GLADIATORS

Twilight ran a full 6 miles nonstop until she reached the entrance of Canterlot High.

Canterlot High was actually a high school that was built for students that weren’t able to pass the entrance exams to the academy and/or came from families that couldn’t afford the academy, making it a very popular school in the area.

“It’s bigger than I thought.” said Twilight as she walked towards the entrance.

The school was indeed massive, there was even a map that told you where everything was and how long it was going to take you to get there.

“Well, Big was an understatement, now let’s see, if you were an instructor in this school, you would be… right… here, the P.E. office… now let’s start walking.” Twilight said.

10 MINUTES LATER AND AFTER GETTING LOST OVER 5 TIMES

“Ha, finally, this place is massive.” said Twilight.

“Ok, guys drop and give 30, NOW!” Twilight heard a scream.

“That’s definitely her.” TwilightThought as she walked towards the pitch.

There in the pitch was Sunset Shimmer and a group of about 20 students all doing pushups.

Twilight decided to walk up to her, hoping to have a great reunion with her BFF after so long, as soon as she was within earshot she said.

“It’s nice to see you again Sunset.”

Sunset Shimmer turned around to see who had talked, but instead of running with her arms open to hug Twilight, she just turned to look back at her students, she didn’t even smile at Twilight.

“Do you need some help Ms.?” she asked.

“Yes, I was hoping to talk to you.” said Twilight.

“Ok, you have 5 minutes, talk.” said Sunset.

“I came here to ask you to join Canterlot’s new Gladiator team with me.” said Twilight.

“And why would I do that?” asked Sunset.

“Because I remember that while we were in school you said that you wanted to be part of the kingdom's gladiator team.” said Twilight.

“You’re right, I WANTED all that, not anymore.” said Sunset.

“Cool, here I’ll give you the… wait, what do you mean “not anymore”?” asked Twilight.

“I no longer have an interest in that infantile fantasy.” said Sunset Shimmer.

“But… But why?” Twilight sputtered.

“That is none of your business if that is all you have to say to me, please abandon the premises.” said Sunset Shimmer doing a shooing gesture with her hand.

Twilight looked at Sunset for a few seconds until she felt the stares of all of the students, feeling embarrassed she decided to leave the area.

“What happened to Sunset? She wasn’t like this before, yes she was competitive but… she was never downright mean.” Thought Twilight as she walked away

“The nerve of her, how dare she show her face to me, after what happened that day, ha, and I thought we were friends.”... “WHAT ARE ALL OF YOU LOOKING AT 10 LAPS AROUND THE TRACK, NOW, GO, GO, GO, GO!!!!” said Sunset Shimmer.

OUTSIDE OF THE SCHOOL

“I still can’t wrap my mind around it, since when is Sunset so mean? And why wasn’t she happy to see me?” Twilight walked all the way to the park and sat down on a bench, she sat there for almost an hour trying to make sense of the situation.

She thought hard, to try to find the reason for her “friends” sudden outburst but she came out blank, except for one idea in her mind.

“I won’t give up, I’ll follow her like a shadow every day until she accepts, or they arrest me, whatever happens first.” said Twilight making a determined stance on the bench.

“Mommy look, that lady is crazy.” said a little boy in the distance.

“It’s not polite to stare.” said the mom as she pulled her son away.

Twilight, after hearing that, turned bright red and quickly sat back down.

“I really have to stop doing that.” she thought and quickly walked away towards her apartment.

ONE MONTH LATER

For the following month, Twilight followed, called, and even stalked Sunset Shimmer, she sent her letters, gifts and even left her voice mails on her phone to the point of Sunset blocking her number.

Throughout the whole month, Twilight had kept her determination to convince Sunset to join her, but today that determination was beginning to fade.

So Twilight decided to give it one last chance before walking away and searching elsewhere.

Twilight once again walked all the way to the practice field to talk to Sunset Shimmer one last time.

Twilight arrived and looked around for Sunset Shimmer, and sure enough, she saw her near her students as they were about to start practice

Twilight walked up to her and said “Ms. Sunset Shimmer, sorry to bother you, but we need to have a talk, a serious one.”

“You again, isn’t it enough of an answer to ignore you, your calls, and your letters? Understand this, you and I have nothing to talk about.” said Sunset.

“What happened to you Sunset? We used to be friends, best friends.” said Twilight.

“Used, being the important word in that sentence, now, for the last time, leave me alone, or I will call security to escort you out of the premises and then ban you from the school grounds.” said Sunset.

“Ok, Sunset, I didn’t want it to come to this but… I challenge you to a duel.” said Twilight as she removed her Gladiator batch and threw it at Sunset Shimmer.

“Oh, I’m terrified, an egghead is challenging me to a duel, HAHAHA, get lost Twilight, before you REALLY get hurt.” said Sunset Shimmer.

“What do you think is going on?” said one of the students.

“Maybe it’s a lovers quarrel.” said another.

“I might be an egghead Sunset, but I’m not a chicken.” said Twilight.

Sunset then stopped in her steps and turned to look at Twilight.

“What did you call me?” asked Sunset with the word death written all over her face.

“Chicken, Puk Puk, Puk Puk, Puk Puk, Pukaak.” said Twilight imitating a chicken.

“Take that back, right this instant!” said Sunset full of anger.

“I’m sorry dear, but I don’t speak chicken.” said Twilight with a malicious grin on her face.

“Fine, you and me, Gladiator team fight, tomorrow here at noon, if I win, you leave me alone for the rest of your life, if you win, I’ll join your stupid team, deal?” said Sunset.

“No, if I win, you’ll tell me why you’re acting this way towards me, deal?” said Twilight.

“Deal.” said Sunset as she shook hands with Twilight.

“Emerald Aurora, Electric Lilly, Midnight Harmony, Comet Hunter, Dark Snow, and Ivory Spark, Dark Bristle, you, will be in my team?” said Sunset as she turned to her students.

All of them nodded and followed her away from the group.

“What about me?” asked Twilight.

“Not my problem.” said Sunset as she walked away.

Twilight then turned towards the group of students and said “Who would like to join my team?”

As if on queue all of the students got up and walked away leaving Twilight in a very embarrassing stance.

“Well, that was embarrassing.” thought Twilight.

“We’ll join your team, miss.” said a male voice.

Twilight turned around and saw 5 students standing behind her.

“Well, thank you, but we need one more member.” said Twilight.

“And a miracle.” said one of the kids.

“What do you mean?’ asked Twilight.

“We are, what Ms. Shimmer and the other students call “the bad batch,” and we aren’t exactly popular in the team.” said another student.

“But, one thing we do not appreciate, is that Ms. Shimmer always says that we always have to be respectful of our rivals and never let anything turn us into assholes, and she didn’t respect that.” said another of them.

“Why are you called the Bad batch?” asked Twilight.

“We don’t have “talent” to be gladiators.” said another.

“According to whom?” asked Twilight.

“Ms. Shimmer,” said the last student.

“Sunset how low have you fallen. Well don’t listen to her, I’ll help you show them that you have talent.” said Twilight.

“Really?” they all said.

“Yeah, we’re a team now, what are your names?” asked Twilight.

“Lightning Meteor.”

“Fluffy Berry.”

“Obsidia.”

“Mythic Haze.”

“Astral Thunder.”

“Last Legacy.”

“Nice to meet you all, My name is Twilight Sparkle, I’m a 3rd division Gladiator, and Princess Celestia’s apprentice.” said Twilight.

“Well, now we just need a final member.” said Fluffy Berry.

“Are you really going to give Ms. Shimmer a taste of her own medicine?” asked a male voice.

“Well, I only want to defeat her but yes.” said Twilight.

“Then, I’ll be your final member.” said the boy.

“Who are you?” asked Twilight.

“He is Blaze, he’s a senior at the school and the number one prospect as well.” said Meteor.

“Why do you want to join a team of losers?” asked Obsidia.

“Because of I’ve had it with the division.” said Blaze.

This made everyone look at him.

“Ever since Ms. Shimmer came here, the school has been divided, those with “talent” walk all over the ones without it, she destroyed the vision of this institution, but everyone is so fucking afraid of her, forgive my language, that no one does anything, only because she brings back silverware and trophies, I don’t want to leave this school with that witch still in charge of the team, I couldn’t live with myself.” said Blaze.

“Why is it so personal?” asked Twilight.

“Because thanks to her, I lost my friends, my teammates, the girl I love, all of them changed, my friends don’t want to hang out with me because I’m too popular, my teammates don’t let me be free with my relationships, and Dahlia ignores me because they told her that “My type” are all insensitive jerks that only want to bang our brains out when I arrived here, it wasn’t like this, we all loved and respected each other, we didn’t care if you had talent or not, but now, that’s all that matters, and I don’t want that to stay this way.” said Blaze.

“Sunset, I didn’t believe someone could get buried in rock bottom, but now I stand corrected… do I really want you in this team?” Thought Twilight.

“Ah, Ms. Sparkle?” said Astral Thunder.

“Yes?” said Twilight coming back to earth.

“What are we going to do?” he asked.

“Well, I don’t know much about Sunset, she’s changed so much, all I can do is come up with a line up for the battle, so what are your positions?” asked Twilight.

“I’m a paladin.” said Blaze.

Twilight wrote that down, then she turned to the other teens but they didn’t say a thing, Twilight added the dots.

“You don’t have positions do you?” asked Twilight.

“She said that we would never have what it takes to join the squad, but she allowed us to train from time to time.” said Mystic Haze.

“Un-fucking-believable, this has just gone too far.” said Twilight “Ok, during training, what do you think is your best quality?” said Twilight.

“I’m a fast runner and I have a lot of stamina.” said Lightning Meteor.

“I like the archery and sniper training.” said Obsidia.

“I’m strong.” said Astral Thunder.

“I like hand to hand combat.” said Fluffy Berry.

“Same.” said Mystic Haze.

“I’m good with defense.” said Last Legacy.

“Ok, this is what I came up with.” said Twilight showing them the paper.

Obsidia 60 OVR Lightning Meteor 65 OVR

Fluffy Berry 58 OVR Blaze 86 OVR Mystic Haze 63 OVR

Twilight Sparkle 86 OVR

Astral Thunder 64 OVR Last Legacy 60 OVR

“Looks solid, and by the looks of it, we can easily break through Ms. Shimmer’s defenses.” said Blaze.

“What do you mean?” asked Twilight.

“Ms. Shimmer uses the same line up everytime, she thinks that she’s invincible.” said Blaze

“Can you draw it?” asked Twilight.

“Sure, just tell me who is in her team.” said Blaze.

After a few minutes Blaze finished creating Sunset’s unique line up.

Comet Hunter 80 OVR

Midnight Harmony 79 OVR Electric Lily 82 OVR

Sunset Shimmer 85 OVR

Dark Bristle 84 OVR

Dark Snow 77 OVR Emerald Aura 80 OVR Ivory Spark 79 OVR

“This is what she always does.” said Blaze, “Of course, she is in my spot taking into consideration that she is using the school’s “best of the best”, is it helpful?” he asked.

“Of course, and now I know we will be victorious.” said Twilight.

“Really?” they all asked .

“Yup, trust me, we will win, now to the ground and give me 30.” Twilight said imitating Sunset.

“Yes ma’am.” they all said and started doing push ups.

“At least I’m glad to see that you haven't changed much in your tactics.” thought Twilight.

THE NEXT DAY - NOON

Twilight and her team entered the school's arena and were greeted by Sunset Shimmer.

"It looks like I had nothing to worry about, you recruited the worst gladiators in the school." she said laughing.

"You do realize that I have a higher overall than you right, or is your head too big and empty to do so?" said Twilight.

This infuriated Sunset.

"You know Twilight, I was planning on going easy on you, for old time sake, but now, you better pray that I don't tear you apart," said Sunset

"I'd like to see you try," said Twilight

"Welcome to the first battle between Sunset Shimmer's dream team and Twilight Sparkle's loser team, who wrote this? Anyway the rules of this event are simple, the first team to put the other's captain in a difficult position or knock them out wins, understand, get ready, GO!"

"Ok guys, just do what I told you and we will win," said Twilight "bring it in," she said as she stretched her hand forward

Everyone followed and placed their hands above Twilight's

"Losers, on three, one, two, three…" said Twilight

"LOSERS!!!" they all screamed and got into position

AT THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ARENA

"Listen up maggots, we should be done with this fight in less than 10 minutes, no one in that team can hold a candle to us," said Sunset

"What about Blaze?" Asked Ivory Spark

"No one man shows have ever won a team game," said Sunset

"What about Ms. Sparkle?" Asked Emerald

"All brain, no fight, piece of cake, remember, no mercy, no surrender," said Sunset

And with that Sunset and her team spread out to get into position

The arena was being magically modified to make it look like a forest, this way the game would be more entertaining and full of surprises.

It had been almost 5 minutes and no one had made a move yet.

To be honest Twilight's team was nowhere to be seen

"You see, I told you that she is all brain and no fight, open up a bit cover more ground, they must be hiding for the end of the match," said Sunset

After she said this their lines opened up more and left many spaces to attack

"You see I told you that her impulsivity is her worst enemy, go, go," whispered Twilight

With that Obsidia and Lightning Meteor left their positions and attacked

Meteor decided to play with Midnight Harmony, so de decided to lure her near him by throwing rocks and making lots of noise

And just as he suspected she felt for it

"I know you're there loser, just give up peacefully and I might just break your arm," she said

Meteor decided to end this game and so, he threw a rock into a nearby tree making a loud bang

"Ha, got you… what?" Was all Midnight could say before Meteor appeared behind her catching her by surprise

He then punched her in the stomach knocking her out

"How's that for peaceful," he said and ran off

"And we have the first knock out, Lightning Meteor has defeated Midnight Harmony," said the narrator

"WHAT?!' Everyone in Sunset's team said

At the other side of the arena Electric Lily was starting to get anxious after hearing what happened to Midnight Harmony, this caused her to lose focus and started to move erratically, making her an easy target for Obsidian.

All she had to do was wait for the right time to attack, and she knew it was close

A few seconds later Lily had walked right to where Obsidian wanted her.

So she quickly pulled out one of her stun arrows and aimed it at her

"Excuse me, class rep, up here… nothing personal," she said as she fired the arrow.

The arrow hits Lily releasing a massive bolt of electricity, knocking her out

"It's my own creation, taser arrows… by the way your name is Electric Lily, how the hell did that affect you? Oh yeah, you're unconscious, well I'll ask you later," said Obsidian as she left

"Electric Lily has been knocked out by Obsidian, this fight is getting interesting," said the narrator

This made Sunset furious "close lines, get into defensive positions," Sunset commanded

She and her team then began to move forward, until they got to a clearing that symbolized the half of the arena

"Keep your eyes open, they might be near," Sunset said

All of the members of Sunset's team than began to move in circles, making their blindspots almost, and I repeat ALMOST, non existant.

"Ok, this will only work if we all work synchronized, if one of you slips up it will no longer work," said Twilight

After saying this, everyone got into position and awaited the signal

Twilight got up onto a tree and used her magic to create a dummy of herself.

This caught Sunset's attention

"Everyone hold positions, I'll take care of this," she said as she walked towards the semi hidden dummy

“You should’ve quitted while you had the time,” Thought Sunset before she pounced on Twilight's dummy, unknowing that this dummy was placed on the edge of a small ravine.

Sunset Shimmer fell face first into the ravine and as soon as her face hit the bottom, Twilight screamed

“NOW!!!”

And with that Fluffy grabbed Comet Hunter by the neck and pulled him into a nearby bush, Mystic Haze jumped out of a nearby tree and hit Emerald Aura on the head, Astral Thunder then swinged off another tree Tarzan style an kicked Dark Snow sending him flying into another tree, Last Legacy, came down from a tree like Spiderman and grabbed Ivory Spark by the shirt and hoist him up until he disappeared out sight, and Blaze ran full speed and rugby tackled Dark Bristle into nearby bushes and body slammed him.

After the damage was done, they disappeared back into the wilderness and hid just out of sight.

At that same moment Sunset climbed out of the ravine and rushed to the clearing to see that her team had been wiped out.

“TWILIGHT! ENOUGH OF HIDING COME DOWN HERE AND FIGHT ME!” she screamed

“I’ve been here this whole time,” said Twilight walking out from behind a tree

“That’s it, you and me, Egghead vs…” started Sunset

“Airhead?” said Twilight

“Oh that’s it,” siad Sunset as she launched forward, only to be stopped by an arrow falling near her feet

“I’m sorry to rain on your parade teach, but, checkmate,” said Obsidian as everyone came out of hiding

“You know the drill, surrender,” said Blaze

“Never, I will never accept defeat, moreso if I’m being defeated by a bunch of losers!” said Sunset just before Twilight walked up to her and slapped her so hard that you could hear it all the way at the other side of the school.

“What happened to you? You used to be the nicest person in the world, but now, you’re hated by almost all of your students, heck, I can even say, without a shadow of a doubt, that you hate yourself,” said Twilight

“There you go again, doing your little Ms. Perfect act,” said Sunset

“What the fuck are you talking about?” asked Twilight

“Everytime I do something wrong, here you come acting like if you’re perfect,” said Sunset

“I repeat, what the fuck are you talking about,” said Twilight

“Oh, for the love of God, Ms. Shimmer is jealous of you,” said Blaze

“What?” said Twilight

Sunset Shimmer didn’t say anything

“Sunset, why?” asked Twilight

“Ever since High school, you were always getting everyone's attention, the teachers, the guys, the girls, even Princess Celestia, but no one payed attention to me, I was always under your shadow, and then, Princess Celestia chose you to be her apprentice, that day, you changed, you didn’t hang out with me, you even ignored my calls,” said Sunset

“I did that, because I didn’t have the time to do so, my life wasn’t all roses and laughter, I barely even had time to sleep,” said Twilight

“And then, she went out to try make her dream come true, and become a world famous gladiator, but she failed miserably, then when she came back to the city and saw your success she felt even more hurt and jealous, and so she sweared that she would never loss to you, therefore the reason why she hates you, was my summary aqurate?” said Blaze

“How did you?” asked Sunset

“You tend to talk a lot under your breath, but you’re always saying the same thing over and over again,” said Blaze

“Wow, I never suspected, I did that, I’m really sorry Twilight” said Sunset

“Oh, for God sake, just accept Twilight’s proposal to join the team, and get the hell out of this school,” said Blaze

Twilight looked at Sunset and said

“After what you did in this school, and the way you acted, I don’t think it’s a smart idea to let you join the team, goodbye Sunset,” said Twilight as she walked away, followed by her team

Sunset just sat there in the middle of the now disappearing arena, motionless, tears falling down her face.

“What have I done?” she said, as if on queue the skies opened up and it started to rain, not that she cared, she just sat there, not making a sound, a move, or anything for that matter.

After almost an hour Sunset Shimmer finally got up and looked at the sky

“I know what I have to do,” she said

A WEEK LATER

“Well, I give up, there is no one here who is skilled enough that doesn’t belong to the adventure guild, or the hunter’s guilt, my only option now is to head out to another town and try my luck there; But where do I begin?” said Twilight as she sat in a cafe shop

She was concentrating so hard on the map on her phone she didn’t notice someone enter the shop.

“If you want my advice, head south, to the small town of Ponyville, the arena might not be big or famous, but there is a lot of talent, trust me I know,” said a female voice

‘Sunset Shimmer? What are you doing here, shouldn’t you be giving your class at Canterlot High?” asked Twilight

“Yeah, about that, I quitted my job there last week, you were right, I had destroyed that school’s image with my bitterness,” said Sunset as she sat down in front of Twilight

“Oh, well, what are you going to do now?” asked Twilight

“To be honest Twi, I don’t know, I saved some money, maybe I’ll move to Phillidelphia, but that’s not important! I’ve been looking for you this past week,” said Sunset

“Really? Why?” asked Twilight

“Cause, I need to apologize to you, for everything I did, this past days, I thought about what you and Blaze said back at the arena, and… you both were right, so Twilight, I know that what I did was wrong, and that maybe we won’t be friends anymore, but please forgive me,” said Sunset

Twilight remained silent for a few seconds before saying “Why?”

“Excuse me?” said Sunset

“Why? Why did you do all this? Why, in the name of God, did you become this… this…” said Twilight

“Asshole of a person?” finished Sunset

Twilight nodded

“Well, remember when we were in high school, you and I wanted to be the best gladiators in the world?” said Sunset before Twilight interrupted

“I know where this is going, Blaze already said that, I want to know, why Sunset Shimmer, the toughest, nicest, most caring person, which I considered my friend, changed,” said Twilight

“To be honest Twilight, I changed because I wanted to, I always wanted to be the better one, I wanted to be better than you, and unconsciously I began to get jealous, every time I was dimed the second best student in the class, or the academy’s #2. I wanted to prove everyone wrong, I wanted to show them that I was stronger, that I was smarter, that I was a better fighter, a better strategist, I wanted everyone to adore me,” said Sunset

Twilight just looked at her, waiting for her to continue

“After Celestia officially chose you to be her apprentice, I was furious, and the day after the graduation ceremony I packed my thing and left the town, not saying goodbye to anyone, not my mom, and dad, not my sister, not my friends, and not even you, I wanted to go out into the world and become the best gladiator out there, and that’s how my story began. I arrived at the town of Ponyville the next morning, and head straight for the arena, It was small but the fans were loyal, and so, I signed up for the qualifications rounds to enter the arena, but I lost in my first fight, I don’t remember the name of the guy who I fought against, Big Drac, Big Sack, something like that, he destroyed me, I didn’t even last 5 minutes,” she said

“Then I headed to the south east, to the town of Cloudsdale, but I wasn’t even aloud to participate because I wasn’t a Pegasy, after that I felt even more angry, and so for 5 years I moved all over the country searching for an arena to join but I never found it, and so with my last bits, I bought a train ticket back to Canterlot, and when I arrived, I saw your face next to Princess Celestia’s, Luna’s, and Cadence’s and I broke, I was so angry that the first thing I did was head over to Canterlot high, and apply for the position of Instructor, of course they took me in right away, seeing that I was Canterlot Academy’s #2; for 2 years I worked as the assistant instructor, and then I managed to get promoted after the other instructor decided to join the arena, and you know the rest of the story,” said Sunset

Twilight still remained quiet, until she decided to say

“So, you created all of this chaos in that school, because you were jealous of me?” said Twilight

“I never said I was proud of it,” said Sunset

“Sunset, you ruined many lives in that school, hopefully they will recover,” said Twilight

“Yes, I hope so too, it was part of what I said in the letter I left to the students, current and former, although, I doubt that they will forgive me,” said Sunset

Twilight just sighed and looked out of the window, then she looked back at Sunset and said

“So what happens now, where will you go?”

“Like I said, I don’t know, I don’t really care, I just need to think for a while,” said Sunet

“Really, that’s a shame, cause, I had a proposition for you,” said Twilight as she pulled the contract and the sign up sheet

“Really, after all this you still want me to join?” said Sunset in surprise

“Sunset, a very smart person once taught me that, no matter who bad someone has messed up, everyone always deserves to get a second chance, do you remember who taught me that?” said Twilight

“It was me, many moons ago, God, I’ve been so stupid” said Sunset

“Yes, yes you have,” said Twilight as she handed a pen over to Sunset

Sunset shimmer took the pen and started to read the contract.

After a few minutes she signed the contract and moved over to the registration chart

Name Age Height Measurements position

Twilight Sparkle 27 5’7” (1.68M) 37 - 28 - 40 Field General
Sunset Shimmer 27 5’9” (1.75M) 39 - 31 - 40 Paladin

“And done, wow, I didn’t know your boobs had grown much, you used to be so flat chested during High school,” said Sunset

“Don’t make me expel you from the team,” said Twilight

“Sorry, sorry, I had to get that out of my CHEST,” said Sunset Shimmer laughing

“Sunset Shimmer!” said Twilight angrily, before she too started laughing

“Ok, so, where is our next destination, captain?” asked Sunset Shimmer

“Ponyville, we’ll head there tomorrow at noon,” said Twilight

“Great! There's just one problem,” said Sunset

“And what’s that?” asked Twilight

“Mind if I stay in your apartment tonight, my landlord already rented my apartment,” said Sunset

Twilight just looked at her in anger, but she exhalled and said “Sure, why not,” with a smile.