Delivery Boy

Rainbow dropped on the bench and sighed with relief. Her legs were killing her. Spitfire threw a towel to her and she barely caught it. Slowly, she wiped the sweat off her neck and face. The team all plopped down on the bench and drained their water. It was the first quarter break and they weren't doing any better from the first five minutes.

14-5 Pythons

They might as well call Mercy's Law. But then they have fans. And they don't want to disappoint them by quitting. Quitting is worse than losing in the sight of any fan.

"We should...(pant)...come up with a...(wheeze) strategy," one of the members said.

They all nodded wearily.

"That's true..." Spitfire said.

She unwrapped a piece of sour candy and popped it in her mouth. She needed a boost of energy. As captain, she had to be on the field and play. It would look bad if she just rested on a bench while her team scrambled around. Thunderlane yanked off his goalie shirt that was over his soccer uniform. He tossed it aside and groaned. Thunderlane practically killed himself trying to stop those goals from going in. He had a scraped knee and one of his fingers were bent back when the ball came whisking through his fingers.

Spitfire looked at all her members and sighed.

"We should try to do a psyche out. But not too often. Or they'll catch on. We should do more passes. I've noticed that the other team has a habit of surrounding the player with the ball. If we pass it, they won't have much of a chance to home in on one player. But then again there's the risk of interception. And they're really good at doing that...Which could inadvertently lead to them being able to shoot more goals if they have the ball more often from it..."

Spitfire scratched her head. Rainbow Dash cleared her throat and began to speak.

"We should guard the goal. All of us. If we all do a wall formation, the only way they can shoot it past us is over us. That'll give us a chance to get the ball. And if we're lucky, when they shoot, the ball will go over the net."

"Yeah! That's a good idea!" Soarin agreed.

Spitfire nodded.

"Now that we have a plan, we need to know who's staying on the bench and who's out on the field..."

The captain eyed all of them before deciding.

"You, Pepper Corn. You look the most exhausted out of us all. I'll keep you benched until you recover some strength."

Pepper Corn, one of the players, smiled graciously and relaxed. Spitfire picked a few others to stay on the bench and looked to those who were going to play. It was Rainbow Dash, Thunderlane, Soarin, Lightning Dust, and a few others. They looked a bit put out. Soarin picked up the goalie shirt and put it on. Being goalie proved to be a laborious job in this particular game, but somebody had to do it. Thunderlane was already hurt from it and refused to.

It made Soarin swallow hard and wring his hands and rub his knees. He hoped he wouldn't be wounded...

The referee blew the dreaded whistle and those who were playing stood up. Pepper Corn and another person wished them all good luck and watched them drag their feet. They were glad they were spared the strenuous work for the time being, but felt worried for the rest of them. Just like before, the Pythons didn't look a bit tired. They smirked and even laughed at their disheveled look. You call this competition? It was clear that they were thinking that.

The game started again. This time, the Pythons captain had the ball and kicked it toward a player who was already on the Wondercolts' side of the field. Rainbow sprinted forward to intercept it. She felt a sudden burst of energy take hold of her. Now that they had a definite plan, she felt better. Rainbow was able to slam the ball away before the Pythons player got it and Thunderlane received it. He passed it to Lightning Dust. The girl made a full sprint toward their opposing team's goal and immediately she was being swarmed.

Cries and shouts were coming from the crowd. There was so much going on at that moment. Lightning Dust could see the smirks on their faces, the other team. They knew she was an easy target against all of them...or so they thought. Lightning Dust quickly reversed her direction. Instead of kicking the soccer ball toward their goal, she swung her foot backward and kicked it back with her heel. The black and white ball bounced back behind her and was received by one of the Wondercolts.

The crowd went wild! No one had expected such a move to happen. Everyone was sure that the Pythons would get the ball. But no! It was a psyche out! The Wondercolts player easily ran around the swarm of Pythons and landed a goal for the team. The referee blew the whistle and the scoreboard was changed.

14-6 Pythons

The Wondercolts rejoiced happily. With their new tactic, they could berate the other team's skills. Rainbow smiled as she looked to the crowd and saw her friends smiling back and cheering. Rainbow looked back to her team and gave them high-fives. It was one of many goals they would deliver.

***

Sunset Shimmer was too engrossed in the game to notice a dweeb was making his way to her. Casper was grinning goofily from ear to ear. She was so pretty. Her gorgeous face smiled as the Wondercolts scored and Casper giggled like a little girl. She looked so wonderful when she smiled. Her green eyes glowed with excitement and her glistening white teeth flashed. Casper drooled. Unbeknownst to him, people were snatching food out of his box...

Next to Sunset Shimmer sat Pinkie Pie, who was screaming and throwing confetti in the air.

"Calm down a bit!" Sunset complained when a bunch of the sparkling plastic bits got caught in her hair. She combed her fingers through her hair and plucked them out. Pinkie Pie apologized and helped her remove the confetti.

"I'm just SO EXCITED!!!!"

Sunset gave her a fake smile.

"Ah hah hah. Yeah, I've noticed."

Casper grinned at her sarcasm. He thought it was the cutest thing ever. Before he could say a word, he felt a hand grab his shoulder.

"Casper!"

The said boy gasped and whipped around to see Caesar looking at him with a stern expression. Sunset, too, had let out a little gasp and turned to them. The sudden burst of an angry voice had scared her slightly. Beside her stood two boys, both of them around her age. They wore yellow uniforms with the word Benito's across the front. No doubt about it, they were 'peanut boys'. The boy closest to her had long purple hair and blue skin. He had some stubble on his chin. He had acne all over his face and wasn't that great to look at. To her, he was the definition of a loser.

The other boy had curly orange hair and glasses. He, too, had some stubble on his chin. Unlike the loser, he had no acne and was pretty average. Well, if he didn't wear his glasses that is. With the glasses, he looked like a nerd. So there was a nerd and a loser standing beside her.

"Casper, I thought I told you to stay in the Pythons section! You can't just walk around here with that cap on your head. Some of these guys are a little too loyal to their team. You could be inadvertently turning away potential customers," the nerd said.

Sunset recognized his voice now that he wasn't yelling. She had heard him talking in the hall while she waited for the girls to finish dressing. Looking at the loser-y eyesore next to her, she understood this was Casper. She crinkled her nose. She already didn't like what she heard in the hall, but seeing him made her opinion of him worse.

"I-I'm sorry! I was just going to ask this girl if she, um, wanted to buy anything!" Casper said.

The both of them turned their gaze on Sunset, who looked back at them blankly.

"W-Would you like to buy something..?" Casper asked.

Sunset could see him blushing and she shook her head. He was a creep and she wanted him gone. Caesar frowned at the boy and pushed him so he could move down the aisle.

"I want you to get back to work now, Casper," he said in a calm voice. It was a dangerous calm.

The boy hurried away to the Pythons section and Caesar sighed.

"I'm so sorry about that, miss. That guy there can be a real pain. He didn't bother you, did he?"

Sunset shook her head.

"You didn't see him...creeping around, did you..? I know this is a weird question."

Sunset shook her head slowly. She felt a bit paranoid and glanced around her to see where the Casper guy went, but he had vanished from sight.

"I'm sorry. I'll leave you alone, miss. Enjoy the game," the nerd said and he walked away.

Sunset watched him leave and shrugged. They were just two unimportant people. Pinkie Pie looked at her and asked her who they were. The fiery-haired girl shook her head and told her she had no idea. But a quiet voice said otherwise.

"...I know him..."

Pinkie and Sunset looked over to see it was Fluttershy who had spoken. The girl was watching the nerd with surprise. Then she turned her gaze to the two girls and said," He was someone I knew before I came to Canterlot High. His name is Caesar..."

Fluttershy tilted her head and tapped her chin.

"Caesar UpperCrest."