//------------------------------// // Wonders Through the Heat // Story: Equestria Girls: Wondercolt Soccer of Friendship // by MASTERMIND360 //------------------------------// “You guys saw this meme?” Rainbow Dash began, sending the others a GIF of an old meme in their group chat.  The others watched the GIF and were dissatisfied with how old it was.  “That was ages ago, Dashie,” Pinkie told her. Tapping her fingers on her phone. “What about this?” She sends a recent meme she found and the others reply with a brief laugh. As much as Rainbow thought it was funny, she doesn’t want to acknowledge it’s recently used. “That’s technically ages ago,” Rainbow denied.  The girls went to the band room as one of their usual hangout spots in school as they browsed their phones (except Rarity). Sunset just caught wind of the latest news so she sends it to her friends. The girls received Sunset’s message and were (except Twilight) confused about what she just sent them. Rainbow was confused at the sent message in her phone. “What’s this, Sunset? A blurry thermometer?” Sunset gave her an annoyed look. “No, Rainbow Dash. This week the weather will be insane!” She explained enthusiastically. “Thirty-five degrees, Celsius!" “With these conditions, it's best to put on some summer clothes for the time being,” Twilight said. “And that includes, drinks, ice cooler, and ice cream. A lot of them.” Pinkie appeared above her in an instant. “I can work on the ice cream!” But Rarity doesn’t seem to be interested in all of this. “Oh, sure. You darlings spend your precious time, looking down on your phones to stay notified with the dreaded heat.” She said in a sarcastic tone. Applejack frowned. “Seriously, Rarity. Why are yah so anti-technology?”  Rainbow scoffed. “Dude takes an old university to the next-level university.”  Twilight was perplexed to hear that. “Wait, are you saying that Rarity doesn’t like modern day technology?” “First off, don’t call me “dude”, darling,” she began, placing her bag down and reaching down for her item. “And besides, I have a phone.” When she showed it to them, it was an old 1970s telephone. Silence filled the void until the girls laughed it off, Rarity’s face gave fell to an annoyed look. “Oh, pish posh,” she objected. “It can’t be that old. It can also attach to the fax machine and everything.” She pulled out the fax machine and placed it next to her bag, she attached it with her phone. The machine was activated and did its thing. This makes the girls laugh even harder.  Rarity scoffed. “Fine, it seems clear to me that no one loves old props anymore.”  Rainbow walked up to her while wiping away her tears of laughter. “Look, Rares,” she laughed. “We get that you’re old fashioned and all, but you gotta consider using an Iphone. It's a thousand times better than that old joke.” Rarity gasped at that statement. “Rainbow Dash!” She scolded her. “Don’t you dare to insult this work of art!”  This makes her laugh harder than a moment ago. “I was just suggesting!”  But before this escalated ‌the bell rang for next class. Rainbow stopped laughing when she realized what her next subject was for today.  “Hey, Sunset, it’s gym class, Principal Celestia is expecting us soon,” she said and immediately took off with her super speed. “Hey, wait up!” Sunset went after.  ***** Apparently, for their last class of the day, Principal Celestia spoke with the School Board for permission to take her students anywhere to train them against the weather. So they allowed it. And her choice of destination is the beach. And around this time, it’s super hot. The group is at the beach, underneath the hot sun. They’re all drenched with sweat despite wearing their bathing suits. They lost their energy as soon as they got off the bus and barely rested when they changed into their bathing suits in the changing room.  Lightning Dust sported a yellow two-piece suit, Gilda, Spitfire, and Ember are wearing matching swim shorts, and sports bras with their cutie marks and favorite colors on it. Fire Flare wears a dark red two-piece that makes her hotter than Lightning. Derpy replaced her swim shorts with a bikini bottom that matches the design of her top. Smolder, and Fleetfoot are wearing one-piece suits with matching colors and Strawberry Sunrise wears a pink bikini top with strawberry design, and a matching bikini towel covering her bottom, just like Sunset.  Celestia is pacing left and right while wearing a tank top and red swim shorts, and holding the ball.  “Saddlers in Dubai school are known to thrive in the heat,” she explained. “So our skill and flair means nothing if we could never last for ninety-minutes.” Despite wearing their bathing suits, they are panting due to the strong heat, and yet some of them nodded to her plan. “You got it, ma’am,” Sunset agreed, wiping her forehead.  Rainbow nodded. “Crystal clear.”  Derpy let out a long sigh in sweat. “But why ninety-minutes?” “Are you like, serious, madam?” Ember asked. “Yes, I am,” Celestia stopped in her tracks and faced them. “The only way to play in these conditions is to keep possession as long as you can, but save your energy, and wait for the right time to strike.”  “When is the right time?” Lightning asked, wiping her head. “She means the dying minutes of the game, big head,” Gilda retorted.  “That’s correct, Gilda,” Celestia said. “With this setting, you should be ready for our Away game.” With that, she tosses the ball to the group. With a confident smile spreading across her face, Rainbow leaps and kicks the ball with style. “Take that!” She boasted, Celestia watches in dismay. “You called that good?” Gilda scoffed. “How’s this good?” She caught the ball with her feet and did a quick handstand and used her feet to throw  it away. Celestia grunted in frustration that they’re not following the plan. Sunset did her signature spin and caught the ball and kicked it in mid air. Despite the sandy surface and the towel around her waist, she never had trouble with the Shimmer Spinner. Soon, everyone else are playing “soccer-fight passing scene” by doing incredible passing techniques that came straight out of an action movie. Celestia blew her whistle to stop their nonsense. The team stopped with superheroic poses.  “What’s wrong, Principal Celestia?” Spitfire asked with enthusiasm. “You don’t like our new moves?”  Celestia rubbed the bridge of her nose. “I instructed you girls to practice passing, not recreating fight scenes.” The girls laughed it off. “But our supporters expected the Great and Magnificent Lightning Dust to play in style,” Lightning gloated, while keeping her hot pose. The others glared at her for her gloating, she sunk into nervousness. “I mean, they’re expecting us…” she finished with a nervous grin.  “This isn’t an action movie,” Celestia shook her head. “You have to save your energy for the majority of the game, but also to keep the ball away from them.” She said firmly.  “Principal Celestia’s right, guys,” Rainbow began. “We keep that up soon after kickoff, then we’ll never last in two-minutes.” Sunset sighed. Maybe this is not the time to mess around. “You’re right,” she glanced at her principal. “We’re sorry, Principal Celestia, I will not use this heat as an excuse for fooling around, but it’s just that we’ve been working on some new moves for our next game.” Lightning stepped forward. “And we loved these awesome moves! We’re awesome, no?”  Celestia sighed, understanding their reason. “Okay then, girls,” she spoke firmly and raised her finger. “But here’s the deal, if you can save your energy for at least eighty-five minutes, then you can now use the last five minutes of the game to go around kicking the ball with style like those action movies you’ve been watching. Does that sound fair to all of you?”  The others looked at each other for a moment and back to her with smiles on their faces and replied ‌to her deal.  “Sounds okay to me,” Ember said, smiling.  “Ditto,” Strawberry added.  Gilda shrugged. “Works for me.” Celestia also smiled, now her students are following through to her plan. “I’m glad you girls are listening. But I should warn you,” she said in a stern tone. “Once you girls get out to the field, you will be tired instantly. But that’s the start, if you save your energy while keeping the ball, you can give it all you got.”  Fleetfoot raised her hand. “But what about me? I cannot protect our goal if I’m too exhausted to stand guard.” Celestia looked at her to think this through. “Okay,” she began. “Fleetfoot, I know you’ll get exhausted in an instant once we get out to the field, but we also know you’re our goalie and always stay in one place for every game. As long as you don't move at all but stay vigilant, I can’t promise you it won’t stop the heat but you should have enough energy to stop every shot from the Saddlers. Is that understood?”  In return, Fleetfoot nodded. Celestia turned to the rest of them. “As for you, no matter what, teamwork is the key here,” she encouraged. “So that means the rest of you help each other in keeping the ball, don’t make Fleetfoot do the hard work by herself.”  “But Principal Celestia,” Rainbow spoke up, “what if we’re becoming too obvious and they will use quick counters and none of us will not have much time to energize?” Celestia sighs again. “Then that’s also why we’re here, Rainbow Dash,” she included. “You girls take the heat, save your energy, practice passing, and when I give you the word once it’s almost full time, take immediate action.”  The girls nodded again. “Good, now, Derpy. Give me the ball. Let’s try this again.” When she got it back from Derpy, her students went to their desired position to restart their training course. If they don’t need this, they’ll never stand a chance against Saddlers. At this point, they preferred to handle the snow rather than the heat. ****** When they’re done, they can now splash in the water. Considering how this was the last class of the day, they’re free to have some fun on the beach. Sunset and Dash had notified their friends to join the fun.  They spend half an hour, splashing each other, surfing the waves, and also relaxing on their lawn chairs underneath their umbrellas. Though, that’s only Fire Flare and Lightning Dust. And also playing volleyball. As much as both Sunset and Dash were having fun, it wouldn’t be fair if their friends aren’t in it.  “Woohoo!” Sunset shouted in delight, riding alongside the waves with her very own surfboard that Dash had bought her the other day. She, Rainbow, and their three teammates in the defense, the Flying Mares surfed in the big waves.  “I told you, you got this, Sunset!” Rainbow called, flipping over the waves.  Ember surfed right next to her. “The captain’s right, pony dude!” She added. “As much as surfing is cool and all, Wingsuit Flying will always be my favorite!”  Smolder surfed right next to them. “Well, it’s terrifying at first but we managed, thanks to Ember, we also love that. But surfing will always be my favorite!” “I believe it depends on the person, guys,” Sunset told her.  It seems to them after a tough practice, they’re able to move actively in the heat, and playing in the water or relaxing cooled them off for the rest of the day. But they knew it would be hotter once they’re in Dubai. And their only effective game plan is conserving energy.  When the girls went back to the land, the rest of the Rainbooms finally showed up with everything else they’d need to stay cool under pressure.  “Ah, it’s always amazing to see you two,” Rarity spoke up, she and the girls were already in their bathing suits for the whole day. And just like earlier with the Wondercolts, they’re sweating as soon as they get out of the van. “And goodness gracious, I don’t remember the last time the sun was that hot.” She said, using her beach hat to cool herself a little. Even this heat is not enough to stop Twilight from using her magic to get everything settled quickly. The last thing she prepared was three ice coolers and placed them next to Applejack’s side of their little territory.  “Three ice coolers,” she said. “It should be enough for all of us here to cool off as much as we can. There are sodas, healthy drinks, ice creams, and everything else.” Sunset cracked a smile. “Yes, I believe that’s more than enough.”  Even though the Wondercolts prepared their own cooling benefits, it’s still a good practice to prepare everything they need for this heat.  Few minutes later, the Wondercolts brought their own sodas, and regrouped with the Rainbooms for a proper relaxation, even receiving a lot of ice cream from Pinkie Pie. As for Principal Celestia, she just came back from using the stalls not too far and soon joined them.  Twilight drank half of her soda can while sitting in her lawn chair and took a glance at Sunset next to her. “Look, we know you said the reason why you girls are here in the first place, but let me tell you, the heat in Dubai is stronger than this.”  Sunset stopped licking her ice cream. “You might be right, but Principal Celestia thought this is a good place to train against the heat.”  Applejack finished her ice cream and added, “We get that this game is important to yah and Dash, but are yer sure yah lot can manage that?”  “It’s either that or Saddlers run us to the dust,” Rainbow told her. “Besides, who am I to turn down a challenge? We fought against conditions for Away games before. The heat should be a part of that, too.”  “And we’re using this moment to cool off and to be extra ready,” Lightning Dust included, sitting in her lawn chair with an orange drink in her hands. “And for the Great and Magnificent Lightning Dust to be in shape immediately.” They ignored her as they continued. “Look, we get that the conditions in Dubai ain’t no joke, but we’re prepared for this,” Rainbow said, gazing over to her friend. “Am I right, Sunset?” Sunset thought about it for a moment and replied, “I know you are. And I also know it will not be easy, but compared to the past challenges we overcame, this one is not as easy as we feared it would be. But you’re also right that we fought against weather conditions in the past.” “See? Even Sunset agrees, even if she knew how bad the conditions were,” Rainbow told her.  Fluttershy sat down next to Rarity whole holding Spike. “We know, we’re just very worried about both of you and the team. Not even Spike can take that much heat for the whole game.” “I’ll be fine,” Spike insisted. “There’s no way I’ll have to miss the game.”  “Maybe you girls can just watch from the inside of their school?” Sunset suggested.  Twilight shook her head. “No can do. Not even their cooling system can help. They must’ve loved the heat so much.” Rarity accepted the ice cream from Pinkie. “Oh, darlings, why dreading about this so soon? We should live the moment before the competition.” She encouraged them, taking a small lick of her dessert. “And we have plenty of time to do that, darlings.” In a dash, Pinkie Pie gave each of them their own ice creams in waffle cones. With a speed like that, maybe they should’ve put her in the team for one game.  “She’s right, everyone!” She agreed, eating her entire ice cream with one swallow. “It’s not good to dread something that will happen in a few days if we can just use this moment to have some fun!” Rainbow can’t help but chuckle at her friend’s enthusiasm. “Okay then, I guess this conversation will have to wait. And let’s have some fun.” Her face turned into one of determination. “Now, who’s ready to hit the waves?!” “Ah loved too but we just came here, Dash,” AJ reminded her. “And this condition took out most of mah energy and we all need to sit this one out to cool off and then we can finally play.” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Your loss, my gain.”  Twilight spoke, “Anyway, I didn’t mean to ruin the moment but can I just prepare you girls something for the heat just in case it's too much?”  Rainbow groaned, they just got this topic over with. “Twilight, you don’t need to. Yes, you got us that thermal stuff we need for the winter, but the heat? I’m not sure building high-tech air fans over our heads can get us disqualified. If it weren’t for your thermal equipment to prepare us against the winter in one of our past games, we would’ve been frozen on the spot. But the heat is a different story, and no science stuff is gonna help us with that.” Twilight sighed in defeat. “Alright, if it makes anything better, let’s just drop this topic and relax.” Gilda went to the group. “Ah, finally!” she exaggerated. “I don’t want to think about the game for a while!” So with that, the Rainbooms and Wondercolts continued to relax as they’re using their supplies to cool off. And after that, they will try to get the fun going on underneath the hot sun.  ******* Few Days Later… It’s actually a gut wrenching moment for the Wondercolts when the day had come. Here, they settled in their locker rooms as they discussed some things before they went out. The room barely protected them from the strong radiation outside, and yet, the students of Dubai Academy are already outside of the bleachers, cheering for their team to win.  Principal Celestia is wearing a black T-shirt, denim shorts and rubber shoes as she talks to her team. Not a formal attire for a school principal of another school but something to handle the heat a little while observing her students. “Now remember, girls,” she began. “Saddlers of this school are unstoppable when they play under the sun, every visiting team that came here never stopped them. And if you don’t follow through with our plan, we’ll be dying in the sand alongside the visiting teams.” She told them with a strict tone.  “We know you never mean literally but we got it, ma’am,” Spitfire confirmed.  “But don’t worry, Principal Celestia,” Lightning Dust said. “Because the great and Magnificent Lightning Dust will pull off some magnificent moves when the first whistle blows!” Everyone glared at her, making her blurted out, “I’m only joking, for Daring Doo’s sake! I was just trying to lighten up the mood a little.” “Well, you’re the worst at making jokes,” Ember grumbled.  “Enough,” Celestia interrupted, getting more stern with them. “Now, are you girls ready or what?” They replied with their usual catchphrase, “Let’s go, Wondercolts!” They chant out loud, raising their fists. Celestia smiled in approval. “Then what are you waiting for? Get out there!” She gestured to the exit.  The Wondercolts rushed to the exit and to the pitch. But just as they went outside, the sun struck them with its harsh conditions, draining their energy in an instant. “Too late, dudes,” Ember moaned, sweating profusely. “I just lost all of my energy.” But the Saddlers, they’re more than healthy and active for the game. They’re wearing dark green jerseys with their school’s logo on the torso. Even most of them are warming up before the game starts, as if the heat has no effect on them.  The team’s captain, Somnambula, is doing jumping jacks behind the blue Wondercolt. “You know what they say, if you can’t take the heat,” she stopped in her tracks when she forgot what to say. Until she remembered and said, “Get ready to lose five-nil.” She taunted. Smolder scratched her head despite her sweats taking over. “I don’t think she knows what she’s talking about.” A few moments later, the game starts with the Wondercolts taking possession. Fire Flare struggled with the home midfielder for the ball falling from the air. She fought the struggle and bounced the ball away with her head.  Rainbow Dash gets the ball to her feet and gazes at the opposition. She tapped the ball to Sunset on her left, and just as it looks like she will unleash her Shimmer Spinner, instead, she just passed back to her friend. And Rainbow passes to Derpy in the back, and soon, everyone else follows suit once they each get the ball.  Lightning Dust gets the ball and makes a little run for it from the two Saddler players. “It’s time for some magic from the Great and Magnificent Lightning Dust!” She bragged.  “Stick to the plan, Lightning Dust!” Gilda called out.  Lightning’s face turned sour. “Ugh, fine.” Even with hesitation, she kicks the ball back to Gilda.  Just as Somnambula leaps for the ball, Gilda beats her to it. And kicks high back to their defense.  The first forty-three minutes went on, with the Saddlers chasing after the Wondercolts for the ball as they randomly passed to one another. Even though they’re sweating and exhausted, they try to move less but keep the ball as best as they can.  Derpy barely dodged a slide tackle and kicked away to Sunset, and stopped to catch a breather. Sunset received the ball to her foot, trying to save enough oxygen in her lungs as much as she can, and quickly too. She turned to her principal watching by the sidelines.  “Wait for it,” Celestia repeated, looking over her watch. “Wait for it.” Sunset winced again but nodded, she tapped back to Rainbow to keep this up. The home crowd watching this are confused and wondering why the visiting side never showed some intent. This caused impatience from the home side as they constantly chased the ball moving around them.  And by the final minute of the first half, they had enough. Now predicting where this was going, Somnambula intercepts the pass from Gilda and leads the quick counter attack. This is one of the things the Wondercolts are anxious about. After weaving past the tired defenders, all they had to do is to pass Fleetfoot. And since she’s in one position, she’s able to save some energy to dive for a save. She prepared herself for the threatening power kick from the captain.  With an arrogant smirk on face, Somnambula shoots with a brilliant strike. Fleetfoot focused even harder, timing it right, she leaped on the left but the ball bounced off the post and to the back of the net. Earning the Saddlers one-nil as half time ends. That dive took her a chunk of her energy.  The ref blows her whistle for the teams to regroup with their own coach/principal and return to the locker rooms shortly.  ***** “Well that went well,” Rainbow said bluntly, returning to the locker room with everyone else following suit.  They returned to the benches and drank as much sodas as they could. The last three people that entered are Celestia, and Sunset carrying Fleetfoot in bridal style. She’s tired but she should be okay. She gently placed her down on the bench with Spitfire.  “Look, girls, I know what you’re thinking,” Celestia said. “And I know it’s bad enough now that we’re one-nil down. But you girls were doing right out there, you’re conserving your energy as much as you can.” “But they’re pretty quick and energetic,” Smolder complained. “And we’re slow and tired.” Celestia formed a smile. “And that’s why I’m thinking we should improvise with our game plan. So, here’s what you will have to do…”  As she explained some tweaks for their strategy, they saw the logic behind it and all agreed and believed this could work. ***** The second half is well underway and this time, the Wondercolts keep possession of the ball, irritating the home side a little.  They kept the ball away from Fleetfoot, and to give her time to regain energy for another save just in case. But that’s not all, they pushed back in a defensive position while the strikers and Derpy and Fire Flare pushed into the opposite side of the pitch.  Fleetfoot kicks the ball to Smolder, she kicks it all the way to the opposite side of the pitch. Sunset received the pass and sent it back to the defense. And repeat. This went for the duration of the game, making Saddlers chase back and forth for the ball.  As minutes passed, as they kept this up, and while making it difficult for the Saddlers, they are becoming tired of keeping up to steal the ball. So the Wondercolts kept passing and passing back and forth.  It’s already eighty-nine minutes, and the good news? It’s the Saddlers turn to be left in the dust, and the Wondercolts becoming active again.  Glancing at the timer on the scoreboard, Celestia called to her students, “Wondercolts, now!” And with that, they now showed some intent and skills. “I thought you never asked, Principal Celestia!” Rainbow exclaimed, leading her team to attack.  “Oh, wow, that literally went on for like, minutes, captain!” Lightning complained.  Rainbow weaved past two tired midfielders, even one of them tripped on purpose because of exhaustion. She kicked high into Derpy's direction. Instead of kicking the ball, she just jumped and spins in mid air, bouncing the ball away with her spinning body.  Gilda receives the ball and she has to deal with one midfielder in front of her, even though she and her team are already exhausted after chasing the ball for so long.  “Which way am I gonna go?” Gilda teased her. “Which way am I gonna go? You know what? You never know!” She kicked the ball high for Lightning Dust.  “Feel the beauty!” Lightning Dust boasted, bouncing the ball with her head and prevented Somnambula from intercepting the pass. “Lightning Dust, amazing.” She announced in Trixie-third person style.  When Sunset gets the ball, it’s finally time for her to unleash her super spin. So she spins into a tornado and zooms through three defenders and kicks it all the way to the box into Rainbow’s direction.  Rainbow dribbled past one last defender before she fell on her shoulder in exhaustion. With the home team dealt with, all she had to do was score past their keeper. The only Saddler player who remained standing and active, well, she won’t be standing much longer. So Rainbow unleashed a power strike that shoots up like a rocket launcher. And the keeper missed.  In ‌the span of one minute, they can now get ahead of the Saddlers with ease, especially that the home team can no longer keep up with them. They can also pull off some sick passing techniques that came from those action movies they’ve been watching. Another goal by Rainbow Dash, two goals by Sunset, and one more by Lightning Dust.  In the end, the Wondercolts won 1-5 of the game. And they’re the only team to beat the Saddlers in their own game. Talk about a taste of your own medicine.  The Wondercolts ran back to Celestia as they cheered themselves over their victory. Even Lightning Dust gave a sweating Somnambula a cheeky look as they passed by.  “Principal Celestia, you were right!” Sunset exclaimed, she and the others gathered around her.  “Conserving your energy worked!” Derpy added. “Now, I don’t feel so hot anymore!” Celestia nodded in satisfaction. “You see what I mean when I say that? That’s how it works.” Rainbow laughed. “If we never listened to you, then we might end up walking in the desert, and get captured by the raiders or something!” She joked, the others laughed at that. Except for Lightning Dust. “Hey, what’s so funny?” She asked, confused.  “You know? I got us a perfect suggestion,” Celestia smirked. “Later, we’re going on a five-hour bus tour!” She announced.  The girls cheered until it died down to boredom. Not interested in a boring bus tour. Seeing they fell for that, Celestia laughed off. “Girls, I’m only joking!” She giggled. “Instead, we’ll just fly back to Canterlot and we’ll have another great time at the beach!” And with that, they cheered again. Knowing she’s serious with this suggestion. But now, they just can’t wait to hit back in the jet for its luxurious cooling system.