Broken

by ashi

I. The Perfect Hat-Trick

Getting out of bed was never a problem for Rainbow Dash. As far back as she could remember, there was never a time when she hadn't been ready and raring to go the moment her eyes opened. In fact, she often liked to test her reflexes by hitting the alarm's off button a split-second before it would wail into life. No matter how vigorous the physical activity she put her body through just the day before, no matter how inclement the weather might have been, her inexhaustible reserves of energy kept her going.

There was something else that diluted her usual brash confidence, though she would be loathe to admit that she sometimes felt nervous even to her best friends. A little flutter was only to be expected on the first day of a new season, and while you could train as much as you liked, that's all it was: training, preparation. Until you actually stepped out on the field of battle, you simply didn't know how you and your comrades were going to weather the storm.

Last year had been her first full season with the Canterlot Wondercolts, and she had helped them to a league and cup double, racking up a record number of points and goals in the process. Rainbow Dash had hit the league like a thunderbolt, and she knew that she was going to be under extra scrutiny this year. Now that she had announced herself to the world, she had a lot of expectations to live up to.

She caught sight of herself in the mirror; her rainbow-streaked tresses were still bedraggled, and she quickly ran a comb through her hair to straighten them out. What was most striking about her appearance, in addition to the light blue skin and piercing cerise-coloured eyes, was the aura of fearlessness that she radiated; it didn't matter what the challenge was, she threw herself into it with wild abandon, giving a hundred and twenty percent. The cocky grin was almost as much of a fixture as the prismatic hair and lightning bolt t-shirt.

It was why she had quickly become the captain of almost every sports team in Canterlot High, though football was where her heart truly lay.

After quickly dressing and picking up her gym bag, she headed downstairs to have some breakfast. By the time she reached the kitchen, the anticipatory – as she thought of it – glow in her stomach seemed to have dissipated somewhat. “Hey, dad,” she called out to him, dropping into a seat at the dining table, “what are we having?”

Rainbow Blaze was a taller, squarer version of his daughter, though his skin was a darker colour and his own hair was beginning to fade to a dull pepper colour. The hazel eyes held the same spark of playfulness, though. He placed a bowl of cereal in front of her, followed shortly by a large pitcher of water and a banana. Rainbow Dash couldn't help but notice that he looked a little worse for wear as he sat opposite her. “Good morning,” he said. “Excited?”

“Yeah,” Dash said, wondering if she ought to ask about his shabby appearance. “Um, did you sleep all right? No offence, but it looks as though you've been dragged through a hedge backwards.”

Blaze laughed, then coughed as the dryness in his throat became unbearable. He took a quick swig of his coffee before answering. “I'm fine, just didn't get a wink of sleep is all. Your mother and I spent pretty much the entire night talking.”

Dash wavered. “Look, it's not like you have to come, if you're not feeling up to it.”

“I'll be there,” Blaze stated firmly. “Do you have any plans for tonight?”

Dash narrowed her eyes slightly. It wasn't like her father to ask. Unlike most parents, he wasn't just being facetious when he used the phrase I was a kid once. He really understood that what children wanted most was just to have a bit of a laugh, get into some trouble, and not have some snoopy parent questioning every decision they made. “Uh, well, Fluttershy's working late at the clinic, and I was gonna maybe take her for a bite to eat afterwards.”

“Ah.”

“Why?”

Blaze thought for a moment. He didn't want to say anything to throw off Dash's preparations for the game, but neither did he want to leave her confused or feeling as though she was being dismissed. “Your mother and I are going out for dinner tonight, and we'd really like you to be there. We have something important that we'd like to discuss with you.”

Dash munched quietly for a second, then said, “All right, if it's important, I'll be there.” She caught the flicker of something from her father, but decided not to press. All would be revealed later, she decided, and she had to focus on the present. “I'd better get going. Warm-ups start in an hour.”

“You can get to the school in fifteen minutes if you hurry,” Blaze needled with a toothy grin.

“Fifteen?” Dash responded with a look that was every bit as smug as her father's. “I'll do it ten.”

*

Rainbow Dash was always the first to arrive and the last to leave the training field; she liked to be there early to do some drills on her own, and she was in the midst of practising her free kicks when the rest of the squad, led by Spitfire, arrived. “You fishin' for my job?” the yellow-skinned manager asked, her orange hair burning as brightly as her name suggested, looking over her sunglasses at Dash.

“No, ma'am,” Dash said, shooting her coach a mock salute before joining her comrades in the centre circle to go through the run-down of the opposition. Through luck or fate, their opponents on opening day would be their arch-rivals, the Everfree High's Shadowbolts. Old Sombra's team had pretty much dominated the league until recently, and though their glory days might have been behind them, they were never to be discounted. They were always challenging opponents, even if Dash found that their players dived just a bit too often for her liking.

“All right,” Spitfire said to the assembled group, “I'm switching the formation to a 5-3-2 for this one. Sombra's got himself a couple of speedy new strikers, and we're gonna need the extra help in defence.”

“Pfft,” snorted Common Clay, a light brown male with intense blue eyes and as spiky tangle of chestnut-coloured hair. He was the team's co-captain; a decent midfield player in his own right, his best asset was his ability to quickly organise the team in all situations. “They'll be too busy trying to cope with you and Dash to think about making any forays into our territory.”

“I'd like to believe that normally,” said Spitfire with a note of caution, “but a little birdy tells me that these new guys are seriously good. I'm not one to be overly wary, but I don't want us to find ourselves going down because we didn't respect our opponents.”

Rainbow Dash listened, but she wasn't that concerned with what system they played; like any battle-plan, it would never survive contact with the enemy, anyway. Spitfire and her co-captain would reshuffle the tactics throughout the game, relying on adaptiveness and fleet-feet to overcome the opposition. This talk was mainly being directed at any new or inexperienced players in the squad to give them some kind idea as to what their roles would be.

“Okay,” said Spitfire, getting to her feet. “We'll start with a quick stretch around the park. Remember, this is just a loosening-up exercise, not a race.” This last remark seemed to be directed at Rainbow Dash in particular who blushed slightly at the rebuke.

Dash found it difficult to keep a lid on her competitive nature; it was something she got from her father, who always had to be the best at everything in his youth, too. This time, however, she tried to heed Spitfire's words and keep to a light jog. After all, there was no sense in burning out before she even got to the stadium.

*

The bus dropped them off outside the coliseum; in contrast to the grand arenas where the professional teams played, there was only a solitary, sad-looking stand – affectionately known as the cow-shed due to the thin tin roof that was the only protection from the elements – which could hold around a thousand people. Rainbow Dash didn't mind. When it was full of cheering fans, the atmosphere was just as good as anywhere.

Just a shame that none of the girls could make it, though. Fluttershy was at the clinic covering for an ill colleague, Applejack had to literally mind the farm, and Rarity had somehow coaxed (more likely: conned) Pinkie Pie into trying out a new spa in town. As she scanned the crowd from the tunnel, she noticed a few familiar faces from school and around Canterlot. Her father, a couple of people she'd seen around the bakery; there was even one girl … no, it couldn't be. Could it? The hair was a little darker, but the highlights were incredibly similar.

“Hey, Dash, everything all right?” asked Spitfire, noticing the confused look on her face.

“Huh? Yeah, everything's good,” replied Dash, snapping out of her reverie with a shake of her head. “Good crowd.”

“Almost a full house, I'm told.” They watched as the last of the seats were filled. It was heartening to see so many people taking an interest in a game between two high school teams. Then again, it was a cheap day out, given that the tickets only cost a couple of bits and the stadium was within walking distance of the town centre. “Come on, let's get stripped for action.”

Rainbow Dash followed Spitfire to the locker room, the fluttery feeling in her stomach returning. She took a deep breath and pushed out most of her nerves with it.

*

Spitfire had wanted to give Rainbow Dash the number nine jersey, making her the team's main striker, but Dash had refused, preferring the number fifteen attacking midfield position she'd gotten used to last season; she wasn't superstitious, nor did she believe in luck, but after thirty-two goals and ten assists, she wasn't about to jinx herself by taking on an entirely new position and floundering in the role.

After pulling the thunderbolt-streaked shirt on over her tank top and tying her hair back, Rainbow Dash felt any sense of trepidation dissipate; joining her colleagues in line at the tunnel, she cast a scrutinising eye over the Shadowbolts' team while she snapped her tricolore wristbands into place.

What struck her first was just how fierce they looked; Sombra was known for his legendary temper, and it seemed that some of that wildness had been transferred to his team. They were standing at rigid attention, all of them big and athletic, with their muscles tensed for action.

Sombra was clearly out for revenge after having been narrowly beaten to the title last season and had doubtless driven his troops hard over the summer break to get them in shape.

There was some muttering from the Wondercolt players, but Rainbow Dash ignored it; they were bigger and uglier, sure, but that just meant that they would go down all the harder. Finally, the referee appeared and waved the two teams on to the pitch.

An almighty roar went up from the crowd, and any lingering traces of apprehension that she definitely wasn't feeling vacated Rainbow Dash's body to be replaced by a rush of adrenaline. After the formality of the handshakes – ignoring the fact that the Shadowbolt players were gripping a shade harder than was necessary – Dash took up her position just outside the centre circle as Spitfire and Common Clay prepared for the kick-off.

Once everyone had assumed their proper place on the field, the referee blew his whistle and the game began to a massive roar of approval from the baying crowd.

Clay, after having the ball passed to him, sent it in Dash's direction and she charged forward; almost immediately, there were two Shadowbolts upon her, and only some deft footwork got her away from them before the ball was stolen. Clearly, she was going to have her work cut out for her if she was going to make a mark on this game. Spitfire was further forward, but dangerously close to an offside position, while Clay was patrolling the left wing.

With an inch-perfect pass, Rainbow Dash flicked the ball in his direction and darted toward the opposing penalty box, counting on her great speed to get her away from any challenges. Clay saw what she was doing and headed further along the wing, almost to the byline, matched the length of the way by a burly-looking defender, before putting a diagonal cross into the box.

Taking a wicked deflection from the defender's raised boot, it was just a mite too high for Dash, even at full stretch, and it scuffed off of her prismatic mane before trickling out into touch. She kicked the ground in anger.

“Don't worry,” Spitfire said, patting her shoulder as they regrouped on the centre line for the goal kick, “you'll get the next one.”

The Shadowbolts' goalkeeper hoofed the ball straight down the park, and it landed elegantly at the feet of a lanky striker who began barrelling down the pitch in the direction of the Wondercolts' goal; Rainbow Dash was a couple of yards behind her, but she didn't want to risk going in with a sliding tackle. The slightest misjudgement would see her booked, and then she'd have to spend the rest of the game walking on eggshells around the opposition. Fortunately, a defender blocked the striker's advance, though the ricochet of the ball sent into spinning across the sideline.

“They're definitely a lot quicker than last year,” Common Clay said, sweating hard.

“We'll just have to give it an extra twenty percent, then,” replied Rainbow Dash.

The throw-in found an unmarked striker close to the penalty box, and it was only the unmatched reflexes of the Wondercolts' goalkeeper that kept the ball from hitting the back of the net. Rainbow Dash breathed a sigh of relief, while Spitfire and the goalkeeper combined to remonstrate furiously with the lackadaisical defenders.

The game was approaching half-time and still no one had made the breakthrough; there had been chances on either side, but they were easily saved, or went wide of the target. Rainbow Dash was finding it more of a struggle than usual to make an impact on the game, as she was the victim of a relentless man-marking campaign; the Shadowbolt guarding her was almost as quick as she was, but more importantly, she was a good reader of the game, too, and always seemed to be just on her tail.

Just when it looked that they would go into the break level, Common Clay slid a perfectly-weighted pass toward Spitfire; a Shadowbolt got a touch to it, but Rainbow Dash was able to pounce on it and she blazed full speed toward the goal. Dimly, she could hear one of her teammates calling for the ball, but she only had a single thought on her mind: bury it. At the eighteen-yard line, she shaped to shoot, striking the ball sweetly with her instep; there was plenty of power behind it, and just as importantly, unwavering accuracy. It was just out of range of the outstretched 'keeper's fingers, and the ball nestled snugly in the netting.

A roar from the crowd, backed by some cheesy piece of synthpop that Spitfire had chosen as the celebratory music for some unfathomable reason, broke out and the stand was buzzing with joy. Apart from the small, muted section of travelling fans, naturally.

Players crowded around Rainbow Dash, offering their congratulations. She shrugged them off. “There's still a whole other half to go,” she told them, though she couldn't deny a certain amount of satisfaction from the well-taken goal.

The first half drew to a close, and the players trooped off the field to their respective changing rooms.

*

“Jewel! You were supposed to be skin-tight on Rainbow Dash, but you keep letting her turn you.” The olive-skinned girl looked defiant in the face of Sombra's enervated growls, but inside, she was quaking. Old King Sombra, as he had been known, was considered one of the greatest players of his day, and judging by the fact that he'd kept himself in such good condition over the years, it was easy to believe. He was also infamous for his temper tantrums.

“I was,” Jewel tried to protest, knowing that the effort was futile, “she … she just got away from me that one time.”

“And look what happened,” the irate manager bit out. “Mark her more closely in the future.” He directed his attention to the rest of the team now. “Also, you need to pin down Common Clay better. His crosses have nearly resulted in us being five down, never mind one. You should count yourself fortunate that none of their players have been tall, or lucky, enough to get on the end of anything so far.”

“If we waste too many players trying to pin those two down, we're gonna leave gaps for Spitfire and the others. I think we should just concentrate on defending and try to hit 'em on the break,” said Tall Order, the Shadowbolts' captain, wiping away a layer of dirt and sweat coating his charcoal skin with a towel.

“You wanna talk about breaks,” muttered Sombra darkly, “break them down, break their spirits, break them in half. Break every damn bone in their bodies if it stops them from scoring.”

The players looked at each other nervously; they had heard plenty of hyperbole in their time, but what worried them was the suggestion that their manager might actually be serious.

*

The second-half began with the Shadowbolts taking the kick-off; instead of charging forward at the first opportunity, they were content merely to play a contained passing game in their own half. It was obvious what they were trying to do: lure the Wondercolts' players out of position so that they could exploit the gaps.

So far, no one had bitten, and the crowd were getting a bit restless at watching the Shadowbolts lazily flick the ball to each other.

“C'mon!” Dash shouted at Spitfire, who was unsure whether or not to dive into the fray, her voice cracking just that bit more as frustration fuelled her words. “This is getting old real fast.”

“They want us to get frustrated,” Spitfire bit out in reply. “We still have the lead, though. They're not gonna do this forever if they want to get a result.”

Whenever a Wondercolt strayed too close, the Shadowbolts simply knocked the ball back to their 'keeper. Rainbow Dash, her patience all but expired, zipped up the field as quickly as she could; she was never going to close down the gap before the ball was hit down the field, but she hoped to at least annoy her opponents into making a mistake.

Her boldness seemed to register with her teammates, and they started moving forward also; the Shadowbolts had the gap they had worked to create, but it was narrow, and it wasn't long before the Wondercolts retrieved the ball.

The ball arrived at the feet of Common Clay and he headed out to the left flank; they hadn't had much luck with high crosses all afternoon, so he decided to play the ball in low for a change, directing it to Spitfire at the edge of the eighteen-yard box. Seeing a space open up before her, she drilled a low shot to the right-hand corner; the 'keeper got a fingertip to it, but it rolled out of play.

Common Clay ran over to the corner flag and placed the ball at the edge of the arc; he scanned the box, looking to pick someone out of the melee. There were too many black shirts and not enough blue ones. At least, not enough visible blue ones. A certain rainbow-haired girl was lurking at the back-post, however.

Playing the ball that close to the goal ran the risk of depositing it straight into the arms of the 'keeper; if they were quick enough at dispatching the ball, the Shadowbolts could be on the break before the Wondercolts' defensive line had a chance to regroup.

Common Clay sent an inswinging cross into the box; the 'keeper tried to grasp it, but succeeded only in clutching at fresh air instead. Somehow, it missed all the Shadowbolt defenders and Rainbow Dash brought the ball under control with her chest; she let it bounce on the pitch once, then she half-volleyed it with her weaker left foot goalwards. The 'keeper got a touch on it, and for a moment it looked like that would be enough to deflect it to the crossbar, but all they succeeded in doing was pushing it into the roof of the net.

2-0 Wondercolts!

“Going for the perfect hat-trick, aren't you?” Common Clay said to Rainbow Dash as they marched back into their own half.

“Huh?”

“Your took your first goal with your right foot. The second with your left. If you score the next one with a header, you'll have completed the perfect hat-trick.”

It hadn't been planned in the slightest; her left foot had always been weaker, and Rainbow Dash wanted to work on improving her shooting with it in order to be a better player, but now that the seed had been planted in her mind, she was determined to complete this perfect hat-trick.

The Shadowbolts restarted this game, and dissatisfaction seemed to be building within their ranks; rather than playing a patient building game, they were going forward in numbers and forcing the Wondercolts on to the back foot. They found a gap in the defence, and a slide-rule pass was on its way to the Shadowbolts' striker; he took one look at the goal, then pulled the trigger.

Apart from the contingent of away fans, the stand was silent as the ball rattled into the net. The goal seemed to have come from nowhere. It was now 2-1 and the Shadowbolts were only going to gain in confidence.

Rainbow Dash was hard at work trying to urge her team forward; Common Clay and Spitfire were on either flank while she tried to breach the middle, but the Shadowbolts' line was holding firm and not letting anything through. She tried to turn her marker as she had done before, but her opponent was prepared for it this time and was able to use her strength to block Dash from advancing. She scowled at the defender, not appreciating the barge to the ground.

Dash was striding forward once more, having escaped her pursuer; she passed the ball to Spitfire who was free in some space out on the right, and she darted toward the box. Dash was getting into position near the penalty spot for the cross, preparing to complete her hat-trick. She wasn't the tallest of players, so the leap was going to have to be a good one.

Instead, the cross came in low; Dash was disappointed that she wasn't going to get to complete her perfect hat-trick just yet, but restoring the two-goal advantage they'd just squandered was more important. She pulled her leg back and was about to shoot when everything went dark.

The wet snapping sound that ground out of her right leg was so loud that Rainbow Dash, for a second, had difficulty believing that it was actually real and actually happening to her, but the surge of pain radiating out from her shin was enough to inform her that she hadn't imagined it. An animal howl of pain was followed by a sobbing fit; she clutched uselessly at her broken shin, as if she could fix the dislocated bone by pushing on it hard enough.

Dizzy and sick, the injured girl was unaware of the chaos going on around her as Spitfire and the other Wondercolts angrily inveighed with the offending Shadowbolt; all of her other senses had been drowned-out by the agony crippling her body, and the only thing Rainbow Dash wanted in that moment was for something or someone to take the pain away.