Chapter 25. It's Game Time
The halls of Crystal Prep had changed a lot since Sunny united the Bolts. Cinch was just a memory, the school was becoming far less cold. Though, the students within still struggled with opening up to the people they'd been pitted against for their entire academic careers. The teachers seemed to enjoy the more lax standards, not having to plan almost three semesters of learning into one.
The air around the school itself felt lighter. Sugarcoat walked the halls, hugging her books to her chest, not paying anything much mind.
'Indigo's game against CHS is tonight.' She thought, reaching into her pocket for her phone. 'She's probably prepping for her game, this'll be the first time we've gone against CHS since the games. Wonder how she's doing…'
She made an intentional turn, heading down toward Indigo's locker. As she approached, she overheard her friend's voice. Indigo was standing with her second in command. The taller and fiercer Royal Authority. She'd been a thorn in their sides for a while.
"Whatever you got going on in there," She pointed to Indigo's head. "Leave it out of the game. We have to crush them."
"This is just a soccer game, dude." Indigo said, crossing her arms.
"What happened to you? You used to be all about these games." Royal huffed.
"If I was as obsessed as you are I must have been unbearable." She said flatly.
"You were." Sugarcoat said simply, joining Indigo's side.
"Oh. Right. Your little friends, they're the ones who defanged you." Royal rolled her eyes.
"For you to be this obsessed over a sport, you have an unhealthy attachment to the game itself or maybe just the need to be the best is driving your undying will to crush people who are just trying to have fun." Sugarcoat interjected, unintentionally cutting both girls pretty deep. "You're face to face with someone who's been where you are and found meaning in something other than being 'best'. Maybe you should take a moment to understand her instead of trying to belittle her for not falling in line with what you see her as."
Royal blinked, trying to catch up from the assault of words. "Listen, this doesn't concern y-"
"It involves my friend. It very much concerns me." She cut her off. "I may not be the most athletic, nor the most intimidating, but I will not hesitate to make your life a living hell if you interfere with Indigo's mental well-being, understand?"
"Sugarcoat, it's okay dude." Indigo said, stepping between them as she saw Royal clench her fist. "Let's just take a second to breathe, alright?"
"You woulda knocked this dork on her ass in the past." Royal said with a frown.
"No, I wouldn't have." Indigo turned to face her fully. "I never physically bullied anyone. Did I hit people? People who deserved it, sure," She shrugged. "But I'm not like you and I don't ever want to be like you."
Royal studied Indigo's expression, unclenching her fist with a sigh. "Whatever. See you tonight." She turned to leave.
"See you, Royal. Bring that intensity, but don't bring that attitude." Indigo said, earning a wave over her shoulder.
Indigo turned to Sugarcoat. "So…we gonna talk about you just threatening the toughest girl in the school?"
"I said nothing to you." Sugarcoat said with a slight smirk.
"Oho? Flattery will get you everywhere, Sugarcoat." She put a hand on her shoulder, she was shaking. "Were you scared?" She asked quietly.
"I don't enjoy the idea of a jock punching me, if that's what you're asking." Sugarcoat said flatly.
"I appreciate you having my back like that, you know." She grinned, bringing her into a sideways hug.
Sugarcoat stood awkwardly but gave her a half smile. "I won't stand for anyone messing up what you're working so hard for…" She mumbled.
With a nod, Indigo seemed to change the subject, returning to her locker as she spoke over her shoulder. "So what brings you around my part of school?"
"Coming to see if you were prepping for your game, initially." Sugarcoat explained. "Then this happened."
"Ah, I gotcha. Well, yeah. I'm excited to see Dash across from me on the field." She said, "I also got to meet Lightning Dust and Rolling Thunder. Two other members of the team." She noted. "They seem pretty cool, been seeing them around the gym more recently. Lightning just never seems to lose steam."
"What do you mean?" Sugarcoat asked.
"The girl's always doing so much more than everyone else there. She's got some inhuman stamina and pain tolerance. She was doing bump practice in class?" She blinked. "Uh, wrestling class. I do those after school like 3 days a week." She supplied. "But she was doing bump practice and for someone new to it, she was down and right back up. It was crazy. Even Michiru was impressed."
"You're going to have to explain the significance of that to me." She said with a quirked eyebrow.
"Oh, so uh… Okay, well when you get knocked to the mat you have to land in a certain way to make it look and sound effective. The mat is basically just a thin layer of padding over boards." She explained. "Most people taking their first one would have the wind knocked out of them."
"I…think I understand." Sugarcoat said simply.
"Yeah, and she was dropping back and not showing any exhaustion or pain at all. It was pretty sick." She said.
"I think I won't understand the actual weight of the feat until I have more context, to be honest."
"Well, bumping can hurt like a bitch. It's impressive, I assure you."
"Either way, you say she can just do it with no issues? I can understand that part at least. Think she'll be one of the harder ones to deal with out there?"
"Absolutely. I guess she's hitting her stride because I don't remember her being impressive in previous games." Indigo cupped her chin in thought. "Was she even on the team last year?" She shook her head, closing the locker. "I gotta get goin', I'll see you there tonight, right?"
"Of course. Good luck." Sugarcoat waved as Indigo jogged down the hall. She took a moment to fully collect herself after staring down Indigo's teammate. 'Royal would kick my ass if she wanted to…' She exhaled. 'I'll take that beating if it means Indigo is left alone.' She turned on her heel, headed to meet up with the others before the end of the school day.
They carpooled with Lemon, Indigo having rode on the team bus. "So, are we ready for some fun?" Lemon asked, glancing into the rearview mirror.
"I don't know, probably?" Sugarcoat shrugged. "Sports do not interest me very much."
"C'mon, the soccer team works really hard to be as athletic and impressive as they are, you've gotta give them some credit." Lemon said.
"I'm not discrediting them, just saying that if Indigo wasn't playing, I wouldn't be going." She shrugged. "It's just an activity that doesn't appeal to me."
"I understand." Sunny chimed in, "Indigo appreciates how supportive you girls have been." She assured them.
Parking was a pain. Canterlot seemed to really be big into the school sports. The stadium was packed. As the girls entered the stands they could see many of the students they'd met at the games.
Twilight stood out like a sore thumb. Sitting beside Sunset Shimmer and her friends. They waved when Pinkie spotted the Bolts. Sunny and Lemon waved back, Sour wasn't exactly in the best mood, but she gave a halfhearted wave as well.
Sugarcoat averted her gaze from the group across the field, turning to find Pinkie standing in front of her. "Sugarcoat!" She cheered.
"Wha?!" The Bolts were suddenly startled by the pink girl, though Lemon had quite the scare, jumping back and hiding behind Sour on instinct.
"Hello Pinkie." Sugarcoat managed, adjusting her glasses. "Wh-What did we discuss about appearing suddenly?" She grumbled, the trio behind her taking note of the stutter.
"Aw, I forgot. Sorry!" She giggled. "It's so good to see you girls again!" She waved over Sugarcoat's shoulder. "We should totally get everyone together again for a party!"
"Maybe. After we're done kicking your butts tonight." Sugarcoat said with the faintest smirk.
Pinkie gasped, returning the grin. "You're on!"
Sunset blinked, looking back to the spot to her left where Pinkie had been moments prior. "I…really shouldn't be surprised by Pinkie by now, but damn."
"She'd be pretty impressive on any sports team…" A voice behind them noted. Sunset glanced back to see Lyra and BonBon. "Heya Sunset." The mint girl said.
"Hey Lyra. You girls here to cheer on Lightning?" Sunset asked.
"Sure are! And Roll, to a lesser extent." She smirked.
"Be nice. Roll puts up with Light doing that because she doesn't mean it." BonBon sighed. "She's not stealing your bestie."
"She'd better not." Lyra pouted. Moondancer waved from Lyra's left.
Sunset then realized all of Light's crew was there. Octavia, Vinyl, Derpy were just further down the row, behind Dash's "Cheering Section".
Sunny looked across the field, seeing Sunset and Twilight talking to the girls behind them. She checked her watch for the time, looking back up to spot a familiar face. "Oh, that's the girl who helped Indigo." She pointed, Sour following the direction to Aria, leaning against the railing near the bleachers. She was talking to two other girls. One had blue hair pulled back into a ponytail, the other had a mane of poofy orange hair.
"The twintails?" Sour asked, squinting slightly.
"Yeah! She called me when Indigo had her panic attack." Sunny said.
"Wonder why she's here." Sour shrugged. "That blue girl looks like she's about to get punched."
Sunny blinked. "How can you tell?"
"Best archer in the school. I have good eyesight." She boasted.
"Alright, alright. Show off." Sunny chuckled.
The teams took to the field not long after and as far as Sugarcoat or Sunny were aware…a solid game of soccer had been underway.
Indigo rested her palms on her knees, trying to catch her breath. Her back and body ached, she forgot how hard Dash made her work for every point they'd score. Her eyes scanned around. Lightning didn't even look winded, and the wildcard Roll was still on the field. She was constantly over Royal's shoulder.
She took a breath, standing and assessing her spots. Eyes darting as she looked for an opening, she saw Royal, Dash and Roll were on her, meeting the girl's eyes she took off, almost feeling time slow around her as Royal passed to her, she caught and positioned herself, turning away from the opposition.
Rainbow and Roll were almost immediately headed her way, she took the opportunity to make her shot. Planting her left foot, she brought her right leg forward and a sudden and sharp pain shot up from said limb.
She heard the whistle blow, and gasps from the crowd. A faint shout of her name. She felt herself falling to the grass, not attempting to catch herself at all, it happened so fast…
She looked to her left, Light was holding her own shin, but quickly trying to push up to her feet. "'m sorry!" She heard.
'I lost track of Lightning…' She looked up from the ground, starting to push herself up, figuring she just had to adjust the next try, only to be stopped by Rainbow. Royal shoved Lightning to the ground, Roll immediately jumping on her to pull her away.
The pain was catching back up. Something was very wrong with her leg.
Whistles blew as the referees broke up the fight and medics came to Indigo's side, instructing her to not move. She felt her breathing start to quicken.
"You fucking bitch!" Royal shouted as she was separated from Lightning and Roll. "You fucking crippled her!"
"Indigo, you're hurt." Rainbow said. "Just try to breathe."
"What-"
"Don't move." The doctor said, as they lowered the stretcher. She had a brace put around her neck. "We're gonna shift you onto the backboard, one…two…three." On 'three' she felt a searing pain flare up her leg again as they strapped her down, lifting her to the stretcher.
Her breathing became more panicked as the pain shot through her.
"Indigo!" Sunny called from the fencing around the field. The four had torn their way through the crowd, meeting the medics as they came towards the gate. "Hey! Can I ride with her, please?!" She called out to the medics.
"Please…" Indigo asked.
"We need to contact her parents." He spoke as they walked.
"She lives with me, I'll call them on the way." Sunny said, quickly walking with them.
"...fine. Please refrain from touching anything. Try to keep her calm on the drive to the hospital." He instructed as she joined the medic who had already climbed inside with the stretcher.
"We'll catch up!" Lemon shouted as the doors closed.
Sunny took Indigo's hand. "I'm here, just breathe, Indigo…" She said quietly, though she couldn't forget the pained fear in Indigo's eyes. They would haunt her memories for many weeks to come.
PHEW! I finally bit the bullet on this one. I've been wanting to incorporate the original fic that I did for these two into the canon of this story. I dunno if you can tell, but I have no idea how soccer is played. I tried to be vague. 
But yeah! Nothing seems to be going good for poor Indigo...I also took the time to write some more with Sugarcoat and try to bring a few groups together in one place. I could probably go on a long time with different folks meeting each other, but that's best saved for another chapter...maybe a different fic in general. Hope you enjoyed it!
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Great chapter. Damn lightning
Oh... fuck... the fact we don't see what the injury actually is makes it even worse.
I was gonna say, loved how you wrote Sugarcoat in this, both her words and her attitude to protect Indigo. Also nice to see everyone around such a big event,
I would say 'I hope Indigo is okay' but that's definitely not happening.
11311568
Things happen, we'll see some of both sides in the chapters to come for sure! Thanks for reading
11311605
I tried to make sure everyone was involved. Even Royal had a reason to be there, aside from being on the team. Friends or not, she just saw someone she knew get hurt and did not react well.
I'm glad I can keep Sugarcoat pretty well in character. I feel like a lot of her is internal.
Also, she's probably fine. No worries.
Random question: is there any plans for indigo’s biological parents to return? We haven’t seen anything of her mother at all.
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Perhaps? I'm sorta still writing it as we go along, so a lot of stuff has changed from my initial roadmap. I think trying to fit the stuff I'm already attempting alongside adding them back in would feel too busy or rushed at the moment. I'm thinking up a way for them, if I do end up bringing them back, i'd rather not try to juggle a lot since I feel like I can easily ruin that plot line without giving it enough time. Long story short, probably, but I dont know where just yet!
Looking forward to the next chapter please say it’s coming soon?
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It is, I'll be updating in the next few days!
I keep checking the website because I’m embarrassingly so excited for the update! 💖
11341599
That's so kind of you to say, it really helps with the motivation to know that at least one person is interested.