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// 16. Life Gives And Life Steals 
// Story: A Dazzling New Life: High School Edition 
// by Joshua the Dragonslayer 
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Putting on their uniforms, the Dazzlings and the rest of their team were ready. They had managed to get a spot in the playoffs and they were going to win. Rainbow had already given the team a team speech and they had gone over the gameplan one last time. All the girls were ready, after years of not being in the playoffs, and years of not winning a championship, today was the day that all of that changed. Today was the day that the girls changed that and won a playoff game after years of nothing. Before they knew it the doors opened and it was time to head out. So one by one the girls got up and walked out of the locker room and toward the soccer field where their long-awaited match would take place.

"Facing them in the third match of the Quarter-Finals is a team that hasn't made the playoffs in years but with they're back and ready to prove they're in it to win it!" The girls stood in the locker tunnel ready for the announcer to announce their name. As the announcer spoke the girls prepared themselves, they were about to enter the most important game of their life, and if they wanted to advance to the second round they had to win. Most of the girls took deep breaths as they tried to calm their nerves, while others hugged and held each other's hands to calm down the stress that was rising in their chests. Rainbow looked down at her plans one last time, if the girls did exactly what they were told, they would win. Rainbow looked over at Dawnshine, if she tried pulling something off like she had previously, they would lose, and Rainbow did not intend for that to happen. Dawnshile looked ahead with a smirk, she had one plan and it was to make sure the Dazzlings didn't shine in this game. She was going to make sure she was the hero of this game and win the game for them all. As for the Dazzlings, they all held each other's hands and smiled, their team was ready, they were ready, and they were going to do whatever it would take to win this match! "Introducing a team that has done a total turnaround in just one year, the Canterlot Wondercolts!" The girls took that as their cue and ran out of the tunnel, screams and cheers could be heard as the girls ran out of the tunnel.

The Dazzlings looked around to see the crowd cheering for them, after so long Canterlot was back in the playoffs and it seems that its fans were happy to see them back after such a long time. Hearing the cheers and screams only fueled the Dazzlings along with the rest of the girls to do their best to win this game, not for themselves, but for all the fans of Canterlot and the Wondercolts. All the girls walked over to the sidelines where Rainbow stood waiting for them, Rainbow and Adagio made eye contact and they nodded their heads. Adagio got in the middle of the team huddle as the rest of the girls circled around her. Dawnshine bit her tongue, as much as she hated seeing Adagio being the leader, she knew that sooner or later she would have her chance at getting back at her and her sisters so she too circled around Adagio, as much as she hated to do it. 

Adagio coughed, getting all of her teammates and her Coach's attention. "Today is the day we face our greatest match. Today we fight as a team, with the same goal in mind. To win! We got a school and a bunch of fans to win for as well. There are so many people cheering us on and we're not going to let them down! Let's show everyone that we're here to win this thing! We've been through so much together and we've played with one another for months, all for this very moment! This may not be the championship but pretend that this match is the championship game! Play this game with everything you have! Play with heart, with mind, and as a team! There's no team better than us when it comes to teamwork! Now who are we?!"

Looking at one another the girls smiled and looked at Adagio with fierce expressions, each one of them having a fire in their eyes. "WONDERCOLTS!" They then shouted as they threw their hands into the air, together as a team.

Rainbow smiled looking at her team of girls, she had a strong feeling that they were going to win. "Alright! I want to start this game off strong, so I want all my starters on the field now!" The starters nodded their heads and went onto the field. Rainbow watched as Adagio and the opponent's team captain walked into the middle of the field for the coin toss. She smiled when Adagio won the coin toss and not wanting their team to start off with the momentum she ordered them to start off with the ball. Rainbow watched as both teams members got into their positions and once the whistle of the referees rang throughout the field, everyone watched and waited as the game began.





It had been a long-fought game and it was still yet to be done! Rainbow watched as she looked at the clock, as much as she looked the timer stayed the same. She had called a timeout to let her team be able to catch their breath and have a team huddle for a plan that she hoped would work. Adagio and the rest of the girls slurped the water out of their water bottles, they were exhausted but they had to keep pushing on. The starters had played for the whole game, and even though their bodies were telling them to stop, they wanted to continue hoping that by doing this they would be able to win. 

The game had been relatively close since the very start of the match. Canterlot struck first blood by scoring the first point with an assisting pass from Adagio to Aria who scored the first point of the game. The second point of the game went to the opponents when one of their defenders was able to take the ball away from Dawnshine who was back to her shenanigans and keeping the ball to herself and not kicking the ball to her teammates. Seeing this angered Rainbow but she had to keep her temper as the Coach. The third point went to the opponents once again when Dawnshine fouled one of the opponent's teammates out of anger and gave the team yet another point due to a mistake of hers. Her teammates and Rainbow hated that they were now losing because of her, and because she kept messing up, Rainbow put her off the field. 

Dawnshine wasn't happy about this but when she looked up at the timer to see that the game was just ten minutes from being over. She smiled, none of the Dazzlings had been able to shine besides Adagio and Aria's teamwork shot at the beginning but Dawnshine was proud that they hadn't been the stars that everyone thought they were. Dawnshine took a seat on her bench with a smirk, ten minutes and her team would lose, she didn't like that it was going to happen but she would gladly lose if that meant the Dazzlings would lose as well. However, her smile quickly went away as with a team effort of Frizzle, Athena, Phoebe, and Gabby were able to get another goal making the game tied at two all. 

So now, here the girls were taking a timeout catching their breaths. There were only a few minutes left on the field, and the opposite team had possession of the ball. However, if Canterlot was able to get a stop and run down with the ball before time expired they well very could win the game. And in the worst-case scenario, if the opponents did get another point, Rainbow had full trust that her team would be able to tie the game and force the game into overtime. Rainbow watched as her girls got up from the bench exhausted, but still pushing forward to finish the game and back onto the field where they would finish the last few minutes of the game. And once that whistle blew, the game commenced once again. 

Canterlot's fans watched as the opponents drove down the field getting through the Wondercolts defense. They watched as one girl kicked the ball over to her friend and her friend shot the ball toward the goal and slammed it in for the extra point. Her teammates cheered her on as Sonata slammed her hand on the ground, she had played all game and she was tired, and that had caused her to be a second too slow to be able to block the ball. However, Sonata's teammates went over here and assured her that it wasn't her fault and that they could still tie the game. But boy were they wrong.

Unfortunately for them, the opponent's team's defense was too strong to crack and they were able to run down the clock ending the game for good. Adagio who had tried going for a miracle shot had her kick blocked ultimately ending the game for good. The opponent team cheered and ran around the field happy they won as Canterlot and its fans sighed at the loss, they had made the playoffs just to lose in the first round. 

The Dazzlings and their teammates hugged each other, although their season was over, they still loved every second of it. It was a shame that they lost but they would be back again one day and then they would win it all. As the team walked off the field and into the locker room, Sonata couldn't help but look back at the field. She couldn't help but feel as though the team had lost, and it was all her fault.