Corruption is Magic: Ten Seconds Flat

The stadium roared with the cries of rabid fans, cheering their respective favorite teams on to victory. The white-hot lights beat down on the artificial turf from every angle, further amplifying the exhausted teams’ sweating. Eleven young stallions gathered into a huddle, decked out in hoofball pads and gold colored home jerseys. The clock was frozen at eight seconds in the final quarter of the state championship game. Their team, the Omahay High Griffins, was trailing the visiting team, the Lincolt North High Manticores, twenty to twenty-four. They were on the thirty-yard line, were currently using the last of their time-outs, and prepared to plan their last play.

The orange unicorn at the head of the huddle, the quarterbuck, popped out his mouth guard, and let it hang from his facemask. “Alright, guys,” he began, “we’ve only got time for one play, and we need a touchdown. We’ve gotta go for the Hail Mary.” This risky play just so happened to be what the quarterbuck was named after. “We’re going into Shotgun formation.” Hail Mary called out to a pony on the sidelines. “Shotgun! Get out here!”

One of the ponies left the huddle and galloped off of the field, stopping to bump hooves with a dark green earth pony coming the opposite direction.

Shotgun fell into the huddle. “What’s the play?”

“Hail Mary, on one.” The quarterbuck’s horn glowed orange, and his mouth guard flew back into his mouth. “One, Two, Three, BREAK!” The team shouted as they left the huddle.

The five lineponies lined up in front of the ball, Shotgun in the middle. The solid wall of stallions looked up and stared at the defense in front of them, searching their faces for any signs of weakness or fatigue. Shotgun leaned forward, placing his front hooves on the ball, and Hail Mary squatted a few yards behind, ready to accept Shotgun’s snap. Everypony else lined up on the line of scrimmage, several yards left or right of the lineponies; ready to hoof it down the field for the quarterbuck’s deep pass.

“Down,” Hail Mary shouted. “Set…HIKE!” Shotgun tossed the ball quickly between his hind legs, and it soared through the air, into Hail Mary’s waiting hooves. The receivers kicked up small clouds of dirt as they sprinted down the field towards the end zone, and the quarterbuck hopped up on his hind legs, preparing to chuck the ball at one of them.

Shotgun and the other lineponies crashed into the oncoming defense, trying to buy their quarterbuck some time. The offensive and defensive lines locked into a battle of wills, five individual wrestling matches. The sweaty green stallion looked up and locked eyes with the determined linebucker in front of him. Several veins bulged out of Shotgun’s neck as he tried to keep his opponent at bay.

The two of them struggled for control for a brief second, until Shotgun’s hind legs buckled under him. He fell to the turf, sending him rolling backward onto his back, and allowing the linebucker to run right over him. The victorious linebucker charged the quarterbuck as fast as he could. Hail Mary hopped back frantically, but the linebucker tackled him to the ground, and the final seconds wound off of the timer. Three…Two…One…Zero.

A harsh buzz came from the scoreboard as the clock hit zero, cementing the Manticores’ victory. The Manticores pumped their hooves in the air, expelling enough energy to blow the ceiling off of the stadium, if there was one. The Griffins, however, had the polar opposite reaction. The whole team slumped over in defeat as the players walked back to the sidelines. In the spirit of good sportsponyship, the teams walked down the width of the field from their respective sidelines, and bumped hooves as they passed each other, before returning to their buses. The newly crowned state champions hooted and hollered all the way back to Lincolt, but their opponents rode back to their school in silence.

The downtrodden shuffling of hundreds of hooves on pristine white tiles echoed throughout the Omahay High School locker room as the defeated team began to put away their uniforms. Dozens of deep blue lockers flew open, and angrily slammed shut. Shotgun slammed his locker particularly hard. He shook his head like a wet dog in an attempt to knock loose his dark brown mane, which was plastered to his head with sweat. The green earth pony then walked over to Hail Mary, who was still trying to stuff his bulky pads into his locker.

“Hay, Hail Mary,” Shotgun began, “sorry about that last play. I bucked up pretty hard.”

The orange unicorn slammed his locker shut. “Don’t beat yourself up too much, Shotgun. Everypony has those days.”

“Not on the night of the state championship they don’t.”

“At least we made it to the state championship. And besides, there’s always next year.”

“Half of our starting lineup is graduating this year,” Shotgun said. “We’d be pretty hard pressed to make it back next year.”

“But Hay!” Hail Mary said with a smile. “You can bet your flank we’re gonna try.”

Shotgun left the locker room and began his moonlit walk home, with that last play running depressingly through his head over and over. He relived his struggle with that linebucker in slow motion. He remembered his opponent’s fiery amber eyes, the beads of hot sweat running down both of their faces, and he remembered the linebucker run right past him when Shotgun collapsed on the turf. He remembered the blaring alarm signaling their defeat, and the disappointed cries of all of his school’s fans. In that one falter of power, that one moment of weakness, Shotgun had destroyed everything that his team had worked towards for the past year.

I’m not strong enough, he thought to himself. I’m just not strong enough.

He passed a telephone pole, and bucked it angrily with one of his hind legs. A blue sheet of paper was knocked loose, and it fluttered down to the sidewalk. It landed face-up and Shotgun looked down to read it.

Do you wish you were stronger? Do you wish you were faster? Do you wish you were a better athlete? Then you should sign up for Rainbow Dash’s Athletic Conditioning Camp. Rainbow Dash won this year’s Best Young Flyer Competition, and holds several records at the Wonderbolt’s Training Academy. For just fifty bits, you can spend seven days training with one of Equestria’s greatest athletes, and learning her vigorous training regimen. Rainbow Dash’s camp will change your life, or your money back.

Attached to the flyer were several perforated strips of paper with a phone number on them. Shotgun ripped one off with his teeth, and continued his walked home, suddenly much less depressed.