Sunny Flare stopped by the other Shadowbolts, stopping next to Lemon Zest, gasping for air as Principal Cinch looked at her watch, a look of disapproval on her face. Sunny had made it in time at least, but just barely. The others looked at her with different expressions.

“Almost late, Miss Flare.” Principal Cinch pushed her glasses up and looked intimidatingly down on Sunny. “Might I remind you there is a round that needs to be won? And we do not have much time for our brief now, thanks to you.”

“S-Sorry, Principal Cinch.” Sunny was able to maintain her balance, her legs still wobbly from her alone time. “I had to u-use the bathroom…”

“Hmph.” But she said no more of Sunny’s tardiness. “Let’s make this quick now. You will race in pairs. Indigo Zap and Sugarcoat will handle the motocross.”

“Yes!” Indigo exclaimed, while Sugarcoat didn’t give away anything.

“Lemon Zest and Sunny Flare have requested the short track.”

We did? Sunny looked to her lime haired friend. She must’ve said something about it. She was happy. The both of them enjoyed speed skating. She owed Lemon Zest a drink later.

Lemon raised a hand, and Sunny mirrored the gesture, high-fiving her.

“Since archery is a standard requirement at our school, any of you should be able to do it. Twilight and Sour Sweet will start us off.”

“Well that’s just marvelous!” Sour Sweet said cheerily. “If you want to lose before we even start.”

Sunny agreed with her. Twilight might’ve been smart, but she had never been any good at archery, at least by the looks of it. She was always either buried in a book or some kind of whacky invention.

Cinch faced Twilight. “Given that Twilight won the last event single-handedly, I have every confidence that she will be able to pull her weight here,” Cinch leaned down to Twilight’s eye level. “Won’t you?”

Twilight clasped her hands around her neck and nodded meekly.

“So if everything’s settled, that concludes our short briefing.” Cinch clapped her hands. “Go get changed. I will expect you to win, girls.”

Sunny let out a sigh of relief as she walked off with Lemon Zest. The brief went better than expected and she had made it on time. She thought her legs were going to give out anytime on the mad rush out here.

“Thanks for telling Principal Cinch about our request,” Sunny said to her bubbly friend as they walked to their stored gear. “We’re going to win this.”

“You betcha, Sunny,” Lemon Zest snickered. “Just wait till Canterlot High goes against us. We’re going to destroy them at speed skating! Woooozaaa!”

Assuming Twilight can even get us that far.

The two girls found their clothes and protective gear in lockers in the changing room, already left there earlier so they could get to changing quicker.

“So what were you doing in the bathroom, Sunny?” Lemon Zest didn’t bother using a cubicle, quickly undoing her bowtie and blazer buttons. “You were almost late! Don’t tell me you were-”

“Just taking a piss, Lemon, that’s all!” Sunny went into one of the CHS changing room cubicles before her friend could see the blush spreading across her cheeks. “I-I… really had to go.”

“Oh. Okay then.”

Sunny’s face was glowing with embarrassment as she undressed again, placing her uniform by the side as she picked up her compression tights. At least these would help keep her leg muscles in check. She took another glimpse at her panties, pulling it up to check if she had accidentally wet it. There was only a few little splotches on the side of her panties, but at least it wasn’t much.

Satisfied, she got her tights on, followed by her purple shorts and long sleeved sports shirt.

“I’m ready to roll out, Sunny!” Lemon Zest knocked on her cubicle door. “You?”

Slipping on her fingerless gloves, Sunny put her shoes back on before opening the cubicle door. “All set.”

Lemon Zest was dressed in roughly the same outfit, though her top had a lightning bolt going down the front and instead of shorts, she had on a frilly short skirt. She had tied her vibrant lime hair into two pigtails.

“Looking good, Sunny.” The pink-skinned girl held up both their helmets, along with their protective pads. “I’ve got these. Can you get the skates?”

“Oh, uh, sure.” Sunny pulled them out from another locker.

The skates were dark and light blue like their school shoes, but with a lightning bolt decor, like Sunny’s shorts and Lemon’s shirt.

“This is a nice outfit.” Lemon Zest gave herself a twirl, her skirt flapping up in the air. Thankfully, she had the compression tights underneath or people were going to be questioning Crystal Prep’s level of modesty. “Quite form fitting. Brings out my butt if you get a look at it. I hope one of the boys notice me.”

“Sure, Lemon Zest.” Sunny eyed her friend, unsure of what to think. “Didn’t know you were that desperate for a boyfriend.”

“Nah, it’s just because you had one and I’ve never had one. I’d like to have one.” She pointed a finger at Sunny’s attire. “Domino Ace is sure to notice you with this outfit.”

“Oh, Domino?” Sunny shook her head as they made their way out of the changing rooms. “No, he’s… he’s with Ginger now. Ginger Owlseye.”

“Oh, Ginger? Sorry to hear that, Sunny.”

“No, it’s okay. Maybe it wasn’t going to be all that good to get back with him anyway…” Sunny clacked the skates together. “We have this to focus on first anyway.”

“That’s the spirit, Sunny!” Lemon Zest hopped up and kicked one leg out like some kind of martial artist, only hers looked sloppy. “Victories before boys! But seriously, I do hope someone notices how pretty and fun I am.”

“Heh… right, Lemon.”

Sunny found it hypocritical how she told Lemon Zest to focus on the Games, while she herself wasn’t. She was still thinking about Silver and whether or not she should listen to her feelings.

It seemed to be getting out of hand now, surpassing her resistance to it. The slightest stimulation of holding hands with her had filled Sunny with such ardour that she had to go to the toilet to deal with it.

Is that just how much I am in love with Silver Rose?

She never had this problem with Domino. In fact, Domino had broken up with her because she hadn’t wanted to go further than kissing.

So why was it so difficult to think of Silver Rose without feeling hot and bothered?

Sunny hoped this wouldn’t affect her performance for the race, but she could already feel a slight warmth spreading all over her body, making her feel hot in her skating outfit.

She gritted her teeth and groaned. “Come on, Sunny. You can do it. Win this. You’re a Shadowbolt first. Relationships are secondary.”

“Gee, did nothing really happen in the restroom?” Lemon Zest tilted her head to the side. “Did you, you know? Screw someone in there? And it wasn’t Domino?”

“I did nothing of the sort!” Sunny admonished, her cheeks coloring.

“I don’t know…” Lemon sang. “Your face is saying otherwise. Come on, who’s the lucky boy? Boggle Board? Palm Birch? Trenderhoof? He did kiss your butt. Maybe you liked it.”

“I didn’t screw anyone!” Sunny insisted. “I just went to the bathroom and back, and I definitely wasn’t thinking of Sil- aaah.” Sunny caught herself and settled into a surly silence. “Let’s just go,” she said, picking up her goggles from Lemon Zest.

Lemon Zest snickered as Sunny went ahead of her, but said nothing more about it. Not out loud at least.

Silver Rose found a seat on the bleachers, already packed with students from both schools when she got there. She was lucky to even find a seat, but unfortunately, she had to get a seat by some Canterlot High School students, which didn’t seem too happy to see her.

“Hi, you… don’t mind if I sit here… do you?” Silver asked meekly.

One of them, a grey skinned girl with a cello, huffed and then scooted over a little to give Silver more room to sit. The other one, a girl with huge purple shades and blue hair, looked once at Silver, but didn’t say anything.

“Umm… thank you.” She sat down, careful to leave a decent amount of space in between herself and the cello girl. “Umm… hi, I’m Silver Rose.”

There was no answer from either one of them.

Silver sighed and looked up at the sky. It was a clear enough day, with a few scraps of cloud floating by on the wind. She didn’t know if it was a warm day or not, but it likely wasn’t a cool one, that was for sure, with summer soon approaching.

Just then, there was a scuffle and she looked back down to see a familiar face sitting down on the edge of the bleacher beside her. A face way too familiar to her.

“Sorry, I’m a little late. Mind if I sit here?” Home Run asked, his face sweaty and his blue hair plastered on his face. “Had some trouble with my locker, but I guess I made it here in time, huh?”

“Oh, yeah, sure did…” Silver smiled, blushing. There wasn’t much space and Home Run’s shoulder was against hers. She didn’t want to tell him to move, seeing as he had no more space. She would’ve loved him sitting beside her, except for the fact that she wasn’t Moonglade right now. “Uh… how’s it going?”

“Oh, good, I suppose. A little hot, but good enough,” the boy replied, wiping his face with his blue outer shirt. “You?”

Silver looked at the smile he had on his face, feeling slightly lightheaded. She felt an urge to kiss him, but she held herself back.

Snap out of it! He’s not your boyfriend. He’s Moonglade’s! Don’t give yourself away, Silver.

A small purple flag with the Shadowbolts logo was dropped into Silver’s lap.

“For you to cheer the Shadowbolts on, Silver Rose.” Fleur Dis Lee went on to give more flags to other Crystal Prep students. “Show more support than these Canterlot High kids can.”

“So much enmity between our schools.” Home Run shook his head, looking at the flag. “I thought this was called the Friendship Games, you know? Sounded like it was supposed to be a friendly competition between our schools, not a full on war.”

“Tell me about it…” Silver blew up at her pink and grey hair. “I tried to be nice, but even your side doesn’t want to befriend me. Well, except that Rarity. She asked for my autograph.”

“Yeah, Rarity has kind of a fixation on your family. Mostly your mom.”

Silver Rose chuckled. “Yes she does… I can smell it off her… Uh, I meant that figuratively.”

“Oh, well yeah, that’s what I guessed,” Home Run laughed along with her for a while. “Would be weird if you could actually smell her excitement off of her.”

“Haha…” Silver laughed nervously. “I-It would, wouldn’t it?”

He thinks you’re weird… Silver thought to herself.

“You know, I’d like to be able to do that,” Home Run said, getting her attention back. “Having some kind of superpower like that. That’d be really cool if I could smell… stuff like… feelings. Or even where people are. That would be super cool.”

He thinks it’s cool! Silver squealed internally. Home Run, you’re so awesome.

“Yeah, it would be really cool, huh?” Silver twirled a finger around her pink locks shyly. “Hey, when do you think they’re starting? It’s been a while.”

On cue, Dean Cadance, who was in a tarped booth with Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna, and Principal Cinch, stood up and grabbed a microphone. “Welcome, everyone, to the Friendship Games Tri-cross Relay!”

The Canterlot High students around Silver began to cheer. She looked around, noticing very few of her Crystal Prep students joining in. It was the same with the sirens, who were seated near the back, looking bored, except for Sonata, who was cheering alongside the others.

“In this event, our qualifying competitors will face off in archery, speed skating, and finally, motocross. So, if the competitors are ready…”

Silver spotted Sour Sweet and Twilight Sparkle at the archery range with Canterlot High’s Applejack and Fluttershy. The bespectacled girl still had her weird circular pendant thing around her neck. Then over at the track were Sunny Flare and Lemon Zest, decked out in their skating gear, which was also quite stylish, along with Pinkie Pie and Rarity, who had rather flashy outfits. As for the motocross section, Indigo Zap, Sugarcoat, Sunset Shimmer and Rainbow Dash were positioned on their motorbikes, ready to roll at the signal.

Silver Rose still didn’t think motocross was a very safe event, but she could only hope no one was going to die today.

Dean Cadance produced an air horn and held it up high, pressing the button and making Principal Cinch cover her ears as a massive honk reverberated across the field.

Finally… Silver rolled her eyes. It was about time they started.

“Each competitor must hit a bullseye before their teammates can start the next leg of the relay,” Dean Cadance narrated.

“Oh, here we go!” Home Run whooped as Fluttershy and Sour Sweet were the first to go.

The two girls first had to leap over some hay bales, then swing across a gap, which they did rather well. Sour Sweet snagged her quiver of arrows, did an impressive combat roll, then loosed three arrows at once, all of them striking the target, one of them sticking squarely in the bullseye.

Silver could see Sour Sweet’s smug smile all the way from here. Twilight Sparkle had already started, while Fluttershy was still struggling to fire her arrow, which flopped to the floor not very far from her position.

Everything was going smoothly for Crystal Prep so far, which started cheers from Silver’s schoolmates.

“Um… does your team even know how to fire arrows, Home Run?” Silver asked him, seeing as he was the only one close by willing to talk to her. “I mean, you saw that, right?”

Twilight approached the first bale of hay, vaulted over it, and caught her foot on the bale, causing her to land face-first on the floor. Sour Sweet’s face morphed into one of exasperation.

“I’m sure they’ve had some time to practice.” Home Run’s eyes were watching his friend on the field. “But wow. Your Sour Sweet can really shoot.”

“Yeah, she can, can’t she?” Silver laughed as Fluttershy’s second arrow flew further, but still landing in the ground. “Umm… no offense, Fluttershy doesn’t look like she knows how to use a bow.”

“I’m sure she’ll, uh, figure something out.”

Twilight finally arrived at the gap, swinging across, but not enough to land on the other side, grabbing the platform with her toes on one foot. Sour Sweet was livid now, pulling down at her face and stretching the skin under her eyes.

As Twilight made her way to the platform slowly, Fluttershy had nocked another arrow and was ready to fire. To Silver’s astonishment, she turned away and closed her eyes, puffing up her cheeks at the same time.

“How is she going to see like-” And then her arrow thudded straight into the moving target’s bullseye, causing Silver’s jaw to drop. “W-What…? What? How did she…”

Home Run shrugged, smiling all over his big face. All around them, students of both schools were muttering about Fluttershy’s sudden swell of skill.

Down on the field, Fluttershy’s face lit up and she turned around to give Applejack a thumbs up, just as Twilight finally got onto her platform.

The blonde haired girl soon caught up with the Shadowbolts, taking the bow in her hands and quickly nocking an arrow and letting it fly. It smacked into a target, but not at the center.

Come on, Twilight, you can do it. Silver’s fists were clenched as she watched her classmate expectantly. Twilight fired her arrow, lodging it into the target backing, but not the targets themselves. Feeling her nails begin to dig into her palms, Silver unclenched them and picked up the tiny flag Fleur had given her, giving it a little wave.

“Go, Twilight!” she yelled, trying to spur the bespectacled girl on.

Applejack’s next arrow found its mark, hitting the target straight on, turning a small light by Pinkie Pie and Rarity green, allowing them to begin their segment.

“Woohoo, there they go!” Home Run pumped a fist up.

“And Canterlot is off to an early lead,” Dean Cadance announced.

Silver looked back to Twilight and Sour Sweet, with the latter now looking like she was going to kill someone. Twilight Sparkle had fired a few more arrows, but each one had missed.

“Come on, Twilight…” Silver continued to wave her flag, flopping her wrist back and forth.

“She looks like she’s having some trouble,” Home Run observed. “I mean, with her teammate.”

“Yeah, Sour Sweet can be a little troublesome…” Silver said, thinking back to her shoes and her shorts. It occurred to her than Sour had never confessed to hiding them. She made a note to get one later.

Canterlot High had already completed two rounds of their speed skating now, but Twilight was still having trouble hitting her mark.

“If CPA can’t hit another bullseye soon, they’ll be out of this race,” Cadance’s voice echoed around the field.

“You’re really bad at this!” Sugarcoat yelled at Twilight over from the motocross side.

Twilight began to waver from the insults and it wasn’t just Silver who wasn’t able to take it. Applejack went over to her and began telling how to do it. With a little resistance from Sour Sweet, Twilight took aim, took a deep breath, and fired. Students of both sides gasped as the arrow zoomed across the short expanse before thudding into the bullseye.

Silver and her classmates began cheering and even Home Run had joined in. She guessed he couldn’t bear to see Twilight get bullied by the other Shadowbolts too.

The green light signalled Sunny and Lemon Zest to start, with the two girls speeding off as quickly as they could to catch up in points with CHS.

A strange purple dog had suddenly run up to where Twilight was, and she bent down to interact with it, though Silver was sure she saw the dog’s mouth move in some semblance of speech. But that couldn’t be, right? And did Twilight bring a pet along? Silver had never seen that dog before.

Twilight gave Applejack a hug, which was the friendliest thing Silver had seen between their schools since coming here. Right after that, something unbelievable began to happen. More unbelievable than Fluttershy’s archery skill. With a glow of some kind of power, Applejack lit up like a Christmas tree, glowing with an orange aura. Her hair grew long, like a tail, and two small points popped up atop her head.

“Are-are you seeing this, Home Run?” Silver pointed at the cowgirl. “I’m not… seeing things, am I?”

“Oh that?” Home Run crossed a leg over his other leg. “Umm… well… guess now that you’ve seen it… Um, well, I don’t know if you believe it, but that’s uh, magic. Yeah. Those girls do that, with the hair and ears and stuff. Long story. One even I’m not exactly super familiar with.”

“Magic, eh?” Silver said, unconsciously licking her lips. Magic. Now why did that make her feel hungry?

“You’re uh, taking this rather well.”

“Oh uh…” Silver shrugged. “I mean, I’m sure you’ve heard about the sirens and their magic. I’ve heard the stories from them.”

“Oh yeah, I heard they had magic. Special mindcontrol singing and all. Um, neat skill, I guess.” Home Run rubbed his head.

Suddenly, back on the field, that pendant that Twilight kept around her neck flipped open and began absorbing the magic aura from Applejack.

What on earth is that thing she’s been carrying around? It can… absorb magic? The day just keeps getting weirder and weirder.

Now that was a thought. Silver had no idea how or when, but Twilight seemed to have created a gadget that could absorb and hold magic. Now, perhaps if Aunt Ivory knew about this, she would be able to help the sirens that much quicker. She filed that away for later consideration, next to ‘make Sour Sweet apologize for hiding my shoes’.

When it was done, Applejack looked like she was about to faint. Silver looked around at the others. No one seemed particularly bothered that something magical had just happened. Canterlot High might’ve been exposed to magic before, an example being the sirens, but what about her schoolmates from Crystal Prep? No one seemed to be very surprised like she was when Applejack had gone magical.

This day can’t possibly get any weirder, right?

Just then, Twilight had slammed her pendant shut, tripping back over her purple dog and falling off the platform, her pendant rolling away onto the skating track and flipping open.

Silver watched in more amazement as a pulse of energy shot out around the circular object. At first, nothing happened, but then she spotted something appearing in front of Twilight. It looked almost like it was a portal. More began popping up all around the field, with plant like appendages slowly emerging from them. Sunny and Lemon Zest also didn’t look bothered by the portals, still racing to catch up with Pinkie Pie and Rarity. Silver didn’t doubt their athletic skill, but why wasn’t anyone bothered by these… magical occurrences?

“Are you seeing this…?” Silver pulled Home Run’s sleeve. “Don’t tell me this is normal too?”

“Oh, no.” He shook his head, a look of worry scrawled on his face. “I’ve never seen anything like this. I don’t know what’s going on, but I hope it doesn’t start to get out of hand.”

I doubt it’ll stay as it is… Silver watched expectantly.

With the first round of the relay over, everyone’s eyes were either on the magical portals or on the four girls racing around the track. Sunny and Lemon Zest proved to be incredibly capable of speed skating, already catching up with the two Canterlot High girls.

“Go Sunny and Lemon Zest!” Silver stood up and cheered, but then cast a worried eye over the growing portals. More plants were beginning to emerge from them. This isn’t really looking good…

In no time, Sunny Flare and Lemon Zest had shot past Rarity and Pinkie Pie, causing the Crystal Prep students to cheer, with the exception of Silver, who was still watching the plants emerge from the portals, almost like they were alive. Silver watched Lemon Zest kick into the strange device Twilight had dropped, sending it spiralling back as the bespectacled girl tried to grab for it.

When Twilight did get to it, however, a long vine had emerged from a portal close by, trying to grab for her.

“This isn’t good.” Silver grabbed one of Home Run’s arms. “Shouldn’t we do something? They’re in danger out there!”

“I don’t know what we can possibly do, but we can try.” Home Run pointed to the pendant. “Do you think that might have something to do with all this?”

“I’m sure of it.” Silver stood up and patted at her skirt. “Maybe if we can close it…”

By the time Silver and Home Run made their way down to ground level, the skating was over, and the motorbikes were already tearing across the dirt track, flying up hills and bridges, which looked incredibly dangerous for a school activity. But Silver found no time to think about that now. What mattered was closing Twilight’s device and staving off the plants, which were already starting to attack the other students in the stands. Giant monstrous plants with mouths began emerging from the portals from who knows where, and they looked very hungry.

If only I had a sword… Silver thought, frustrated. If this had been back at the manor then a sword would have been no trouble, for her mother kept at least two in each room. But out here…

“Duck!” Home Run ran past Silver and grabbed at a vine that was about to hit her, pushing it back. “Go on! I’ll be right behind you.”

Home Run, however, didn’t get to hold the vine back for long. With a mighty swing, he was thrown ahead, sending him sliding across the dirt track, getting mud all over his outer shirt. Silver ran over to help, dragging him clear of the track just as the motorbikes came riding, narrowly missing both of them.

“Phew, thanks, Silver Rose…” Home Run breathed and stood up. “Would’ve become roadkill there.”

A plant had grown out on the path ahead of the motorbikes and Rainbow Dash would’ve crashed right into if she didn’t have such motorbike skills. She swerved under a low vine and kept going, unfazed that a maneating plant had decided to show up on the track.

“No one seems to be taking this seriously,” Silver said to herself as something wound itself around her torso. One of the plants had decided to constrict her.

“Okay, that’s enough!” Silver growled, bending her head down and biting the plant with her fangs. The plant shuddered, then collapsed onto the ground.

“Yeah, don’t mess with me!” Silver kicked at the limp tendril, then looked around for the pendant. It was lying open, and Twilight was trying to get to it, but was being restrained by one of the plants.

Oh, for fuc- Silver thought, then got blindsided by a plant. Its mouth was open and she could see the barbs inside, dripping with floral saliva. She reached into her pocket, pulling out the Shadowbolts flag and snapping the wooden shaft, leaving her with two short stakes. Now these, I can work with.

Silver began jabbing her weapons into the plant’s mouth, splattering its floral fluids over her blazer sleeves and shoes. Right now, staying clean was the least of her worries.

It eventually let her go, sending Silver Rose tumbling down a few feet. Thankfully, Home Run was there to catch her, though he wasn’t strong enough to stay standing and fell on his back.

“Ouch… You okay?” the blue haired boy asked, rubbing the back on his head and scrunching up his face in pain.

Silver had scraped a knee on the dirt track, but at least Home Run had cushioned the rest of the fall. She made a reminder to give him a good thank you as Moonglade at the end of the week.

“Thanks, Home Run.” She got off him and helped him up, only to be grabbed by another vine. “Are you kidding me?”

Home Run tried to help, but another vine got him and pulled him into the air as well.

She looked over to the side, searching for the pendant, eventually finding it still in the grass by the side, with Twilight Sparkle still trying to get to it through her plant attacker, her dog biting onto one of its vines.

Sugarcoat hung from her motorbike, which was in the mouth of one of the plant things, while Sunset Shimmer had been knocked off her bike just below her. Indigo and Rainbow Dash were further along, still racing as though there wasn’t a serious threat right now.

Silver freed one of her hands and began jabbing her stick into its tendril repeatedly. She would’ve bit it again and it would’ve saved a lot of time, but Home Run was close by and she didn’t want to give away her identity.

“Let me go!” She continued to stab at the vine.

And then, to add on to the surprise she had already received the whole day, Rainbow Dash was suddenly in her vision, hitting against the vine and knocking it to the ground, where Silver was able to step out of its grasp. It was then that she looked up that she noticed Rainbow Dash was flying. Flying! With wings flapping behind her back. Her hair was long, like what happened to Applejack and there were those pointy ears at the top of her head too.

“I must be dreaming. This must all be a dream…” Silver held her head in her hand. “I’m just tired. Having a weird dream. That must be it.”

Rainbow Dash smashed into the vine holding Home Run, bringing it down as well before flying off to help fend more plants away from Sunset Shimmer and Indigo Zap, who were still racing each other.

Are they serious? Silver watched them incredulously as she helped Home Run up again. “You really needed to stop falling down, Home Run.”

“Yeah, I get told that a lot…” Home Run smiled.

Sunset Shimmer and Indigo Zap were still seemingly unperturbed, racing head to head, already upon the finish line. Silver caught of glimpse of Sunset’s bike breaking the line first before they both zoomed through, with the crowd cheering for them.

“Canterlot wins!” Dean Cadance announced, also seemingly unaware of the danger they were all in.

“How can they still cheer at a time like this?” She spotted the baseball team members from CHS helping out with the vines on the opposite side of the bleachers and Quillion and Fleur were under the bleachers, pulling at a vine themselves. “At least some of them have the sense to help out.”

Before they could get attacked by another vine, Twilight Sparkle had finally gotten to the pendant, slamming it shut. The portals around them began to close and the plants began to disappear, along with all their entrails.

“Boy… Glad that’s over…” Home Run chuckled nervously.

“Yeah…” Then Silver realized she was still holding on to Home Run, one hand on his chest and the other around his arm. She backed away two steps and blushed. “Oh, sorry… Umm, you okay?”

“I’ll be fine.” Home Run straightened his shirt. “You? Your knee’s bleeding.”

Silver hadn’t felt the pain earlier, distracted by the maneating plant. Now that she had the time to calm down and look, her thigh socks had a tear at the knee, where she had a scrape, her blood dripping down and staining the lower portion of her socks.

“Superficial damage,” Silver said confidently. “It’ll heal, just give it time. I’m more worried about my socks.”

“You sure? I could always take you to the nurse’s office. It’s not that far.”

Then Dean Cadance was on the mic again, giving them further instructions. “Attention students! Please proceed to the gym!”

“Good. Maybe they can explain what just happened,” Silver said, pushing her hair back into place. “And well, sure, we could get something to cover up my knee at least. Thanks, Home Run.”

“Sure, come on. You need my help to walk?” The boy offered as the other students began leaving the bleachers.

Some of them began giving Silver and Home Run weird looks, probably because they were interacting and they were from different schools.

“I might need a little help getting there,” Silver said, placing a hand on her knee.

Home Run nodded and slung one of her arms over his shoulder and began walking with her to the school building.

Silver could’ve gotten to the nurse’s office herself and she would’ve probably even found it, but she didn’t mind Home Run helping her and after all that plant madness, being with him was nice.

Steady on. You can’t slip up now. He is not your boyfriend. Just don’t slip up now.

Silver instead decided to focus on a mental image of Mishter Schniffs. And that made all the difference.