At the Top of Her Game

Sunset Shimmer raced back to the gymnasium, where Canterlot High was hosting a reception for Crystal Prep. The kids from the different schools each stood staring at one another across the vast room, not mingling, not getting to know one another. The gym was decorated with streamers and balloons, but it didn’t feel festive. At all.

Sunset tried to explain to her friends what had just happened.

“What do you mean the portal’s gone?” asked Applejack, scratching her head.

“I mean it’s gone! It’s closed! It’s not there anymore!” Sunset Shimmer was a nervous wreck.

“How’d that happen?” Rainbow Dash wondered.

“I don’t know,” said Sunset Shimmer breathlessly. “But it had something to do with that Twilight.” She pointed across the room to where Twilight was peering at her strange device.

Applejack studied her. “What in tarnation is she up to?”

Twilight was scanning the gymnasium. She walked backward, holding up her device, and accidentally bumped into a clique of Crystal Prep girls. Indigo Zap spilled her soda. Twilight tried to apologize while the girls sneered at her.

Sunset Shimmer summoned her courage. “There’s only one way to find out what she’s up to. Leave this to me.” She strode across the room and walked right up to Twilight. “What have you been up to?” she asked.

Twilight whirled around, startled. “Me? What? Oh, I’m just…”

Indigo Zap stepped in front of Twilight and glared at Sunset Shimmer. “Who wants to know?”

“Um, we do,” said Rainbow Dash, who had joined Sunset Shimmer.

“All right, everyone,” said Applejack in a soothing voice. “Let’s not get too competitive before the Games even start.”

Sugarcoat, who had been sitting across the aisle from Twilight on the bus, spoke up. “The games aren’t really competitive since we’ve never lost.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened. She couldn’t believe someone would say something so unkind. “That’s not a very nice thing to say.”

“Sorry, dearie,” sneered Sunny Flare, “but these Games aren’t about being nice.”

“You might use a little tact,” said Rarity.

Twilight watched the Crystal Prep girls trying to intimidate the Canterlot High kids with resignation—until she realized that the cheerful girl with pink hair was smiling at her.

“Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie,” she introduced herself.

“Oh,” said Twilight, surprised by her friendliness. “Hi. I’m Twilight.”

Pinkie Pie giggled. “I know. You look just like my friend. Her name is Twilight, too.”

Twilight was taken aback. “That’s weird.” Her device began buzzing again.

“What’s that?” asked Pinkie Pie.

Twilight popped open the device’s lid. It was whirring and going crazy. “It’s sort of a spectrometer,” she explained. “I built it to track EM frequencies, but it can also contain anomalies.”

Pinkie blinked, completely lost.

“It measures things,” Twilight added helpfully.

“Like the party?” bubbled Pinkie Pie.

Twilight looked around the room at the kids standing awkwardly in small groups. “This doesn’t look like much of a party to me.”

“I know!” agreed Pinkie Pie. “Something is definitely missing. Come on!” She grabbed Twilight’s hand and led her toward the bleachers.

Meanwhile, Principal Celestia had stepped up to the podium at the front of the room. She checked her microphone. “Hello, everyone. I’d like to take this opportunity to greet all our visitors from Crystal Prep Academy and welcome them to Canterlot High.”

A few kids applauded while the principal continued her welcome speech.

Pinkie Pie showed Twilight two large boxes hidden under the bleachers.

“What in the world are these?” Twilight asked as Pinkie Pie enlisted her help dragging them out.

“Party cannons, of course!” squealed Pinkie Pie. She threw open the lid of the box to reveal a glittering array of noisemakers.

“And lastly,” said Principal Celestia, “I would like to recognize the twelve students that Canterlot High has elected to compete. I don’t think we could have chosen a better group to represent the excellence, sportsmanship, and friendship the Games stand for.”

Spotlights swung around the gym picking out Sunset Shimmer, Fluttershy, Flash Sentry, Trixie, Lyra, Bonbon, Cecil, Poindexter, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie Pie was in the midst of switching a tray of sandwiches for cupcake platters. She waved quickly before whizzing up a ladder to hang a disco ball. Next, she ran over to DJ Pon-3 and slipped her a dance mix. Last but not least, it was time to plug in her confetti cannons!

Twilight Sparkle gulped. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“Absolutely!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie. She fired the cannons and filled the entire gymnasium with rainbow confetti! Kids started laughing, eating cupcakes, and talking to one another. Pinkie Pie was very pleased with herself. If there was one thing she really knew how to do, it was throw a party.

As she looked around the room, completely happy, little pony ears poked through her pink hair. Her tail grew and grew. She was ponying up! The next thing she knew, she was floating off the floor.

“Ooooh!” she squealed. “Floaty!”

Twilight didn’t notice because she was so amazed that the kids from both schools were finally getting along. But then her device began buzzing and beeping, and she popped it open. She swept it over the bleachers, and the readings went crazy. What was going on?

Pinkie Pie was surrounded by a shimmering aura of purple that wafted away as she slowly came back down to the bleachers. “Awww,” she sighed as her ears and tail disappeared.

She felt unexpectedly dizzy and very tired. “I am party-pooped!” she realized. She reached out to steady herself.

The last of the purple shimmers drifted into Twilight’s device. It was spinning and shaking. Twilight saw ripples emerging from beneath the bleachers. She peeked underneath them and saw… a forest and then the town hall from Ponyville! As the ripples vanished, the mirage disappeared.

Twilight’s device seemed to stop working. It didn’t buzz. It didn’t blink.

Principal Cinch entered the gym, surveying the party grimly. She was not pleased. Frowning, she addressed the crowd. “Ahem,” she coughed.

DJ Pon-3 turned off the music.

“I’d like to thank Principal Celestia for her… unconventional welcome,” said Principal Cinch with forced politeness. “It’s been four years since the last Friendship Games, but it feels as though nothing has changed. Canterlot High continues to pick its competitors in a popularity contest, and Crystal Prep continues to field its top twelve students.”

With a smug, self-satisfied smile, Principal Cinch gestured toward a cluster of Crystal Prep kids. “It’s a comfort to know,” she continued, “that even after so many years, your school remains committed to its ideals, however misguided they may be. I wish you all the best of luck, regardless of the inevitable outcome.”

Pinkie Pie’s confetti covered the floor. A Canterlot High student or two kicked at it, already feeling defeated. No one felt much like partying anymore.

Pinkie Pie was sitting hunched over on the bleachers. Applejack came over to her. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I thought your party additions were really swell.”

Fluttershy smiled at her. “They definitely broke the ice.”

“If only that Principal Cinch hadn’t frozen it again,” fumed Rarity.

“Yeah,” said Pinkie listlessly. “She’s awful.”

Sunset Shimmer noticed that something was really the matter with Pinkie Pie. This wasn’t just disappointment; she seemed sick. “Wow. What happened to you?” she asked.

Pinkie Pie rubbed her eyes. “I don’t know. Everyone started having fun after Twilight and I fired the party cannons, and I ponied up.…”

“Of course you did,” said Sunset Shimmer. It seemed to happen whenever the girls were happy. But what did it mean?

“But then the magic just drained out of me,” Pinkie Pie sighed.

“Wait,” said Sunset Shimmer, alarmed. “What do you mean drained out?”

“Hey, where is the other Twilight?” wondered Applejack.

Vice Principal Luna was at the podium. “Good morning, students. I’m sure you are all thrilled to start the first day of the Friendship Games. Our competitors will face off in every aspect of the curriculum, culminating in the elimination equation finale.”

The kids in the gymnasium cheered!

The Friendship Games were about to begin.