“So Sunny, has anyone asked you out to the gala yet?” Indigo asked as the two students strolled through the halls of Crystal Prep. It had only been a week since the announcement for the gala, but most students preferred to secure their dates as soon as possible. There were only a few weeks remaining, after all, and anybody hoping to preserve their social standing wouldn’t show up to the gala alone.

With the lunch break behind them, the two had gathered their books and binders and joined the bustling crowds of other students making their way to their first afternoon class. Indigo, wanting to continue improving her courteousness, made sure to carefully avoid and dodge past her fellow classmates as she weaved through the corridors; her friend, however, continued her old tradition of carving a path through the ranks, and heaven help anybody who dared to obstruct her.

As much as Indigo would’ve preferred otherwise, she had to accept the fact that Sunny Flare might never change her ways. The saying went ‘you could lead a horse to water,’ but she wasn’t prepared just yet to try and dunk the horse’s head into it.

“There’s been a few attempts, it you could call them that,” Sunny said with a faint, scoffing laugh lacing her voice. “It’ll take more than a few poorly written poems stuffed into my locker to gain my favour. What about you? Anybody you’ve got your eyes set upon?”

“Eh, I’m focusing more on winning the Crystal Heart than finding a dance partner,” Indigo said while giving a half-hearted shrug. “Plus there’s that whole thing with Sour Sweet now going on. Did she talk to you about it?”

Sunny rolled her eyes, but nodded in the affirmative. “I can’t believe Dean Cadance would put her in charge of making a Friendship Games presentation for the gala. I got better things to do than write some stupid speech about what I learned.”

“I think it’s a good opportunity for some self-reflection, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Maybe for you, but I’m already perfect so what would I have to reflect upon?”

Indigo wasn’t sure if her friend was being sarcastic or not, but either way she let it slide. After stepping to the side to allow a pack of footballers to pass through, she noticed Dean Cadance up ahead pinning something onto a bulletin board. It brought about an almost girlish delight from Indigo, as she squealed in excitement and raced, practically skipping, over to it. It was the start of the new week, after all, and that only meant one thing!

“Is this the updated rankings for the Crystal Heart?” she asked, trying to get a quick peek even though Cadance was still finishing up.

“That’s correct, Miss Zap, but please try not to overreact,” Cadance answered. While she didn’t always approve of the results of Crystal Prep’s competitive atmosphere, it was still refreshing to see students taking so much interest in their education.

As she stepped to the side, Indigo Zap’s gaze slowly panned up the top-ten rankings, seeing numerous familiar names filling the lower portions of the list.

“Why would I overreact?”

Indigo fell silent when she saw what sat at the very top of the page:

Crystal Heart Award Rankings - Week 1

1 - Sunset Shimmer: 94.8%

2 - Indigo Zap: 93.2%

“What the fu—”

“Language, please,” Cadance interrupted, having anticipated the reaction.

“—udge.”

Indigo’s excitement went flaccid like it was just hit with a blast of cold water. She continued staring at the words on the paper, as if her mind couldn’t quite catch up with the rest of reality. Her jaw was still hanging open by the time Sunny Flare had caught up. Shaking her head in dismay, she grabbed her despondent friend’s arm and started dragging her away from the source of misery.

“How? How could this be?” Indigo muttered under her breath. She fell into a slow pace alongside her friend, but was now unable to pay attention to what was around her, resulting in her bumping absent-mindedly into numerous students along the way. “She’s only been here a week!”

“They probably took her grades from her last school into account,” Sunny offered as an explanation. Her tone, however, made it clear that she wasn’t concerned about who sat at the top of the rankings. “Now can we get going or are you gonna keep staring at it?”

“But this is bullshit,” Indigo said, free to cuss again now as the Dean had returned to her office. “Everybody knows transferring here means your grades take a hit for the first few months.”

Had she been paying attention, she might’ve noticed Sunny’s increasingly annoyed expression. “That’s because most schools inflate their grades or have easier curriculums compared to us, but not all schools,” Sunny said through gritted teeth. “Now could you stop whining about it? You know that isn’t going to fix anything.”

“You’re right,” Indigo sighed in resignation.

She was just about to let go and move when she noticed Sunset Shimmer walking by them in the hall. For a brief moment, the two made eye contact, and then Shimmer flashed the tiniest of smirks at her. She smirked! At her. How dare she!

“Oh, you little bitch, I saw that!” Indigo snapped as she rushed over to confront her adversary.

Shimmer stopped in the hallway and raised a quizzical eyebrow at the approaching teen. “Excuse me?” she asked.

“I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing at here, but I promise you, it won’t succeed!” Indigo sneered, jabbing at Shimmer’s chest with her finger. “I’ve worked too hard all year long to let some usurper waltz in at the last second and steal away what’s rightfully mine!”

“Still don’t know what you’re talking about. Steal what?”

“Don’t play dumb! I’m talking about the Crystal Heart Award: the prize given out to the student with the highest academic performance throughout the year,” she explained, growing more infuriated by the second. And her yelling did not go unnoticed by her classmates, some of whom gathered around to see how far things would degrade. “Nobody walks in off the streets into Crystal Prep Academy and just takes the top seed, not without something or someone helping them!”

“Do you honestly believe that I’m cheating? Or bribing all the teachers? And for what—a tacky little trophy?” Sunset Shimmer scoffed. She frowned while folding her arms across her chest, assessing the irate teen in front of her. It wasn’t long until the malicious smirk returned to her features. “Sweetie, the world doesn’t owe you trophies, so if you want that precious little Crystal Heart, you’re just going to have to work for it.”

“You’re damn right I’m going to! I’m going to work harder and better than I ever have before and I’m going to wipe that stupid smirk off that pretty little face of yours!” Indigo wasn’t even very angry at this point; the thought of such a challenge was actually starting to excite her. More importantly, she had an even better prize waiting for her if she managed to pull this off. And unlike the Friendship Games, she wasn’t going to resort to any underhanded tactics or shortcuts. This was going to be one hundred percent Indigo Zap working at her peak.

“Oh, this is precious,” Sunset chuckled to herself. “You’re like some kid who’s found a new toy. Okay then, I suppose I could entertain this little pretext for a while, if only so I can see the look on your face when it all comes crashing down around your ears.” Donning her sinister grin once more, she leaned in close so that she could whisper the next part right into Zap’s ear. “By the way, call me a bitch again, and I’ll make you regret it.”

Her voice still held that dangerous but playful malice to it, which worried Indigo a bit. This was a girl who didn’t hesitate for a second to just dump a sundae on another student, so she wasn’t afraid of punishment by the administrators. Anything was possible. However, Indigo wasn’t going to be intimidated by her; if she could stand against giant plants and a magic-crazed classmate, then one upstart teenager wasn’t going to hold her back.

“It. Is. On!” Indigo boldly declared.

“Cute. Then I guess I’ll see you in gym class.”

Indigo was still holding her gaze of steely determination as Sunset Shimmer turned and walked away. The other students began to disperse as a wave of hushed murmurs started to spread through the ranks.

“This is so stupid, it hurts,” Sunny Flare spoke up, appearing at Indigo’s side.

“No, it’s not! This is a matter of honour.”

“You’re obsessed, and you’re going to embarrass yourself in the process.”

“This isn’t the Friendship Games,” Indigo snapped back, “I’m not going to make the same mistakes.”

“She’s playing you, Indigo,” Sunny insisted.

“You don’t think I can win, do you?”

Sunny Flare let out a quiet sigh, taking a moment to compose herself by adjusting some of the loose strands in her bangs. “Indigo, I say this as your friend when I tell you it means fuck all whether you score higher than her or not. That may be your goal, but it isn’t hers. It’s a game to her, and she’s going to get inside your head and fuck with you until you self-destruct.”

As much as Indigo’s pride didn’t like to admit it, there was a kernal of truth in what her friend said. She may have been good at math and science and sports, but when it came to people, Sunny Flare knew how play the game. Only a fool would ignore her warning at this juncture.

With a deep breath, Indigo let her own frustrations subside and regained a more level-headed demeanor. “Are you sure about this?” she asked.

Sunny Flare nodded. “It’s what I would do.”

“Well if you were playing this game, what would you do in my place? How can I beat her?”

“Oh, my dear, sweet Indigo,” Sunny mused as she gave her friend a patronizing pat on the cheek. Her enticing tone only reminded Indigo of the same playful manner that Sunset would mock her with. “You’re already fucked; you just haven’t realized it yet.”

************

Crystal Heart Award Rankings - Week 2

1 - Sunset Shimmer: 95.9%

2 - Indigo Zap: 93.4%

“Oh god, I am so fucked,” Indigo murmured under her breath. She stood in the hallway before the bulletin, her eyes unable to pry away from the numbers that served only to taunt her in their immovable silence. Never before had numbers dealt such a blow to her heart and mind, save for the time she misread the voltage readout and discovered firsthand the difference between twelve and a hundred and twenty volts. “How… how is she so much smarter than me?!”

As always on their post-lunch walk, Sunny Flare stood by her friend’s side, watching with growing impatience. Considering herself to be above such pettiness as saying ‘I told you so,’ she tried to take a more productive approach.

“You know, you were never bothered by the fact that Twilight Sparkle was leagues smarter than you,” Sunny commented, trying to hammer some perspective into her tunnel-visioned friend.

“That’s because Twilight sucked at gym class. It dragged her average down enough that she could still be beaten,” Indigo rationalized in the face of her crumbling ego. “But this… this is a whole new level. She’s beating me at everything: math, biology, chemistry, English literature… even when I got one hundred percent on a quiz, she just got one-hundred-and-five.”

As tempting as it was to just smack some sense into her friend, Sunny Flare was more concerned about making it to her next class on time. Thus, rather than try to nurse Indigo’s broken ego, she just grabbed her friend by the arm and dragged her away.

“Come on, we’ve got gym class. That’ll make you feel better,” Sunny said. She then muttered under her breath, “…you giant goddamn baby.”

************

Gym class: the linoleum-lined arena wherein book smarts and studying became irrelevant; where only the fastest and the strongest survived in the never-ending contest of physical prowess. Beneath the glow of the fluorescent tubes, the students of Crystal Prep could work out their aggressions and let their competitive spirits soar like nowhere else. Most importantly, it was where Indigo Zap was the undisputed Queen.

Adorned in the standard white tee and black running shorts, Indigo stood alongside her fellow classmates as they gathered into an orderly line that ran along the gymnasium wall. Beside her were her friends, and with the likes of Sunny Flare, Sugarcoat, Sour Sweet, and Lemon Zest to call upon for help, Indigo felt secure in her throne. And somewhere amongst all the black-and-white-clothed students was Sunset Shimmer, who leaned against the wall with her usual look of thinly-veiled boredom.

“Whatever coach has planned for us today, can I count on you girls to help me put Shimmer in her place?” Indigo whispered as she looked to her friends.

“I still think this is turning into a bit of an obsession for you,” Sunny Flare warned.

“I’m not obsessed,” Indigo sneered. “I just need to get one win to get back into fighting form.”

Her other friends looked at her for a moment and then exchanged glances with one another. “She’s obsessed,” Sunny whispered. The others nodded in agreement.

“Your friends have a point you know?” Sunset Shimmer remarked, suddenly appearing at Indigo’s side as if by magic. “You haven’t had a girl on your mind this badly since that time you found your dad’s stash of old porn magazines.”

“You shut your—!” Indigo was about to unload a verbal tirade on Shimmer, but when she turned to face her, there was nobody beside her. In fact, a glance in the opposite direction confirmed that Sunset Shimmer was still leaning against the wall at the other side of the row of students. “Okay, maybe I am getting a little obsessive.”

“You definitely are,” Shimmer whispered into her ear from behind.

Indigo swung around again, but was met by only her friends staring curiously at her and wondering who she had been talking to. “Are you okay?” Sugarcoat inquired.

“Just tell them the truth,” an imaginary Shimmer taunted as she lingered just on the edges of Indigo’s vision. “Tell them how you’ve become so fixated on me that you literally can’t get me out of your head now.”

Indigo swallowed hard and then gave her head a vigorous shake. “I’m fine,” she insisted. “Just… just feeling a little on edge, that’s all.” She glanced quickly to her side, but saw no sign of the vexing apparition, for now at least.

Perhaps a little physical training would help her get her mind focused again. Thankfully, it was then that their gym teacher, Mr. Sombra, finally arrived with a sizable bag slung over one shoulder. With a single blast of his whistle, his class fell silent and formed into an orderly line. He was, like many of Crystal Prep’s teachers, tough but fair, and his class was popular amongst the student body. It didn’t help that his well-toned figure looked like it had been carved from granite, and he possessed the hard-edged jawline and flowing dark hair that guaranteed that most of the female student in his class had at least one occasion where they thought about him warmly while pleasuring themselves.

Indigo just liked how he knew how to provide an avenue for students to cut loose.

“Good afternoon class,” Sombra announced as he began surveying his pupils like a lord overlooking his subjects. If Indigo was the queen of gym class, then Sombra was its god, and the students heeded that authority. “Today you shall be undertaking the most venerated of schoolyard competitions; this shall be a contest that will put you to the ultimate test. It is combat distilled into its purest form, where only your strength, your speed, your wits, and your trust in your teammates will see you through to victory. Ladies and gentlemen, prepare. For. Dodgeball!”

There was a restrained cheer from the students; after all, how often did one get a chance to fling hard rubber balls at your rivals and competitors? For Indigo, she practically wanted to jump and scream in joy at this opportunity. If there was any sport that would be fitting for crushing Sunset Shimmer beneath her heel, it was dodgeball.

“Do I have any volunteers for the first team captain?” Sombra called out.

Immediately, Indigo started flailing her arms above her head like she was having a seizure on the dance floor. Rules prevented her from shouting out, but one could see the urge to do so on her face as she hopped up and down in a desperate attempt to get the teacher’s attention.

“Okay Miss Zap, you’re our first captain.” Sombra waved for her to join him.

“Yes, this is perfect,” Indigo cheered under her breath, practically skipping along as she headed over.

But not without company, however. “You should ask him,” Sunset whispered into her, trailing just alongside her. “You know you want to.”

And she did; she most certainly did. “Mr. Sombra?” Indigo spoke upon reaching her teacher’s side. “Do you think it would be possible to have Sunset Shimmer as the opposing team’s captain?”

“Really? And why’s that?” he replied.

“I just thought since she’s still relatively new to the school, she’d be given an opportunity to better know her classmates. She does have a tendency to just sit in the back and stay out of sight,” Indigo reasoned in the most sincere, compassionate tone that she could fake.

“And the fact that she sits ahead of you on the rankings for the Crystal Heart award is just a mere coincidence?” Sombra asked with an amused grin. Whatever worries his remark may have provoked were short-lived, however, as he soon followed with, “It’s a devious plan. I like it.” He blew a sharp whistle as he pointed at the aforementioned student. “Sunset Shimmer! You shall be the second team’s captain.”

“Oh goddammit,” the very much real Sunset Shimmer muttered under her breath before making her way up.

“Round-robin to assemble your teams,” Sombra instructed. “Indigo, you get first pick.”

“Sour Sweet!” Indigo called out without hesitation. Not only was Sour a trusted friend, but arguably the second-best player in the class. Her friend raced over and exchanged a quick high five before taking her place to the side.

As for Sunset Shimmer, who still didn’t know anybody’s names, she opted to just pick a student at random. “You, dude with the spiky black hair,” she said while pointing to him.

“It’s Neon Light.”

“Don’t care. Get over here.”

Indigo couldn’t help but snicker. “Neon’s so bad at dodgeball. This is better than perfect.” Of course, she couldn’t get complacent yet and continued to assemble her dodgeball dream team. “I’ll take Sunny Flare next.”

“Curly-haired brunette.”

“Sugarcoat!”

“Tall guy with glasses.”

“Lemon Zest.”

One by one, the two captains filled out their roster until everyone was assigned. Unsurprisingly, the team assembled by Indigo felt confident about their chances as they had most of the best athletes on their side. The class split in half with each team heading to their respective half of the designated arena. Their teacher walked down the red line that partitioned the two sides, setting down four sizable red rubber balls along the way.

“You all should the know the rules by now,” Sombra announced. Once he had set down the balls, he moved to the side to assume his position as referee. “If you get hit, you are out. If a teammate catches a ball that hits you before it touches the ground, you are safe. Good luck.”

He raised his hand, signalling for each team to get ready for the whistleblow. Indigo rounded her team up for a quick chat. “Okay team, here’s the game plan. Sunny, Lemon, Sour, and I will make the initial run for the balls. If you get the ball, pass it to either Sour, Lemon, or myself if you can. And nobody goes after Sunset Shimmer—her ass is mine!”

“You really ought to rethink how you phrased that,” Sugarcoat remarked.

“Just get ready.”

The team dispersed and took their positions, with Indigo and her friends lining up to prepare for the initial sprint. A tense silence hung in the air as each team mentally sized each other up, trying to devise who were the prime threats and who were easy targets. Indigo’s eyes were fixed, unsurprisingly, on the object of her hatred, who stood at the side of the gym with her usual aura of apathy about her.

“Just look at her,” the Sunset in her mind teased, “standing there like she doesn’t even care. Like this game doesn’t matter. Her face is practically begging for you to smash some balls into it.”

“Oh, I am so smashing my balls into her face,” Indigo chuckled.

“Who are you talking to?” Sunny Flare remarked.

“Nobody.”

“Are you okay?”

Indigo bristled and growled. “I’m fine.”

The whistled sounded and so the match began with each team sending forth their best sprinters to make for the balls in the middle. Indigo’s team was able to secure half of them with Sour and herself each grabbing a ball before retreating back to gain some distance with the opposing team. Now it became something of a standoff, each team armed with an equal payload, waiting to see who would risk the first move.

“Plan, Indigo?” Sour asked.

There was only one master plan that satisfied Indigo’s ego: crushing Sunset Shimmer.

“Feinting Pincer manoeuvre on Shimmer, go!” Indigo instructed.

The two girls raced forward towards the midline, Sour Sweet just a few steps ahead of her friend. As per the tactic, she went through the motion of hurling her ball towards Sunset, but didn’t release in the hopes of tricking her target into evading prematurely. Just a few seconds behind, Indigo lined up her shot from a separate angle, aiming to catch Sunset off-guard as she flung her shot.

But the feint didn’t work, as Sunset held her ground despite Sour’s actions. Instead, it was only when Indigo’s ball came screaming towards her did the redhead twist out of the way, the ball just whisking past her before nailing Neon Light on the side of the head.

“Well, that was unexpected,” Indigo muttered upon realizing her tactic had failed.

“Wow. I don’t know if I’m just that good, or your aim is just that bad. And do you really give names to your dodgeball plays?” Sunset’s voice echoed in Indigo’s mind. The real Sunset just remained where she stood, flashing only a quick smirk to Indigo.

A minor setback, Indigo reassured herself, though it didn’t make it any less aggravating. Still, the opposing team was down a man already so it wasn’t a total loss. She and Sour quickly retreated back to the safety of their lines as the game continued on. Soon the gym was filled with the echoes of jeers, cheers, and bouncing rubber as volley after volley were fired back and forth. Every time Indigo got her hands on a ball, she tried for Sunset Shimmer again, only for the elusive girl to side-step each and every assault.

“Goddammit, it’s like trying to nail jelly to the wall,” Indigo cursed under her breath.

“Is that the best you’ve got?” the imaginary Shimmer taunted once more.

“Shut up already,” growled Indigo through clenched teeth.

Her train of thought was interrupted when she heard Sugarcoat let out a distressed yelp, accompanied by the distinct ‘pang’ of a rubber ball hitting the ground. The diminutive Shadowbolt had been eliminated. Her team was slipping in her absence, Indigo realized, which meant she had to step up her game. She rushed to the front to attract the next attack, catching the throw effortless over her head.

“Come on Zap, bet you can’t hit me!” Sunset taunted from the other side of the line, followed by her blowing a quick raspberry at her.

Goaded on, Indigo surged forward and pitched the payload at Shimmer with all her might. The ball sailed fast and true, nailing the vexing vixen square in the gut with enough force to drop her to one knee. However, the sweet taste of victory soon turned sour when she looked again and saw that it wasn’t Sunset Shimmer she had hit, but some other student. In fact, Shimmer was several feet away, looking as though she hadn’t budged an inch.

“Bwahahaha! Oh my god, you fell for it so easily!” an imaginary Shimmer laughed out loud.

“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” Indigo shouted, clenching her eyes shut. When she opened them back up, the boisterous Shimmer had vanished, and the only sounds were those of her classmates and the game.

Unfortunately, in her lapse of concentration, Indigo didn’t notice a student on the opposing team throwing a ball at her. She only realized her error when it struck her in the shoulder, bouncing high up into the air.

“I got it!” Sour shouted as she raced to get underneath it. She already had a ball in hand, but she used that one to bounce the second ball back up into the air. “Heads up Indy!”

With the ball lobbed once more up into the air and her mind having been knocked back into focus, Indigo was able to catch the ball, preventing her elimination.

“Thanks, you really saved me there,” Indigo said with a sigh of relief.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” a concerned Sour asked, though it soon gave way to a harsh glare. “Because you need to get your head in the fuckin’ game!”

Sour Sweet was right, and Indigo knew it. It was just like she had been warned: Sunset Shimmer was in her head and she was screwing with her. She needed to win this game, if only to silence that infernal girl’s laughter. Surveying the battlefield, she counted less than half of the opposing team remaining, but sadly the same was true for her team. Despite her team having the better players, Indigo had wasted so much time trying to hit Sunset Shimmer that it had hamstrung her team’s progress. However, as Sunny Flare intercepted an easy toss, it now meant that her side of the field had three-quarters of the firepower available to it.

“Got a plan, Indigo?” Sunny asked. “Preferably one that doesn’t focus on Sunset.”

“I want her gone,” Indigo said as she pulled her goggles down over her eyes. “Crash the net on her.”

Indigo didn’t wait up for the others, rushing ahead and just hoping the others followed suit. This time, she didn’t go with any finesse or clever plans; she just called for everyone to focus all their efforts on Sunset at the exact same time.

“Let’s her try and dodge three strikes at once!”

One by one, each girl launched their attack in rapid succession. With each ball hurtling in at a different angle, the very concept of dodging was as hopeless as sprouting wings and flying away. But Sunset recognized this too, and instead of trying to dodge, she grabbed the nearest teammate she could and pulled him in front of her. The hapless lad ate every shot in a brutal display of ball-on-human violence.

“Good job meat-shield,” Sunset remarked before releasing her teammate.

He promptly collapsed like a damp rag, groaning in misery.

Indigo couldn’t believe her luck. At this point, she couldn’t tell if her heart was racing because of all the running about or just her unrelenting hatred for Shimmer. And it would’ve been easier to cope with this failure if that disembodied voice wasn’t laughing into her ears.

“Oh my goodness! You nailed him right in the plums!” the voice taunted without pause. “I mean, you totally fucked it up again, but at least you taught that idiot a lesson he won’t soon forget!”

“Just shut your damn pie-hole, Shimmer!” Indigo snapped.

“I haven’t said anything,” a very real and very confused Sunset Shimmer replied.

“Not you, the other one!”

“The other—?”

“I’m not obsessed!”

Even Sour Sweet and the rest of Indigo’s friends were beginning to look a little worried. This was taking on a whole new level of competitiveness, and it took Sunny and Sour’s combined effort to drag Indigo back to the relative safety of the backline.

The game pressed on with Indigo being forced to take a backseat for a short spell while she got her head back in the game. Unfortunately, that left their team without its captain or star player. One by one, the numbers were whittled down until all that remained on the playing field were Indigo Zap, Sour Sweet, and Sunset Shimmer.

Despite the two-to-one odds, Sunset did not look worried. If anything, she looked mildly annoyed that she could no longer ignore the game and let her team take care of things. Now she’d be forced to throw a ball, which she had somehow managed to go the entire game without doing.

The two friends squared off against their opponent, watching carefully as Shimmer stood like a defiant, immovable sentry. Three of the balls lay on the ground on her side of the field, but since Sour Sweet was armed and ready, she couldn’t risk going for any of them. Sour and Indigo recognized this too; if they threw and missed then Sunset Shimmer would be free to retaliate four times without much interference.

Indigo drew her friend in close to plan their next move. “We have to hit her with this one,” she stated. “But she’s good… she’s been dodging everything we’ve thrown her way.”

“Are you sure this Sunset isn’t the one from the dimension with all the magic?” Sour replied.

“We’ve got no choice; we’ll have to break out the One-Timer.”

Sour groaned and rolled her eyes. “I hate the One-Timer. But… fine, I’ll do it. Just try not to step so hard on my shoulder this time.”

The two girls took their positions with Sour Sweet at the front and Indigo a few steps behind her. In unison, the two lunged forward, and after a few strides, Sour flung the ball into the air above her. At the same time, she dropped to her knees and tucked her head in, creating a platform that Indigo Zap used to springboard into the air. After catching the ball in mid-air, she used all her strength and momentum to launch the ball at her target, hurling it with all the force and fury of a meteor crashing to earth.

The entire gymnasium held its breath as the crimson comet careened towards its target.

There was the loud, heavy thud of rubber on flesh.

A collective gasp rose from the entire class.

Standing in the center of the field was Sunset Shimmer with the ball firmly grasped between her hands.

“Sh-she… she caught the One-Timer,” Indigo stammered in horror and disbelief. “N-nobody’s ever caught the One-Timer.”

“First time for everything,” Sour said. She gulped nervously as she began to back away from her opponent. “Wh-what do we do now?”

“It’s still two-on-one,” Indigo replied as she joined her friend in edging away. “We just have to dodge her next—”

Alas, Indigo never got to finish her sentence. Sunset Shimmer took her ball and held it aloft in front of her. Then, in one swift motion, she released and punted it in retaliation. It streaked across the open field like a rocket, striking Sour Sweet first and then ricocheting square into Indigo’s face. As the tension subsided, the final result was clear: two girls toppled like bowling pins, and Sunset Shimmer standing as the lone survivor.

Even some of Indigo’s most ardent supporters had to admit their astonishment.

“Holy shit,” Lemon Zest exclaimed. “Is that even legal? I thought you were only allowed to throw the balls.”

She and many others looked to their teacher, who seemed to still be considering his options as he stroked the stubble upon his chin. “I’ll permit this on the grounds that it was an awesome shot,” he announced before giving a blast from his whistle. “Everybody take five before we prepare for the next activity.”

The students began to disperse, some joining their friends to chat while taking the breather while others extended their congratulations and compliments to Sunset Shimmer, who promptly ignored them all. As for the two girls on the ground, Sugarcoat hurried over to check in on Sour Sweet.

“Are you okay, Sweet?” she asked with a hint of concern.

“I think that hit just knocked me down a cup size,” Sour groaned, one palm upon her chest where she had been struck.

Meanwhile, Indigo just remained where she was, sprawled out like a starfish across the linoleum. She gazed in a hazy stupor at the lights above, her lips murmuring in an incoherent mess.

“How did it come to this?” a disheartened Indigo mumbled.

She didn’t know what was going on anymore. Just a few weeks ago, everything was perfect—the road ahead was free and clear. Anything she wanted was hers for the taking, so long as she had the willpower to fight for it. Never before had she encountered an obstacle that she couldn’t overcome, no matter how hard she fought or how hard she raged. Losing she could handle; after all, she had been beaten numerous times over by people smarter than her like Twilight Sparkle. But Twilight was quiet and meek, and had all the athletic skill of a blind drunk with an inner ear infection. Was it the losing that frustrated Indigo so much, or just the fact that all of her efforts had been made to look like a cheap joke?

Was this going to be how her year ended? Another disappointing failure to hammer in the point that Indigo Zap wasn’t the fantastic wonder-student she thought she was? The Crystal Heart award was her last shot at immortalizing her name at Crystal Prep Academy, but now that was to never be.

She was just another loser.

And losers didn’t get to be astronauts or go to Mars.

Indigo wasn’t sure what hurt more, her face or her ego, but at least one pain would go away in time. Eventually, she sat up, groaning all the way. She still didn’t get up as she waited for her vision to come back into focus. Except, she hadn’t been hit that hard so she soon wondered why her vision wasn’t quite straight. That’s when she realized it wasn’t her eyes that was distorting her view, it was what was over them. Feeling a sudden swell of panic, she tore off her goggles to examine them.

One of the lenses had huge cracks all across it.

“Oh no,” she muttered in horror. Her chest tightened and every breath suddenly felt sharp; it was as if someone had just punched her in the gut. “No no nononono…”

This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening.

“Are you okay, Miss Zap?” Sombra’s voice spoke up, snapping her from her trance.

She looked up to her teacher, using every ounce of strength she had just to keep a level expression. “I… uh, I’m not feeling well. I think that ball hit me harder than I thought,” she replied. “M-may I go to the nurse’s office?”

“Of course,” he said before offering her a hand. Once she was back on her feet, he walked to the gym’s exit. “Do you need somebody to walk with you?”

“No, I’ll be fine.”

That was a lie. She wasn’t sure if she would be fine any time soon; her spirit was as shattered as her goggles.