The referee blows the whistle and most of the chatter dies down. Rainbow Dash swallows a lump in her throat as she takes her position as one of the offense players in left field. She glances around her as her teammates make their way to their spots. As captain, Spitfire takes center and stands in the little spray painted circle on the field right before the half line that separates it. Soarin jogged to his defense position. In defense, he can't cross the half line and can only stay near the goal to protect it.

Soarin gives her a smile and thumbs up. Rainbow returns it and looks to Thunderlane, who was goalie. He looked a little nervous and his knees shook slightly. Lightning Dust glared at the other team and smirked. The other members of the Wondercolts looked straight ahead at the referee with the ball. He was holding it as he walked to the center between the two captains, who were staring each other down.

Rainbow looked ahead. On the other side of the half line stood a big buy. He flared his nostrils and cracked his knuckles. With his black and red uniform, anyone would've thought he was a devil. Rainbow felt a little light-headed. She wasn't sure if she could do this. The referee set the ball down and backed away. He glanced at the two captains before pressing the whistle to his lips.

And in one blow, everything sprang to life.

Spitfire had kicked the ball backward with her heel and Lightning Dust got it. She had surprised the Pythons captain and the fans. Lots of screaming erupted from both sides. More "woos" than "boos". Soarin sprang forward and blocked one of the Pythons offense players that were trying to steal the ball. Thunderlane's earlier nervousness vanished as he watched the ball with intensity. There was so much going on in that short amount of time that it stunned Rainbow Dash.

"RAINBOW, MOVE IT!" Spitfire shouted.

The girl jerked forward obediently and stumble stepped as she ran to a convenient spot for her captain to pass the ball to her. Rainbow had been unaware that she had not been moving at all. It surprised her. She felt stiff and unsure of her movements. Spitfire shot the ball in her direction and she awkwardly took a step to receive the ball. However, one of the Pythons players intercepted and ran around her with a smug look on his face.

The Pythons were quick. They passed the ball back and forth to each other so fast that no one knew where the ball was. You could only get glimpses of black and white every now and then. But by the time you saw where it was, it was already being kicked elsewhere. In a matter of just five minutes, the ball was shot into the Wondercolts' goal.

Wild screams and cheers exploded from the crowd. Rainbow couldn't believe it. They had already landed a point against them in the first five minutes! The girl looked around at her teammates. All of them looked just as surprised as she. Sweat drenched their faces and loud, harsh breaths were being exhaled by them all. The Pythons, however, didn't even break a sweat. They all looked at each other and smiled, high-fiving the other.

How could Rainbow and the others all be out of breath already? What happened to all the practices and mock games they played over the season?? How had their endurance decreased so low that it was if they were just starting out?! Rainbow felt enraged and exhausted. The referee blew the whistle for everybody to get to their spots. Thunderlane had the ball and held it above his head. Throwing it out of the net, it practically ricocheted back into it. The referee blew the whistle again.

The scoreboard read 'PYTHONS: 2 WONDERCOLTS: 0'.

The girl slumped her shoulders. They were losing. They were losing big time.

***

Caesar UpperCrest felt just as exhausted as the Wondercolts. In barely no time at all, he was being pulled at and yanked by fans shouting for peanuts, chips, slices of pizza, drinks, candy, and whatever else. It was already his fourth time having to go back to the pizza stand to refill his box with food items. Caesar didn't even try to shout above the roaring crowd "Benito's! Benito's! You can buy pizza, peanuts, and snacks galore!" like he was supposed to.

Being a human vending machine was tough. He felt badly for those people who sold peanuts during baseball games. He knew exactly how they felt now.

Caesar stomped down the narrow aisle of the bleachers to get to the sidelines of the field. Carefully, he squeezed his way between referees, coaches, benches, and camera men who were there to record the game live on TV. Making his way toward the pizza stand, he dodged overexcited soccer players that waited on the time out benches for their turn to replace a member on the field. Ignorant people threw down trash over the raised platforms and it fell on him. One guy dumped his drink down on the ground and it nearly drenched Caesar.

This is why Caesar hated the game.

He had to work during it and be a slave to adrenaline junkies who couldn't run off their energy. The only way they could use their energy up was by being loud, obnoxious, and hungry. Caesar dropped his box on the stand table and sighed. Riff Raff looked at him with a knowing smile.

"Aw, what's up, sport? Can't handle the intensity of manly crowds rooting for their teams?"

It was true that the majority of the people there were guys. Caesar groaned and stretched his arms and felt his back pop. He frowned at the older guy.

"This is my first time being one of those 'peanut boys'. I'm always here at the stand where I can sit at a stool and sell people things over a table!"

Riff Raff laughed and slapped the boy on the back.

"You've been a spoiled little brat!" he teased. "While our boss' son has the luxury of sitting here, the rest of us have been selling food out there."

Riff Raff waved his hands like it was a magical place, out there in the bleachers.

"It's a dangerous place, out there, Caesar...People want their food. And they want it bad! It's a food vender's worst nightmare!"

Caesar rolled his eyes. Riff Raff was poking fun at him. The older guy laughed at his frowning face and wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.

"I'm just messing with you, sport."

"Yeah. Sure."

Just then, Cherry came back with her own empty box looking frazzled. she pulled her hair out of its bun and redid it. Slapping the Benito's cap back on her head, she sighed.

"Some douche tried to flirt with me in the bleachers of Section 3-B. Then, when I told him I wasn't interested in him, he tried to steal some of the food!"

Chery slammed a fist on the table and growled.

"Men! Hmph!"

Riff Raff smiled.

"Uh oh, looks like we have a feminist here! You better straighten yourself up, Caesar, or she'll press charges on you for being too manly!"

The two boys laughed as Cherry glared at them.

"Aren't you supposed to be working? Because I don't see that happening."

Riff Raff shrugged and Caesar leaned against the table casually.

"If you don't get your butts back to work, I'll be sure to report you to the boss," Cherry threatened.

The both of them stiffened up and got to work. Riff Raff put some food in both their boxes and set to counting up the money that had been earned so far. Caesar slung on the straps that were attached to his box and wore it like suspenders. Making sure he had everything, he looked to the other boy.

"Could you give me extra hot chips and soda? There's been a high demand on them."

Riff Raff obliged and gave him more of those things. Cherry took her own box and smiled with satisfaction. She left them without a word and they could soon hear her calling out," Benito's! Benito's! You can buy pizza, peanuts, and snacks galore!"

The two boys huffed. Cherry sure knew how to set them straight. Neither of them wanted to be reported to the boss. Benito Jr. was a strict business man and if anything went wrong he would yell at them, even at his own son. And you don't want to be there when he's mad. The older guy chuckled and shook his head before patting Caesar on the shoulder.

"Try your best, sport. Sell as much as you can."

He waved his fingers at him.

"Be careful out there..."

Caesar smiled and walked away. The one thing he liked about working at the game was that he could bond with his fellow employees. even if they were a bit bossy like Cherry. In the distance, the boy could see people with their arms raised, money in their hands.

"Yo! Can I have a hotdog?"

Caesar gave a lopsided grin. And now he was facing the biggest downside to working at the game again. After giving the picky teens what they wanted, he walked the aisles. From what he could tell by the quick glances he could get at the game, the Wondercolts weren't doing so well. It was 6-2 Pythons. Caesar saw a flash of what looked like a rainbow and his eyes widened. He looked back to the field and saw a girl with rainbow-colored hair and blue skin.

She looked familiar to him, just like how the girl with pink hair had...

Caesar would've thought more on it had he not been interrupted by someone yanking on his shirt to buy a soda. When he turned back to the field, she had moved. Caesar looked around to see where she had gone on the field when he saw a certain purple-haired hippie wearing a Benito's uniform and Pythons cap go creeping up into the Wondercolts fan section...

"Casper!" he yelled, despite being all the way across the field in the Pythons section. "That idiot! I told him to stay over here!"

He knew why Casper had disobeyed him. It was apparent by the way he was creeping up toward the row where that bad girl character was sitting.

Author's Note

Oooh! Casper, you dumbbutt!