Chapter 21
Rainbow Dash sat on the locker room bench quietly gathering her thoughts before the big game. It was something others might not expect from the brash girl, but as captain of the Wondercolts who were about to go up against their biggest rival right before facing them in the Friendship Games, she needed the moment to compose herself.
The coach had just headed out for the field and left her to psych up the team before leading them out. It was a job she usually loved, but ever since the incident at the portal last week, her mind had been even more stuck on the events of December and it was making it hard formulating the words she would need to motivate the team. Finally Rainbow resolved to just go with her gut as she usually did and hope that it worked out better than it had with Anon-A-Miss.
“All right, ladies, listen up,” the rainbow-haired captain said as she rose from her seat. “We all know why we’re here. Our big match against our rival on the eve of Friendship games. A chance to show these rich snobs what CHS is made of.
Now I know what some of you are thinking. How do we expect to beat Crystal Prep? This fancy-schmancy school recruits the best of the best and drops tons of money on coaches and equipment. There’s no way we can compete with that...And you’re right. In all this time CHS has never beaten Crystal Prep. Not even once.
***
“This is supposed to be motivational?” Twilight Sparkle whispered to the diminutive pony in her bag. The two had snuck into the spacious visitor locker room prior to Canterlot High’s arrival and hidden in a row of lockers on the other side of where the benches and whiteboards were set up for the visiting team to use. Sunset wasn’t sure that they’d fit in such a narrow space, but Twilight was disturbingly confident when she assured the unicorn that the lockers were actually a lot bigger than they appeared. The unicorn stored that information away to question the girl about at a later time.
“Just wait for it,” assured Sunset with a knowing smirk as the two quietly approached the edge of the row of lockers, getting as close as they dared to the CHS team. “If there’s one thing Dash is good at, it’s putting on a show.
***
Rainbow Dash stood before her team, head bowed, but not in resignation of an impending defeat. No, she was staring at the crudely drawn sun that adorned her soccer cleats along with the red and gold strings tied around the laces. Conference uniform rules sadly prevented doing more, but it was enough to remind the prismatic captain why she was here.
“But that was before. Before actual magic came to our school and threatened to destroy it. Was it Crystal Prep that faced down a fiery demon? No.” As her emotions began to build and lend fire to her speech, Rainbow began to emanate an azure aura that mirrored her feelings. It flickered a bit at the memory of said demon but knew she had to continue on if she was going to motivate her team.
“Was it Crystal Prep that stopped a bunch of creepy fish monsters from taking over the world?”
“No.” This time it was stated by several of her teammates.
“No,” Rainbow agreed, “it was CHS. CHS that discovered the Magic of Friendship and used it to kick evil butt.” The glow around the soccer captain seemed to have stabilized and as her hair seemed to lengthen, a pair of pony ears and a set of wings tried to form on her back as the magic made her float a bit into the air.
“Now it may be a lesson we haven’t always been good at remembering.” The athlete found herself thinking back to the fight with the sirens and being locked under the stage where Sunset had seen them at their worst and was able to bring them back from the brink and remind them of the true source of their magic. Then she remembered the Anon-A-Miss incident and believing that that same girl would have done something to ruin the friendships she fought so hard to protect. Fighting to finish her speech for her team, Rainbow plowed on, “ But that doesn’t matter now. A friend once told me that, ‘The past is not today.’ It’s not about what we did then, it's about what we do here, today, that defines us. I’m here to remind you now that together we are Wondercolts and we’ll always be Wondercolts no matter where life takes us, we'll always be united by that bond of friendship and that’s something that Crystal Prep can’t buy with all their fancy money. So let’s go out there and show them what it means to be a Canterlot Wondercolt!”
The team cheered, banging lockers and yelling as they stormed out to take the field for the grudge match with their rivals. Rainbow Dash hovered in the air a few more seconds as her last teammate left the room and gave an exhausted sigh as the magic gave out and she fell roughly back to the ground. She’d held on to the magic as long as she could and, thinking of Sunset during the speech, not what they had done to her in chasing her off, but of the good times had seemed to make the magic flow more easily. But in the end, it didn’t last.
Rainbow was used to the feeling. Every time they came close to actually ponying-up all the way, something would happen and the feeling would slip away. During the speech and it was a struggle to hold onto the feeling as long as she did. It wouldn’t be very cool if the captain collapsed in front of the team so she held out but now she was feeling the drain as she collapsed onto the bench tired from the magical effort, and unaware that she was not the only one dealing with problems caused by her magic.
***
Sunset could feel the magic in the room as the prismatic athlete began her speech. The two had snuck out of the locker and crept as close as they dared to where the CHS team was gathered for their team meeting. The scientist and unicorn watched the readings the device took as the magic was absorbed.
“See, what did I tell you,” Sunset gloated seeing the impressive numbers for Rainbow’s magical output, “Dash plus an audience equals instant magic.”
“Shh,” chastised the nervous teen. “I don’t want to get caught in here. Who knows what they’d do if they thought I was some sort of Crystal Prep spy trying to steal information on their game strategy or something.”
“Psh, you worry too much, Twilight,” waved off the pony. “First of all, believe me when I say Rainbow Dash is good at keeping people's attention even when she isn’t glowing with wings so no one is going to notice us over here. And second, even if they catch you, it’s not like they’re going to beat you up or any…” The words died in her throat as she remembered her last day at CHS. “Well, they wouldn’t beat you up.”
As the speech continued the readings continued to flood in. Dash’s magical output was far more than either of them had anticipated and was quickly filling the device. Too quickly actually.
“Wow, if Rainbow keeps this up we might not even have to find the other girls,” Sunset said, scanning the data. She hadn’t really been paying attention to what the soccer captain was saying at this point until a familiar phrase caught her attention.
“A friend once told me that, ‘The past is not today’.”
“Wait,” Sunset said, snapped out of her own thoughts, “what did she just say?” It couldn’t have been what she thought she heard. Could it? "Friend?"
“I’m not sure,” Twilight said, her focus clearly on the magic siphoning device in her hand. “Sunset, take a look at these readings, I don’t like the looks of this. I’m afraid they might-”
But fear was all too soon realized as magical sparks began to shoot out from the device. Panic set in and amethyst eyes widened behind thick frames as one of the sparks began to grow and a portal opened and a tentacle-like vine began to emerge.
“Sunset what do we do? Oh no, not again.”
***
Rainbow Dash had barely begun to catch her breath when something caught her attention. “Sunset?” It wasn’t just the word she heard, it was the voice she was sure had spoken it. A voice she hadn’t heard since the Battle of the Bands. Rising on still wobbly legs after depowering, Rainbow made her way as quickly as she could down the row of lockers, and was baffled by what she found. Standing in her path was some sort of glowing hole in space that seemed to be shooting off a bunch of pinky-purple- or whatever made-up name Rarity would assign it- colored sparks.
Rainbow might not have been some pony princess, but she knew magic when she saw it, and this was most definitely magic. But, more importantly, someone was in trouble. Someone who sounded a lot like Princess Twilight.
“Hey, are you okay over there,” Dash called as she tried to figure out a way around. She may not have been an honor student, but she was smart enough to not want to mess with anything that was sparking like this thing was.
“It’s got me,” Dash heard the voice say, though it didn’t seem to be directed at her. A moment later she was proven correct as she heard another voice.
“Don’t worry, Twi, I’ve got you. Just get the pendant closed.” It was a voice Rainbow Dash had been missing for three months that she heard answering back. It was her! It had to be. Rainbow had stood next to her in enough band practices and spent enough time riffing with her to recognize that voice.
Sunset Shimmer was back. She was back and in trouble. As crappy as she was feeling right now after her little pep talk, there was no way in Hell she was going to let Sunset down. Not again. Rainbow could feel the magic begin to build around her once again, but just as quickly it was pulled away from her and toward the other side of the portal.
“Oh no, the magic is spiking again,” I can’t get it closed,” Dash heard Twilight’s voice say.
“You can do this, Twilight, I know you can,” Sunset’s voice said, “You’re stronger than you think.
As the rest of the magic faded from her and the portal blocking her path faded, Rainbow Dash found herself once again slumped down, though this time without the bench, she found herself collapsed on the floor breathing hard.
“Are you al-” Dash heard Twilight’s voice start though it seemed muffled and far away.
“Hey, Cap,” another voice called from the door to the field, “you okay in here?”
Finally managing to lift herself up enough, Rainbow watched as a familiar purple-skinned girl fled in the other direction out the door toward the school. Exhausted as she felt, it took a few minutes to realize the girl was not in her usual outfit of light blue shirt and purple skirt but instead was wearing the all too familiar uniform of a Crystal Prep student.
“You’re missing warmups so Coach sent me to- Whoa, Cap, what’re you doing on the floor?”
“I’m fine, Misty,” Rainbow assured her teammate as Misty helped her captain up.”
“What happened? Was it one of those Crystal Prep snobs? It’d be just like them to try and pull something like this before the game. Let’s go tell Coach-”
“No! No, it’s okay. I’ll be fine. Besides if we tell Coach you found me on the floor in the locker room, she’d probably make me sit the game out, and there is no way I'm going to let that happen.” Rainbow said with a smirk trying to hide the emotions roiling insider her.
“Okay, whatever you say, Cap, just be careful alright.”
“Yeah, don’t worry, Misty. I’ve got my eye out for Crystal Preppers now.”
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Awesome as always!
10535821
Thank you. That means a lot as I am a fan of your works.
Seeing Rainbow like this, however she might deserve this, is incredibly depressing. I hope reconciliation is around the corner.
Amazing chapter! I really thought Rainbow was gonna find Sunset for a sec there. Can’t wait to see more!
so close
Darn! Rainbow didn't manage to catch them
Nice chapter.
For a little sec Rainbow Dash was about to find Twilight & Sunset. It's good to know she still got the spirit and will do everything to lead Canterlot into victory.
Not only for her and the school, for Sunset mostly. And... I hope Sunset can realize Dash does cares for her; maybe she can forgive her and the others. Maybe.
That's dead and no way in hell is rainbow Dash is going to think this is just a figment of her imagination she's a lot of things but she's not an idiot
10536437
maybe she can fail a stat check, better roll for it.
if before the cmc confessed if they weren't 100% convinced that Sunset was anon-a-miss then I would be on board with forgiveness. This just seems to me like a guilty conscience you develop after screwing someone completely innocent over especially if they just happened to be your friend.
What am trying to say is no forgiveness without something that tests their resolve to have sunset shimmer back.
Since sunset shimmer isn't even going to accept an simple apology based on her not even accepting she heard the word friend.
10536729
Nat 1, what do I get?
Wonder how the game will go. Dash been drained the proctect of Twilight and Sunset back might her cheer enough to even the situation. Guess The Humane 7/6 will start doing their moves soon.
Congratulation on 310 Likes. Well earned.
Very good chapter I was looking forward to seeing how the girls have been after everything and now with rainbow hearing Sunset this could go a few different ways. Looking forward to the next chapter
10536795
nat 1?
I had re-read prologue anon-a-miss part 2 and while they weren't on that realization that they had messed up. They were still having some touching moments that showed that they did view Sunset shimmer as a friend plus also remembered their teenagers. Not all that developed than their equestian counterparts so if they have some leeway to make mistakes so long as they learn from them.
10537425
I failed the check, what happened.
10535846
Thats so kind! Thank you! I'm a fan of yours as well!
Really enjoyed this one.
10537611
rainbow dash probably wrote the situation off as guilt or her mind playing tricks on her and doesn't check into it right away or alert the others which causes them not to be on guard allowing Sunset and Twilight to remain undetected.
bonus guess if she did pass
Rainbow dash knows having learned her lesson from Anon-a-miss that she should trust her instincts even when there's no real proof and decides to look into this.
I'm glad the reveal came early on. I've read plenty of stories where they hit up each character and tease the reveal every time, it gets annoying around the third scene. I'm glad you arent going for that route. This is shaping up to be a great story. Keep it up!
Of course Rainbow Trash is the one to find out. Because the one character stereotyped to always get the shit end of the stick has to get the plot moving, right?