After her cathartic closure with Sour Sweet, Lemon sent Twilight a text.

Twilight...you won't believe what just happened. - Sent by Lemon Zest

Oh? - Sent by Twilight Sparkle

Lemon sent a long series of texts explaining in detail how her session with Radiant Hope went.

Wow...I'm at a loss for words. I had no idea she was going through so much. - Sent by Twilight Sparkle

You and me both, Twilight. You and me both. - Sent by Lemon Zest

Lemon made her way to the tryouts for the Friendship Games. Among all the people she recognized were Sour Sweet, who waved at her with a sincere smile. Sugarcoat, who just gave her a blank stare. Sunny Flare, who gave her the same look from last time. Okay, I'm gonna talk to her after all this. I can't think of anything that I could done to make her look at me like that... Indigo Zap, who simply gave her a grin. She saw other familiar faces among the crowd, but didn't have any of their names. Doesn't surprise me that Twilight's not here. She's not the competitive type. She looked over the crowd again and saw Principal Cinch and Dean Cadence. I guess that's not much of a surprise either. thought Lemon.

"This first round of tryouts will involve academics." announced Principal Cinch. Nearly half of those waiting groaned.

"The hell did you guys expect, moto-cross racing?!" Sour said. Lemon giggled.

Principal Cinch pinched the bridge of her nose. "As I was saying...the first round of tryouts will involve academics. The top fifty scores will move on to the next round. To your seats!" All students went to their seats. "And...begin!" said Cinch.

Huh. Sure wasn't expecting a written test to be part of the process... thought Lemon. Ah well, I didn't make the rules.

After some time, Principal Cinch shouted "Pencils down!" there was a noise of pencils being put on the desks. "The results of these tests will be posted later today in the hallways." She said as Dean Cadence went to pick up the tests. "Dismissed!"

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Lemon and Sour met each other in the hallway. "How good do you think we did?" Lemon asked.

"If neither of us made the top ten, I'm burning this school to the ground." said Sour. Lemon stared at her. Sour laughed. "Geez, I'm only kidding!" Lemon laughed. "Or is that what I want you to think?!" said Sour. Lemon blinked. They both laughed harder together. "Oh, man. I can't remember the last time I laughed like that!" said Sour as she wiped a tear from her eyes. Lemon smiled.

The warning bell for the next period sounded off. "Well, I should get to class. Catch you later!" said Lemon. She was stopped by Sour Sweet's arm on her shoulder. Lemon turned around to see Sour still in tears.

"Thank you...for giving me a second chance." said Sour, tears streaming down her eyes.

"Hey, what are friends for?" said Lemon, smiling.

Sour sniffled. "You have no idea how much hearing that from you means to me, Lemon Zest." She shot over to hug her tightly, then broke, bursting into tears.

Lemon smiled. "You'd be surprised." she said softly while hugging an emotional Sour Sweet.

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After Sour calmed down, they broke the hug and went their separate ways. Lemon sighed, a smile on her face. "Maybe this place isn't so much of a hellhole after all." she thought aloud as she entered her next class. At least I'm on time. Barely, but that's better than being late.

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After the class, Lemon ran out to the hallway to see the results of the first round of tryouts. Sour Sweet beat her to it. "Well, we didn't make the top ten..." she said. "We made the top five!" she said, a huge grin on her face.

Sour and Lemon high-fived. "Was there ever any doubt?" Lemon said and smiled. "So, what do you think's next?"

Sour shrugged. "Could be anything. Handball, Art...ooh, hopefully paintball's one of the events!"

"Karate? Maybe video games?" said Lemon.

"Anything goes! We should just be prepared for anything." said Sour. "Hey, there's a notice just under the rankings."

Notice: Second round of tryouts will be held after next period in the track field.

"Good to know." said Lemon. "You nervous, Sour?"

"Of course not!" said Sour. "We've got this!"

The warning bell sounded off.

"See you later!" said Sour.

"Laters!" said Lemon, and the two went to their next class.

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All the remaining students entered the track field.

"As you've all no doubt realized," said Principal Cinch. "This tryout will be physical. The top eleven fastest lap times will move on to the Friendship Games."

There were murmurs of excitement among the students.

Lemon cracked her knuckles. "Aww, yeah! Now we're talking!"

Sour grinned. "Nice. I've got plenty of excess energy to run off!"

One by one, the students gathered over to the track. To Lemon's lack of surprise, she found Sunny Flare, Indigo Zap, and Sugarcoat on the field, waiting their turn. "Tough competition out here, huh?" said Lemon.

"Well, this is Crystal Prep." said Sour.

"Sour Sweet!" called Principal Cinch.

Sour grinned. "Looks like it's my turn!" she said.

"Not that you need it or anything, but good luck!" said Lemon.

"You're right." said Sour. "I don't!" and went off to take her position.

Lemon watched her friend run a full lap. Huh. She's faster than I thought. When Sour finished, she walked back to Lemon. "Whew!" she said, wiping sweat off her brow. "Think you can beat that?" she said, nudging Lemon gently.

"Lemon Zest!" called Principal Cinch.

Lemon smiled. "I guess we're about to find out." Once at her mark, she did a couple of stretches just to be sure. Then, as fast as she could, she picked a tune to get her adrenaline pumping. "Time to pucker up and fuck her up!" Principal Cinch raised an eyebrow. "What? I consider it a motivational phrase for me!" Lemon laughed sheepishly. Cinch rolled her eyes.

"Go!"

Lemon ran as fast as she possibly could. When she finished, she nearly collapsed on the floor. "Oof...I...guess I...overdid it...a little..." she managed to say between gasps."

"The results will be posted shortly." said Principal Cinch.

"Rest up, Lemon. You kicked ass out there." said Sour as she handed Lemon a bottle of water.

"Thanks." said Lemon.

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"The results have been posted!" said the Principal.

Competitors for the Friendship Games
Indigo Zap
Lemon Zest
Sour Sweet
Sugarcoat
Sunny Flare
Neon Lights
Trenderhoof
Suri Polomare
Jet Set
Upper Crust
Royal Pin

"There was never any doubt." smiled Lemon.

"You said it!" said Sour.

The two walked arm in arm to the final period of the day.

Author's Notes:

Everything's made up and the points don't matter. That's why I didn't list the scores.