A/N: Although this is a sequel to my previous story, reading it isn't required. The events of it and my first one, as well as a bit of my characters' backstories, are recapped in this chapter. Because of this, the recap contains spoilers for the first 3 movies.

The main character is Cloudflare. He has light orange skin (Hexidecimal value #FFC271) and short green-blue hair (Hex value #22A5A0), and he wears a plain black shirt, blue pants (or trousers, for people who live in certain countries), and black shoes. At Camp Everfree, his white short-sleeved shirt is light red around the collar, shoulders, and sleeves, and his shorts are black. One of his friends is Olivia. Her skin color is light grey (Hex value #C9C9C9), and her hairstyle is the same as Mystery Mint's (timestamp 0:10:25 in Friendship Games, far left), but it stops at her shoulders and is dark brown (Hex value #845237). She wears a dark grey shirt, black pants that covers her below-the-knee prosthetic right leg, and dark grey shoes. At Camp Everfree, her shirt is the same as Octavia's and Lyra's (white with short pink sleeves), her shorts are dark blue, and her socks are black and go slightly past her knees to cover her prosthesis.

This story is told primarily through Cloudflare's point-of-view, and it will switch to Olivia at certain points.

***Three days after the Friendship Games***

I knock on the door to Olivia's house.

The door opens. "Hey there," Olivia says.

"How's it goin'?" I walk inside.

She closes the door. "Could be better."

"Why? What did the therapist say?" We walk into the living room.

"Well, the good news is it's just a rash. It should clear up in a few days. The bad news is I have to be on these crutches until I go back for a follow-up on Saturday."

We sit on the couch. "At least you don't need your wheelchair."

She groans. "Don't remind me. On the plus side, now Cinch has to let me use the elevators."

"When do you think you'll be able to come back to CHS?"

"Dunno. Hopefully by the end of the week. Principal Celestia said the process shouldn't take long because I left earlier this school year, plus Cinch wants me gone ASAP."

"I can see why. That was one hell of a blow-up."

"That was my breaking point. The fact that she'd put the well-being of a Crystal Prep student at risk just to gain an advantage..."

"At least that's over now. Speaking of Crystal Prep, did anything special happen while you were there?"

"Not really. Just something weird."

"Weird... You mean the foot guy?"

"Yup."

"I know you said you don't want to go into it, but I'd kinda like to know what he did."

She sighs. "You really want to know what he did with my foot?"

"Uh..." When she puts it that way... "Never mind. Did the principal do anything about it?"

"She said he's not hurting anyone, so she's not getting involved."

"Sounds like it was because she didn't like you."

"Lemon Zest told me Cinch says the same thing to everybody who complains. Though considering she made me go up and down 240 steps every day and forced me to compete in the Friendship Games, I feel she wouldn't have done anything anyway."

"I still can't believe you actually counted them."

"Oh, I wasn't that bored! Twilight told me."

"When did the two of you become friends?"

"That's the thing. Nobody at Crystal Prep wanted anything to with me because I was a former Wondercolt. The few I asked just said no, but Twilight said she didn't have time for relationships. It wasn't until after the Games that she said yes. Actually, we talked a bit on the bus ride to CHS's welcoming ceremony. We didn't say much. Just talked about how Cinch forced both of us to compete. She told Twilight that if she didn't compete, her application to the Everton Independent Study program would be denied. Cinch simply decided I'd be taking part and wouldn't give me any say in it, and when she was convincing Twilight to unleash the magic stored in that necklace thing, she and the other Shadowbolts blackmailed me, saying they'd reveal my missing leg to the entire school if I tried to stop Twilight."

So that's what was going on over there... "I thought the students wanted nothing to do with you."

"I thought so, too, but the Shadowbolts said my reputation would be ruined. I didn't want to take any chances. After the Games, Lemon said they weren't gonna actually blab. It was just leverage."

"Which one is Lemon Zest?"

"The green-haired girl. We talked a bit when Twilight went to investigate the statue, then again on the bus the next day. I hung out with her on Sunday, and we really connected. We like a lot of the same music, and we equally hate the modern 'crap rap' that's all the rage."

I'm glad the two of us aren't the only ones who hate it. "How can anyone like that trash?"

"I know, right? You'd have to be completely tone-deaf! Not even Cheese Sandwich could make it tolerable."

"The worst part is that garbage sells. That's probably the only reason anyone does it."

"You should try making one. You could probably make a few bucks."

I chuckle. "No thanks. I have dignity and self-respect."

She also chuckles. "This generation of idiots... Okay, enough about the de-evolution of musical taste. How has your school year been?"

"Should I pick up where I left off on Saturday or start from the beginning?

"Start from the beginning. What all happened after I left?"

"Okay, but let me get through all of it before you ask me anything."

"Alright."

I take a deep breath. "The week after you left, Sunset stole Princess Twilight's crown, which is a powerful magic element, and Twilight followed her here. The statue in front of the school contains a portal between the two worlds, and it was only open for three days every 30 moons. She met the human world versions of her friends from Equestria, and with their help, she was able to convince the school to vote for her as Princess of the Fall Formal, despite Sunset's attempts at sabotage. The night of the Fall Formal, Sunset took the crown back and absorbed some of its magic, transforming her into, as she put it, a raging she-demon. She doesn't like to talk about it, I wasn't there to see it, and for some reason there aren't any pics or videos on social media, so I don't know exactly what went down. I saw some sort of rainbow spiral in the sky, and there was a big hole in the front of the school on Monday. From what little she did tell me, Twilight and her friends drew magic from the crown and ponied up, defeating Sunset with that spiral. That's when she started to change her ways.

"That was the only time the students weren't insulting me. After you left, the teasing got as bad as it was for you. Those were the worst months I've ever had to suffer through. Principal Celestia said she'd look into getting everything to stop, but nothing was ever done. Even when I showed her a couple bruises I got from Gilda, she just brushed it off. I was close to moving away as well. Last month, the school was putting on a musical showcase. The day before the showcase, the Dazzlings showed up – the Dazzlings from Equestria. They sang a song about changing the showcase into a Battle of the Bands, which got everyone in the cafeteria arguing with each other except me. They noticed this, and Adagio wrote a note telling me to meet with them. When I did, I told them why I wasn't arguing as well. Then they said they could help get back at the school for the months of torment. When they mentioned Sunset, that's all I needed to join them. The asked if I could play an instrument, and I told them I played the drums. I figured my Rock Hero drum skills could transfer over to the real thing, and while it wasn't a 1-to-1 transition, it was close enough.

"That's when I learned about Equestria, and that the Dazzlings were sirens. Unlike the sirens from mythology, their songs would cause people to fight and argue with each other, and the sirens would feed off of that negativity using the pendants on their necklaces. I later found out that their whole plan was to spread their dark magic around the world. I was immune to their singing, probably because I hated the school so much. We advanced to the final round, as did the Rainbooms – the girls that pony up. Actually, Trixie and her band should've moved on after Sunset tackled Rainbow when she started to pony up, but the Dazzlings used their singing to have the Rainbooms advance instead. When the Rainbooms were setting up on-stage, Trixie's band pulled a lever and trapped them under the stage. After I ranted about how it made no sense for them to advance if they were gonna be taken out of contention anyway, the Dazzlings said they needed to 'break' the Rainbooms in order to get their magic. When we took the stage that night, the Rainbooms were arguing with each other, and the Dazzlings got ahold of their magic. Twilight's dragon-turned-dog Spike found Vinyl Scratch, the blue-haired girl who never takes off her headphones, and they freed the Rainbooms. During our song, the Dazzlings ponied – er, well, sirened up. They got the pony ears and longer hair, but they had bat-like wings instead. The Rainbooms retaliated with their own song, and then the Dazzlings revealed their true forms. If I remember correctly, they kinda looked like dragons with horse hooves and mermaid tails.

"They had a short magic battle, and the Dazzlings used their singing to get the upper hand. They knocked the mic out of Twilight's hand with it and Sunset picked it up." Olivia looks confused. I do a short vocalization. "Imagine visible sound waves coming from that, and it's something as tall as this house making that sound. Anyway, Sunset picked up the mic, started singing, and ponied up. They used their magic to defeat the Dazzlings and destroy the pendants. That's when I realized what a fool I was. I sided with evil, even when I knew evil always loses. The Rainbooms came on-stage, and Sunset apologized for how she treated me and asked if we could be friends. I saw how she helped defeat the Dazzlings, so I decided to give her a chance. I gave a short speech to the crowd to try to lessen their hate toward me. I tracked down the Dazzlings before they got too far, and they said the only reason they let me join them is because they were able to feed on my negativity by holding onto my shoulders.

"Heh... It's actually pretty funny. If it weren't for them, my life wouldn't have gotten better. Since then, the students no longer make fun of me, for the most part, and I'm a lot more outgoing because of it. I haven't reconnected with my old friends, but I've been having an amazing time with my new ones. I've been practicing on Pinkie's drumset, and I've gotten pretty good. I even came up with the drumbeat for a song Sunset wrote. Speaking of, she spent a lot of time trying to figure out why they pony up when they play music, and I helped her out a couple times. She tried contacting Twilight for her help, but she never responded. A week before the Friendship Games, Rainbow asked me to come with her to spy on Crystal Prep, and that's when I saw you. I wasn't sure if it was you because you never took phys-ed at CHS."

"Cinch said I had to do stretches for 30 minutes after school twice a week if I didn't want to do gym," she says.

"I see. As Cinch said, the CHS team was determined by a talent show. I juggled five things, and somehow that was good enough. Two days before the Games, Sci-Twi started to investigate the school's 'strange readings'."

"Sci-Twi?"

"Because we know two Twilights and I don't feel like calling the other Princess Twilight all the time, I decided to nickname the Twilight from this world. She's into science, and everything that happened this school year sounds like a sci-fi show. I'll only use it when talking about both Twilights."

"'Sci-Twi'... Clever boy," she says with an accent.

I chuckle. "Thanks, Clara. As I was saying, she went right to the statue. When Sunset and I tried to confront her, she took off. The next day, when the Crystal Prep students came to the school, she found her way to the music room. I noticed she wasn't the pony Twilight right away thanks to the glasses, hairstyle, and uniform. Before I talked with you in the gym, Sunset and I stepped outside to see if Twilight wrote back. Sunset wondered if there was another way to contact her, and she put her hand on the portal spot. That's when Sci-Twi's pendant absorbed the portal and is why all those holes were showing up. After the second event, she apologized for causing the vine attack, but then her pendant drained Rainbow's magic. Sunset was furious that Sci-Twi was behind the magic pop-ups, and her tone reminded me of how she used to be. I thought she was going back to that way, and I felt used. I ran away crying, mad at myself for falling in love with someone who hasn't changed at all. I actually considered going straight home, but I decided against it when I knew I'd just go straight to bed. Before the chaos from the final round, Applejack talked some sense into me. I felt like such an ass for overreacting like that. Then Sci-Twi unleashed the magic and became Midnight Sparkle, I saved you, Sunset saved the world, and I asked her out on a date."

I didn't realize how much I've been through just in the past month.

"Well... Damn... Why do I always miss out on the good stuff... Okay, then. How did Sunset contact the princess?"

"She has a book that she would use to contact Princess Celestia when she was her student. What's written in one book shows up in the other. Twilight has Celestia's book now."

"Is that Celestia incompetent as well?"

"Seems that way. Every time something's threatened Equestria over the last few years, it's been Twilight and her friends who saved the day."

"Maybe if they had a queen, they wouldn't have to rely on a third princess and five ordinary citizens."

"Whatever works, I guess."

"So, you said you play the drums now. Did Rock Hero really help that much?"

"Well, it taught me the basics. It only took a few minutes to get used to the real thing and not play loudly, though I still can't use the hi-hat pedal effectively."

"You gonna learn the guitar next?" she says sarcastically.

"Yeah, I'll get right on that," I respond with equal sarcasm. "Nah, I'm gonna stick with the drums. Far less complicated."

"What were the Dazzlings like?"

"Adagio was the ringleader and the most manipulative. Aria was a little bitter and argued with Sonata quite a bit. Sonata was a ditz, and she sorta reminds me of Pinkie."

"Sounds just like the Dazzlings at Crystal Prep, except replace 'manipulative' with 'bossy'."

I'm not surprised. Twilight told me her friends in Equestria and their human counterparts have the same personalities.

She looks at my right hand. "You and Sunset are an item now, huh?"

"Yup. The ring was Rarity's idea. She wants to make sure everyone knows we're off the market."

"What do you see in her, and when did you fall for her?"

"She's smart, she's talented, she's pretty, and she's really fun to be around. She also has..." I'm not sure if I should tell her that. It's not a detail someone should tell their ex. Then again, she did ask. "After the Battle, Pinkie invited me to join the sleepover she and the other girls were having that night. I was a little uneasy about being in a room with seven girls in their sleep clothes, but I was sure I could keep my hormones in check, which I did. When I saw Sunset, she was wearing purple PJs, and, well..." Actually, never mind. "Anyway, it was that night that I found myself attracted to her for the first time."

Olivia looks puzzled. I think she's trying to figure out what I was gonna say. She shakes her head. "Well, I'm glad to see things are back to normal. As far as Sunset no longer ruling over the school, anyway."

"Plus you have the most friends you've had since before the accident." For whatever reason, everyone stopped hanging out with her after that happened. Guess they were afraid of being made fun of. The same happened when my former friends found out I was dating her.

She smiles. "The students don't tease me, either. For the first time since my freshman year, I'm actually excited to be a Wondercolt."

Both of us have been through a lot. Luckily, it seems to have all been worth it.

"If the Dazzlings hadn't come to you on that day, how different do you think things would've been?"

"Well, I'd still hate Sunset."

"Aside from the obvious."

"I wouldn't have gone to the final round of the Battle, and I wouldn't have seen that she changed. I'd still feel miserable, the students would still be teasing me, and I definitely would've skipped school the day of the Friendship Games, assuming I hadn't moved away already. I saved you when Twilight went mad with power, and..." That's... a scary thought.

She looks worried. "If you weren't there..."

Surely I wasn't the only one who would have pulled her up. "No way! You'd be fine. If not me, then someone else would've saved you. Like Lemon Zest."

"I appreciate you trying to cheer me up, but she and Indigo were helping Rarity and a couple CPA students. Nobody was anywhere near me besides you."

"Maybe I would've moved to CPA. Then you wouldn't have been in that position in the first place."

"Well... I mean, I probably wouldn't have been in danger like that, but I still would've been forced to participate in the Games. You, too. Maybe... Maybe we would've gone out again."

At least with everybody ignoring us, we wouldn't have to keep it private.

"What Lemon Zest said would've actually happened," she says in a quieter tone.

"What Lemon Zest said?"

"Oh, i-it's nothing," she stammers. "Just girl talk. You know how it is." The nervousness in her voice probably means I wasn't supposed to hear that. "Crap, why now... Excuse me a sec." She stands up and hops toward the stairs.

"What about your crutches?"

"Don't need them." She hops upstairs.

What was that about?