Rainbow Dash put on her gum guard and looked behind her back. All the players were at their position, and Pinkie Pie was ready by the goal. In the bleachers, just like two days before, the rest of her friends, plus Soarin, was.
Here she was. At her very last interschool championship competition. Female lacrosse. This sport she had discovered once out of Green Haven, when she was looking for something into which she could pour all her aggressiveness, as advised by Dr. Horse. And with which she hoped she would transform her future.
Not that the stakes were important. No, they were crucial. She had to win this, and not only because it would allow Wondercolts to get an All-Kill of four successive victories. Also because she expected a lot from it for the rest of her life.
If she were selected, she wouldn’t only obtain a scholarship, but she would also be almost assured to continue as a professional player. And to become a professional athlete was one of the goals she wanted to achieve. Anyway, she was convinced it was the only possible choice of career for her.
Alright, lacrosse wasn’t her favorite sport. Yet, it had been a while now since she no longer had illusions about basketball. And things were more complicated when they came to Roller Derby. She liked to play it for fun, and most importantly to unwind a bit more, but not so much she would envision herself as professional.
Positioned at the center of the field with the captain of the rival team in front of her, Rainbow Dash offered her legendary wink to the young woman. Even in sports, she had a reputation, and each of the players knew that, if she did the wink, it always was to let the player in front of her know that she wouldn’t do her any favors. In fact, she even thought she saw the girl swallowing when the referee whistled the beginning of the game.
It no longer was the right time for existential questionings. Now, Rainbow Dash’s mind was entirely focused on the game and the action. She was going to be merciless. Beware those who would try to get HER ball!
Intoxicated by screams of support, she gave everything she had and was able to trick her opponents without even using her famous aggressive bumps, one of her specialties. It wasn’t made in order to spare the rival team… In reality, it was because she was still suffering from the shoulder stroke of the basketball finals.
After one quarter of the game, the Wondercolts already had scored two goals, against only one from the opponents. Rainbow Dash intended to score another one, if not two, before the end of the first mandatory half-hour, thus making sure her team would get a comfortable advance.
For now, she was going after a player who was herself running straight towards the goal, where Pinkie Pie was waiting to stop the orange ball. She trusted her friend completely to stop the rival’s action, which didn’t prevent her from trying her best to stop the other girl from getting there. If the two teams happened to be tied, it would be harder to outdistance them during the next quarter-hour, and worse in the half-hour to come.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t swift enough, and the young athlete threw the ball towards the net. But instead of landing in the goals, or even between Pinkie Pie’s hands, it hit her left eye full force.
Immediately, the referee whistled for a break, and the whole Wondercolt team froze in horror. Pinkie Pie was crouched, hand on her eye and shrieking like Rainbow Dash never heard her before. Obviously, it wasn’t a harmless stroke.
The sports doctor of CHS arrived at full throttle on the field and examined the teenager’s eye. All the players had come closer to the goal, after they had put down their crosse at the exact spot where they were when the referee whistled the break. They weren’t allowed to come any closer and their tension was palpable up to the bleachers.
Up there, the whole gang was trembling from fear. Fluttershy even covered her eyes, scared to see it if something really awful did happened to her friend. The others were holding hands as a comfort, and Soarin had his hands dug into his hair. He couldn’t clearly see Rainbow Dash’s face from where he sat, but he knew how important Pinkie Pie was to her, and how protective they were toward each other.
The doctor claimed Pinkie Pie couldn’t stay in the game, since it was too great a danger for her eye, that he had to examine more deeply at the sickroom.
Considering how long the girls had begged their team coach to get them googles, just like American players! If she hadn’t postponed it all the time, choosing the purchase of other supplies instead, maybe this was an accident that could have been avoided. Of course, they had a substitute goal keeper, but she didn’t have Pinkie Pie’s agility to stop balls.
It was a disoriented Rainbow Dash who went back to her position on the field in order to resume the game, while Pinkie Pie was brought to the sickroom by the medical team. It was going to be a lot harder for her to focus on the game now. She could never help herself from thinking about her friend, from worrying about her eye. Especially as now, it seemed to her that victory wasn’t as obvious as she previously thought.
To the hell with cautions! She would have her whole holidays to care after that shoulder, and anyway, it wasn’t even dislocated or twisted. Her muscles were just a bit inflamed, nothing too grave. This time, she was going to be merciless. For good.
The match resumed and Rainbow Dash put on her mask of determination. Quickly, she was able to get the ball back from one of the rival player’s crosse, and to send it to Lemon Drops. All she’d have to do would be to get rid of a few defenders blocking her path to get to the goal and to take the advantage back.
And so, she was really surprised when the referee whistled at her attention, as she had just knocked over the first girl. And she was even more surprised when he got out a yellow card… Yet, she had made no fouls…
“Foul! No contact!”
“What? No!”
That was the way she’d always done things, and never got into troubles before, even less a yellow card for foul. In theory, female lacrosse prohibited physical contacts, but it was impossible to escape it fully and everyone knew it. All the referees she had to deal with until then knew as well and none had ever punished her for her signature bumps.
Rainbow Dash tried to explain this to the man, but he appeared to be uncompromising. In his opinion, no contacts meant no contacts at all. This explained why no girls from the other team had tried to bump into anyone, even when they had the chance. They probably had already played a game with this referee and knew he punished it harshly.
Without her best friend in front of the net, and without her favorite disorientation tactic, she felt as if obliged to play while walking on a thread up above the audience. All her marks were erased. And she didn’t like it. She needed things to happen in a special kind of way, or she had the sensation that something horrible would occur. It probably was one of the most unpleasant residues of her disorder.
Her goal was simple: to score in the last five minutes. After this, she would decide of another strategy for the second mandatory half-hour, but for now, she had to get rid of this damn equalization.
She went back to her position and dashed towards the goal, making sure she would bump into nobody, even if it was a bit complicated because of her game habits. Unfortunately, her shoot was stopped by the rival team’s goal keeper.
An unintentional discouraged sigh escaped from her lips, and she slipped her gloved hands into her hair dressed in a ponytail. It was even harder now to be focused on the game. Her mind wouldn’t stop wandering from the field to Pinkie Pie, for who she could do nothing else but worry.
To keep going for the last two minutes would be complicated, yet Rainbow Dash kept her eye on the price. With the right passes and the right strategy, everything was still possible.
The young woman was once again running towards the goal, while her teammates were passing the balls to each other at the center of the field. Waiting here while avoiding the other players was feasible… She saw the ball coming her way, and didn’t wavered before going to get it from the tip of her crosse.
Once again, the whistle resounded and, once again, the referee got out a yellow card.
In the heat of the moment, Rainbow Dash didn’t understand, before realizing that, quite unintentionally, taken into the fever of the game, she had bumped into one of the rival players. It was what she was doing all the time, and normally, it would have led her to victory. But not this time.
“Foul! Contact! Number 123, Rainbow Dash, sent off!”
Two yellow cards for the same player meant a red card, which led to the immediate sending-off of said player and this, until the end of the game. Technically, she wouldn’t be sent-off of the matches to come… The problem was that this was the Wondercolts’ female lacrosse team’s ultimate game, and thus, Rainbow Dash’s as well.
She followed the referee, tried to explain her point of view, as she did earlier, but he didn’t want to know. No choice. Her participation to the finals stopped here. And her chances to be recruited by the Canterlot University team and to obtain the scholarship that came with it were gone.
Unable to restrain herself, she chucked in the bottle of water her coach gave to her, which burst against the stone bench close to her. From the bleachers, could be clearly heard the voices of her friends, as well as Soarin’s, telling her it wasn’t a big deal and she had played very well, but she chose not to listen.
Rainbow Dash let herself fall on the ground, and hid her face inside her tee-shirt in order to cry sheltered from the eyes. It felt as if she could see all her efforts crumbling down before her eyes. Of course, she could still go to college, but she would be in no sports team. Which meant she would never get any merit scholarship. Her father would pay her tuition fees, and she’d been dreaded this scenario for years.
The consequences were many, and from her own point of view, it was a real disaster. Until her studies would be over, she would under her father’s and his money’s control. She wouldn’t be able to leave her family house, even after her nineteenth birthday, when her mother’s life insurance would be unblocked. Thus, he would decide it was up to him to determine which course she would take, and she was sure he wouldn’t approve of what she’d already chosen, and would force her to choose Business and Management instead.
Why did he save her if it was to lead her here? It wasn’t the future she wanted, to be at the mercy of Mr. Rainbow Blaze’s decisions and outbursts of anger.
She felt like imprisoned, sentenced to death. Of course, the bars built around her were made of gold and diamonds, but it wouldn’t change anything to the final result – she would be someone else’s puppet and this for at least the four next years to come.
---------------------------------
Rainbow Dash knocked three discreet times against the nurse’s office door, but no voice answered. She looked around in order to check whether Nurse Fauna wouldn’t be around, and since she couldn’t see her, she decided to come in before her return.
The office was empty, and when she pulled the curtain of the sickroom, she met face to face with Pinkie Pie, sitting on one of them, with a bandage on the left side of her face, hiding her injured eye.
Immediately expecting the worst, she had to restrain herself from gasping in fear.
When she saw her, her friend smiled her the way she always did, but her enthusiasm decreased a bit when she saw Rainbow Dash’s defeated look.
“Are you alright?” she asked as the girl stepped closer to her bed.
“I should be the one asking this to you…”
“Uh? You say this because of my bandage? It’s just a protection! In reality, I could take it off but it’s a very good excuse to stay here longer and ask anything I want to the nurse.”
Fine. At least, it was reassuring to see that her injury wasn’t that bad, and it surely explained why Nurse Fauna wasn’t here. Pinkie Pie had probably sent her getting whatever eccentricities that could ease her pain.
“I’m going to have a shiner for something like two weeks, so I’ll still look like this during Prom Ball, which is really sad, but thank the Queen we got Rarity as our friend and she’s almost a professional make-up artist, so she’s going to rectify this because I can’t look pretty in my pretty prom dress if I look like I’ve been fighting against Mikaela Mayer.”
“You know who Mikaela Mayer is?”
“I was bored, so I looked on Internet…”
There was no doubt about the fact that Pinkie Pie was in great shape. Her eye had prevented her from playing but it hadn’t ruined her natural sunny mood, and in all honesty, Rainbow Dash liked it best, though she also dreaded it. It was going to be easier for her to announce her friend the final score of the game, and at the same time, she knew it would probably get a wriggle on her cheerfulness.
Yet she didn’t have the choice – she had to tell her. She was going to know it, anyway, so it better came from her own mouth. Although it wasn’t going to be gladly.
The next thing her friend did, of course, was to ask her how the Wondercolts had been doing after she’d been obliged to leave the field.
Pinkie Pie saw Rainbow Dash lowering her head, and she understood even before she said the words.
“I’m sorry. We’ve lost six against eight. The referee wanted no contact at all between the players and I’ve been sent-off before the end of the mandatory first half-hour.”
“So… No All-Kill?”
“No All-Kill. I know that’s because of me.”
The other players of the team weren’t bad, far from it, and they still had good elements, such as Lemon Drops or Berry Cherry, however, without their titular goal keeper and captain, it had been difficult for them to manage well in front of a rival team suddenly fired up by these two departures in a row.
From her spot on the lawn, hidden from eyes, Rainbow Dash had watched the end of the game with a lump in her throat. They hadn’t been able to be aggressive without demonstrations of strength, like the opponents, and many times, they had missed good opportunities to score.
If she had been on the field with them, she would have gathered the girls more often in order to change the strategy, which had never been done by CHS, when the rivals hadn’t deprived themselves of these short ninety-two seconds breaks. Because of bad game tactics, victory had slipped through their fingers.
“I’m sure it wasn’t your fault”, Pinkie Pie comforted her, putting a hand on hers.
The curtains separating the office and the sickroom were pulled again, surprising them both. They were expecting to see the school’s nurse and instead, they saw their whole gang.
And their first reaction was to let out this gasp Rainbow Dash had swallowed back when they saw the bandage wrapped around Pinkie Pie’s face.
“I told you she was disfigured!” Fluttershy cried, hiding her face against Applejack’s shoulder.
“Hush, hush… Am sure it’s not that bad”, the latter answered, patting her head.
“Oh, it’s not that bad”, Pinkie Pie said with a smile, taking off her bandage. “I only got a bloodshot red eye and a shiner, look…”
Fluttershy finally dared looking up, but kind of slowly, until she jumped when Rarity gasped again when she discovered the injury.
“You can’t stay like this, darling. Thankfully, I’m here.”
She searched inside her handbag, got out a beauty case and sat on the bed next to Pinkie Pie, starting an emergency camouflage makeup, not asking for her opinion. Since she let her, it probably meant she agreed with that, didn’t she?
“I’m glad it’s nothing serious”, Twilight said. “We all were so worried when we saw the ball landing into your eye.”
“Yes”, Sunset Shimmer went on with a smirk. “She crushed my hand from the tension.”
“Did I do this?”
The young woman nodded, amused by her friend’s embarrassment. There was nothing to be embarrassed of. She could understand the stress she felt, since they all felt it too. In fact, Twilight probably hadn’t realized, but she crushed her fingers the same way.
It seemed to her then, just like everybody else in the room, that the person who needed comfort the most wasn’t Pinkie Pie, who kept on smiling despite the pain she probably was feeling.
A bit in retreat in a corner, Rainbow Dash kept a low profile, and took part to no conversation, not even with Soarin, next to her, but who didn’t know what to do. The moment when she had been sent off the field had broken their hearts, since they all knew how hard she wanted to win this last game under the CHS’ colors, thus getting to be chosen in the female lacrosse University team.
The coveted merit scholarship slipped through her fingers and with this, it felt as if she had witnessed a plane’s engine catching fire once again. All the wishes she had for her future, that she had started to think through very seriously, had vanished away at the same time than her chance to win the game.
Comforting her would be rather complicated. And it didn’t really convince Twilight to tell everyone the good news about her. She even wondered how she was going to make it, since they’ll have to know, one day.
A sudden racket distracted the whole bunch of friends, Rainbow Dash included. When they turned around to see where it came from, they saw Scootaloo, cheeks red and breath short, who had just bumped into the medicine cupboard of the nurse’s office.
“Oh my Goodness, are you okay?” Fluttershy asked her, stepping closer slowly.
Scootaloo only rubbed her forehead without answering, and planted herself in front of the group.
“Rainbow… Dash… There’s… There’s… a lady at the… stadium. She’s… looking for… you…”
“What does she look like?” she asked, getting closer.
“She’s wearing… a pant suit. Lilac hair… She says her name is… Miss Blue Cutie and she’s… from… Canterlot University.”
Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure, but the description sounded a bit like the female lacrosse team selector’s. If she was looking for her, did it mean she still stood a chance? She didn’t dare believing it. Her game hadn’t been that bad, but no one would choose a player who didn’t play by the rules and who received red cards, especially when it was the team’s captain, the very one supposed to be an example.
She turned to her friends and to Soarin, her eyes drowning with doubts.
“What do I do?”
“You have to go”, Soarin answered, stepping closer. “It could be important. You have not to neglect any details.”
“He’s right”, Applejack went on. “We can come with ya if yar frettin’ too much.”
“Yes, we all come with you.”
“Even me”, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy said at the same time.
Of course, Pinkie Pie was forbid to go since she couldn’t leave the sickroom without the nurse’s authorization. Because it stressed her a bit too much in fact, Fluttershy offered to be the one staying to keep her company. It let the group think that the residues of animosity in the young woman toward her friend were gone, and reassured, they all dashed towards the stadium.
It wasn’t easy for them to keep Rainbow Dash’s pace, running as fast as her legs could to the spot indicated by Scootaloo, hoping the lady hadn’t gone now.
Thankfully, she saw her on the field, checking her wrist watch. She was standing alone on the lawn, without anyone beside her except a young woman with bob hair and glasses.
When she saw Rainbow Dash coming her way, Miss Blue Cutie’s face brightened. She immediately asked her if she was who she was and stretched out a hand with a perfect manicure.
There was no way this elegant and apparently benevolent woman was Canterlot University’s female lacrosse selector. The woman’s reputation wasn’t the one of someone caring and well-groomed.
“I’m Miss Blue Cutie, Selector of the Athletics Team of CU.”
Athletics? Athletics! How could she forget the fact Canterlot University also was famous for the quality of their solo athtletes? How could she forget she was not only part of the basketball and female lacrosse teams? It felt as if she had denied her true self. Running. This was the sports discipline she liked the most.
The reason she had forgotten about this detail probably came from the fact the athletics competitions had happened much earlier. This, and the fact she had no answer for a scholarship until now, while she already had run for CHS and won many prizes months ago.
“Very nice to meet you”, Rainbow Dash answered, shaking her hand, unable to hide her excitement.
“So am I. Well, I don’t have much time, so I’m going to be quick. I’ve attended each of your competitions, from long-distance races to 500 meters’ relay races, by way of hurdles, as well as your basketball and lacrosse finals. I rarely had the chance to admire a runner of your kind. Canterlot University just can’t go without an athlete of your quality. Have you already received an offer from another team of the university, or of any other universities of the country?”
“I haven’t.”
Which wasn’t completely true, but Canterlot University was her only target.
“Unbelievable! How could this be? Well, that’s good news for us, right, Coco?”
“Yes, ma’m”, her young secretary nodded.
Rainbow Dash’s heart thumped into her chest, and she wondered how on Earth was she still standing. She wasn’t feeling overconfident in front of this important woman, and her boasting nature kept low profile, all curled up in a corner of her soul. All those compliments hit her at her sensitive spots and gave her hope again.
“If you want to be part of the athletics team, we’ll welcome you with great pleasure. The merit scholarship we give is a tiny bit less than the one of collective sports teams, but I swear on my life you’ll get access to the best of supplies and it would allow you to follow your studies very comfortably.”
What could she do, except accepting? And it wasn’t even through spite! She didn’t care if the scholarship was a few dollars less, it wasn’t the most important thing for her.
What mattered the most was that she would be able to keep on practicing sports at a high level, and even envision a professional career in this field, and above all the rest, she would finally be able to get off her father’s financial take over her.
Because of this, he kept on being able to lay down the law, to let his anger explode each time she didn’t meet his expectations, or, conversely, despise her and acting as if she weren’t even here, never looking into her eyes or face.
Soon, this would be over and she would be able to spread her wings and fly. Thus, becoming independent. For real.
-------------------------------------
“Miss Sunset Shimmer,
The whole Teaching Staff from the Art Department of Fillydelphia’s Private University is honored to notify you a favorable approval for your application for our program of Art and Design for Undergraduates.
Please join to your application file the following documents: grades for the latest exams, grades for your end-of-the-year evaluations, your application for a merit scholarship in art as well as your application for a room in one of our student accomodations here enclosed, before the mandatory date of 02/06/20XX.
Best regards,
Mr. Brick Stone, Dean of Fillydelphia’s Private University.”
This was the content of the letter she had found in her box mail, last night when she came home. Like very often, her mother and father were working late and she was the one in charge of picking up the mail and getting out the garbages, as well as of cooking the dinner.
Because of it, she hadn’t slept all night. Of course, this was a very good news. The University she had chosen notified her she was selected in the course she had chosen, and her parents even decided that tonight, they would celebrate this in her favorite restaurant, what hadn’t happened since ages.
What tormented her was the same fact that made her stay silent during lunch, in front of the girls’ restless conversations. She had to tell them about it all. And she could feel it wouldn’t be welcomed only by cheers and congratulations.
Sunset Shimmer thought she was prepared for it. In her mind, she had envisioned a thousand possible scenarios a hundred times already. But now she was in front of the fait accompli, everything she envisioned had vanished away from her mind. It was even harder because Twilight was sitting right in front of her…
She took a deep breath and decided to take the plunge. Too bad if she didn’t really know what to say. She would improvise, and que sera sera…
“Girls…” she said softly.
“Those damn movies they make just for the special effets, anyway, won’t pass the test of time, I’m telling you. They're not about art, they're about money! Just like that “Star Wars” thing which Lucas created only to get profits from selling toys! Shouldn’t be in lists of Best Movies of All Time next to “The Godfather” and stuff…”
Unfortunately for her, Rainbow Dash was plunged into a movie fan debate with Applejack, and for a once, both seemed to agree. One of them regretted the absence of good old Westerns, while the other ranted about the trend of the years, though it could seem surprising coming from her – this wasn’t the case for her friends, who knew her well, and knew she always preferred very old movies to new ones, except if they came from critically acclaimed directors, and thrillers and film noirs over action movies.
To meddle with such a conversation wasn’t going to be easy for Sunset Shimmer, yet she tried again, aware of how important her announcement was.
“Girls!”, she repeated, this time louder and with more conviction. “I have to tell you about something.”
This little sentence was enough to cut short all debates. Each knew, like many other persons, that it was rare those words were pronounced to tell something cheerful or pleasant.
The concern she could read in their eyes wasn’t going to make things easier for her.
She swallowed, gulped down water, and started again.
“In fact… Yesterday, I’ve received my university’s admission letter. Well, a letter telling me I was selected for my chosen course.”
Immediately, she saw comfort springing on everyone’s faces. Their shoulders even looked more relaxed.
“You scared us”, Twilight said with a smile.
“Yes”, Fluttershy went on. “We all thought you wanted to tell us something very shoking.”
They all nodded and answered at the same time, in a small racket of relieved voices, displaying liberation. It definitely didn’t make it easier for Sunset Shimmer, whose lump in the stomach went bigger at each passing seconds, to the extent it gave her heartburn.
“The thing is that this letter doesn’t come from Canterlot University, but from Fillydelphia’s Private University. CU doesn’t have any Art and Design program…”
Fluttershy turned as white as the paper napkins on the table, and almost gasped in horror. The other girls lowered their heads, staring at their trays, any hint of relief swept off their faces like trees under a tropical storm.
Twilight in particular seemed to be on the verge of crying. Sunset Shimmer suspected the young woman was asking herself a million questions, notably why she hadn’t told her anything about her intentions to apply to another college than the same as them.
They both were really close and had regularly spent nights and slumber parties at each other’s, unceasingly talking about their dreams for the future and their love for sciences - and drawing.
The others didn’t know at all. Though they all knew how close they were, they didn’t suspect those tête-à-têtes they had been very careful not to disclose.
The best thing to do remained to anticipate the questions her friends would ask her.
“I’m sorry I haven’t told you before… I was naïve, I guess, but I haven’t realized you were all staying at Canterlot. And, I really want to try to become a comic artist later, and nothing of what CU offered fit.”
A deep silence floated over the group after this announcement. From the very beginning, they all promised they would go together at the same university, if applicable, according to the courses they would choose. It was lucky for them that Canterlot University offered the country’s largest choice of disciplines… However, none had envisioned the fact there could be one of them to choose something that wasn’t available within the realm of possibilities.
They were happy for Sunset Shimmer, of course, nevertheless, a part of them couldn’t help but feeling saddened to think they wouldn’t be all together next year, especially as their various choices wouldn’t allow them to spend as much time together as they’d liked to. It was a bit hard to swallow.
Rainbow Dash was the first who decided to break the embarrassing silence. Her mother always taught her to see what’s positive even when everything seems to be negative. A new life lesson she had ignored for so long, but which took on its full meaning today.
Sunset Shimmer wasn’t going in another country, after all. Fillydelphia wasn’t that far by car, or even by train. And, nowadays, there always was ways to keep in touch, thanks to SNS, Skype and videophone.
“You know what? Big deal! We can resist long distances. You won’t be that far away from us, and you’ll be back on holidays. And we’ll come and visit you sometimes too.”
“That’s true”, Applejack went on. “There’s my family’s secondary house there.”
“Yes”, Pinkie Pie replied. “We’ll have big parties, just like last year! We’ll celebrate the end of mid-term exams, and birthdays, anniversaries of when we met!”
“See? Nothing’s over. And, I don’t know what you guys are thinking, but I say it takes so much more to break our friendship. With everything we’ve been through, I think we can say our bond is rock-solid. No, it’s a diamond, even. It can’t be broken. I trust ourselves.”
Twilight glimpsed at Sunset Shimmer, who answered with a comforting smile. Then, she looked at the smash carots on her plate and sighed. Rainbow Dash was right. It took more to break them apart. She had to keep faith in their feelings.
It probably was the best moment for her to tell the girls what she had to say. It wasn’t as shocking as Sunset Shimmer’s declaration, but she had to confess. Nothing could oppose it now. Fluttershy had also received a positive answer for her Life Science application, and Rainbow Dash now had her merit scholarship in sports.
And so, she grabbed her juice briquette and put it up.
“Congratulations, Sunset!”
Her friends smiled and put their briquettes up as well, in order to bump them together, congratulating the young woman.
That was when Twilight finally made up her mind.
“I have a good news too. Not only do I have the Royal Scholarship and I’m accepted in the Astrophysics program, but I’m also taken for the Summer Classes!”
“What?! That’s SOOOOO AMAZING!!” Pinkie Pie yelled. “Let’s put up our glasses… or rather, our briquettes for you too.”
Once again, they did the little routine, this time in order to congratulate Twilight. To be honest, none of them doubted even for a second that she would make it. She already was brillant, and her hardworking couldn’t go unrewarded. The opposite would have been surprising, if not scandalous.
What was certain was that the future seemed to be rather bright for all of them. Their path had been dented and layered with tree trunks, they had to deviate a bit from the chosen outlines, but in the end, each had been able to achieve the goals they imposed on themselves. Although, they all knew it, everything wasn’t won yet. And it was a good thing.