by Perdita Finn
Dean Cadance stepped up to the microphone. “Welcome, everyone, to the Friendship Games’ Tri-Cross Relay!” The dean smiled as the crowd cheered. “In this event, our qualifying competitors will face off in archery, speed skating, and finally motocross.”
Lemon Zest and Sunny Flare were wearing sleek in-line skates and body suits without a single fold or pleat to catch the air. In contrast, Rarity and Pinkie Pie were ready for action in helmets and sturdy skates—but not necessarily fast action.
At the starting line for the motocross race, Indigo Zap, Sugarcoat, Sunset Shimmer, and Rainbow Dash were getting onto their dirt bikes. Indigo Zap revved her bike’s engine. She was ready to race. Sunset Shimmer gulped, scared.
Dean Cadance cleared her throat and raised an air horn over her head. “If the competitors are ready…”
The air horn blasted, and the girls were off!
Down on the archery field, Twilight Sparkle lifted her bow and arrow and aimed at the target—which began to move. It flipped! It spun! It went up, down, and sideways!
“Each competitor must hit a bull’s-eye before their teammates can start the next leg of the relay,” explained Dean Cadance over the microphone.
Fluttershy and Sour Sweet were chasing their targets. Fluttershy leaped over obstacles, jumping over a hay bale and grabbing another arrow. She took aim and fired. The arrow sailed through the air and hit the target. Barely. It was not a bull’s-eye.
Fluttershy caught her breath and began chasing down the moving target again. She ducked low; she fired; she missed. Finally, she summoned all her speed and raced as fast as she could ahead of the target and waited for it to arrive. She kept her eye on the small red circle. She fired. Bull’s-eye!
Sour Sweet leaped up onto a barrel and let three arrows fly, one after another. Every single arrow hit its mark. She didn’t get one bull’s-eye. She got three!
Sour Sweet winked triumphantly at Fluttershy. The crowd cheered. Twilight and Applejack stepped up to take their turns. Applejack positioned herself on top of a hay bale and tracked her target. Twilight took a deep breath and braced herself against a barrel.
Applejack’s arrow flew high, grazed the target, and sent it spinning end over end. Twilight’s arrow hit the left edge of her target. Both girls rushed to restring their bows.
Applejack breathed slowly in and out, focusing.
Twilight looked into the stands and caught a glimpse of Principal Cinch staring at her. She couldn’t lose her chance to get into Everton. She couldn’t. It was the only way she would ever escape Crystal Prep.
Applejack released her arrow. It sent the target spinning. It was a bull’s-eye! Immediately, Rarity and Pinkie Pie were off at the track.
But Twilight’s arrow hit the target with a dull thwack and plonked onto the grass. The crowd gasped. The Shadowbolt fans jeered. Sour Sweet fumed. Spike scampered down the bleachers and headed toward Twilight Sparkle on the archery range.
“And Canterlot High is off to an early lead!” announced Dean Cadance.
Spike ducked behind a barrel as Twilight put another arrow into her bow. She pulled back the string. She tried to take aim. But she saw her teammates down at the speed track, glaring at her because they couldn’t race until she’d hit a bull’s-eye.
Twilight released her arrow, but it flew wide of the target.
Sour Sweet leaped up in the stands. “Well, that’s just fantastic!” she shouted, enraged.
Fluttershy couldn’t believe how mean the Shadowbolts were. “I’m sure glad I don’t go to Crystal Prep,” she whispered to Applejack.
“You said it,” Applejack agreed.
Rarity and Pinkie Pie skated by. “Wheeeee!” squealed Pinkie Pie.
Still, the Shadowbolts couldn’t even take their places. “If Crystal Prep can’t hit another bull’s-eye soon, they’ll be out of this race.”
Her hands shaking, Twilight picked up another arrow. She dropped it.
“You’re really bad at this!” screamed Sugarcoat.
Twilight Sparkle looked like she was about to cry.
“I can’t take it anymore,” announced Applejack. She marched over to Twilight Sparkle, picked up her arrow for her, and drew it back again. “You have to stop aiming at the target,” she told Twilight.
“Oh, that makes perfect sense,” said Sour Sweet sarcastically. “Don’t aim at the target. Thanks sooooo much.”
Applejack ignored her and focused on Twilight. “You have to stop aiming at where the target is—and aim at where the target is gonna be.”
Sour Sweet couldn’t believe it. “Yeah, definitely take advice from the person you are competing against!”
Twilight looked torn. But Sour Sweet was always so mean to her and Applejack seemed to be genuinely helpful.
“Do you wanna hit the bull’s-eye or not?” asked Applejack.
Twilight nodded.
“Then trust me,” Applejack urged. “Take a deep breath, and let the arrow go… right… NOW!”
Twilight let it fly.
The arrow sailed through the air and hit the target effortlessly. Bull’s-eye!
Sour Sweet couldn’t believe it. Her jaw dropped. She rubbed her eyes.
Spike stood up on his hind legs and cheered. “Yeah! That’s my girl!”
Sour Sweet looked down at the dog and rubbed her eyes again. What was happening? She backed away from the talking dog as fast as she could.
The Crystal Prep skaters took off around the track.
Applejack smiled at Twilight. “See? I was just telling the truth.”
Twilight wrapped her arms around Applejack and hugged her gratefully. Applejack beamed—and her ears, her mane, and her tail appeared. She was ponying up! She floated off the ground.
Twilight’s pendant was pulling on the necklace chain, floating into the air. It was like it had a magnetic attraction to Applejack. The device popped open on its own. Shimmers of purple haze flowed out of Applejack, and the device absorbed them.
Applejack drifted back down to the archery field, exhausted. She dropped to her knees. She was out of breath. “What are you doing?” she asked Twilight.
“I don’t know!” exclaimed Twilight Sparkle.
A vast sea of ripples appeared along the archery range. Green shoots poked up through them. Huge Venus flytraps opened their mouths. They snapped and grasped at targets and poles and arrows. There were thorny, snapping plants all over the field!
What was happening?
Fair Game?
Pinkie Pie and Rarity had a good, strong start on the speed-skating track thanks to Fluttershy’s and Applejack’s expert archery skills. But Lemon Zest and Sunny Flare were already gaining on them. Lap after lap, they zoomed around the track, synchronized and powerful.
“Canterlot High only has two laps to go,” announced Dean Cadance. “But it looks like Crystal Prep is making up for lost time.”
Rarity glanced over her shoulder and saw the other team gaining on her. She made the snap decision to turn around and start skating backward. She held out her hands to Pinkie. “Come on!” she urged.
The two girls grabbed hands just as the Shadowbolt team started to pass them. With classic roller derby skill, Rarity whipped Pinkie Pie around a steep turn in the track and sent her careening past the Crystal Prep skaters. Pinkie Pie whizzed around the last lap, grabbed hold of Rarity, and propelled her forward. Both girls crossed the finish line at the exact same moment as their opponents.
Cameras flashed. The crowd cheered.
The girls on their dirt bikes revved their engines. It was time to go. The last part of the relay was theirs. They put their feet on the gas and roared down a steep ramp, flying off in a huge jump as high as the stands.
“This is awesome!” called out Rainbow Dash.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Each bike hit the track and jockeyed for position. Sunset Shimmer steered expertly over a series of moguls, pulling ahead. But just as she turned the next corner, she saw a thick patch of enormous snapping Venus flytraps
taking over the track. She jammed on her brakes and squealed to a stop.
Sugarcoat tried to jump over them and landed right in the sharp-toothed mouth of a giant snapper! Her tires popped, and she managed to clamber off the bike and get away just before the Venus flytrap swallowed it. The crowd gasped.
Indigo Zap saw the field of man-eating plants in front of her but managed to use the flytrap chomping on Sugarcoat’s bike as a jump. She catapulted herself into the lead, flying out across the field and zooming ahead when she landed. The crowd was stunned.
A giant flytrap loomed over Sunset Shimmer. Its mouth was open and slobbering. Rainbow Dash pulled up and grabbed her.
“Dash, you saved me!” Sunset Shimmer exclaimed.
“I wasn’t about to let my friend become plant food. We can still win this,” Rainbow Dash said. Inspired by the spirit of teamwork, she sprouted wings, ears, and a multicolored pony tail. The crowd was shocked. What was happening now? Was this planned?
Rainbow Dash flew through the air, distracting the Venus flytraps. Sunset Shimmer managed to pull free her bike. Rainbow Dash tricked the plants into attacking one another while both girls steered around them and got back in the race. Could they catch up with Indigo Zap?
Indigo Zap looked over her shoulder as she weaved between obstacles. The girls were catching up, and she put her pedal to the metal. There was one more jump. She rode higher and higher up the ramp, but just as she was about to fly free, a flytrap grabbed her rear tire.
Another plant lunged for Sunset Shimmer, and one opened its mouth right near Rainbow Dash. But Rainbow was driving across the ramp right toward Indigo Zap. She flew over the stem of the plant that had caught hold of the Shadowbolt girl. She helped her ride free! She sacrificed her own win for her opponent.
Sunset Shimmer and Indigo Zap cleared the jump side by side, but Sunset Shimmer was just a tiny bit ahead as they crossed the finish line.
Principal Cinch was in a state of shock.
“Canterlot High wins!” Dean Cadance exclaimed. “I think.”
The Shadowbolts were not happy. Sour Sweet snapped her remaining arrows in two. Lemon Zest and Sunny Flare ripped off their speed-skating suits. Indigo Zap and Sugarcoat yanked at their bikes, trying to free them from the ferocious plants. They were not used to losing, and they didn’t know how to do it gracefully.
The ripples began to fade, and as they did, the plants withdrew and disappeared. Indigo Zap and Sugarcoat fell backward. Their dirt bikes were suddenly free.
On the motor course track, the girls rushed over to Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer.
“Is everybody all right?” asked Applejack. She still felt out of breath from her strange experience of ponying up.
“We won,” said Sunset Shimmer. “But somebody could have been seriously hurt. The magic is going haywire, and I have no idea how to fix it.”
Twilight Sparkle felt terrible. “Excuse me. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I just wanted to learn about the strange energy coming from your school. I didn’t know that it was magic or how it worked.”
“That’s okay! Neither do we,” Rainbow Dash admitted, pointing at her wings, which were still there.
“Amazing,” whispered Twilight. She reached out to touch them and dropped her device. It popped open. Immediately, purple shimmers radiated out of Rainbow Dash and flowed into the device. Rainbow Dash collapsed. One moment, she was fine, and the next it was as if she had just run a marathon.
Twilight struggled with the device, trying to close it. But she couldn’t. “I’m sorry. It just started absorbing energy on its own, but I’m not sure how.”
“What do you mean you don’t know how?” Sunset Shimmer questioned.
Before Twilight Sparkle could answer, huge ripples appeared in the sky above their heads. Through them, the girls could glimpse the cascading waters of a rainbow waterfall. The waters poured onto the girls’ heads, and they were soaked. What was going on?
“The device also causes these corresponding rifts to appear,” explained Twilight Sparkle. “I don’t know how that works, either.”
Sunset Shimmer was frustrated. “Is there anything you do know? Like how to get our magic back or how to fix the portal to Equestria?”
“Equestria?” Twilight Sparkle reacted as if she had no idea what the word meant.
“You’re supposed to be so smart,” said Sunset Shimmer. “But did you ever think that you shouldn’t be messing with things you don’t understand?”
“But I want to understand!” Twilight Sparkle exclaimed.
“But you don’t,” snapped Sunset Shimmer. “And worst of all, you put the lives of my friends in danger.”
“I’m sorry,” whispered Twilight, close to tears. These girls had been so nice to her, but now they were yelling at her—just like the girls at Crystal Prep. How come she could figure out every math problem, but she couldn’t figure out how to be a friend? She ran off the field before anyone could see her cry. Spike bounded after her.
The ripples in the sky vanished. The rainbow flood slowed to a trickle and dripped to a stop. Sunset Shimmer felt terrible about what she had said to Twilight Sparkle. She knew what it was like to make mistakes and feel alone. But when she had felt at her worst, after turning into a she-devil and trying to take over the school, the Equestria Girls had not only forgiven her but made her their friend. Now it seemed like Twilight Sparkle needed a friend, too.
Over on the podium, Principal Cinch was outraged. “You can’t possibly call that a fair race.”
“Principal Cinch,” said Principal Celestia, trying to control herself. “We all saw what happened. You can’t think that Canterlot High had some kind of advantage?”
“Can’t I?” she answered haughtily. “Even without your trained attack plants, your students have wings.”
“Ah, one student,” said Rainbow Dash, who had overheard them talking. “And I didn’t even cross the finish line.”
Principal Celestia sighed. “The race certainly had some extenuating circumstances. Perhaps we should end the Games now and declare a tie?”
“A tie?!” Principal Cinch was horrified. “Was this your strategy all along? To force us into accepting you as equals? I think not. The Games will continue, and Crystal Prep will prevail, despite your antics and whatever performance-enhancing regimen your students are on.”
Principal Cinch whirled around, collected her team, and marched them off the field.
Sunset Shimmer approached Vice Principal Luna and Principal Celestia. She was apologetic. “I’m sorry I couldn’t stop all of this from happening.”
Principal Celestia gave her a gentle smile. “It’s not your fault, Sunset.”
“Isn’t it?” Sunset Shimmer hung her head, dejected. “I should know how to control the magic I brought here, but I don’t. I let everyone down, and now Principal Cinch thinks we’re cheating.”
Principal Celestia tried to console her. “You’re being too hard on yourself, Sunset, and who cares what Principal Cinch thinks? The only way we can convince her we’re not cheating is to lose.…”
Was there any way to lose and still win? That was the question.
Endgame
The next day was the final event of the Games. Students from both schools gathered in the quad and eyed one another suspiciously. Who would win? Dean Cadance reminded everyone that the score was tied and that whoever won the final event would be the winner of the Games themselves.
Vice Principal Luna stepped forward, a pennant from each school in her hands. “Somewhere on this campus,” she announced, “a pennant from each school has been hidden. The first team to find their school’s flag and bring it back wins.”
“As soon as our teams are ready, we’ll begin,” said Dean Cadance.
Fluttershy confided to her friends how disheartened she felt. “I don’t know about all of you, but I don’t much feel like playing these Games anymore.”
“But we have to play,” insisted the ever-competitive Rainbow Dash. �
��This is the last event.”
“Yes, dear, but it’s a little hard to focus with all the magic stealing and portal opening,” Rarity said.
“I feel awful about what I said to Twilight,” admitted Sunset Shimmer.
“She is actually really nice,” said Fluttershy.
Which only made Sunset Shimmer feel worse. She dropped her head into her hands.
“Let’s just get through this last event,” Applejack suggested. “Let’s prove we’re not a bunch of cheaters. Then you can go over and apologize. Maybe we can all work together on getting the magic back and fixing the portal.”
Sunset Shimmer took a big breath. “You’re right. But I don’t think Principal Cinch will ever believe we didn’t cheat, especially if we win.”
“That kinda sounds like her problem,” said Rainbow Dash.
Everyone smiled in agreement.
At the other end of the quad, however, Principal Cinch was giving her team a pep talk. “I know I am asking you to beat a team that isn’t playing fair, but Canterlot High must be made to understand that even with magic at their disposal, beating Crystal Prep is not an option.”
“What if they grow wings again?” Sugarcoat asked.
“A fair question.” Principal Cinch smiled devilishly. “Though I believe we can now fight fire with fire. I’ve seen what Twilight’s device can do. Containing magical energy is fine, but have you considered releasing it?”
Twilight was confused. “But I don’t even understand how it works!”
Principal Cinch raised an arched eyebrow. “But you’d like to. And since our opponents have already used it to stay competitive, I see no reason why we shouldn’t do the same. Unless, of course, you have no interest in the Everton Independent Study Program. Though, honestly, I think there’s more knowledge packed in that little device than any independent study program could offer.”
All the Shadowbolts clustered around Twilight Sparkle, urging her to use her captured magic. Principal Cinch, who knew she’d always been an outcast, encouraged them. They all let Twilight know that they were counting on her… or else. “Unleash the magic,” they cheered.
