The day of the Friendship Games had finally arrived, and it had left neither Sunset Shimmer nor Principal Celestia with much sleep in its lead-up, judging by the looks of both of them as they stood next to each other overlooking the CHS parking lot this morning.

“I know I said I wouldn’t put everything on your shoulders alone anymore,” Celestia began. “But I’ve got no choice but to let you take the lead on this one and take my cues from you. Is there anything in particular you need me to do today?”

“Keep smiling and clench your butt cheeks,” Sunset replied.

Celestia turned and gave her a raised eyebrow.

“That’s what my Celestia always said when she was preparing for a public appearance she wasn’t particularly looking forward to.”

“I like her more and more,” Celestia replied, deciding to take the comparison as a compliment, “I wish I had her powers to back you up.”

“You kidding me?” Sunset asked. “She only ran a kingdom. You run a high school. Making chaos look like order is your superpower. Took my Celestia a thousand years to figure that one out.”

“Well, here comes our chaos now.”

They both stood a little straighter to greet their guests as several school busses rolled up, opening their doors with a pneumatic hiss and beginning to unload Crystal Prep students and teachers. Among the first to step off was Cadence who greeted Celestia with a hug and Sunset with a nod. The hints of the bags under her eyes made it clear that the last few nights hadn’t been kind to her either.

Indeed, the only chipper adult this morning seemed to be the last person Sunset wanted to see as Dapper Facade disembarked from the second bus. “Ah, good morning, Canterlot High!” he said expansively as he walked up to them in his designer suit. “Thank you for your hospitality, Principal Celestia. And Ms. Shimmer, always such a pleasure to see you,” he said loud enough for the benefit of all within earshot, but when he passed Sunset with that insufferable smirk, he added in a whisper: “Get ready to be publicly humiliated, Sunny-Buns.”

Seeing as they were in front of the students, Sunset clenched and then unclenched her fist at her side as he walked off, ostensibly to get his students settled in. Simply being in the same zip code caused her skin to crawl. Right now, she felt like scrubbing herself clean with a steel brush.

“What a creep,” Celestia muttered under her breath. “Why did you ever hire this guy, Cadence? Feels like he should be on some kind of watchlist, not your payroll.”

“Tell it to the rich assholes who provide more than half my budget,” she replied unhappily. “Believe me, if he’d given me a reason, any reason, I’d have inflicted him upon an unsuspecting job market by now, but he’s a slippery bastard.”

“So it would seem,” Celestia agreed, before turning to Sunset with a serious expression. “I’ve been meaning to bring this up. You were pretty quick to point out Opaline’s shady behavior after the school board meeting, but he was just as instrumental in creating the mess we find ourselves in today.”

“I won’t say the thought hadn’t crossed my mind,” Sunset admitted, taking a deep breath to calm herself. “But at least I’ve known Dapper since before the Maretime Bay incident. He was a jackass then, he’s a jackass now. Opaline, on the other hand, seems to be a ghost who just appeared out of thin air three years ago. Seems far more likely to me that she just learned about the bad blood between us somehow and just played him like a fiddle, and me by extension.”

“So you’re still suspecting Opaline to be at the center of all this?” Cadence asked. “And she’s planned something for today?”

“Suspect? Yes. But do I have proof? No. I …” Sunset hesitated. “I just don’t know. The way Misty talks about her … well, she’s no angel, but it doesn’t sound like she’s a devil either.”

Celestia sighed. “Sunset, kids are not very good judges of character. That’s nothing against Misty, but fully recognizing the extent of emotional manipulation takes a certain wisdom and maturity that only comes with age.”

Sunset shook her head. “Maybe I’m just not wise enough myself yet, but something feels off. There’s too many unanswered questions left. Doesn’t mean I’m not gonna be watching her like a hawk today. I’d appreciate it if you two kept your eyes peeled, too.”

“We’ll be in the best position to do that,” Cadence said, “seeing as we’ll be glued to her side for the day in the form of the judges’ panel.”

“If something happens, will your students be ready?” Celestia asked. “To defend themselves and their classmates, if nothing else?”

“I gave them a heads-up that something magical could be going down without getting specific,” Sunset replied, reaching a hand into her pocket and grabbing a hold of the magic containment device for comfort. “I’m hoping if it comes to it, I might be able to deal with it myself without putting them in too much danger.”

“Thanks for the ride, Ms. Opaline!”

The trio turned at hearing Misty’s voice. Speak of the devil, Sunset thought to herself as she saw Opaline and Misty get out of a car together. “Of course, Misty,” Opaline replied neutrally, “it would have been silly to make you take the bus when we were both headed to the same destination today.”

Misty waved her hand happily as the two of them walked up. “Morning, Ms. Sunset!”

“Hello, Misty,” Sunset replied, then greeted Opaline with a brief nod. “Ms. Opaline.”

“Ms. Shimmer,” she said, then immediately turned her attention towards the other two. “Principals, are your students ready and assembled for the day?”

“Just getting settled in,” Cadence replied. “They’ll be ready by the time the first bell rings.”

“Very well. And are the venues all prepared?” she asked Celestia.

“To your specifications, Ms. Arcana, except we moved the Super Quiz Relay to our outdoor auditorium instead of the gymnasium.”

“And why is that?” Opaline asked with an arched eyebrow. “Why deviate from the preparations last minute?”

“My suggestion,” Sunset explained. “We prepared the gym as well in case of rain, but since it’s such a nice day, we figured it would be better to hold the big conclusion of the Games outside. Fresh air, better seating, better view.” Less likelihood of students being trampled to death in case of a magic-induced mass panic and subsequent stampede.

Opaline stared at her with those crystal blue eyes which seemed to flash in a momentary anger. “I can see your reasoning, Ms. Shimmer. However, I should have liked to be informed in advance, since the school board entrusted me with overseeing this event.”

Sunset and Opaline stared at each other silently for a while.

“Hey, Misty!” The tense moment was suddenly broken as Sunny arrived on the scene, a big smile on her face and taking Misty’s hand. “Come here a minute. My dad has something for you.”

Misty blinked in confusion. “For me?”

Both Sunset and Opaline turned around to see Argyle walk up from the car he had apparently arrived in with Sunny not long ago.

The minute she laid eyes on him, Sunset noticed Opaline reacting very oddly. Her breath caught for a moment, and she took an immediate step in Argyle’s direction. But then she froze on the spot just as suddenly, doing that odd, seemingly involuntary, headshake Sunset had first noticed at the school board meeting. Her left hand shot up to cover half her face. “Excuse me,” she muttered tersely and simply walked off. “Principal Celestia, Principal Cadence, we should be going over today’s itinerary before the first bell rings.”

Celestia and Cadence gave each other a questioning glance, then turned to follow her. Bewildered, Sunset had half a mind to follow her too, but instead she caught Argyle’s eye, exchanging a brief nod in greeting, and decided to stay instead.

Argyle looked at Misty with a soft smile and said: “Hello, Misty.”

“Hello, Mr. Starshine,” she replied neutrally.

He looked a little uncomfortable, trying to find the right words. “I wanted to wish you good luck today. You … are aware that I knew your mother, yes?”

Misty nodded. “Yeah. Ms. Sunset told me that you went to college together.”

He nodded, scratching his beard stubble while considering how to proceed. Then he took off his glasses and got down on one knee to be more on eye level with Misty. “Listen, your mother was always a very private person. I wish I had known about you sooner, maybe I could have provided some of the support and encouragement she wasn’t here to give.”

“That’s not really your responsibility, is it?” Misty said after a while, looking down at her feet and shaking her head. “You don’t owe me anything, just because you knew a woman I’ve never even met.”

He swallowed with a sad expression and a slight nod. “Maybe not, and I don’t know where she is right now or why she’s not here to tell you this herself, why she hasn’t been here for you all along. I … can’t make any excuses on her behalf. But your mother was … is my friend, and I know in my heart that if she was here, she’d tell you how proud she was of you, and how she wished you the best of luck in your competition today. So allow me to be the one to tell you this instead, not because of who your mother is, but because of who you are. You’re my daughter’s important friend.”

Misty raised her head, looking around for a bit at other parents having dropped off their kids and wishing them good luck for today, then she looked at Sunny who was still holding her hand with a smile and finally back at Argyle with a small smile. “Thanks.”

He gave her another encouraging smile and pulled something out of his blazer pocket. “You know, Bright Hope and I used to have this little ritual before important exams.” He held up two braided wrist bracelets for the girls to see, one made from mostly pink wool, the other mostly purple. “We’d put these on and not take them off until the results were in, as a reminder that we were both doing our best and to encourage each other. This one was mine.” He held out the pink friendship bracelet for Sunny, who immediately took it and slipped it on her wrist. “And this one was hers,” he said, holding the other one out for Misty to take. “You … don’t have to wear it if you don’t want to. But I want you to have it. I’ve held onto it for years, but I feel like it should belong to you now.”

Misty hesitated for a bit, but eventually took the bracelet, looking it over carefully as she turned it over in her hand. “This belonged to my mom?”

He nodded, not saying anything else.

Misty took a deep breath, looking at him, looking at Sunset who gave an encouraging smile, then looked at Sunny who was smiling and holding up her father’s friendship bracelet on her own wrist. “I guess … if it’s there to remind me that Sunny is doing her best,” she said with a complicated expression on her face, “then maybe it’ll help me do my best.” She slipped the friendship bracelet onto her wrist and held up her arm.

Taking the cue, Sunny held up her own and crossed her forearm with Misty’s as the girls shared a look, having reunited the two heirlooms in their purpose for the first time in years.

“I wish you both the best of luck today, girls,” Argyle said with a tear in his eye.

“Ms. Sunset!” At the sound of her name, Sunset turned to see Rufus running up, and he looked a little harried.

“Rufus, what’s wrong?” Her eyes darted to the others briefly before she said: “Something wrong with the entertainment for later?”

“Uh, no, it’s not about that, Ms. Sunset. Everything’s going to plan there,” he replied. “But I think you had better come quick. I think Sprout is about to deck a guy,” Rufus said nervously.

“What? Where?” Following Rufus, and with Sunny and Misty trailing curiously behind, Sunset ran across the yard.

Ms. Harshwhinny was standing in the thick of it, holding two shouting male students by the back of their collars, one of them being Sprout and the other a Crystal Prep student. Other students from both schools, clearly anticipating a fight, had gathered around the scene as well. What made it worse was that standing nearby was … “Dapper,” Sunset groaned as she drew closer.

“I dare you to say that again, you jackass!” The first shout Sunset could actually understand came from Sprout.

“How about I leave you a voicemail? You can keep listening to it after you lose!” Clearly, the other student wasn’t just a random victim. “That’s if your monkey brain can figure out how to play it back.”

“My monkey brain can figure out how to put a foot up your ass!”

“Enough!” Sunset grabbed Sprout by the shoulder and his head snapped around towards her with furious eyes, which softened the moment he recognized her. “Take a step back,” she said more softly while putting an arm in front of his chest.

He did so, albeit grudgingly. Sunset gave Ms. Harshwhinny a nod that said she had this one, and Gladys released her grip on Sprout. Still holding on to the Crystal Prep student, she turned to ask Dapper Facade: “You gonna help get your student under control or what, babyface?”

“Stand down, Mr. Trimmer,” Dapper said.

Gladys waited a few more seconds to make sure the student wasn’t going to lunge at Sprout the moment she let go, then released him as well.

“What happened here?” Sunset asked.

“What happened here, Sunny-Buns,” Dapper declared hotly, pointing a finger at Sprout, “is that this little barbarian tried to assault one of my students, and he should be suspended, if not expelled!”

“Excuse you,” Harshwhinny cut in, “I was the first teacher on the scene, and I saw things a little differently. It was a verbal altercation, and from what I heard, your student was giving as well as he was getting. Luckily, I was able to step in before things got physical.”

“Clearly, your student started the …”

Before Dapper could finish his sentence, Gladys had raised a hand, putting her index finger right in front of his face. “Babap!”

“Listen, you …”

“Babapbap!” She gave him a dark look and made the motion of a mouth shutting up with her fingers. “Zip it, babyface. My schoolyard, my rules.” Then she turned back to the students while still holding Dapper at arm’s length. “Now, as for the two of you, consider yourselves warned. I don’t care who started it. If I see fists flying, I’m gonna make sure you’re both disqualified from the Friendship Games before the first punch lands. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Ms. Harshwhinny,” Sprout said, lowering his head. Prudently, the Crystal Prep student nodded his understanding as well.

“Good,” she said and turned back to Dapper Facade. “I suggest you and your student return to your team.”

“I must say,” Dapper said with a sneer, “this is some display of a lack of professionalism. I should be reporting this to the head judge.”

Gladys slowly cocked her head in a manner so familiar to Sunset that she took an involuntary step back. “I’m sorry? My hearing must be going bad. I thought I told you to go, but your gums are still flapping.”

“You can’t just talk to me like …”

“I SAID,” Gladys cut him off, “take your student and beat it, punk! And if I have to repeat myself again, I’m gonna put your ass in detention.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Dapper scoffed. “I’m a teacher. You can’t put me in detention.”

Ms. Harshwhinny’s eyes flashed with the intensity of a tiger ready to pounce as she stepped right up to him, their noses almost touching. “Try me, babyface,” she said simply and continued to stare him down, hands on her hips.

To his credit, Dapper held her stare for what was probably a good half second before he first blinked. Then he swallowed, his left eye began to twitch, and finally the sweat began to collect above his brow before he took two hasty steps backward. “This school is ridiculous,” he said while grabbing his student by the shoulder. “Come on, Mr. Trimmer. We’re above the likes of them.”

Gladys continued to stare a hole into his back, just in case he decided to turn around for another round of verbal sparring, but Dapper and his student beat a hasty retreat until they were out of sight, shortly followed by any remaining Crystal Prep students.

“My hero,” Sunset mumbled as she stood next to Harshwhinny. “Thanks for stepping in.”

“Don’t mention it,” she muttered back low enough not to be heard by the students. “I fucking hate the Friendship Games, and it’s exactly because of fuckers like that, treating their students as nothing more than a cheap ego boost.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow at that. “I understand the reaction, believe me, but you’ve never even met Dapper before today. I’ve never seen you go full Predator on another teacher like that.”

Gladys took a deep breath and glanced back at Sunset’s students who were quietly talking among themselves. “I only caught half of it, but what I heard was enough to make me want to lay the guy out on his ass myself, and I’m not talking about Trimmer. I’ll let your students fill you in on the details. You decide how to handle it. Call me if you need me.”

Puzzled, Sunset watched her walk off to continue her watch. Before she could ask for any clarification, a sudden shriek from Sunny called her attention to the students. “He said WHAT about Ms. Sunset!? Where is he!? I’m gonna sock him one myself!”

“Hey!” Sunset just managed to put her arm out and grab Sunny by the wrist as her student was in the process of storming past her with a holy fury in her eyes.

“But …”

“I don’t wanna hear a but right now,” Sunset said firmly. “You’re gonna sock someone? Really? What’s gotten into you, Sunny? I expect more from you, all of you.”

Sunny lowered her eyes in shame, but at least she was no longer trying to storm off in the direction of the Crystal Preppers.

“Now, all of you, cool your jets for a moment,” Sunset said to Class 2-A at large, letting go of Sunny’s arm. “What is going on?”

They all suddenly went quiet, shuffling their feet, until Sprout seemingly felt the responsibility to speak up, seeing as he had been the one mainly involved in the incident. “This guy just walked up to me out of nowhere and started talking shit, Ms. Sunset,” he said with his arms crossed in front of him.

“First of all, language,” Sunset said, raising her finger, “second of all, these are artist’s hands, not to be used for fighting, and finally, what could he possibly have said to goad you into this? You’re smarter than that, Sprout.”

“Well, I could deal with it while he was just boasting and talking sh… smack about CHS. But when he started repeating what Mr. Facade said about you, I lost my cool.”

Sunset looked around as eyes darkened, clearly Sprout having repeated the same words to the group being what had set Sunny off in her righteous fury. A small part of her felt touched at seeing her students get so riled up for her sake. “I didn’t want my past relationship with Mr. Facade to affect you in today’s events,” she said sincerely, pinching the bridge of her nose, “clearly he doesn’t feel the same. But so what? Fine, now you know, and we can all agree that Mr. Facade is a total fucking asswipe! Doesn’t mean we have to be.”

Zipp gave her a look with an arched eyebrow. “Language, huh?”

“I know what I said,” Sunset replied flatly. “I’ve been trying very hard not to swear in front of you guys all year, but here’s the truth: I’m an adult, so I get to swear whenever I want. It’s not fair, but it’s how the world works. Try this instead. Take a deep breath.” Breathing in deeply, Sunset brought her hand up to her chest and held it there until they’d all followed suit, then she exhaled slowly as she brought her arm forward.

When the exercise was done, the unimpressed and judgmental eyes of several teenagers lingered on her in silence.

“Yeah, that didn’t do shit for me either,” Sunset admitted bluntly, got her cellphone out of her pocket and pulled up the Timer app. “Alright, here’s the deal: You got one minute to unleash every curse word you know, loud as you want, consequence-free.” She held up her phone and tapped the screen. “Go!”

Startled and surprised, they all looked around at each other, wasting the precious first seconds until … “Shit!” Pipp had a huge grin on her face and stars in her eyes as she said it. “Fuck! Shit! Balls!”

Misty balled her hands into fists and began to scream: “FUUUUUCCCCKKK!!!”

“This fucking bullshit sucks ass, man!” Hitch joined in, and with the class rep getting in on it, one by one, they all started going at the top of their lungs until most individual words were drowned out by a cacophony of cathartic release.

In the middle of it all, at the height of the obscenities, Ms. Cheerilee happened to walk by. She stopped dead in her tracks and looked at Sunset who simply held up her phone to show her the countdown. Cheerilee gave Sunset an approving look and a nod at the use of such an advanced technique and then simply kept walking.

“Time!” Sunset announced.

When all was said and done, with the students huffing and puffing to catch their breaths, just about every head turned towards Izzy.

“What?” Izzy asked with a broad smile.

“I don’t think I know half the words you just said, Izzy,” Hitch informed her.

“I bet Ms. Sunset knows ‘em.”

Suppressing a chuckle, Sunset replied: “Oh, I know what you said. I’m not convinced you know what you said, but you sure said it.” She looked around and found the corners of their mouths distinctly turned up. “Now, are we all feeling a little better?”

Sunny nodded and answered for all of them. “Yeah, I guess we’re all just a little nervous, Ms. Sunset. We don’t wanna disappoint you, and we wanna help you win your bet.”

“Now who went and told you about that?” Sunset asked with a groan.

“Ms. Opaline did,” Misty said with complete and utter innocence, “and I told the others. Was that supposed to be a secret?”

Sunset pinched the bridge of her nose again. ‘Ms. Opaline did.’ Because of course she did. “It doesn’t matter. You shouldn’t be concerning yourselves with that.”

“But you’re trying to do something good for CHS, for us, right?” Misty asked. “By getting the school extra funds it needs? We just wanna help you.”

“And Crystal Prep is really tough, right?” Sunny added. “Even you and your friends couldn’t beat them back in the day. They’ve got better facilities, better study materials, better everything.”

“We do have a leg up on them in one regard,” Misty suggested, waving her fingers in a sort of mystical way.

Sunset blinked, unsure whether she’d really just suggested what Sunset thought she had.

“We … do,” Sunny said after a moment. “Could certainly help us in the physical events, at least.”

“Wait, are you two suggesting …?” Sprout asked.

“Why shouldn’t we use it?” Pipp wondered aloud. “It’s not like … I mean … we have it. It’s no different from naturally having an advantage like being a little taller, right?”

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing right now,” Sunset said, putting one hand on her hip.

Zipp looked at her. “There’s nothing in the rules about not using magic, technically,” she pointed out.

“There’s technically nothing in the rules about not stabbing your opponents with a knife either,” Sunset countered, “some things should be obvious without spelling them out.”

Izzy rubbed her forehead. “I’m confused. You’re the one who is always telling us that we are the ones who have to decide how to use our magic for good, right? Wouldn’t helping all of our friends win the Friendship Games be a good thing?”

Sunset didn’t have an immediate answer for that one. “I … this isn’t the same as … it’s not as simple as that.” She looked around and found the young man she’d always thought of as having the most pronounced sense of justice and responsibility in the group. “Hitch, you can’t possibly be telling me that you’re on board with this. Tell me this doesn’t feel wrong to you on some level.”

“I dunno, Ms. Sunset. Sounds like it might be for a good cause. You’re the one who taught me that the real world isn’t always just black and white.”

Sunset stood there as they all nodded at that, and all the confidence she’d built up over the year as a teacher came crashing down. She felt like it was her first day again, with all the raging imposter syndrome that entailed. Who was she, with all her history, to speak as an authority figure, after all? She could try to put her foot down, simply forbid them from using their magic, but what would that achieve if she couldn’t convince them on the merits of what she was saying, only her authority as their teacher?

Looking at her students right now, she knew they were at a crossroads, a crossroads she herself had stood at once before, and not even the goddess of the sun had been able to prevent her from going down the wrong path initially. She knew she had to say something, anything.

“Listen,” she said quietly. “I’m not gonna give you the speech about slippery slopes or the one about power and responsibility. I did tell you all that the magic chose you for a reason, and that it’s up to you, and you alone, how to use it. I can only try to let you learn from my mistakes.

“Because this isn’t about me, or CHS, or some silly budget, or the dumb beef I have with a guy from my past. This is about you. You have to decide who you want to be. We all have to make that choice, magic or not, and not just once, every single day of our lives we have to actively choose who we want to be, and some days it’s easier to take the low road than the high road, way easier.

“I can’t tell you who to be or what to do with the magic you’ve been given. … But I can tell you what it feels like to stumble and make the wrong choice, even if it’s just once.” Her voice cracked, sounding wet and desperately pleading. “So I implore you all to listen to this, because this might be the most important lesson I could ever teach you. If you use your magic for selfish reasons, and what you’re suggesting is selfish at least to some degree, you will not look back on your victory today with pride. You will always look back on this day with regret, and that regret will taste worse in your mouths than the fleeting sting of defeat ever could, and it will haunt you for the rest of your lives. I guarantee it.”

They all stared at her, stunned into silence.

The first bell rang, and Sunset took a step backwards, away from them. Then another. “You should be getting to your first event,” she said hoarsely. “Best of luck today, everyone.”

She turned and walked away, bitter tears of disappointment welling up in her eyes, … disappointment in herself. Princess Celestia, Princess Twilight, have I failed them as a teacher?

Author's Note

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Gold Tier:
-Daedalus Aegle

Silver Tier:
-Brandon Caldwell