Ch. 3: Wondercolts United

Later, everyone in the school was gathered in the gym to see Celestia and Luna up on the stage.

"As I'm sure you all know, tomorrow Canterlot High School will be hosting our fellow students from Crystal Prep Academy as we join together in the spirit of excellence, sportsmanship, and fidelity to compete in the Friendship Games," said Celestia. Everyone gave a lackluster clap and cheer, not anxious to lose. "Since the games only happen every four years, I'm sure you're all curious what goes on."

"You mean other than us losing?" asked Flash Sentry.

"Smooth," thought Sonic.

"And that is exactly why I've asked Rainbow Dash to come up and give you all a little, um… context," said Celestia before Rainbow snagged the mic from her hands.

"Thank you, Principal Celestia," she said before she cleared her throat. "I know a lot of you might think there's no way we can beat a fancy school like Crystal Prep at anything,"

"Unless it's a 'losing to Crystal Prep' competition, cause we're really good at that!" said Pinkie.

"True," said Shadow.

"And I know that CHS has never won the Friendship Games even once," Rainbow continued.

"Sorry, was this speech supposed to be motivational?" asked Sonic.

"Crystal Prep students are super athletic, super smart, and super motivated," said Rainbow. "But there's one thing they aren't."

"And that is?" asked Shadow who had teleported up next to her with his G.U.N uniform on and an M16 in his hands.

"They aren't Wondercolts," said Rainbow when the curtains parted to reveal the school marching band.

(Play "CHS Rally Song" – Original Movie)

Rainbow: We've fought magic more than once
And come out on top

Chorus: Oh, oh

Shadow: There's other schools, but none can make those claims

Chorus: Na, na-na-na-na, oh

Rainbow: Together we are Canterlot
Come and cheer our name

Chorus: Oh, oh

Shadow: This will be our year to win these games

Rainbow, Shadow, and chorus: We'll always be Wondercolts forever
And now our time has finally arrived
'Cause we believe in the Magic of Friendship
And you know, at the end of the day, it is we who'll survive

Then somehow, just by plugging a cord into her miniature turntable set, Vinyl started blasting music over the gym speaker system.

Students: Hey!

Rainbow: We're not the school we were before

Students: Before!

Shadow: Yeah, we're different now

Chorus: Oh, oh (Students: Hey, hey!)

Rainbow: We overcame the obstacles we faced

Chorus: Overcame the obstacle we faced

Students: Hey!

Shadow: We're Canterlot United

Students: Unite!

Rainbow: And we'll never bow

Chorus: Oh, oh (Students: Hey, hey!)

Shadow: So get ready to see us in first place

All: We'll always be Wondercolts forever
And now our time has finally arrived
'Cause we believe in the Magic of Friendship
And you know, at the end of the day, it is we who'll survive
At the end of the day, it is we who'll survive!

Na, na, na-na-na-na
Wondercolts united together
Na, na, na-na-na-na
Wondercolts united together

Na, na, na-na-na-na
Wondercolts united together
(Rainbow and Shadow: We'll always be Wondercolts forever)
(And now our time has finally arrived)
('Cause we believe in the magic of Friendship)

Then out of nowhere, Rainbow started glowing blue before she gained her ears, tail, and wings, much to her friends' surprise.

(And you know…)

At the end of the day, it is we who'll survive!
At the end of the day, it is we who'll survive!

After that, everyone cheered and whistled confident they would win this year. Later on, the band left for class. Rainbow gave them a thumbs-up and a wink before she walked up to her friends.

"Rainbow Dash, that was amazing," said Fluttershy. "Even I feel like we can win."

"I feel like my school pride is at an all-time high!" said Rarity.

"Is anybody else wonderin' how Dash ponied up without playin' her guitar?" asked Applejack.

"Yo." said Knuckles.

"I know, right?" asked Rainbow. "It's probably because I'm so awesome."

"Oy." said Sonic.

"Maybe," said Sunset. "I mean, you are awesome,"

"And a little egotistic," Tails whispered to Silver.

"I heard that." said Rainbow.

"But there's gotta be more to it than that, right?" asked Sunset. "It just seemed so random."

"Well, it would be nice if you girls could get a handle on it," said Vice Principal Luna, who was standing behind her. "We'd like to keep magic as far away from the Friendship Games as possible. We don't want to be accused of cheating."

"We don't need magic to beat those hoity-toity Crystal Preppers." said Rarity and everyone agreed.

"Still, the Friendship Games are serious business," said Luna. "We don't any surprises, especially the kind that could cause us to forfeit." Then she looked at Sunset. "Sunset Shimmer, you came here from a world of magic. Perhaps you can get to the bottom of our magical development."

"I'll do my best," said Sunset. With that, Luna nodded and left.

"Okay," said Rainbow. "Anybody have any guesses on what the events are gonna be this year?" Then Pinkie yanked a pie and cake out of her hair… somehow.

"Pie eating? Cake eating?" she asked then gasped and squished them together. "Pie-cake eating?"

"Wait, you guys don't know what we're doing in the games?" asked Sonic.

"Are you kiddin'?" asked Applejack. "They won't even let us see what they're doing to the field. You'd think they'd at least tell competitors what they're competing in."

"It could be anything." said Fluttershy.

"Anything?" asked Rarity. "How will I ever pick the right outfit?"

"I really wanna help, but I think I'd better focus on why Rainbow Dash ponied up. See ya later," said Sunset and she left.

"Seems like she's got everything under control," said Pinkie. "Nothing to worry about."

"Well, while she's doing that, we've still got plenty of light left to get in some training," said Shadow. "Cmon." Meanwhile, in the library, Sunset was looking through storybook after storybook, in hopes of finding some sort of reason why Rainbow ponied up, but so far, she hadn't figured out anything. She pushed away some notes she made and groaned in angst.

Then she sighed and reached for her magic book and started writing. "Hey Twilight," she wrote. "Haven't heard back from you yet. Guess you must be pretty busy with your role as princess. I could really use your advice right now. Ya see, I've been given the job of keeping magic under control here at CHS, even though I still haven't quite wrapped my head around it. And now, after seeing Rainbow Dash pony up the way she did, it makes me think our magic might be… changing. Everyone's looking to me to figure things out and I really don't wanna let them down, but I'm not sure I have enough experience with Friendship Magic to solve this." Once she finished writing, she was hopeful for a fast reply but was worried the girl she saw earlier did something to the connection.