You walk with Adagio in silence across the empty soccer field. In two hours, this turf is going to be host to a ferocious battle between two world renowned high schools. You've been to a Canterlot High vs. Crystal Prep football game before and boy, you could feel the tension between the two schools. Every single tackle looked like the players were trying to kill each other, and during the final quarter a huge fight broke out, sending two Crystal Prep students to the hospital. If their football games are anything to go by, then you know that tonight is going to be a slaughter.
"Something on your mind, Anonymous?" Adagio asks.
"Oh, nothing much." You reply, looking at the ground. "Just wondering where Sonata and Aria are."
"Sonata's out digging holes around the soccer field to place the metal bars, while Aria is smuggling those magnets into Rainbow Dash's soccer cleats." Adagio answers.
"They need any help?" You ask. "We've come way too far to muck things up."
"Don't worry." Adagio places her hand on your shoulder, causing you to tense up a little. "You've already done enough."
"This..." Adagio says as she gestures her arm across the whole soccer field. Her hair dances around the setting sun, shimmering like a waterfall. You're taken back by just how beautiful she is in the sunlight before she looks at you smiling.
"Is your day."
You feel yourself involuntarily moving closer and closer to her. You want to say something, but you just can't seem to get it out. All you can do is move closer and closer to Adagio until you hear a distant voice snap you out of your trance.
"Dagi, I'm done!" Sonata shouts, running towards the two of you with a dirty shovel in her hands. "Man, digging holes is hard!"
"It's only fitting she gives the worst job the worst." You hear Aria grumble right behind her. "My work's done too. All we have to do now is to find a nice vantage point to watch the mayhem unfold."
"Hey, how about up there?" Sonata suggests, pointing towards one of the giant stadium lights. "I think I see a ladder leading up towards it."
"All stadium lights like those have ladders, idiot." Aria rolls her eyes. "Why would you want to go up there anyways? It's so freaking high, you won't even be able to see anything."
"Ooooh what's wrong?" Sonata cocks her head to the side, a devious smile forming on her lips. "Is Big Bad Aria scared of heights? Big Bad Aria, who beats up gangsters can't take a little altitude?"
"Oh shut up!" She pushes Sonata away. "It's not that I'm afraid of heights; it's just...we won't be able to see anything up there! How are we going to use that magnet thing Adagio made if we can't even see the action and or anything?"
"Well, after that night when I threw Aria's baseball down the bridge, she did begin having a really irrational fear of heights..." Adagio says, trying to hold back her laughter.
"Yeah, no thanks to you." Aria glares at her. "I still can't believe you did that."
"It's not even that high..." You say as you look up. "Plus, we brought binoculars."
"Fuck you too!" Aria holds a finger to your throat. "You're just doing this to gang up on me!"
"Or maybe you're just CHICKEN!" Sonata mocks her while making chicken wings with her arms. "Bwak! Bwaaaak! Bwak! Bwak!"
"Adagio can I hit her?" Aria begs. "Please? Please???"
******
Alright...maybe Aria was right; these stadium lights are pretty tall. It also doesn't help that the entire thing shakes whenever the wind blows. But hey, you're already halfway there, so you'll might as well go all the way. You look down, and Adagio's right under you, followed by Aria, and Sonata.
"Aria, can you climb any slower?" Sonata complains. "I'm falling asleep down here!"
"Can it, Sonata!" Aria barks. "I'm doing my best and-WWWHOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Aria's arms wrap around the ladder as another gust of wind comes down upon you guys, shaking the entire pole. You're not 100% unfazed either; this is scary, but knowing that Aria's faring it far worse than you makes it feel all the better.
"Come ooooooooooonnn, I've seen sea horses that move faster than you!" Sonata presses on. "What's up with you? You scared?"
For the last time, I'm NOT scared!" Aria growls. "It's just...difficult to climb!"
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh." Sonata replies. "I get why you're going so slow now! How could I be so stupid? You were never scared, you're just fat!"
In the middle of Aria's angry cussing, you and Adagio burst into laughter. Holy cow, you never knew Sonata Dusk could be this savage, but you're loving every bit of it. A few minutes of silent climbing go by before you look down again, and see Sonata with an evil smile on her face.
"Hey, Aria?" Sonata asks softly.
"What the hell do you want this time, Sonata?" Aria grumbles.
"SHARK ATTACK!!!" Sonata shouts as she grabs Aria's leg and starts flailing wildly, causing Aria to let out an ear-piercing scream.
"You. Are. The. WORST!!!" Aria screeches at the top of her lungs.
******
Upon finally reaching the top of the pole, Adagio takes out four pairs of binoculars along with of course, the homemade switch that turns those magnets on and off. Behind you, Sonata and Aria are also settling down. In an attempt to get as far away from Sonata as possible, Aria sits to the far right, leaving you sitting in between Sonata and Adagio.
The sun finally sets, and it doesn't take long for the stadium to quickly come to life. It's an hour and a half before the game, and there's already a long line of people waiting at the entrance of the stadium to buy tickets.
"What?!" Sonata shouts as she looks through her binoculars. "Are you kidding me?!"
"What's wrong?" You turn to Sonata.
"They're charging FIFTEEN BUCKS for one ticket!" Sonata exclaims. "And they're not even giving discounts for students or parents either!"
"Oh, they'll definitely be wanting their money back after they see this game." Adagio chuckles. "Well, at least the Canterlot High fans."
Through your own binoculars, you see the Crystal Prep Academy bus rolling into the school's parking lot. It doesn't really take that much effort to spot it though; it's more like a coach bus then an actual school bus but hey, it's what you get for going to an expensive private high school. In a uniform line, the girl's team walks out, each of them donning much fancier looking uniforms then that of Canterlot High. Like how you said before; it all comes as part of the package of a super expensive school.
"There's the Crystal Prep team." You mutter before shifting your attention to the soccer field. You spot Rainbow Dash, Lightning Dust, and all the other members of the Canterlot High team warming up with stretches, and other sorts of passing exercises.
"Adaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" Sonata groans as she rummages through Adagio's backpack. "You forgot the food!"
"I don't know." Adagio shrugs. "Maybe I had to make room for more important things like the magnets!"
"Come on, Sonata." You say, trying to defuse the situation. "I think you'll be fine if you skip dinner for just one day."
"I didn't even have lunch though!" Sonata throws her arms up in outrage. "I'm gonna starve!"
"And whose fault is that?!" Aria joins in. "Maybe if you don't completely pig out on Taco Tuesdays every week, you'd still have money left in your account!"
"Well I'm still twelve pounds lighter than you, so suck it!" Sonata sticks her tongue out.
"That's 'cause I'm not a god damn skeleton like you!" Aria shoots back. "I-"
"Girls!" Adagio shushes both of them. "The game's about to begin!"
Just as Adagio breaks up the fight, you hear the sound of drums rolling. Looking down, the Canterlot High marching band begins playing as both teams walk onto the soccer field, all geared up. The crowd erupts with applause, and you adjust your binoculars, seeing Rainbow Dash talking to Coach Iron Will with a confident smile on her face.
"We'll see how long you keep that smile on your face, Rainbow." You whisper to yourself.
******
"I know, I know." You say dismissively. "I'll be careful this game."
"Last time you said that, you and Cloud Chaser ended up missing out on a whole season because of those girls." Iron Will reminds you. "Please...just take it easy this game, Rainbow."
"You know there's no such thing as 'taking it easy' versus Crystal Prep, Coach." You reply. "You always gotta go all in against them!"
"I'm not risking my star player when we've got much bigger fish to fry like Cloudsdale!" Iron Will snaps. He's about to say something else, but catches himself and takes a deep breath. "The point I'm trying to emphasize is that we've got a great team this year. We have the potential to take Regionals; possibly even Nationals! For the sake of our team, please don't take this little rivalry with Crystal Prep too far. Please."
"Point taken, Coach." You give him a thumbs up before checking the laces on your cleats and walking towards the field. They seem a little heavier than usual, but it's probably just some pebbles or something. You do some final stretches before spotting Lightning Dust running towards you.
"It looked like you were having a pretty heated discussion with Iron Will." Lightning Dust says. "Everything's good?"
"You know Iron Will." You yawn. "He's always like this whenever we play against Crystal Prep. Well, come on; let's get to the field!"
As you come under one of the stadium lights, the crowd erupts with cheering. You respond by waving your hands to everyone, giving the Canterlot High fans a thumbs up before turning around, and seeing the rest of the team waiting for you. On the other side is the Crystal Prep captain Indigo Zap, arms crossed and tapping her foot.
"Canterlot!" You call out to your team. "Huddle!"
The entire team responds to you, and it doesn't take long for everybody to join arms in a circle, with you in the center.
"Girls..." You begin. "I know what you're thinking; it's Crystal Prep. The girls who demolished us during the semi-finals last year. But good news is that most of their good players were seniors and graduated."
"But that's not an excuse to slack off against them." Lightning Dust steps in. "You know those girls; they're not afraid of playing dirty, so get in there, get the job done quick, and get out before they decide to try anything on you."
"Now, Canterlot High on three!" You shout. "ONE, TWO, THREE!"
"CANTERLOT HIGH!" The entire team shouts in unison before everyone takes their positions on the field.
"Wow...that was a lot more prep talk than usual..." Indigo Zap yawns. "What's wrong? Are your new freshmen scared of us?"
"In your wildest dreams." You scoff. "We have a stacked team this year; you're nothing to us."
"We'll see about that." Indigo cracks her knuckles. From the corner of your eye, you see the referee approaching the two of you, whistle in one hand, soccer ball in the other. He gives the two of you a nod, and you scrunch your nose up. Shaking hands with Indigo Zap is always the worst part of every game; it always turns into a contest to see who can crush the other girl's fingers.
"Well?" Indigo Zap sticks her hand out expectantly, with a malicious smirk. "You gonna shake it, or just stand there like an idiot?"
You stare down the Crystal Prep captain as you lock hands with her, and clamp down as hard for a few seconds before pulling your hand back. You look at your hand, and see blood trickling down your knuckles where Indigo's nails dug into you, and you respond by shaking your head and returning to your side on the field. The referee then places the ball on the center of the field, backs up from the action. He takes a deep breath before blowing his whistle, signaling the start of the match.
******
Rainbow Dash immediately takes the ball from Indigo Zap, and starts advancing full speed towards the goal, effortlessly weaving through Sour Sweet and two other defenders on her way towards the goal. Seeing Rainbow's lighting fast offense is truly something amazing to behold.
But too bad for her, this'll be her worst game ever. You see Sonata about to turn on the electromagnet before Adagio stops her.
"Wait until she's near the goal." She says. "It'll be a lot funnier seeing her botch an easy shot."
But at the last second, Rainbow passes to Cloud Chaser who headbutts the ball, only to have the Crystal Prep goalkeeper save it. The left side of the stadium starts cheering like crazy while the right side starts a chorus of boos.
Indigo Zap quickly rushes over to the Crystal Prep goalie, whispering something in her ears and running off back into the field. You watch as the goalie punts the ball, seemingly aiming it at nothing until the ball suddenly does a crazy spin, nearly hitting Rainbow Dash in the face. Indigo Zap takes the ball and passes it to Lemon Zest, who charges towards the goal.
Once within kicking distance, she feigns going for the shot before passing back to Indigo Zap, kicking a Canterlot player in the process. Once again, the Canterlot crowd erupts in boos, ending just as the referee blows his whistle.
"Christ..." You say to yourself. "These girls are brutal."
"Oh, it's only going to get worse from here." Adagio smiles maliciously, her ruby necklace pulsing for a brief moment.
******
"A penalty kick?!" You shout in outrage. "That should've been a red fucking card! She deliberately went for Raindrops there!"
"I know." Lightning Dust agrees with you. "I don't know what that ref's thinking."
"Don't sweat it, Rainbow." Raindrop says. "I'll just sit back and ice my leg for a couple minutes. I'll be back before you know it." Gritting your teeth, you and Lightning Dust set your teammate on the bleachers before heading back to the field.
"Hey Lightning Dust." You nudge her. "Can I trust you to take the shot? There's something I need to do."
"Is that even a question?" Lighting Dust cracks her knuckles. "That Crystal bitch goalie's gonna be seeing stars when I'm done with her!"
"Awesome." You pat Lightning on the back. "Go get 'em."
Walking over to the other side of the soccer field, you spot Indigo Zap talking with some other Crystal Prep teammates. Whatever it is, they sure seem to be cracking up over it.
"Indigo!" You shout over to her, only to be ignored.
"Indigo!" You repeat yourself, raising the volume to your voice a little. Still no answer.
Anger beginning to boil up inside of you, you walk up to the Crystal Prep team's cooler and kick it as hard as you can. The ice inside splatters everywhere as it crashes down the bleachers. Finally Indigo Zap begins to even acknowledge you. She gets up from her seat and looks at you with annoyance in her eyes.
"Indigo!" You shout. "Get over here!" Rolling her eyes, Indigo whispers something to the girls she was talking to and walks over to you.
"I don't know what your deal is letting Lemon Zest hurt my teammate like that, but I'm not having anymore of that." You say aggressively.
"It was a genuine mistake." Indigo says calmly.
"Bullshit." You growl. "That was a free shot; who the hell passes in a situation like that?!"
"She feigned going for it, and tried passing it to me before your teammate got in the way." Indigo shrugs. I can tell Lemon Zest to be more careful when she makes passes, but there's only so much she can do when the other team just gets in her way and plays dumb..."
You clench your fists. Talking to them isn't going to do anything.
"Listen up, 'cause this is your first and last warning!" You point at all the Crystal Prep girls. "If I see any of you trying to hurt my teammates again, you're all gonna regret it!"
You walk away fuming, hearing the distant sounds of the Crystal Prep students laughing.
******
The crowd goes wild as Lightning Dust scores the first goal on Crystal Prep, and in the distance, you see Coach Iron Will taking a sigh of relief. After the cheering and whooping from the crowd starts to die down, the Crystal Prep goalie punts the ball forward to Lemon Zest, only for it to be stolen by Cloud Chaser who then passes it to Lightning Dust. She tries to advance towards the goal, but gets double-teamed by Sour Sweet and Indigo Zap who manage to wrestle the ball out of her possession.
Indigo Zap does a motion with her hands, and Sour Sweet immediately nods before sprinting away. Indigo then kicks the ball towards Sour Sweet, who then head butts the ball to Lemon Zest. The ball soars through the air like a bullet towards Lemon Zest who positions herself in front of the ball and does a bicycle kick, sending the ball straight into the Canterlot goal behind her. The entire thing happened in less than ten seconds, all without the ball even touching the ground.
'Man, five minutes into the game, and it's already this good!' You think to yourself. For a moment, you almost feel sorry for having to sabotage such a great game like this. Your thoughts are interrupted when you see the ball soaring through the air again as Canterlot High begins their own offensive play.
Cloud Chaser takes the ball first and passes it towards Rainbow Dash who starts sprinting towards the goal with Lightning Dust not too far behind her. Indigo Zap moves in to stop Rainbow Dash, and she responds by kicking the ball in between her legs, and doing some crazy gymnast flip to jump over her. The crowd goes wild as Rainbow Dash lands on her feet, and begins lining up her shot on the goal.
"Get ready, Sonata." Adagio says. "She's about to make her shot."
******
Man, the look on Indigo's face when you jumped over her like that was one you'll never forget. The Crystal Prep goalie's all the way on the other side of the goal too; there's no way she'll be able to save this shot. You take a moment to line up your shot until you feel a weird tingling sensation in your cleats. The strange sensation gets stronger and stronger as you reach the goal until you're suddenly lifted off your feet. The whole world is spinning and the next thing you remember, your face is buried into the turf.
You spit out the grass and look up, seeing the entire crowd...cheering? You look at them confused, completely clueless as to what the heck just happened until you feel a hand grabbing you from behind, and pulling you back up.
"Rainbow!" Lightning Dust exclaims. "I don't know what you just did, but holy shit!"
"What?" You ask.
"What do you mean?!" Lightning Dust laughs. "You just did some crazy kung fu backflip kick into the goal! You sent the ball going so fast you ripped a hole through the net!"
You turn, and Lightning Dust was right; there's a gaping hole in the net, and the Crystal Prep goalie is on the ground with a look of utter bewilderment on her face as she stares at you. Shrugging, you jog back to your side of the field, wondering what the heck just happened.
******
"Sonata..." You say slowly. To your right, Aria and Adagio are both facepalming. "You're supposed to use the magnet to make Rainbow Dash mess up, not help her."
"Of course she messed up!" Sonata says. "Did you see that faceplant she did? I'm surprised she doesn't have a bloody nose!"
"Then explain why the entire crowd is cheering, idiot!" Aria shouts.
******
The Crystal Prep goalie passes the ball to Indigo Zap, as they try to set up for that bicycle kick strategy they did last time, but you saw this coming a mile away; you intercept the ball right after Sour Sweet passes to Lemon Zest, and start running the other direction with it. Indigo tries to steal the ball from you, and you pass back to Cloud Chaser, who continues to weave through the Crystal Prep defense like it's nothing.
She then passes back to you and you begin lining up your shot, but from the corner of your eye you spot Sour Sweet and Lemon Zest sprinting towards you to take the ball away. There's no time to line up the perfect shot; you doubt you're going to make it before they get to you, but you shake your head and go for it anyways. As your foot connects with the ball, you feel that strange tingling sensation in your feet again until your foot suddenly jerks to the left. The last thing you hear before you hit the ground is the referee's whistle blowing, and the sound of gasps coming from the crowd.
"Rainbow!" You look up from the ground, and see Lighting Dust with Cloud Chaser close behind running over to you. "Rainbow, what the hell?!"
"Ughhh..." You clutch your head. "Lightning..."
"Seriously Rainbow, what was that?" Lightning Dust asks as she pulls you up from the ground.
"What do you mean?" You ask, before looking to your side, and seeing Sour Sweet and Lemon Zest on the ground. Sour Sweet's clutching her face and groaning as Lemon Zest is on her knees, rubbing her temples.
"You just did that weird...kung fu kick thing again." Lighting Dust says, trying to motion what you did with her hands. "Except... you missed and clocked those two right in the face."
"I don't know how that happened." You say. "Seriously."
"Look, I know those Crystal Prep girls are total bitches, but you can't go stooping down to their level." Cloud Chaser puts a hand on your shoulder. "Plus, what you're doing isn't doing us any favors either; the ref almost gave you a red card for that! Iron Will was just barely able to talk the ref out of it but still, Crystal Prep's getting five penalty kicks instead!"
Your teammates walk away, leaving you to your own devices. You look back on the Crystal Prep goal, trying to think as to what just happened there. Did you slip on the grass? Definitely not; there's no way a "slip" would've sent your foot going so high that it would kick those girls in the face, and you know for sure you didn't misplace your foot; when it comes to taking shots, you're the best on the entire Canterlot High team. Your thoughts are interrupted when you suddenly feel a shoulder forcefully colliding with you, nearly knocking you off balance. You look up, and see a wild eyed Indigo Zap staring daggers at you.
"Ooops, sorry Rainbow." She says innocently before brushing her shoulder. "That was an accident."
"I swear to God I didn't mean to do that." You say defensively. "Seriously, I was just trying to kick the ball; I wasn't-"
"Oh, I believe you." Indigo says with a dangerous smile etched across her face. "But if you wanna play like that, than you can expect a lot more 'accidents' happening from here on, Rainbow."
******
"Ooooooh, the crowd doesn't look too happy about those penalty shots." Aria says as she looks through her binoculars. "Especially since Crystal Prep got all five of 'em in."
"Now that is messing up!" Adagio smiles, patting Sonata's back. "Except next time, being a little more subtle with those magnets would help."
"Rodger, Rodger." Sonata replies.
Rainbow Dash is locked with Iron Will in what looks like a pretty heated exchange of words, and no wonder. Crystal Prep is over double Canterlot High's score, and it happened all over one "mistake". After the two separate, Rainbow Dash walks away, her cheeks flushing red with anger before taking her position back on the soccer field.
The Canterlot goalie makes a pass to Rainbow Dash. Seeing this as another opportunity to use the magnet, Sonata cranks the switch only a few notches, and what should have been an easy pass results in Rainbow Dash tripping, and having the ball stolen by a Crystal Prep girl. The Crystal Prep girl then passes it to Indigo Zap, who lines up an easy shot, further increasing Crystal Prep's lead.
"Alright, you've had your fun Sonata." Aria says, reaching over for the switch. "How about giving the rest of us a turn here?"
"What do you mean, I just got it!" Sonata protests.
"You've had three goes already, just give it up!" Aria argues back, trying to climb over you and Adagio to get to Sonata.
"That first time didn't count, I was only testing it, so I only used it twice!"
Meanwhile as Aria and Sonata wrestle for control over the switch, Adagio's fondling that ruby necklace of hers. Surprisingly, she hasn't really been paying much attention towards the game itself, but rather the crowds. Her eyes constantly dart over towards both the Crystal Prep and Canterlot crowds, as if she's looking for something to happen. You focus your own binoculars on the crowd, and you can spot an ever so faint mist of green smoke starting to coalesce around the Canterlot High fans.
"That first time totally counted, idiot!" Aria shouts as she finally snatches the remote out of her hands.
"Adaaaaaaaaaaaa." Sonata whines. "Aria's being mean againnnnnnnnn!"
"Not now, can't you see I'm busy?!" Adagio glares at Sonata. "Just let Aria have her way, and don't bother me again!"
Sonata pouts before giving Aria a raspberry, and turning her back on the rest of you. Aria responds by rolling her eyes, and shifting her attention back towards the game. Apparently, the referee called a foul, and for whatever reason, Canterlot High's getting a penalty kick for it. Your eyes widen with excitement when you see it's Rainbow Dash who's about to go for the shot too.
"Hey," You nudge Aria. "You see what I'm seeing?"
"What?" Aria asks, raising an eyebrow. "Rainbow Dash about to look like an idiot as she screws up a penalty kick?"
"You're reading my mind." You chuckle, focusing your binoculars on Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow begins walking up in front of the Crystal Prep goal with the look of utmost determination on her face. She starts running towards the ball, and just before she makes the kick, Aria pulls the switch, forcing Rainbow's foot upwards. The sudden shift in movement causes her to overshoot the ball, causing it to bounce off the top of the goal's railing before ricocheting back, smacking Rainbow Dash square in the face.
You, Sonata, Aria, Adagio, and everybody else in the stadium begin cracking up over what just happened. Even the Crystal Prep goalie lost her composure, and is rolling on the floor laughing right now.
"Damn, I'm good!" Aria says in between her fits of laughter. "Rainbow must be so pissed right now!"
"That shot was the best, but you're still the worst!" Sonata exclaims. "If...that makes any sense."
"No it doesn't, idiot."
As your laughter dies down, you turn your gaze back towards Rainbow Dash, who for some reason, is still face-flat on the ground. It doesn't look like she's moving, which is starting to concern you.
"Hey, wait a minute." You narrow your eyes on Rainbow Dash. "Why isn't she getting up?"
******
As Lightning Dust drags you off the soccer field, you feel like the insides of your head have been pulverized by a jackhammer. Your vision is slightly blurred, and the pain in your head refuses to relent. When she gets you off the grass, you try to stand up, only to fall down on the ground again.
"Hey, hey, take it easy Rainbow!" Lightning Dust says as she pulls you back up.
"I don't know what the hell is happening to me this game." You clench your head. "I just...I started sucking all the sudden!"
"C'mon, don't be so hard on yourself." Lightning Dust pats your head as she settles you in a chair. "The time when you kicked those two Crystal Prep girls was an honest mistake, and...well that penalty kick..."
"I must've looked so stupid." You groan. "Indigo's never gonna let me hear the end of that one."
"Hey, it's alright." Lightning Dust repeats herself. "We all mess up; nobody's perfect. You're having a bad game. We all do."
Your teammate hands you a bottle of water, which you promptly accept. After taking a large gulp, you sigh again in frustration, trying to think about why you're messing everything up all the sudden. You know it's not technique; you've nailed those shots down perfectly during practices, and last week against Baltimare every single kick you made was dead on. But for some reason, this game your foot just keeps slipping at the last second! What the hell is going on? Is it the turf?
"By the way, Rainbow." Lighting Dust mentions. "Raindrops says she feels better now. I can ask Iron Will if she can fill your spot."
"That's not gonna work." You shake your head. "Raindrops is a defense player. She's not a striker like me."
"Striker or not, it doesn't change the fact that you probably have a concussion right now." Lightning Dust points at the giant welt on your forehead. "I'm surprised you're still conscious after that! And plus, you're having a bad game as well. Why don't you just sit this game out and save your energy for Cloudsdale?"
"It's not that I looked like an idiot from messing up that penalty kick that's bothering me!" You exclaim. "It's the fact that I'm having a bad game, and I can't find out why I'm sucking! What if I have a 'bad game' against Cloudsdale? What's to stop me from butchering that game like I am this one?"
"Rainbow..."
"You gotta think about the mental aspects of soccer." You say as you get up from your chair. "The best players are the best not because they can just kick a ball fast; they're the best because they can find out the reasons as to why they're losing, and fix it! I just need to find out why I'm messing up my kicks, and we'll be back on top of that scoreboard where we belong!"
You begin walking back towards the soccer field. The first few steps felt a little uneasy, but you shake it off and continue walking. It doesn't take long until your entire body feels normal again, as you begin running back to your position on the field.
'Yeah, see Rainbow?' You think to yourself. 'It's all mental; you recovered from that ball to the face just fine. You just gotta fight through the pain, and stay focused.'
To your side, you spot Indigo Zap and another Crystal Prep girl pointing at the welt on your forehead.
"Hey Rainbow, are you Hindu or is that just acne?" Indigo Zap snickers.
"You're hilarious." You roll your eyes, shifting your attention back towards the game.
******
"Gee, look at that welt on Rainbow's forehead." You say. Behind you, Aria and Sonata are struggling to contain their laughter while Adagio is still fixated on the crowd.
"I know, it looks like there's a tomato growing on her head." Aria laughs.
Meanwhile, the game started taking a rather nasty turn. Crystal Prep was starting to get downright malicious with their plays. You wince as Sour Sweet straight up clotheslines the Canterlot High goalkeeper in an attempt to get the ball; they now seem more focused on hurting the other team then they are scoring points. Meanwhile, you can hear the crowd getting increasingly more and more vocal every time one of Rainbow's "mistakes" happen.
Speaking of which, Rainbow Dash is in possession of the ball again and Aria turns on the electromagnet. The sudden magnetic force causes Rainbow to lose her balance, and you watch in shock as she makes a head-on collision into Lightning Dust. The crowd gasps, and you focus your binoculars on the scene, seeing blood pouring from Lightning Dust's nose.
"Alright Aria..." You turn over to her. "Maybe that was a little too much."
"Hmmm?" Adagio snaps her attention off the crowd, at looks at you puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"Just look." You point at Rainbow just as Aria turns on the electromagnet again, causing her to accidently collide with another player. "She's hurt!"
"And what's your point?" Aria asks. "I thought you wanted to get back on Rainbow for what she did to you."
"I-I mean...y-yeah!" You stutter. "But...this?! Blood, and gore?"
"Anonymous..." Adagio raises an eyebrow. Even Sonata's looking at you funny now. "You're not feeling... sorry for Rainbow Dash, are you?"
"I thought you said you wanted revenge on Rainbow for that flashbang." Sonata cocks her head to the side. "And after all this work, we're giving it to you; why're you acting so weird about it?"
"I'm not acting weird about it." You argue. "It's just...it's not what I exactly had in mind..."
"Then what did you have mind?" Adagio asks. "You wanted to sabotage her game, yet for some reason, now that we're actually doing it, you feel uncomfortable? What's wrong? I want to hear it."
"Yeah... I do want to sabotage her game, but this? This...we're just hurting her now!"
"And by hurting her, we stop her from playing as well as she normally does, thus sabotaging the game." Aria says. "No offense, but sometimes you act dumber than Sonata, Anon."
"I..." You shake your head. This conversation is leading nowhere. "Never mind. Forget whatever I just said."
A few minutes go by, with none of you talking anymore. However, you do notice something that's off; the crowds...they seem a lot angrier than usual. And its not just the Canterlot High fans, but also the Crystal Prep ones despite the fact that Crystal Prep's score is now triple that of Canterlot High's. And also, that green fog. It's much more noticeable now. Hell, you can see it even without your binoculars. Now, you were never a superstitious person, but you can't help but get the feeling of dread, that something bad is going on.
But back to the game, Cloud Chaser's in possession of the ball right now, and she narrowly avoids Sour Sweet's attempt of stealing it. She spots Indigo Zap now making a charge towards her and passes it to Rainbow Dash, who's in position to do a bicycle kick. You look nervously at Aria, who has a sadistic smile on her face as she readies the electromagnet one more time.
Aria cranks the electromagnet all the way up, and you see Rainbow Dash's momentum change violently in the opposite direction before landing on the ground in a split. The crowd explodes with shouting and even from way up here, you can hear Rainbow Dash screaming in pain from that brutal landing.
That's too much.
That's just not right.
"Aria!" You shout as you snatch the controller out of her hand. She doesn't put up much of a resistance though; not when she's slapping her knee, laughing her head off. "Aria, what the hell?!"
"Oh man, did you see her?!" Aria roars. "That was priceless!"
"Aria, that wasn't funny!" You shout. "Look at her!"
"So you really are feeling sorry for Rainbow Dash..." Adagio crosses her arms, giving you a dark look. "I'm disappointed, Anonymous."
"This just isn't right!" You snap. "This is downright malicious; we're hurting her, Adagio!"
"Who cares?" Aria says bluntly. "Rainbow Dash hurt you. I'd bet my baseball that she sure as hell didn't care about you when she threw that flashbang."
"I don't know if that flashbang messed up your memory Anon, but in case you forgot, Rainbow Dash started this first, silly!" Sonata pipes up. "You're just finishing it. She kicked the hornet's nest, and now she's getting stung!"
"This...this isn't about revenge anymore!" You protest. "This is about being a decent human being! This is wrong, and you three know it!" You're about to say more, but then you come face to face with Adagio. She's two inches from your face right now, but this Adagio is completely different from the Adagio you're used to. She simply stares at you with dead eyes, a hint of disgust within them.
"You know..." Adagio says coldly as she takes the remote out of your hands. "Nobody's forcing you to stay here. You can leave anytime you want. You're on here of your own free will."
You look at the three girls for a moment, then back towards the soccer field. Taking a deep breath, you grab your bag, and start climbing down the stadium light.
"The game's over anyways." You mutter.
******
"Men..." You say bitterly, looking down on the crowd that's now in complete turmoil. "Such useless, spineless, cowardly pigs..."
"Ooooh, the chairs are already starting to be thrown!" Sonata jumps excitingly. "Look! Look!"
"I'm actually kinda surprised he got cold feet at the end." Aria shrugs. "Yeah, Anon sort of gave off the goody-two shoes vibe to me, but I could've sworn I still felt a ton of negative energy behind him."
"That's the issue." You turn to Aria before standing up. "Watch."
You take off your pendant, and hold it in front of you. It flashes red, and immediately begins siphoning the green clouds of negative energy around the stadium. The pendant's glow gets brighter, and brighter as it continues to feed on more negative energy. Aria and Sonata gasp as they see the gem's about to reach its critical point, but then it abruptly stops, returning to its inactive, maroon state.
"You see?" You grit your teeth. "Just by a hair. We could've been at full power; enough to put the entire school under our spell. Our plans are so tantalizingly close."
"Well..." Aria says slowly. "Does this mean it's time for Plan B?"
"Yes it is, Aria...." You nod your head solemnly. "Yes it is."
"You know, I kinda hoped we wouldn't have to do this." Sonata comments as she starts packing up everything. "I kinda liked Anon; he's a funny guy."
"Well funny or not, he's of no use to us anymore." You mutter. "Let's get going girls."
******
You plug the keys into your car, and start punching into your GPS the address of the Canterlot Hospital. Upon getting signal, you immediately roll out of your parking space, and get on the main road.
'This feeling...' You think to yourself. 'I don't know why, but damn...it's like there's a knife sticking out of me...'
"In twenty feet, turn left onto Faust Road." The GPS announces.
What the hell were you thinking, following through all of this with Adagio anyways? Just now, you're beginning to come to your senses; what you did there was just downright evil, and God forbid you caused permanent damage and ruined Rainbow's dream of going pro in college for soccer. That split looked absolutely brutal. Definitely some broken bones at least.
You shake your head. You're overthinking it. All you know is that what you fucked up. You fucked up big time, and you need to make things right. You pull over into the hospital's parking lot, and run towards the main entrance. Fortunately, there's only one other person in front of you at the front desk and it doesn't take long for him to finish his business.
"May I help you, young man?" The nurse at the front desk asks politely.
"Is there a girl by the name of Rainbow Dash here?" You ask. "Blue skin? Multicolored hair? Goes to Canterlot High?"
"Why yes." She answers. "We just brought her in twenty minutes ago. Room 262 on the fourth floor."
"Thank you." You say before rushing towards the nearest elevator. The inside of the elevator is one of those metal, reflective ones where you can see yourself in. You hate these elevators; the last time you used an elevator similar to this one, you walked into the mirror, and broke your nose.
"Fuck!" You shout as you clench your chin. Just as you were thinking about it, you walked into the wall of the elevator. Well, at least you didn't break your nose this time, but you left a nice dent in the elevator's wall. Shaking your head, you punch in the number 4, and lean back, listening to the calm piano music.
Deciding to pass the time, you look back at the dent in the mirror you made. The dent bent the light around the mirror, deformed your face and making you look like some sort of cyclops freak. You're not sure if this is God's way of passive-aggressively telling you that you fucked up, but your guess is as good as any other's.
The elevator beeps, and the door opens. You begin tracking left and right for the number 262, starting from 200 on the right side. 208...212...234...the numbers get higher and higher until you finally reach your destination. You stare at the door for a moment before walking up to it, and giving three firm knocks.
"Come in..." You hear the weak, defeated voice of Rainbow Dash. You shake your head, feeling a little better as to what's about to happen. You open the door and your nose is immediately assaulted by the smell of pungent medicine, cleaner liquids, and other sorts of artificial odors. It's a nice room, but you could definitely see yourself getting tired of this sight fast if you were stuck here for a couple months, which is what's going to happen for Rainbow.
"Anonymous?!" You hear Rainbow gasp. You turn, and see Rainbow Dash, in all her glory. All over her, you see bandages: Her feet, her legs, her torso, her head, no part of her body was spared from the white cloth and you feel an immense pang of guilt building up inside of you from seeing her in a state like this.
"Hey." You wave to Rainbow. The two of you stare at each other awkwardly for at least three minutes. Realizing this is going nowhere, you clear your throat.
"I uhhhhhh I heard about what happened at the game versus Crystal Prep." You say.
"Yeah..." She looks down at herself. "Didn't go too well..."
"I can tell." You point out, causing Rainbow to chuckle. "I just...wanted to see if you were alright, is all. Nothing broken?"
"Grade two concussion, busted pelvis, three broken ribs, left shin fractured, and both ankles dislocated..." Rainbow Dash says in a matter of fact tone.
Your heart sinks.
"Oh..." You cringe. Your inner moral compass is screaming at you for what you've just done. Well who the hell are you fooling? You have no right to even say you've got a moral compass right now. "Wow... that sucks..."
"It's not as bad as it sounds." Rainbow Dash says reassuringly before tapping her head with the back of her hand. "My bones are literally made of adamantium. It's just gonna suck going to the bathroom is all."
"You mind if I sit down?" You ask Rainbow Dash.
"Does it look like I can stop you?" She laughs. "Of course you can, man."
You find a sturdy looking wooden stool, and take a seat by her side. A couple of minutes go by again with the two of you not really saying anything.
"You know..." Rainbow Dash says, breaking the awkward silence. "You're the last person I would've expected to visit me."
"Really?" You ask. "What makes you think that?"
"Well..." Rainbow says feebly. "The whole...prank...thing?"
"Yeah, my hearing's still a little messed up from that." You say. You see Rainbow flinch as you mention it. "But it's nothing compared to what you're dealing with right now."
"No way." Rainbow says. "I'd go crazy if I can't listen to my playlist at least once a day. Being deaf must totally suck."
"Partially." You smile, pointing at your hearing aid. "And every day it's getting better and better, so don't sweat it."
"Speaking of which..." Rainbow Dash says. "I uhmmmm I wanted to talk about that..." She gulps before taking a deep breath and looking at you with dead serious eyes.
"I...wanted to apologize for what I did to you." She says. "I fucked up. I know; it wasn't funny, but...sometimes you just don't think things through before doing them. It just felt like a funny idea in the moment, but then I really thought about it, and...what I did was just messed up."
"Yeah, I totally feel you." You say, trying to avoid eye contact with Rainbow. Funny, you feel the same exact thing right now. "We all fuck up time to time. But what happened, happened...I can't go back in time and fix up my ears, and you can't go back in time and fix your...everything."
"Oh c'mon, it's not that bad." Rainbow Dash laughs. "I can still use my arms; I'm not totally out of commission yet!"
The two of you share a good laugh together. When you think about it though, you seriously can't believe what you're doing right now. Two weeks ago, you'd never even dream of being having this friendly chat with Rainbow Dash. But now, the two of you are laughing with each other like nothing ever happened.
But also this feeling of just...letting go overtakes your mind. When you think about it, ever since that flashbang incident the only thing that was ever on your mind was getting even with Rainbow Dash. Your grades slid, you stopped doing the things you loved like playing video games with Flash Sentry, every ounce of your being was focused on that one goal of revenge, and you felt extremely restless every night after.
But now, you've never felt so mentally rested as you are before. Like a leaf floating on a creek, guided only by the gentle current of the water, you've never felt so at peace with yourself until now. You just want to close your eyes, and sleep.
Suddenly, you hear the door open again, and hear the heavy pounding of footsteps entering the room.
"Rainbow!" You hear the voice of Lightning Dust walking into the room. "Rainbow! You won't believe what-"
Lightning Dust and Cloud Chaser walk into the room, still in their soccer gear. You can smell the sweat, and grass coming from them even from here. But that's not what's on your mind right now; what's really on your mind is why are those two girls looking at you as if they're about to murder you?
"You've got some serious nerve showing your face here of all places." Lightning Dust growls.
"Wait." You freeze in place. "What are you talking about?"
"Don't even try playing your bullshit on us." Cloud Chaser says coldly, her eyes flashing green for a moment. "Adagio Dazzle told me everything I needed to know."