Long Shot

by Lightning Sprint

Prologue: Baltimare Varsity vs Trottingham Rangers (Bright Sparks Cup Semifinal)

The Bright Sparks Cup. A competition that all student athletes, from freshmules to seniors, want to get their hooves or talons on. The BSC matches always had a packed out crowd no matter what stadium it was being hosted in. This semifinal, in particular, was taking place in Baltimare Athletic Arena and down on the pitch, two teams were battling for a place in the grand final. On a large electronic scoreboard at the far side of the arena, the match clock was gradually ticking up towards the 90 minute mark, and it was currently sitting at precisely 85 minutes with the score being tied at 1 - 1. The ball was played into the hooves of one half of the Baltimare Varsity's dynamic strike partnership, Radiant Shine.

Pulling the ball in and keeping it close to her, the unicorn prodigy quickly turned and drove up the field in the direction of the Trottingham goal. Having to use her hooves and natural athletic ability to drive up the field, for her magic, as well as magic for all unicorns, had been disabled upon entry to the arena in order to prevent any cheating during the matches. The same disabling spell had been used on the unicorns in the crowd, so no outside interference would play a factor. As Radiant Shine picked her head up to look for her teammates, her sky blue eyes scanning the field, she would see multiple passing options in her teammates, all adorned in their purple Baltimare Varsity jerseys, similar to Radiant's number 15 jersey. In front of her she would see two of her teammates, both equally good passing options. Ahead and to her left was Enenra Typhoon, a bat pony stallion wearing the number 11. Seeing him first, she considered the pass before looking ahead of her and seeing the number 18 jersey of her pegasus strike partner, Diamond Ace. The two of her teammates were both wearing wing braces underneath their jerseys, in order to stop those with the ability to fly from doing so and gaining an unfair advantage. We score here and we go to the final. This game is ours for the taking!

"Shine! Thread the needle!" Enenra's voice came, making Radiant Shine look towards him, his piercing red eyes meeting hers. Seeing his hoof pointing ahead of him, Shine made her choice. Playing a precise pass through the gap between the two central defenders, Radiant Shine picked out her strike partner. Taking the pass in her stride, Diamond Ace galloped into the penalty area and swiveled to shoot towards goal, looking for her second goal of the game having scored earlier on in the game to make the score 1 - 0 before Trottingham later equalised.

The entire stadium fell to a deathly silence as fans and players alike watched the ball skim across the grassy surface towards the goal and the keeper diving but missing the ball. That was until the combined sight and sound of the ball hitting the post resonated throughout the arena, the crowd groaning in exasperation at just how close they came to the winning strike as the clock, which had been counting up throughout the entire passage of play, ticked over to read 87 minutes. For a few moments, none of the players moved a muscle. Almost none of them.

"It's not over yet!" Radiant Shine exclaimed out loud as she burst through the Trottingham defence, reacting first to the loose ball.

"Second ball!" The Trottingham goalkeeper called out as he picked himself up off the floor to get back into position.

Those precious couple of seconds had bought Radiant Shine the opening that she needed in order decide the result of the match. We will be in that final! We will win that trophy! Picking her head up as she approached the ball, her eyes began to scan the penalty area as she picked out a target. The goal. Teammates. Defenders. Shifting her bodyweight, she hit a low driven cross back in the direction of the goal as the arena once again stood still. The ball fizzed across the ground towards the far post where Diamond Ace was waiting, but was prevented from reaching her by the Trottingham goalkeeper who had repositioned to buck the ball away from the goal and out of the area. The clearance didn't get far however as another player in purple picked up the ball in a dangerous position, Baltimare's number 6, an eath pony stallion by the name of Lockdown.

"Shoot!" The crowd cried out in unison, seeing the midfielder had a clean shot at goal. Although, he had seen something that they all hadn't. Keeping close to their markers, the strike force duo were lurking and waiting to pounce on an opportunity.

Picking his pass to perfection, Lockdown scooped his hoof under the ball and chipped it up and over the defence towards Diamond Ace. The pegasus acted quick, ghosting in behind the defender she was standing near moments earlier and controlled the ball, taking it down to the ground. The entire stadium was standing up in unison, all eyes focused on the Baltimare striker. But, with all eyes being focused on Diamond Ace, nobody was looking at who she was looking at.

That's right Ace, bait them all in.

The mare who kept the attack going had gotten herself wide open on the other side of the six yard box, with no defenders or the goalkeeper keeping their eyes on her. That was when Diamond Ace played a low and pacey pass across the six yard box in the perfect spot where defenders wouldn't want to touch in case they scored an own goal - The corridor of uncertainty. This hesitation was their downfall as the ball found itself at Radiant Shine's mercy. Stepping forward and sticking out her hoof in order to simply redirect the ball, the ball bounced off her hoof and nestled into the back of the Trottingham goal. As the clock hit 88 minutes, the entire stadium burst into life, roaring in unison.

As pure elation filled Radiant Shine's body, she turned and sprinted towards the corner flag, sliding on the ground before being promptly mobbed by her teammates both on the pitch and the substitutes who had sprinted over from the bench.

The deadly strike partnership of the marksmare and the prodigy had combined to win the match as they had done so more times than anyone in the stadium could remember.

Final Score
BALTIMARE VARSITY 2 - 1 TROTTINGHAM RANGERS

Author's Note:

Hey hey hey!

I told you all that I'd be back with more creative ideas! This is another longer story that I'm looking at getting into at the same time as Fallout Equestria: Blowtorch & Corkscrew.

I hope that you like this prologue and I can't wait to keep this story going.

Fly High Everyone