Just as Indigo had expected, her black eye disappeared after a week. Coincidentally, Lemon Zest came back to school on the same day.
She was, however, as far from being fine as possible. She’d spend breaks sitting on the floor with headphones covering her ears. During the lessons, she worked hard, barely paying attention to her surroundings. The first training she took part in showed that her form had dropped considerably. After an hour spent missing every single goal shot and losing the ball every time she and Suri Polomare met on the pitch, she just sat on the bench, staring at the grass.
“Are you okay?” Indigo sat next to her. She looked at the pitch, where Frosty Orange kicked the ball between Sugarcoat’s legs and back-heeled it into the goal. Shortly before the training, they received their new kits. Indigo smiled when she saw her purple shirt with dark-blue sleeves, adorned with a large “11” in the back, but her smile quickly faded when she saw that Lemon Zest ended up with number 21, meaning that she’d start the match on the bench.
“I suck,” Lemon replied. “Good thing Frosty is fine.”
“You did pretty well for what you’re going through,” Indigo said. “And remember that we’ll need you, even as a substitute.”
Lemon shrugged. Indigo sighed before getting back on the pitch to practice with the ball. She bounced it off her head, chest and knees, before passing it to Lemon, who didn’t even react when the ball hit the bench right next to her.
“Oh, come on!” Indigo rolled her eyes. “I get it, Lemon, but you once said yourself that a Crystal Prep student can’t mope forever!” She walked to Lemon. “What else do we have to do so you at least speak to us?”
“You know those big furniture stores?” Lemon muttered. “I always wanted to stay in one after it closes and have a sleepover there.”
Indigo slammed her hand against her forehead. “Damn it, Lemon… Fine, if you score a goal, I’ll go with you, okay?”
“Sure, whatever.” Lemon stood up and kicked the ball to Indigo. “I probably won’t be playing anyway…”
The day was still warm after the training, so Indigo simply swapped her clothes for the away kit of Crystal Prep team, rather than her school uniform. She still caused quite a sensation when she parked by the youth centre – a girl wearing a yellow football jersey with dark blue sleeves, dark blue shorts and knee-long socks of the same colour riding a motorbike just wasn’t something people could see often.
Indigo took off her helmet and walked into the youth centre, listening carefully for the sounds of violin. She climbed upstairs and entered the hall.
The rehearsal was about to end. Bulk was still practicing some complicated passage on his violin, but most of the musicians were already packing their stuff.
“Hi Indigo!” Lyra approached her and smirked. “Are you sure you didn’t, like, get mistaken or something?”
“What do you mean?” Indigo asked.
“I mean, I once went to school in a bikini, but I wanted to win a bet with Bonnie.” Lyra shrugged. “Soccer kit at the music hall is a new thing for me, though. Very… experimental.”
“I’m training hard to kick your ass,” Indigo replied. “But for now, I’m waiting for Bulk.”
“Kick our ass?” Lyra nodded. “Please. I mean, our winger got herself suspended, that idiot.” She shrugged. “Bound to happen, really. But we already got a replacement.” She pointed at the raven-haired girl who was walking towards them with a cello case.
“Octavia?” Indigo asked. “You play soccer too?”
Octavia frowned. “I don’t know what you mean, luv. I play football.”
“Really?” Indigo raised her eyebrows. “I’d never guess. Like, such a prim and proper woman surely wouldn’t be as uncultured to–”
“Lyra, hold my cello.” Octavia gave the cello case to Lyra. “You have a ball in your backpack, don’t you?”
“Yeah.” Indigo opened her backpack and produced a ball.
Octavia kicked off her high-heeled shoes. “Try to get past me.”
“What?”
“What I said.” A spark appeared in Octavia’s eyes. Indigo noticed that several musicians, including Bulk, were now looking at them.
“Okay.” Indigo dropped the ball on her foot and took a few short steps towards Octavia, watching her carefully. She touched the ball gently with the outside of her right foot; Octavia moved slightly to her left, which was what Indigo wanted. In a flash, she kicked the ball with the inside of her right foot, darting to her left.
A second later, she was lying on the floor, watching Octavia standing above her with the ball at her feet. The tackle itself, as far as Indigo could tell, was clear; she still regretted ditching the shin guards after the training, though.
“That hurt…” Indigo muttered.
“An’ it bloody ‘ad to,” Octavia replied, kicking the ball to Indigo who caught it before it hit her face. “Berk.”
“Told you.” Lyra helped Indigo up. “She has a Cinderella syndrome. At the ball, she suddenly stops being a princess.”
Indigo nodded. “Ah, so it’s like Sunny Flare. She once got sent off for calling ref a wanker.”
Octavia sighed. “Did she also pronounce it wrong?”
Indigo stood up and dropped the ball on the floor. “You pronounce it wrong,” she replied. “Also, you were lucky this time.”
Octavia gritted her teeth and rushed towards Indigo, who was waiting for her with the ball at her feet.
“Oh boy, here we go…” Lyra muttered.
Indigo touched the ball with her foot, as if she wanted to copy her earlier dribble, but when Octavia approached her, she stood on the ball and spun in place, letting Octavia pass behind her back, while she shielded the ball on her. She kicked it forward and ran, stopping by the wall and turning towards Octavia.
“See?” Indigo chuckled. “I can do that all day.”
Octavia’s face turned red. She charged at Indigo, who passed the ball between her feet and stopped by Lyra.
“She’s not bad,” Indigo said, watching Octavia. “Just loses concentration too fast.”
Lyra nodded and kicked the ball from under Indigo’s feet. “Same here, I’d say.” She shrugged. “What? Haven’t you heard that there are two nutjobs in every team? Goalkeeper and the left winger.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “I play on the left wing. And for the other team.”
Indigo nodded, trying to to determine whether Fleur and Sunny Flare were nutjobs. Most definitely, none of them played for the other team, as far as Indigo knew.
“Hey, kids! No playing here!”
Feeling chill running down her spine, Indigo turned back to see Bulk laughing loudly. “Hello, Indy,” he said, hugging her.
“Eww…” Lyra muttered. “Hope they’re not gonna do that after the game…”
The week before the match passed quickly. Animosities between the fans on social media reached apogeum somewhere around Thursday, when Indigo spent a good few hours checking out the memes posted in the group for Crystal Prep’s students by the supporters of both teams. It seemed that Sandalwood and several other people from CHS had managed to get into the group and were now using that fact to a pretty amusing effect.
The meme war finally died down somewhere around the lunch break on Friday, although some younger students tried to keep it going at least until Saturday morning. By this time, however, Indigo was already concentrating on the game, which meant no internet and phone until the Crystal Prep bus with the team and their supporters parked in front of Canterlot High.
“Okay,” Indigo stretched her legs and stood in the middle of the crowd. She saw Fleur and Upper Crust talking with their boyfriends, Fancy Pants and Jet Set. Lemon and Sour Sweet were standing together, silent. Frosty Orange was alone, and seemed blissfully unaware of anything but the ball she was holding.
Sugarcoat stood next to Indigo. “Hmm, do you think those two fuck?” She pointed at Suri Polomare, who was standing a bit away from the group, accompanied only by some blue-haired girl who stood behind her, saying something. She had large, blue eyes and was even shorter than Suri.
“I don’t want to imagine that,” Indigo muttered. At the same moment, Suri turned back and yelled at her friend, slapping her. The girl ran away, crying.
Sugarcoat raised her eyebrows. “Rude.”
“No matter that we’re in one team, remind me to break Suri’s hand after the match,” Indigo said.
“Are you crazy?” Sugarcoat asked. “There’s the whole season before us.”
Indigo only had time to shake her head, as Mr. Sombra appeared and led them into the building. On the way to the locker rooms, they were joined by Sandalwood.
“Hello, loser,” he said, hugging Sugarcoat. “Ready for a beating?”
“Please.” Indigo chuckled. “As if we ever lost against CHS…”
“Yeah.” Sugarcoat poked Sandalwood. “Remember that I know better ball tricks. I can show you some of them later…”
Indigo sighed. “Thanks, Sugarcoat. I’ll surely be faster after throwing up…”
“Oh, please.” Sugarcoat sighed. “I could never understand why people are so squeamish about their sexuality. Like, it’s possibly the most beautiful part of life, but they think it’s vulgar and disgusting…”
“Fuck off, Sugarcoat,” Indigo muttered.
“You’re just proving my words.”
Indigo groaned. “What limb do you want to have broken?”
Sugarcoat turned to Sandalwood. “Indigo is working for you, secretly. Her goal is to break bones of everyone in our team.”
Sandalwood nodded. “Groovy.” He stopped by the door of the dressing room. “So, after you end this pathetic show, I’ll be waiting for you.”
“Prepare for total humiliation…” Sugarcoat chuckled and opened the door. “Bye, Woody,” she purred before pulling Indigo inside.
A few minutes later, after the whole team was dressed in their outfits, Mr. Sombra walked into the dressing room.
“Okay, girls, I got their starting line-up,” he said, producing a piece of paper and passing it around the team. “Mostly no surprises. Try to attack down the right wing, the defender on their left side is new, apparently. Same goes for the left winger, Lyra Heartstrings. Anyone know her?”
“I do,” Indigo replied. “She’s tall, thin, and completely insane.”
Melon Mint gave her a piece of paper. Indigo looked at it and read:
1. Muffins (GK) — 2. Bon Bon (CB), 19. Paisley (CB), 21. Diamond Tiara (CB) — 7. Octavia Melody (RM), 6. Applejack (DM), 10. Sunset Shimmer (AM), 16. Rarity (DM), 42. Lyra Heartstrings (LM) — 9. Rainbow Dash (ST, captain), 11. Scootaloo (ST)
“Octavia may be a problem,” Sugarcoat said. “My research was focused on Cloudy Kicks and she usually just runs on her side and passes the ball into the box. Anyone knows what’s Octavia’s dominant leg?”
Indigo furrowed her eyebrows, trying to recall Octavia playing cello and trying to steal the ball from her. “Right. Probably will be the same as Cloudy Kicks.”
“Good,” Mr. Sombra said. “Indigo, as our captain, do you have something to add?”
“Not much.” Indigo cleared her throat. She looked at Lemon Zest, Sour Sweet, and Suri Polomare. “I just want you all to, umm… leave your issues and weaknesses here and play the best match you can. And always remember, we are a team and we never lose!”
“That’s the second worst speech I ever heard,” Sugarcoat muttered when they walked down the corridor leading to the football pitch.
The sun was shining and the bleachers were filled with people. Indigo noticed Sour Sweet’s sister among the cheerleaders, as well as her family among the spectators. Bulk was sitting by the sideline with Sandalwood and Flash, who was talking to a blonde girl wearing a goalkeeper’s outfit.
“Ah, so that’s this girl that hits on Flash,” Indigo muttered.
“Let’s hope we score with her faster than him…” Sunny Flare replied.
“Welcome!” The commentator’s voice echoed across the stadium. “Snips and Snails here. Hope you guys are ready, because we’re, like, gonna have a big game here, right?”
“Sure, my dear friend,” the other commentator replied. “I see the guest team is already here, so let’s start with the line-up… Hmm, where did I have that card?”
“Damn, Snips… I put it down for a moment and– Wait, here it is.”
“That’s like, the first team I see where the numbers are in order,” Snips said. “Ladies and Gentlemen… Let’s welcome Crystal Prep Academy!”
Indigo and her teammates stood in the middle of the pitch along with the referees and Canterlot High’s team, dressed in light blue outfits with yellow details. The ovation mixed with loud music coming from the speakers deafened them briefly, but after a moment, it was turned off, letting the commentators do their job.
“Number one… Fleur Dis Lee,” Snails said. “Is that a Canadian name?”
“I’d say it’s French,” Snips replied.
“Really? Do they speak Canadian in France?” Snails asked.
The sound of someone’s forehead hitting the table was clearly heard through the speakers. “Nevermind.” Snips said. “On the right, number two – Upper Crust. On the left defence, number three – Ginger Owlseye. Numbers four and five, Sugarcoat and Melon Mint in the middle. Six, midfield anchor, Suri Polomare.”
“Position commonly known as defensive midfielder or the dirty job guy,” Snails said. “Or a girl, in this case.”
Snips sighed. “Number seven, Orange Sherbette, right wing. On the left, number eight, Sunny Flare. Frosty Orange, number ten, right behind a pair of strikers, number nine, Sour Sweet, and number eleven, Indigo Zap.”
Indigo noticed a girl with blue hair and purple sunglasses sitting behind the DJ console next to the commentators. She looked at them and cranked the music up, drowning their voices as they tried to read CHS team’s line-up. Indigo shook her head and went to the referee to shake hands with Rainbow Dash and, after a coin toss, choose the halves of the pitch.
“This will be fun,” Sour Sweet said when she and Indigo finally stood in the middle of the pitch, ready for the kick-off. “Someone will be massacred.”
The referee blew his whistle and Indigo passed the ball to Sour Sweet. The crowd cheered as Crystal Prep team’s members began to move forward, their attack unfolding.
It quickly turned out that it wouldn’t be easy to pass through the middle line of CHS team; a concentrated group of three centre midfielders and defenders formed a double wall that Frosty, Sour, and Indigo found hard to break down with passing and almost impossible to outrun.
The first attack broke down when Applejack’s sliding tackle caused Frosty Orange to lose the ball. It rolled down the pitch to Suri Polomare.
“Damn…” Indigo muttered. She’d noticed earlier that while Suri was good at defence, her attack skills were limited to passing to the nearest unmarked teammate. In this case, she quickly kicked the ball to Sunny Flare, whose attempt to flank the defence line was quickly interrupted by Octavia, who passed it to Sunset Shimmer.
“Foul!” Snips exclaimed when Suri Polomare suddenly appeared behind Sunset’s back and knocked the ball from under her feet, throwing her off balance and causing her to fall. The referee had a different opinion; Sugarcoat intercepted the ball and passed it to Upper Crust.
Orange Sherbette noticed the Crystal Prep’s shortage of players in the middle of the pitch and ran there, giving Upper Crust some space to gain speed. Upper ran past Lyra and passed the ball to Orange Sherbette, who gave it back to her before Rarity could reach her. By this time, Upper Crust was already by the penalty area. She noticed Sour Sweet rushing there and passed to her.
“Oooh!” Crystal Prep’s fans exclaimed seeing that Diamond Tiara appeared by Upper Crust at the last moment, blocking the cross. The ball bounced off her head and landed on Lyra’s chest.
Lyra didn’t waste time. Seeing that Orange Sherbette and Upper Crust didn’t come back to their half yet, she rushed down the field. Suri Polomare missed her. Sugarcoat tried to tackle the ball, but she slipped when Lyra made a feint surprisingly quick for someone with such long legs. Seeing that more of the players in yellow shirts were coming at her, Lyra crossed the ball towards Scootaloo.
This time, the Canterlot High fans groaned in unison when Scootaloo’s header was firmly caught by Fleur. She waved her hand at the bleachers and threw the ball to Melon Mint.
The game turned into a midfield battle. After the first twenty minutes, Indigo groaned in frustration; most of the Crystal Prep’s attacks were carried out down the wings and since she was shorter than any of the Canterlot High’s defenders, she had a hard time competing against them for the aerial passes. The one time she did receive a pass, she managed to dribble the ball around Diamond Tiara and Paisley, but before she could pass it to Sour Sweet, Bon Bon appeared out of nowhere and tackled it.
“This sucks,” she said to Sour Sweet as they stood by the centre circle, waiting for the ball in case of a counterattack. “We need to switch positions. I’ll help Frosty as the second midfielder while you stay in the front, looking for headers.”
Sour Sweet nodded. Behind them, Ginger Owlseye took the ball from Sunset Shimmer and passed it to Sunny Flare, who decided to switch play and made a long pass to Orange Sherbette. Indigo and Sour Sweet run into the penalty area, followed by Frosty Orange, as well as the defenders coming back.
Meanwhile, Orange Sherbette managed to outrun Lyra and kicked the ball towards Sour Sweet. Indigo skid to a halt between Paisley and Diamond Tiara, watching as the ball bounced off Sour’s forehead and arced to her. Indigo reacted instinctively. The goal was behind her back, so she jumped into the air, leaping back and raising her left leg. As the ball soared above her, she snapped her right leg up, hitting the ball.
She fell on the ground, accompanied by the cheering of the audience. She got up quickly to see the ball in the net and the blonde goalkeeper still stunned by that sudden shot.
“So, after the, I must admit, beautiful overhead kick by Indigo Zap, we’re losing 1:0,” Snails said. “Worry not, though, there’s still plenty of time to go. Go, Canterlot High!”
“Now we got them.” Sunny Flare embraced Indigo and they went back to their half of the pitch. “No way they can score against us.”
It seemed that she was right. After conceding the first goal, the Canterlot High team lost a bit of their flair. Their attacks were rare and badly prepared. After one of the counterattacks, Frosty Orange managed to hit the post, while Sunny Flare’s follow-up shot went wide. Soon after that, just a minute before the half-time, Indigo dribbled the ball between Rarity’s legs, only to be find herself on the receiving end of Bon Bon’s sliding tackle right in front of the penalty area.
The referee’s whistle caused the crowd to start booing. For a while, Indigo lay on the grass, rubbing her shin. She got up quickly, though, seeing that Sunny Flare wanted to take the ball.
“That’s my free kick,” Indigo said, putting the ball in place. Applejack, Bon Bon, Paisley, and Octavia stood in front of her, forming the wall, while Muffins rested her hand against the post, guarding her part of the goal. Indigo looked at her and took a deep breath.
The referee blew his whistle. Indigo rushed to the ball and kicked it, sending it right between the heads of Paisley and Bon Bon.
She heard the ring right after she saw that the ball hit the bar and the ground. “Goal!” she shouted.
The referee shook his head while Diamond Tiara kicked the ball as far from the goal line as possible.
“Seems that Zap thought it bounced behind the line…” Snips said. “She now runs to the ref, challenging his decision, but Canterlot High is on the run with the counterattack…”
Indigo froze. She raised her head and saw that Diamond Tiara’s desperate attempt to clear the ball sent it right under Sunset Shimmer’s legs. Before Suri Polomare could tackle her, Sunset passed the ball to Scootaloo, who was completely unmarked – Sunny Flare and Ginger Owlseye had moved too far forward during the free kick.
Sugarcoat abandoned her position in the centre-right area of the pitch, rushing towards Scootaloo. The young striker noticed that and suddenly stopped running, throwing Sugarcoat off-balance. She slipped on the grass while Scootaloo passed the ball to Rainbow Dash, who outrun Upper Crust and Melon Mint with ease.
“No offside!” Snips shouted into the microphone. “Rainbow Dash is one-on-one with Fleur Dis Lee…”
Rainbow Dash indeed ran into Crystal Prep’s penalty area. Fleur smirked and rushed towards her, ready to dive to her legs and steal the ball.
Rainbow smirked back. She kept the ball right at her feet, balancing her body to confuse the goalkeeper. Fleur hesitated, afraid that Rainbow could try to lob her; but at the same moment, the ball rolled on the ground between her legs and landed in the net.
“Goal!” Snails exclaimed when the whole team rushed the congratulate the scorer. “Rainbow Dash!”
“Shit,” Indigo muttered. She looked around, only to see the referee staring at her.
“One more use of such language and you’re gonna get booked,” he said. “One minute of stoppage time.” He pointed at the middle of the pitch.
“It seems that the Crystal Prep’s captain is discussing with the referee,” Snips said. “She probably doesn’t remember the definition of a goal.”
“Yeah,” Snails replied. “For the record, it’s when the whole circumference of the ball crosses the line by the length equal to the circumference of the ball. I hope that’s clear.”
Indigo felt the urge to greet the commentators with her middle finger, but stopped herself. Getting a card that way just wasn’t worth it.
The additional minute passed mostly uneventfully. After the whistle, the Crystal Prep team went back to their locker room for a talk with Mr. Sombra.
“That was a nice goal, Indigo,” he said after a minute of just pacing around the room. “But you just can’t afford to lose the concentration in last minutes!” He sighed. “Remember, even if the heaven opens above the pitch, rain of crystals falls and a chorus of angels tells you that you scored, wait for the referee’s decision with celebrating!”
“Yes, coach.” Indigo shook her head. Mr. Sombra, meanwhile, turned to Ginger Owlseye and Lemon Mint.
“What are you supposed to do as defenders?” he shouted.
“Defend?” Ginger Owlseye asked.
Mr. Sombra sighed. “Exactly. And what were you doing when we lost a goal?”
His question was met with complete silence, He looked around, looking for ideas, and his eyes finally rested on Suri Polomare. “And you! You run a lot, but your head is probably somewhere else. Why did you try to murder Sunset Shimmer?”
“I wanted to steal the ball,” Suri replied.
“You brought her down long after she got rid of it.” Mr. Sombra rolled his eyes. “Useless! Scootaloo already had a ball, so if the referee noticed, you’d end up with a card and the attack would continue due to advantage rule!” He sighed. “You’re here to make their life uncomfortable rather than be creative, but use your brain from time to time!”
“Sure, coach.” Suri shrugged and sat next to Indigo. “Not sure what’s the deal with that Sunset Shimmer. Like, I barely touched her, but she recoiled as if I burned her or something,” she whispered. “Maybe her daddy used to come to her at night…”
“Or maybe you forgot to wash your ass.” Indigo moved away from Suri and stood up. “Listen, girls, no time for panic. There’s the second half and we can overwhelm them with ease.”
“I believe you need to try harder,” Sugarcoat muttered in the middle of silence.
Indigo sighed and cleared her throat. “Who’s gonna win?” she exclaimed.
“Crystal Prep Academy!” the rest of the team shouted in unison. One by one, they stood up and left the locker room.
On her way back to the pitch, Indigo bumped into Sunset Shimmer.
“Nice to meet you again,” Sunset said. “Also, burying Suri Polomare in your backyard isn’t exactly a good idea.”
“Then, I’ll consider throwing the body into that portal-thingy.” Indigo muttered. “And don’t expect the second half will be any easier.”
Sunset shrugged. “Rainbow Dash most certainly doesn’t.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything else from her, really…” Indigo smirked.
Only a few minutes later, when they stood on their half of the pitch, waiting for the kick-off, Indigo realised what was bugging her.
“Sour?” she asked.
“Yes?”
“I was just thinking that burying Suri Polomare alive in my backyard would be a good idea,” Indigo replied.
Sour Sweet’s eyes widened. She looked around and said, “How do you want to do that? Do you have some way of baiting her to come to us, or do we follow her, shovel to the head and we pull her into the trunk?”
“No, not that.” Indigo groaned. “I was just randomly thinking that, when Sunset Shimmer told me that it was a bad idea.”
“Yeah, someone could see us.” Sour Sweet nodded. “Or she’d dig herself up.”
“No,” Indigo replied. “I mean, I was thinking that. How could she know?”
Sour Sweet smiled in the most psychotic way she could muster. “Magic.”
“Really?”
“No.” Sour Sweet grabbed her hair and spread them so they looked like Sugarcoat’s pigtails. “You’re just so dumb you have to move your mouth when you think.”
“That sounded more like a squirrel on drugs than Sugarcoat,” Indigo muttered.
Before Sour Sweet could reply, the referee whistled and Canterlot High’s team rushed forward. Indigo and Sour moved back to help with defence.
“Watch out!” Frosty Orange exclaimed, rushing towards Rarity, who was running down the right side with the ball. Indigo groaned, seeing how Sour Sweet and Frosty accidentally bumped into each other, collapsing.
Rarity ran further, unperturbed. Sunset, Rainbow Dash, and Scootaloo were trying to free themselves from the marking defenders, offering her an opportunity to pass. However, before Rarity could do it, Suri Polomare managed to get to her and pushed her away from the ball. A sharp whistle interrupted the game.
“Idiot,” Sour Sweet hissed, looking at Frosty Orange. She got up and walked towards the penalty area.
“What’s wrong with her?” Frosty muttered, looking at Indigo. “She seems to hate me.”
“Nah, she thinks you’re fine, but you’re not Lemon Zest.” Indigo helped Frosty Orange up and running with her towards the penalty area where Suri already got a yellow card and Fleur was yelling at the defenders forming the wall.
“Which of them is gonna shoot?” Indigo asked, standing in the wall next to Sugarcoat and watching at Rainbow Dash, Sunset, and Applejack preparing to take the free kick. “Rainbow Dash?”
“If so, the ball won’t touch us.” Sugarcoat shrugged. “She can spin around us and Fleur has to watch out.”
Indigo nodded. The whistle followed and Rainbow Dash leaned forward, running towards the ball. Indigo ran from the wall to the side, ready to block the shot. However, Rainbow only touched the ball with her foot and darted to the side, revealing that Applejack was running behind her.
The ball flew straight at the goal. It wasn’t spinning; it was a straight, powerful shot, going right into the space guarded by neither the wall, nor Fleur. The goalkeeper dived, ready to catch it, but before the ball reached her, Sugarcoat took a step to the right.
Indigo winced, seeing as the ball bounced off the side of Sugarcoat’s head, causing her to spin in place and collapse limply on the grass. The ball landed back under Applejack’s feet, but when she saw that Sugarcoat wasn’t getting up, she kicked it into the bleachers.
“Sugarcoat, are you okay?” Indigo asked, seeing that her friend was lying in the penalty area with her eyes closed. Sunny Flare poked her with her foot while the referee gestured the paramedics to the pitch.
Suddenly, Sugarcoat opened her eyes. “The hell...” she muttered.
“How are you?” Indigo asked.
Sugarcoat furrowed her eyebrows. “I either had a stroke or lost one of my lenses… My vision is blurry, but only in my right eye, and it’s freaky.”
“It’s bad,” Sunny Flare said. “Sugarcoat would never say ‘freaky’.”
“How do you know it’s bad?” Indigo shrugged. The paramedics grabbed Sugarcoat and put her on the stretcher, carrying her away. At the sideline, Cold Forecast started the warm-up.
“Trust me, my mom once played a nurse on TV.”
Indigo shook her head and went to the sideline. Orange Sherbette threw the ball to her, and Indigo kicked it on the other side of the pitch, giving it back to the Canterlot High in return for Applejack kicking the ball out of play earlier.
For a few minutes, the Crystal Prep team played without a defender, but then Cold Forecast took Sugarcoat’s place on the pitch, bumping fists with her friend, Ginger Owlseye.
Soon, they didn’t have much time to talk. Canterlot High unleashed a hurricane of attacks, bombarding Fleur’s goal with shots from the distance. Indigo could barely catch a breath, running from one penalty area to the other, desperately trying to form a counterattack.
Frosty Orange had it even worse; she often had to act as a second defensive midfielder and it was clear that, just like Indigo, she was much better in attack. When Sunset Shimmer dribbled the ball around her again in the middle of the pitch, she pulled her jersey and brought her down.
The whistle interrupted the game again. The referee ran to Frosty and showed her a yellow card. Sunset passed the ball to Octavia, who ran down the right side of the pitch. Ginger Owlseye darted to her, preparing to steal the ball once Octavia would move to her right.
Suddenly, Octavia cut to her left, leaving Ginger behind and running between Cold Forecast and Melon Mint. Before any of them could reach her, she kicked the ball with her left leg.
For a moment, Indigo thought that the ball was going wide. However, it curled towards the goal, flying between Fleur’s hands and landing in the net.
The crowd erupted in cheers. Octavia ran to the bleachers, where the commentators and the DJ were sitting, taking off her shirt and throwing it into the air. Dressed only in a sports bra, she climbed to high-five the DJ.
“She’s gonna get a card for that, for sure,” Snips said. “But that hardly matters since we’re winning. Twenty minutes to go, 2:1 for Canterlot High. Snails?”
“Yes?”
“Stop eyeing Octavia and get back to commenting,” Snips sighed. “What is with the players taking off their shirts after a goal?”
“Dunno, she’s European,” Snails replied. “They never waste an occasion to get rid of their clothes.”
Indigo barely listened to the commentators, but she knew they were right. Even though Octavia indeed got a yellow card for her display of joy, Canterlot High was still in the lead. Soon after the game was restarted, Orange Sherbette managed to make a nice pass to Indigo, but Muffins caught her shot easily. The same happened to Sour Sweet’s header a minute later.
“Hey, Octavia!” Suri Polomare exclaimed. “Is it true that to play in the CHS team you have to be a lesbo?”
“Bugger off, tosspot,” Octavia muttered. Suri looked at the referee, but he apparently hadn’t heard them.
Indigo shook her head. “If you keep making sure referee doesn’t hear you, don’t act surprised when he doesn’t hear her either,” she said.
“Shut up.” Suri walked away to take her position.
Another attack of Canterlot High ended with Melon Mint clearing the ball. However, Crystal Prep’s attack came to a halt when Sunny Flare lost the ball which left the pitch.
“Orange Sherbette!” Indigo gestured her right winger to herself.
“Yes?” Orange asked.
“You’re the closest to our bench. Tell Mr. Sombra that we need Lemon Zest on the pitch.”
Frosty Orange walked to them. “I’m not tired,” she said. “Unless… you just don’t want me here.”
Indigo raised her eyebrows. “What? No, of course not. We need everyone who can kick the ball straight for more than ten metres. You too, Frosty. Sherbette, tell Mr. Sombra that Suri gets more and more pissed and she may get a second yellow card soon.”
When a few minutes later another desperate attack by Crystal Prep ended up with a corner, the linesman raised his flag.
“We seem to have quite a few substitutions here,” Snails said. “In Crystal Prep, number twenty-one, Lemon Zest, for number six, Suri Polomare. Suri didn’t score, but if my sources in the Canterlot High’s locker room are correct, she suggested that everyone in our team are faggots, weirdos, or nerds, just in the first half alone. Oh, and she also said that Rarity copied her designs.”
Half of the crowd laughed, while the rest booed as Suri left the pitch.
“Meanwhile, in the Canterlot High team, we get two substitutions,” Snips continued. “Pinkie Pie for Lyra Heartstrings and, a debut in the team, Apple Bloom for Rarity. Which means that we now have two sisters in the midfield.”
“Welcome back, Lemon,” Indigo said when they both stood in the penalty area.
Sunny Flare crossed the ball into the penalty area. Indigo darted forwards, losing the defender marking her, but before she could reach the ball, Muffins caught it and quickly threw it to Apple Bloom.
“Not this again…” Indigo muttered, running back to her half of the pitch. Apple Bloom kicked the ball to Sunset Shimmer, who quickly passed it to Scootaloo. The striker rushed into the Crystal Prep’s penalty area, facing Fleur.
A sharp whistle interrupted the game. Indigo looked at the linesman, hoping that it was an offside, but he didn’t raise his flag.
Next to her, Sunny Flare cursed. Indigo turned towards the penalty area, to see that Scootaloo was lying in the middle of it, while Fleur was waving her hands, explaining something to the referee.
“It seems that Dis Lee caught Scootaloo’s ankles when she was about to dribble the ball past her…” Snails said. “The referee has to take an action… Yes, that’s a red card!”
“What?” Indigo ran to the referee. “We’re already getting a fucking penalty! Why a red card too?”
All she got was a yellow card. Several more players from both teams rushed into the penalty area, shouting at each other. Fleur seemed to accept the referee’s decision. She left the pitch and walked to the changing room, while the other goalkeeper, Diwata Aino, was preparing to the substitution.
“Stop fighting!” Mr. Sombra shouted. “We’re running out of time!”
“Seems that the brawl got defused before it even started…” Snips muttered.
“Would you want to see them fight?” Snails chuckled.
Before Snips could reply, Vice-Principal Luna appeared behind his back and cleared her throat, causing the speakers to go haywire and deafen everyone with feedback.
“Okay.” Snails gulped. “In Crystal Prep team, Melon Mint, number five, is gonna get replaced by Diwata Aino, number twelve, as it usually happens when a goalkeeper gets sent off. In the meantime, Diamond Tiara is replaced by the best defender in the world, Trixie Lulamoon.”
“What if they reached their quota of subs?” Snips asked. “Also, if Trixie was the best, wouldn’t she play from the beginning?”
“Remember what she promised us…” Snails sighed. “Also, Someone from the field would have to change clothes and pretend they’re a goalkeeper,” he added. “Still, it will be hard for Aino to save a penalty right off the bat, especially since they’re already losing and there’s two minutes to go.”
“And at least five minutes of stoppage time. We had a few breaks,” Snips said.
Diwata stood at the goal line, staring at Rainbow Dash, who placed the ball on the penalty mark. Each of them stared into each other’s eyes, trying to guess their plans.
Diwata waved her hands and jumped in the goal a few times as Rainbow Dash ran towards the ball. It flew into the air, aiming straight in the middle, while Diwata dived to her left. Seeing the ball, she reached back with her leg, and it bounced off her shoe. She got up quickly, seeing that Rainbow Dash was trying to get the follow-up shot, and grabbed the ball.
“Rainbow Dash misses a penalty!” Snips exclaimed when Diwata kicked the ball as far from her goal as she could. It bounced off the ground in the Canterlot High’s half, completely surprising Paisley, who failed to notice Lemon Zest running behind her back.
Lemon ran with the ball, jumping with it over Trixie, who attempted a sliding tackle. Bon Bon rushed to block the shot, but it was too late; the ball kicked by Lemon barely scratched her shoe. It was, however, enough for it to change direction slightly and land in the goal next to Muffins’ hands.
“Yes!” Indigo exclaimed, running to Lemon Zest and embracing her. They fell to the ground, soon disappearing under their teammates piling up on the top of them.
“You’ve dodged the bullet with this one! The principal won’t be happy with a draw...” Mr. Sombra exclaimed when the game ended a few minutes later, but Indigo didn’t care. She, Sour Sweet, and Sunny Flare carried Lemon Zest to the changing room.
“We’d better check on Sugarcoat,” Sunny Flare said on the way. “Hope she didn’t get any permanent brain damage…”
“Oh, screw her,” Sour Sweet muttered. “Let me and Lemon enjoy that for a while…”
Lemon chuckled and turned to Indigo. “Oh, by the way…”
“What?” Indigo asked.
“Remember your promise?”
Indigo stopped, nearly dropping Lemon Zest. “Oh, damn…”