Chapter One
It was the Canterlot Cup Final and Canterlot’s Equestria Stadium yelled and screamed. Cries of “Penalty!” ran around the massive stadium. The referee's whistle blew as he pointed to the spot; penalty given. A cheer erupted from one half of the stadium and boos from the other. A pony loomed over the ball and trotted back.
Rainbow Dash and her friends went silent along with the rest of the stadium. Just five seconds ago they were yelling as loud as they could and now themselves, and the rest of the stadium, were a quiet as mice.
The brown pony looked at the ball, the net and then at the ref, waiting for the whistle to kick the sphere. After what seemed like a century, the sharp sound of the silver music maker filled the stadium and the pony started to sprint towards the ball. As he did, Dash held her breath. The pony's hoof connected with the ball and he kicked it as hard as he could. In a second, the ball flew through the air, passed the keeper's hooves and into the back of the net, almost ripping the posts out of the ground.
The goal-scorer ran off towards the crowd where Dash and her friends where sitting. She was shouting and screaming louder than Applejack and Rarity. Even Fluttershy managed a loud scream thanks to Dash’s teaching just before they left for the match. They were ecstatic. Ponyville United had now got the equalizer they deserved and made it three all in the one-hundred-and-twentieth minute. They realised that the match would now be settled by the very method which gained the equalizer – a penalty shoot-out. The other team kicked off, but the referee blew his whistle again to signal the end of extra time and the start of the nerve shattering shoot-out.
“All right,” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, “this is the kind of final I like to see! Games decided by penalties are always the best!” She giggled excitedly.
“They're great to watch and all, but aren't they a little cruel on who wins since it's pretty much who is luckier?” asked Twilight.
“Kinda,” replied Applejack, “but if neither team can win in a hundred an' twenty minutes then Ah suppose luck needs to be brought in, Ah guess.”
“Shhhhh, they're starting the shoot-out!” said Dash.
The six friends turned their attention towards the penalty box closest to them. A blue and red pony placed the ball and stepped back. Dash immediately recognised him as Scissors Kick, her favourite player. He ran up and placed the ball coolly into the top right corner. The crowd cheered.
“Yes! There was no way Scissors would have missed that!” she stated.
Mane City’s first pony stepped up for the kick. He stood back and kicked the ball down the middle past the keeper who had dived left.
The next Ponyville United player tucked his penalty into the net as did the next City player. The next few penalties all went in. Everypony knew what was needed: Sudden Death.
“Okay,” began Dash, “the first team to miss the net loses.”
“Let’s hope that it isn’t our team,” hoped Fluttershy.
Ponyville were to take the first penalty. Scissors Kick placed the ball, stood back and kicked the ball. The crowd gasped as the ball sailed over the cross bar by inches.
“Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh!” gasped the multicoloured pony. “Scissors… missed! I can’t believe it…”
“That’s United’s best penalty taker and he missed,” said Twilight gulping for breath. “The pressure must be immense.”
“Let’s hope Mane City feel it too then,” added Pinkie Pie.
The Mane City player walked behind the ball, waited for the referee’s whistle, and kicked the ball… straight into the keeper’s hooves.
“Yes! We saved it!” screamed Applejack.
“It’s not over yet,” reminded Rarity.
The Ponyville player looked only at the ball and chipped it beautify over the keeper’s head. The crowd went wild. A green and white pony stepped up for Mane City and placed the ball. He took in a deep breath and stared at the ball, then the keeper then back at the white sphere. He took a long run up; his hoof connected with the ball and kicked it wide. He had missed.
The crowd erupted with mixed emotions; half the attendants screaming in joy, the other in disappointment. Six particular ponies where shouting the loudest though.
“Yes! They did it! I knew they would!” Fluttershy screamed at the top of her voice, catching everpony by surprise in the process.
“That’s the first time we’ve won it in six years and beaten Mane City as well,” Applejack said.
“Ha, I always knew they would do it even if it was against the best team in the league.” Dash said, trying to stay as calm as possible.
“That’s why your legs were shaking the whole time, then?” asked Twilight rhetorically.
The purple unicorn received a cold look from her cyan friend for her curiosity.
***
The six ponies left the stands and met up at the front of the stadium. They began to discuss the fantastic, gripping game they had just witnessed.
“Like I said earlier,” Rainbow said, “that was the kind of final I like to see; neither team dominating, both having plenty of shots and the game going right to the wire!”
“It was a spectacular match,” stated Rarity.
“Did you see that goal that Scissors Kick scored? It was AWESOME!” The cyan pegasus’ face lit up to emphasize the “awesome.” “That goal is something that I can only dream of doing. I’d love to play for a team.”
The six friends had begun to walk home. The purple unicorn looked up at the clear, night sky that Princess Luna had so kindly prepared for the occasion. The stars were twinkling and there wasn’t a cloud in sight. She suddenly remembered a phrase that the astronomer Patrick Mare had said a few years ago.
“Well, you can wish upon a star and hope that your dream comes true.” She paused for a minute before continuing. “But I thought your dream was to become a Wonderbolt? What do you want to be?”
“Well professional footballers only play for a few years and I can still train as a Wonderbolt even if it means working with ponies light Lightning Dash… I could be both if I worked really hard.”
Rainbow Dash looked up at the starry night sky. It almost immediately captured her with its beauty and majesty. The dark, immense void dotted with stars could always capture the imagination of anypony who looked up at them. She had never looked up at the sky like this.
“Hey, you guys go on without me. I’ll catch up in a bit,” the pegasus said.
After separating from her friends and making sure nopony could see or hear her, she looked for the brightest star she could find. When she found it, she wished upon it.
“I don’t know how I’m going to do this. I have always wanted to be a Wonderbolt since I was a little filly but I’ve always had a passion to play football. I really don’t know and I…” she paused and reluctantly said, “I need h-h-help. I need your help.”
The star she wished at shone brightly and then twinkled and blinked spectacularly for a few seconds which took Dash completely by surprise. Suddenly, she felt a cool, calm breeze brush over her like a wave. She didn’t think it was possible but she felt a kind of presence, like the wind had taken a form of some sort. She couldn’t explain exactly what she felt.
She turned to the star once more and uttered the words, “Thank you” to it. She turned to take in the wider view of the sky. The stars seemed like they hadn’t a care in the world and had a sense of freedom.
“Just like me,” she thought. She turned to go back to her pony friends and called after them, “Hey guys, wait up!”
“Hello, Rainbow. Why did you leave?” asked Fluttershy, “We were starting to get worried that you had gotten yourself lost.”
“I was… thinking over there.” Dash pointed to the spot where she was previously.
“We were just saying that we could all meet up sometime and have a small kick-about at the pitches next to the Ponyville United stadium, you know, the gravel pitches right next to them.” Applejack told her multicoloured friend.
“Oh, yeah, do you guys know when?”
The response was a flat no. A disappointed look grew on Rainbow’s face. Okay was the only reply she could say.
The ponies arrived at a set of cross-roads, each taking them down a different path to their houses. They all said their goodbyes and goodnights.
“Don’t look sad, darling,” began Rarity, “We’ll play football with each other soon enough.”
Rainbow’s mouth curved slightly at the edges as she looked up at her friends. They all departed ways towards their houses. Rainbow glided up to her house and stopped outside the door to look at the sky one last time. She found the star she had wished upon and remembered her wish.
“Maybe, a lot sooner than we think,” she said quietly to herself. She opened her door and went up to her room to reflect on the night's events and then fell straight to sleep. That was a pretty energetic final.
***
Twilight’s library was a scene of peace, quiet and tranquillity. The only noise breaking the silence was the odd groan or sudden intake of breath from the sleeping unicorn and her dragon. Every book in its place and everything neatly put away thanks to Twilight’s assistant, Spike. The birds were singing to themselves and the rays of light breaking the curtains of the room announced the arrival of daybreak. The sleepy atmosphere would have stayed peaceful and relaxing had it not been for a loud, sudden and constant knocking which sounded like hammers on the front door of the library. Twilight reluctantly climbed out of bed and slowly trotted towards the door. Just as she began to open it, the door burst open and a rainbow-coloured pegasus tumbled in, knocking the unicorn of her hooves.
Spike awoke with a fright and screamed, “I’m up!”
It took Twilight a while before she gained her bearings and realised that Rainbow Dash was trying to talk to them.
“Twilight? Twilight, are you okay? You look kinda dazed.”
Twilight got up on all fours and shook her head so vigorously that Rainbow Dash thought that it was going to fall off. Her eyes focused on Rainbow Dash for a few seconds and she began to speak.
“Wha… what are you so desperate to talk to me about that you have to break down my door this early in the morning? Has Pinkie built a time machine again?”
“No,” replied Rainbow Dash.
“Has Rarity’s boutique caught fire and all her clothes have gone up in a cloud of ash including her cat, Opal?” asked Twilight.
“No.”
“Has Fluttershy taken more of those lessons from Iron Will?”
“Thank Celestia, no!”
“Then what logical reason is there that you had barge into my home, take my front door off its hinges, knock me off my hooves in the process,” Twilight turned to face her library. She gasped heavily, “and cause all my books to fall off their shelves!”
“Well, you know when we said that that we could play football at the pitches together with everypony else?” replied an increasingly excited Rainbow Dash.
“Yes, I do.”
“Well, I was wondering if you wanted to come and play… today, as in, right now!”
“Rainbow,” began Twilight, “when we said we would play, we didn’t mean the morning straight after. We all have lots of things to do as do you. Look at the sky, it’s filled with clouds.”
“Okay, fine. Wait a second,” as Rainbow Dash flew out the hollow doorframe. She flew up into the sky and began to clear it as quick as she could. Twilight looked up at her clock as she knew what Rainbow would ask her when she returned.
“How quick-?” Rainbow began.
“Ten seconds,” interrupted Twilight. “Who is going to the pitches now?”
“Well, I asked the others and they said they would so we’re just waiting for you,” Dash said with a smile.
The purple unicorn thought for a few seconds before answering her friend.
“Are you sure they’re going?” Twilight questioned.
“Yeah, my memory isn’t that bad, Twilight,” said a slightly frustrated Rainbow Dash.
“Well in that case, okay, I’ll go. I’ll be there in about thirty minutes.” Twilight said.
“Alright, I’ll see you down there then!” Dash said excitedly. She turned and muttered to herself, “Now time to get the others.”
Twilight turned around, but Dash had already flown out of sight. The door’s hinges moaned as Twilight’s magical aura stopped repairing the damage. The purple pony stared at her clock which read ‘eight forty-five’. She ran out the door and yelled at her flying friend.
“Hey! When did you ask the others? It’s only a quarter to nine!” Twilight screamed after Dash but it was in vain. All that was left in the sky was a huge rainbow…heading straight to Sweet Apple Acres.
***
Twilight and Spike arrived at the pitches beside the Ponyville United stadium. They instantaneously noticed how basic the public pitches were compared to the massive engineering marvel they sat beside. The silvery white stadium was covered almost totally in glass. The stadium was one of the minor wonders that Ponyville had to offer. It was located on the opposite side of the town from the Everfree Forest. The massive, metallic arch that curved and loomed over the stadium always amazed the librarians no matter how many times they looked at it and wondered how ponies had ever built it, even with magic.
Suddenly, a voice snapped her out of her wondering daze and took her back to reality. She turned to look at the pitches and noticed five ponies staring back at her.
“Hey, Twilight, you actually came!” called the multi-coloured pegasus.
“Of course I did,” replied the purple unicorn as she trotted over to her waiting friends, “Why wouldn’t I have?”
“Because you’re not exactly the kind of pony who likes playing sports,” said Applejack.
“Hmm, I guess I just proved you wrong then, didn’t I?” said Twilight.
“Well, you’re here now so that’s all that matters,” said Pinkie excitedly. She turned to face Rarity. “You owe me twenty bits. Now, who brought the ball?”
Rainbow Dash’s face turned slowly from a happy and satisfied smile to a worried frown. Her plan had worked perfectly until it had to be put in a crisis over the most basic object required to play the game, a football.
“Shoot, looks like Ah forgot it,” said Applejack blushing slightly. “Ah had it sittin’ in the barn when ya came an’ asked me, Rainbow. It’ll take a while for me to get it.”
Rainbow Dash had become even more panic stricken by the time Twilight had said not to worry. She teleported herself to Sweet Apple Acres and returned with the aforementioned spherical object between her forelegs.
Fluttershy had noticed Rainbow’s look of worry no matter how well she tried to hide it. Fluttershy questioned Rainbow Dash.
“Why do you look so worried, Rainbow? Think we’ll be too good?”
Rainbow quickly shook her head and put away her worry as she saw Twilight with the ball.
“Worried? I’m not worried and even if I was, it would be for you losing by a huge margin!” replied Rainbow.
“Never judge a book by its cover, Rainbow,” interrupted Twilight, “We haven’t seen Fluttershy play yet so she could be the best for all we know.”
The purple unicorn managed to make out a ‘yeah, right’ that was mouthed from her cyan friend. She reckoned now would be the best time to start playing.
“Okay, so let’s make the teams. I think that because Rainbow and Applejack are the best, they should be on opposite teams.”
“That sounds fair to me,” piped up Rarity.
“Rarity, you’re on Applejack’s team. Pinkie, you’re on Rainbow’s.”
“Weeee! This’ll be fun! I’m so excited Rainbow! Are you as excited as me, huh, cause I am! Are you, huh, huh?” Pinkie said ecstatically.
“Yes, I am,” replied Rainbow as flatly as she could. Even though they were friends, she still couldn’t handle the full extent of an excited Pinkie Pie.
Twilight turned to Fluttershy and asked her whose team she wanted to be on.
“I don’t mind, Twilight, who do you want me to go with?” Fluttershy said back.
“That’s why I asked you. Applejack, Fluttershy will be on your team, okay?”
“That’s fine with me,” said the orange farmer. “Come on, Fluttershy, you’ll be great at football, I just know you will be!”
“You’re too kind Applejack,” the yellow pegasus said in return.
“I’ll be the referee,” Spike said voluntarily.
Applejack knelt beside Spike and whispered in his ear.
“Just don’t be biased,” she said.
Spike face had a puzzled look on it.
“Biased? Biased to who?”
“Well…” She nodded over towards Rarity, who was busy complaining about a dirty part of the gravel pitches.
Spike’s puzzled look quickly turned bright red as he looked angrily at Applejack. She gave him a cheeky smile in return and mouthed to him, “You’re not very good at hiding it are you?” Spike pondered the thought of being biased towards Applejack…
The ball was placed on the centre circle and Rainbow flipped a bit to see who got kick-off. It landed with Princess Celestia’s head face up which meant that she had won it. Both herself and Twilight stood over the ball and started the game.
It was a short game as it only lasted about half an hour before it turned into a free-for-all. Applejack stood between the posts which Twilight had created for the game. The orange Earth pony was unbeatable in nets. She wasn’t afraid of diving onto the gravel, claiming that she wasn’t so weak that little pebbles and stones could hurt her.
Pinkie Pie surprised her friends at being a pretty good defender; she wasn’t scared of going in into a tackle or worried about the damage she may cause until after she had committed it. That was, unless it was Fluttershy she was tackling. Pinkie was also really good at stopping shots on goal. She was knocked out of the game first so she had to help Applejack in stopping the other ponies from scoring, and she angered Rainbow Dash by stopping her shots at every opportunity.
Fluttershy shocked everypony. She turned out to be quite the dribbler. She was fast, agile and her hoof-work was amazing. She was able to pull off moves that her friends couldn’t and she could pull of one that even Rainbow couldn’t. Somehow, she became even deadlier when she found out that flying was allowed. There were only two problems with her that the others noticed; she was afraid to tackle and she couldn’t kick the ball with any power at all. Rainbow, although envious of her skill, thought she wasn’t much of a threat.
Rarity was a set-piece dead-shot. She had found out from Applejack that unicorns could use their magic to manipulate the curve of the ball when they kicked it, but not when it was in flight. With her keen eye able to spot the smallest detail, she could plan where the ball would go when it was kicked. Applejack had a hard time dealing with her free kicks and corners.
Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash were the best strikers out of the group and a perfect pair. Twilight was the finisher, the goal-scorer and had a rocket of a shot. As she was a unicorn, she could use her magic, like Rarity, to control the ball’s curve and path when she kicked the ball.
Rainbow was the pony who set her purple companion up for a goal. She could fly and bring down balls too high for Twilight to reach. Rainbow also had the ball skills to get past even the most stubborn of defenders that weren’t as good as Pinkie with her trademark ‘Rainbow Flick’. She would be the pony who would pass the ball to Twilight who would then score a goal.
Spike’s whistle blew. He signaled a free-kick to Twilight and he pointed to the spot where she had to take it from. The baby dragon then warned Rainbow Dash.
“That’s the second foul you’ve committed Rainbow. If you do that again, you’ll have to stay off the pitch for ten minutes.”
Twilight figured it was about thirty-five yards from the goal. She took two hooves back and angled herself to the ball. She then used her magic to add curl to the ball. She had one last look up at where Applejack was standing and ran at the ball. She kicked it and the ball flew over the wall comprised of Pinkie, Rarity and Rainbow. The pink and cyan ponies jumped, but Rarity didn’t. She was generous enough to replace Fluttershy in the wall, but she wasn’t about to get hit in the face with a football going at speed. The ball continued its journey a couple of yards before Applejack realised that it was going to go in if she didn’t save it. She dove in the direction of the ball but the farmer was too late. The ball went cleanly under her hooves and into the back of the net, nearly bringing it out of the ground.
“Twilight wins!” stated Spike. “The final score is five goals to Twilight, four to Rainbow and three goals apiece for Rarity and Fluttershy. Are you going to play again?”
“Nah, Spike,” said an out of breath Applejack, “We’re all mighty plum tuckered out. Ah don’t think Ah could do another game.”
“That’s the most fun I’ve had in ages!” said an exhausted Fluttershy.
“Yeah, I don’t think…I could keep up with you…if we played again!” Pinkie said panting in between words.
“How long were we playing for? The sun’s pretty high in the sky.” Twilight added.
“About two an’ a half hours,” replied Applejack, “But it was fun all the while wasn’t it?”
“More like wasted!” shouted a voice that the six friends had never heard before. Even Pinkie, who knew every pony in Ponyville didn’t recognise it. The six ponies turned in the direction the voice had came from. Rainbow’s eyes widened and she staggered about when she saw the pony who said it. She knew instantaneously who they were.
“You’re… You’re M-M-Mane City,” said Rainbow.
“Mane who?” asked Pinkie. Applejack answered as Rainbow was too shocked to reply.
“Mane City is the best team in Equestria at the moment. They’re top of the league table and the main rivals of Ponyville United.”
“Ohhhhhhhh righttttttttt!” said Pinkie. The pink pony seemingly teleported up to the six City players. They took a step back, obviously not wanting to associate themselves with her.
“Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie!” she said in her usual excited voice, “I haven’t seen you six in Ponyville before and I should know because I know EVERYPONY in this town! Are you…”
Pinkie continued her rambling questions before Rarity had to physically drag her away from the team.
“I’m so sorry,” Fluttershy apologised on behalf of her friends. “Pinkie can be a bit of a… chatterbox to say the least.”
“I should think you’re sorry!” one of the players snapped back. “Now go away, we’re here to practice for the ‘Equestria 2013’ tournament.”
“Hey! You can’t kick us out!” Rarity shouted back. “We were here first and we’ve been here for two hours. These are also public pitches, anyone can be if they want.”
“Not anymore. We’re here now so you can all beat it. Besides, you ponies are the worst players we’ve ever seen! Now scram!”
Applejack was usually a pretty patient pony, but all traces of her patients had vanished. She yelled back at them at the top of her voice, “Oh yeah? Well, you ponies aren’t exactly the best a’ this here game either or you woulda won that there cup final yesterday!”
The Mane City players were taken aback by this remark. Applejack smirked as she saw their reaction. Her insult had hit its mark and done its job. A crowd had begun to gather around the pitch.
“Fine, we’ll just have to prove to you first-hoof how good we really are then. We’ll play you, six on six, right here, right now!”
Twilight tried to ask Applejack if it was a good idea to challenge them, but she was outnumbered. She was the only one who seemed to think so. Rainbow, meanwhile, couldn’t believe that she was going to be playing against Mane City.
“Right then,” Applejack said, “Bring it on.”
The crowd, now consisting of nearly fifty ponies and still growing, cheered at Applejack’s agreement. Twilight, however, was extremely worried.
“Oh, what are we getting ourselves into?” she cried and put her head in her hooves.
Rainbow’s mouth curved slightly at the edges as she looked up at her friends. They all departed ways towards their houses. Rainbow glided up to her house and stopped outside the door to look at the sky one last time. She found the star she had wished upon and remembered her wish.
“Maybe, a lot sooner than we think,” she said quietly to herself. She opened her door and went up to her room to reflect on the night's events and then fell asleep.
Author's Note
Well, I stumbled across my old plot for this story and I thought it was about time to restart it. Again, if any grammatical mistakes are spotted by those keen eyes, please message me with them!
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this new and improved, Equestria 2013!
