The Demon of Canterlot City

by Amadeus cancer

The CHS Annual Sporting Event Pt. 1- Competitive Cloudstale

"This year, things are gonna be different!"
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The week following their Everfree practice run had gone by much smoother than anyone could’ve predicted. Aside from an accidental trip here and a sore muscle there, any magic related issues had thankfully remained at an all-time minimum.

That realization in itself seemed to brighten most of the girl’s spirits immensely. It looked like practice really did make perfect!

However, despite the encouraging state of affairs, that didn’t mean the problems were over entirely. The amount of unknowns weighed heavily on each of them, which resulted in a simultaneous agreement amongst the seven to try the best they physically could to resist the urge to use their geodes for even the most minimal reason.

That would perfectly describe Rainbow Dash’s mood as she harshly bucked the soccer ball with all her might into the field’s net, barely noticing the flames licking at the sports ball’s curve.

Today was CHS’ Annual Sport Event: where each spring her school would compete with another in standard athletic activities for fun. It was like the Friendship Games, only slightly smaller game-wise and with schools further out from Canterlot. Each event’s location was random, therefore the students wouldn’t get to know exactly where they were going to play until a week in advance, that way the highschoolers who volunteered for the event at least had enough time to pack.

This year, they’d be having the event here at CHS. Today.

And no way was RD gonna let CHS down on her own turf, not after finally (somewhat) winning the Friendship Games last year.

Huffing out the strain in her lungs, the young athlete hopped over to the next nearest ball in her makeshift line and punted it hard with extra force into the goal. Ever since Sunday the young sports captain had been slaving herself away at practicing the announced events they’d be having today. Racing, Soccer, Hoofball, and Blitzball. Naturally she’d signed up for all four, although the rest of her friends had signed up for no more than two at a time.

That was fine. She learned long ago they weren’t nearly as competitive as her. But that still didn’t mean her friends, as well as all of CHS, weren’t counting on her to win this event. Magic or not, Dash was the school’s head sports captain which meant heavy expectations from everyone, so she absolutely needed to be on her A game before the events started.

Nobody told her restraining from using her magic would be so difficult though. Yeah, she’d been hammered over and over by the girls to be more “calm and collective” with her powers before all this, but after a whole entire week of being incognito she’d begun to feel something stirring up inside. It was like her very soul was annoyed from the lack of action coming from the magic settling within her, as if the magic truly was a part of her very being. Not to mention both the principles’ very forward rule on “No Magic Allowed” during the contest was another clear reminder to keep herself in check.

She, unfortunately, didn’t need another Twilight lecture to understand how hard restraining it during the contest was gonna be. Which was one of the many reasons she’d come to CHS’ soccer field at 6AM to practice all around the school’s field. A sight no one in the history of ever would’ve thought to see the (dim) light of day.

POW!

The last of the soccer balls in her arsenal soared like a rocket down the lawn, however her trajectory must’ve been a little off, because instead of hitting inside the net the ball flew into the pole holding it up, a loud ping echoing across the empty field, and it went flying past the teen into the parking lot.

“Darn it!” Dash groaned in frustration. Kicking up dirt, she trudged over to the goal to pick up her things and start over when she felt a light rhythmic tap on her shoulder.

Instantly halting in her tracks, she spun around to see her childhood friend Fluttershy smiling at her with a coffee in one hand and a paper bag in the other. The exasperation within her simmering down, Dash returned her own smile before snatching both goodies from the animal lover’s hands.

“Thanks Fluttershy, as always, you’re the best!” she hurryingly exclaimed, ignorant of her friend’s shocked expression.

“U-um, actually Rainbow, that coffee is-“

She couldn’t even finish her sentence before Dash guzzled down nearly half the cup and already began fishing into the paper bag.

“…mine.” Fluttershy huffed.

Pulling out a cinnamon roll, Dash felt the coffee in her hand get yanked away by a reasonably annoyed Fluttershy, who she gave an awkward shrug of apology to while biting down on the sugary treat.

“I don’t mean to bother you Rainbow…” The animal lover spoke underneath her drink’s lip. “…but don’t you think you’ve been taking this a bit too far? I mean, I know how excited you are for today and that you’ve been practicing really hard this week. However, wouldn’t it be better if you took a little time off from all this?”

Swallowing the remaining roll, Dash cocked her head and laughed while turning on her heel.

“Break? With the Sports Event in just a few hours? I don’t think so! I need to be all kinds of prepared for this afternoon, who knows what kind of competition Cloudstale Academy is going to bring.”

With that said, she twirled one of the soccer balls in her hand while glancing proudly at her work. Fluttershy held back a playful eyeroll as she watched the other teen pounce into her original practice position, only to be stopped once more when Shy grabbed her shoulder.

“Yes, but you don’t need to overwork yourself Dashy.” A significantly more cautious expression formed on Shy’s face, making Dash pause for a moment. “It’s been hard enough for us to try and get you to take some time off this past week, but considering today’s the day, please try to not tire yourself out before the Events even start.”

RD for her part seemed to ponder the statement, eyes narrowing down at the ground while rubbing her neck.

“I don’t know…”

Seeing her growing defensiveness, Fluttershy panicked and brought her hands up wildly.

“Oh, nononono, I didn’t mean to discourage you from practicing altogether, I just meant…well…”

She drooped her hands back down while her mind dashed, contemplating the correct choice of words.

“What I mean is…” She began again, “…is that there’s no reason you shouldn’t want to feel prepared for today. However, we just don’t want you to overwork yourself to the point where you’re too exhausted to play at all.”

Her childhood friend thankfully appeared to understand with a nod of her head, wrapping her own arm around Shy’s neck.

“It’s okay, I see what you’re saying, and I understand. But really Shy, you guys don’t have to worry about me, I know my limit, and this is nothing close to it. I wasn’t made captain of all CHS’ sports team for nothing!”

The enthusiasm and determination of the sports captain seemed to visually ease some of Fluttershy’s initial worries, who sighed in defeat and returned with a happy smile.

“Alright, if you say so.” She conceded. “I for one can’t wait to see you play, I bet you’re team’s going to be amazing!”

Another confident smirk etched across Rainbow’s face as she let go of Fluttershy to stretch, yawning while she did so.

“You’ve got that right! Today’s gonna be awesome!”

Once she was down, Dash peered back at the school towering above them, the sun now significantly brighter over the horizon.

“Welp, I’m gonna keep practicing until first period starts; that should keep me warmed up until the Event.”

RD then turned to Fluttershy. “What about you? What’s your plan for right now? After all, it’s about two more hours until classes start.”

The caretaker paused for a moment when regarded the question.

“Nothing planned so far. All of my critter friends back home have already been taken care of, and as for the others…”

In one swift motion Fluttershy unzipped her backpack as random pairs of rabbits, a tabby cat, and a squirrel burst out like ants from inside a hill, spilling out both onto the grassy floor and climbing onto her shoulders. Seeing this, Rainbow gave a neutral eyebrow raise coupled with a shake of her head. Same old Fluttershy.

Bending down to their level, Shy gazed up at Dash while scooping her arms around the fuzzy little creatures in a hug-like hold, keeping most of them from scurrying off.

“…they needed a little more outside time before I go to school. If you want, we can watch you play until class. That is, if you don’t mind.”

Dash’s eyes practically lit up at the statement as she tossed the ball out of her hand and began bouncing it evenly on her knee.

“No problem here, I need someone to keep track of my scores anyway.”

Fluttershy giggled as she picked up her furry friends and stood, giving RD a faithful pat of the shoulder while walking over to the bleachers. Watching her go, Rainbow waited until the other girl was out of earshot before letting out a sigh of relief. She was glad Fluttershy had given in, despite how worried they were, her friends just didn’t seem to understand.

With or without magic, she needed to show everybody that Rainbow Dash could still keep strong, help CHS off the ground and be the one others looked up to. That meant going to the absolute limits her body could take in order to be there for her friends in times of need.

Fine then! If she had to fight against her own magic until she dropped, then so be it. She’d show Cloudstale, her friends, even all of Canterlot, just what it looked like to challenge her in a contest of wills.

With that, she cocked her knee further back and punted the ball higher before flying her heel up to boot it up over her head, across the yard, and smack into the goal.

___________________________________________

CHS playing Field (11:00am.)

It never ceased to amaze her how at one minute the field outside of CHS was normally a quiet, peaceful setting with just a few students playing during free period. However when CHS had some type of scheduled tournament like today, thousands of kids would pour out of the school doors and flood the area like a plague in the blink of an eye the next minute.

Shouts of excitement and mishmashed sentences echoed across the yard as dozens of students chatted amongst one another. Giant bleachers etched around the field’s perimeter, more than enough to hold students from both schools, as well as any other parents, teachers, or friends willing to watch the whole thing. Outside the playing field dozens of snack stands and club advertisements lay in wait, even a small stand where the student bands could play for those waiting on the event to start.

Meanwhile, the squared-off field where the actual action was set to happen currently resembled a mix of sports. Around the edges of the yard was a long, paint lined track for the foot racers. Then in the middle was a neat square area of grass for the last three activities: Soccer, Blitzball, and Hoofball. It was an easy enough area, not too big for the school to require construction like they did during the Friendship Games, and not too small where it would seem claustrophobic.

Sunset breathed in the smell of fresh cotton candy and grilled food, it was akin to being in the yearly carnival. Up ahead she could see the group of CHS players practicing hard as their coach reigned them in, all of them wearing looks of determination.

She herself hadn’t signed up for the racing or soccer part, only Blitzball and Hoofball. Blitzball in itself was something the ex-unicorn was fairly familiar with. However, she mainly signed up for Hoofball due to the feeling that Dash would need all the help she could get out there. The crazy athlete had signed up for all four events!

Speaking of her, it wasn’t that hard to find RD amongst the players, (Rainbow’s colored hair can be both a blessing and a curse) who bore that same look of fierce determination Sunset had come to admire. Beside the huddling group she could see Fluttershy sitting comfortably on the bench next to the water container while watching intently.

She couldn’t help the warm smile grace her lips. No matter what Rainbow Dash was doing, there was always a high chance Fluttershy would be somewhere beside her, cheering the athlete on in her usual quiet manner.

Strolling over to the bench, she made it halfway before Fluttershy appeared to sense her incoming presence, as she immediately looked over in Sunset’s direction and waved timidly. The Equestrian gave her own wave when approaching, eventually finding herself sitting down next to her younger friend as Dash continued listening to the coach.

Taking this as her cue, Sunset cleared her throat.

“So, how are things looking so far?”

Evening out her dress, Fluttershy glanced up at Sunset with hope.

“It’s been…good. Dash is still really insistent on winning the contest no matter what, so far I’ve barely seen her stop moving.”

Sunset felt her eyes roll back before the sentence was even finished, sighing while combing her hair with her nails.

“Yeah, that sounds about right.”

The coach had ceased his instructions and was now demanding the kids to take five. His words must’ve even encouraged RD to sit down, because she too moved out of the field and was headed towards Sunset and Fluttershy’s direction.

Once she got closer, Sunset immediately took notice of the strained look on Dash’s face. Its wasn’t one of fatigue or exhaustion, but instead one of immense dedication. No sooner was she lost in her own thoughts, when Dash plopped down on the seat beside her and began guzzling down the water in her pitifully small sports cup.

Sunset smirked while leaning over.

“So, what do you think miss hotshot, had enough practice yet or do we need one more extra hour?”

Crushing the cup in her hands, RD dunked it into a nearby bin and turned with a challenging grin.

“I should be asking you that. Saw you having trouble with Hoofball practice.”

The ex-unicorn simply shrugged, rolling back onto the bench.

“Hoofball’s not something I’ve ever been too interested in. Forgive me if I’m still a little stale compared to the rest of you guys.”

“We need better than stale.”

“Ok girls, let’s not argue. We’ve got a really big day ahead of us.” Fluttershy spoke up, hoping to simmer the growing heat. After a shared look of apology, the collective decision of sitting in silence was made as they watched the noise carry on around them.

“Any word on the Cloudstale students?” Rainbow piped up, not moving her gaze from the field. Sunset responded almost immediately, pressing a hand to her chin.

“Not really. Aside from the buses coming in a few minutes ago, they’ve pretty much been lying low. Probably getting ready for the games.”

The given info must’ve lightened Dash’s spirits, who perked up with a glint in her sparkling eyes.

“They’d better be! Wonderbolts don’t go down easily!”

Fluttershy shifted her legs while fiddling with her pink hair, expression hopeful.

“I wonder what they’re like. I sure hope they’re nice.”

Beside her, Sunset crossed her arms and huffed out.

“Ahem to that. Competitiveness is one thing, but I’m getting really tired of dealing with jerks .”

“Guess we’ll have to wait and find out.” Dash concluded. “Won’t change the fact we’re still gonna smoke ’em!”

“That might be harder than you think!”

As if on cue, the trio looked up to see a familiar pair of uniformed girls across from their location, each sporting a smirk or half smile. Sunset easily recognized them on the spot. Ever since the last Friendship Games, CHS’ longtime rival Crystal Prep Academy had formed a much more stable relationship considering the retirement of Principle Cinch; more accurately, regarding the relationships between the students from both schools.

With passing time, gone was most of their burning animosity with each other and instead remained what could be called a friendly, competitive affair. Moments such as the Camp Everfree fundraiser where Sunset and her friends worked together with this group in particular, the Shadowbolts, to benefit both schools further solidified their newer peace.

Although the Sporting Event normally had CHS compete against schools who weren’t Crystal Prep, the students from CPA had made before a routine to watch the games whenever they could in hopes of gloating the loser for their failure. Guess it was time to see if they’d still carry that tradition after all that’s happened.

Fluttershy peered at the incoming three girls and decided to be the first to greet them.

“Indigo Zap, Sugarcoat, Sunny Flare! I haven’t seen you since the music video contest.”

One of the girls addressed, Sunny Flare, casually flipped her hair in her usual posh manner while grinning.

“After the Maritime Spring Dance, things have been pretty quiet on our end. Shame too, Indigo here has been looking forward to some action lately.”

Beside Sunny, another more athletic girl puffed out her chest.

“That’s right! Things have gotten pretty boring what with all the crappy school tests coming up, that means there’s less and less major events at our school than simple practice time.” She then waved her hand to point towards the three CHS students.

“No offense to the rest of our classmates back at CPA, but nothing beats you guys when it comes to competition. So there’s no way we were about to miss you guys going against Cloudstale!”

Rainbow smirked at the comment, no doubt proud of the praise given from her past rival while Sunset for her part relaxed her posture. It had taken her a little longer to forgive the Shadowbolts of their previous years of mistreatment of Twilight, not to mention their cheating ways during the music contest even after that. For a while it was like they never truly felt sorry for their actions, so she didn’t always know what to expect from them. Then again, she had to remind herself from time to time that she was once on the exact same boat as them.

Sunny placed a hand on her hip as she tore her gaze away from the girls and out to the racing track, her eyes widening slightly.

“Wow…” she whistled. “…your school really goes all out for these events don’t they? Guess they really aren’t afraid of the whole… you know.”

Sunny waved her hands in the air, gesturing broadly. Understanding the rest of the unspoken statement without a hitch, Sunset brought both hands up.

“Don’t worry, we’re doing everything we possibly can to make sure no magic gets into the games. CHS doesn’t want to introduce itself to Cloudstale this year through what they’d assume is cheating.”

Keeping her gaze off of Sunset and her friends, Sugarcoat lazily trailed her eyes around the surrounding setting, taking note of anything and everything before finally speaking since her arrival.

“That’s good to hear. If more accidents like those keep happening, there’s a good chance CHS won’t be able to participate in community games anymore. Not to mention the amount of unwanted attention you’ll receive.”

A new tension quickly settled over the group as the information was processed. Rainbow and Sunset in particular, with Dash gritting her teeth and Sunset shifting uncomfortably in her seat as sweat began to drop from her forehead. The former seemed to recover faster, evidence by her letting out a strained scoff.

“That’s not going to happen. With Sunset here keeping watch on all things magical, and me shredding the playing field, I think the only thing we need to be worried about is how scared Cloudstale should be!”

Indigo coughed into her fist while shuffling her feet awkwardly, looking as though she wanted to say something, yet for whatever reason held herself back. Unfortunately for her, it didn’t go unnoticed by the three teens before her, who gave a shared look of confusion at the Shadowbolt’s hesitancy. With that, Sunny Flare put a hand on Indigo’s shoulder.

“That’s… partially why we came over to talk to you guys.”

Another shared look of curiosity from the three Wondercolts was all the confirmation Sugarcoat needed to answer them herself.

“Considering all of you haven’t actually met or been to Cloudstale, we thought we should warn you about them. Considering our own past rivalry with them and all.”

Indigo finally seemed to find her own words, stepping up while placing her hands on her hips.

“What we wanted to tell you was just how hardcore these people are sports wise. Even Principle Cinch herself felt intimidated by them whenever we competed against them.”

Fluttershy audibly gulped as RD crossed her arms, her eyes quirking in interest.

“Strictly speaking, they’re pretty much more of a physical school than an educational one. I don’t think there’s a kid there who isn’t enlisted in some kind of major activity up until graduation. Their stamina is on a completely new level!”

“Which is why…” Sugarcoat interrupted. “…we also wanted to let you know that while they have plenty experience, so far Cloudstale Academy is still fairly new to the concept of playing Blitzball, considering most schools are still getting into the habit of creating their own league, unlike CHS who was first.”

Despite the previous discouraging information, Sunset didn’t have to see the growing grin etching across Rainbow Dash’s face to know it was there. Not missing a beat, the athlete pumped her fists together as she chuckled.

“These sound like my kinda people!” She exclaimed. “Dang it, now I’m really ready for this thing to start.”

Suddenly, a loud, shrill sound cracked across the yard, startling everyone as Principle Celestia’s voice spoke over the intercom.

“Attention everyone, the first event of today will begin in 10 minutes, please head to the bleachers.”

With that said, the intercom clicked off and the already thinning crowd began to disperse. Watching them go, Sunny chuckled while beckoning her two friends.

“Welp, that’s our que. Come’on girls, I think we’ve bothered them enough.”

The two in question nodded in agreement, with Sugarcoat giving a small wave while Indigo and Dash exchanged a thumbs up and salute.

“Good luck you guys, see you on the field!”

Giving her own short salute, Sunset watched the three girls leave until out of sight before she heard Fluttershy chirp from behind.

“That was nice of them. I’m glad they’ve decided to watch today.”

The former Equestrian herself grinned at the statement, crossing her arms.

“Yeah, me too.”

The bench shook as Dash hopped back to her feet, stretching her arms outward and rolling her neck.

“Enough chat, we’ve got a game to win! I need to get back with AJ and the rest of my group before it starts.”

She fastened her headband as Fluttershy handed her one last cup of water, patting the athlete’s hand when she went to grab it as a sign of encouragement.

“Good luck Rainbow, you’ve got this.”

Sunset exclaimed as she and Dash exchanged a quick fist bump before the latter flew off towards her team. Standing up from her seat, Sunset brushed off the dust around her pants before turning to Fluttershy, jutting her thumb towards the bleachers.

“We should probably get going. The girls saved us seats, but I doubt the crowd’s going to be any less merciful.”

However, Fluttershy gave no inclination of hearing her friend as she kept her eyes forward, her gaze aimed to where Dash had just run off to.

“I’m worried about her Sunset.” The animal lover whispered without looking away. “She’d already been working herself way to hard lately, and then this week, well, you saw how she was. Ever since that day, at the hospital, she’s been acting… different.”

A heavy clump sat in Sunset’s throat as she listened intently, eyes casting downward while memories of the recent passing days began to resurface.

“I know she can take it…” Fluttershy continued, nevertheless. “…She always did try to push herself to be the best she could, and I always wanted her to know I supported her. But now I don’t know.”

The two sat in silence for a moment after, with neither moving from their respective spots. Soon Fluttershy wiped her eyes before turning to look back at her older friend, a guilty look crossing her face.

“I-I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be so negative…I’m probably just imagining things.”

Her apology was cut short from Sunset who brought up a hand.

“No, no, no, I get it. She has been acting very strange these past few days, I guess I just didn’t think too much on it before now. I just figured it had something to do with the CHS Event considering that’s all she talked about.”

Placing a finger to her chin, she narrowed her eyes while flurries of thoughts pooled into her mind. Fluttershy wasn’t wrong, Dash seemed pretty determined about something that looking into context, sounded like more than a highschool game. But what?

Loud cheering caught her attention, pulling her away from the growing theories and back to the present. Letting out a huff, Sunset placed a hand on Fluttershy’s shoulder while giving the animal-lover her best empathetic look.

“How about we make sure to talk to her about it once this whole event is over, that way she’ll have nothing else to focus on and we can get some straight answers. For now though, let’s focus on cheering her on today.”

Shy appeared to process the given info before smiling and nodding her head in affirmation, sitting up from her seat and soon following towards the bleachers.

As she kept her pace, Sunset couldn’t help the small quake of nervousness that stirred in her stomach. She’d promised principle Celestia and vice principle Luna that she would do everything in her power to keep magic away from the games this time. So far things had been going off to a great start, but considering her past luck there was still a chance things would blow up in her face. If magic was brought into the equation, people would think CHS was cheating, and what if Cloudstale actually found a way to keep them suspended from playing anymore? The thought of her friend’s crushed expressions, of the principle’s disappointed expression flashed through her mind, causing her to flinch.

No! She inwardly berated. Not this time, we have a hold on the magic now. We are control this time!

Funnily enough, she almost believed herself for a second there.

____________

“Welcome everyone, to the beginning of our Annual Sports Event. Our first event for today will be foot racing, where each of the four group of contenders from both Cloudstale and CHS must lap around three times to win! As you know, the winning contender will then have their respective school receive a winning tally for this game, and whichever school who wins the most tallies of the four qualified games wins the Event.”

Cheers erupted through the air as students, parents, and others clapped in joy once Vice-Principle Luna spoke over the intercom. Kids of all ages threw their hands into the air when the contenders from both Cloudstale and CHS jumped out of their respective bases and raced towards the starting line, some of them posing energetically for the ecstatic crowd. Meanwhile, a select few of them simply gave out a shy wave before hurrying to the track.

Amidst the many racers, a certain blonde glanced up at the roaring crowd in the bleachers, wiping the sweat off her brow while smoothing out the creases in her CHS uniform. Rarity “insisted” both she and Rainbow Dash keep the homemade outfits somewhat clean by the end of today, and she could practically feel the fashionista’s watchful gaze from the bleachers. As to why Rarity would even expect something else than her getting dirty today, Applejack didn’t know, but when regarding the pleading look on her friend’s face, it was near impossible to not promise.

“Consarn-it Rarity.” AJ grumbled as she fiddled with the shirt’s collar. “The things Ah do you.”

Footsteps scurried from behind as a figure appeared at her side, messy locks of Rainbow-colored hair and bright blue skin exploding dramatically into the fray past the two CHS students on the left and to AJ’s right.

“Alright, first event! You ready for this AJ!?”

The farm girl cracked a sly grin as she looked over to see Dash beside her, the sheer energy coming from her athletic friend not unlike a rip-roaring farm stallion, just itching to be let out of its cage.

“You bet yer bottom dollar Ah’m ready. Only thing Ah’m worried about though is you having trouble catching up with me, considering you ain’t got no fancy ‘cheats’ with you today.”

Narrowed eyes met hers, the familiar challenging gleam boring into the farm girl.

“Oh it’s on now cowgirl.”

Their rivalry was soon cut short when a handful of newcomers suddenly stepped up to the starting line, most of them wearing expressions of determination and oozing confidence. Peering over, AJ noticed the girl closest to RD fidgeting awkwardly. Doing so, the farmer caught a glimpse of the bold writing on her uniform, CSA.

Dash quickly noticed AJ’s distracted look, turning to see none other than the new students now prepping at the painted line. Without missing a beat she posed herself tall before the young girl to her right and held out a hand, all the while putting on a welcoming expression.

“Hey there, name’s Rainbow Dash!”

The girl flinched at RD’s sudden introduction before realizing the gesture and recomposing herself, bringing up a hand in return.

“H-hello.” She spoke softly as she shook RD’s hand, her wary smile growing at the blue skinned girl’s friendly smile and Applejack’s courteous nod. “My name’s Vapor Trail. The pleasure’s all mine.”

To Vapor’s right, her fellow Cloudstale companions must’ve noticed her and Dash’s greeting, because another Cloudstale student poked his head out and gave a cheerful wave, his voice laced with a northern accent.

“Nice to see you guys again. It’s been so long since we’ve competed against each other!"

Seeing this, Applejack felt a sense of relief wash through her body, knowing now their competition was of the friendly sort. That always made the games even more enjoyable and competitive. Dash seemed to thrive off the easing tension, her grin widening as she placed her hands on her hips.

“I know right!? You know, Crystal Prep says you guys are pretty solid at this kind of stuff. I’m willing to try and put that to the test!”

The boy next to Vapor Trail chuckled at the challenge, already in the middle of a pre-stretch.

“Crystal Prep’s pretty well known for their intelligence, you sure you wanna test fate?”

As expected, RD merely shrugged his words off with her own while she tied back her hair into a ponytail.

“Fate shmate, all that counts is technique and experience. And buddy, I’ve got plenty to spare.”

A girl with darker blue skin and smoothed back hair further down the track ceased her warmup jog and finally looked over to the chatting group.

“Then today should really be interesting, it’s always a much better play when your rivals are willing to go the extra mile. You guys really seem determined for this.”

Applejack felt herself grin while bending over to stretch, careful not to bump into the fellow CHS student on her left, before speaking over her shoulder.

“Eh, that’s just the competitiveness speakin’ for us. In truth, we’re honored to play against you.”

“If you’re so honored to play against us, how about you put a cork in it before I lose focus with all your chit-chat.”

A new voice grumbled, turning both Applejack and Rainbow’s attention away from the three newcomers to the fourth and final Cloudstale attendant for the race standing lazily at the end of the line. The boy was an even darker shade of blue, with bright teal hair and mixed expression of boredom/annoyance on his face while he gazed out to the track.

“Thunderlane, Nightglider, Vapor Trail, stop yakking with our opponents and get ready. We’re about to start.”

“Sure thing Sky.” Vapor mumbled sheepishly, casting both RD and AJ apologetic looks. Before Dash could say anything, indeed the loudspeaker crackled loudly overhead followed by Cloudstale’s current principle, Honorable Valiance, gravelly voice.

“Now, if our contestants are ready…Racers, on your mark…”

Hearing this, Applejack began rolling her arm as Dash hopped up and down, the crowd’s roars growing with each second.

“Three…”

To her right, Dash saw in the corner of her eye Vapor Trail and the other two swapping and practicing their many exercise techniques, while at the far end the wise guy simply yawned nonchalantly. What a jerk.

“Two…”

Bending her knees, Rainbow bent down alongside the other five contestants in common racing position. Ignoring the still uneasy feeling that had been growing in her chest ever since early that morning, hoping to Faust it was just a sudden spike of anxiety. To ease her discomfort, Dash turned her head to Applejack and exchanged a nod.

“Try not to fall too far behind me cowpoke.” She smirked, immediately met by an eyeroll alongside a sigh.

“Keep tellin’ yerself that Rainbow.”

“One…”

She turned her head once again towards Vapor Trail who, to Dash’s initial surprise, appeared to be sweating bullets. Using her free hand, RD lightly tapped onto the other teen’s shoulder who then peered at her in question. As best she could over the screaming fans, Rainbow spoke in a comforting tone.

“Hey, Goodluck to you. May the best racer win.”

Her remark was returned with a thankful dip of the head before both girls glared out at the track.

BANG!

Then just like that, all eight racers catapulted away from the starting line like a snapped spring, bolting down the track as countless people cheered them on.

Right on cue Rainbow Dash and Applejack passed both their fellow two CHS contestants and rushed down the track at full speed, feet moving so fast it looked as if they didn’t even have any, the Cloudstale students right on their tails. Considering she’d known Applejack almost nearly as long as Fluttershy, both girls practically spent most of their childhood years competing against one another in everything imaginable. Therefore without Dash using her speedy magic, it didn’t take AJ a whole lot to match the sports captain in racing.

Scurrying as fast as she could, Dash glanced up at the passing bleachers to scan for her friends, instantly finding them up high on the top row all together in their familiar group, with Pinkie holding up a massive decorative sign signed by the others while reading in big bold words: GO WONDERBOLTS!

She couldn’t help the sudden warmth spreading through her heart at the sight, a gradually increasing wave of boldness and determination following suit. Somehow her friend’s encouragement always added fuel to her fire.

The observation was suddenly cut short when a third figure flew by and passed both her and AJ in mere seconds.

“And it looks like Cloudstale has managed to have taken the lead for now! Sky Stinger has passed Canterlot High and seems to be making his way down the track at record speed.”

Peering ahead of her Dash saw none other than the teal-haired schmuck from earlier indeed racing across his lane at a speed she’d never seen any normal person go before. Eyes wide, she gawked at the sight. Both her and Applejack had been running at a speed most would expect from a try-hard pair like them, not putting everything they had into their jog as to not immediately tire themselves out by the first lap, but enough force to keep them ahead of the game.

As any confident racer, Stinger’s posture was posed up tall and proud, but even from her position a few feet away, Dash could tell his movements and thrusts looked abnormally strange. Almost as if his body’s actions were given an extra layer of caffeine boost. Suddenly, she felt a sharp twitch nag in her stomach, one she instinctively understood.

No. I promised everyone I wouldn’t. Not today of all days.

Forcing the sensation down deep, she narrowed her eyes and began to add more and more force to her legs, causing her to slowly inch away from Applejack and the ever closing in Thunderlane from behind. Not noticing AJ’s perplexed look, Dash pressed herself forward and sucked in a deep breath as she picked up speed, eyes laser focused on the boy in front of her.

In second she began to creep up on him, holding back the urge to grin when he was mere feet away. Her rising victory was cut short when Sky Stinger in some way appeared to notice the approaching girl, turning his head over his shoulder. She’d expected him to look shocked or in the least glare daggers at her.

Instead she felt her brain go numb when the jerk simply winked at her before continuing, this time even faster than before!

She barely had time to sputter in surprise when the annoying loudspeaker spoke for the situation itself.

“And Cloudstale takes the first lap with Canterlot coming in at a close second, however, can CHS catch up?”

It was at this time RD took notice of the starting line passing by her, followed by a rising feeling of both disappointment and bubbling anger. They lost the first round already?!

From behind she could see Applejack scurry by the line, with Thunderlane, Vapor Trail, and one of the other CHS contestants in suit. AJ was closing in on Dash, with Vapor right beside the farm girl, visible beads of sweat rolling down her brow as the younger girl attempted to catch up with the rest of them.

She growled lowly and glared back at the sight ahead of her before pushing herself forward even more. Now way was she going to lose to this guy! Soon the excessive chanting of the crowd and the roaring wind faded as the young girl tore down the track after Sky, ignoring the ever-so growing sensation of aching in her legs. Meanwhile Sky Stinger for his part seemed to be doing just fine making his way around the bend.

With her speed increasing, once again Dash found herself gaining on the boy, eventually nearing his side in no time. He too seemed to notice this, him barely giving her a heated glance as he kept running. It was a shame she’d missed the boy’s reaction when she managed to finally pass by him, holding the instinctive response to send him her own ‘respective’ gesture for publicity’s sake as the person behind the loudspeaker cheered her on.

Not to mention the ever so subtle warmth glowing from within her necklace.

However she didn’t have time to celebrate, as she could still see Sky Stinger just out the corner of her eye hauling tail. Jeez, the Shadowbolts weren’t kidding at all, these people really were serious. The familiar stir coming from both within herself and the geode below her neck was starting to get denser.

I’m serious about this too. She glowered, gritting her teeth as the starting line came into view. The roars of her fellow classmates from the stand echoes through her head as she stepped absentmindedly over the line, giving them a brief glance.

“With her speeding past Sky Stinger, Rainbow Dash from CHS has won Canterlot the second lap, earning us a temporary tie for this tense event. And right behind her and Mr. Stinger, CHS student Applejack, and Cloudstale’s Thunderlane and Vapor Trail are neck n’ neck, neither backing down from their designated spots…”

Tuning out the rest, Dash refused to look back as Stinger inched up on her, his expression curiously unreadable. This was it, the final lap! She did her best not to stew on it too much, because other figures began to approach her field of view, the most noticeable being Vapor Trail. To her left, RD saw Applejack pop into frame with her usual stubborn vigor, her loud huffs signifying the farm girl’s approaching stance. Good thing too, the finishing line was right across the field, ripe for the taking.

“Hey Rainbow Dash!” a voice called out from her far right, turning her attention towards a now smirking Sky Stinger looking straight into her eyes. Over the sounds of a blaring loudspeaker, the cheering, heck even the heaving pants of the runners surrounding her, the next words that came out of Stinger’s mouth drowned them out like a lit match inside a thunderstorm.

“Gilda told me to send you her regards!”

Both her legs turned to paste as she tripped over her own feet, causing her to flail haphazardly while also desperately attempting to not stumble in anyone else or their specified track. She barely had time to register AJ’s stunned reaction as she rapidly began losing speed, knocking her from second place straight down to fifth place in less than half a second.

Struggling to even her frantic self she instinctively placed her hands out in front as her torso’s weight dragged the rest of the teen’s body down to the floor, her palms landing onto the smooth gravel before she pushed back upward, thankfully saving herself from a full on faceplant. Forcing her muscles to cooperate, she steadied her swaying legs into a more consistent jog as earlier. Rapid pants poured out of her chest while the students ahead began to move farther and farther away, none of them aside from that previous glance from Applejack giving any indication of noticing her absence. The hidden otherworldly entity inside her seemed to react to the new emotions swirling in her brain, thrashing irritably.

For once, the nonchalant reactions and sudden turn of the tides weren’t the current source of the mixture of thoughts racing through Rainbow Dash as she watched them go. A far off yet familiar sickness sprouted within the pits of her stomach.

Gilda. A name she hadn’t heard in years and preferred to keep it so.

How did Sky Stinger know her private history, more importantly, did She and Sky Stinger know each other? Dash took a moment to stare at the boy’s direction one more time, taking note of his energetic swagger and carefree appearance. Well, he definitely acted like someone Gilda would’ve wanted to hang out with, and she was someone who Dash knew kept a tight leash on the people she really talked too.

Wait…Dash felt a sudden shiver crawl down her spine. What if those two didn’t simply “talk” to one another, could Sky Stinger be implying…

Eww, gross! No way! She mentally shouted, holding back the bile in her throat. Gilda had a taste, and Sky Stinger was not it.

Her inner monologue was cut short when the announcer called out the very thing RD had dreaded to hear this early into the games.

“With Rainbow Dash now unexpectedly taken off from second place, Cloudstale’s Vapor Trail has rushed in to fill the void as Sky Stinger rushes in first place towards the finish line. Ladies and gentlemen, it looks like Cloudstale has this first event in the bag!”

The whirlwind of thoughts concerning Gilda faded a little when the announcer finished, leaving RD in her state of dismay. Movement to her right caught her glancing at the second female Cloudstale contestant NightGlider, who gave Dash a sideways nod before refocusing back to the race at hand. Turning away from the other teenage girl, the Rainbow-haired athlete took one last look at the sight just a couple more painful feet in front of her. Applejack hurryingly pushing up to Vapor Trail with Thunderlane practically breathing down the farm girl’s neck. Meanwhile in front of those three was Sky Stinger not breaking a single sweat, as if he didn’t notice the seven other trained athletes he’d just smoked.

A new surge of frustration bubbled in her chest from witnessing the scene. She imagined all of her friends from the stands: Sunset, Pinkie, Shy, Rarity, Twi, all watching in what was previously excitement to now probably growing disappointment because she’d lost the first event right from the start. The thought made her chest tighten like a rope, sucking out most of the air from her lungs.

As she pictured her friend’s disheartened faces, it created a flood of adrenaline which pumped through her veins like an injection shot adding more gasoline to her tank. Before she knew it, Dash found herself zipping up the track faster than ever, passing Thunderlane and a reasonably baffled Applejack until she was right behind Vapor Trail as she fiercely tried to add everything she could to the increased adrenaline.

It seemed Sky Stinger was also reaching his limit, his speed slowed by now to the point where Vapor Trail was mere feet away, followed immediately by Dash. And lo and behold, a couple meters away from Sky Stinger was the finish line in all its checkered glory.

The sight of the end line sparked a shared link of urgency throughout each of the incoming contestants and a sudden burst of speed was added behind all their steps. But none more than hers, as she desperately attempted to pass by Vapor and make it to Sky, who seemed painfully far from someone only feet away.

Come on, he wasn’t that far, she could still win this! Grunting, she shoved the image of Sky Stinger aside to instead focus more towards the girl in front of her and how to pass her by. Deepening her breathing in order to steady her hammering heart, she concentrated all her energy into speed and fixation, ignoring the rest of the world around her.

With each millisecond she began gaining on her rival, while something hidden within the corner of her mind counted down each measurement between them.

3 feet…

30 inches…

2 feet…

18 inches…

11 inches…

By now Dash could reach out her hand and pat Vapor on the shoulder if she wanted to. So close, so close to passing the other girl and then Sky Stinger was next. Oh, the look on his face when she’d beat him was too tempting to pass up.

8 inches…

6 inches…

5…

4…

3…

2…

Just a few more measly steps and she be back into second place and win CHS the first event of the day! Suddenly the crowd cheered louder than before, confusing her before the noise of the loudspeaker over the deafening noise coupled with Sky Stinger’s triumphant expression snuffed out the adrenaline.

“Ladies and gentlemen, with that Sky Stinger has won Cloudstale the racing event of the day with Vapor Trail in second place and CHS’ Rainbow Dash in third!”

Her feet ground to an abrupt halt as she passed the checkered line, calves aching in stress as she bent over to pant. However, the dull throbbing in her lower body was nothing compared to the nagging feeling of discouragement and failure weighing down on her shoulder like a ton of bricks.

She failed. On racing. How was that even possible, she’d been the fastest person in all of CHS for years, and that was without her magic! Crap, she must’ve looked so pathetic.

To her left Dash looked over to see a vastly more winded Vapor Trail bending down as well, panting and wheezing with sweat dripping down her face. Grinding her sore pride into gravel, Rainbow sighed and placed a hand on Vapor’s upper torso, causing the other teen to gaze questioningly at the CHS athlete.

“Hey.” RD coughed. “Good job back there, you really held strong.”

It wasn’t hard to see the huge blush grow on Vapor as she sheepishly averted her eyes, her nice smile widening.

“O-oh, t-t-thanks, I can’t believe I was able to keep up! Sky always said I had great potential if I kept practicing.”

Speaking of which. An arm wrapped around Vapor’s neck as Sky Stinger plowed into Dash’s field of view, his happy-go-lucky smirk sending fiery sparks down her spine.

“And where exactly has my amazing teachings brought you now fellow grasshopper?” He snickered barely out of breath, eyes lazily reaching Rainbow Dash’s as if he didn’t know she was already there. To her credit, her anger was cut short by Vapor’s beaming expression.

“That’s some energy you’ve got there.” Dash spoke up while crossing her arms. “You stayed in first place the entire three rounds against all of us. Not to blow my own horn, but being a sports captain myself, I know for a fact that’s pretty difficult to do.”

Sky immediately released Vapor Trail and laughed, merely shrugging in return.

“What else can I say? I guess some people are just born naturals. Don’t take it personally, but there just aren’t many people who’ve beaten me at my own game.”

She narrowed her eyes further, voice low and carrying a warning.

“Especially when you pry into their personal lives during the middle of said race?”

For a second, Sky’s self-satisfied smile faltered into a more tense gleam, a sudden tension beginning to grow in the air. Vapor Trail didn’t seem to notice it though, because no sooner had the stare down begun the smaller teen grabbed Sky Stinger’s arm and dragged him over to the rest of their fellow teammates to celebrate together.

Still glaring holes into the back of Stinger’s head, Dash had yet to see Applejack coming in on her right. wiping away the sweat on her brow AJ placed a hand onto the blue-skinned girl’s shoulder snapping her out of her glare.

Gazing at the farm girl, Dash had to fight down the incoming apology crawling up her throat when instead her old friend softly bumped her in the arm with a fist, her expression though obviously hiding worry and fatigue, was also filled with pride. Rainbow Dash blinked at the given expression. Why was Applejack happy, they lost! Behind AJ’s shoulder she could see the other two CHS competitors plop down on the grass in exhaustion.

“That was one heck of a race!” AJ grinned. “You gained on him the whole way, and even when you had that there slip up, you bounced right back.”

“But…” Dash groaned. “…We lost because of that. It cost us the game.” She glared at the floor. “I should’ve been more prepared.”

Suddenly she felt two strong arms yank her other shoulder around until she was fully face-to-face with a very frustrated cowgirl.

“Now you listen here. Ain’t yours or anyone else’s fault we lost. We can’t always be prepared for somethin’ like that to happen okay, it just happens. You did yer best and that’s that! This is only the first event remember? We’ve got three more to go and you’re gonna do just fine.”

As the words molded into her, Dash felt her previous disappointment fade away a little. AJ was right, so what if she’d lost that only added more to the stakes, and stakes always made things like these more interesting. Let the next game begin!

Still, a nagging feeling kept poking at her. “Gilda told me to send you her regards!” the words echoed through her mind like nose in a cavern. If that jerk really did know about her past that much, then that’d create some issues. She needed to have a talk with him when the chance arrived.

______

CHS Soccer field (1:30pm.)

If you’d ask any student what sport Rainbow Dash best excelled at, chances are 80 percent of CHS would tell you straight away it was soccer without a doubt. It was basic common knowledge. Sure, the sports captain had plenty of other favorites she enjoyed, but practicing soccer was always one of the first major impressions you’d get from her.

Which meant it made no surprise to anyone when she was among the contestants who jogged onto the field right as the event began, already huddled up with her fellow teammates to discuss their strategy. Right below the towering bleachers one could see dozens of cheerleaders from both schools prepping for the inevitable game, both with choreographic dancing and singing.

Though their initial conversation was hushed, a loud clap was heard as Dash stood up from the huddled group with her voice raised and head high.

“Alright, we all clear on the plan!?”

A collective “YEAH!” responded back resulting in her pumping her fist into the air.

“Then on three! One..”

“Two…”

““Three, GO WONDERCOLTS!!!””

Each player cheered before they all sprinted into different directions with the captain herself heading to the middle of the field. Even from the center she could hear the sound of Pinkie’s cheering over everyone else, earning her a smile. Both the school’s head party planner and Fluttershy were currently stationed with the rest of CHS’ cheerleaders, though obviously Pinkie had taken a moment to pause from practicing when she’d noticed RD.

She’d make Pinkie proud this time.

Unlike the event before, this time none of her friends volunteered for soccer as most weren’t as familiar with the sport like her. Therefore the rest of her teammates consisted of kids she’d previously known and trained with before.

Stretching her legs out she absentmindedly glanced at the rival team in front of her, quickly taking notice the mix of students Coudstale had to offer. Some were fit, some were really fit, others were lanky yet definitely experienced from the way they carried themselves, and all held a fierce level of competitiveness in their eyes she couldn’t help but admire. That didn’t mean she was gonna go easy on them though.

“Well look who we have here!”

Scratch that: Definitely not going easy on them. She ground her teeth together when that unfortunately very familiar voice snapped her mood into pieces.

Walking up to her was a well fit, teenage boy wearing that same ugly smirk she’d been consistently tortured with ever since first grade. Not even bothering to hold back an audible groan, Rainbow scoffed before returning to her stretching.

“Nice to see you too Dumbbell.”

Suddenly her vision was blocked when Dumbbell closed in on her personal space, his smirk replaced with a sneer.

“Did I say it was nice to see? Cuz’ I didn’t, I. Don’t. Like. You, Rainbow Crash!”

Still just as brilliant as always. Already long accustomed to the nickname, she resisted the urge to shove him backwards, instead stepping away from the jock to regain her space while absentmindedly waving him off.

“Cut to the chase Dumbbell, what do you want? Can’t you see I’m a little busy here, SOME of us actually want to use our skills win today without cheating.”

Right on cue she could see a bead of sweat forming on his brow, adding insult to injury with her victorious grin. He seemed to shrug off the comment quickly and glared at her while crossing his arms.

“HA! Like you’re one to talk Rainbow Crash, what with your freakish little abilities. Remember your stunt last month at the mall?”

A surge of anger, guilt, and remorse all rolled into one shot through her esteem like an arrow, the memories of the accident flashing through her mind further agitating the mix of negative emotions in her chest.

“Well maybe if you’d lay off from pushing me every now and then…” she glowered at the boy defensively as he brought his arms out dramatically.

“And that’s precisely why I came over here, to make sure your testy little emotions don’t ruin today for me. Watching your whole school see you flunk this game without your dumb cheat will finally prove to everyone the real flop you are.”

She was about five seconds from forgoing all rules to pop him straight in his nose when she felt another burly arm laze over her neck, a new, scratchier voice interrupting.

“Guy’s gotta point Dash, with dweebs like these on your team I’d say stopping yourself from cheating is gonna be the toughest challenge you’ve ever faced.”

As the words breathed over her shoulder, she felt her whole body stiffen when that raspy laugh echoed right into her ear. The arm wrapped around her shoulders loosened as a burly figure overfilled her vision, nearly blocking Dumbbell out completely. Wincing at the gut-wrenching hole punching into her heart Dash flicked her gaze over the girl before her, trailing up a finely muscled body any tomboy would kill to have, to a face riddled with scarred injuries both familiar and new. Narrow silky white/purple-tipped hair jutted broadly outward, although not enough to shade the pair of golden, eagle-like eyes glaring down at the captain not unlike a predatory animal.

Ignoring both her initial shock and conflicting emotions, Rainbow Dash crossed her arms with her own daring glare.

“Hello Gilda.”

To her credit, Gilda hardly seemed fazed by the curt greeting, instead smirking wider than ever.

“Sup loser. A little birdie told me you’d be here, can’t say I’m surprised.”

“And miss this throwdown? You’d have a better chance putting me in a princess outfit.” Rainbow huffed.

Once again she was caught off guard by Gilda laughing out loud, showing a row of her oddly pointed teeth while whipping her bangs away from her face.

“That’s the Rainbow dash I know! Good to see you’ve got some decency left.”

Ignoring Dumbbell’s annoyed mumbling hidden behind her, Gilda glanced down at the smaller female with what was either pity or a hint of sadness tucked underneath their steely exterior Dash could brutally say she didn’t know.

“Shame to see you’re still sticking around this dump though, what with all these sappy dweebs always holding you back.” Gilda grunted, earning a frown from her old friend. “Kinda sad to be honest.”

Any feeling of guilt/sympathy she had towards Gilda was immediately stomped on, shot, and burned alive as a wave of boiling hot redness overrode her senses. Now Dash remembered why she ditched Gilda back then. True colors were really something, huh?

“They are my friends. They make sure to always be there and support me. Not just so they can look cool in front of others.” Dash growled lowly.

The slits in Gilda’s eyes narrowed further before Dumbbell finally pushed by the taller girl to voice his own opinion on the matter.

“See? I told you this was going to be useless Gilda, all Crash here wants is to waste her time with these losers hoping for some miracle. If that’s what she wants then fine, more wins for us!”

Gilda switched her glare from Dash to Dumbbell, nearly making the smaller boy whither in sudden fear before she closed her eyes and shrugged him off.

“Heh, sorry Dash. Guess I’m still a little disappointed even after all this time, but can you really blame me?”

Once more Gilda looked at RD with that same look of pity and/or sadness, only this time it was significantly more the former rather than the latter.

“You’re the one who chose them over me.”

Rainbow honestly couldn’t tell what her expression looked like, but whatever it was seemed to satisfy Gilda, who simply smirked before glancing at the other Cloudstale students getting into position.

“Well anyways…” Gilda sighed. “…looks like I’ve gotta split, pleasure seeing you again captain. Dumbbell, go get your butt into position before the captain tears you a new one.”

With that said Gilda rushed back into the field, leaving the other two alone in an awkward silence. Unfortunately Dumbbell was the first to speak, breaking the blue-skinned athlete from her stunned trance.

“Never did understand why she looked up to you.” He sneered nastily. “Too bad she didn’t realize just how much of a trainwreck you are when choosing between the important stuff and your own precious little needs.”

“Stop.”

He almost stopped when he heard that low, dangerous voice coming from the girl beside him, now fully aware her glaring eyes were boring into his soul. This time it was her turn to get in his face.

“You don’t know anything about me, about what happened, and you don’t know what she did to my friends.”

Her voice turned from dangerous to straight hate with venom dripping down each word.

“Stop. Pushing. Me, Dumbell.”

He gulped, desperately trying to claw back at his dignity.

“If you don’t like being pushed, then stop always pretending you’re something special.”

With that, he pushed away from the smaller girl and stalked off towards his group, his obviously resentful mood practically steaming from his very body. Watching his retreating form with a glare hot enough to vaporize even the sun, Dash felt her fists clench and unclench as her world began to turn red.

What a bunch of jagoffs.

Can’t believe I ever saw her as a friend. As she stood there, festering in anger, she hardly noticed the newcomer reaching the other side of the field’s center circle. No doubt Cloudstale’s captain. She was about Dash’s age, if not a year older, with bright green skin and yellowish cut locks. Upon arriving the new captain stuck out her hand with a welcoming expression, simmering RD’s previous anger.

“Sup, I’m Emerald Mystery.”

Internally shaking off her irritated mindset and replacing it with her best usual sportsmanship attitude.

“Rainbow Dash. I-I mean hey, hi. Hello.” She winced at the babbling words forming from her now sandpaper dry mouth.

Their introduction was abruptly cut short as the referee made his way to both of them, hushing most of the field. Standing between the two girls, the ref nodded to them as he pulled out a quarter from his pocket gesturing it out.

Instantly Dash blurted out. “Heads!” as he tossed it high into the air before gravity overtook it and it plopped down onto the grass forcing all here to bend over for a visual.

Sweet!

Fist bumping both her rival captain and the ref respectfully while they left, RD looked outward at the fanned party racing through her strategy once more.

This is for you Canterlot. Faster than anyone could blink she sent the checkered sphere sailing directly towards the enemy goal, before bolting forward when Gilda appeared out of nowhere to parry it.

Let the game begin.

______(Twenty minutes in)____

“Fleetfoot, over here! I’m open!”

Zipping past one of her rivals, Rainbow Dash inched as best she could into a position that would hopefully suit right for the older Wondercolt for the pass. With dozens behind her heels she narrowed her eyes when the white-haired teammate eventually picked up the courage to thrust the ball outwards to Rainbow’s direction.

The score was currently tied, 1-1. If she wasn’t so preoccupied at the moment, she would’ve been overwhelmed with encouraging pride. It seemed CHS had come a long way since the Friendship Games, because for what had to be the second or third time that day Dash found herself agreeing with Indigo Zap’s statement.

Cloudstale was ridiculously competitive, so much so even she was struggling to keep up at certain times. Not that she’d let anyone else know that.

Well fine! Maybe they just needed to switch up the team’s positions. It’d take more than competitiveness to wear this Wondercolt down.

Fleetfoot bucked the ball out for RD to catch, leaving the rest to the captain. Sliding in front of the Cloudstale student to block them, Dash easily took the ball from her teammate and began edging it outwards back towards the enemy goal.

Maneuvering left and right to steer away from the dozens of students attempting to steal it from her, Dash was already prepping her kick when a blur of brown and white flew across her vision, mere inches from brushing the tip of her nose.

Just as quickly as it came, the blur vanished and her vision cleared, leaving her momentarily confused. What just-

Suddenly she noticed kids who were previously tailing her had vanished, as well as the distinct lack of a soccer ball at her feet. Grass kicked up as she slid to a stop, twisting her head to see non other than Gilda making her way towards Dash’s goal with the ball with a speed rivaling that of a cheetah.

How did she do that?

Shaking it off, Rainbow ran after the girl in hopes of catching up. Gilda was already closing in on the enemy goal which gave the sports captain more need to speed things along, pushing by student after student to reach her rival before the tie was broken in Cloudstale’s favor.

Another body covered her vision, although this time she could see who it was. Blocking her intended route was Dumbbell, who seemed more focused on her than protecting Gilda from the CHS students homing in on her. She knew this because the jock was looking over his shoulder straight at her with that damn gleam in his eye.

Growling in frustration, she attempted to move over only to have him copy her actions. She tried again, this time in the other direction. He copied in suit.

Urgh, she didn’t have time for this!

She slid to the left one more time, taking note of his attempted imitation before using her trained lightning reflexes to switch to the right mid-step and race past his stunned self.

It mattered not, because no sooner had she escaped Dumbbell the Cloudstale crowd cheered in victory as Gilda rocketed the ball by the goalie and into the net. Just in time for the bell to ring signifying half time.

Standing slack jawed in the middle of the field, Dash watched as Gilda bumped fists with another students while making her way to her team’s break chairs.

“Nice play, Crashy.”

The snide remark from Dumbbell did nothing to ease the rapid thrumming in her ears as her necklace glowed in pure agitation. Without thinking she absentmindedly flicked the round decoration harboring the otherworldly geode before trudging over to her huddled teammates.

“Alright everyone, listen up!” she exclaimed loudly while clapping her hands, signaling their attention.

“Ok, so Cloudstale has us two to one, big deal. We’ve faced tougher games, and like before we’ll show them CHS means business and get back our event’s tally. To do that, I say we switch some things up position wise.”

Many of the reactions she received were raised eyebrows and curious looks, prompting her to feel even more confident.

“You guys previously on defense, we’re gonna switch you to midfield and offense because there was some pretty shaky resistance back there. Offense team, vice versa. I’m gonna follow in defense this time, that way we can give Cloudstale more of a challenge.”

The entourage of fellow nods of approval/thumbs up was enough to fuel the fire still burning bright in her tank, patting her squad on the shoulder as she gazed up towards the bleacher. Scanning the many heads in the crowd, she finally found her friends once more, who were all looking right back at her with pride and excitement.

In what felt like mere seconds instead of minutes their half time ended resulting in the announcer calling the students back into the game.

As discussed before, Dash made her way towards the small defense position in front of the goalie as Cloudstale prepped themselves.

Even from her position she could see Dumbbell and another taller girl with light blue skin line up in the attacker location, both eyeing straight at her. She felt the warmth burning into her ears as she glared back at them. She couldn’t explain it, but somehow she felt as if the girl’s glare was personal. Not to mention she had a strange nagging feeling that she’d seen her from somewhere before.

Before she knew it the game was on, with Cloudstale’s own captain kicking the ball off towards CHS’ side of the field followed immediately by the Wonderbolt’s offense scrambling for the steal. Already moving her feet at the sight of the closing in players, Dash skipped by the students beside her and beelined for the ball calculating her planned trajectory on where to send it.

However, her defensive action was interrupted when something heavy slammed into her side, sending the teen sprawling to the sidelines as the ball whizzed by her, past the goalie, and square into the net. Experience allowed her to catch herself before gravity could overtake her, and she took no time looking up to glare at the person responsible for her missed kick.

The tall girl she’d seen next to Dumbbell from earlier gleamed at Dash, a noticeable amount of mischievous pride on her features while admiring her handywork before running off to join her group. What was her problem?

Rubbing her new sore, Dash peered at the referee in hopes he’d seen what transpired, only instead to receive a whistle signifying Cloudstale’s next win. She forced away the disappointment before getting back into place, all the while glaring daggers at the retreating form of the girl who’d bumped into her.

The whistle for the next round broke through the air as her team kicked the ball out of the circle. She jumped into the fray in an instant, this time eyeing for any incoming attackers.

Up ahead she watched fellow CHS teammate Cherry Spices making her way towards the goal with the ball under her feet weaving past other students with passionate grace, just like how Rainbow taught her. Unknown to Cherry however, the towering form of Gilda burst through a wall of Wonderbolts like they were toy soldiers before yanking the ball away from the smaller girl’s shocked expression while she tripped over something.

With Gilda storming towards her at Mach 7, Dash couldn’t help but feel a little intimidated. The bigger female’s normally stubborn golden eyes carried a raging, feral sensation RD had never seen before. And they were boring through her.

Biting her tongue, Rainbow Dash nevertheless pushed on face first to the oncoming jock. This action apparently excited Gilda more as she picked up a significant amount of speed, grin widening. Feet turned to inches as the distance between the two closed with each step, until they could practically touch one another with their arms outstretched respectively. That’s when Gilda saw a small yet noticeable smirk on Dash’s face before the smaller teen became nothing but a blur whipping around Gilda’s side. Her confusion quickly switched to aghast when she looked down to see the ball missing from underneath her, aghast then being set aflame with pure rage standing on its ashes.

The contagious smile on RD’s face kept as she set down the field towards the enemy goal, watching the incoming Dumbbell intently. When she saw him prep his shoulder forward, like he was going to ram into her like the previous girl did, she twisted her body to the side just in time to watch him stumble against his own weight and tumble onto the grass in a heap.

The enemy goalie took notice of Dash and held her arms up as the CHS captain ducked from an incoming Cloudstale student before slamming her foot into the ball, sending it sailing.

There was no way for anyone else to reach it due to them all being far behind her, and it was far too fast for the goalie to reach. It was a perfect hit.

At least that’s what she thought until everyone witnessed in collective shock as a figure tore horizontally across the small gap in-between the ball and the net at impossibly high speeds, headbutting the projectile back towards enemy territory.

The crowd exploded as Dash watched the same girl from earlier throw her hands up in unison when the ball landed onto the floor, dozens of students gunning for it. Pushing aside anyone in his path, Dumbbell was the first to take control of the situation and ran like a maniac with Gilda guarding his backside.

A heavy amount of sweat was pooling down Rainbow Dash’s body when she mustered up the courage to charge after him, hurrying as fast she humanly could to catch up.

Both Gilda and Dumbbell were fast, far faster than she’d ever seen them before. Not to mention how aggressive they were over the ball. Even from her standpoint Dash could see Dumbbell roughly usher aside any person getting near him, with Gilda making sure they stayed in the back lane.

Weariness burned through the athlete’s system while she tried to close the distance between them, running up to Gilda’s side as the two of them glared at one another. In an instant Gilda ever so slightly moved in Dash’s direction, pushing the smaller teen to the side with her burly shoulder. Eyes widening in shock, Rainbow balked at her former friend.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?!”

Instead of responding, the enemy contestant only glared at her with a callous look as she pushed further into RD, edging towards the field’s perimeter. She was going to push her out of the game!

Fear had overridden her senses, causing Dash to try and move out of the way so she could gain better ground. Dodging another push from Gilda that would’ve surely knocked her out of the white line bounds, Dash slid around the bulkier girl’s frame from behind to jump back into the field.

She was too late. By the time it took to escape her captor Dumbbell had already passed the ball to a fellow player, who’d scored Cloudstale yet another point.

By this time exhaustion from both fighting to give CHS any kind of score coupled with the out of nowhere aggressiveness of the enemy teammates was starting to weigh on her. This might’ve been one of the most intense soccer games she’d ever played in her life.

Wiping her brow Dash jogged back into defense position as the ref brought the ball out of the net. The game was going to end soon, and by the looks of things CHS would have to be darn lucky to win. How was this happening, she’d never lost this badly before!

Was she really losing her touch?

A powerful feeling erupted in her chest that nearly made it hard to breathe, almost like something was forcing the muscles within to constrict in reaction. Peering down she saw her necklace glow brighter than before, so much so she instinctively covered it with her hand as to not attract attention. The magic radiating into her palm akin to a burning lightbulb, only with the aura of something purely alive.

_________________

CHS playing field (3:00)

“ALRIGHT GIRLS, WHEN I SAY GO, YOU SAY COLTS! GO…”

“COLTS!”

“GO…”

“COLTS!”

Pinkie Pie grinned manically as she dropped the bullhorn to her knees. The sheer amount of immense pride from watching her fellow cheerleader’s formation and passion bloomed like a flower in her heart. They’d all come such a long way from being a group of shy, yet eager, beginners, to bold and fearless hardworking team players. It was enough to bring a tear to her eye.

Plucking the bullhorn onto her belt, Pinkie placed a hand onto her hip while still holding her gigantic smile.

“Excellent work everyone! You’ve all practiced so well this week, now who’s ready to show Cloudstale that CHS owns this town!”

Loud cheers responded as she clapped her hands alongside them while they ushered out towards the bleachers, Pinkie preparing to follow in suit before hearing a soft yet noticeable ‘ahem’ from behind. Turning around to see Fluttershy approaching, she immediately stopped in her tracks. Although the older animal caretaker had been the newest addition to Pinkie’s cheering club, (founded and co-founded by Pinkie of course for three super-tastic years), it was reasonable to say Fluttershy had improved the most out of all of them. Being the most timid of the group by far, she watched as Fluttershy worked extra hard to gather the courage to cheer on CHS’ best players in their public matches despite being so much out of her comfort zone.

It just took some at home practice, pep talks, and a butt-load of self-confidence and encouragement. And it was all worth it too, Pinkie knew a star when she saw one.

“That was great Pinkie!” Fluttershy said, holding her hands behind her back. “I’m sure we’re going to lift Canterlot’s spirits for the Blitzball game.”

Nodding her head in affirmation, Pinkie couldn’t help but agree. The soccer game had slipped from CHS’ favor, enough so to bring an anxious mood over everybody’s heads, the distraught look on Rainbow Dash’s face afterwards still bringing knots to her tummy. But she was certain her cheering would lighten the mood, it always did!

“Shy’s gotta point.” The athlete of the hour sauntered into view, Blitzball outfit already on. “I could hear you all the way from the bleachers, no way is Cloudstale’s group ever going to be able speak over you guys.”

As per usual, Rainbow still carried herself in confident stride while walking up to the two girls, however, looking closer they could see the hidden emotions peeking behind her gaze like band aid on a scratch. It was hard to notice with the way she carried herself, a fact many people would easily overlook, but they knew better.

Both Pinkie and Fluttershy shared a mutual gaze before they forced a smile towards the incoming captain. Perhaps it was best to not question it, as to not risk hurting Dash’s feelings.

“Aw, thanks Dashy!” the party girl giggled. “Like I always say: When in doubt, cheer on to make it count!”

Whatever hidden negative emotions in Rainbow Dash’s eyes eased as she laughed alongside her energetic friend, the trio sharing a joined moment of happy chuckles.

Suddenly, the pair ceased their laughter when they heard a noise coming from their left. It sounded like somebody else was laughing a little ways away, only when listening more carefully, there seemed to be a toned edge to it. Almost sinister like.

Each of them faced into the direction just in time to witness none other than Gilda, Sky Stinger, and that same girl with yellow hair who appeared to have a mean affiliation with RD exit from a corner of the CHS building, all of them collectively snickering under their breathes. The yellow-haired girl was the first to notice the three staring teens, nudging both her partners in the ribs to shut them up before giving a wink to RD as the other two sneered at the mere sight of her.

Watching them go, Pinkie raised an eyebrow in curiosity while Fluttershy audibly gulped in fear.

“Huh, I guess Gilda’s still a bit sore after last time. But who’s that other girl? Do you know her?” Pinkie remarked, glancing at Dash for feedback. The poison daggered gaze on RD’s face was enough to make Pinkie shy away from her question.

Fingers digging into her palms to the point her knuckles began turning white, Rainbow ground her teeth not unlike a wood saw as she stepped towards the three bullies.

“Attention everyone, the third event of today, Blitzball, will begin in just a few minutes. Please head to the bleachers when you can.”

With the announcement blaring across the courtyard and distracting the angry captain for a solid half minute, she looked back to see her rivals had disappeared without a trace. Probably off to their team to get ready.

Letting out a deeply frustrated sigh, Rainbow swallowed the overwhelming amount of disappointment, anger, and confusion down.

“Somethings going on with those guys.” She muttered, mind automatically replaying the previous events that’d transpired in the last two hours and a half. “And I’m gonna figure out what it is.”

“What if it’s nothing though?”

Fluttershy walked up to the brooding athlete, expression retaining a hint of firmness.

“What if nothings going on with them, and you’re stressing yourself out for no reason at all?” Fluttershy continued, earning a look from her childhood friend.

On cue the necklaces around each of their necks began to glow bright in their signature colors. Pink, yellow, blue, followed by a respective feeling of muscle panic.

Dash winced in a mixture of annoyance, Fluttershy let out a shocked “eep” of surprise, and finally Pinkie turning into a pink-colored blur as her entire body began pouncing up and down like an out-of-control human spring. Temper flaring again, RD reached up to clasp her geode necklace within her palm, turning her glare towards the small object.

“Jeez, you’d think have a magical geode would be less of a headache. This thing has been bothering me all day, its messing with my progress!”

Holding her chest tightly Fluttershy glanced worryingly at the two others, fear growing in her eyes.

“You too? I-I just thought it was only me. I wanted to talk to Sunset about it, but after everything that’s happened, I was worried I’d bother her.”

Pinkie’s jittery hopping ceased, the young teen’s pupils marbling around her whites while holding her head.

“Samesees, my little geode’s been worked up like a jellybean these past few weeks. I’ve tried everything too, from cooking endlessly, overworking at my shifts at the Sweet Snack Cafe, I even fed it some cheese-snaps Maud suggested. And Maud knows everything about rocks! But I’m still getting the doozie shivers, but I have no idea if it’s going to be good or bad.”

Clasped within her palm Dash felt the strong sensation radiating off the Equestrian artifact fade off into nothingness once more, the same happening with Fluttershy and Pinkie who equally relaxed. Releasing it, she locked eyes with Fluttershy, internally freezing once witnessing the alarm etched all across the caretaker’s features.

Stifling her own growing fear, Dash coughed into her fist before straightening to appear tall in front of them, voice regaining its confidence.

“Okay, we’ll just have to talk to the others about this once Blitzball is done. I’m sure our geodes are just, um, miffed that we’ve gone a whole week without using them. I mean come ‘on, this is something we’ve never tried before, ignoring our magic. Once today is over and we find a day to let loose, I can guarantee things will go back to normal. Simple as that! It’s us after all, this should be no problem!”

Pinkie clapped enthusiastically and the hesitance in Fluttershy visibly eased more, earning it as a win for Dash who grinned while gesturing towards the now noisy playing field.

“That’s more like it, now let’s get out there and show Cloudstale the big finish!”

___________

Meanwhile, in Canterlot City

Cars honked loudly in the crowded street as people busied all around, desperate to return to their homes after a long day of work.

In one particular car stranded amidst the chaos was a very tired, very grumpy old man, his gaze hatefully turned towards the stupidly slow tow truck in his front.

“Well this is just great.” Cheery Monsoon growled, fingers tightening on the steering wheel. Screw this job, screw their stupidly late hours, and screw that pristine rump-kissing excuse of a boss who was always sucking up to even bigger screwheads in the higher ups.

And of course, there was his lovely GPS, who ever so kindly decided to give up on living leaving him lost in the middle of this accursed city with no idea where to go.

With the truck not going anywhere, Monsoon took this time to peer at his surroundings hoping to find any sign or signal for his intended drop-off location. Suddenly his eyes trailed across a street sign far off to his left and his brain stopped.

Dillwood street it read. And if he recalled correctly, that’s where the drop-off point was! Without looking, Monsoon smiled manically as he ripped away from the right lane and into the left, ignoring the loud honking and screeching of tires from behind.

He landed into the left right on time too, the arrow was still on the traffic light. (Albeit yellow, but he was too preoccupied to care.)

Slamming on the pedal, his work van roared as he turned. Finally this day would be over more quickly.

What Cheery monsoon didn’t expect was for his entire world to rock like a tambourine as a thin line shredded square in the middle of the intersection and opened wide like a gapping maw, almost as if the very fabric of reality had torn before his very eyes.

As if that wasn’t enough, he watched in sheer horror as something actually barged out of the hole and slammed like rocket into his vehicle. His vision in the front mirror swirled for a few seconds, cups, packages, and other loose items flying up and down, some hitting him in the head and others spilling into the radio. His throat betrayed him, leaving the man dumbfoundedly quiet he wondered if the swirling would ever stop.

Whether fortunately or unfortunately, it finally did. However, one would consider it unfortunate because the next thing Cheery saw was the upside-down visage of a massive semi headed straight for him, the sight not unlike a demon coming to collect its dues from his mesmerized state before the world round him drowned in shredding metal.

Author's Note:

Side note: Let it be known that it's been approximately nine years since I've stepped foot onto a soccer field, much less played.

Comments

[StormStriker777]

I wonder why the crystals are going haywire... I hope nothing bad happends. Also, i can't wait to see (or read in this case) when they meet Cole, befriend him and join forces. Keep up the good work and take your time but don't keep us waiting too much!

[Velvet-Fresh]

Cloudsdale is obviously doping.. So using magic won't be cheating, it be evening the playing field. Also stop using equestrian terms. This is the human world!

[Demonic Lemon]

The memes Jack

[Forthestories]

Note about soccer the obvious body tackles and physically pushing someone out of bounds would not fly. They would have definitely been carded for that.