The Only Game in Town

The girls clustered in the library of Canterlot High the next morning, trying to figure out what was going on.

Sunset Shimmer was reviewing the facts. “They were definitely doing something to the statue, or were going to.”

“Do you think they came through the portal from Equestria?” wondered Fluttershy.

Sunset Shimmer shook her head. “No, I’m pretty sure I would have noticed that. I think they were from over here in the human world.”

Applejack sat down at a table, relieved. “Well, that’s the last thing we need—another magical so-and-so bent on world domination coming over from Equestria.”

Sunset Shimmer looked down at her feet, embarrassed. She had proved to the girls time and again that she had reformed and was on their side, but she always knew that they hadn’t forgotten that once she had turned into a she-devil set on ruling all of Canterlot High.

Rarity broke the awkward silence. “I, for one, have no interest in another fight against the powers of evil magic. The wear and tear on my wardrobe is just too much to keep up with.”

“Still,” said Sunset Shimmer, unable to hide her excitement, “a mysterious figure snooping around the portal? Don’t you want to know what they are up to?”

“I don’t even want to guess,” said Fluttershy, worried.

“Well, you don’t have to,” Rainbow Dash announced. “I’ve totally figured out who it was.” She led the girls over to the sports books in the library.

Pinkie Pie clapped her hands. “A nighttime statue cleaner? A magical portal maintenance maintainer? Ooooh! A gardener?”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Seeing as how they got off a bus from the city and got back on a bus headed to the city, I’ll bet they go to…”

“Crystal Prep.” Everyone but Sunset Shimmer spoke the dreaded words out loud.

“Yep.” Rainbow Dash nodded her head, resigned. “With the Friendship Games starting tomorrow, they’d totally try to prank us by defacing the Wondercolt statue.”

Sunset Shimmer wasn’t convinced. Something wasn’t quite right. “Why would anyone take a bus all the way from the city for that?”

“Because,” explained Applejack, “that’s just what the students at Crystal Prep would do.”

Rainbow Dash pulled a big volume of school sports records from the shelf. She flipped through the pages, showing the girls photo after photo of teams holding giant trophies—all wearing the uniforms of the Crystal Prep Shadowbolts. Not a single picture showed a student from Canterlot High holding a trophy.

Rainbow Dash looked dejected. “Because even though the Shadowbolts beat us in everything: soccer, tennis, golf—”

“And grades and test scores,” interrupted Pinkie Pie, who was looking in a different book filled with newspaper clippings, graphs, and student records. “And plays and bake sales and dances and science fairs…”

“They still have to gloat!” said Rainbow Dash. She held up an old school newspaper with a photo of the Wondercolt dressed up like a clown with a wig, a patchwork suit, and a giant red nose.

Sunset Shimmer shrugged. “Seems kind of silly to me.”

“SILLY?” Every girl looked at her, aghast.

“It’s not like we’ll be fighting the powers of evil magic,” sighed Sunset Shimmer.

“No,” said Fluttershy seriously. “We’ll be fighting against a school full of meanies. Not everything has to be magic to be important.”

Sunset Shimmer hung her head. Her enthusiasm for magic of all kinds was always getting her in trouble. “You’re right,” she apologized. “I’m sorry. I know it’s a big deal.”

“That’s putting it mildly, darling,” chimed in Rarity. “They’re still revamping the playing fields in preparation.”

But Sunset Shimmer was confused. “I just don’t understand why there’s this big rivalry. Aren’t the Friendship Games supposed to be about our two schools getting along?”

Applejack held up the photo of the Wondercolt statue pranked to look like a clown. “It’s kinda hard to get along with someone who beats you at everything.”

“Well, not anymore,” Rainbow Dash announced, determined. “This time, things are gonna be different.” Rainbow Dash did not like to lose—at anything.

“What do you mean?” asked Sunset Shimmer.

A sly smile turned up the corners of Rainbow Dash’s mouth. “Oh, you’ll find out,” she said playfully. Rainbow Dash beamed at her friends mysteriously. What was she up to?