Ch. 7: Let the Games Begin!

The next day, the Friendship Games began with Vice Principal Luna on the speakers in the morning.

"Good morning, students," she said. "I'm sure you're all thrilled to start the first day of the Friendship Games. Our competitors will face off in every aspect of the CHS curriculum, culminating in the Elimination Equations finale!"

Then everyone gathered in the hallway, ready to begin as they stared down their opponents. "Welcome to the first event; the Academic Decathlon," said Cadence. "You'll be scored on chemistry, home ec, and everything in between. But remember, only the six students from each team with the most points will move on to event number two. Good luck!"

"Who's up for a little music for the event?" asked Sonic.

"By all means," said Celestia.

"All right, you heard her Underground! Hit it!" said Sonic. First up was Chemistry.

(Play "ACADECA" – Original Movie)

Sunset and Wondercolts: (Ho!) We're gonna take you down
(Ho!) We're gonna take you down!
Take you down! (Ho! We're gonna take you down!)
Take you down! (Down, down down)

Shadowbolts: (Oh oh!) We're here to take you out
(Aw aw!) We're here to take you out (Aw aw!)
Take you out! (We're here to take you out!)
Take you out!

Next up was a test of skill in the kitchen. Some of the entries were kind of sorry-looking, but then the judges got to a cake made by the Shadowbolts that tasted great, but then Pinkie cut open the one she and Fluttershy had made, revealing a perfect copy of the Mona Lisa, shocking the judges. Cinch was ticked at her students for losing, but when they dropped their entry, she just took off her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose.

Wondercolts: We're not about to let you win, so get out of our way
Think you got us beat, but we're here to stay
United strong, yeah, we'll take you down
You're not so tough, now you're in our town

All of the times we lost before
Not about to give up, we're only bringin' it more
We can smell your fear, we can see your sweat
Hope you didn't spend money 'cause you're losin' this bet!

You've got nothin' on us
Na, na, na-na-na, na
Let's go, Wondercolts!
You've got nothin' on us
Na, na, na-na-na, na
Let's go, Wondercolts!

Next was the wood shop, but the rules forbade outside entries, so the Wondercolts were on their own. Kind of a bad idea, since one of their entries, was made from scraps and fell apart at the touch of a pen, whereas Indigo and Sugarcoat's was double-decker with hot-rod flames at the doors. The two who made the one from scraps were upset but ticked when Indigo knocked what was left of it to the ground shattering it.

Shadowbolts: Talk a little too much for a school that never wins
Maybe you should just stop 'fore you even begin
We are Crystal Prep High and we have a reputation
Every little moment is about our education

Put your ear to the ground
Listen to that sound
You're a house of cards
And it's about to fall down (fall down)
About to fall down (fall down), hit the ground

You've got nothin' on us
Na, na, na-na-na, na
Let's go, Shadowbolts!
You've got nothin' on us
Na, na, na-na-na, na
Let's go, Shadowbolts!

Next up was the spelling bee, and that didn't go well. Contestants were being eliminated left and right, but they got an even number of points.

Wondercolts: Pressure's on, now we're gonna beat you
Step aside, it's time that we defeat you
Crystal Prep yourself 'cause you're about to go
Down, down, down, down

Shadowbolts: Pressure's on, you know we're gonna take you
Just give up before we have to break you
Canter-not-a-lot, you're about to go
Down, down, down, down

Soon they had reached the finale; a competition between Twilight and Sunset to find the correct answer to a complex equation. Tails tried to relay the correct calculations to Sunset through an earpiece he had given her, but he couldn't see it that well so he messed up a few things.

Wondercolts: Take it up to the top
'Cause we know we can win

Shadowbolts: Maybe you should just stop
'Cause we've seen you give in

Wondercolts: We believe in ourselves
And we've got what it takes

All: And we're not gonna stop!

Twilight: I can't wait till this is all over
There's so much more that's going on

Sunset: And before these games are over
I'll just find out what she's done

All: Can she do it? Will she make it?
Who will win it? Who will take it?

Can she do it? Who will take it?
Did she win it? Did she make it?

Who's the winner? Who's the reject?
How did she answer?

Then Cinch pointed to Sunset's board and said quite profusely "Incorrect!" Sunset was disappointed with herself, as was Tails with himself when he looked at the equation on the board.

"Ugh! Dammit, I knew this. Well, if that don't take the biscuit." he said, punching his palm in defeat.

"That means the winner of the Friendship Games' first event is Twilight Sparkle and Crystal Prep!" said Luna. Twilight was extremely happy, but only got a half-assed round of applause from her classmates. Then the girls ran up to Sunset and hugged her.

"That was awesome!" said Rainbow.

"Truly amazing!" said Rarity.

"What are you talking about? You lost," said Sonic.

"Maybe so, but that was as close to winning as Canterlot's ever been." said Applejack, putting her arm on Sunset's shoulder.

"After a careful tally of the points, we'd like to present the students moving on to the Friendship Games' second event," said Cadence. Sonic and the others took it as a silent cue to leave the stage as Sunny Flare, Sour Sweet, Indigo Zap, Sugarcoat and Lemon Zest walked on to it. Everyone clapped at the competitors as everyone but Twilight left the stage. Quickly, she followed them before she ran right into Flash again.

"Congratulations. You were really great," he said, still thinking she was Equestria's Twilight, apparently. (You know guitar players. They can tend to be kind of empty-headed).

Sonic: *clears throat*

Sonic Prime: Oh right. Apart from you, Sonic. Wait, since when could you break the fourth wall?

Sonic: Since "Sonic Colors".

Sonic Prime: Oh right. Sorry. Forgot. Anyway…

Then Twilight's amulet started beeping again. "I'm sorry. Excuse me," she said and quickly left.

"Ok then," said Flash. "Aw." Sonic walked over and patted him on the shoulder.

"Probably for the best, man," he said. "She's actually the Twilight of this dimension. She doesn't know you."

"Oh. Okay, now everything makes sense," said Flash.

"Well… almost everything," said Sonic, before he noticed the others were leaving. "Hey, wait up!" Quickly, he raced after them and met up with them at the statue out front. Then they all left, Tails and Fluttershy going into the nearby bushes. Tails had hidden his fox tails in a backpack to avoid drawing attention from Crystal Prep, but every now and then, they got all frizzled so he had to pull them out and fluff them.

Same with Fluttershy and the animals she kept in her backpack, like the little gray kitten that poked its head out to nuzzle her. Now was possibly the worst time for that to happen because Twilight popped her head out of the bushes to see Tails' namesakes poking out of his pants.

"They're fakes clipped onto my belt," he said quickly. Then Fluttershy noticed her.

"Do you wanna give her a treat?" she asked referring to the kitten. Twilight thought for a second and decided "Eh. Why not?", so she emerged from the bushes and walked over.

"Guess I'm not the only one to smuggle her pet into school," she said, removing her backpack. Fluttershy giggled.

"Not just one," she said, opening it further, allowing a tan hamster, white rabbit, and small purple bird to hop out.

"Oh. Wow," said Twilight, opening her bag. "All I have is Spike." Then her lavender pup popped out and smiled.

"The resemblance really is uncanny," said Tails as Fluttershy picked him up.

"Does he talk?" she asked, confusing Twilight.

"Um, not that I know of," she said.

"Congrats on the win, by the way," said Tails. "Though it didn't really look like any of your teammates was very excited by it."

"No one at my school gets excited about anything they didn't do themselves," said Twilight.

"That sounds awful," said Fluttershy. Twilight looked away sadly until Fluttershy came up with something to help. "Here. Hold this." Then she held out the rabbit that popped out of her bag.

"Um, why?" asked Twilight, confusingly accepting it.

"Holding a bunny always makes me feel better." said Fluttershy.

"Well, that's ridiculous, but…" Twilight began before the rabbit nuzzled under her chin. "Ohh. It actually kind of works." Then something struck her. "I'm on the other team and you just lost. Why are you being so nice to me?"

"You looked like you needed it," said Fluttershy as she started giving off a gold aura as she floated and ponied up. Tails was worried, but Twilight was shocked.

"Whoa." she said in awe.

"Yeah. Whoa," said Tails. Then Twilight's amulet opened and siphoned in Fluttershy's power. Then more white lightning bolts shot out and opened more vortexes. Then a jackalope popped out of one before locking eyes with Spike and retreating. Spike followed it through several different vortexes before he got trapped in the magic being drained from Fluttershy. Then Fluttershy turned back to normal and caught him.

"Spike!" shouted Twilight as she closed the amulet. Fluttershy shuddered as she handed Spike back to her before tails caught her.

"Spike, are you ok?" asked Twilight.

"Um, I think so," said the dog. Who, up until now, had never said anything. ( Important plot point much? Ah, not too much. Ah, much too much). After that, both dog and owner screamed as Twilight dropped Spike and ran away.

"Twilight, wait!" he shouted as he ran after her.

Fluttershy sighed in Tails' arms. "Bye," she said simply and waved.

"Well, that was out of the ordinary." said Tails.