EG: High School Chronicles - Story #11 - Part 2

Later that afternoon, right after the school day was over and the 3 o’clock bell rang, each of Canterlot High’s students either headed for home... or headed straight for the soccer field for the big match.

Princess Twilight was one of the first to sit at the bleachers, followed by Sci-Twi and the rest of the Main Seven. Oh, and of course Sci-Twi’s own Spike.

Princess Twilight gently petted the top of the pure-canine pup’s purple fur and green, floppy ears as she smiled at him and said, “I take it you’ve raised THIS little guy very well, Sci-Twi?”

“Of course she has! I'm the best dog there is,” answered Spike, while wagging his tail.
Just then, what appeared to be a slightly small, gray-colored wolf-dog barked right behind Spike, making him jump up and yelped from being surprised.

Sci-Twi held Spike close as all three of them looked at the wolf-dog, really surprised and a little bit scared. But then they noticed that the wolf-dog was just looking at them casually… and in a friendly manner as it wagged its own tail somewhat adorably.

Princess Twilight then said, “Hold on… I know this dog… Aren’t you… BEO????? ”
“That he is,” said a certain blue-haired guitar dude, as he approached all of them casually with a neighborly smile on his face, “Hey there, Princess, good to see you again.”

“Flash! It's so good to see you, too!” said Princess Twilight, as she jumped up and hugged him, much to the young man’s flustered delight while the other Rainbooms all giggled together.

Sci-Twi, on the other, simply just smiled and rolled her eyes as she looked at the dog that was apparently called Beo, according to Princess Twilight, and then Sci-Twi asked, “This wolf is actually YOURS, Flash??”
Flash replied, “Yep. Although, technically, he’s half-wolf and half-dog. And NO, wolves and dogs are NOT the exact same thing. Not many people know that, but it’s a hurtful stereotype. Granted, they’re both from the canine family, but still.”
Princess Twilight replied, “I know, right?!”
Beo barked in agreement with both of them.

Sci-Twi added, “Huh, y’know, it’s actually pretty funny you should say that, Flash: Maud Pie said something like that to me yesterday concerning rocks.”
“I’m sorry, what about what now?? ” Flash and Princess Twilight both asked, as Beo simply bopped his head to the right with a raised eyebrow; all three of them clearly didn’t understand what Sci-Twi was talking about exactly right now.
“It’s a long story,” said Sci-Twi, “Anyway, it’s nice meet you, Beo. ”

Beo held out his right paw so they could shake on being acquainted now.
Sci-Twi giggled a little at that as she shook hands with Beo and said, “I think I like your pet already, Flash. He’s pretty adorable. ^_^ ”

Spike replied while folding his arms and paws, “Pffft, what am I? Chopped liver?”
“Don't worry, Spikey-Wikey, you'll always be the most adorable thing ever to meee~ ^3^ ” said Rarity, as she picked up Spike and cuddled him.
“OH, uh…” Spike replied, quite surprised and feeling very flustered right now, “Well, uh… good to know, and thanks. <:///3 ”

“Uh, Rare?” Applejack said to Rarity, “Forgive me here, but you DO of course realize that you might be thinkin’ about THE OTHER SPIKE… the one that’s originally from Equestria like Princess Twilight is… right??”

Rarity's eyes went wide from hearing that, as she then said, "Oh… I, uh… suppose you're right, Applejack… BUT… even so, ANY Spike of ANY world is a sweet little dearie to meee~ ^3^ ”

Spike folded his arms as he replied to Rarity with a smug smirk on his face, “Smart save there, Rare. Real professional.”

Both Sci-Twi and Princess Twilight simply rolled their eyes with a smile, then from nearby called out the male voice of a certain, green, male archer student from Everfree High saying, “Yo, Flash! My little Equestria Girls! What up? ”

“OH, hey, Arrow Swift!” Flash replied with a smile, waving at him as the green young man walked over to them… much to Rarity’s delight since she apparently had a thing for Arrow.

The girls all smiled and waved to Arrow Swift, while Rarity quickly got up from her seat after putting Spike down next to Sci-Twi.
“Arrow Swift! It's so good to see you again!” said Rarity, as she hugged him tightly.

“Nice to see you again too, Rarity,” said Arrow Swift, smiling a bit nervously and blushing quite a bit.

Spike simply said to himself plainly and quietly, “And just like that, I'm back to being chopped liver again.”

Sci-Twi and Twiligt both rolled their eyes and giggled at that remark.

Rarity then said to Arrow in a flirty manner, “Are you here to see the big soccer game too, Arrow?”
“Well, C.H.S. is playing against MY school's team, so… yeah,” Arrow replied, finding a little awkward that he was friends with students from the opposing school to his own school.

“~Well, would you like to sit with us? And with me…??” Rarity suggested to Arrow Swift, softly batting her lovely eyelashes twice at him.

“I'd love to, Rarity, BUT I’ve got to cheer for MY own team on OUR side of the field,” said Arrow, “Sorry. But I'll catch up with you guys later today, so until then, best of luck to your team. ”

“Oh... Okay, Arrow, very well, and thank you...” said Rarity, fairly disappointed.

“Thanks Arrow, and good luck ta yer team too, buddy,” said Applejack, tipping her cowgirl hat to Arrow.

Arrow Swift gave Rarity a sincere and comfy big hug, much to her delight and it made her feel better now. The young green man then waved goodbye to Rarity and the others as he left the C.H.S. team bleachers and walked all the way over to the other bleacher-filled side of the soccer field – the one belonging to his own school's soccer team, the Everfree High Timberwolves.

Oh, and for those of you wondering, we don’t mean that Everfree High’s soccer team mascot-symbol is a “Timber Wolf” found in the Pony World; we mean a real actual timberwolf of the Human World. You know, actual gray and white wolves that are pretty vicious in the cold, mountainous, forest-filled wild and what not?

Anyway, seeing how Rarity was acting flirty towards Arrow Swift, Princess Twilight stated, “I think a certain someone has a crush on a boy she likes.”

“Crush nothing, darling~” said Rarity, as she fainted backwards, fairly dramatically as expected, and landed in both of the Twilights' arms as they had to catch her while Rarity continued speaking, “~I'm in looove! ^//3//^ ”

The other girls all looked at each other then started giggling together.

Flash, Spike, and Beo on the other hand simply just rolled their eyes, and then Flash and Spike said to each other, “Women. Am I right, bro?”
Beo barked in agreement on that.



Meanwhile, the Canterlot High Wondercolts soccer team players were all lined up side-by-side each other, including Rainbow Dash herself.
They all listened as their team’s leader, Coach Spitfire – a fairly tough-looking young woman with aerodynamic-like, fiery orange hair AND was dressed in a white, blue, and yellow Wondercolt Team Captain uniform – spoke to them all while pacing by them like the tough-as-nails leader she truly was…

“Alright, my lil’ Wondercolts,” she began, “Listen up and listen good, ‘cause I’m only going to say this once... We’ve successfully beaten the Everfree High Timberwolves four years in a row now, but this time, rumor has it that they are REALLY going to step up their game BIG TIME… so… DO NOT let your guards down for so much as a single second! Stay alert. Stay vigilant. Stay strong. Stay fast. ACT strong and fast. BE strong and fast. And most importantly of all… ACT LIKE A TEAM TOGETHER. The very team that’s faced plenty of obstacles and challenges together before and conquered them all! And today will be no exception to that! UNDERSTOOD?!?!”

Rainbow Dash and the other Wondercolts exclaimed together as if they were soldiers, or at least a team of tough-as-nails flyers (See what I did there? ), “YOU GOT IT, COACH!!!”

“Alright then, bring it in and let’s go on 3…” said Coach Spitfire, holding her hand out and then all of the other Wondercolts put their hands together with hers, and then Coach Spitfire said, “Ready? …1, 2, 3!”

The team exclaimed loudly and proudly together, “Let’s Go, WONDERCOLTS!!!”

Princess Twilight and the other girls all cheered together, along with all of the other Canterlot High students and friends, as their soccer team ran onto the field. Oh, and just as a little extra motivation, both Beo and Spike barked proudly for their C.H.S. teammates, even howled together loudly and proudly!


However…

…the minute Rainbow Dash took the center of the soccer field, she saw a couple of “old friends” of hers playing for the Everfree High Timberwolves… the very two mean girls she had been talking about yesterday… Lightning Dust and Gilda Griffonford!

“Well, well, well…” said Gilda, crossing her arms and smirking maliciously, “Look who we have here… and right at the start of the game, no less.”
“Hello there, Rainbow…” said Lightning Dust, looking just as smug as she placed her hands on her hips, “It’s been a LOOOONG time, hasn’t it??”

Rainbow Dash just stood there looking shocked, “Gilda…? Lightning Dust…??”
Rainbow Dash then clenched her fists as she asked angrily, “What are YOU TWO doing here?!”
“Uh, HELLOOOO,” said Gilda, pointing out the green and black soccer uniforms of the Everfree High Timberwolves team that she, Lighting, and the rest of their team were wearing, “We’re obviously playing on the team that’s competing against YOURS today, Rainbow DUUUHHH…”

Rainbow Dash said, “Wait… YOU TWO are the really tough Everfree High soccer players that I’ve been hearing rumors about lately?!”

“I guess so,” said Lightning Dust, “Hope you’re ready to lose badly, R.D.”
“You're the only ones that are going to lose, L.D.!!” said Rainbow Dash, already getting annoyed.

Coach Spitfire of the Canterlot High Wondercolts AND Coach Iron Will of the Everfree High Timberwolves both took the very center of the soccer field, as the referee held out a silver coin for the Coin Toss that would decide which team would get the ball first.

“The Wondercolts choose heads!” said Coach Spitfire, as the referee then flipped the coin up in the air and let it hit the ground.

Both coaches and the referee looked at the coin, then all three of them saw that the coin landed on heads.
Coach Spitfire then said to Coach Iron Will, “Looks like we Wondercolts get the ball first.”

“Very well,” said the black-haired, incredibly tall, and bulky Everfree Coach, “But don’t think Coach Iron Will likes this one bit.”

“Fine with me,” said Coach Spitfire, “But in all seriousness, good luck to you and your Timberwolves. ”
Coach Iron Will shook hands with her as he said, “Same to you and your skilled Wondercolts… because you’re gonna need it good this time, you dolts. > : ) ”



The referee sat the soccer ball on a line between both teams, and then he blew his whistle to signal the beginning of the big soccer game!


Rainbow Dash kicked the soccer ball to her fellow Wondercolt teammate,  Fleetfoot, who then proceeded to head over to the Timberwolves’ goal.

The Timberwolves team charged towards Fleetfoot, eager to get the ball from her. Fortunately enough for her, both Rainbow Dash and Misty Fly had her back as they each got into positions opposite of Fleetfoot so she could pass the ball to one of them. Fleetfoot passed the ball to Misty Fly first, who then kicked it hard to Rainbow Dash when she was close enough to the goal; Misty Fly had just kicked the ball hard enough to have it zooming in the air a bit, so Rainbow Dash could try to headbutt it into the goal.

However… Lightning Dust completely intercepted it in midair just a foot or two in front of Rainbow Dash, as Lightning headbutted the ball herself all the way to Gilda, who kicked it hard straight at the Wondercolts’ goal!
HOWEVER, Soarin’ was the goalie and he managed to successfully block and grab the soccer ball, completely thwarting Gilda’s first attempt at getting the first goal of the game… though it WAS a bit of a close call.

The Canterlot High crowd cheered for Soarin’ making such a great save.
The Main Seven girls and Princess Twilight all cheered and waved to Rainbow Dash, who waved back at them.

Soarin’ then threw the soccer ball over to Fleetfoot, who quickly passed it to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash took the ball and made her way towards the Timberwolves’ goal. Lightning Dust tried to slide on the ground to steal the ball from Rainbow, but Rainbow quickly kicked the ball at the Timberwolves’ goal at the very last second AND even managed to leap over Lightning Dust’s sliding tackle in the process.

As for whether or not Rainbow Dash scored the first goal of the game just now… well…

The referee declared that it was a good goal, as some of the Wondercolts and their fellow C.H.S. students all simply said right then and there, “GOOOAAALLL!!!”
For this goal, the entire Wondercolts side of the audience stood up while cheering as loud as they could.
Lightning Dust, however, was not pleased with this… aaannnd neither was Coach Iron Will, considering that the first goal of the game was made by the team who WASN’T the Everfree High Timberwolves.

The Wondercolt fans all watched, expecting the Timberwolves team to act very un-sportsman-like, but all Coach Iron Will did was simply say, “C’mon, Timberwolves, remember your training! When you’re supposed to trip, tackle, or block... show ‘em that you ROCK!!!”

Princess Twilight then said to Sci-Twi, Spike, and Sunset Shimmer, “WOW. I’m starting to see the resemblance between THIS world’s Iron Will and that of my own world. Not to mention the same can kinda be said for THIS world’s own Lightning Dust and Gilda. Although, the weird thing is that while there are both Pony and Human versions of Lightning Dust… for Iron Will, he’s a human here in THIS world while he’s a Minotaur in MY Pony world… and there’s a human version of Gilda here in THIS world while there’s a Griffon version in MY Pony world.”

Sci-Twi replied, “Well, there is an old statement when it comes to different dimensions… ‘There are always constants and variables, similarities and differences, things that are the same and things that are different… and sometimes, they’re kind of both similar yet different to each other at the exact same time.’ ”

Sunset Shimmer added, “And THAT applies most greatly with all living life-forms. In a poetic sense, it kinda feels like fate, doesn’t it?”

“I would say so,” Princess Twilight nodded, “I mean, back in Equestria, MY dimension’s Rainbow Dash had to put up with both Lightning Dust and Gilda’s bad attitudes and selfish actions… only she actually managed to patch things up correctly and properly with Gilda, at least. As for THIS world’s Rainbow Dash, Lightning Dust, and Gilda… I don’t know if or when they could actually be friends again. I mean, you told me yourself last night, Sunset Shimmer, about what bad history the human version of Rainbow Dash here in THIS world has with her own Lightning Dust and Gilda.”

Sunset Shimmer replied, “Yeah, and I did basically imply to THIS world’s Rainbow Dash yesterday about how there’s a chance she could patch things up with her own Gilda, IF they were both willing to give each other a chance. But I don’t know if THIS world’s Rainbow Dash herself took it to heart or even wants to try again with her own Gilda… let alone if her own Gilda or Lightning Dust both want to try again with THIS world’s Rainbow Dash.”

Spike held both sides of his head as he said, “Oy… no offense, guys, but ALL of this inter-dimensional logic and trying to keep up with it all and sort it all out and understand it all... Yeah, it is REALLY making my head hurt…”

Flash and his own pet dog, Beo, were both sitting right next to Princess Twilight at the time she said what she was saying with her friends, so he heard and listened to everything as he then said to Spike, “Tell me about it, dawg. But I think I do understand at least ONE thing here: whether our world’s own Rainbow Dash, Gilda, and Lightning Dust want to become friends again – for REAL this time – is undetermined. I guess all we can do is just hope for the best. But even so, I seriously doubt they’re gonna want to patch things up TODAY of all days.”

“I agree with you there, Flash,” said Spike, folding his arms.

“Sorry guys, we didn't mean to confuse you two,” Sunset Shimmer apologized to both Flash and Spike.
“It’s cool,” said Flash, “Let’s just focus on the soccer game at hand and hope for the best. I think that’s all we CAN do right now.”

Lightning Dust was NOT happy about Rainbow Dash literally getting the jump on her earlier. Well, technically, it was getting the jump OVER her, but that’s beside the point. Pretty soon, when Rainbow Dash got the soccer ball again, Lightning Dust slide-tackled Rainbow Dash from her blindspot this time, maliciously smirking as the dark blonde girl got the soccer ball away from Rainbow Dash in the process and Gilda herself took control of the soccer ball now.

Gilda then made her way to the Wondercolts’ goal and kicked the ball with great power, practically firing it like a cannonball. Soarin’ tried to block the ball again, but this time he just missed it by an inch or two, as it zoomed passed him and went into the goal.

Now the score was tied 1 – 1, and Rainbow Dash was not happy with what just happened.

Lightning Dust then said to Rainbow with a mocking tone in her voice, “You got the speed, but you lack the wits for it, Rainbow Dumbo.”

Seeing at how this was turning out, not even Arrow Swift himself was happy for his own fellow Timberwolves’ ‘antics’ as he crossed his arms and just shook his head with an unamused scowl on his face.

Seeing at how Arrow Swift in particular was acting, Gilda was a little surprised. Truth be told, she and Arrow weren’t exactly friends, but they at least liked each other’s tenacity well enough to be acquainted with each other. Gilda didn’t know why, but seeing Arrow Swift NOT liking what he was seeing just now – Lightning Dust mocking an opponent just for the heck of it, really – that kind of got Gilda feeling a little uncomfortable, especially when Arrow Swift noticed Gilda looking at him and then Arrow just rolled his eyes and looked away, still not amused.

Lightning Dust then playfully jabbed Gilda’s left arm saying, “Nice shot back there, partner, especially since you followed up on MY slide tackle back there. At this rate, these WonderDOLTS are gonna go down HARD this time around, am I right?! ”

“Uh, y-ye-yeah, totally,” said Gilda, trying to shake off her consciousness telling her that something WAS wrong right now… particularly with Lightning Dust and perhaps herself, too. But Gilda just couldn’t help but try to shake it off.

It was now time to try and get the Wondercolts back in the lead while they still could. Both they and the Timberwolves were trying to get the soccer ball from each other, just going back and forth with it, until one of the male Wondercolt players named Fire Streak got a good footing on the soccer ball and then he passed it to Misty Fly, then Misty took this chance to find the Wondercolt nearest to the goal, but a couple of Timberwolf players were trying to get the jump on the ball and take it from her. However, Misty Fly spotted another female Wondercolt named High Winds and quickly passed the ball to her. High Winds ended up hacking the ball up in the air towards Rainbow Dash, who took this chance to jump up and deliver a wicked backwards kick towards the Timberwolves’ goal… and she scored successfully!

The score was now…
Wondercolts: 2
Timberwolves: 1

The Wondercolts cheered, “GOOOAAALLL!!!”
They all then did The Wave together.

Meanwhile, both Princess Twilight and Sci-Twi were both writing down notes and comparing them with each other on the soccer differences and similarities between Humans and Equestrians, to which Sunset Shimmer simply rolled her eyes as she said under her breath playfully, “As Rainbow Dash herself would say at a time like this… ‘Eggheads.’ And that’s REALLY funny coming from ME of all people!”

“I know, right?!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, stretching her neck out to Sunset in a fairly humorous manner… which of course is something we’re all very familiar with already by now, right?



Anyway, Coach Iron Will was NOT happy with being behind the Wondercolts again, as he exclaimed, “C’mon, Timberwolves!!! When the team’s falling behind again, make a comeback at full force and WIN!!!”

Lightning Dust said to Gilda, “This is getting ridiculous! We need to clobber these guys by getting a LOT more goals in no time flat already!!!”

“How do you think we could pull that off?” asked Gilda, still feeling uncomfortable by this feeling inside of her that was telling her that something just wasn’t right here but she REALLY wanted to try and just shrug it off.

Lightning Dust answered Gilda’s question by simply saying deviously, “By taking the Wondercolts’ star player out of the game, of course…

“YOU WANT TO HURT RAINBOW?!” Gilda asked, very shocked to hear this.
Lightning Dust covered Gilda’s mouth with of her hands saying, “Shhhh, keep your voice down… And hellooooooo… this is soccer: people get hurt in this game or ANY sport for that matter ALL THE TIME… and nobody really bats that much of an eye at it, whether the players get hurt by accident or ‘OTHERWISE’… Is that a problem, Griffonford??”

“Well… No, I guess not,” said Gilda.
“Good,” said Lightning Dust, “Now, here’s what we’ll do…”



By halftime, the score was Wondercolts: 4, Timberwolves: 3, and both teams were NOT going to let up in the slightest NOW.

Fluttershy stated, “My goodness… this soccer game is getting really intense, isn’t it?”
Princess Twilight was going over her newly written notes, which actually consisted of fairly better handwriting this time around, as she replied to Fluttershy, “That’s for sure. But I’m definitely learning a lot from this game!”

“You are?” asked Applejack, a little surprised to hear that.
“Yep,” said Princess Twilight, “For instance-”

Just then, the referee blew their whistle again to begin the second half of the game. Needless to say, Princess Twilight’s human friends were just saved from what Rainbow Dash would describe as an ‘Egghead Session’.

As the Wondercolts took the field once again, Rainbow Dash waved to ALL of her fellow Canterlot High students in their stands.

The girls all waved back to Rainbow Dash while cheering for her.
Flash then noticed something happening in the crowd opposite to theirs: the crowd cheering for the Everfree High Timberwolves.

“Hey, wait… isn’t that…??” Flash said, trying to get a better focused look on what he was looking at.

“What is it, Flash?” Sci-Twi asked him.
“I’m not sure, but…” said Flash, as he brought out his smartphone, switched its Camera App on, and used it to get a better focused view on what he was looking at in the Everfree High crowd, “I‘m not entirely sure, but it looks like… in the Everfree High crowd… Arrow Swift is talking to… Indigo Zap??”

“He’s WHAT?!” Rarity asked angrily, as she then quickly snatched Flash's smartphone from him and took a look for herself, “Hmmm… it looks like those two are simply just talking… casually, from the looks of it… and now Indigo Zap is pointing towards Lightning Dust about something. My guess is that Indigo and Lightning might know each other somehow… but what could it be? Now Arrow Swift is telling Indigo Zap about something… Hmmm… Perhaps this really is just a simple conversation between the two of them. Still, what would Indigo Zap – a student from Crystal Prep – be doing there in the crowd for the Everfree High team…?? A real mystery, if I ever saw one. I honesty would like to try my hand at solving this mystery… just like my mystery-solving idol, Shadow Spade, would at a time like this… But still, perhaps-  O.O …and now Indigo Zap is… hugging Arrow Swift delightfully…”

Seeing THAT last part made Rarity exclaim in a hilariously angry manner, “…I’LL DESTROY HER!!!”

Applejack quickly got up and tried to hold Rarity back with her arms, “Simmer down, Rarity! It could still be just simple small talk. Y’all don’t need ta go and get riled up somethin’ fierce over nothin'!”

Sunset Shimmer then whispered to Flash, “That’s kinda funny coming from A.J., considering that SHE can be like that sometimes. ”
“I heard that!” A.J. replied.


Meanwhile, Gilda and Lightning Dust were both about to head back out onto the soccer field when both Indigo Zap and Arrow Swift himself stopped them both in their tracks, much to both Everfree High girls’ surprise.

Lightning Dust then said to Indigo Zap, “OH, hey there, Couz, what’s up? Come to wish me luck in crushing those WonderDOLTS in the second half?”

Arrow Swift stated, “WOW, Indigo, you and Lightning Dust being cousins for real after all? Learning more about you today with each passing minute. ”

Gilda responded to that by simply saying, “UGH, gag me. XP ”

“So, what'd you stop us for?” asked Lightning Dust.

Indigo Zap sighed as she said, “We stopped you because I know you all too well, Lightning. You’re going to try and play dirty in the second half just to try and give your team… or rather, YOURSELF Lightning, a chance to score more goals than the Wondercolts, aren’t you??”

Lightning Dust scoffed as she said, “And YOU wouldn’t if you were in MY cleated shoes, Indy?”
“Yeah, well, that’s the difference between you and me, Lighting,” said Indigo Zap, “Even BEFORE I actually started becoming real friends with a certain few of Canterlot High’s students, I have ALWAYS played rough to win, BUT that’s just it: I’ve always played rough… NOT dirty. And there is a major difference between the two, which is something that YOU, Cousin, need to get into that thick skull of yours.”

Lightning Dust simply replied, “OH, just go eat my shorts, Indy!”
THAT really surprised Indigo, Arrow, and even Gilda herself all together.

“Uh, Lightning? I'm with your cousin on this,” said Gilda, still feeling a little nervous and unsure of herself, “I mean, what you just said… THAT is REALLY harsh, even by MY standards. I mean, that IS your family you’re talking to right now.”

Lightning Dust stated coldly, “Do I look like I care what you people or anyone else thinks?? All that really matters in the long run of things is who are the real winners and who are the real losers. REAL WINNERS DESTROY REAL LOSERS EVERY TIME, and if Rainbow Dash- IF THE WONDERCOLTS can’t realize that, then that’s their problem, NOT MINE.”

Arrow Swift folded his arms as he replied to Lightning Dust, “Actually, it IS your problem, because what you just said… just by saying Rainbow Dash’s name, even if it was just a slip of the tongue… You just revealed to all three of us here that this is NOT about beating the Wondercolts at soccer at all. It’s about getting back at Rainbow Dash after all, isn’t it? And do NOT lie to me about it! Believe it or not, Indigo Zap just told me like 5 minutes ago about how not only are you two cousins, but you both know Rainbow Dash fairly personally… and while Indigo Zap has always played rough, YOU Lightning Dust always play dirty, which really creates a bad image for yourself and ultimately of all, for the entire family that YOU and Indigo Zap both come from. I agreed to help Indigo Zap talk some real sense into you, something that should have been done years ago, but Indigo Zap never really did that herself because apparently she herself was being pinheaded too at the time BEFORE she actually decided to make a real effort to get to know the Canterlot High students like Rainbow Dash better.”

Unfortunately, Lightning Dust was actually a lot more thick-headed and stubborn than Rainbow Dash or Indigo Zap could ever be.
This was made even more obvious as Lightning Dust said, “So, in other words, all this time… my cousin Indigo has actually been a weaker wuss than I could ever realize about her, until NOW that is. How sad and pathetic can you really be, Indy??”

And THAT was a bit of a stab to Indigo’s heart.

That last comment by Lightning shocked all three Everfree High students, but Indigo was the most shocked... and hurt… so much so, that she actually ran away in tears.

Arrow Swift then said to Lightning Dust, “What is wrong with you?!”

Lightning Dust replied, “We’re ALL in our teens, so we should be spending our youth doing whatever we want, whenever we want. It’s way better and way more fun than spending our youth being ‘responsible’ and ‘mature’ and ‘disciplined’ and ‘emotionally stable’. And if people don’t like it, then that’s THEIR problem, not mine.”

“Even it hurts or breaks the heart of someone you know?! Particularly your own family?!” Arrow Swift said to her.

Lightning Dust replied, “Uh, YEAH, because for as long as I can remember, FAMILY IS ALWAYS LAME AND OVERRATED TO THE MAX.”

Arrow Swift then asked Lightning Dust, “So, in other words, you’re acting THIS horribly because your family isn’t exactly perfect and you’re suffering on the inside because of it?”

THAT really surprised both Lightning Dust and Gilda, but then Lightning Dust scoffed it off before saying to Arrow, “I don’t have to explain anything to YOU, pretty boy, so just stay out of my way. Besides, OUR school’s team – the team that YOU are supposed to be on and support – has to get back to playing on the field now, and Gilda and I have wasted enough time with you and that lame-o cousin of mine.”

Lightning Dust then bumped past Arrow Swift, as Gilda slowly followed behind her, actually feeling very bad over what just happened. She looked back at Arrow Swift, who looked at her with a sharply disappointed look in his eyes as he said to Gilda, “I know you and I aren’t exactly friends, Gilda Griffonford… but if you’re actually friends with a rotten girl like HER, then I guess you don’t have a real sense of true pride in your heart like I thought you did.”

THAT got to Gilda quite a bit, as Arrow Swift then went after Indigo Zap, who was crying behind the Everfree High team’s stands.

As Gilda made her way back to the soccer field as fast as she could, she really just couldn’t shake off this horrible feeling she had in both her mind and her gut. She couldn’t really explain it, but she felt like… her sense of loyalty was misplaced with Lightning Dust after all, especially if what she did to her own cousin, Indigo Zap, was hardly anything compared to what she was going to do to Rainbow Dash.

Gilda thought maybe she should do something… that she should stop Lightning Dust or warn Rainbow Dash or both… but she knew that this soccer game was a public match, and that almost all of Everfree High’s students were cheering for their Timberwolves team to beat the Canterlot High Wondercolts. If Gilda were to do something in public that looked like she was helping the opposing team out, she would be considered a “traitor” by her fellow Everfree High students. So what was she going to do…???


Pretty soon, the score between the Wondercolts and the Timberwolves was 6 – 6, and there was only about a minute left in the entire game. It was now all or nothing.

When Rainbow Dash got the soccer ball and made her way to the goal to score, however, Lightning Dust made a sliding tackle at Rainbow Dash… only the way Lightning did this made it look like she straight up went and tried to mid-air kick-tackle Rainbow Dash right in her right knee… HARD.

And when THAT happened, Rainbow Dash screamed in pain from it as she then tripped and fell to the ground, while the referee blew his whistle and issued a yellow carded Foul for possible, unnecessary yet “unintentional” roughhousing.

Of course, when this happened, Gilda was shocked by what her own “friend” just did. And that was hardly anything compared to how shocked and somewhat horrified Rainbow Dash’s fellow Wondercolts and Canterlot High students felt by what they just witnessed. Heck, even SOME of the Everfree High Timberwolves and students were all surprised by this, including even Coach Iron Will himself.

Coach Spitfire and Fleetfoot both tended to Rainbow Dash as she grabbed her badly bruised right knee. Sadly, much to her friends’ discontent, it looked like Rainbow was now out of the game… and Lightning Dust was pleased with herself.

Seeing that dark blonde brat smirk so smugly – perhaps even EVILY – really  made Gilda feel like an idiotic punk for allowing herself to get involved with someone like Lightning Dust… especially since NOW Gilda was finally starting to realize that all those years ago, Rainbow Dash really DID have a good, justified reason to stick up to people like Lightning Dust… and to people like Gilda herself, who allow themselves to be caught up in some sick chaos crusade just for kicks.

Finally realizing the error of her ways, and knowing the REAL difference to what Indigo Zap said earlier – about how playing rough and playing dirty really ARE two completely different things – and also realizing that playing this soccer game the way that Lightning Dust was playing it was NOT the way that Gilda herself would want to play it, let alone win it… Gilda knew what she had to do before it was too late.