"I don't know, but I guess Rainbow's kinda lenient..."
Smiles, laughter, and friendship. These were the things that became prevalent in the halls of Canterlot High ever since the Fall Formal. The diversity of the students seemed to had faded after Twilight had won the crown and defeated Sunset Shimmer. Friendly and smiling faces filled the halls at break times and after classes. One of those who had a bigger smile was Rainbow Dash. She was glad to be with her friends after loads of misunderstanding. It seemed like a dream now to her when she ignored her friends back then.
Rainbow Dash rushed to the soccer club who were meeting at the field. As she left the school building to the field, she saw the students gathered around, talking and playing a bit of soccer.
“Captain!” excitedly said by a purple-haired girl whose name Rainbow Dash couldn’t remember. “Are we practicing today or just a friendly match?”
“Hold your horses, squirt!” Rainbow Dash said. “I haven’t even warmed up yet!”
As she dropped her bag on the bleachers, she heard the other members of the club were already talking about something, and then Rainbow Dash heard her name and Twilight Sparkle’s. She normally ignored small talks from other members, but it involved her and Twilight, and she can’t ignore that.
“Hey, what’cha guys talking about?” Rainbow asked as she jogged to the group’s direction.
“Captain! Oh, it’s nothing,” one of them said who was a boy.
“Come on, I don’t bite. Plus, I think I heard my name back there!”
The boy looked at the other members, and the others gave him a nod as if to encourage him. “Um, Rainbow? Is it true you had a one-on-one with Twilight Sparkle?”
Rainbow Dash first looked confused, then proudly puffed her chest with her hands on her waist. “Sure did! She didn’t stand a chance!”
“Of course...” A tone of doubt came from the boy and an exchange of worried look from his peers.
Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Uh, am I missing something here?”
“Well, I heard you did win against her; it’s just that she managed to score one. You don’t even let the rookies score in this team.”
Rainbow Dash took a second to process what she just heard. “What?!”
“Don’t be mad! It’s just what I heard!” The group also huddled together behind the boy and the boy waved his hands in front of him, as if to expel Rainbow’s outburst.
“Where did you hear about that?!” Rainbow boomed.
“Um, someone from the basketball team?”
Rainbow Dash immediately turned around and headed for the school building.
“Um captain? What are we supposed to do!?” the boy screamed after her.
“Just do the usual!” And with that, the doors slammed behind her.
Rainbow Dash fumed as she walked the halls. She remembered how it exactly happened, and now others thought she let someone score! No way she would let anyone score against her, not even beginners. The thought infuriated her more and soon she reached the gymnasium. It was then that she decided to find the responsible one for this and make them correct this impossible story.
A game of basketball was ongoing and the teams are already against each other as their shoes made squeaky sounds. Rainbow approached the nearest person who was sitting at the bench, waiting for his turn.
“Hey, you,” Rainbow called out.
“Captain? I thought you’re going with the soccer team today?”
“Not now, I need to know something. Do you know anything about me going against Twilight Sparkle in a soccer match?”
“Well, Curly Winds told the team about it. He’s playing right now,” the kid said as he pointed at the player holding the basketball.
“TIME OUT!” Rainbow Dash screamed. All the players stopped and looked at Rainbow Dash. “Curly Winds, come here.”
Members of both teams started whispering. Sure enough, a brawny teenager jogged towards Rainbow Dash, sweaty and panting.
“Yeah, captain? Is there something wrong?”
“Nothing important; I’m just wondering where you heard the story about me and Twilight’s soccer match.”
While initially annoyed that his captain stopped a game for a rumor, he was nonetheless pleased to entertain the fuming all-around captain. “Oh that! I heard that from the chess club.”
Rainbow Dash stole the basketball from Curly Winds and threw a perfect shot from where she stood: half court. She then ran to the ball, and did an alley loop. Rainbow left a jaw dropped and baffled basketball team.
The chess club wasn’t exactly a place people thought Rainbow Dash would attend, but she was the captain of every sports team, and chess was no different. While it was on paper that she was the captain and leader, most of the people thought that was a typo, as they thought Rainbow Dash wasn’t much of a thinker and more of a player on field. Nevertheless, Rainbow Dash did her duties as captain, however, she did so with a disguise as not to smudge her reputation as best athlete. She didn’t want to be labeled as an egghead.
Rainbow wore a thick framed glasses, and tied her hair in a bun and hid it in a beanie. It was amazing for Rainbow that the club never questioned the identity of their captain, especially when her name was written on official papers.
Rainbow Dash entered the club room, seeing the members were already engaged in matches. Three pairs played the game together on a long table, where most bespectacled members gave all their focus on the board game.
“Good afternoon, members,” she called out. The members looked up and saw their leader.
“Hey, boss,” said the orange curly haired girl as she pushed her glasses. “Are you up for a game?”
“Sorry, but I have errands I have to attend to,” Rainbow answered, earning sounds of disappointments from the members. “Anyways, have you guys heard the rumor about Rainbow—”
“I heard about it!” a boy named Microchips cutted. “Still, to think the captain of all sports teams would be lenient to a newbie… That’s something new.”
“Where did you hear that?”
“Uh, I think I heard it from Trixie.”
“Thanks, gotta go!” With that, Rainbow Dash ran outside.
The members resumed their silent match. After a while, Microchips spoke up. “Is it just me, or our captain is starting to sound a lot like Rainbow Dash?”
“Probably just in your head. Let’s just play.”
Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure where to find Trixie, but luckily enough, she found her in front of a vending machine. Trixie was about to drop a coin, but Rainbow yelled out as she ran to her direction.
“Trixie!”
Trixie looked at Rainbow Dash, who stopped in front of her.
“What is it? Trixie is busy and you made her drop her coin.”
“Busy doing what?” Rainbow Dash questioned. “Getting peanut butter crackers?”
“Yes.”
Rainbow raised an eyebrow at her answer. “Look, I heard you were talking about a rumor about me. You weren’t the one spreading it, right?”
Trixie gave an incredulous look at Rainbow. “No.”
“Then who?!” Rainbow wailed as she shook Trixie. “I didn’t let Twilight score, that’s what happened!”
“Okay! I believe you!” Trixie said, which prompted Rainbow to release her. “Look, Trixie only heard this from Principal Celestia. She was blabbering about it when I passed by her during lunch.”
Hearing this, Rainbow Dash picked up the dropped coin, gave it to Trixie, then took off to a sprint to the principal’s office.
“You’re welcome!” Trixie exclaimed, then proceeded to drop her coin into the vending machine and pressed the button for peanut butter crackers. “Come to think of it, I’m getting tired of peanut butter.”
Rainbow Dash never thought she would be dashing to the principal’s office. She never really went there by herself, but this was of utmost importance, at least for her. Rainbow didn’t think of Principal Celestia much; she was just there.
Rainbow skidded to a stop in front of Principal Celestia’s office. After a few breaths, she braced herself and knocked on the door. It was then that she thought of backing out, but heck, she was already there and might as well do it.
“Come in,” the principal blankly answered.
Rainbow Dash pulled the door and let herself in. Principal Celestia was looking at something on her monitor. Rainbow suddenly felt rude intruding on her job, but she was there. Principal Celestia then turned to face Rainbow.
“Miss Rainbow Dash, I did not expect a visit,” Principal Celestia said. “What brings you to my office?”
Rainbow scratched her head. “Um, it’s nothing serious, but I just want to know if you’ve heard any rumors as of late?”
Principal Celestia gave her a questioning look, but then amused. “I assume this is about the match between you and Twilight Sparkle.”
“Pretty much.” Rainbow avoided eye contact, her eyes looking up the ceiling.
“Well, all I can say is that Sunset Shimmer told me about it. To be specific, Luna told me about it, but then she heard it from Sunset. I’m just saying this just so you don’t bother Luna as she has early leave and is at home as we speak. I’m guessing you have some disagreements about the way the story is told?”
“You bet I do!” Rainbow stomped. “We had a scoreboard and clearly Twilight had zero!”
“Does it matter? You did win the match.”
“I don’t let rookies score, that’s what matters. People are gonna think I’ve gone soft or something.”
“Maybe you should consider changing your strategy for coaching—”
But Rainbow didn’t had time to discuss; she had the information she needed.
“Gotta go!” Rainbow then turned and slammed the door behind her.
“Wait—Oh dear. It’s not even that of a big deal.” Principal Celestia shook her head and resumed her online video streaming. Who knew Netflix was such a marvel?
Sunset Shimmer. The girl who ruined the school, literally and spiritually. Not anymore, of course. While she knew she and her friends were supposed to go easy on her(Rarity still expecting that apology for the spring dance, just waiting on her), she just wanted to give Sunset a piece of her mind. Rainbow remembered that Sunset got detention and Rainbow had a clear idea what detention activities often comprised of. If she wasn’t in a classroom, then she was probably cleaning the hallways.
Luckily for Rainbow, she spotted Sunset Shimmer just finishing up, lifting a pail and a mop as she walked away.
“Hey, Sunset!” Rainbow called after her.
“Rainbow Dash?” Sunset placed down the pail and mop. “What’s up?”
Rainbow stopped in front of her.
“Just gimme a sec,” Rainbow said as she breathed air after running around continuously. She then stood up straight, took a deep breath, and looked Sunset in the eye. “What the hay, Sunset!?”
“What?! What did I do this time?”
“The score!”
“Huh?” Sunset can’t help but look confused.
“The soccer match I had with Twilight! You told Principal Celestia Twilight scored! She didn’t!”
“I told Vice Principal Luna, not Principal Celestia.”
“Whatever! Look, you just lied to her and now my reputation is in the balance! Now everyone’s gonna think that I’m soft on beginners or something and it’s all because of you!”
Sunset Shimmer didn’t respond. Instead, she just looked down, her face unseen.
“Well? Say something!”
Sunset Shimmer whispered, but it wasn’t loud enough to be heard.
“What?!”
“I’m sorry,” Sunset said with a cracked voice.
It was then that Rainbow noticed tears were falling from her face.
“Whoa, I didn’t mean to—I was just trying to—”
Sunset then fell to a crouch and then cried as she embraced her legs. Rainbow was glad nobody was around, since it wouldn’t be a pretty sight. Also, some might think it would be okay to bully her.
“Uh, Sunset?” Rainbow can’t help but feel worried.
“I’m so sorry,” Sunset said weakly, struggling to speak with her drowned throat.
Great, I’m supposed to make her right her wrong, now I just feel bad. Rainbow was pretty sure it was appropriate to scold her, but the way she reacted just made her realize she could have done it in a more calm way. Rainbow decided to clear things up.
“Hey, I’m not mad at you,” Rainbow said—which was true—as she crouched down to Sunset’s level.
It took a second before Sunset uttered her reply. “You’re not?”
“Yeah, I just wanted to rant at you for the stupid thing. I didn’t expect you to cry like this.”
“It’s just that,” Sunset sniffled. “Everyone had just reminded of what I did to them every time I passed by them. I’ve done terrible things, and I know saying sorry will never be enough. I keep saying it, but they’ll never believe me. No one will.”
Rainbow patted Sunset’s shoulder. “Hey, of course they’re going to remember what you did.”
“And they hate me for it.”
“Right now, probably a lot.”
Sunset’s cries became louder. Great job, Rainbow.
“Look, what I’m trying to say is they hate you now because it’s what they can see right now. You haven’t given them something else to see about you. You know, the good stuff.”
“But I’ve done too many terrible things! I can’t outweigh those! I just can't.”
“Okay, enough negative thinking,” Rainbow said as she held Sunset’s head to face her. “Listen, no one said it’s going to be easy, alright? It’s not all sunshines and awesome times like we wanted to. It’s a long road to redemption. You’ve done bad things, true, but that shouldn’t stop you from trying to do good things. Maybe you’ll never make up all of the bad things, but when you do good, it’s good. End of story.”
“Really?” Sunset wiped her eyes. “I can just, do things?”
“Well, no one’s perfect, but heck yeah, do things for others,” Rainbow let go of her head then pulled her up. “Or just be you. Do things you know are good, and people will see that. I can see that right now.”
Rainbow thought Sunset was going to cry some more from the look of her face but suddenly, Sunset hugged Rainbow and she sobbed as she did.
“Thank you.”
“Hey, no problem. Just doing the right thing.” Rainbow patted her back. “You gonna be okay?”
“Yeah, thanks to you.”
Sunset let go of Rainbow, wiped her eyes and gave Rainbow a smile.
“You going home? I’ll walk with you,” Rainbow said as she picked up the pail and mop.
“Sure,” Sunset replied and started walking toward the janitor’s closet. “Just to be honest, I think you were unfair to Twilight, so I gave her a point in my head.”
“Was not!” Rainbow exclaimed as she walked beside Sunset.
“Was too. You kicked a goal without giving her prep time.”
“It’s called tough love, you know, can’t go easy on newbies.”
“Rainbow, I can list a number of reasons why that’s not an effective way of coaching.”
“Oh yeah? I’d like to hear them.”
“Happy to explain.”
