The Friendship Games Read online

  Begin Reading

  Table of Contents

  Copyright Page

  In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

  For Audrey D. and her grandma, some of my very best friends

  A Whole New Ball Game

  Sunset Shimmer dashed toward Canterlot High. Her red-gold hair wafted behind her like a pony’s wavy mane. She was so excited! She glanced at her phone one more time. Could the news really be true?

  She ran over to the statue of the Wondercolt. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were already there, and the other girls were seconds behind her. “I got your text, Rainbow Dash,” Sunset Shimmer exclaimed breathlessly. “Did something come through the portal? Is Equestrian magic on the loose? Did Twilight come back with a problem that only we can solve?”

  Pinkie Pie giggled. “Has a giant cake monster covered all the cakes in the world in cake?”

  Rainbow Dash was surprised that all the girls had overreacted. What did they want? Another trio of evil Sirens to infiltrate their school and try to sow disharmony? She held up her guitar. The emergency was that she had broken a string—and she really wanted to practice some new songs for their band, the Sonic Rainbooms.

  Sunset Shimmer wrinkled her forehead. “I don’t understand.”

  “I was just telling Rainbow Dash here”—Applejack sighed—“that a broken guitar string doesn’t really qualify as an emergency.”

  “It totally does!” Rainbow Dash couldn’t believe that Applejack, who played the bass, didn’t get it.

  But no one did.

  Rarity was put out. “Really, Rainbow Dash, I was in the middle of sewing a very complex appliqué on my latest frock.”

  “And I was just about to tuck in my pets at the shelter. Now we’ll have to start stories all over again.” Even gentle Fluttershy was annoyed.

  Something just didn’t seem right, but Sunset Shimmer couldn’t figure out what it was. “Why would you send all of us an emergency text for a guitar string?”

  Rainbow Dash whirled around and pointed at a trio of girls sitting on the school steps. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were all looking at the Rainbooms expectantly.

  “Fans!” explained Rainbow Dash. “I was going to show our fans some awesome guitar licks, but I kinda need all six strings to do that. Got any extra?”

  Rarity rolled her eyes. Fluttershy shook her head. Pinkie Pie threw up her hands, and Applejack turned out her pockets. They were empty. But Sunset Shimmer was always prepared. She rummaged through her backpack and pulled out an extra set of strings for Rainbow Dash.

  She handed them to her fellow guitar player. “But I’m pretty sure the music rooms are locked now. It’s the end of the day after all.”

  “No problem!” said Rainbow Dash. She restrung her guitar and gave it a triumphant strum. “The acoustics in the hallway are perfect for power chords. C’mon, let’s go!”

  “You coming, Sunset?” Applejack asked.

  “I’ll catch up in a bit,” answered Sunset Shimmer.

  The girls followed Rainbow Dash into the school while Sunset Shimmer looked up at the pony statue, disappointed. It was a portal to Equestria, but she had no idea when it would open again. She loved her new friends at Canterlot High, but sometimes she really missed Twilight Sparkle. When would they see her again?

  Sunset Shimmer took out her magic journal. When she wrote in it, Twilight Sparkle could read her letter in Equestria. Sunset Shimmer was so busy writing that she didn’t pay any attention to the yellow bus rolling to a stop in front of the school. She didn’t notice when the doors slid open and a dark-hooded figure slunk out and slipped between the shadows to the statue.

  The shadowy figure removed an electronic device that began emitting high-pitched beeps. For a moment, Sunset Shimmer looked up. What was that? But it was probably just feedback from Rainbow Dash’s guitar.

  A needle spun wildly on the strange device and pointed directly at the Wondercolt statue.

  Sunset Shimmer read over what she had written.

  Dear Princess Twilight,

  How’s life treating you in Equestria? Any cool new magic spells? It’s been pretty quiet here at CHS since the Battle of the Bands. We still pony up when we play music, which Rainbow Dash just loves to show off, but I still can’t quite grasp what it’s all about. I would love to hear what you think about it when you have a sec.

  Your friend, Sunset Shimmer

  Sunset Shimmer closed the journal and went to put it back in her backpack. But why was the Wondercolt glowing? Was the portal opening? How strange! That’s when Sunset Shimmer saw the hooded figure slinking into the shadows. “Hey!” she called.

  Startled, the figure pointed the strange device right at Sunset Shimmer—and it went wild, beeping and buzzing and glowing. The figure shoved the device into a pocket and took off running.

  “Hey!” Sunset Shimmer shouted. “Wait! Stop!”

  Sunset Shimmer raced after the hooded stranger, but the person managed to cross the street just as the light changed and traffic streamed across the road. A car honked its horn as Sunset Shimmer stepped from the curb. A bus pulled up. Sunset Shimmer saw the hooded figure peeking out from one of the windows. Too late!

  “Who was that?” she wondered out loud. And what were they up to? Sunset Shimmer was worried—but she was also a little bit excited. Could a magic adventure be about to begin?

  The Name of the Game

  Once the bus was far away from Canterlot High, the girl pulled down her hood and shook free a mane of dark purple hair streaked with pink. It was Twilight Sparkle—the very girl who shared a name with the famous pony from Equestria. Unlike the Princess of Friendship, however, she wore glasses and she didn’t seem to have a lot of friends. She was all by herself on the bus.

  The bus pulled up in front of an ivy-covered brick building. A sign above the door said CRYSTAL PREP ACADEMY. Twilight hopped off the bus, bounded through the front door, and headed toward a science lab. She took her strange beeping device out of her pocket. She plugged it into an enormous computer. Lights flashed, the hard drive whirred, and the device started to glow. A printer spit out a long series of sheets. Twilight studied them carefully while a ball of light traveled from the device along a series of wires and cables to a small table in the middle of the lab.

  On the table was a glass dome, and under the dome was another, smaller electronic device. It snapped open like an old-fashioned phone and sucked the ball of energy into itself.

  Twilight checked off something on her clipboard, satisfied. It was working, whatever it was.

  Twilight powered down the computer. She lifted the glass dome and removed the new device. Behind her was a bulletin board, and on the bulletin board were photos—of all the Equestria Girls.

  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?

  Game Plan

  Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna were standing behind a podium at the front of the gymnasium. All the Canterlot High students were in the bleachers, including the Equestria Girls.

  Principal Celestia cleared her throat and spoke into the microphone: “As I’m sure you know, tomorrow Canterlot High will be hosting our fellow students from Crystal Prep Academy.”

  Kids groaned, booed, and sighed. Nobody looked very excited.

  “We join together,” continued the principal, “in the spirit of excellence, sportsmanship, and fidelity to compete in the Friendship Games.”

  One or two kids clapped halfheartedly.

  Principal Celestia ignored her audience’s lack of enthusiasm and forced herself to smile. “Now, since the Games only happen every four years, I’m sure you’re all curious about what goes on.…”

  “You mean other than us losing?” Flash Sentry shouted from the stands.

  The principal glared at Flash. “That is exactly why I’ve asked Rainbow Dash to come up and give us all a little… context.”

  Rainbow Dash hopped down from the bleachers and strode to the podium. “Thanks, Principal Celestia,” she said. “I know a lot of you might think there’s no way we can beat a fancy school like Crystal Prep at anything.”

  “Unless it’s losing to Crystal Prep!” shouted Pinkie Pie. “We’re really good at that.”

  Rainbow Dash ignored her. “I know that Canterlot High has never won the Friendship Games even once.”

  Rarity sighed, whispering to Sunset Shimmer, “Oh dear, I hope this speech isn’t meant to be motivational.”

  Rainbow Dash ignored the mutterings from the crowd. She knew how to unite a team, she knew how to focus them on winning, and she was determined to do it. “Crystal Prep’s students are super athletic, super smart, and super motivated, but there’s one thing they aren’t. They aren’t… Wondercolts!”

  Someone struck a drum. A trumpet blared. The school band marched into the gym, playing a rousing fight song. Rainbow Dash’s eyes sparkled. She began to sing into the microphone, and all across the gymnasium, students joined in. Her determination and enthusiasm were infectious.

  “There’s other schools, but none can

  Make those claims.

  Our friendships here at Canterlot

  Won’t ever stop.

  That’s why it’ll be a snap to win

  These games.”

  DJ Pon-3 pulled a small mixer out of her backpack and plugged it into a cable at her feet. The music blasted through the loudspeakers. Kids were clapping and cheering.

  Up at the podium, Rainbow Dash was leading the crowd, singing and dancing.

  “We’ll always be Wondercolts!

  From now until the end!

  It’s a wonder you don’t know that.

  It’s no wonder that we’re friends.

  It’s no wonder!”

  The kids in the band headed into the stands, handing out Wondercolt ears and tails for everyone to wear. The Equestria Girls were lifting their knees and tossing their hair, prancing and dancing in time to the music.

  Rainbow Dash was grinning.

  “We’re not the school we were

  Before—we’re different now.

  There’s magic in the ties we’ve

  Made that bind.

  We’re a Canterlot united, and we’ll

  Never bow.

  Together we can overcome all

  Obstacles we find.”

  The walls shook with the roar of everyone singing. The floor shook as the kids danced in the bleachers. They weren’t losers—they were the Wondercolts, and Wondercolts knew how to have fun and how to win.

  “We’ll always be Wondercolts!

  From now until the end!

  It’s a wonder you don’t know that.

  It’s no wonder that we’re friends.

  It’s no wonder!”

  Rainbow Dash held the microphone to her lips and began rapping, “And if some school thinks that they can beat us, they’ll just learn you can’t defeat us!”

  Pony ears p
oked up through Rainbow Dash’s multicolored hair. Her pony tail began to swish and wave. Wings sprouted on her back, and she flew up over the crowd. “When we walk these halls, we are royalty. Hearts filled with pride and loyalty!”

  Kids pumped their fists in the air. They cheered. They smiled. They were ready because they were the Wondercolts.

  Fluttershy was thrilled. “That was amazing. Even I feel like we can win.”

  “I feel like my school pride is at an all-time high,” agreed Rarity.

  Applejack was thinking about something, however. “Is anybody else wondering how Dash ponied up without playing her guitar?”

  “I know, right?” Rainbow Dash had rejoined her friends and couldn’t believe it, either. “It’s probably because I’m so awesome.”

  “Maybe,” answered Sunset Shimmer, who was trying to put it all together. “I mean, you are awesome, but there’s gotta be more to it than that, don’t you think? It just seems so random.”

  “It would be nice if you could get a handle on it.” Vice Principal Luna had joined them, and she didn’t look pleased. At all. “We’d like to keep magic as far away from the Friendship Games as possible. We don’t want to be accused of cheating.”

  “We don’t need magic to defeat those hoity-toity Crystal Preppers!” exclaimed Rarity.

  “Totally!”

  “Yeah!”

  Kids all around them chimed in, agreeing.

  “Still, the Friendship Games are serious business,” the vice principal reminded them. “We don’t want any surprises, especially the kind that could cause us to forfeit. Sunset Shimmer, you came here from a world of magic. Perhaps you can get to the bottom of our magical development.”

  Sunset Shimmer was both startled and pleased. “I’ll do my best.”

  “Sounds good,” said Vice Principal Luna.

  As soon as she was gone, Rainbow Dash turned to her friends. “Okay, anybody have any guesses what the events are going to be?”

  Pinkie Pie’s eyes widened. “Pie eating? Cake eating? Pie-cake eating?”