Equestria Girls - Canterlot Courtby ratedoniChaptersGame 01: The favor that changed it allGame 02: The First StepGame 03: Last Seconds- Make them CountGame 04: BedriddenGame 01: The favor that changed it allEarth and Equestria. Two different worlds connected by a mirror. Those two were as different as they come. Evolution brought different species to the top of the chain, shaping society in different ways. But one thing was the same, the love for sports. Both worlds had many kinds of sports, either shared or completely different due to the anatomies of either species. In Earth there were many sports, from the ever popular football of Europe, the football of USA, baseball that was played all around the world, and of course… basketball. Schools made their teams, their cups, their tournaments. Both male and female divisions had great popularity among students, fans and players alike. Is in this world that a story was born. A story that talks about a generation of players that brought female basketball to the eye of everyone in the country, a generation full of so many stars that it was known as the Galaxy Generation. And it all started in the Canterlot Court one Saturday morning. A pair of girls were walking through the street, one of the with her hair in a no-nonsense bun while the other had her own hair arranged in a wavy almost chaotic but still extremely styling style, both of them laughing and enjoying the peaceful morning while sharing a bag of caramel popcorn. “Gotta admit it, Pinkie is seriously getting better in the kitchen, she could only do baked goods before” the red and yellow haired girl of the duo said before putting a couple of kernels in her mouth, with a few bites she enjoyed the crisp and sweet flavor in them. “It was nice of her to give us this bag” Twilight commented back, her glasses didn’t hide the enjoyment from not only the popcorn but spending time with her new friends. “Nice nothing, Pinkie is always like that, she makes so much of a thing that she ends up giving samples to everyone, that’s how she is; she probably has another fifty bags or so in her house for her sisters and the other Rainbooms” answered back Sunset making Twilight giggle at the mental image of a mountain of popcorn on top of Pinkie’s bed, although considering the girl they were talking about she probably dived into it and took a nap inside. Everything was perfect before they both had to walk right in front of Canterlot High School and Sunset soon found herself without company for a second. Stopping and turning around she found out why. Twilight Sparkle, the non-princess member of their tight-knit group was looking at what was left of the Wondercolt statue with a look that Sunset knew so well, it was a look that she herself had used to many times through the last few months, guilt. “Twilight… it was not your fault” the aforementioned girl flinched slightly before looking at Sunset. “I… I know… mentally I’m aware that it is true, but I guess guilt can be extremely illogical” “Well, yeah, but you know what helps?” the look of hope that was directed at Sunset was good enough answer “having friends at your side, family never hurts either… Tartarus, you can even talk about it with your dog and in this case it will answer back, so don’t worry Twilight, you don’t have to go through this alone” The brilliant smile of her friend told her that she had said the right things. “And there you go again… thanks Sunset” Twilight said before looking at the statue ruin again “I just wish I don’t have to see the results of my magic mishap every time I arrive at school” “Nah, don’t worry, Principal Celestia commissioned a new statue, I have no idea how but apparently it was covered by the school insurance” Sunset told Twilight “I guess the principals really got used to magic going wild in the school to be prepared for that, sometimes they scare me” that last joke made both girls start to laugh releasing the tension and guilt for now. The mood that had been created was quickly shattered by the quick arrival of someone they knew well. “Hey, wassup girls?!” the rainbow colored was a dead giveaway of who was quickly approaching. “Rainbow Dash?” “Hey Dash! What are you doing here? Wait, are you wearing the Canterlot High jersey?” Sunset said taking notice of the attire of their friend, complete sneakers and a sports bag hanging on her shoulder. “Well, yeah, the football pre-season is starting and we’re having a practice match with White Tail High” Rainbow told them with a huge grin in her face, it was obvious how much she have missed the school sports’ season. “I didn’t know you played soccer Rainbow” for all answer Twilight only received a dark glare from Rainbow that made her want to hide behind Sunset, maybe even use her as a shield if things went wrong. “Twilight, you’re my friend, but never, ever insult the beautiful game like that again” “But isn’t that how it is called?” “Just in this country Twilight” Sunset came to the rescue “in the rest of the world it is just called football, don’t ask me why, I have never found a logical reason for that since I came to this world” she said shrugging. “Yeah, me neither, anyway, I just wanted to ask you a favor Sunset but if you and Twilight are in a date AUCH” Sunset’s fist found the target on Rainbow’s forehead “geez, it was just a joke, but really, I could use your help” “Don’t worry Twilight, she was only joking” Sunset said to try to mollify Twilight’s embarrassment “she is always like that” “Are you sure? I mean, I wouldn’t like that kind of rumor to spread around” “Nah, don’t worry” Sunset fired back with both hands on her custom made chevron jacket (made by Rarity of course) “she loves to joke with her friends but she will never spread rumors, either way, why do you think she needed someone to come here?” the here aforementioned was the Canterlot High gym slash arena, used by the school for anything from dances, public announcements and battle of the bands. Without further ado Sunset opened the doors finding that the gym was not arranged for one of Pinkie’s parties for once, instead she found out different members of Canterlot High all dressed in uniforms and practicing a sport. “Basketball?” looking at her side Sunset saw her companion looking inside the gym too obviously interested in what was going on. “Sunset, Twilight! How’re you doing?!” one voice they recognized said from one edge of the basketball court jogging to their location with a huge grin on her face. The girl had a blonde high ponytail and welcoming smile that fit her personality perfectly, she was wearing a greyed uniform that once had probably been a solid sky blue that consisted in jersey and shorts. “Hey Cloudy Kicks, didn’t you use to play in the football team?” “Not for some time Sunset, I used to play in Junior High but I became a full time player in Canterlot High, I just trained with them a couple of times but I finally decided in basket, so, what can I do for you? Are you here to watch the game?” “The game? Oh, right Rainbow told us it was the pre-season in soc… eh, football?” Twilight asked to Sunset a little worried about her faux-pas. “You learn fast, but yeah, practically all the sport teams in the school are preparing for the pre-season, there’s a lot of game and cups that the school participate on” “You got that right Sunset, so, what’s the occasion then?” “Well, you see, Rainbow had a message for the team” Outside of the gym everything was peaceful, only the sound of birds and students ready for the match in the football field could be heard, until… “SHE SAID WHAT?!” Rainbow knew very well who had just screamed and also knew that it was probably due to her; there was no way she would have been capable of delivering that message. “Sorry Sunset, I’ll return the favor some day, okay guys, let’s win this one!” Inside the gymnasium Cloudy Kicks was as pale as a ghost and all life had abandoned her, even her uniform seemed to have become pale and colorless, a purple aura all aorund her body. Sunset felt a little guilty about what had happened, it seemed to have hit harder than she had thought just by looking at how the other girl had reacted to them, it was not a pretty sight and it seemed that even Twilight felt guilty by the way she was biting her lower lip. “Cloudy, I’m sorry, I didn’t thought it was that important to you” finally Cloudy came back to the girl and released a huge sigh. “Is not your fault Sunny, I should have known, I mean, Rainbow always help the other teams but she also has her own duties as captain of the football club, maybe I was being too optimistic” “Were you counting in Rainbow Dash’s help today?” Twilight may have been the one to ask it first but Sunset was also curious about it. “To tell the truth Rainbow was our only hope” “That bad then?” Sunset felt her pain just watching at the face of Cloudy; since she arrived at this world Canterlot High always had problems in gaining academic and sports recognition, having Rainbow in the school helped in the last department but she was only one girl, she couldn’t do everything. “You can say it again, it wouldn’t be so bad since it is just a practice match but we are playing against North Canterlot” “And that’s bad?” “Of course it is, I mean… oh right, I forgot you didn’t even know what the Friendship Games were” poor Sunset’s face lighted up remembering that, so much for studying in Canterlot since Junior High “North Canterlot is one of the strongest teams in the city, they have won the Everfree Cup two years in a row and have the highest amount of victories in the Canterlot Invitational… and you know what’s the worst part?” Now Cloudy had both of them interested in knowing more “They send the second team for the practice match! The bench players! Do you have any idea how humiliating that is?!” Sunset winced at that bit of news while Twilight just seemed confused. “And how’s that a bad thing? I mean, I don’t know much of basketball beyond the times my dad and brother have watched a game in the living room” “Basically Twi, they are practically telling Cloudy and the rest that they aren’t good enough to send their good players, why even bother? Now I see why you wanted Rainbow’s help in this game, maybe you would have surprised them and returned the favor” “It is worse” “Worse that a team only sending only their bench?” “Oh yes, last week several girls left the team, now we are only seven players, that means not everyone can rest and will have to play the whole game, with Rainbow we would have had better chances since she has almost as much energy as Pinkie when it comes to sports” Cloudy seemed almost depressed at the news of no Rainbow and having a short supply in players, it almost made Sunset feel depressed herself, she really wanted to help her now, but how? Wait… there was a way. Checking herself on the changing room once again Sunset was glad she didn’t use her usual heeled boots today but she had to be honest, she didn’t look half as bad with a low ponytail. If Rarity ever saw how deteriorated the uniform she was wearing right now she would scream so hard the windows in the gym would explode. “Gotta say Sunset, you look a natural on the uniform, I guess that motocross win wasn’t just luck, you have the physique of a player” “Thanks Cloudy, I just wanted to help you in this match, I mean, I brought you the bad news” “Don’t sweat it, you girls being here is more than enough, at least I won’t have to record all the info of the match by myself” “Yeah, Twilight loves information, she may not be really athletic but that girl is the best for any kind of organizing job, so now what?” “Now starts the torture” ‘Cloudy was right’ Sunset thought watching the match ‘they may be bench players but they were good, no, more than good, they had trained well, their passes, their shots, they set the pace of the game and our defense is not even close to stopping them’ while Sunset was focused on every movement in the court, Twilight and Cloudy were checking the information of what was going on, so far they were losing 31 to 8 and it seemed that the difference in points would only grow as time went on. “I guess we don’t have any answer against the number 8 of their team?” “Who? Sky Light? Is impossible, none of our players is fast enough to stop her, can you believe that her big sister is way better than her?” “Really?” Twilight couldn’t believe that since the chrome blue and silver haired girl wearing the black uniform of North Canterlot seemed to run circles around their team. “Yeah, did you saw her layout?” “Her what?” “It is when a player gets close enough to the basket and from underneath it you shoot with one hand using the backboard to bounce it into the basket” Sunset had seen it several times too, it seemed so fluid and almost second nature for Sky Light, probably all the training she had, and she was not a regular player? How strong were the other players then? Sunset didn’t know why, but she felt something resonating inside her, if the other girls could have seen Sunset’s eyes they would have seen them almost shinning as if fire had been ignited, she felt something strange, she wanted to go inside, she wanted to play! “Cloudy, let me in” she simply said before standing up, the blonde player was surprised about Sunset’s request but there was something in those words that made her smile. “Sure Sunny, have fun out there” and as the other players watched the new player get ready nobody knew what this decision would bring. Years later, all experts in the matter agreed that the moment Sunset Shimmer, unicorn turned human being, put a foot inside was the moment the Galaxy Generation era started, right there in the Canterlot Court! Game 02: The First Step“Good luck out there Sunny” the player from Canterlot high she had subbed for told her before giving her a high five, at the beginning Sunset had hated that nicknamed given to her by Pinkie, but now she saw it as something as a flag, a way for those that had forgiven her for her past actions to treat her as a close friend. Now, she will pay that favor back by taking the Canterlot Court by storm. CANTERLOT COURT Match 2: The First Step “So, Cloudy, any plan?” Sunset said looking back at the captain still seating down in the bench while Twilight typed something down in her, tablet. Once Shining had found out in what he had pushed Twilight without knowing and the whole deal with Cinch he had wanted to make it up for her little sister and got her that tablet so she could do all kind of nice things. With the help of Sunset now it was full of apps. “You will take Line Stream’s position in 2” the faces of Sunset and Twilight both showed the confusion about the number “Oh right, the number is in reference of the position” Cloudy took the handheld white board at her side, in it there was the design of the full court “I should have explained this first, but well… in basketball there are five positions and we refer to them by numbers, number 2 is the shooting guard, I see you more as a power forward, but well, I need someone out there that can stop Sky Light” “You want me to stop her?” Sunset said looking in the direction of the North Canterlot squad, in specific the blue and white haired member of the team. “Well, there is no one in the team that can get close to her speed, but I know you are almost as athletic as Rainbow, so if there is any chance of someone stopping her is you, if you don’t want to I can put you in another position” for answer Sunset had a very scary grin in her face. “Nah, that’s exactly what I wanted” she said with all her bravado coming back to her while she walked into the court to join the other members of Canterlot High, her eyes once again lightning up, it was as if they showed the kind of power Sunset had at the moment. To say that Twilight was a little bit intimidated by the sight of Sunset was an understatement; she had never seen such face coming from her friend, but Cloudy kept her cool under that sight. “Look at that, I never thought I would see that face coming from Sunset once again” she said much to the surprise of Twilight. “What do you mean by that?” “Until now you have only seen the nice side of Sunset, the friendly girl that wants to helps everyone with any problem, but there is a side that you never saw, the one of the She-Demon” “I heard Rarity and the others talk about it before but…” “But it was only talk, right? I mean, no one in Canterlot High really like to remember the days when Sunset Shimmer used to bully everyone around, now she is the pride of Canterlot but I guess even Sunset wants to let some steam from time to time” ‘but even I know that’s not the bullying look that Sunset used to have, this is something else, what is this pressure that I feel?’ was what Cloudy was thinking looking at the back of Sunset while this one got in position. “So, the captain has a plan?” one of the girls asked Sunset. “Let me take care of Sky Light, you girls keep defending as you were and keep your eyes open for rebounds, we need quick points If we want to make a comeback” she answered back before a voice among the girls interrupted. “Geez, who put you in charge now? You are not a regular in the team and you are giving us orders now?” “Shut up Belle, if Cloudy brought her into the team was for a reason, I know we had our differences with Sunset, but you saw that she changed, heck, she even helped us break the losing streak in the Friendship Games” the shorter girl with red hair with a white streak on it said, Roseluck if Sunset remembered her name. “Yeah yeah, I get it, is not as if we could do any worst right now” Sunset still had the focused glare pointed in the direction of Sky Light while the girls behind her took their places for the start of their offensive. With the ball in the hands of Rose the game started again but soon after crossing into the court of North Canterlot they were stopped. ‘What’s with this defense?’ Sunset thought watching how her teammates couldn’t advance, Roseluck had the ball but she found incapable of shooting with the close defense she found herself at. ‘Dammit, if they only had good offense this could be easier, we would fight our way into the paint, but even the second team has a good defense' Roseluck thought trying to get some distance between herself and the girl marking 'wait… is that… there it is!’ Roseluck thought and with a quick flick of her hand the ball went sailing through the air. ‘Idiot, making a pass like that, you must be desperate right now’ Sky Light thought looking at the ball sailing through the air before a hand caught the ball, except that it belonged to a girl with a blue sky uniform with red and yellow hair ‘what? How is she open?’ The girl that had been marking Sunset was also confused, how did she move so fast? Before the other players could react Sunset got herself in position and jumped ready to shot and with everything ready the ball arced through the air before cleanly going inside the basket. For a second everyone was silent only watching the new player take her first points as a player of Canterlot High before the bench cheered by what she did. “Way to go Sunny! I didn’t know that Sunset could do a jump shot that cleanly!” Cloudy said in happiness with Twilight also smiling at the points Sunset made. The aforementioned girl didn’t waste time celebrating moving back into defense with the rest of the team. North Canterlot wasted no time into attacking moving the ball around until Sky Light stood in front of Sunset. “So Canterlot has a new weapon, nice one kid, but offense doesn’t win a game” Sky said to Sunset while this one kept looking her movements, seeing the way she bounced the ball, the way her legs moved and she tried to react but Sky Light dribbled through her and did one more layup “if you have no defense there is no way to stop me” ‘She is good, but why? Why is she only in the bench? She is good enough to play with the regulars so… why?’ This question looped through Sunset’s head while Canterlot once again moved the ball finding the same type of airtight defense as before Rose once again passed the ball to Sunset only to find that this time she hadn’t blown right through the defense like last time. “This time you are not getting through me” the short haired girl told Sunset but this one only smirked. “I never planned to do it” “What?” “I just wanted to verify something” Sunset said before once again jumping, the ball making an arc and once again getting into the basket “I just wanted to see how far away I could shoot” she said making the North Canterlot player feel shock at how easy Sunset made that shot look. “Three points! If I had known Sunset was this good I would have called her a long time ago!” Cloudy said jumping up and down, but Twilight was not jumping or shouting, instead she was looking at Sunset’s eyes, the red and yellow haired girl seemed so completely focused in the game that she wasn’t paying attention to anything except Sky Light and the ball, what was going on in Sunset’s head? “Well, I didn’t know Canterlot had a new shot expert, but you don’t have much time to make a comeback, not if we keep making points” Sky Light mocked Sunset by trying to do the same drive she had done the time before, but now it was a different situation, now Sunset had the answer to her question. ‘That’s it, that’s why she is on the bench, I can see it now!’ was what went through the head of Sunset while Sky Light once again tried to do an easy layup but something happened, Sky soon noticed something at her side, she felt a shadow and before she could let the ball go it was knocked out of her hand. “How?... How was she capable of following me?” Sky Light was shocked at how fast Sunset reacted to her movement, but North Canterlot still had the ball. Twilight was sure now, there was something happening in here, Sunset was fast, of that she was well aware of since Sunset tried to keep herself in shape by running with Applejack and Rainbow Dash, but this was ludicrous, even Cloudy was aware that something was happening. “Hey, Twilight… is Sunset… is Sunset using magic or something like that? I mean, that was beyond unbelievable” “No, that wasn’t magic, there was no aura projection or anthropomorphization” Cloudy’s face was clear in the fact that she hadn’t understood a word of what she had said which made Twilight blush “I mean, there is no bright colors or Sunset growing ears so that means at least that it has nothing to do with ponying up at least” ‘but, I’m sure there is some kind of magic involved in this, is it possible that she is using some kind of passive ability?’ But for now they had to pay attention to the match, after all they were still losing and North Canterlot had the ball once again. ‘Tch, Canterlot is tightening the defense, it seems that their new player is rising their moral, doesn’t matter, I will continue making more points’ Sky Light thought seeing how a member of North Canterlot sends the ball to her but a hand suddenly intercepted the ball trajectory ‘what?’ “I finally found your weakness, the whole point of your offense is to rotate the ball until it falls into your hands, then you will make a layup, I finally caught up with your movements” Sunset said with the same focused look in her eyes, but this time they seemed to turn into a gold color for some reason. “Go back! Is a fast break!” but it was too late, none of their members could catch up with Sunset until Sky Light got herself in front of Sunset “no way you can take another shot” “I never said I would” Sunset said before she quickly sidestepped Sky leaving her behind in shock. “That’s… that’s my move” but Sunset was not finished, she could feel power filling her body, her muscles and her mind, she focused that energy into her legs and with a strong jump she went for the basket. “Wait, that’s not a layup!” Cloudy said surprised at what Sunset was doing, it was a bigger jump than the ones of Sky Light, she was not looking for a shot or leaving the ball hit the blackboard for quick points, she was looking for something else. Sunset’s body almost seemed to float as she got closer to her target, she was shining and if someone had asked them what had happened, for a second it looked as if Sunset had gained wings of golden fire “that’s a dunk!” And with that Sunset’s hand got in contact with the basket, sending the ball right through it for two points, the basket rim groaning from the extra weight of Sunset’s body, a second later she let go lightly landing, her eyes focusing in the shocked Sky Light. “Don’t you dare think the match is over” Game 03: Last Seconds- Make them CountCanterlot Court Game 03: Last Seconds Rainbow was complete soaked in sweat after the practice match the Canterlot Wondercolts had, their new center was a real match against Lightning Dust, good thing they based their new strategy in quick passes. A small bottle was softly put on her hands; looking at her side she saw the smiling visage of Fluttershy. “Thanks Shy” she told her before taking a huge gulp of the sports drink and then sighed in relief “nothing like a good nap after a game like that” Fluttershy simply giggled at her friend’s words. “You are like an adorable puppy; once you play you want to take a nap” “Hey, don’t you dare compare with a puppy, and besides, adorable and Rainbow Dash do not belong in the same sentence” “Then stop pouting because you only look more adorable” Fluttershy shot back making Rainbow growl in small annoyance. Since the friendship games and their outcome it seemed that Fluttershy had gained a huge amount of self-confidence, enough to make jabs at Rainbow, but the athlete was happy to see her oldest friend shed the last pieces of her social anxiety. “Yeah, yeah, whatever… now that I remember, want to check the gym? I have to do something before I go back home” “The gym? Rainbow Dash, I will not let you go and play some more after that match” “Is not like that, is just… I kind of made a promise and well… I ended up sending Sunny to kind of… you know…” “Where you trying to bite more than you could chew again?” “Yeah… so… maybe go by the gym so I could say sorry? I mean, I hate to let people down and I feel that I let Cloudy down” she felt Fluttershy’s hand on top of her own and that stopped her babbling. “If you feel this is important then it is no problem, we are close to the gym anyway” “Yeah, it won’t take long anyway, just go in, see what happened and maybe try to help them in another occasion” Rainbow answered back before changing directions into the gymnasium, encountering someone else getting close to it too “Wait, is that Principal Celestia?” the multi-color haired principal of the school took notice of the two students walking towards her. “Well, I see that the training match against White Tail ended up well, so what can I do for you Miss Dash?” “We were just going to check on the basketball team Principal” “I see, is good to know that you are putting so much attention to the sports aspect of being a student in Canterlot High… if only you put that kind of dedication to classes” Celestia said with a completely serious face making Fluttershy put her hands on her mouth to stop the giggles. “Eh, sorry about that, but you know, sports girl extraordinaire” “You just copied what Rarity said yesterday without knowing what the words meant, isn’t it?” “You need to stop hanging around with Applejack” now it was Principal Celestia’s turn to giggle at the interaction of her students. Since the last Fall Formal things had been shaken in Canterlot High and she was glad that the one that started all that change, and in a positive way none the least, also had found redemption among this halls. But for now, she had a job to do and that was to check on another team of her school, even if the board put more attention on both the football and soccer team (even though the football club sucked in comparison) all sport clubs were important. Opening the double door her body locked up at what she was seeing. “Eh, principal Celestia, are you alright?” Rainbow Dash asked looking at the way the older woman simply stopped at the threshold of the gym. Shrugging, both teenagers simply went around the principal and saw exactly why she had reacted like that. “Rainbow… is that?” “That’s Sunset… amazing!” Rainbow was ready to say that she was sorry for letting her schoolmates down at their training match, but this blew her plans out of the water. Right there in the court, both Cloudy Kicks and Sunset Shimmer were leading a fast break against North Canterlot; their opponents seemed out of breath, almost sluggish, what had happened? “Cloudy!” the captain of the squad send the ball bounce on the floor right into Sunset’s hands before taking flight again, her hand sending the ball through the basket once again. “Another dunk! Come on! Go back and defend, they still have time for a comeback!” From the sideline Twilight had been infected by the energy of the team, she was shouting support and orders; she had quickly taken the spot as coach for the match it seemed. “Fluttershy… did we just saw Sunset dunk?” “Yes… yes we did” both friends were completely speechless at what was going on, just for a second Rainbow took her eyes from the court to check the electric scoreboard. “82 to 80, Canterlot is winning” “There’s only three seconds left, seems we arrived to the clutch moment in the game” Rainbow and Fluttershy both turned to watch at their principal to find her completely entranced with the match, her eyes seemed weird, as if all her concentration was put on the court, in every movement; Rainbow knew that kind of look, it was in her face every time she played. With the whistle one of North Canterlot took aim letting the ball fly through the court to the other side. ‘What? They still have that much energy? No, they are using all they have to make this last shot count!’ Sunset thought watching that the one that caught the ball was none other than Sky Light ‘I won’t let you shoot!’ was the only thing in Sunset’s mind before jumping to block the shot. For a moment it seemed it had worked, but Sky Light still had a trick. ‘Idiot… I don’t know who you are but you still have things to learn’ Sky Light thought halting her shooting stance and resetting her position. ‘It wasn’t a shot… it was a faint!’ Sunset was already falling, by the time she would land Sky Light could shoot, right now she could make the three shot and they would win. ‘You are a newbie, you still don’t understand these kinds of plays and a simple faint got you, sorry kid but this is our game’ Sky Light smirked before letting the ball go but in that moment a hand appeared from Sky’s blind spot ‘What?’ Cloudy’s hand made contact with the ball slapping it out of reach at the last second just as the clock ticked down to zero and the referee marked the end of the game. “Basketball is a game that has five people in the team, no way I would let my teammates down” the captain of Canterlot High said before she was assaulted by Apple Belle and Line Stream sending her to the floor. “I… I lost? What am I going to tell sis?” Sky Light ended up kneeling in the court, she couldn’t process what just had happened to her, this was supposed to be an easy match, Canterlot High was nothing more than a pushover team. “That… was… AWESOME! SUNNY YOU FREAKING ROCKED!” Rainbow screamed while started running in the team’s direction with Fluttershy hot on her heels. For her part Sunset simply turned to look at them trying to catch her breath after such a draining experience. “That was amazing Sunset, congratulations” The bespectacled girl told Sunset offering her a towel to which Sunset only smiled. “I have no idea how I did it, but thank you” Sunset told her trying to grab the towel before her eyes lost their golden shine and everything went dark falling on top of Twilight sending both of them to the floor. Game 04: BedriddenSunset was sure of one thing, well, make it two things. First, was that she was right now lying down in one of the school infirmary beds; she knew that because Nurse Redheart wanted to keep a nice and sterile place of work which made the state of the beds a secondary thing, focusing more in functionality and they were not something you would like to spend any time on them, it helped too since no student wanted to cut classes due to that. Second thing she quickly found out was that every single muscle of her body hurt like a son of a bitch. Canterlot Court Game 04: Bedridden Trying to get up had become quite the struggle for the girl, things haven’t been this bad since the first week she started running with Rainbow and Applejack, now it felt like those painful days all over again. “SUNSET!” the exclamation of surprise and worry was something that Sunset wasn’t expecting, thankfully this time Pinkie nor Fluttershy decided to hug her, it seemed that they tried to contain their exuberance and their motherly nature respectively. “Hey girls” “Is that all you got to say? Rainbow Dash made it seem as if you were ready to keel over and die by how worried she sounded on the phone” the fashionista said not paying much attention to Rainbow’s rebuke “but nonetheless, just hearing that you fainted made me close shop and come to check up on you” “She ain’t kiddin’, Ah think there are skid marks all over the parkin’ lot now when she arrived; Ah saw Rarity comin’ in paler than usual and Ah knew somethin’ was wrong” the blonde haired girl at Rarity’s side said making Sunset feel better already knowing that she had these friends. “Thank you girls, but what happened?” she asked looking at the rather crowded school infirmary; there were Twilight and Cloudy, this one still dressed in the Canterlot uniform, the rest of her friends and also Principal Celestia for some reason. “I think I speak for everyone present Sunset in that we should be asking you that question” the Principal said obviously worried about her, she knew she shouldn’t be this happy by the worry shown from this woman, but even if it was a kind of proxy for her it still meant a lot. “I don’t know, all my muscles hurt like crazy” “Do you often exercise in this way Miss Shimmer?” Nurse Redheart asked finally coming from her office at one side, the door quietly opening while they had been talking, how a school infirmary had an office for said infirmary nurse was something that Sunset didn’t understood, just like hundreds of things in this world. “Besides running a couple of days a week with my friends, not really” “Well, is no wonder you feel so tired, your body worked extra hard just to keep you in the game and with the amount of adrenaline in your body it all came crashing down at the end when you finally let the game stress behind” Nurse Redheart had always had a no-nonsense voice when it came down to the health of her wards "I recommend you to take this weekend to rest and to avoid any extraneous exercise, also I do not condone heavy usage of painkillers so it would be a better option for you to use a menthol muscle cream or any other you can find, they will relax the muscles and allow you to heal and soothe the pain in your extremities; remember, just let your body rest and you will feel fine by next monday” she said before nodding once to Sunset and another time to Celestia before going back into her office, it was obvious she had said everything she needed and she was giving the floor to Principal Celestia. “Well Sunset, you’ve heard the instructions from Nurse Redheart and not even I have the courage to disobey her” the older woman said getting a chuckle from the group of friends, it was obvious she did it on purpose, probably to release some tension “but besides that, I didn’t know you had those athletic abilities, I would have asked you to be part of the school teams if I had known” “Principal, believe me when I tell you that not even I knew I could do that” “You sure did surprise us, but I bet North Canterlot is even more surprised... I don’t know how you did it but even though we won I feel kind of guilty about what happened to you” Cloudy Skies was usually the contrary to her name, usually full of energy and smiles so seeing her with a frown and a worried look in her face felt like an antithesis, like a Pinkie who didn’t want to make a party. “Is not your fault, I’m happy that I helped you guys” seeing the cloud disappear from the captain of the team (figuratively) was something that made Sunset feel happy about the changes in her life and attitude in the school. “Good to know that you are quickly gaining friends and helping this school in many ways, it shows how much you have grown not only as a Wondercolt, but also as a person, which sounds a little weird considering your home world” Sunset laughed alongside her friends, but she also fetl something a couple of years before she would have scoffed at, school pride; who would have thought it would be something she would have cared about now? “but unto a more serious topic, Twilight Sparkle has something to say to us” the usually quiet girl found herself the recipient of all pair of eyes in the infirmary and even thought she didn’t have social anxiety it still made her flinch a little. “Well, is just something that I noticed through the game” Twilight said before showing everyone her now ever present tablet, it had been a gift from her parents after transferring to Canterlot High, it had been intended as a tool for classes but soon found more usage in practical tests and record tool for the magic abilities of the Rainbooms “can you tell me what do you find weird in this video?” “You mean, besides Sunset dunking like a boss in front of North Canterlot?” Rainbow said with a voice full of pride before giving Sunset a brofist (or should it be a sisfist?) making everyone in the room groan at her antics. “Umm, I’m not sure but… aren’t Sunset eyes usually blue?” Fluttershy’s quiet voice came clear while she looked at the video “but in the video they are golden” “You are right Fluttershy, I’m not sure how but they became that color once she started to play, I’m not quite sure, and this is merely a hypothesis, but maybe Sunset’s innate magic gave a sudden jolt of energy to her nervous system increasing the reaction time and eye to hand coordination of her body to new levels while creating in the process an eidetic memory effect imprinting the body moves of her opponents” the silence that accompanied that long sentence didn’t surprise Sunset in the least, after expending more time with the human Twilight she knew very well how fast and how technical she could be with her explanations. “Ah, I just have one question” “Yes Rainbow?” “Can someone please explain what she just said for those that don’t read quantum physics for light reading?” “What she meant is that I probably used my own magic to be stronger and faster and also for learning stuff from other players by just watching” the collective AAHHH from her friends was enough for Twilight to grumble at the injustice of it all “and it could explain it but there are still questions” “Like what?” “A lot of things AJ, how was I capable of doing it? If it was magic then why didn’t I show pony ears? Why could I jump like that? I mean, I used to be a unicorn, earth ponies are the ones with that kind of physical power” it was a good thing she had explained all about pony differences and abilities in a previous sleepover. “Oh oh oh oh, what if you turned into an alicorn and now you have all those cool powers like you did against Midnight Sparkle?” Pinkie said waving her arms on the air while Twilight blushed slightly at the mention of her ‘darker half’. “Pinkie, if I had suddenly turned into an alicorn WE would already know, believe me, for what I have heard it is not a subtle transformation” “So then how are ya goin’ to find out if ya’re gonna pony up or not?” “The same way we find out things, field testing” “Well, back to the drawing board” “Come on Twy, I know you are aching to start with the experiments” “Can you stop with your egghead flirting already?” “Rainbow, that joke was in bad taste” the slap on the back of the rainbow haired girl’s head courtesy of Rarity was more than enough payback for the joke in Sunset’s opinion. “Be as it may be, this news bring two things to the table Sunset” Principal Celestia quickly called for the attention of everyone just by talking “if it is indeed magic that will end up with you ponying up every time you play then you all have to be careful, but if it is a hidden ability of yours when it comes to sports then I believe we have found a place where you can shine as strong as you already do in academics” “Wait, are you saying…?” “I think what the principal just said is that if you are not suddenly going to sprout pony ears or something like that every time you step on the court I will be proud of calling you my teammate” “You want me in the team?” “Are you crazy? You are the only girl I’ve ever had who can dunk! It is perfect, we are barely starting the pre-season so we are basically gonna rebuild the team after older members graduated and you already know we lost some members last year, so what do you say? Do you wanna help me create a new Canterlot High team?” Cloudy finally asked while extending her hand to Sunset, this one took a glance around the room, watching all the faces smiling and supporting her, it was an easy question. “Let’s do it” she said before taking the hand of her new team captain, and with that, the Galaxy Generation had officially started.
Game 01: The favor that changed it allEarth and Equestria. Two different worlds connected by a mirror. Those two were as different as they come. Evolution brought different species to the top of the chain, shaping society in different ways. But one thing was the same, the love for sports. Both worlds had many kinds of sports, either shared or completely different due to the anatomies of either species. In Earth there were many sports, from the ever popular football of Europe, the football of USA, baseball that was played all around the world, and of course… basketball. Schools made their teams, their cups, their tournaments. Both male and female divisions had great popularity among students, fans and players alike. Is in this world that a story was born. A story that talks about a generation of players that brought female basketball to the eye of everyone in the country, a generation full of so many stars that it was known as the Galaxy Generation. And it all started in the Canterlot Court one Saturday morning. A pair of girls were walking through the street, one of the with her hair in a no-nonsense bun while the other had her own hair arranged in a wavy almost chaotic but still extremely styling style, both of them laughing and enjoying the peaceful morning while sharing a bag of caramel popcorn. “Gotta admit it, Pinkie is seriously getting better in the kitchen, she could only do baked goods before” the red and yellow haired girl of the duo said before putting a couple of kernels in her mouth, with a few bites she enjoyed the crisp and sweet flavor in them. “It was nice of her to give us this bag” Twilight commented back, her glasses didn’t hide the enjoyment from not only the popcorn but spending time with her new friends. “Nice nothing, Pinkie is always like that, she makes so much of a thing that she ends up giving samples to everyone, that’s how she is; she probably has another fifty bags or so in her house for her sisters and the other Rainbooms” answered back Sunset making Twilight giggle at the mental image of a mountain of popcorn on top of Pinkie’s bed, although considering the girl they were talking about she probably dived into it and took a nap inside. Everything was perfect before they both had to walk right in front of Canterlot High School and Sunset soon found herself without company for a second. Stopping and turning around she found out why. Twilight Sparkle, the non-princess member of their tight-knit group was looking at what was left of the Wondercolt statue with a look that Sunset knew so well, it was a look that she herself had used to many times through the last few months, guilt. “Twilight… it was not your fault” the aforementioned girl flinched slightly before looking at Sunset. “I… I know… mentally I’m aware that it is true, but I guess guilt can be extremely illogical” “Well, yeah, but you know what helps?” the look of hope that was directed at Sunset was good enough answer “having friends at your side, family never hurts either… Tartarus, you can even talk about it with your dog and in this case it will answer back, so don’t worry Twilight, you don’t have to go through this alone” The brilliant smile of her friend told her that she had said the right things. “And there you go again… thanks Sunset” Twilight said before looking at the statue ruin again “I just wish I don’t have to see the results of my magic mishap every time I arrive at school” “Nah, don’t worry, Principal Celestia commissioned a new statue, I have no idea how but apparently it was covered by the school insurance” Sunset told Twilight “I guess the principals really got used to magic going wild in the school to be prepared for that, sometimes they scare me” that last joke made both girls start to laugh releasing the tension and guilt for now. The mood that had been created was quickly shattered by the quick arrival of someone they knew well. “Hey, wassup girls?!” the rainbow colored was a dead giveaway of who was quickly approaching. “Rainbow Dash?” “Hey Dash! What are you doing here? Wait, are you wearing the Canterlot High jersey?” Sunset said taking notice of the attire of their friend, complete sneakers and a sports bag hanging on her shoulder. “Well, yeah, the football pre-season is starting and we’re having a practice match with White Tail High” Rainbow told them with a huge grin in her face, it was obvious how much she have missed the school sports’ season. “I didn’t know you played soccer Rainbow” for all answer Twilight only received a dark glare from Rainbow that made her want to hide behind Sunset, maybe even use her as a shield if things went wrong. “Twilight, you’re my friend, but never, ever insult the beautiful game like that again” “But isn’t that how it is called?” “Just in this country Twilight” Sunset came to the rescue “in the rest of the world it is just called football, don’t ask me why, I have never found a logical reason for that since I came to this world” she said shrugging. “Yeah, me neither, anyway, I just wanted to ask you a favor Sunset but if you and Twilight are in a date AUCH” Sunset’s fist found the target on Rainbow’s forehead “geez, it was just a joke, but really, I could use your help” “Don’t worry Twilight, she was only joking” Sunset said to try to mollify Twilight’s embarrassment “she is always like that” “Are you sure? I mean, I wouldn’t like that kind of rumor to spread around” “Nah, don’t worry” Sunset fired back with both hands on her custom made chevron jacket (made by Rarity of course) “she loves to joke with her friends but she will never spread rumors, either way, why do you think she needed someone to come here?” the here aforementioned was the Canterlot High gym slash arena, used by the school for anything from dances, public announcements and battle of the bands. Without further ado Sunset opened the doors finding that the gym was not arranged for one of Pinkie’s parties for once, instead she found out different members of Canterlot High all dressed in uniforms and practicing a sport. “Basketball?” looking at her side Sunset saw her companion looking inside the gym too obviously interested in what was going on. “Sunset, Twilight! How’re you doing?!” one voice they recognized said from one edge of the basketball court jogging to their location with a huge grin on her face. The girl had a blonde high ponytail and welcoming smile that fit her personality perfectly, she was wearing a greyed uniform that once had probably been a solid sky blue that consisted in jersey and shorts. “Hey Cloudy Kicks, didn’t you use to play in the football team?” “Not for some time Sunset, I used to play in Junior High but I became a full time player in Canterlot High, I just trained with them a couple of times but I finally decided in basket, so, what can I do for you? Are you here to watch the game?” “The game? Oh, right Rainbow told us it was the pre-season in soc… eh, football?” Twilight asked to Sunset a little worried about her faux-pas. “You learn fast, but yeah, practically all the sport teams in the school are preparing for the pre-season, there’s a lot of game and cups that the school participate on” “You got that right Sunset, so, what’s the occasion then?” “Well, you see, Rainbow had a message for the team” Outside of the gym everything was peaceful, only the sound of birds and students ready for the match in the football field could be heard, until… “SHE SAID WHAT?!” Rainbow knew very well who had just screamed and also knew that it was probably due to her; there was no way she would have been capable of delivering that message. “Sorry Sunset, I’ll return the favor some day, okay guys, let’s win this one!” Inside the gymnasium Cloudy Kicks was as pale as a ghost and all life had abandoned her, even her uniform seemed to have become pale and colorless, a purple aura all aorund her body. Sunset felt a little guilty about what had happened, it seemed to have hit harder than she had thought just by looking at how the other girl had reacted to them, it was not a pretty sight and it seemed that even Twilight felt guilty by the way she was biting her lower lip. “Cloudy, I’m sorry, I didn’t thought it was that important to you” finally Cloudy came back to the girl and released a huge sigh. “Is not your fault Sunny, I should have known, I mean, Rainbow always help the other teams but she also has her own duties as captain of the football club, maybe I was being too optimistic” “Were you counting in Rainbow Dash’s help today?” Twilight may have been the one to ask it first but Sunset was also curious about it. “To tell the truth Rainbow was our only hope” “That bad then?” Sunset felt her pain just watching at the face of Cloudy; since she arrived at this world Canterlot High always had problems in gaining academic and sports recognition, having Rainbow in the school helped in the last department but she was only one girl, she couldn’t do everything. “You can say it again, it wouldn’t be so bad since it is just a practice match but we are playing against North Canterlot” “And that’s bad?” “Of course it is, I mean… oh right, I forgot you didn’t even know what the Friendship Games were” poor Sunset’s face lighted up remembering that, so much for studying in Canterlot since Junior High “North Canterlot is one of the strongest teams in the city, they have won the Everfree Cup two years in a row and have the highest amount of victories in the Canterlot Invitational… and you know what’s the worst part?” Now Cloudy had both of them interested in knowing more “They send the second team for the practice match! The bench players! Do you have any idea how humiliating that is?!” Sunset winced at that bit of news while Twilight just seemed confused. “And how’s that a bad thing? I mean, I don’t know much of basketball beyond the times my dad and brother have watched a game in the living room” “Basically Twi, they are practically telling Cloudy and the rest that they aren’t good enough to send their good players, why even bother? Now I see why you wanted Rainbow’s help in this game, maybe you would have surprised them and returned the favor” “It is worse” “Worse that a team only sending only their bench?” “Oh yes, last week several girls left the team, now we are only seven players, that means not everyone can rest and will have to play the whole game, with Rainbow we would have had better chances since she has almost as much energy as Pinkie when it comes to sports” Cloudy seemed almost depressed at the news of no Rainbow and having a short supply in players, it almost made Sunset feel depressed herself, she really wanted to help her now, but how? Wait… there was a way. Checking herself on the changing room once again Sunset was glad she didn’t use her usual heeled boots today but she had to be honest, she didn’t look half as bad with a low ponytail. If Rarity ever saw how deteriorated the uniform she was wearing right now she would scream so hard the windows in the gym would explode. “Gotta say Sunset, you look a natural on the uniform, I guess that motocross win wasn’t just luck, you have the physique of a player” “Thanks Cloudy, I just wanted to help you in this match, I mean, I brought you the bad news” “Don’t sweat it, you girls being here is more than enough, at least I won’t have to record all the info of the match by myself” “Yeah, Twilight loves information, she may not be really athletic but that girl is the best for any kind of organizing job, so now what?” “Now starts the torture” ‘Cloudy was right’ Sunset thought watching the match ‘they may be bench players but they were good, no, more than good, they had trained well, their passes, their shots, they set the pace of the game and our defense is not even close to stopping them’ while Sunset was focused on every movement in the court, Twilight and Cloudy were checking the information of what was going on, so far they were losing 31 to 8 and it seemed that the difference in points would only grow as time went on. “I guess we don’t have any answer against the number 8 of their team?” “Who? Sky Light? Is impossible, none of our players is fast enough to stop her, can you believe that her big sister is way better than her?” “Really?” Twilight couldn’t believe that since the chrome blue and silver haired girl wearing the black uniform of North Canterlot seemed to run circles around their team. “Yeah, did you saw her layout?” “Her what?” “It is when a player gets close enough to the basket and from underneath it you shoot with one hand using the backboard to bounce it into the basket” Sunset had seen it several times too, it seemed so fluid and almost second nature for Sky Light, probably all the training she had, and she was not a regular player? How strong were the other players then? Sunset didn’t know why, but she felt something resonating inside her, if the other girls could have seen Sunset’s eyes they would have seen them almost shinning as if fire had been ignited, she felt something strange, she wanted to go inside, she wanted to play! “Cloudy, let me in” she simply said before standing up, the blonde player was surprised about Sunset’s request but there was something in those words that made her smile. “Sure Sunny, have fun out there” and as the other players watched the new player get ready nobody knew what this decision would bring. Years later, all experts in the matter agreed that the moment Sunset Shimmer, unicorn turned human being, put a foot inside was the moment the Galaxy Generation era started, right there in the Canterlot Court!
Game 02: The First Step“Good luck out there Sunny” the player from Canterlot high she had subbed for told her before giving her a high five, at the beginning Sunset had hated that nicknamed given to her by Pinkie, but now she saw it as something as a flag, a way for those that had forgiven her for her past actions to treat her as a close friend. Now, she will pay that favor back by taking the Canterlot Court by storm. CANTERLOT COURT Match 2: The First Step “So, Cloudy, any plan?” Sunset said looking back at the captain still seating down in the bench while Twilight typed something down in her, tablet. Once Shining had found out in what he had pushed Twilight without knowing and the whole deal with Cinch he had wanted to make it up for her little sister and got her that tablet so she could do all kind of nice things. With the help of Sunset now it was full of apps. “You will take Line Stream’s position in 2” the faces of Sunset and Twilight both showed the confusion about the number “Oh right, the number is in reference of the position” Cloudy took the handheld white board at her side, in it there was the design of the full court “I should have explained this first, but well… in basketball there are five positions and we refer to them by numbers, number 2 is the shooting guard, I see you more as a power forward, but well, I need someone out there that can stop Sky Light” “You want me to stop her?” Sunset said looking in the direction of the North Canterlot squad, in specific the blue and white haired member of the team. “Well, there is no one in the team that can get close to her speed, but I know you are almost as athletic as Rainbow, so if there is any chance of someone stopping her is you, if you don’t want to I can put you in another position” for answer Sunset had a very scary grin in her face. “Nah, that’s exactly what I wanted” she said with all her bravado coming back to her while she walked into the court to join the other members of Canterlot High, her eyes once again lightning up, it was as if they showed the kind of power Sunset had at the moment. To say that Twilight was a little bit intimidated by the sight of Sunset was an understatement; she had never seen such face coming from her friend, but Cloudy kept her cool under that sight. “Look at that, I never thought I would see that face coming from Sunset once again” she said much to the surprise of Twilight. “What do you mean by that?” “Until now you have only seen the nice side of Sunset, the friendly girl that wants to helps everyone with any problem, but there is a side that you never saw, the one of the She-Demon” “I heard Rarity and the others talk about it before but…” “But it was only talk, right? I mean, no one in Canterlot High really like to remember the days when Sunset Shimmer used to bully everyone around, now she is the pride of Canterlot but I guess even Sunset wants to let some steam from time to time” ‘but even I know that’s not the bullying look that Sunset used to have, this is something else, what is this pressure that I feel?’ was what Cloudy was thinking looking at the back of Sunset while this one got in position. “So, the captain has a plan?” one of the girls asked Sunset. “Let me take care of Sky Light, you girls keep defending as you were and keep your eyes open for rebounds, we need quick points If we want to make a comeback” she answered back before a voice among the girls interrupted. “Geez, who put you in charge now? You are not a regular in the team and you are giving us orders now?” “Shut up Belle, if Cloudy brought her into the team was for a reason, I know we had our differences with Sunset, but you saw that she changed, heck, she even helped us break the losing streak in the Friendship Games” the shorter girl with red hair with a white streak on it said, Roseluck if Sunset remembered her name. “Yeah yeah, I get it, is not as if we could do any worst right now” Sunset still had the focused glare pointed in the direction of Sky Light while the girls behind her took their places for the start of their offensive. With the ball in the hands of Rose the game started again but soon after crossing into the court of North Canterlot they were stopped. ‘What’s with this defense?’ Sunset thought watching how her teammates couldn’t advance, Roseluck had the ball but she found incapable of shooting with the close defense she found herself at. ‘Dammit, if they only had good offense this could be easier, we would fight our way into the paint, but even the second team has a good defense' Roseluck thought trying to get some distance between herself and the girl marking 'wait… is that… there it is!’ Roseluck thought and with a quick flick of her hand the ball went sailing through the air. ‘Idiot, making a pass like that, you must be desperate right now’ Sky Light thought looking at the ball sailing through the air before a hand caught the ball, except that it belonged to a girl with a blue sky uniform with red and yellow hair ‘what? How is she open?’ The girl that had been marking Sunset was also confused, how did she move so fast? Before the other players could react Sunset got herself in position and jumped ready to shot and with everything ready the ball arced through the air before cleanly going inside the basket. For a second everyone was silent only watching the new player take her first points as a player of Canterlot High before the bench cheered by what she did. “Way to go Sunny! I didn’t know that Sunset could do a jump shot that cleanly!” Cloudy said in happiness with Twilight also smiling at the points Sunset made. The aforementioned girl didn’t waste time celebrating moving back into defense with the rest of the team. North Canterlot wasted no time into attacking moving the ball around until Sky Light stood in front of Sunset. “So Canterlot has a new weapon, nice one kid, but offense doesn’t win a game” Sky said to Sunset while this one kept looking her movements, seeing the way she bounced the ball, the way her legs moved and she tried to react but Sky Light dribbled through her and did one more layup “if you have no defense there is no way to stop me” ‘She is good, but why? Why is she only in the bench? She is good enough to play with the regulars so… why?’ This question looped through Sunset’s head while Canterlot once again moved the ball finding the same type of airtight defense as before Rose once again passed the ball to Sunset only to find that this time she hadn’t blown right through the defense like last time. “This time you are not getting through me” the short haired girl told Sunset but this one only smirked. “I never planned to do it” “What?” “I just wanted to verify something” Sunset said before once again jumping, the ball making an arc and once again getting into the basket “I just wanted to see how far away I could shoot” she said making the North Canterlot player feel shock at how easy Sunset made that shot look. “Three points! If I had known Sunset was this good I would have called her a long time ago!” Cloudy said jumping up and down, but Twilight was not jumping or shouting, instead she was looking at Sunset’s eyes, the red and yellow haired girl seemed so completely focused in the game that she wasn’t paying attention to anything except Sky Light and the ball, what was going on in Sunset’s head? “Well, I didn’t know Canterlot had a new shot expert, but you don’t have much time to make a comeback, not if we keep making points” Sky Light mocked Sunset by trying to do the same drive she had done the time before, but now it was a different situation, now Sunset had the answer to her question. ‘That’s it, that’s why she is on the bench, I can see it now!’ was what went through the head of Sunset while Sky Light once again tried to do an easy layup but something happened, Sky soon noticed something at her side, she felt a shadow and before she could let the ball go it was knocked out of her hand. “How?... How was she capable of following me?” Sky Light was shocked at how fast Sunset reacted to her movement, but North Canterlot still had the ball. Twilight was sure now, there was something happening in here, Sunset was fast, of that she was well aware of since Sunset tried to keep herself in shape by running with Applejack and Rainbow Dash, but this was ludicrous, even Cloudy was aware that something was happening. “Hey, Twilight… is Sunset… is Sunset using magic or something like that? I mean, that was beyond unbelievable” “No, that wasn’t magic, there was no aura projection or anthropomorphization” Cloudy’s face was clear in the fact that she hadn’t understood a word of what she had said which made Twilight blush “I mean, there is no bright colors or Sunset growing ears so that means at least that it has nothing to do with ponying up at least” ‘but, I’m sure there is some kind of magic involved in this, is it possible that she is using some kind of passive ability?’ But for now they had to pay attention to the match, after all they were still losing and North Canterlot had the ball once again. ‘Tch, Canterlot is tightening the defense, it seems that their new player is rising their moral, doesn’t matter, I will continue making more points’ Sky Light thought seeing how a member of North Canterlot sends the ball to her but a hand suddenly intercepted the ball trajectory ‘what?’ “I finally found your weakness, the whole point of your offense is to rotate the ball until it falls into your hands, then you will make a layup, I finally caught up with your movements” Sunset said with the same focused look in her eyes, but this time they seemed to turn into a gold color for some reason. “Go back! Is a fast break!” but it was too late, none of their members could catch up with Sunset until Sky Light got herself in front of Sunset “no way you can take another shot” “I never said I would” Sunset said before she quickly sidestepped Sky leaving her behind in shock. “That’s… that’s my move” but Sunset was not finished, she could feel power filling her body, her muscles and her mind, she focused that energy into her legs and with a strong jump she went for the basket. “Wait, that’s not a layup!” Cloudy said surprised at what Sunset was doing, it was a bigger jump than the ones of Sky Light, she was not looking for a shot or leaving the ball hit the blackboard for quick points, she was looking for something else. Sunset’s body almost seemed to float as she got closer to her target, she was shining and if someone had asked them what had happened, for a second it looked as if Sunset had gained wings of golden fire “that’s a dunk!” And with that Sunset’s hand got in contact with the basket, sending the ball right through it for two points, the basket rim groaning from the extra weight of Sunset’s body, a second later she let go lightly landing, her eyes focusing in the shocked Sky Light. “Don’t you dare think the match is over”
Game 03: Last Seconds- Make them CountCanterlot Court Game 03: Last Seconds Rainbow was complete soaked in sweat after the practice match the Canterlot Wondercolts had, their new center was a real match against Lightning Dust, good thing they based their new strategy in quick passes. A small bottle was softly put on her hands; looking at her side she saw the smiling visage of Fluttershy. “Thanks Shy” she told her before taking a huge gulp of the sports drink and then sighed in relief “nothing like a good nap after a game like that” Fluttershy simply giggled at her friend’s words. “You are like an adorable puppy; once you play you want to take a nap” “Hey, don’t you dare compare with a puppy, and besides, adorable and Rainbow Dash do not belong in the same sentence” “Then stop pouting because you only look more adorable” Fluttershy shot back making Rainbow growl in small annoyance. Since the friendship games and their outcome it seemed that Fluttershy had gained a huge amount of self-confidence, enough to make jabs at Rainbow, but the athlete was happy to see her oldest friend shed the last pieces of her social anxiety. “Yeah, yeah, whatever… now that I remember, want to check the gym? I have to do something before I go back home” “The gym? Rainbow Dash, I will not let you go and play some more after that match” “Is not like that, is just… I kind of made a promise and well… I ended up sending Sunny to kind of… you know…” “Where you trying to bite more than you could chew again?” “Yeah… so… maybe go by the gym so I could say sorry? I mean, I hate to let people down and I feel that I let Cloudy down” she felt Fluttershy’s hand on top of her own and that stopped her babbling. “If you feel this is important then it is no problem, we are close to the gym anyway” “Yeah, it won’t take long anyway, just go in, see what happened and maybe try to help them in another occasion” Rainbow answered back before changing directions into the gymnasium, encountering someone else getting close to it too “Wait, is that Principal Celestia?” the multi-color haired principal of the school took notice of the two students walking towards her. “Well, I see that the training match against White Tail ended up well, so what can I do for you Miss Dash?” “We were just going to check on the basketball team Principal” “I see, is good to know that you are putting so much attention to the sports aspect of being a student in Canterlot High… if only you put that kind of dedication to classes” Celestia said with a completely serious face making Fluttershy put her hands on her mouth to stop the giggles. “Eh, sorry about that, but you know, sports girl extraordinaire” “You just copied what Rarity said yesterday without knowing what the words meant, isn’t it?” “You need to stop hanging around with Applejack” now it was Principal Celestia’s turn to giggle at the interaction of her students. Since the last Fall Formal things had been shaken in Canterlot High and she was glad that the one that started all that change, and in a positive way none the least, also had found redemption among this halls. But for now, she had a job to do and that was to check on another team of her school, even if the board put more attention on both the football and soccer team (even though the football club sucked in comparison) all sport clubs were important. Opening the double door her body locked up at what she was seeing. “Eh, principal Celestia, are you alright?” Rainbow Dash asked looking at the way the older woman simply stopped at the threshold of the gym. Shrugging, both teenagers simply went around the principal and saw exactly why she had reacted like that. “Rainbow… is that?” “That’s Sunset… amazing!” Rainbow was ready to say that she was sorry for letting her schoolmates down at their training match, but this blew her plans out of the water. Right there in the court, both Cloudy Kicks and Sunset Shimmer were leading a fast break against North Canterlot; their opponents seemed out of breath, almost sluggish, what had happened? “Cloudy!” the captain of the squad send the ball bounce on the floor right into Sunset’s hands before taking flight again, her hand sending the ball through the basket once again. “Another dunk! Come on! Go back and defend, they still have time for a comeback!” From the sideline Twilight had been infected by the energy of the team, she was shouting support and orders; she had quickly taken the spot as coach for the match it seemed. “Fluttershy… did we just saw Sunset dunk?” “Yes… yes we did” both friends were completely speechless at what was going on, just for a second Rainbow took her eyes from the court to check the electric scoreboard. “82 to 80, Canterlot is winning” “There’s only three seconds left, seems we arrived to the clutch moment in the game” Rainbow and Fluttershy both turned to watch at their principal to find her completely entranced with the match, her eyes seemed weird, as if all her concentration was put on the court, in every movement; Rainbow knew that kind of look, it was in her face every time she played. With the whistle one of North Canterlot took aim letting the ball fly through the court to the other side. ‘What? They still have that much energy? No, they are using all they have to make this last shot count!’ Sunset thought watching that the one that caught the ball was none other than Sky Light ‘I won’t let you shoot!’ was the only thing in Sunset’s mind before jumping to block the shot. For a moment it seemed it had worked, but Sky Light still had a trick. ‘Idiot… I don’t know who you are but you still have things to learn’ Sky Light thought halting her shooting stance and resetting her position. ‘It wasn’t a shot… it was a faint!’ Sunset was already falling, by the time she would land Sky Light could shoot, right now she could make the three shot and they would win. ‘You are a newbie, you still don’t understand these kinds of plays and a simple faint got you, sorry kid but this is our game’ Sky Light smirked before letting the ball go but in that moment a hand appeared from Sky’s blind spot ‘What?’ Cloudy’s hand made contact with the ball slapping it out of reach at the last second just as the clock ticked down to zero and the referee marked the end of the game. “Basketball is a game that has five people in the team, no way I would let my teammates down” the captain of Canterlot High said before she was assaulted by Apple Belle and Line Stream sending her to the floor. “I… I lost? What am I going to tell sis?” Sky Light ended up kneeling in the court, she couldn’t process what just had happened to her, this was supposed to be an easy match, Canterlot High was nothing more than a pushover team. “That… was… AWESOME! SUNNY YOU FREAKING ROCKED!” Rainbow screamed while started running in the team’s direction with Fluttershy hot on her heels. For her part Sunset simply turned to look at them trying to catch her breath after such a draining experience. “That was amazing Sunset, congratulations” The bespectacled girl told Sunset offering her a towel to which Sunset only smiled. “I have no idea how I did it, but thank you” Sunset told her trying to grab the towel before her eyes lost their golden shine and everything went dark falling on top of Twilight sending both of them to the floor.
Game 04: BedriddenSunset was sure of one thing, well, make it two things. First, was that she was right now lying down in one of the school infirmary beds; she knew that because Nurse Redheart wanted to keep a nice and sterile place of work which made the state of the beds a secondary thing, focusing more in functionality and they were not something you would like to spend any time on them, it helped too since no student wanted to cut classes due to that. Second thing she quickly found out was that every single muscle of her body hurt like a son of a bitch. Canterlot Court Game 04: Bedridden Trying to get up had become quite the struggle for the girl, things haven’t been this bad since the first week she started running with Rainbow and Applejack, now it felt like those painful days all over again. “SUNSET!” the exclamation of surprise and worry was something that Sunset wasn’t expecting, thankfully this time Pinkie nor Fluttershy decided to hug her, it seemed that they tried to contain their exuberance and their motherly nature respectively. “Hey girls” “Is that all you got to say? Rainbow Dash made it seem as if you were ready to keel over and die by how worried she sounded on the phone” the fashionista said not paying much attention to Rainbow’s rebuke “but nonetheless, just hearing that you fainted made me close shop and come to check up on you” “She ain’t kiddin’, Ah think there are skid marks all over the parkin’ lot now when she arrived; Ah saw Rarity comin’ in paler than usual and Ah knew somethin’ was wrong” the blonde haired girl at Rarity’s side said making Sunset feel better already knowing that she had these friends. “Thank you girls, but what happened?” she asked looking at the rather crowded school infirmary; there were Twilight and Cloudy, this one still dressed in the Canterlot uniform, the rest of her friends and also Principal Celestia for some reason. “I think I speak for everyone present Sunset in that we should be asking you that question” the Principal said obviously worried about her, she knew she shouldn’t be this happy by the worry shown from this woman, but even if it was a kind of proxy for her it still meant a lot. “I don’t know, all my muscles hurt like crazy” “Do you often exercise in this way Miss Shimmer?” Nurse Redheart asked finally coming from her office at one side, the door quietly opening while they had been talking, how a school infirmary had an office for said infirmary nurse was something that Sunset didn’t understood, just like hundreds of things in this world. “Besides running a couple of days a week with my friends, not really” “Well, is no wonder you feel so tired, your body worked extra hard just to keep you in the game and with the amount of adrenaline in your body it all came crashing down at the end when you finally let the game stress behind” Nurse Redheart had always had a no-nonsense voice when it came down to the health of her wards "I recommend you to take this weekend to rest and to avoid any extraneous exercise, also I do not condone heavy usage of painkillers so it would be a better option for you to use a menthol muscle cream or any other you can find, they will relax the muscles and allow you to heal and soothe the pain in your extremities; remember, just let your body rest and you will feel fine by next monday” she said before nodding once to Sunset and another time to Celestia before going back into her office, it was obvious she had said everything she needed and she was giving the floor to Principal Celestia. “Well Sunset, you’ve heard the instructions from Nurse Redheart and not even I have the courage to disobey her” the older woman said getting a chuckle from the group of friends, it was obvious she did it on purpose, probably to release some tension “but besides that, I didn’t know you had those athletic abilities, I would have asked you to be part of the school teams if I had known” “Principal, believe me when I tell you that not even I knew I could do that” “You sure did surprise us, but I bet North Canterlot is even more surprised... I don’t know how you did it but even though we won I feel kind of guilty about what happened to you” Cloudy Skies was usually the contrary to her name, usually full of energy and smiles so seeing her with a frown and a worried look in her face felt like an antithesis, like a Pinkie who didn’t want to make a party. “Is not your fault, I’m happy that I helped you guys” seeing the cloud disappear from the captain of the team (figuratively) was something that made Sunset feel happy about the changes in her life and attitude in the school. “Good to know that you are quickly gaining friends and helping this school in many ways, it shows how much you have grown not only as a Wondercolt, but also as a person, which sounds a little weird considering your home world” Sunset laughed alongside her friends, but she also fetl something a couple of years before she would have scoffed at, school pride; who would have thought it would be something she would have cared about now? “but unto a more serious topic, Twilight Sparkle has something to say to us” the usually quiet girl found herself the recipient of all pair of eyes in the infirmary and even thought she didn’t have social anxiety it still made her flinch a little. “Well, is just something that I noticed through the game” Twilight said before showing everyone her now ever present tablet, it had been a gift from her parents after transferring to Canterlot High, it had been intended as a tool for classes but soon found more usage in practical tests and record tool for the magic abilities of the Rainbooms “can you tell me what do you find weird in this video?” “You mean, besides Sunset dunking like a boss in front of North Canterlot?” Rainbow said with a voice full of pride before giving Sunset a brofist (or should it be a sisfist?) making everyone in the room groan at her antics. “Umm, I’m not sure but… aren’t Sunset eyes usually blue?” Fluttershy’s quiet voice came clear while she looked at the video “but in the video they are golden” “You are right Fluttershy, I’m not sure how but they became that color once she started to play, I’m not quite sure, and this is merely a hypothesis, but maybe Sunset’s innate magic gave a sudden jolt of energy to her nervous system increasing the reaction time and eye to hand coordination of her body to new levels while creating in the process an eidetic memory effect imprinting the body moves of her opponents” the silence that accompanied that long sentence didn’t surprise Sunset in the least, after expending more time with the human Twilight she knew very well how fast and how technical she could be with her explanations. “Ah, I just have one question” “Yes Rainbow?” “Can someone please explain what she just said for those that don’t read quantum physics for light reading?” “What she meant is that I probably used my own magic to be stronger and faster and also for learning stuff from other players by just watching” the collective AAHHH from her friends was enough for Twilight to grumble at the injustice of it all “and it could explain it but there are still questions” “Like what?” “A lot of things AJ, how was I capable of doing it? If it was magic then why didn’t I show pony ears? Why could I jump like that? I mean, I used to be a unicorn, earth ponies are the ones with that kind of physical power” it was a good thing she had explained all about pony differences and abilities in a previous sleepover. “Oh oh oh oh, what if you turned into an alicorn and now you have all those cool powers like you did against Midnight Sparkle?” Pinkie said waving her arms on the air while Twilight blushed slightly at the mention of her ‘darker half’. “Pinkie, if I had suddenly turned into an alicorn WE would already know, believe me, for what I have heard it is not a subtle transformation” “So then how are ya goin’ to find out if ya’re gonna pony up or not?” “The same way we find out things, field testing” “Well, back to the drawing board” “Come on Twy, I know you are aching to start with the experiments” “Can you stop with your egghead flirting already?” “Rainbow, that joke was in bad taste” the slap on the back of the rainbow haired girl’s head courtesy of Rarity was more than enough payback for the joke in Sunset’s opinion. “Be as it may be, this news bring two things to the table Sunset” Principal Celestia quickly called for the attention of everyone just by talking “if it is indeed magic that will end up with you ponying up every time you play then you all have to be careful, but if it is a hidden ability of yours when it comes to sports then I believe we have found a place where you can shine as strong as you already do in academics” “Wait, are you saying…?” “I think what the principal just said is that if you are not suddenly going to sprout pony ears or something like that every time you step on the court I will be proud of calling you my teammate” “You want me in the team?” “Are you crazy? You are the only girl I’ve ever had who can dunk! It is perfect, we are barely starting the pre-season so we are basically gonna rebuild the team after older members graduated and you already know we lost some members last year, so what do you say? Do you wanna help me create a new Canterlot High team?” Cloudy finally asked while extending her hand to Sunset, this one took a glance around the room, watching all the faces smiling and supporting her, it was an easy question. “Let’s do it” she said before taking the hand of her new team captain, and with that, the Galaxy Generation had officially started.
