//------------------------------// // Epilogue - Sunday, the day of the match // Story: The Big Cleanup // by elPossenreisser //------------------------------// Epilogue – Sunday, the day of the match   Twilight felt a little bit uneasy as she walked down the path to the football field. There were quite a few students on their way as well, and she was still under the impression of a week of being shunned and nasty glares. But, to her surprise, apart from a few suspicious looks, people didn’t seem to be taking much notice of her. Maybe they had really forgiven her?   Twilight approached the bleachers and couldn’t help but smile at the sea of blue and yellow. She casually raised her hand and touched the pony ears she was wearing along with her school sweater and the ponytail belt. For the longest time, she hadn’t been one to take part in such things, but when her fondness of a certain player had turned her into a soccer fan, she had discovered her school spirit.   Just as she was about to start climbing the bleachers, the voice of the announcer resounded across the field: “And now, would you please welcome the home team, the Canterlot High Wonderfillies!” As the crowd erupted in loud cheers, she turned around and watched the Canterlot High team running onto the field, waving to their fans and high-fiving each other. Rainbow was easy enough to spot with her distinctive hair.   She hadn’t seen or talked to Rainbow since they had parted on the night of the dance, and a small but vocal part of her insisted on worrying what it would be like to see her again. How should she greet her? With a kiss? A hug? What if Rainbow had come to her senses and—   “Twiliiight!” a high-pitched voice yelled over the cheers of the crowd. “Over heeere!”   She turned and saw three of Rainbow’s friends sit together in the first row, all clad in school colors as well. Pinkie Pie was jumping up and down, waving at her. Twilight grinned at the girl’s enthusiasm. Pinkie was beckoning her to come over, and after a second of hesitation Twilight made her way to the group of girls. Again, she felt uneasy, thinking of everything that had happened in the last week. But Pinkie seemed determined to get her to come over, so maybe the girls were not angry at her anymore.   “Hello,” she timidly greeted them when she had reached them.   Pinkie immediately jumped up and hugged her. “Hi, Twilight! Wanna sit with us? We have cupcakes!”   The other two girls, Rarity and Fluttershy, moved over to make some room for her, and she sat down between Rarity and Pinkie Pie who promptly shoved a cupcake decorated in the school colors into her hand.   “Hello, Twilight,” Rarity greeted. “It’s so nice to meet you. Under nicer circumstances, I mean.” From behind her, Fluttershy waved but didn’t say anything.   “Hi,” Twilight repeated awkwardly, fighting the urge to stare at her cupcake.   “Oh, dear, not to worry,” Rarity amiably continued, putting a hand on Twilight’s arm, “rest assured that no one is bearing a grudge against you.”   “Nope!” Pinkie Pie agreed. “Especially not since you and Dashie are lovebirds now!”   Twilight’s cheeks turned crimson, but she couldn’t help but notice that both Rarity and Pinkie were giving her friendly smiles and were not making fun of her. On the field the whistle sounded, and the game began.   “Oh, darling, I simply must know everything!” Rarity chirped and batted her eyelashes at Twilight. “What happened on Friday night? You two were gone all of a sudden!”   “Well, erm… we…” Twilight stammered, “we… we danced. For some time. And then we…” She couldn’t keep her eyes up and stared at the cupcake, her cheeks still burning—but at the same time the memory made her smile. “We kissed.”   Rarity sighed. “Oh, how romantic! A kiss on the dance floor! Young love blooming!” she squealed. Her eyes were gleaming with excitement. “And then, where did you two disappear to?”   “Um… we went to Donut Joe’s and had a milkshake… and then Rainbow Dash walked me home.” Twilight was still looking down on her cupcake. She didn’t feel the need to share everything that had happened during the walk home with Rarity. Especially not the good-night kiss.   Rarity sighed again and wiped an imaginary tear from her eye. “Oh, I cannot stress enough how happy I am for you two, dear! And now you’re here to support her. My heart is positively melting!”   “Actually, I’ve been coming to the matches regularly.”   “Sure you have,” Pinkie chimed in from her other side. “Dashie looks great in those shorts, doesn’t she? Want another cupcake?”   Inadvertently Twilight’s gaze turned to the field where the players were waiting for a throw-in, where Rainbow was standing in those shorts. She blushed again. In that moment Rainbow looked over and saw her. She grinned and gave her a wink as the match continued.   “Woohoo! Dashie!” Pinkie suddenly yelled. Rainbow had stolen the ball from the opposing player as she had been trying to take control of the ball after the throw-in, and was now leading a counterattack along with another Canterlot player, a girl with lavender skin and blonde hair. Three defending players were running between them, trying to stop them. The crowd erupted in cheers.   Rainbow crossed to her teammate who nimbly shrugged off one of the defenders before passing the ball back to Rainbow. A second defender missed the cross, and Rainbow volleyed the ball at the goal with full force. The crowd gasped as the ball only hit the bar and bounced back straight at her. Rainbow didn’t hesitate and scooped the ball over the goalie and into the net a split second before the last defender crashed into her.   “Wooohooo!” Twilight jumped up and cheered at the top of her lungs. Next to her, Pinkie was at the same time hugging her and the other two girls and jumping up and down, pulling them along. Even Fluttershy was cheering with unexpected force. On the field, the Canterlot players were hugging each other in a huge pile of jumping girls. When Rainbow finally broke free of the massive group hug, she turned to Twilight and waved at her as the teams returned to position for the kick-off.   As it went on, the match turned out to be a rather one-sided affair, but neither Twilight nor the other Canterlot fans minded. Rainbow scored a second goal and set up another one for the lavender girl with the blonde hair, each of them enthusiastically applauded by the crowd.   When the match ended, the crowd celebrated the team’s performance with several minutes of enthusiastic cheering. The players remained on the field, waving to the fans and basking in the applause. When it finally started dying down, Rainbow and the lavender girl slowly made their way towards the bleachers where Twilight and the other girls were seated.   “Dashie!” Pinkie screamed, jumped up and threw herself at Rainbow, giving her a quick hug. “You were soo awesome!”   “Well played, darling,” Rarity seconded.   “Thanks, girls!” Rainbow beamed. She looked at Twilight, and her smile grew even wider. It was all the invitation Twilight needed. She made a step towards Rainbow and threw her arms around her neck. As she looked into her eyes all her doubts from earlier simply disappeared. Her head drew closer, and she closed her eyes as their lips met.   Rainbow kissed her back with verve, her tongue dancing around Twilight’s lips but not quite pushing past them. Twilight froze for an instant, surprised—that was even more intense than the good-night kiss on Friday! The sensation of Rainbow’s tongue on her lips made her lightheaded, and she tried to take in as much of that sensation as possible. She tentatively opened her mouth and softly touched Rainbow’s tongue with the tip of her own. Rainbow slowed down a bit and gently circled her tongue around the tip of Twilight’s. When finally they broke the kiss Twilight found that she was breathing heavily and her knees were a little wobbly.   They let go of each other, and Rainbow kept an arm around Twilight’s waist. “And this is what it looks like when my girlfriend tells me I played an awesome match,” Rainbow declared, turning to her teammate. “Cloud Kicker, meet Twilight. Twilight, Cloud Kicker.”   “Nice to meet you,” Twilight said.   “So you’re the reason she played so inspired today,” Cloud Kicker said with a smirk. “Well done, nice to meet you.” She bumped Rainbow’s shoulder. “Come on, let’s go shower. I’m sure your girlfriend would rather make out with you when you’re not smelly and gross,” she said, winking at Twilight.   “Gee, Cloud, really?” Rainbow rolled her eyes. She turned to Twilight. “Why don’t you go ahead to Donut Joe’s with the girls? I’ll meet you there.” She gave Twilight another peck on the cheek before running off to the locker rooms with Cloud Kicker. Twilight dreamily watched them leave as Rarity took her hand and gently pulled her away towards the street leading to the city center.   “Bye, Dashie!” Pinkie Pie waved.   “Oh my,” Rarity mused, “I think I have a good idea which details about Friday night you left out, darling.” Twilight just grinned, way too happy to be embarrassed.