Canterlot Academy: Equus Equum Edit

by Lab Matt

6. The Big Game

“But do I want to?” Sunset Shimmer asked herself, feeling unusually conflicted. “I mean, that’s what I came here for, right? The original plan? That’s why I’m putting up with this petty high school drama, so that I can finally get the opportunity to--”

“Ugh, why am I having second thoughts?” Sunset Shimmer grabbed her pillow and threw it against the wall.

“About what?” Fluttershy asked as she got up from her bed.

“Oh, I didn’t realize you were awake.” She shrugged. “I’m just… Unsure about the essay I turned in yesterday. I thought it was perfect, but I’m not so sure anymore.”

“Don’t worry about that, Sunset.” Fluttershy gently placed her hand on her roommate’s shoulder. “Miss Cheerilee said it herself, you are one of the best writers in class, I’m sure she’s gonna love anything you make.”

“Thanks, Shy!”

Not too long after their conversation, the two of them left the dormitory and walked together towards the main building, chatting on their way there while appreciating the fresh spring breeze caressing their skins, too distracted to notice they were about to collide with another pair of students.

Fluttershy barely touched Indigo Zap’s back, but the athlete was on the mood to stir up some trouble, so she let go of the soda can she was holding while trying to look like the impact caused her to drop it.

“Oh, um… I-I’m really sorry…” Fluttershy apologized while trying to hide under her long pink locks.

“Aw, man, come on! That was my last dollar.” Indigo Zap made sure to raise her voice more than necessary to attract the attention of passersby. She turned around to face Fluttershy. “And I am so, so thirsty, but I don’t have any water on me!” She wrapped her arm around the shy girl. “Well, lucky for both of us, there is a soda machine right over there. You can replace the one you made me lose, I’ll totally forgive you for it. What do you say?”

Fluttershy looked at Indigo’s companion, Rainbow Dash, who didn’t seem interested in what was happening. She then looked at Sunset Shimmer, who crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. She took a deep breath and spoke up:

“I-I’m really sorry, Indigo, t-that was an u-unfortunate accident b-but I don’t have the o-o-obligation to replace the soda y-you dropped.”

Indigo Zap’s look of amusement faded; that was the first time she had seen that girl stand up for herself, and she wasn’t having any of that.

“Look, Flutters.” She tightened the hold she had on the girl, causing her to struggle in discomfort. “What I just gave you was the illusion of choice. What I meant to say is that you are going to replace the soda you made me waste, whether you like it or not!”

“Back off, Indigo!” Sunset Shimmer said, pushing the girl’s shoulder. Indigo suddenly grabbed her wrist and twisted her arm, causing the pony girl a great deal of pain.

“No, you back off, Shim! Or are you up for a rerun of what happened last time we had a little chat?”

“L-Let go of her!” Fluttershy requested. Indigo simply pushed both girls into the ground.

“All I wanted was for you to buy me a goddamn drink, seeing as how you are responsible for what happened, but I see you’ve grown a little sassy while I wasn’t looking.” Indigo Zap straddled Fluttershy and raised her fist. “Looks like I gotta put you back in your place!”

But before she could punch the defenseless girl, someone grabbed her wrist. She turned her head and saw her teammate, Rainbow Dash, glaring at her.

“I’ve told you before.” Rainbow Dash finally spoke up, that being the first time Sunset Shimmer heard her tomboyish voice from up close. “Leave Fluttershy out of this. This is your second warning.” While still holding her wrist, Dash pulled her to her feet. “There is not going to be a third, keep that in mind.”

Indigo Zap clicked her tongue and pulled her wrist free from her grasp, rubbing it to alleviate the pain. “Whatever. We’re running late for practice, pick up the pace.”

The blue-haired athlete walked away. Rainbow Dash helped Fluttershy up and, without saying another word, ran after her teammate.

“What was that all about?” Sunset Shimmer asked as she got up, looking at her friend with a very confused expression on her face.

“Indigo Zap has always been a no-good bully. Pair that with her short fuse and--”

“Not that!” She interrupted. “I mean Rainbow Dash. She totally stood up for you just know, what’s up with that?”

“Oh, um… Well, Rainbow Dash and I knew each other for a very long time, and she always had my back. We lost touch after coming to CA, but if she’s around and someone gives me a hard time she comes to my rescue. She never sticks around or talks to me, she just… Helps me and goes away.”

“Hold the phone, you used to be friends with the leader of the jocks?”

She nodded. “We first met during summer camp when we were children; some bullies were taunting me and she came to my rescue, so I kind of followed her around from a distance until I mustered up the courage to ask her if we could be friends.” Fluttershy smiled as she looked in the general direction of the sports ground. “She told me I didn’t even have to ask because we were already friends. We met again a couple of years later when my family moved to another town and we ended up going to the same middle school. She introduced to some of her friends, like Twilight, Rarity, Pin--”

“Wait, you mean our Twilight and our Rarity? You were friends with all of them? Why am I only hearing about this now?”

“It’s just…” Fluttershy’s smile vanished and she sighed. “We used to be inseparable. If you saw one of us, the others usually weren’t far behind. But then we came to Canterlot Academy and… Well, we just kind of drifted apart at first; they started meeting new people, expanding their circles of friends, hanging out without us after school… But eventually they started fighting, and not just heated arguments; there was a lot of hurtful name-calling, and sometimes things even got violent. We were barely on speaking terms, I wasn’t even sure if we were even friends anymore.”

Her smile returned when she turned back to look at her friend. “Then you came along and started uniting us all again! I swear, Rarity, Twilight and I have spoken to each other more in the last week then we did in all of last year. We are rekindling our friendship and it’s all thanks to you, Sunset Shimmer!”

“Uh… You’re welcome, I guess?”

“Shimmer, wait up!” Someone shouted. She turned around and saw Moondancer running towards her.

“What’s up?” She asked when the redhead caught up with them.

“The girls called a meeting.” She explained. “It’s about time we take down the jocks, so they want to get together and discuss strategies. You coming?”

“Do you really have to ask? Where is it gonna be, the library?”

“Nah, they want this war council to take place in neutral territory, so we’re meeting in the abandoned observatory behind the gym as soon as classes are over.”

“Um, aren’t we forbidden from going in there?” Fluttershy asked. “Also, isn’t it locked?”

“Being the prez comes with perks. Twi will get us in there, no problem. 5 PM, Shimmer, don’t be late!”

---

Later that day, Sunset Shimmer and Fluttershy walked together over to the thankfully empty sports field, meaning that no jocks were going to harass them on their way to the observatory. They followed a short dirt road on the east side of the field that led to the aforementioned abandoned building. The blonde-redhead tried opening its door, only to find it locked. She tried one more time before banging on it.

“Anyone in there?” She called. “It’s 5 PM, open up!”

They heard the click of the door being unlocked, followed by Twilight opening it.

“Welcome, you two, I’m so glad you could make it. Sorry about the lock, we’re trying to keep this meeting private. Please, make yourselves comfortable!” She motioned for them to come in and, as soon as they were inside, she closed the door and locked it once again.

The inside of the building looked surprisingly clean for a place that was supposedly abandoned. In the middle of the empty room were a few wooden boxes serving as a makeshift table, with two chairs on each side of the square.

On the north end sat Moondancer with an empty chair to her left – obviously Twilight’s.

Trixie and Starlight Glimmer were on the west end; Starlight was resting her bare legs on her girlfriend’s lap, who was absentmindedly caressing them.

The south end was empty, meaning that the spot was reserved for Sunset Shimmer and Fluttershy.

Rarity sat on the east end, happily chatting with a girl Sunset had never met before, who seemed more interested in listening to Rarity than engaging in a conversation – Rarity didn’t seem to mind. Her companion had bluish grey skin and voluminous silver hair, which she styled in pigtails; she wore the blue tartan skirt and argyle vest, the prep variant of the school uniform, and red-framed glasses.

“And who are you supposed to be?”

“Oh, Sunset, darling, this is S--” Rarity started speaking.

“Sugarcoat.” The girl interrupted, tucking under her arm the clipboard she was holding; she stood up and approached the newcomers, shaking both their hands; her handshake was firm and her serious voice tone brimmed with confidence. “Rarity’s business partner, among other things. While the boutique may technically be hers, Rarity still must answer directly to her benefactor, Miss Prim Hemline, to make sure her funds are being used responsibly as part of the contract; I will be in charge of all bureaucratic procedures so that she can focus on designing and sewing following the opening of Carousel Boutique. I shall accompany her to every meeting, even those unrelated to the business, to make sure we won’t spend more than we can afford.”

“What she said!” Rarity finished with a smile. “But my future as a fashionista is not why we have gathered here today.”

As Sunset Shimmer and Fluttershy sat on their chairs, Twilight quickly dashed towards her own seat on the other end of the makeshift table. While pretending to look at the defunct telescope above them, Moondancer moved her own seat closer to her crush’s.

“I, Twilight Sparkle, student council president of Canterlot Academy, declare this meeting...” She looked around for something to serve as a makeshift gavel, but eventually sighed in defeat and just knocked on the wooden crate. “…open.”

“Why are you even wasting precious time with this?” Trixie asked. “The Great and Powerful Trixie votes marching right up there and beating them all into submission.”

“There’s strength in numbers.” Starlight Glimmer added. “With our cliques combined, we have a clear advantage!”

“Oh, please!” Rarity said, waving her hand dismissively. “Having bigger numbers means nothing if they don’t know what you’re doing. I mean, your goons tried that against us, and I don’t have to remind us how that ended, do I?”

“An ant colony can try to take on a human, but the boot still comes out on top.” Moondancer chimed in. “Numbers don’t win wars, strategy does.”

“Besides, even if we somehow beat them all down, they would probably just see it as a challenge, get back up and strike back harder.” Sunset Shimmer said. “No, if we’re going after them, it has to be a permanent solution.”

“So, kill them?” Trixie asked, causing Fluttershy to gasp and cover her mouth with both hands.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Ms. Lulamoon, that is not what Sunset meant!” Rarity scolded before looking at the girl in question with a concerned look. “That’s not what you meant, right?”

“Of course not! I’m saying we have to crush their spirits, beat them in a way that will make them feel so bad that they won’t even think about crossing us again.”

“So we hit them where it hurts, their pride!” Twilight Sparkle finally spoke up. “They firmly believe that anyone who is not one of them sucks at sports, so if we can beat them in their own game their pride will go up in smoke.”

“That’s a fine plan and all, but there’s one big flaw:” Starlight Glimmer said. “They’re kinda right! Soccer, basketball, track and field, anyone who is good at something is with the jocks, where can we find someone who can hold their own against the best athletes in school who is not already on their side?”

The room felt silent, save for the sound of Sugarcoat writing on her clipboard.

“Dodgeball!” Moondancer nearly shouted while getting up and slamming her hands on the crate/table. “They love playing dodgeball amongst themselves; it’s not as serious as the other sports, but it’s still something they love and that doesn’t require the same absurd levels of skill. Beating them in a game of dodgeball won’t strike a blow as hard as beating them in something like soccer but a defeat is still a defeat, their pride will definitely feel it!”

The girls in attendance all looked at each other, expecting someone to challenge Moondancer’s plan. As the girl in glasses sat back down, Twilight Sparkle finally spoke up:

“Those in favor raise their hand.” She then raised her own hand, followed by a very eager and smiling Moondancer.

Trixie and Starlight looked at each other, then nodded other and raised their hands.

Rarity also raised her hand. When her right-hand girl didn’t raise hers, too busy looking at her clipboard, she grabbed Sugarcoat’s wrist and raised her hand for her.

Sunset Shimmer and Fluttershy finally raised theirs.

“This motion passes via unanimous consent.” Twilight knocked on the crate again. She then leaned towards her partner and whispered: “Good one, Moondancer. I’m proud of you!”

The girl’s smile grew wider as she blushed.

“First things first, let’s talk about rules and team formation.” Glimmer spoke. “How do they play, Moon?”

“W-Well…” Moondancer adjusted her glasses, still blushing heavily. “They play best of three with a single ball and four players on each side, with three inside the sidelines and one outside on the opposite team’s side of the court. Players who get hit continue playing from the sidelines, and you win by eliminating all three players on the opposing team.”

“Sounds simple enough.” Starlight said, nodding her head. “Now, we should decide who’s going to play. Any volunteers?”

Sunset Shimmer raised her hand. “I still have to make them pay for sending me to the infirmary that one time. Seems like the best opportunity to make that happen.”

“You can count on The Great and Powerful Trixie!” Trixie raised her hand as well. “Rainbow Dash and Trixie haven’t seen eye to eye since day one, so Trixie will use this as an opportunity to show her who truly is the most awesomest of the two.”

“That’s not a word.” Moondancer commented.

Sunset Shimmer raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure? Smoking and physical activities don’t exactly go hand in hand.”

“Oh, Trixie doesn’t smoke!” Starlight explained with a smile, waving her hand dismissively. “She just plays around with the smoke when she wants to look tough in front of someone, she doesn’t actually inhale it.”

“Starlight, they weren’t supposed to know that!” Trixie whined.

“Oh, oops!” Starlight giggled.

“Actually, mouth-fagging is still a dangerous practice.” Twilight explained. “You can still inhale the smoke through your nose and get the toxins into your blood stream through your tongue and mouth lining.”

Trixie and Starlight exchanged worried looks.

“I’ll talk to Maud!” Rarity said while happily clapping. “She’s really fast and really strong, she can help us.”

“Okay, that makes three. Anyone else?” Twilight looked around, but there were no more volunteers.

“Don’t worry about our fourth player, I have someone in mind.” Sunset reassured the team. “But first, I’d like to ask a couple of questions about Rainbow Dash.”

---

A few days later, the entire school had heard about how Sunset Shimmer marched to the sports ground and challenged the captain of the Wondercolts to a game of dodgeball; Saturday morning was the day agreed upon for the game to take place, and they were all excited for it. Sunset and her allies talked to Coach Lockdown – the only unbiased person with free time they could reach – who begrudgingly agreed to be the referee, making the entire thing somewhat official. The rest of the week went by in a flash, and soon the big day was upon them. 9 AM was the time the game was going to take place, but by 8 AM most of the bleachers in the gymnasium had already been filled.

Coach Lockdown , wearing his usual white tank top that showed off his muscles, blue shorts with the C-shaped horseshoe on the left leg and ever-present unnecessary sunglasses, entered the gymnasium holding a ball under his arm. He blew on the whistle hanging from his neck, immediately silencing the chattering.

“Alright, listen up!” He started speaking, his voice gruff and commanding. “I don’t know what you expect to accomplish with this waste of time, but since you really want this crap to happen and I had nothing better to do, let’s get this over with already. I will call the players one by one and they will take their places on the court.” He blew on his whistle one more time and reached into his pocket, pulling out a piece of paper with the names of the players. “First, the challenger; if it wasn’t for her we could be outside doing something productive with our free time. Sunset Shimmer, get up here!”

The crowd started cheering loudly. Sunset Shimmer walked up the stairs that led to the locker room located underground; she was wearing a Canterlot Academy basketball jersey and shorts but, unlike the one worn by the jocks, which was mostly blue with yellow details, hers was white with blue details, except for the crest on her chest and the horseshoe on the left leg that still were the usual blue and golden. She waved to the crowd and took her place on the right half of the court, on the left side of the three-point line.

“Next up is the captain of the Wondercolts, Rainbow Dash.”

The cheering was significantly quieter, mostly coming from the other jocks on the bleachers, as Dash came out of the lockers wearing the blue and yellow basketball jersey with her hands on her hips. She simply sneered at Sunset Shimmer before going to the left half of the court, standing in the center circle.

“Trixie Lulamoon? Oh, that’s rich! Last year this one skipped my class just enough times to not get held back. This is gonna be fun to watch!”

Trixie, wearing the white variant of the jersey, flipped the coach off while he looked down at his list, causing the crowd to erupt into laughter. With that out of the way, she basked in the attention she was receiving from the crowd, twirling, bowing and blowing kisses. Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer rolled the eyes before Trixie took her place behind the baseline on Rainbow Dash’s side of the court.

“Spitfire, you’re next, and hurry up. We don’t need more Trixies in my gymnasium.”

Trixie glared at the coach as another girl in blue and yellow came from the underground passage; she had yellow skin, orange eyes and short, fiery orange and bright yellow hair, which she combed backwards and styled in a way that made it look like an actual burning flame. She fist-bumped Rainbow Dash and stood behind her, on the right side of the three-point line.

“Maud Pie, get up here.”

Maud simply walked towards her spot on Sunset’s side of the court, on the right side of the three-point line.

“Indigo Zap.”

The blue-haired girl ran up the stairs, doing peace signs with both hands. She kept on running until she reached her spot on Rainbow Dash’s side, to the left of the three-point line.

“And… Derpy? Really? You had all this time to form a half-decent team and you pick Derpy?” He shrugged and shook his head. “Suit yourself.”

Derpy ignored the coach’s comments, simply smiling and waving as she stood in front of Rainbow Dash in the center circle.

“And the final person partaking in this waste of time, Aria Blaze!”

“Wait, what?!” Trixie shouted in disbelief.

The girl with the purple and green twintails joined them in the court, wearing the blue and yellow jersey, the same girl who worked with Trixie’s vagrants as their enforcer. She grinned at Trixie and waved at her.

“Aria, you traitor, what are you doing with these meatheads?!” The girl simply cupped her hand over her ear and shrugged, acting as if she couldn’t hear her former boss over the sound of the crowd, even though she most definitely could, before taking her place behind the baseline on Sunset’s side. “You little bitch, don’t you dare ignore The Great and Powerful Trixie, Trixie is your--”

She tried walking towards her, but Indigo Zap grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her back, causing her to fall on her ass. “The game is about to start, save your drama for later.”

Mr. Lockdown walked towards the inner circle where Dash and Derpy were standing on and placed the ball on the ground, right in the middle and on top of the half court line.

“Good luck, Rainbow Dash!” Derpy said with a smile, offering her hand for a handshake. She used that hand to rub the back of her neck when Dash crossed her arms and glared at her.

Coach Lockdown went back to his place, leaning against the wall opposite to the bleachers. “You all know the rules, so hurry up and start.” He blew on his whistle again, signaling the beginning of the game.

Derpy quickly grabbed the ball in front of her, expecting Rainbow Dash to do the same, but she just stood there with her arms crossed.

“We’ll give you the first round for free.” Rainbow Dash said with a smirk. “We’re generous like that. We’ll play for real on round two.” Indigo and Spitfire started chuckling.

With an eyebrow raised, Derpy tossed the ball towards Rainbow Dash without any strength behind her throw. The ball bounced off her crossed arms and rolled towards Derpy’s feet. Dash walked to the outside of the sidelines on the left of Sunset’s side of the court. Derpy then threw the ball at Indigo, who faked a gasp before going to the right side. Spitfire grabbed the ball and passed it to Derpy, who threw it at her.

Mr. Lockdown blew on his whistle again. “Zero to one. I told you to hurry up, but that’s just painful to watch!”

The three jocks returned to their position on the court, with Dash placing the ball back in the middle. Lockdown blew on his whistle one more time.

Derpy went for the ball again, but Dash was much faster and picked it up before she even finished bending down. Before the lazy-eyed girl could even process what had just happened, the ball connected with her face before soaring through the air and landing in the very back of the court, where Trixie was standing. Derpy, still a little unsure of what had just happened, joined her.

Trixie tried passing the ball to Maud, but Spitfire jumped up and intercepted the pass. She quickly turned around and sent the ball flying towards Maud, who tried catching it, but the ball flew too fast and passed through the gap between her hands as she tried to grab the ball, hitting her in the stomach. Sunset picked up the ball as Maud left the court and threw it at Indigo Zap, but the athlete simply stepped to the side, dodging it. Trixie picked up the ball and quickly tried throwing at Zap but she dodged again, this time with a spin. Sunset once again tried throwing it at her, but this time Dash intercepted it and threw the ball back, hitting Sunset Shimmer square in the face.

Lockdown blew the whistle. “One to one. That was just pathetic, girls. Only one round left, try harder!”

“Derpy, switch with me.” Sunset commanded as she rubbed a sore spot on the bridge of her nose. The blonde nodded and moved to the left of the three-point line. Sunset carried the ball back to the center of the court and placed it on the half court line. Neither her nor Dash said anything, they just scowled at each other.

“Final round, try to make this at least a little interesting.” Coach Lockdown said before blowing on his whistle.

Dash and Sunset grabbed the ball at the same time, pulling with all their might to try and make the other girl let go of it. Once Dash realized this was pointless she planted her foot on her opponent’s midriff and pushed, causing her to fall to the ground.

“HEY!” Sunset shouted, but when she noticed the captain was about to hit her while she was down, she rolled out of the way.

The ball bounced off the wooden floor and towards Aria, but Maud jumped inhumanly high, grabbing the ball in midair. She tried launching it towards Rainbow while still up in the air, but the multicolored girl managed to step out of the way.

Spitfire picked up the ball and passed it to Aria, who tried hitting Derpy on an apparent blind spot but, despite her lazy eye, the grey girl had a decent peripheral vision, so she easily dodged the ball. Sunset Shimmer intercepted it before it crossed the half court line. She aimed the ball at Indigo, who raised her arms to protect herself, but with a swift move of her arm she passed the ball to Maud, who threw it at Spitfire, hitting her thigh. She groaned as she joined Aria on the outside of Sunset’s side of the court.

Rainbow Dash passed the ball to Indigo Zap, who passed the ball back to Rainbow Dash. The two of them kept passing the ball to each other for a few more seconds until they saw an opening: Derpy ended up lowering her guard while trying to follow the ball with her eyes, so she couldn’t react in time when Indigo threw it at her. The ball bounced off her chest and rolled towards Sunset, who picked it up as Derpy joined Trixie.

Sunset passed the ball to Derpy, who passed it to Trixie, who passed it to Maud, who then passed it back to Sunset. They kept that going until Indigo, who tried to keep up with the passes, got a little dizzy while spinning in place; she didn’t see Trixie throw it at her, only realizing the ball had stopped switching hands when it hit her on the back.

With only Rainbow Dash left in the court, the crowd was on the edge of their seats; was the best player of every sport in Canterlot Academy really on the ropes?

Rainbow Dash bounced the ball on the floor like a basketball a couple of times, analyzing her situation. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then prepared herself to throw it at Sunset with as much strength as she could. The blonde-redhead girl tried diving out of the way, only to realize she wasn’t Dash’s target.

Rainbow Dash actually threw the ball to the floor in front of her own feet, causing it to bounce really high up. As the ball fell back down the soccer captain spun her body around and prepared herself for a kick; when her foot connected with the ball, Sunset Shimmer realized the ball was moving towards her. Since she was still getting up from the dive, she couldn’t properly dodge out of the way, and the ball was moving towards her fast. She closed her eyes and steeled herself, but the impact never came. She opened her eyes again and saw Maud lying down on the wooden floor and staring up at her, with a cheek bruised and a trickle of blood coming out of her left nostril and tears coming out of her left eye. She rolled the ball in front of her closer to Sunset.

“It’s up to you now.”

“Why did you do that?” Sunset Shimmer asked, helping her up. “You’re a better player than me, if anything you’re the one who should be standing and me bleeding on the ground.”

“That kick was really strong.” Maud wiped the tears and blood on her white jersey. “I knew I could take it, but it would seriously injure you. If I hadn’t blocked it you would be in much worse shape than me.”

“Huh… Thanks, Maud.”

Maud nodded and walked towards her other teammates on Rainbow Dash’s court; she was trying to act tough, but Sunset Shimmer could see her walk was a little wobbly.

The crowd cheered on as Sunset Shimmer walked closer to the center of the court. Rainbow Dash did the same.

“You hear that?” Sunset Shimmer asked. “Those cheers? They are all for me.”

“Apparently.” Dash said.

“The vagrants, the preppies, the nerds, the outcasts, every single one of them wants me to take you down.”

“Apparently.” She repeated.

“It wasn’t always like this, was it? Those people cheering against you used to be on your side. And I’m not talking about the school as a whole, I mean your friends. Not the mindless drones who obey your every command on the field, I mean Rarity, Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy. Your real friends. They told me about how you used to be, and they are just in the dark as to why you changed as I am.”

Rainbow Dash looked past her opponent and saw the three girls in question sitting on the front row of the bleachers.

“I don’t deserve friends like them.”

“And why is that?”

“Because I let my friends down when they needed me the most. All I had to do was step up, but I hesitated and they paid for my weakness.”

“It’s not too late, you know? Whatever happened between you, I’m sure it can still be repaired. You can get your friends back and together we can take down the real menace in this place. I know who the real villain of this story is and it’s not you, Rainbow Dash. But as long as petty politics keep the students apart she’ll hide in the shadows and only make things worse for everybody. If we work together we can root her out, end her reign of terror and make this place somewhat bearable until we can graduate and finally start living the real life. So, what do you say?”

Rainbow Dash looked at Sunset Shimmer, then at her teammates behind her and finally at the girls she used to call her best friends before Canterlot Academy tore them apart. She sighed and turned her back to the girl in the white jersey.

“What are you waiting for? Win this game already so I can go talk to my friends.”

Sunset hit Rainbow in the back with the ball. The crowd cheered louder than ever, almost drowning out Coach Lockdown as he blew his whistle, signaling the end of the game.

“One to two, the challengers win the game. And here I thought I was doing a good job training these girls, what a disappointment.”

Twilight, Fluttershy and Rarity invaded the court and wrapped Sunset Shimmer and Rainbow Dash in a group hug. Trixie ran past the five girls and towards the twintailed girl behind the baseline, who made a beeline for the exit.

“Get back here, you pathetic turncoat!” Trixie called as she left the building and ran after Aria Blaze.

---

During lunch, Sunset Shimmer shared a table with Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle and Derpy; her companions were chatting, laughing and reminiscing.

“This feels just like old times, doesn’t it?” Twilight said with a bright smile. “Six friends, hanging out during lunch, having a good time…”

“You used to be friends with them too?” Sunset asked Derpy.

“No, not really. We only met here in CA, and this is the first time I’m hanging out with all of you girls.” Derpy looked around, finally noticing that the mood shifted and the other four girls now looked gloomy. “Oh! Right, of course…”

“Hm?” Sunset Shimmer raised an eyebrow. “I’m totally lost here, what’s going on?”

Suddenly a troubled Trixie sat between Sunset and Fluttershy, with Starlight Glimmer quickly joining them and squeezing her shoulders in reassurance. The vagrant magician sighed.

“Why the long face, darling?” Rarity asked.

“I couldn’t catch up with Aria.” She said, dropping her third-person talk.

“Well, she’s gonna have to show up eventually.” Rainbow Dash said. “Classes aren’t over yet and Aria can’t exactly afford to miss many more after how many times she played hooky.”

“I don’t think she’s coming back.” Trixie pointed at Sunset. “When you figured out what Adagio was up to, that bitch vanished off the face of the earth.” She moved her finger to point at Rarity. “And when you found out Sonata was in cahoots with Adagio, she ran off and poofed out of existence.”

Sunset Shimmer raised an eyebrow. “Wait, are you saying…?”

The girl in black leather nodded. “I followed her into the parking lot, thought I would corner her in the shop. But there was a van there, already waiting for her with the door open; I saw Adagio behind the wheel and Sonata riding shotgun. She jumped inside and they peeled outta here.”

“DAMMIT!” Sunset Shimmer slammed her fist on the table, making their juice boxes jump up a few inches. “Every time we find a lead she steps out of her hole and covers her tracks!”

“Don’t worry about it, Sunset!” Twilight reassured her. “Now that we’re working together, it’s only a matter of time until we pick up her scent. We’re going to find out where she’s hiding and you’re gonna make her tell us what she’s planning!” She extended her hand towards the center of the table. “Go team!”

With a smile, Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and placed her hand on top of Twilight’s. “Go team!”

Fluttershy and Rarity looked at each other; they giggled and followed suit. “Go team!”

“I’ll help too, go team!” Derpy placed her hand on top of Rarity’s.

Trixie placed her hand on top of Derpy’s. “Go team!”

And Starlight placed her hand on top of Trixie’s. “Go team!”

They all looked at Starlight with a smile on their faces. She smiled back and moved her hand in order to add it to the pile. “Go t--”

Suddenly the idle chatter that permeated the cafeteria was silenced, replaced by the fire alarm sounding off.

“Attention all students and staff.” The voice of Vice Principal Luna coming from the wall speakers echoed throughout the corridors. “Please exit the building in a calm and orderly fashion. This is not a drill; I repeat, this is not a drill.”

All the students looked around confused but they knew better than to disobey Vice Principal Luna, so one by one they left the cafeteria and eventually the school building through the many fire exits. Once outside, they saw a cloud of smoke in the south – too far away to be coming from the main building, but definitely close enough to be within school grounds.

“Is that the gym?” Rainbow Dash asked; suddenly her eyes widened. “Oh shit, Indigo Zap eats lunch under the bleachers!”

“You think she’s still there?” Trixie asked.

“FUCK!” Rainbow Dash suddenly ran towards the gym, Sunset Shimmer not far behind.

When they arrived at the scene they saw that it was indeed the gymnasium that was on fire, with columns of smoke coming out of the windows. Coach Lockdown was standing a few feet away from the burning building, pacing back and forth and running his hands over his bald head. When the two girls tried to run past him, he grabbed them by the back of their clothes.

“And where do you two numbskulls think you’re going? Can’t you see the building is on fire?”

“Let go of me, cue ball!” Rainbow Dash said. “Indigo Zap is still in there, I gotta go save her!”

Sunset Shimmer slipped out of her vest, freeing herself from the teacher’s grasp. Rainbow Dash followed her example and removed her letterman jacket. Sunset slammed the door open with her shoulder and the two went inside, ignoring the coach’s shouts of protest.

The smoke was already thickening, limiting the visibility, but they could still see relatively well.

“INDIGO!” Rainbow Dash called. “INDIGO, WHERE ARE YOU!”

“R-Rain… Dash…” Indigo Zap’s weak coughs came from the other side of the building. Rainbow Dash followed her voice while Sunset ran towards the stairs, where the fire extinguisher was located. She saw some movement at the corner of her eye and looked downstairs, where she saw a silhouette of a person coming out of the locker room.

“Hey!” She called. “Are you ok?”

But the person simply turned tail and ran towards the pool area. She considering giving chase, but right now she had bigger problems at hand; she picked up the fire extinguisher and joined Rainbow Dash, who could see Indigo Zap stuck under broken parts of the bleachers. Sunset cleared the path of burning pieces of the ceiling that had fallen off using the fire extinguisher and Rainbow Dash lifted the wreckage while the Equestrian pulled the semi-conscious athlete out of there. Together they wrapped the girl’s arms around their shoulders and dragged her out of the burning gym.

It didn’t take long for the firemen to arrive, and while they worked on the burning gym the paramedics took care of Indigo Zap. Rainbow Dash wanted to stay and help, but Coach Lockdown escorted them away.

---

Indigo Zap woke up in the infirmary the next day, surrounded by her teammates.

“Rise and shine, kiddo!” Spitfire greeted. “How are you feeling?”

“Like shit…” Was her answer.

“Hey, it could be worse!” A blue girl with white hair, magenta eyes and a lisp said. “At least you came out alive. If it wasn’t for Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer, you’d be indistinguishable from a well-done steak!”

“Fleetfoot, shut the fuck up!” Rainbow Dash chastised the girl, pushing her aside to make room. “Not appropriate right now.”

“Take it easy on her, Dash.” Sunset Shimmer said, elbowing her new friend on the ribs. “We’ll all be cracking jokes about today in about a week, you’ll see.”

“Yeah, but today is not next week, she almost died in that fire.” Rainbow Dash sat on the bed and held one of Indigo Zap’s hands. “Hey there!”

“Hi, cap’n.” She cleared her throat, which felt very dry. “Can I get some water?”

“On it!” Spitfire reached into her backpack and pulled out a water bottle. She passed it to Rainbow, who helped the bedridden girl drink.

“Yeah, that’s the good stuff. Thanks!”

“Well, I believe you guys will want to have a private Wondercolts-only moment, so I’ll be on my way.” Sunset Shimmer said as she walked towards the door. “Get well soon!”

“Hey, Shim?” Indigo Zap called. “Thank you for saving me. For real. You didn’t have to, after the way we... The way I treated you, but you did it anyway.” She chuckled. “Now that I think about it, last time you were here was because of us, huh? Sorry about that, too!”

“Hey, you guys were the ones who put me in here but it’s not like I didn’t have it coming. Sure, a conniving bitch manipulated me into fucking with the team, but it was still me. As for saving your life, well… Consider that a favor that I may cash in at some point in the future! Deal?”

“Sure thing!”

Sunset Shimmer nodded at her and closed the infirmary door as soon as she left the building. She started walking down the corridor when the vice principal’s voice came out of the speakers once more:

“Sunset Shimmer, your presence is required in the principal’s office immediately.”

Unsure of why she was being summoned to Principal Celestia’s office, she shrugged and followed Vice Principal Luna’s instructions.