a staredown. He sighed, "You know, I'm kinda glad we're leaving. It almost feels like a chore keeping those five from burning the school down."

CJ snickered, "They're a couple of girls, what's the worse that can happen?" Noah shrugged, "I don't know, they just feel like more of a burden than you guys. You're more relaxed."

Jain set his cup down after taking a sip, "You should just be happy you're in a group like that. Not many dudes can form a group of girls and call them best friends unless they're gay or genuine assholes. Then again, girls from America aren't as bright, so."

"Yeah, I know. But I don't know what they're gonna do when I'm gone, especially Sunset. We've done a lot together and I... I actually kinda... like her."

Manex groaned, "You like her bruh?" Noah shrugged, "Yeah, I guess. Without the egotistical cunt fuck elements, she's amazing. She's attractive, her hair smells wonderful, and her voice is so... simple. It's an art form to do simple so well and she fuckin' nails it."

Fall tilted his head, "You smelled her hair?" Noah stuttered and rubbed the back of his neck, "W-Well, I've hugged her a couple of times s-so, I get a little whiff. She smells like cherry and apple mixed."

Jain crossed his arms, "So you're basically saying you do wanna fuck the girl who put us through hell for three years?" Noah rubbed his neck again, "... maybe..."

"For fuck's sake nigga."

"We already know she's not like that, you even forgave her!"

"It's not that easy-"

"I know it's not that easy to forgive someone who was such a tool for so long, but it doesn't mean it's impossible. People could do horrible things, a second Hitler could be born. You only know if you're truly human if you're able to forgive that person again and again. Do you really think God's answer to every bad person was to just kill them?"

"..."

"It's time to drop the grudge. It's not like we're staying anyway, so just forget it." CJ raised his hands flat, "I don't really care, Jain is just being stuck up because she-"

"She nearly had Fall dead, CJ! Did you just forget she made one of our friends suicidal?! That's why I'm still stuck the fuck up about it! But you don't care CJ because you're an acorn, and you don't care Noah because you just tryna fuck!"

"You think I don't care? There's not a day in hell when I just think, 'I should just punch Sunset in the damn face!' or, 'I should just hit Sunset with my car!' I care more than anything Jain, but that wickedness in her eyes is gone!"

"You know she went and sowed a little penguin for him in sowing class? A pillow? A sweater? He just hasn't received them because I'm too damn stupid to remember!"

"That's why I've forgiven her despite those thoughts. Because she has changed, it's others that can't seem to." The table fell silent with the argument between best friends. Noah stared down Jain, and Jain glared away, slightly ashamed.

Fall raised his cup and noticed it was empty. He turned to the others, "You guys wanna go get some more punch?"

"Yeah, I'm down."

"A'ight, let's go."

"My cup's empty too."

"Yeah, mine as well."

They all sat up from the table, glasses in hand, and started towards the refreshments table. Noah smiled, that was one thing he loved about having a group of all boys. They'd argue about stuff and then move on as if nothing happened.

...

Noah took a seat next to Sunset over at a table and threw his bow tie down. He yawned, "Sup guys, I'm back." Rarity crossed her arms, "Noah, where the heck did you go?"

"What?" Applejack sighed, "We asked ya to go stop Sunset before she did something she'd regret, and ya literally went in the opposite direction!" Noah shrugged, "I got a text that my friends were there, so I went to see them. What, did Sunset punch someone?"

"No, but she could've!" Sunset raised an eyebrow, "Why would I punch someone?" Rainbow Dash shrugged, "Well, when you're in a bad mood, almost anything can happen."

Sunset rolled her eyes, "Okay, yeah, that's totally true." Noah rubbed the back of his neck, "Well, there was that one time you got so angry when we were playing on my Xbox that you punched a hole in my wall..."

"She did, what?!" Applejack replied, and Sunset grew red with embarrassment and tried to hide her face. She grumbled, "Noah, what the heck! You said you weren't gonna say anything!"

"I know, but it was right there! I just couldn't help myself!" Sunset groaned and hid her face as much as she could while Rarity giggled. "She punched a hole in a wall? W-What happened after?"

"After that, she said she was super sorry and stuff and insisted on paying for it. I said no because that crap was hilarious, but she did end up driving me to school the following week. I'd been driving places for so long, I'd forgotten what it was like to be the passenger. that was a great week."

"Can we not talk about me please?!" Over upon the stage, a microphone was adjusted and slightly pierced everyone's ears with its annoying screech. Principal Celestia stood front and center on the stage and cleared her throat.

"Hello everyone! I'd like to take this opportunity to greet all of our visitors from Crystal Prep Acadamy and welcome them to Canterlot Highschool. And lastly, I would like to recognize the thirteen students that CHS has elected to compete. I don't think we could have chosen a better group of people to represent the excellence, sportsmanship, uprightness, and of course, the friendship these games stand for."

Noah leaned back in his chair as Celestia finished, "I still don't know how you guys managed to get me in that roster. You know some still call me Noah: The Menace To Society?"

Fluttershy smiled, "Well when you save the world a couple of times, you gain a fair amount of influence. Though you should be thanking Sunset. She brought an entire essay on why you should be let in."

Noah looked to Sunset and she reddened as red as a stop sign. "Well, technically, Crystal Prep had an extra student that year and Celestia asked me to find a student to participate. I just took your physical and mental ability and added it with the fact that you're American and thought, 'He'd be perfect!'"

"Physical ability?" Rainbow Dash asked, slightly lost. "Yeah because... well... look at his arms." Sunset pointed to Noah's right bicep and the girls noticed his was quite large. Not like a bodybuilder, but definitely like someone who stays more than in shape.

Noah jokingly flexed, "Yeah, that's right girls, I work out. You wanna peek?" Rarity scoffed, "Please, none of us would dream of it in a million years." Noah chuckled, "Guess you just can't handle the incredible might of the Macho Man..."

Noah yawned and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes. He opened them a while after to find that almost everything in the gym had changed significantly.

The lights were lowered, a disco ball hung from the roof, party streamers and confetti covered the floor, balloons were all over the place, and the refreshments had been replaced with cupcakes and soda.

Noah slightly freaked, "Holy crap, did I fall asleep?!" He looked to Sunset and she simply pointed to one of the corners of the gym and Noah's face fell flat.

"Goddamn it Pinkie Pie..."

Once again, the microphone screeched as it was tested again, and everyone's attention returned to the stage. It was Principal Cinch.

"I'd like to thank Princess Celestia for her... unconventional welcome. It's been four years since the last Friendship Games-"

"Yeah, because annual just isn't enough anymore, is it?"

"But it feels as though nothing has changed. Canterlot High continues to pick its competitors in a popularity contest, and Crystal Prep continues to make a precise decision based on ability."

"This is gonna be a whole thing, isn't it?"

"It is a comfort to know that even after so many years of losses, CHS remains committed to its ideals, however misguided they may be. I wish you all the best of luck. Regardless of the inevitable outcome."

"Alright, I tried," Noah finished mumbling before standing up out of his chair quite emphatically to gain as much attention as he could. You'd have to be a clown to see it didn't work.

"Alright, that's enough out of you already, good God almighty." Everyone student and teacher turned to Noah from the noise he made but gasped at what he'd said. And oh so boldly he said it. Cinch raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

"No need to because you heard me loud and clear." If anyone wasn't paying attention before, they were now as Noah crossed his arms and the girls from his table tried to cover their faces.

"Look, I'd love to be in your shoes and talk down to a bunch of high schoolers without consequence, but I can't. And even if I could, it'd be on something more important than this."

"Do you even know where you are? You're in a public high school surround by who are still technically children about a quadrennial competition to boost school pride and to reward students for doing so well in class."

"This isn't some type of ultimate showdown to go down in history each time, it's an amusing thing for great students, nothing more, nothing less. Like a tic-tac-toe tournament with an entire grade, and when you win, you take home trophies that aren't even real."

"You win all the time, so what? You want a cookie?"

"More than half of every student here doesn't care who wins or loses because they're getting out of class. I can understand you may have quite a lot of pride from your last wins, but don't turn it into a priority. And especially don't turn it into an insult."

The gymnasium fell silent and every student felt as though a gunshot had gone off. It wasn't like Noah was wrong, it was just a friendly series of activities, but nobody ever dared to speak up.

Instead of yelling at Noah for talking back to a teacher, especially her, Cinch simply raised her chin and furrowed her eyebrows. She turned to Celestia, "So, is that the outsider you've spoken to me of?" Celestia slowly nodded and brought her hands behind her back.

Cinch returned her eyes to Noah and inspected him. The more she scrutinized, the more she realized how out of place he looked. His hair was pitch black and somewhat puffy on top with fades to the sides. His skin looked more reflective, and less like it was painted onto him. And she could tell his eyes weren't of the same size, along with his attire.

Unlike other students who'd shown up wearing more celebratory clothing, Noah had arrived wearing a white tuxedo with black dress shoes and a black bowtie. She wondered, bewildered of how a student could afford such clothing.

Back to his skin, she had noticed it looked rougher, especially along the knuckles. She could clearly see each one had stuck out and made itself known much more than the other students rather perfect skin.

Cinch wondered if he was from Equis at all. And that only made the term outsider more deserving. Without replying, Cinch took several steps back before disappearing into the curtains.

Noah stood still from the uncomfortable amount of time she took to make a move. Was she studying me or something? The hell was that?

It took a while before time seemed to start again and everyone continued with themselves. Noah shook his head as if he felt something touch it.

Before long, Sunset grabbed him by his arms and swiveled him around, facing her. "Have you lost it?!" Noah shrugged, "Maybe, probably, I don't know. Why?"

"You can't just talk to the Principal of Crystal Prep like that, you don't know what'll happen!" Fluttershy appeared behind her, "She's right. Now that you've insulted Principal Cinch, the Friendship Games could take a massive turn for the worst."

"Exactly, that was a stupid move, Noah!" Rainbow Dash added and Noah scoffed, "Oh please, the worst that'll happen is she'll end up pulling some strings during this stupid competition."

"And there's a lot of strings to be pulled," Rarity added. "Sure, these games aren't as important to us and they might take it quite seriously, but what are we supposed to do when they take it too far?"

"I've got a better question."

"And what darling, is that?"

"Where's Pinkie Pie?"

Rarity paused before she could respond and turned her head on a swivel. The Rainbooms also followed suit and began surveying the gymnasium for their puffy-haired friend, but she was nowhere to be seen.

"Maybe over there?" Applejack pointed to a space in between two bleachers and found two party cannons staring off into the gymnasium. Without thinking, Noah nudged Sunset to follow her and they both began towards them. Followed by the Rainbooms, of course.

Noah reached the area first and found Pinkie Pie leaning back against the wall with a hand behind her head. By the time the others arrived, Noah spoke. "What the hell happened?"

"I don't know. Everyone started having fun after Twilight and I fired the party cannon, and I ponied-up-"

"Of course you did."

"-but then the magic just drained right outta me. Like someone stuck a vacuum cleaner down my throat." Sunset stepped forward, "Wait, what do you mean it just drained out of you?"

"Like it was there for a second, then it slowly started to disappear until it was like it didn't even exist. After that, I fell out of the air and landed on the back of my head. Now all I feel is owies back there."

Noah reached for Pinkie Pie's hand and pulled it from behind her back. Somewhat disturbed, he found her hand was covered in dark-red blood. From the feel of it, Pinkie Pie still had some flowing.

He stood up, "Alright, if I may ask, can you guys take her to the nurse? I've gotta meet up with someone about this because something very stupid is amiss."

Applejack tilted her head, "Ya gotta meet up with someone? Who else could know about any o' this magic nonsense besides us?" Noah began walking backwards towards the main entrance, "Just a certain orange-haired siren."

Before any of the Rainbooms could reply, perplexity on their faces, Noah opened and closed the gymnasium doors before starting towards the main exit.

"Just what I fuckin' needed, another brand new problem..."