Later on, it was getting depressingly stormy outside the school grounds. Cherry was hiding behind the statue until she was grabbed by her shoulder and she let out a yelp.

"Wow... I scared an emo..." Penn laughed.

"What're you doing here!?" Cherry whispered sharply.

"We're here to stop the magic from being released." Zolten whispered.

"Let us help." Moxie added.

"Um... Penn... How can I say this without you hurting me?" Cherry smiled sheepishly. "But... YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT REAL MAGIC!"

Penn covered her mouth. "Shhh... Shhh..."

Cherry muffled, struggling and glaring to him.

"Shhhhhhhut up..." Penn continued.

Cherry removed his hand. "Well, you don't, you're a Las Vegas magician and you don't believe in real magic."

"No, but I, well, I didn't, but we saw what was going on in the Friendship Games." Penn whispered.

"You spied?" Cherry asked.

"We've been in the car all day..." Zolten groaned slightly.

"Heeeelp uuuusss..." Moxie whispered with her hands together in a begging position.

Penn glared to his daughter. Moxie whimpered and hugged her brother, frightened by their angry father.

"Okay, fine, you guys can help." Cherry whispered.

"Yay!" Zolten and Moxie cheered.

"I'm sorry about Teller, Penn." Cherry whispered.

"He's actually fine." Penn said.

"WHAT!?" Cherry looked over at him.

Penn and Cherry came to the back of Penn's car and he opened the trunk to show Teller's body that wasn't decaying or decomposing oddly enough.

"You... You kept his body?" Cherry sounded disgusted.

"Touch him." Penn told her.

"You're sick!" Cherry cringed.

"Cherry, don't be a wimp!" Penn shoved her on top of Teller's body. "Isn't it still warm like he's just knocked unconscious?"

"Huh?" Cherry said, confused before feeling Teller's body. "You're right."

"What'd I tell ya?" Penn smiled boastfully.

Cherry looked back. "It's still weird you kept his body."

"He ain't dead, ain't he?" Penn pulled her out. "Don't you know what's going on?"

"I don't know what that could mean..." Cherry rubbed her arm, but she was glad that Teller wasn't dead.

"Maybe true love's kiss will wake him up like in my storybook..." Moxie suggested.

"Yeah, after all, it's worth a shot." Zolten smiled.

"Yeah, but... Who's his true love?" Cherry asked.

Penn leaned over her with a smarmy smile. Cherry twiddled her fingers, she then came over to Teller as he was lying there, nearly frozen stiff. Cherry was about to kiss him, but then she remembered the kiss they shared at SugarCube Corner. She stopped herself.

"What's wrong?" Penn asked.

"I... I just..." Cherry shook her head and walked away, not saying anything else.

"Cherry!" Penn, Zolten, and Moxie called.

"No more magic, no more magic, no more magic..." Cherry rubbed her head. "I never wanna hear about magic again for the rest of my life!"

"You're not his true love, are you?" Penn asked with a knowing look.

"I'm a high school student, he's a grown man!" Cherry cried, she was emotional again. "He deserves better than me... Yes, I love Teller, but..."

"But what?" Penn asked.

Cherry looked down. "I'm just a kid and he's an adult... He should find someone closer to his own age or something... I'm sorry, but I can't help him... He can't find anyone in our world, maybe he'll find someone in Equestria, I don't know... He just deserves better than someone like me."

"Hmm, wait, who's his pony form in love with?" Penn asked.

"How the heck should I know!?" Cherry glared at Penn. "I've never even seen him in Equestria!"

"Miss Cherry, if you like Uncle Teller, why don't you go with him?" Zolten asked.

"Leave me alone..." Cherry mumbled.

"Come on, tell us..." Moxie pleaded. "Why?"

"Because I feel like I'm holding him back!" Cherry yelled with tears in her eyes. "He's a successful celebrity, I don't want him to give up his own life for me, so I'm not gonna go out with him, end of!" she then ran off, crying hysterically.

Without looking, she had bumped into Derpy.

"Oh, excuse me..." Cherry wiped her eyes.

Derpy pouted to her, sensing her sadness and handed her a muffin with an overly friendly smile.

Cherry blinked and took the muffin. "Um... Thanks?"

Derpy roughly patted her on the head and skipped along, feeling so happy and carefree. But then she stopped once she saw Teller.

"WAKE UP!" Penn tried to shake his partner awake, then growled.

Derpy walked over, looking curious.

"Beat it, we're working here." Penn told her.

Derpy looked to Teller and smiled sweetly, she gave him a kiss on the cheek with a shy giggle.

Teller's eyes fluttered and he seemed to wake up then. "Wha... What happened?"

"Oh, Teller, you're alive!" Penn bear hugged his partner.

This caused for Cherry to go wide-eyed as she now found out who Teller's true love was. She looked a little heartbroken slightly and twiddled her fingers.

Derpy handed a muffin to Teller and skipped along again. Teller watched her go and smiled shyly.

"Maybe it'll be just a phase..." Cherry whispered to herself.

---

While she headed back to the finals, a familiar court composer was heading to the same school. "Cerise..."

"Leave me alone..." Cherry held her knees as she sat in the hallway by herself.

Forte sat next to her. "I apologize for not helping you, you see, I was in-"

"WHY IS LIFE SO UNFAIR!?" Cherry yelled out and bawled.

"So, I guess you found out who Doctor Whooves's true love was." Forte frowned.

Cherry sniffled and looked down. Forte started to stroke her hair behind her ear.

"You were right..." Cherry mumbled.

"Pardon?" Forte stopped himself.

Cherry looked up. "You were right about love..."

"No, Cerise, I was wrong about love." Forte said.

"You were right..." Cherry insisted. "Love is a deadly game... All those things you said... There are things you don't know... Ya know... About how rough I had it."

"What?" Forte scoffed, folding his arms. "In your cushy life in the 21st century?"

"Cushy, are you kidding?" Cherry nearly scoffed.

This got to Forte.

Cherry folded her arms and looked away from him.

"Oh, that's such a sad story..." Forte sounded sarcastic, but he sounded familiar. "I've heard better, A for effort, I'm just saying..."

"Okay, top this!" Cherry snarled. "I dreaded the prom!"

Forte mentioned the only person who passed away before his birthday.

"The only person who understood me passed before Christmas Eve." Cherry retorted.

The two then sang about their troubles, then started to mock each other until they realized something they had in common in their little song argument as they sang it at the same time and looked to each other softly.

Cherry & Forte: The only person who understood me, passed away

They even got in each other's faces, causing the both of them to stop when their eyes made complete contact. This caused for a spark to happen between them. They looked away for a moment.

"Who was yours...?" Cherry asked.

"My mother..." Forte rubbed his arm. "When she was on her deathbed, she admitted to me that Vincent Forte was not my father and he left because of her and not me... I-I was born from an affair my mother had while Vincent was out to war... My siblings told me that he left because of me and it was all my fault... They called me second fiddle and that's all I'd ever be... I'd be better off dead... Even if she had a hard time raising the three of us alone, she was a wonderful woman..."

Cherry looked at him.

Forte looked back. "Well... I better leave you alone..." he then started to stand up.

"Stay a minute?" Cherry held him back. "Um... You look lonely..."

"You sure? But what about the Friendship Games?" Forte asked.

This reminded Cherry about the pendant device with the magic inside.

"Wait for me..." Cherry stood up. "I'm gonna freshen up in the bathroom..."

"Cerise...?" Forte got concerned.

Cherry left without another word and went to the bathroom.

Forte sharply sighed. "I'll never understand that girl... I am never having children of my own... Unless they come from her." He then realized what he just said and shook his head, putting that thought aside.

---

Cherry splashed her face with sink water and looked in the mirror. "Okay... Just calm down... Dr. Faciler won't win, Atticus won't unleash the magic, and Patch will destroy that pendant and then nothing will go wrong... I'm seriously taking a magic vacation when this is all over..."

After she dried off, she left the bathroom and then went to the front of the school where everyone was getting ready for the finals.