//------------------------------// // A Very Interesting Trip // Story: Equestria Girls: Wondercolt Soccer of Friendship // by MASTERMIND360 //------------------------------// "Welcome to the Lightning Dust livestream," Lightning announced with her face in view of the camera. "I am your host, Lightning Dust! The Great and Magnificent Lightning Dust, the best striker of the Wondercolts. Today, it’s time to say hello to the team!”  She turned her camera to her teammates in their own seats, waving hello back to the viewers. The mood went sour since the revelation of their flight being delayed because of the wildfires. Although, it shouldn’t be that bad to resume their trip to California from Toronto, Canada, by road.  Their spirits from their victory over Central Toronto Academy would’ve faded had Lightning Dust not started her livestream not long after they left the hotel. “Yo, what’s up Wondercolt supporters!” Rainbow called, she and Sunset were waving their hands.  “I hope y'all have a good trip!” Spitfire added.  The rest of them reply with words such as “Hey”, “Hello”, “We hope”, or any that makes their supporters watching this feel a little better to see them.  Lightning guided her camera in the bus for each pair of her teammates greeting their supporters in the livestream.  “We have my two strike partners, captain Rainbow Dash, and lead striker, Sunset Shimmer,” she continued, navigating further. “And we have the midfield unit, Gilda, Spitfire, Derpy, and Fire Flare.”  Fire Flare waved at the last part, “You know, Lightning,” she began, “The important thing to do before you stream is always look your best.” She pulled out her hand mirror. Lightning rolled her eyes, “It’s not about how you or Rarity look,” she pulled out a hand mirror of her own. “It’s about how I look.”  Spitfire huffed. "Your beautiful, for a big head." Lightning ignored her and continued, “Anyway, we got the three girls who had always been in the back of the field,” she made her way to the three defenders, Ember, Smolder, and Strawberry Sunrise, sitting by the far back of the bus. “So tell me, how do you guys tame every greatest attack from the strikers?”  Ember shrugged. “Well, the three of us just do like how we’ve been wingsuit flying over the weekends. We emulate our awesome wingsuit flying tricks to our own footy skills.”  “It’s scary but thanks to Ember, we pulled it through,” Smolder added. “Not only that, but I’m the best tackler in this team.” “And I got the sharpest eyes,” Strawberry added, she sharpened her gaze to Fire Flare’s hair. “Hey, Fire Flare, there’s dandruff all over your hair.” “WHAT?!” Fire Flare shouted in horror. Looking over the reflection of her hair with her mirror. And Strawberry was right. “B-But I could’ve sworn I had my hair wash, scrub, facial wash, hand wash, and-”  “We know!” Her teammates interrupted her.  Lightning returned to her seat with Fleetfoot in the window seat, “And I also sat with Fleetfoot, our Wondercolt goalie. Of course, the rest of you knew her as much as for the rest of us, but one thing that you guys don’t know, she’ll take the bullet for me.” Fleetfoot crossed her arms. “No, I’m not. I only take the bullet for our goal.”  “Yes you are,” Lightning repeated.  “Oh, girls,” Principal Celestia called from the driver’s seat. “We’re about to cross from the Canada border to the United States, make sure you have your passports ready.”  Derpy popped out from her seat, “But Principal Celestia, what about…”  “Yes, I know, Derpy,” Celestia sighed. “Now, Sunset, you know what to do.”  Sunset nodded, she slid down from her seat and hid underneath the window, Rainbow covered her up with a thick, purple, blanket just in case.  Lightning’s smile widened as she focused her camera to where her strike partners seated, “Oh, this is good! I’m showing our supporters how we usually smuggled Sunset everywhere we go!”  Fleetfoot gave her a hard nudge with a brutal look, “Dude, you’re gonna get us all in trouble!” she hissed at her.  Lightning scoffed. “It’s not my fault we had to bring an actual alien around with no legal papers and documents. That’s some crazy content I’d love to show my viewers!”  “Just get that camera off of us until we cross!” Rainbow told her, adjusting the blanket to make sure Sunset was perfectly hidden. “Too late,” Lightning simply said. “Our supporters saw that, and besides, we’re getting closer to the border.”  It didn’t take long to show their passports to the border security, and also making Sunset stay hidden, Lightning kept her camera facing at Sunset’s direction for the sake of the ‘behind-the-scenes’ action.  After a little while, they were free to go across the border. Now that they’re in the clear, Rainbow pulled down the blanket to find Sunset dozing off.  “Sunset!”  The fiery-haired jolted awake by her friend’s sudden outburst. “W-What? Did we already cross?”  Rainbow crossed her arms. “Yes, we did.” She plainly informed her as they returned to their seats. “I swore you’re getting too comfortable being smuggled everywhere we go for our away games.”  “Can you ever blame me for not being a legal citizen in this world?” Sunset asked her. “Like, I’m technically an alien here.” Lightning went up to them. “An alien who’s gonna help make this livestream go crazy!” she finished.  That’s right, there’s this one time when Sunset was singing her song on the rooftop of CHS, Lightning Dust happened to witness everything and recorded it for her livestream and it ended with Sunset unleashing her magic as she ended her song.  Rainbow furrowed her eyebrows. “It’s bad enough you just had to stream that and show it to everyone!” “Calm down,” LD groaned. “Only our classmates in CHS can see us, I made sure I invited specific people in school to watch us whenever I start my Lightning Dust livestream.”  Spitfire stood up from her seat, “Well, if anyone’s gonna make your livestream crazy, then it’s how long until Derpy’s next toilet break?”  Some of them snickered in response. Derpy gave her an offended look. “Oh c’mon, it’s only been a few hours since we left the hotel. It’s not that bad.”  “Yes, it is,” Ember dejectedly said.  “We’re taking bets on how many times she’ll have to go,” Spitfire offered with a smirk across her lips.  Lightning formed a devilish grin on her face. “Oh yes we will.”  When she left her two strike partners alone to continue with her livestream, they slumped back as they went deep into their thoughts. Sunset, for instance, she thought of how far she came ever since the Fall Formal, not only months followed by the Formal and onwards, it led her to a wonderful life but also made a lot of friends. Her best friends, this world’s Twilight, Juniper Montage, Wallflower Blush and others, but before all of that and after the Battle of the Bands, she also made friends with Rainbow Dash’s team, the Wondercolts. As much as she loved her best friends and Dash, she loved playing with her and the team. Even if they lose, she knows there’s always next time.. She looked over to Rainbow Dash playing her game on her phone, ever since the Fall Formal, Dash was amongst the group who was the most wary towards Sunset despite the promise they made to Princess Twilight. But when time carried on, Dash slowly opened up to her especially after seeing all the hate she gets from her schoolmates. And after the Battle of the Bands, they grew closer together than before. She even gave Sunset a chance to ace the tryouts to join this team last year. While soccer was never her life calling from the start, she still did it to learn how to use two legs instead of four hooves prior to her early days in this world. And a few games after she joined, Sunset became attached to soccer and agreed to be Wondercolts for life.  Her gaze went up to Lightning Dust and Fleetfoot, sitting from across the vehicle. Even during her bullying days, she still got her to her disadvantage. She and everyone in CHS knew Lightning was also concerned about her looks, much like Rarity and Fire Flare, it’s just that not a ladylike type like them. There are times Sunset made her look like a mess, even the slightest, in front of the whole crowd, Lightning would lose her tough girl act and screamed like a little girl over her messy outlook. She always seeks fame and opportunities to score goals when they’re playing, she demands for one game plan; give the ball to Lightning Dust. That was her condition for Sunset to atone for her past misdeeds by giving her the ball for the winning shot during her first few games after joining them. Playing with Lightning Dust was a headache for her and the team when her ego gets in the way, but regardless, she’s cool.  Her thoughts drifted to the muffin lover, Derpy. If she thought about it, maybe had she not target her the most next to Fluttershy back in her darker days, she wouldn’t boost Derpy with determination to become one of the Wondercolts, since the team was only about athletes, how did she aced the tryouts before was beyond her knowledge, even Rainbow said she still didn’t know how she made to the team but she did. She may not be a great goal scorer, but she’s great as a midfield unit with Gilda, Spitfire, and Fire Flare. Then there goes her friends, the same group of girls who defeated her in the Fall Formal. And despite everything she has done, they still gave her friendship. The same group of girls who were crucial to her reformation, and after the Battle of the Bands, she and her friends grew closer than before. She was so happy. And when she joined Rainbow’s team, the rest of them cheered for both of them during their games, their high spirits came from their friends’ cheering. Pinkie Pie usually wrote cheering rehearsals for them, and it got better when this world’s Twilight joined the picture after the Friendship Games.  Ever since the events in Camp Everfree, while the pendants are for them, the two athletes agreed to keep them off during the competition or they’ll get in trouble for cheating. Even without magic, Sunset still has her signature move; the Shimmer Spinner. This move was special, it’s something that she trained hard to adopt, allowing her to move like a mini tornado and breeze through the tight defense. But she’s not like Lightning Dust who usually hogs the ball for herself, and it doesn’t make Sunset the team captain despite others claiming she should’ve been. From the bottom of her heart, it’s better for Rainbow being their captain with Sunset the lead goal scorer. “Something on your mind, Sunshim?” The captain's voice made Sunset snapped out of her thoughts and turned to Dash. “Oh, you know, about things. Things that happened in my life, this team, and our friends. You know.”  Rainbow nodded. “Yeah, I get you. I still think about those things, especially our friends. I mean, it still sucks that we can’t have our flight with them and our classmates no thanks to the wildfires, and the traffic in the city got us separated from them, leaving us with the team.” “California is only a day or so by road,” Sunset said.  “Yeah, but c’mon,” Rainbow exaggerated, throwing her arms up.. “It’s just a little heat. It’s not like Rarity’s private jet gets cooked alive.”  Sunset crossed her arms. “Keep telling yourself that when we're seeing more birds falling from the sky." They looked to their window and saw the birds falling down, half burnt. Rainbow sheepishly grinned. "Yeah , well, let’s just stay on this bus!” she immediately said.  ***** Minutes went on, Sunset and Dash are competing ‌in their online soccer games on their phones, Derpy, Spitfire, and Lightning Dust are coaching either of them as they play. Their constant words of direction are filling them with frustration and eagerness to win.  “Go that way, Sunset!” Derpy shouted. “No, Dash, she’s going that way!” Spitfire exclaimed.   “Quick Sunset! She just got the ball!” Gilda added.  But their words were not helping when Rainbow finally scored 1-3 in the nick of time. Sunset let out grunting noises over her lost and the three of them being the reason why she lost. “You three are so annoying!” Sunset snapped at them.  “We’re just trying to help, Shimmer,” Gilda said.  “Well, one of us was helping the captain here,” Spitfire told her.  “Yeah, I won but you three nearly made me screw this up,” Rainbow told them with an annoyed look.  Derpy snapped her fingers. “Do you know how we can help without being annoying? By giving me a beat!” She clapped her hands as she began to rap. “Hey yo, what do you know? I play with the best team, and that team is the Wondercolts!”  Her teammates grimaced at her terrible rapping, not that they dared to outright say it’s terrible. Gilda held a hand to shut her up. “You know,” she said firmly. “Maybe it’s best to save that if we win, just let our supporters do the cheering for us.” Derpy sighed depressingly and sat down in her seat. “Hey relax,” Gilda tried to coax her. “If Pinkie and Sparkle can work on with great cheering rehearsals, maybe we can help you with your own rap.”  Derpy’s smile widened. “Like give me a beat?”  Gilda shook her head with a chuckle. “No, but we will work on that soon.”  When joining the Wondercolts, it’s Gilda who taught her the ropes despite her doubts of Derpy’s capability for the team. Mentoring her brought Gilda with nothing but frustration for her incompetence, but seeing her get picked on by Sunset from time to time made her angry than mentoring her, this was when she realized that she’s starting to care for the muffin lover. Over time, Derpy got better with the ball and aced the tryouts that blasted away her doubts and worries. And Derpy taught her how to bake muffins and also cooking.  Spitfire yawned. “Speaking of the game, I’m gonna need some shut eye before we stop.” She walked back to her seat with Fire Flare, the athlete-fashion designer beamed up when her friend came back for her.  “Oh, I was just wondering when you’ll have your beauty rest, Spitfire,” Fire Flare said, giving her a small pillow made by her own style. “Because I made this. It’s not just for you, but I’m still making more of these if everyone needs it.”  Spitfire cracked a small smile and gently accepted the pillow. “Thanks, princess.” She smirked at the last part.  If Sunset remembered correctly about the Summer Sun Celebration from Princess Celestia, the Fire Flare she heard of in Equestria was a unicorn and she’s responsible for her part with the fireworks since the banishment of Nightmare Moon.  And this world’s Fire Flare was a fashion designer like Rarity, and she behaves just exactly like her. But one thing with Fire Flare was that she tends to treat others equally and help them, especially with things being too different for her taste. But she still does, such as joining the Wondercolts to help win their rematches, it’s not easy for her to be an athlete but time goes on and she soon got attached to it and used her ballet skills to improve her newly improved footy skills to stay on the team.  While she’s concerned for her looks and sensitive to unladylike behavior, but only if it’s directly  to her in a negative manner. But her teammates’ tomboyish lifestyle was never a problem to her, one thing that matters to her was people treating each other equally. Embracing her place in the team as the midfielder while maintaining her position as the Fashion Club President after Rarity stepped down to prioritized her friends.  Just as the bus drove through the forest area, the scenery was beautiful but boredom took over the atmosphere. Some doze off while others get themselves busy with their phones or playing along with Lightning’s livestream.  Ember yawned with Smolder gazing to the window on her left, and Strawberry Sunrise munching another piece of strawberry. The redhead glanced at her bored besties, of course, knowing them for so long, she brought out a pack of strawberries from her bag.  “You girls can always have some,” she offered with a warm smile. The two looked at each other and back and with their own smiles. “Why not?” Smolder agreed.  Soon, they took two pieces each from the pack and enjoyed the fruit. While Strawberry Sunrise can never compete with the apples’, not that her business was falling apart when she still profits off of it, she at least had Ember and Smolder not as her most loyal customers who gets her product for free, but also her the only best friends since sixth grade. They’re the ones who helped get her mind off of her grudge with Applejack, and also helped her feel better and assisted her to grow her product. When they entered high school, Ember and Smolder passed the tryouts to be the Wondercolts, well, they’re the defenders but that’s okay. Strawberry has been their main supporter ever since.  And one day, when they visited her place, they found her playing with one or two pieces with kneecaps, even kicking them high with her clean shoes and they landed into her mouth spectacularly. They realized that she might have potential in sports despite never experiencing them. They helped her find that as they grow more of her product, the more they see her doing footy tricks with strawberries, the more they see what she’s capable of. They tested her with a soccer ball and it ended with the same results like she did with her fruits. Wanting to strive for her new talent, she learned more about soccer and aced the tryouts, she joined the team as their third defender. She even developed sharp focus when she was farming, making her their number one lookout for incoming attacks.  Ever since then, their friendship grew stronger, and Ember proudly called themselves the “Flying Mares”. During breaks, she often takes them to her most favorite hobby; wingsuit flying. The experience was scary to them (but Ember) at first, but after a few tries, they later embraced this sport, soaring in the sky together. Ember always says this helps up her game for their tough fixtures, in which, she’s right. During their games, Strawberry would warn them about incoming attacks and where they intended to send the ball, Smolder intercepted it and Ember would clear the danger. This was the strength of the Wondercolt defense, with the three of them, they’re unstoppable. Well, not always.  ***** Moment by moment, the ball flew to the empty goal net. The forwards broke through the defense, Sunset took one last moment of their warm ups by breezing through with her Shimmer Spinner and shooting to the top left corner.  “Great job, strikers,” Rainbow complimented, receiving high fives from both of them.  “The striker formation is going good,” Lightning agreed. “It’s easier when there’s one goalie,” Sunset said.  “And one else to defend it,” Rainbow added.  They turned to the restrooms stalls from the other end of the pitch, Fleetfoot and the defenders struggling to hold the weight in them as they waited for Derpy in the bathroom.  “Derpy!” Ember shouted. “How long are you taking your time there?!”  “And then she claimed it wasn’t that bad,” Fleetfoot muttered.  “Well, it’s her next toilet, who’s got number eleven?” Smolder asked.  Strawberry pulled out a piece of paper with the number on it. “Me! I won!” Well, at least that lightened the mood a little.  Meanwhile with the midfielders, they’re busy with their dribbling skills around the training cones in the center of the pitch. Well, it’s only Gilda and Spitfire.Fire Flare was at the lunch table, knitting. The two rolled their eyes and approached the prissy athlete.  “Uh, dude, are you gonna warm up or what?” Gilda asked her.  Fire Flare looked up. “Don’t fret, darlings,” she said. “Continue without me, I just need to get this done quickly. You know, it’s crucial to look your best no matter what the occasion.”  “Like wearing your makeup before the competition,” Spitfire remarked.  She nodded in return. “And also to look gorgeous for the competition in a few days.”  The three strikers approached them. “Oh please, the game doesn’t start in a few days after we arrive in California,” Lightning told her with her arms crossed.  “A lady always plans ahead, Lightning Dust,” Fire Flare prissily told her.  Sunset chuckled at her teammate. The last time Fire Flare planned ahead was the aftermath of the Memory Stone, not only her friends bending over backwards to make it up to her (despite Sunset’s protests), but also the whole Wondercolt team. Fire Flare was the most sincere as the Rainbooms, she and Rarity tirelessly made threads for Sunset. And when they played against Cloudstale the following week, they had the whole school cheering for Sunset and her teammates constantly encouraging her,, even Lightning Dust was more supportive while at the same time, maintaining her image as the best athlete.  And finally, the rest of their teammates came back from the restrooms.  “That better be your last toilet break for today, Derpy,” Fleetfoot retorted.  Derpy shot back at her, “For the last time, it isn’t that bad.”  “Keep denying, dude,” Ember grumbled.  Rainbow got in between them, “Okay, alright. Let’s not get too excited before practice time.” She said, “We just escaped from the range of the flipping wildfires.” “And we should not waste more time.” They adverted to Principal Celestia standing with the strategy board. “And time is precious.” She’s right, it has only been ten minutes since they stopped for warm ups and practice. So it’s time they used it wisely.  “Anyway, let’s get started,” she continued as she turned to the board and scribbled their game plan. “Smolder, Ember, and Strawberry Sunrise need to stay in their positions. Use headers and slide tackles as the last resort.” “You got it, ma’am,” Smolder confirmed.  “You three keep your defense as tightly as possible,” Celestia instructed them. “Keep blocking the forwards away until they slowly drain their energy a little. That’s where our forwards come in. With the home side tired from trying, Sunset Shimmer, Rainbow Dash, and Lightning Dust, you three use a quick counter in the opposite end before they regroup.”  The two nod in return, until then, Lightning grabs a marker. “Give me a second!” She makes a drawing of her head on the top right corner of the pitch, even adding lines between her head and the rest of the field.  She turned back to them with a glare. “Last time we had our victory over Central Toronto Academy, you guys piled on me when I was celebrating my winning shot! I looked hideous in the photos!” She shrieked. “But this time, stay off my lights when I score!”  Ember just scoffed and added a thumbs down gesture. Lightning Dust always cared about her image. At least she can’t be that malicious than Rarity and Fire Flare.  Celestia cleared her throat. “Anyway, let’s start with an early kickoff.” She then blew her whistle.  The practice went smoothly as usual. The defenders did their best to hold back from the strikers’ best attacking patterns, despite with help from the midfielders, the back three were holding their ground.  The last few seconds of their training had Sunset using her Shimmer Spinner for five seconds and shoots in mid air. But with her sharp focus, Strawberry Sunrise runs back and bounces the ball away from Fleetfoot with her head.  “You need to try better than that, Sunset,” Strawberry gloated, with a smirk on her face.  Sunset rolled her eyes. “Oh, we’ll see.” Celestia blew her whistle. “Great job, defenders. Especially you, Strawberry Sunrise. That was a close call.” She gazes over at her watch. “It’s already twelve-forty,” she muttered and gazed back up. “You girls have twenty minutes to have your lunch. And when you’re done, we resume with our trip.” **** “Man, I’m stuffed!” Rainbow exclaimed, slumping back into her seat.  It wasn’t even that long after lunch ended, maybe five to ten minutes since they moved on.  “You said it,” Sunset agreed and let out a giggle. “I can’t wait to get back to Canterlot so I can rush back to my house, and make more of those peanut butter, strawberry jam, and hay bale sandwiches!” The other girls close to her grimaced at that. Derpy and Gilda shot out from their seats with a disgusting look. “Dude, that’s gross.” Sunset shrugged. “The taste was indescribable.” Lightning shook her head. “Still, it’s gross.”  “It’s not my fault I came from a magical pony world,” Sunset countered.  “Yeah, she’s right,” Rainbow added. “I admit, it’s disgusting, but c’mon, let’s not think badly of her.”  “The captain’s right, darlings,” Fire Flare said while knitting. “You know what they say, treat others how you want to be treated.”  Lightning groaned and slumped back, “Fine, but I still don’t like it.”  Just as the others went back to their own business, it’s time for the two Rainbooms to keep in touch with the girls. Rainbow pulled her tablet from her bag and contacted them. Soon, their friends appeared on her screen.  “Sunshim! Dashie!” Pinkie cried out, joy rushing in her veins seeing her best friends.  “Glad to hear from both of yah!” “It’s so fabulous to see you two again!” “Hi girls…” The girls cracked a smile on their faces. While the wildfires near Toronto delayed their flight, and a bus trip separated them from their friends and classmates, at least they can still keep in touch with them, and meet again by the time they made it to California.  “How’s the trip on your end?” Twilight asked.  “Could’ve been better,” Rainbow replied. “We’re stuck in the road like you guys.”  “Couldn’t agree more,” AJ said. “Not everything goes exactly what we wanted.”  “You could say that again,” Sunset told her. “If you want further answers, well, this bus trip was getting boring. Sure, Lightning Dust’s livestream lifted our spirits but in the next few hours, we got bored.”  “Aww, you two seemed energetic a few hours ago,” Pinkie said. “We’ve been watching you through Lightning Dust’s Lightning Dust livestream.” “Yeah, sure, we were. But her content gets lacking as this trip continues and everyone else gets bored, and yet, she’s still trying with barely any effort.” Rainbow said.  “I heard that!” Lightning called out. “I’m not the only one with the livestream!” They ignored her and turned back to the screen. “Anyway, how’s things on your end?” Sunset wondered.  Rarity sighed. “It’s a little difficult to sleep for the ride with all the noisy crowd, darling,” she said. “A beauty rest is always required!”  “But at least it saved us from the boredom,” Pinkie included. “A background noise, and watching you two in the Lightning Dust livestream!”  “And then her livestream gets boring and boring as our enthusiasm died down until we made our first stop,” Rainbow added. “Oh, yeah!” Pinkie exclaimed. “We also watched you girls practice!”  “But it ain’t the same without watching ya’ll practice from the bleachers,” Applejack said.  Sunset waved her hands. “Don’t worry, I’m positive we will meet up in the hotel once we reach San Jose.”  Rainbow slouched her arms. “So, where are you guys now?”  “Well, we stopped by in a dining restaurant,” Twilight explained. “And it’s almost time to leave and Vice Principal Luna is expecting the rest of us for the bus. But before we go, Pinkie and I have those chants ready for you girls.”  “But we don’t want to spoil it before your next game,” Pinkie told them. “Besides, all of us still need to practice, we still have a few of our schoolmates and friends that need their voices in key.”  “I’m sure you girls got it,” Sunset told her. “You always do.” “Yes,” Twilight nodded until her face formed into a dreaded look. “Unless there might be a typo in our chants without noticing after several hours of purifying it, WE HAVE TO START ALL OVER AGAIN!” She screeched.  Sunset and Dash winced at Twilight’s sudden outburst of despair. The redhead quickly waved her hands to assure her. “Don’t worry about that. Like I just said, you girls got it.”  On the screen, Applejack lay her hands on Twilight’s shoulders. “She’s right, Twilight. Just relax, ya and Pinkie did the work with the chants, now it’s time we should practice with what yah two wrote.”  “Besides, they’re always looking forward to hearing it from us,” Pinkie added.  Rainbow gave a soft chuckle. “You heard it, pinks. Makes me want to score some goals.”  “You sure do,” Fluttershy said. “Oh, don’t worry about me. I’m already working on my part of the chant.” “You girls will hear Fluttershy’s voice amongst the crowd,” Rarity told them.  Rainbow nodded. “Fair enough.” “Anyway,” Twilight said. “Enough about that but we can still chat while we’re headed for the bus.”  “About that,” Rainbow began with an annoyed look. “Twenty plus more hours to the hotel by road?? That’s soooo long. The jet is even better because our trip would’ve been shorter than thirty hours to California.” “The flight duration from Toronto to San Jose is four hours and fifty-five minutes,” Twilight concluded. “And by road, it is over thirty hours.”  “Great…” Rainbow mumbled.  “It’s called life, Dash, accept it,” Applejack advised her.  “It doesn’t help when we’re apart for the whole damn trip,” Rainbow crossed her arms.  “But we can still keep in touch along the way, that’s what matters,” Rarity stated. “Believe me, we’re thrilled to see you two again.”  “Same for the rest of you,” Sunset finished, smiling.  *****  “...And then the strawberry monster catches him, and eats him! The end!” Strawberry Sunrise finished with a devilish grin and a beam from the flashlight flashing below her face.  Night has come, and they’re still on the way to their final destination. Few stops have been made in the last hours, some stayed awake while the others fell asleep.  “Dude, every time you tell a story, it’s always been ‘strawberries this’ and ‘strawberries that’,” Spitfire complained, bunking in with the three girls with Fleetfoot. Strawberry huffed and looked away, hugging herself. “Oh please, you just don’t know what it feels like to grow something you love like strawberries.”  “Yeah, just chill, dude,” Ember told her. “She’s Strawberry Sunrise for a reason.”  Fleetfoot stretched her arms with a loud yawn. “Yeah, sure. Strawberries are sweet and all but I’d love to hear a different story.” Fleetfoot is one of the calmest teammates in the Wondercolts, apart from Derpy, and Strawberry Sunrise. Despite being in one place as their goalie protecting their goalie, stopping every shot is always a challenge for her. Even though the only person who she can’t block is Sunset and her special move. Well, Strawberry can spot incoming attacks from miles away. Maybe they should’ve put her in Fleetfoot’s place but the farm girl loved playing the defense with her two besties.  And during break times from life in high school, Fleetfoot and Spitfire just hang out and chill together. Before high school, the two of them would play soccer together, Spitfire loved playing as the striker and Fleetfoot played as a goalie. Ever since Sophomore, they became interested in the Wondercolts and passed the tryouts. They stand up for each other back when Sunset was a bully.  Strawberry shrugged. “Eh, that's all I got. Anyone else have a story to tell?”  Smolder cleared her throat. “I think I got something better.” She smirked.  While the four girls are bickering in the far back, Sunset stayed up a little and playing with her game. Not wanting to disturb her friend who was asleep, she sits in the passenger seat with Principal Celestia.  Sunset let out a quick sigh and relaxed into her seat. Just by first light, then maybe they’ll wake up to find themselves in the middle of San Jose. Or maybe she could be wrong about that.  She turned to Principal Celestia keeping her eyes on the road. Granted, while she never dared to compare her with Princess Celestia back in Equestria, she can’t help but Celestia just reminded her of her former mentor. And just like her mentor, Principal Celestia indeed has some humor in her, like there are times back in Canterlot when she and Celestia would briefly joke around or goofing off. And when she’s first to arrive for practice, she and Celestia would play around with the ball. And boy, Sunset didn’t know Celestia was that good. “So,” she started. “Long trip, right?” Celestia never dared to look back at her but nodded. “Yes, yes it is.” Sunset checks her phone, only to see her battery drains. She brings out her power bank and connects it to her phone to recharge.  “And my phone just died and I need to recharge,” she muttered but Celestia heard her. “At least we have a map, in a book!” Celestia said with a cheeky grin.  Sunset looked around. “Now that you mentioned it…” It didn’t take long for her to find the map book underneath her seat. “Got it.” She turned the pages until she found the exact page with the layout of the map.  “What does it say?” Celestia asked her.  Despite the darkness in the bus, Sunset was able to tell the directions on the map. “Well, it says here that we should be like,” she gets her face to the page a little. “Five to ten more hours I believe.”  “I believe I can manage,” Celestia said.  Sunset offered with a smile. “I can stay up with you and let you know when you’re slowly dozing off.”  Celestia shook her head. “Oh, thanks, Sunset but I can manage.” A smirk flashed across her face. “Besides, I am a better all-nighter than you.” A dramatic gasp escaped Sunset. “You don’t mean that!” Celestia chuckled. “Oh yes I am, Shimmer!” She teased. “Maybe you should’ve wake up and taste the coffee!” “There are times when people need to lay off the coffee for a while,” Sunset countered with a cheeky grin. Celestia raised her left eyebrow. “Are you sure about that?” Sunset huffed. “Yeah huh.” “Nuh duh.” “Yeh huh.” “Nuh duh.” “Yeh huh.” “Hey, can anyone keep it down!” Lightning Dust growled while half awake. “I need beauty sleep for Daring Doo’s sake!” Sunset winced. “Sorry, Dust.” She whispered.  “Maybe we save this when we settle in the hotel?” Celestia suggested. Sunset yawned. “And you’re right, you’re a better all-nighter than I am.” Celestia chuckled again. “That’s right, Shimmer. So you can go to sleep now, I’ll let you all know when we get there.” Sunset leaned her head back, she let the sleeping spell do its thing. The last thing she saw was the bright moon in the night, and the endless waves of trees passing by. 5 Days Later….. The Wondercolts  found themselves struggling a little when the day had come. Here, they faced off with the female athletes of San Jose High School.  The enemy forwards broke through the midfield, and once again, the Flying Mares vs. the forwards.  They pushed forward, weaving past Ember and Smolder. A smirk flashed on the striker’s lips and shoots for the top left corner. Strawberry Sunrise may have sharp eyes but her reaction time isn’t 100%.  Luckily, Fleetfoot timed it right and dives for the ball. She caught it in her arms and landed on her shoulder, unharmed.  Her teammates sighed in relief, nodding at her successful save. The rest of the CHS students and the home students of San Jose are all watching from the bleachers, shouts of encouragement pouring through the stadium at night. Cameras flashing every second of the game. People continued to cheer for their own teams to keep going.  “There’s not much time left!” Pinkie exclaimed to her friends. She grabbed her megaphone and turned to everyone. “Okay, people! Let’s hear it again! In three, two, one…”  Everyone stood up and released their chants of support for the Wondercolts, adding with Pinkie and her megaphone.  “~Wondercolts rule the pitch and we control the stands, and other’s cheers won’t stand a chance against the Wonder fans!~”  Touched by their support once again, the away side quickly moved back to the opposite end as Fleetfoot kicked the ball high in the sky. The midfielders prepared themselves for the pass but the home midfielders caught up with them, struggling to get the rebound.. However, Derpy dashed in between them in a lightning fast run and took the ball. All those times when she needed toilet breaks so badly did help her with her fitness exercise.  She runs alongside the three forwards and sends the object to Dash. The captain jumped over a slide tackle and kicked for the net. However, the goalie reacted in time and punched it away, sending it in midair. Sunset jumps and she bounced the ball with her head but it landed straight at the pose.  The ball landed on Lightning's foot. She placed her foot on it and wore a malicious smile. “Yes, finally. It’s my turn now!” But she’s so busy talking, the defender scoops the ball with her foot before she even knew it.  She kicks high all the way back to the Wondercolt defense. The striker sprints for a winning shot by the head, closing in the box. Ember moves forward, and both jump high for either a winning goal or an epic save.  Ember went high enough and bounced the ball with her head, Smolder received the pass and kicked back to Fleetfoot.  “Alright, team, quick counter! We need to finish this now!” Rainbow called, she looked at the scoreboard with only thirty seconds remaining. “Or it’s game over.”  Fleetfoot let out a grunt and threw the ball as high as she could. Their supporters cheered louder than anyone thought but it’s boosting their confidence even more. Spitfire gives Fire Flare a leg-up and she sours higher than the ball. She kicked it down to Derpy.  Derpy taps it away to Gilda. The white haired athlete sprints to the box with the forwards ahead of her. She gives them the cross and Sunset gains the possession.  “Come on, girls, let’s end this!” Rainbow told them.  “Oh! Me first!” Lightning blurted out but they gave her a cold stare. “Fine, me second!” But their cold stares remained, making her groan. “Me third? Does that sound fair?” But they ignored as they pushed through, Sunset gave the ball to Rainbow, now that it’s her and the goalie, she concentrated on where she wanted to shoot, so she aimed for the right and released a power kick.  And at last, they scored a goal just two split seconds before full time.  Soon, the stadium was filled with cheers from the away crowd and the team. They went to their own crowd in the bleachers and they all celebrated. The CHS students let out a cry of joy and victory even Pinkie with her megaphone.  Another game, another win made in history. And tomorrow will be an exciting day to cherish more of their victory.