//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Overdrive 
// by Crimson Mist 
//------------------------------//

     This was it. The chance I’d been waiting for my entire life. I pulled my knees into my chest and practiced deep breathing. Everything was on the line. If I screwed this up... Well, I just couldn’t screw it up. It’s that simple. 
“Rainbow Dash?” I perked up at the sound of my name. The assistant coach of the Canterlot Wondercolts female volleyball team was glancing around at all of us, the young girls who had been waiting for this moment to show off their stuff, in search of whoever belonged to that particular name. 
“That’s me,” I said, waving my hands enthusiastically. He nodded, taking a pen to his clipboard and scratching off my name on the attendance list before continuing with the roll call. 
“Hey, you’re the girl from Cloudsdale Middle School who won the doubles badminton tournament last year,” I heard someone whisper. Glancing over my shoulder, I noticed a girl I had never seen before staring at me in awe. 
“Yep, that’s me!” I said with a grin, jerking my thumb back to myself to emphasize the point. 
“I was there watching the entire tournament. You guys were awesome. Your partner, Lightning Dust, even gave me her autograph!”
“Do you want my autograph?” I inquired. “They’re going to be in great demand once I become the captain of the Canterlot Wondercolts!”
The girl laughed. “Maybe. What about your partner? I thought that she said in an interview that she was going to be the team captain.”
I attempted to smile and casually shrug the remark away, but the truth was, Lightning Dust probably would become the team captain. She was really fast, and strong, and as much as I hated to admit it, she was a better player than me. 
The final game of the badminton tournament flashed through my mind. She had had the final serve, and had smoked it right over the net so fast that the other team didn’t even have time to blink. The referee had blown the whistle, signaling our victory. It, put simply, was the best moment of my life. Winning was everything, and that was a win that Cloudsdale Middle School would be flaunting forever. 
The entire room fell quiet as the door opened and closed with a dramatic thud. Excited murmurs started buzzing around as everyone caught sight of the girl who had just entered. Her short blonde hair was perfectly combed, and she had her usual arrogant smirk across her face. 
“Hey, Rainbow Dash,” she said as soon as she caught sight of me. 
“Hey, Lightning Dust,” I mumbled back. 
The assistant coach glanced up from his clipboard. “Alright, I guess now that everyone’s here, tryouts will begin. Remember, try your best, but play safe,” he said, opening the gym doors. 
I adjusted the number on my back and took my place on the court. Lightning Dust stood beside me. “Good luck, Rainbow Dash, you’ll need it!” she told me, winking. I gritted my teeth, remembering what she had told me earlier, as soon as she found out I was trying out for the team:

“Wow, you wanna be a Wondercolt? Good luck with that, freshmen never make the team.”
“But what about you?” I had responded. “You’re a freshman, too.”
“I know,” she had said. “But I’m a special case. I won the badminton tournament, remember?” 
“We won.”
“Face it, Rainbow Dash. Without me, you’d be good, but with me, you’re great. I doubt you’d have won with anyone else.”

“Listen, Lightning Dust...” I started to say, but the sound of a whistle blowing interrupted me. 
“Girls, take your positions,” barked the team’s coach, Coach Spitfire. We all lined up and waited for our chances to shine. 
The first activities were easy, the typical bumping, setting, serving, and spiking evaluations. I aced those fine. The next part focused on basic athletics, such as sprinting and agility. Again, I barely broke a sweat. It wasn’t until the third section of the tryouts that I started to worry. 
A one-on-one game against another player. 
Please don’t put me with Lightning Dust. Anyone but her, a small voice in my head begged.
“Rainbow Dash, you will play against... Lightning Dust.”
Curse my luck. 

Lightning Dust grinned arrogantly as she sent the volleyball soaring over the net, leaving me with a small amount of time to react. Catching it before it hit the floor, I bumped it back over the net. 
Take that, Lightning Dust!
She simply sent it back over the net with a gentle set. I did the same back, and we rallied back and forth, neither of us willing to let the ball drop. 
Come on, Rainbow Dash! This is your time to shine, not hers! For once, let yourself be in the spotlight instead of Lightning Dust!
I gritted my teeth and whacked the ball as hard as I could. Lightning Dust reached for it, but it flew mere inches away from her fingertips and bounced on the ground. She looked stunned. 
“Yes!” I cried out, pumping my fist in the air. “First point of the game!”
“It’s not over yet, Rainbow Dash!” Lightning Dust hissed angrily. 
I served the ball towards her, gently, yet controlled. She smacked it back, a little too hard. It bounced right out of the boundary lines. 
“The ball is out, Rainbow Dash’s point,” Coach Spitfire announced. 
“Two nothing me!” I yelled, doing another fist pump. 
Lightning Dust looked mad enough to chew nails. “You just wait,” she muttered underneath her breath. 
I served it again, this time with more force. Lightning Dust watched it sail over her head, certain it was going to go foul. Alas, the ball had other ideas. It bounced on the line, fortunately, giving me another point. 
“Rainbow Dash’s point again,” the coach said. She handed me the ball for my next serve. 
“I’ll go easy on you this time,” I told my opponent.
“Hurry up, then,” she snapped, grimacing bitterly at me. 
I ignored her and lightly tapped it over the net. This time, Lightning Dust was more than ready. She whacked the ball with all the force she could muster, sending it flying at me. Before I could even blink, I felt the smooth texture of the ball collide with my face. 
Stunned, it took me a moment to realize what had happened. And when I did, I was livid. 
“You! You just... hit me!” I sputtered out. 
“So? Whatcha going to do about it, Dashie?” Lightning Dust challenged. 
I balled my hand into a fist. “This!” I cried out as I ran over to her side of the net and punched her in the face. 
“You jerk!” Now, it was Lightning Dust’s turn to get upset. She slammed me against the floor and smacked my face. I leapt back to my feet and shoved her as hard as I could. 
TWEET! TWEET! TWEET! 
“Time out now! Both of you, in my office this instant!” Coach Spitfire shouted. Lightning Dust and I immediately broke apart. “Yes, coach,” we muttered. 

“I can’t believe it! Two of the most talented athletes in the school, and I can’t even permit you to be on my team because of some silly rivalry that’s emerged all of a sudden...”
“But she hit me with the ball!” I interrupted. 
“Yeah, but you were also the one who threw the first punch!” Lightning Dust argued. 
“I only did that because you started it!”
“But you started the fight!”
“GIRLS! THAT IS ENOUGH!”
We both stopped arguing and turned our attention back to the coach. She did not look pleased. “I don’t care about your petty problems. What I saw on the court today was absolutely unacceptable. I have to let you know that you both would’ve made the Wondercolts if you hadn’t acted so stupid! Now I have to give your positions to some girls who can hold their tempers in. What happened to the team that won the middle school badminton tournament, huh?”
I slammed my fist down on her desk. “We never were a team. It was all Lightning Dust and her birdie hogging. I was only her backup.”
“Birdie hogging? I was appointed by our old coach to be the team leader!” Lightning Dust said angrily. 
“Some leader you were,” I muttered. 
Coach Spitfire sighed. “Listen, girls. You are both amazing players, and I would hate to see you both quit volleyball completely. It sounds to me like you need a break from each other. There is a freshman beach volleyball league that the school runs, but since it’s drop in, there are no tryouts. Anyone can play, and that includes the both of you. My recommendation would be to find new partners, and start working on your skills through that. Maybe next year, if the pair of you have proved to me that you are mature enough to handle being a Canterlot High Wondercolt, then I’ll let you try out for the team again.”
“That sounds good to me,” I said.
“Me too,” Lightning Dust agreed. 
“First session is next Wednesday. Show up at 3:30 in this gym,” Coach Spitfire informed us. “Oh, and since it is doubles, if you don’t have a partner, you won’t be playing. Also, one last thing. There are championships that take place in June. The winning team gets a trophy for their school and five hundred dollars each. Win it, and I’ll definitely reconsider my decision. In fact, I’ll even make room in the team.”

As soon as we were out of the office, I started thinking about what the coach had said. All I had to do to become a Wondercolt was win this stupid beach volleyball championship. Not only would I get a trophy, prize money, and a spot on my dream team, I would show Lightning Dust that I was a better player than her after all!
“Don’t worry, Rainbow Dash, I’ll take that silly prize money and trophy off your hands so you can worry about how you’re possibly going to make the Wondercolts next year!” Lightning Dust hissed. 
I sighed. 
Right when I had forgotten that she was still there.
“Oh yeah? If I were you, I’d be trembling. I’ll win the championships and become a Wondercolt, just you wait!” I snapped at her. 
She smiled cruelly. “Here’s the deal, Rainbow Crash. Whoever wins the tournament becomes a Wondercolt, and whoever doesn’t... can never try out for the volleyball team again!”
“Fine!” I told her. We shook on it, finalizing the deal. 
“See you on the court,” she said, walking away. 
“See you on the court,” I mimicked after she had left. “What a jerk! Does she actually think she’s going to win this? I can’t believe how self-centered she is! She’d do anything just to win, even block her own teammate.” I stomped down the hallway, imagining the crushed look on Lightning Dust’s face when I won the championships. I was so perturbed that I didn’t even realize that there was anyone else around. 
“Woah, there!” 
A girl’s voice brought me back to reality. I was somehow sprawled out on the ground, papers scattered around me everywhere. 
“Are ya alright there, sugarcube?”
“What happened?” I asked blearily. 
“Ya bumped intah me when Ah was walkin’ down the hall here, tryin’ tah get to the office,” the voice explained. I felt someone’s hand take mine and pull me to my feet. Only then did I see the girl who was with me in the light. Her soft blonde hair was done up in a loose ponytail that draped over her shoulder, and she wore a Stetson atop her head. There was a cluster of freckles underneath both of her deep, emerald green eyes. She smiled softly at me, brushing a strand of her messy hair out of her face. 
“Wow...” I breathed. I had never met a girl this pretty before in my life. 
Snapping back to reality, I immediately got down on my hands and knees and began collecting up the papers she had dropped during our collision. 
“There’s no need tah clean up fer me,” she said, picking up the rest. 
“N-no, it’s my fault, I should help fix the, uh, damage,” I stammered out. 
“Thanks very much.” She tipped her hat at me respectfully as she took the papers I had gathered up for her. 
“Um, you’re welcome...”
“Ah’ll see ya around then...”
“Rainbow Dash. My name’s Rainbow Dash.”
“Okay, then, Rainbow Dash. Ah’ll see ya around, like Ah said.”
I watched as she walked away, her hair gently flowing behind her. Only then did I realize that I never got her name.