Chapter 8

Buckball Match

The next morning, Twilight and her friends had been listening to Professor Cadance teach her Transfiguration class. They hoped that it would help keep their minds off of the horrific events from last night.

Cadance continued her transfiguration lesson before she asked if anyone had any questions. The only pony who had her hoof raised was Rarity.

"Yes, Rarity?" Cadence called on her.

"Professor, I know that this has nothing to do with the lesson, but I was wondering if you can tell us anything about the Chamber of Secrets."

After everything that has happened, the rest of the class wanted to know too. Cadance pondered Rarity's question and knew that the students would find out either way.

"Very well. As you all know, there have been four founders of Canterlot that your houses have been named after. Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. All four of them have lived in peace until Slytherin had a dispute with the others. Slytherin believed that only purebloods should be admitted into the school. He secretly created the Chamber of Secrets, which contained a monster that could only be summoned by Slytherin's heir. It is said that once unleashed, the monster would begin its attack on all half magic and non magic ponies. There is no evidence of the chamber existing, but it is said that the chamber has been built somewhere in the school."

By the time Cadance finished her story, the students felt more terrified than ever. After class ended, the monster and the Chamber of Secrets was all that anyone could think about. Twilight and her friends walked down to hallway as they had more questions than ever.

"I wonder who the heir to Slytherin could possibly be." Twilight said to her friends.

"Let's see. Who else do we know who has a hatred towards mudbloods?" Applejack replied like the answer was obvious.

"Applejack, you are not suspecting Trixie, are you?" asked Rarity.

"It has to be Trixie! You heard what she said last night! You'll be next, mudblood!"

"Even if it is Trixie, we don't have any evidence." Twilight pointed out. "Perhaps we should go to the library later and see if we can find anything out about the Chamber of Secrets. For now, I should hurry over to the Cloudsdale Stadium and get ready for the buckball game today."

With that, Applejack and Rarity wished Twilight luck as she hurried to the Cloudsdale Stadium. Truthfully, Twilight felt a little nervous as this was her first buckball match in awhile. Twilight and the rest of the Gryffindors prepared themselves for the game.

Just like last year, the stands were filled with ponies, excitedly waiting for the game to begin. Twilight knew that she would have to be prepared for anything, especially since Trixie is Slytherin's new seeker.

Coach Spitfire soon tossed the first buckball into the air, starting the game. Both the Gryffindors and Slytherins gave it their all, scoring point after point. Halfway through the game, the score was tied and Twilight looked around for the golden crystal orb needed to win the game. All Twilight found was an anti-buckball headed straight for her. It nearly knocked Twilight off her broomstick, but she managed to recover.

"Whoa! Be careful Twilight!" Soarin called out for Twilight, unaware that the anti-buckball was coming back.

"Soarin, watch out for the anti buckball!" Twilight tried to warn Soarin, but it was too late as the anti-buckball ended up knocking Soarin off his broomstick and continued to chase Twilight.

The ponies soon noticed that something was wrong as the anti-buckball has been chasing Twilight around the stadium.

"Hey, there's something wrong with that anti-buckball! It's been tampered with!" Big Mac realized.

"That's terrible! I'll deal with it!" Applejack took out her wand, but Rarity stopped her at the last second.

"No! Even if your wand wasn't broken, you might end up hitting Twilight!"

Throughout the game, Twilight has been trying to get away from the anti-buckball, but it showed no signs of slowing down. As she was being chased, Twilight quickly took notice of the golden crystal orb. She chased after it, only for Trixie to notice it and chase after it as well.

The two rivals raced each other to get the orb while trying to avoid the anti-buckball. After a fast and intense race, the anti-buckball ended up knocking Trixie off her broom and hit Twilight's hoof so hard, she could have sworn she heard a bone crack. It was at that point when Twilight started to get desperate, so she moved over to the end of her broom and reached her other hoof out for the orb. The next think she knew Twilight fell off the broom and landed on the ground.

After Twilight recovered, she took one look at her hoof and realized that she managed to grab the orb before she fell. Once everyone realized what happened, the Gryffindors cheered in victory. Twilight let out an exhausted sigh, but her smile faded once she remembered that the anti-buckball was still chasing after her. The anti-buckball flew after her at full speed and Twilight braced herself for the worst. Fortunately, the anti-buckball was destroyed, thanks to a spell casted by Rarity. With the anti-buckball gone, Twilight's friends came rushing to her aid.

"Twilight? Are you okay?" Rarity asked, concerned.

"I don't know, Rarity. I think my hoof is broken."

At that moment, Blueblood walked over to Twilight with his wand in his hoof. "Not to worry, Twilight! I know just the spell to fix your broken hoof!"

This worried Twilight. She didn't trust Blueblood of all ponies to heal her. "Are you sure, Professor?"

"Yes, now hold still." Blueblood aimed his wand at Twilight's hoof before casting his spell.

A few moments had passed and Twilight didn't feel any better. She tried moving her hoof, but it ended up bending backwards, much to the disgust of the ponies surrounding her.

"Um, so the spell might not have worked perfectly, but at least her hoof is not longer broken." Blueblood gave a sheepish grin.

"Broken? There are no bones left in that hoof!" Big Mac argued.

"We'd better take Twilight to the hospital!" Applejack said before everyone helped Twilight up.

Once the game was over, Twilight, along with Soarin and Trixie slowly recovered in the hospital. Nurse Redheart hurried over to Twilight, carrying a bottle of medicine.

"Mending a broken bone isn't easy, Twilight! You will need to stay in the hospital for a couple of nights and take this medicine." Nurse Redheart explained as she poured the medicine in a cup.

Twilight took one sip of the medicine and it tasted terrible. She knew that she'd better get used to it because she would be stuck in the hospital for awhile.

Later that night, Twilight tossed and turned, trying to fall asleep. When she knew that she wasn't going to sleep anytime soon, she opened her eyes and was surprised to find out that she was not alone. Right in front of her stood a familiar tiny dragon.

"Um, hey Twilight. It's good to see you again." Spike gave an awkward smile.

Twilight sat up from her bed to get a better look at her unexpected visitor. "Spike? What are you doing here?"

"I came here to check on you." Spike explained. "I hoped that my anti-buckball would be enough to get you away from the school and go back home."

"Wait! You're anti-buckball? You were the one who tampered with it in the first place weren't you?" Once Spike realized what he said, he placed a claw over his mouth, confirming Twilight's suspicions. "Spike, how could you? You could have killed me!"

"I wasn't trying to kill you, Twilight! I just wanted to make it so that you were sent away and avoid a much greater danger! The family that I serve doesn't even know I'm here. When I get back they would just beat me like they usually do."

Taking a closer look, Twilight noticed that Spike had a lot of bruises on him since the last time she saw him. Despite what Spike had done to her, Twilight felt sorry for him as nobody should have to go what he went through.

"Spike, the family you serve sound like a lot of bad ponies. You should leave them." Twilight suggested.

Spike let out a depressed sigh. "I would if I could, but my master saved my life a long time ago and I'm bound by my dragon code to serve him for life. The only way for me to be free is if my master presented me with a gemstone."

It wasn't long before Twilight and Spike heard hoofsteps rushing towards the hospital. Seeing that he didn't have much time left, Spike took this moment to warn Twilight.

"Listen, Twilight! You've probably already noticed the dangers that are going on at this school. It is all part of an evil plot."

"A plot?" Twilight repeated. "Who's plotting them?"

Spike hesitated. "I can't even say."

Twilight heard the hoofsteps getting closer, so she started to get more desperate for information. "Spike, please tell me! What's going on? Who's plotting all of this?"

Instead of answering, Spike ran away, careful not to be seen by anyone. It was at that point when the teachers hurried into the hospital, so Twilight laid on her side, pretending to be asleep.

"Quickly, put him on the bed." Twilight heard Celestia speak.

Curious, the purple unicorn took a peek at what was happening and she was shocked to find another petrified body. She recognized the body as Featherweight. He looked terrified as he was holding his camera in his hooves.

"What happened?" Cadance asked, horrified.

"There has been another attack. I believe his name is Featherweight." Celestia whispered. "Let's take a look at his camera. He might have taken a picture of his attacker."

Celestia tried examining the camera only for it to spark and fall apart. Cadance didn't like the looks of this.

"What does all of this mean, Professor?"

Celestia silently pondered Cadance's question. As much as she hated to admit it, she knew that Canterlot was no longer safe.

"It means that Canterlot is in great danger. After all these years, the Chamber of Secrets has been opened once again."